#mercedes rattling sound

[paladinautomotive]

What Causes Rattling Sounds in My Mercedes and How to Fix Them?

Rattling sounds in your Mercedes can be both frustrating and concerning. These noises are often indicative of underlying issues that may range from minor to critical. Identifying and addressing the source of the rattling promptly is essential to maintain your vehicle’s performance and safety. Below, we explore the common causes of rattling sounds in Mercedes vehicles and provide solutions to fix them effectively.

Common Causes of Rattling Sounds

Loose or Damaged Heat Shields

Cause: Heat shields protect your vehicle’s undercarriage from excessive heat. Over time, the fasteners holding them in place may corrode or loosen, leading to vibrations and rattling sounds, especially when driving at low speeds.

Solution: Inspect the heat shields for damage or looseness. Tighten or replace them as needed. This is a relatively straightforward fix that can often be completed during a routine service.

Exhaust System Issues

Cause: A loose exhaust pipe, damaged muffler, or failing catalytic converter can produce rattling noises, particularly when accelerating or idling.

Solution: Have the exhaust system inspected by a professional. Tighten loose components or replace damaged parts to restore functionality and eliminate the noise.

Suspension Problems

Cause: Worn-out suspension components, such as struts, shocks, or bushings, can cause rattling sounds when driving over uneven surfaces.

Solution: Replace any worn or damaged suspension parts. Regular suspension inspections during routine maintenance can help prevent such issues.

Loose Interior Trim or Panels

Cause: Interior components such as door panels, dashboard trim, or center console parts may loosen over time, creating rattling noises inside the cabin.

Solution: Tighten or replace loose trim pieces. Adding foam padding or insulation can also help reduce vibrations.

Engine-Related Issues

Cause: Components such as the timing chain, engine mounts, or belt tensioners can wear out and produce rattling sounds. Engine knocking due to improper combustion can also create noise.

Solution: A thorough engine diagnostic is necessary. Replace or repair faulty components as identified by a professional mechanic.

Loose or Damaged Wheel Components

Cause: Loose lug nuts, damaged wheel bearings, or worn-out hubcaps can cause rattling sounds while driving.

Solution: Check the wheels for loose or damaged components. Tighten lug nuts and replace worn bearings or hubcaps as needed.

Debris in the Undercarriage

Cause: Small rocks, debris, or foreign objects trapped in the undercarriage or wheel wells can produce rattling noises while the vehicle is in motion.

Solution: Inspect the undercarriage and wheel wells for debris and clean them thoroughly.

Failing Drive Shaft or CV Joints

Cause: A failing drive shaft or constant velocity (CV) joints can lead to vibrations and rattling sounds, particularly during acceleration or turning.

Solution: Have a professional inspect and replace the drive shaft or CV joints if needed.

How to Diagnose Rattling Sounds

Listen for the Source: Pay attention to when the rattling occurs—during acceleration, idling, or driving over bumps.

Check Under the Hood: Inspect for loose or damaged components such as engine mounts, belts, or hoses.

Inspect the Undercarriage: Look for loose heat shields, exhaust parts, or debris trapped underneath the vehicle.

Test the Suspension: Bounce each corner of the car to check for worn shocks or struts.

Consult a Professional: If you cannot pinpoint the source, take your Mercedes to a qualified mechanic for a thorough inspection.

Preventive Measures to Avoid Rattling Sounds

Regular Maintenance: Adhering to your Mercedes’ factory-recommended maintenance schedule helps identify potential issues early.

Tighten Components: Periodically check and tighten loose bolts, screws, and fasteners throughout your vehicle.

Inspect Suspension and Exhaust: Conduct regular inspections of suspension and exhaust systems to ensure they are in good condition.

Keep the Interior Secure: Ensure all interior trim and panels are properly fastened to prevent cabin noise.

Use Quality Parts: Always use OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or high-quality replacement parts to maintain the integrity of your vehicle.

When to Seek Professional Help

While some rattling sounds can be resolved through simple DIY fixes, others may require professional expertise. If the noise persists or worsens, or if you suspect a critical issue, consult a certified Mercedes technician immediately. Ignoring these sounds could lead to more severe damage and costly repairs down the line.

By addressing rattling sounds promptly and maintaining your vehicle regularly, you can ensure a smoother, quieter, and more enjoyable driving experience in your Mercedes.

[dizzyduck44]

Play your own kind of music.

One thing that struck me last weekend at Silverstone is how different cars sound from each other. Once you have sat for three days listening to cars go past you begin to notice and I was very lucky in that I got to sit in multiple places and hear the sound of the cars accelerating, at high speed, braking for slow corners, even going down the pitlane. Here’s what I learnt:

Mercedes - Mercedes has a very high pitched engine sound. It’s distinct from anyone else.

McLaren - The McLaren sounds like it wants to be an old school V10 when it grows up. It’s has the sound you expect of an F1 car. You always knew when Lando or Oscar hit the fast pedal out the pitlane.

Ferrari - Ferrari has a weird popping sound in their engine in acceleration. Almost like an internal backfiring sound. There is a deep grunt to the engine but it doesn’t last before it sounds like a popcorn machine.

Red Bull - As stupid as this is going to sound this car has a growl. It’s deep and guttural, even when slowly coming down the pitlane.

Aston Martin - There is no nice way to put this. The Aston sounds awful. Its worst feature is when moving slowly, like in the pitlane, it sounds like there is something rattling round in the engine.

Williams - I have to admit this car has no distinctive sound but it some how manages to mix the characteristics of all the other Merc engines. It can sound very deep like the McLaren when slow but slightly high pitched at top speed. However there was a hint of the Aston engine rattle.

What I will say that was very noticeable, the Mercedes, McLaren and Williams all started hitting the ground at the same point, you could hear it. The Ferrari and Haas a fraction after. Not sure I heard the Red Bull do it.

[myth-blossom]

And while we're at it, also for the ask game: "Join Me" for Diana/Grey

Nestled between the dimmest streetlights of a quiet curb was a ‘98 Mercedes-Benz. It was not an uncommon sight in Germany, with the E320 model being durable enough to survive decades of use despite its tendency to rust. Its imperfections were hidden well with the darkness of the late hour and the steady rain battering upon its roof. It neglected to garner special attention as it sat there with its engine off, its occupants focused on an average apartment building further down the street.

Grey buffed the windshield with his forearm, the glass having fogged once more from the moisture in their breaths. The car’s temperature was becoming less tolerable by the minute, but he refused to risk the use of air conditioning. Traffic had settled after the storms moved in and everyone rushed inside to get out of the rain, allowing their covert position to be safe so long as they ignored the desire for comfort. 

Grey seemed to be running out of friends in Berlin as of late. After a month of silence from one of his best informants, he feared he had lost another. The man’s assets were too valuable to let go of lightly, so Grey planned a stakeout of his apartment building to get some answers. 47 agreed Grey needed backup but couldn’t assist due to his own mission, leaving Diana as the only person available to accompany him. It shouldn’t be dangerous, 47 assured her, but it didn’t calm the source of her hesitancy as she followed Grey out of the apartment. 

She hadn’t spoken with Grey much, not since 47’s return from the States. They only seemed to talk whenever 47 or Olivia was in the room, and even then, he would find a reason to quickly escape her presence. She couldn’t blame him, she supposed, considering the last time they found themselves alone they spent the night having sex. They had their fun and parted ways the next morning, no strings attached, but with Grey’s constant avoidance of her, she wondered if he had come to regret it. It was an assumption she thought she made peace with—and a conclusion she thought she shared—until she realized she didn’t.

Another hour passed by without any sign of Grey’s informant. He wiped the foggy windshield as heavier sheets of rain shrouded their view of the building. A long rumble of thunder rattled the car windows as the streetlights began to flicker, the weakened light casting shadows upon their faces. She stole a glance in his direction at the sound of his sigh.

“Perhaps the weather delayed his commute?” Diana offered.

“Perhaps,” Grey replied, his tone doubtful. 

A moment of silence passed between them. She noticed him watching her as a streak of lightning flashed brightly overhead.

“What is it?”

“Does he know?” Grey asked, his quiet voice followed by a distant roar of thunder. It was her turn to sigh.

“I don’t think so.”

“Good.”

The windshield clouded over, but he made no move to clear it.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Diana murmured.

“I have.”

“Why?”

“I thought it was best to keep my distance.”

“…I see.”

Another flash illuminated the street before everything succumbed to darkness. The rain pelted the car top harder as the weather knocked out the power to their surroundings, the apartment building now fully obscured save for an occasional flicker of lightning.

“Damn storm,” Grey huffed, clenching his fist. “Can’t see anything now.”

Agonizing minutes passed without another word. The darkness was stifling as the air grew thick and heavy between them, their attention fixated on the silence of the other, waiting for someone to make the first move.

“I don’t regret it,” Diana admitted, turning to face him. “Do you?”

Her breath hitched as the warmth of his hand came to rest upon her knee. His rough fingers brushed lightly up her thigh until he stopped, his hand hovering cautiously at the hem of her dress. She covered his hand with hers and slowly guided him further under the dress as he leaned in closer, his reply hot against her skin as she moaned at the familiar deftness of his fingers.

“I don’t,” he growled, and stole her breath with his kiss.

Prompt Meme

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 10

I almost lost my mind but I took some time off to build so I didn't!

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Mercedes has a speech delay and may get words wrong, correct wording will be in brackets if that is the case Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

With everyone going through a tough time (especially the watcher) nana Lavina is having a stay over to help out.

Rahul: Thanks for coming mum

Lavina: Of course dear, I’m happy to

Cassandra: Okay Viola, nana is here. Do you think we can show her a crawl huh? Crawl to mama

The pair practice and after a while we get milestone lights!

Lavina: Oh how wonderful! Although she does look glum

Viola is up and crawling but is very pouty about it.

Rahul: Shucks, she probably needs more antibiotics

Lavina: Don’t worry, I’ll grab them for you

Lavina: My goodness what did I nearly trip on

Rahul: It’s a robot vacuum

Cassandra: We can set it to auto clean and it should take care of any dust bunnies

Lavina stomps off to the medicine cabinet grumbling about technology these days. After Viola has her medicine and is fed Cassandra gets her to bed. Both of them need sleep, here’s hoping they can get some.

Cluckton: *crows* hear ye, hear ye! We’ve survived a bad mod storm that involved sims being sick and unable to go to the doctor! Let us all thank the watcher for getting help and giving up on that module without deleting us. We came so close to DOOM!

Mercedes: Is Cluckton still crowing

Savannah: Maybe. He probably just wants to make sure we can hear him all the way over here

Cassandra: Good morning green bean! Isn’t it so much better without those nasty bugs? You look better

Viola: se na ma do (so do you mama)

Cassandra: I just finished pumping so this bottle is nice and fresh for my little guzzler

Viola tucks into the bottle with gusto, promptly finishing it. Cassandra takes her over to the changing table for a fresh nappy when Mercedes comes and sits on the rocking chair.

Mercedes: Morning mama. Did papa tell you they say I’m gifted

Cassandra: he did! But gifted or not you are my daughter and I love you for more than your brain, okay

Mercedes: Okay mama. Can you come to word class with me today? Papa can go with Savannah instead

Cassandra: If you'd like me there I’d love to

Savannah: And a drop here, and a drop there, and-

Rahul: SAVANNAH

Savannah: Huh what?

Rahul: Why did you dump this paint on the floor

Savannah: It wasn’t me!

Rahul: I SAW you Savannah, don’t start lying. No tv for a day and you will clean this up, right now!

Savannah: But… how will I get my fun need up without tv

Rahul: You should have thought of that before you made a mess. Now your mama and I are swapping after school duties and I expect you on your best behaviour for OT

Savannah: *sighs* yes papa

Cassandra streams her guitar practice this morning. Nursing has affected how much time she’s been able to spend increasing her skills and fame. While she strums the yard animals again inspect Viola. Seven in particular finds the infant suspicious. After playing with her rattle Viola sets off crawling around, the feel of grass under her fingers is a lot of fun.

Even though the yard is sheltered, with the rain Cassandra doesn’t like Viola spending too much time outside in case she gets windchill. Back inside it’s time for more standing practice. After a series of tries together Viola gurgles she wants to try by herself so Cassandra steps back and Viola looks up at the couch. She stretches her arms and up she goes! Cassandra is so excited she takes a small video to show Rahul in case Viola doesn’t feel like showing off later.

Lavina: Look at her go! She’s a star

Cassandra: Could you get her down for a nap? I have to go tell Rahul

Lavina: Oh course dear

…

Cassandra: Then she just pulled herself up

Rahul: That’s wonderful

Cassandra: It has got me thinking… she’s growing up…

Rahul: And the nursery will be empty… can’t have that…

Cassandra: shall we go try then?

Rahul: Don’t have to ask me twice

So the two head to their room and spend time… flipping pillows until their daughters are ready for after school activities.

Word class and OT went well, Cassandra does have to rush off to work pretty soon afterwards though. The girls head inside to do their homework while Rahul cooks.

Lavina: What is word class when it’s at home

Mercedes: Stuff. Helping stuff

Lavina: And this is meant to make you better at talking is it? Doesn’t seem to be making much difference so far

Rahul: Mum! Be nice, let's not teach them to be rude

Lavina: I want my granddaughters to succeed, is that rude? Now Savannah, are you sure that’s the right way to hold your pencil?

Savannah: *sighs dramatically*

Rahul: Mum! Don’t fuss. They’ve both done well today

Savannah: If I’ve done well... can I watch TV?

Rahul: No. I said no TV for a day and I meant it

Mercedes: But Savannah did good

Rahul: Yes but she still did bad this morning

Mercedes: She cleaned it

Rahul: After being caught and trying to lie about it

Lavina: And she should consider herself lucky. Any time your papa made a mess it was no TV for a week. He learned not to and so will your sister

Savannah: *fumes in silence*

Rahul: I’m sorry if you are upset Honeybee but your punishment was for earlier. Consequences are tied to our actions. When you’re grown you’ll understand

Mercedes: I thought we were grown

Rahul: Not yet little ladybug. Think of it this way Savannah… If I sheared some wool off Seven and cut her by accident, I could bottle feed her all I like but it wouldn’t change that I cut her. There’s only 12 hours left and you’ll be asleep for most of it

Savannah: Oh... I forgot about sleep

Mercedes: I guess I can’t watch TV either

Lavina: Why not?

Mercedes: Sol.. solid… together. We stick together (solidarity)

Previous ... Next

[cant-get-enough-btr-forever]

Big Time Hot Take #5

**spoilers**

*slams down keyboard* *cracks knuckles* This one is a bit of an essay, folks. You have been warned.

I wish the show hadn't become so goofy. Obviously, as time went on, the target demographic became younger. Hence the slapstick comedy, sound effects every two seconds, and weaker character development.

Ah yes, the weaker character development. Let's analyze it, shall we?

Kendall Knight. The sarcastic, doesn't-take-crap-from-anybody "Bad Boy" of season one. We never saw him again after this season. He no longer incessantly snarked back at Gustavo or orchestrated risky stunts (e.g. soaking the girls' field hockey team, or having 2J sneakily renovated).

Season One Kendall wouldn't have accepted Jo's schedule interfering with their relationship, just like he hadn't accepted her fake boyfriend "Travis." Season One Kendall wouldn't have allowed himself, or his friends, to get roped into a reality show. Season One Kendall would not have allowed himself to be "Swifted" by Lucy. Just like he had shut down Mercedes Griffin, he would have marched in and shut 'em all down. And he would have devised a sly plan to do so.

Logan Mitchell. At the start, he was the nerdy Only Sane Man who rattled off calculations and facts. He was the "Big Time Brain" (thank you, Kendall) who used his intellect to solve their problems.

Over the course of the show, he was dumbed down. Severely. One example of this is "Big Time Rides." Season One Logan would've never obsessed over a wagon like that—he would've been stressing over all the ways it could cause bodily harm. By season four, Camille was the sensible one in their relationship (just watch "Big Time Bonus").

James Diamond. He began as an extremely ambitious pop star wannabe. His only fault was being overly preoccupied with his looks. Despite being so fame-driven, he still cared about his friends. Even when a girl came into the picture (like Jo), he was able to step aside and give his friends a chance.

But he slowly became...well...more obnoxious. "Big Time Contest" illustrates this. So do "Big Time Returns" and "Big Time Breakout." And don't get me started on his stalkerish obsession with Lucy. Seriously, why did the writers make him so weird around her?

Carlos Garcia. I think Carlos pretty much stayed the same throughout the show. Of course he became goofier, just like the rest of them. But it didn't matter, because he had always been The Goofball. This is both good and bad.

Good, because Carlos is such a sweet and funny character. Bad, because he was stuck with the same role: The comic relief who was just there to be funny, not to get the girl. The writers never gave him a consistent girlfriend, and that just seems unfair. Instead, they tossed Alexa in at the last minute.

Look, don't get me wrong: The show and its characters are funny as heck, all the way up until the last season. Since it is a kids' show, goofy caricatures are inevitable. But I'll always love the drier, more "mature" jokes/characters of season one.

Me after typing all that:

[wardenswateringhole]

Shadowed Cross - Chapter 3

(This is an AU worked on by @peachypede and myself. Inspired by @bluebellowl's 50's AU.)

CW:

-none

Cut for length. Enjoy.

Ilona stared out the window, watching the world pass by as she rode in the backseat of the car. Buddy had said it was Mercedes Benz and then rattled of numbers and terms that swiftly flew over Ilona’s head. She ran her hand over the red leather seat. Her human hand.

It felt strange. Cross drilled a spell quickly into her head before he even let her step foot out the front door. The spell worked thus far. She was human again. But it was temporary. Cross said it would last however long she could hold it. He made her promise to start finding a safe place as soon as she felt even a hint of the spell fading. Promise wasn’t entirely accurate. It was more that he held her by the nape of the neck and hissed how badly things would go if she was caught. She gulped as she remembered the feeling of his hot breath against her ear, saying she’d be left to her fate and he would deny all knowledge of her as people who did not care about her well-being captured her and did gods knew what to her.

“You okay, kid?”

Buddy’s voice from the driver’s seat pulled her out of her mind. He still wore the shades but she could see his eyes glance at her in the rear view mirror as he drove. She nodded.

“Yeah. I’m okay…”

Her eyes drifted around the interior. It was all red. A dull boring red that didn’t assault the eyes but didn’t beg for the attention of such either. Ilona felt small. She could stretch her legs out completely. The tips of the white pumps still didn’t even reach the back of the front seat. Buddy could be heard laughing softly.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Who in the world could need this much room?”

“You mean other than Mr.’I’m too tall for my own good’ Cross?”

“Oh yeah… I guess he would be a little squished in a regular car...”

She rubbed her arm. The conflicting feelings of right and wrong returned. The skin felt alien without the fur. But she knew it was how it should be. She could still feel Buddy’s eyes on her.

“Without all that fur… I think I recognize you now.”

Ilona looked up at him. “I don’t think I ever made a delivery to Mr. Cross’s mansion…”

Buddy shook his head. “Nah… Somewhere else… Were you ever a waitress or something?”

Ilona’s mind traveled back to a much less content time in her life. Her first job. She was a soda jerk. One of the few female ones. It showed in how the guests treated her. When she wasn’t being treated as completely incompetent for things beyond her control, she was getting harassed for the short skirt she was made to wear. The owner had definitely believed in the adage ‘sex sells’.

“Uh. Yeah… I was the soda jerk for a diner on the other side of town. Uh, Lenny’s Eats.”

“That was you!?” Buddy sounded like he was ready to wreck the car. “You’re the one who broke that dessert dish over that guy’s head!”

“You were there for that!?”

Buddy howled in laughter. “Boy Howdy! I was there with some other drivers while Joe-- I mean, Mr. Cross was at some function. The fellas and I were about to get up and get the guy after he yanked on your skirt but you beat us to it.”

Ilona’s cheeks still burned with how angry that had made her. She was also written up and had her pay docked for the incident. The owner was obligated to tell the guy to take a hike but he also made sure that Ilona couldn’t assault the customers in return, no matter what they had done. It didn’t dawn on her that she was the only one to actually put up with that treatment until she had decided to quit. The boss flipped between begging her to stay and verbally assaulting her as she put in her notice. In the end, she didn’t even finish the two weeks. The man was left short staffed for eleven of the fourteen days she had said she’d remain. Last she had seen the place, there was a for sale sign on the window and the doors were boarded shut.

Served the asshole right, she had thought.

“You got moxie, kid. Tons of it. Whatever happens, you’ll be okay. I know you will.”

Ilona thought for a moment before nodding. Buddy’s words seemed to almost magically dispel the anxiety that gnawed on her nerves.

“Thanks, Buddy.”

She saw the trademark red striped walls of Jerry’s diner out the corner of her eye. Buddy drove past and parked into another parking space for a business next door. He put the car in park and turned in his seat to look at her.

“You remember the plan?”

Ilona nodded. “I’ve got it. I’ll be okay.”

“Good luck. Kid. I’m routing for ya.”

“Thanks again, Buddy.”

The door clicked as Ilona opened the door.

--

Everett’s reflection in the face of his wristwatch glowered back at him as he tapped his fingers against the table. It had been twenty minutes. Twenty minutes since he and Pecha had arrived and sat down. They had a normal meet up time. 10am. Each time. It wasn’t unheard of for Ilona to be a few minutes late but she always made it close to time. She was never this late.

Everett’s eyes drifted up to Pecha sucking down her soda. His eyes watched the liquid disappear rapidly. The ice clinked against the glass as it no longer had it’s bubbly cushion to keep it a float. A loud slurping sound signaled the soda’s demise as she stopped and looked back at him.

“What?”

“That never ceases to amaze me. Where does it go?” Everett replied flatly. Pecha shrugged as she dabbed daintily at the corners of her mouth.

“In my stomach, I would assume.”

Everett sighed. “As Ilona would say, ‘you’re going to hate yourself later’… of course she’s not here to say that…”

Everett propped his head on his hand and looked around the diner. It was a bit of a slow day. Some older diners chatted and the sounds of the cook working away could be heard. His voice yelling order names that sounded like some made up language would pierce the quiet from time to time. Without fail, the waitress would gather the order and deliver it where it needed to go despite the words that came out the cooks mouth making no sense at all. What the hell even was “Adam and Eve on a raft and two blowout patches and axle grease”?

Ilona would know. Ilona would have been the one to translate when either he or Pecha was curious. Ilona was not here.

Everett huffed once more before staring at his watch like it would magically bid Ilona to appear.

“She’ll be here, Everett.” Pecha stirred the ice around in soda-less glass absentmindedly. “She probably just got caught up in a delivery.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of…” Everett sat up straight. His hands waved in front of him as he spoke, “She’s always caught up in something since she left that diner job. That delivery job seems to hold all her time lately.”

Everett had been surprised when she had called him up to join her for a celebration. He had arrived at Pecha’s house and later stood in Pecha’s backyard with a watering hose as Ilona set fire to the uniform she had loathed so deeply. It was the night she vowed to never return to that place. She then proceeded to explain she was getting paid very well for her delivery job. It had made Everett scratch his head. He didn’t know of many delivery jobs that paid that well. He was happy for her nonetheless. That was before he got a good look at her new lifestyle.

“Haven’t you noticed how she’s been since taking up that delivery job? Her clothes at gotten at least three new patches in the past month and that was a brand new pair of pants! Her shirt is going ragged as well! And the injuries! She’s had bruises and scrapes for days!”

Pecha listened to Everett’s rant while still playing with the straw in her ice. He named off several instances he felt that Ilona had not taken her safety seriously. Several more were counted off on his fingers where he wondered about her hygiene as she was covered in dirt and debris from unknown sources.

“Is she still eating? Drinking water?” Pecha asked suddenly causing Everett to stop his complaining mid sentence. He looked at her blankly.

“Yeah? Seems so. She didn’t look thinner or anything…”

“And taking her medicine?”

“Well, yeah, she hasn’t had any episodes and still looks healthy all things considered.”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” Pecha assured him, looking down at her cup once more and watching the ice swirl with the motion of her straw.

“Ilona has always been a bit aloof. She’s rough around the edges and active. She doesn’t mean to get hurt, but she seems to know what to do when it happens. She may not have done anything with it, but that degree in medicine seems to have given her some knowledge when it comes to taking care of herself in those situations. I really don’t think you should worry so much about her. She can take care of herself… Don’t you think so, Everett?”

Silence.

“Everett?”

Pecha looked back up at Everett to see him staring at something behind her. His eyes were wide and his mouth was dropped open. She turned and saw the subject of Everett’s astonishment.

Walking toward them was Ilona. A green and white gingham dress flowed around her as she moved. Pecha couldn’t help but let her own jaw drop.

“I-Ilona!?”

Everett was already clamoring to his feet to pull out a chair for her. His mouth had still not closed. Ilona sat and gave Everett a small thank you as he sat back down with eyes still glued to her.

“What? Is it too much?”

Pecha shook her head as if trying to set her ability to speak back in motion. “N-no! It’s great! I just… I thought you didn’t like dresses…”

It was true. Ilona had made a big deal about never wearing anything dress like ever again after the harassment she had suffered at her previous job. It had pained Pecha so very much. Pecha loved to dress up in pretty clothes, especially when Ilona was there to do it with her.

Ilona shrugged. “Those clothes I was wearing to do my deliveries were getting really worn and it’s hot. I’ll have to be dressy until I can get a new shirt and trousers.”

Everett found his voice finally. “I didn’t know you owned something so nice…”

“I…” Ilona rubbed at her arm once more. “It… was… well, it was buried deep in my closet. I didn’t want to have to wear it unless I absolutely had to.”

Everett opened his mouth to speak only to be excitedly grabbed by Pecha. “Here they come!”

The waitress came over and sat three plates down. Each had a serving of stuffed french toast with different flavors. One strawberry, one blueberry, and one chocolate. Each were drizzled in warm syrup and a dollop of whipped cream sat pertly atop it all but was quickly melting from the heat of the meal. The sugary substance slowly dripped down the sides of the bread and mixed into the cream cheese, flavoring, and powered sugar.

The scent assaulted Ilona’s senses. She could feel the familiar ferality rising as she stared at the three plates. Her jaw clenched hard as she held herself back. Despite her earlier meal, her stomach still growled loudly. Pecha laughed as she retrieved her cutlery from the rolled napkin.

“Wow Ilona, I can hear your stomach from here!”

Ilona forced a grin as she dug the heel of her shoe into the toes of the other foot. The pain was enough to push away the urge to plunge her face into the food. “Y-yeah! I didn’t realize how hungry I am. Uh, who’s is who’s?”

“Well…” Everett began, holding a fork at the ready. “We couldn’t decide which ones we wanted and didn’t know what flavor you’d like either so we figured we’d try all three together.” He cut a piece from the chocolate one and quickly scooped it into his mouth, taking care to not let the syrup and whipped cream drip everywhere. His eyes widened as he held a hand over his mouth. Pecha and Ilona stared at him.

“Well?” Pecha asked.

“This might have been a mistake… I don’t want to share.” Everett replied behind his hand.

Pecha and Ilona glanced to one another before digging into the other two flavors. Their reactions were much the same but all three managed to control themselves enough to urge one another to try what they themselves enjoyed.

The table descended into giggles and playful banter as they enjoyed the meal. Ilona had long forget about her earlier encounter, losing herself to sweet treats and the company of friends. The memory of her promise to Cross came back to her as she saw Buddy out the window. He threw her a thumbs up. She gave him a slight nod before he turned and left.

Good. He found my bike.

“So Ilona…”

Ilona turned to Everett with her fork still in her mouth. She grunted at him as she continued to lick the sweetness from it’s prongs.

“You know why we agreed to meet…”

Oh no, here we go, Ilona thought to herself. She pulled the fork from her mouth and set it back on the plate in front of her, long empty from their feasting. “Okay… You got me here. Let’s get on with it. What do you have to say?”

Everett gave her a sidelong look. “The same thing I said yesterday… Your new job is a bit too dangerous in my opinion.”

Ilona nodded. “You did say that, and I understand. I’ll try not to get hurt so much in the future.”

“Not good enough.” Everett grunted. “You keep saying that and I keep seeing new wounds and patches on your clothes.”

“What do you want form me, Everett? I’m not stopping being a delivery biker because you can’t stop being a worry wart.”

“And you don’t worry enough!”

“WHOA! Hey! Hey… let’s calm down now…” Pecha held her hands up at both her friends as they both huffed and looked away from one another. “Look, I get where Everett is coming from. You have been kinda… well…” Ilona’s eyes drifted over to Pecha as she struggled to find the right words. “… Raggedy…”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Ilona asked, crossing her arms. “So because I’m not dressed up prim and proper and reeking of flowers and perfume I’m suddenly a danger to myself!?”

“No! That’s not—”

“Dammit Ilona, can you stop being stubborn! You know you can’t keep going like this with your illness! What if you really get yourself one time and bleed out!? No one is going to be able to help you! What if those dogs really did get a hold of you!? You would have been killed!”

Pecha’s head swung toward Everett. “Dogs!? What dogs!?”

Everett scoffed. “Oh yeah, didn’t tell you about that part. The ever adventurous but oh-so-responsible Ilona Vincent decided it would be a good idea to cut through Mr. Carlson’s yard and take a chance that his dog’s wouldn’t chew her to bits.”

“ILONA!”

“Hey! I made it didn’t I!? I’m still here!”

“Yeah but you still got hurt! Your arm! ...Wait…”

Ilona looked to where Everett’s eyes laid on her. Her arm. Her bare arm. Her bare and uninjured arm.

Shit.

“You… your arm… it was… it was all scraped and bloody yesterday…”

Ilona could feel her heart beat faster. She didn’t think of this. She should have insisted on getting her regular clothes from her apartment but she was so panicked about being late that it didn’t dawn on her.

“What? N-no it wasn’t. You must have dreamed that…”

“No. I swear it was. I would bet my entire inheritance on it. Ilona…”

Ilona looked away quickly. She could feel something wavering. Like a thin membrane threatening to snap. Pecha’s hands guided her gaze to Pecha’s. Pecha looked worried.

“Ilona? Your eyes. Are you feeling okay?”

“My eyes!?”

Ilona pulled her face away. She rubbed her cheeks, trying to calm down. A glance down at her feet saw the barest hint of black fuzz beginning to sprout around her ankles.

“I need to go!”

Ilona stood. Everett and Pecha stood with her. “Wait! Ilona! What’s wrong!?”

“I’m fine! I-- I just remembered I have an important delivery to make!”

She pushed away from the chair and rushed toward the door. She yelled back to her companions without looking back. “Thanks for the meal! I’ll call you both later!”

“Dammit! Ilona! Wait!”

Everett’s words were lost as she almost sprinted out the door. Everett grumbled as she dug money out of his pocket and threw it all the table before running toward the door himself. Pecha followed awkwardly. They both exited the diner just in time to see Ilona blazing down the street and into the distance. Everett grabbed his bike angrily.

“Everett!? What are you doing!?”

“If she thinks she can just blow us off like that after all that, she’s got another thing coming!”

Everett sped off leaving Pecha to scramble onto her own bike and attempt to catch up. Whatever Ilona was hiding, the pair were determined to confront her about it.

[ithinkyouhealedmyheart]

Ghostwriter ch 16

Unbetad Unedited Unhinged || AO3 Wattpad

Character(s): Kendall Knight, James Diamond, Carlos Garcia, Veronica Clark oc, Gusatvo Rocque, Kelly Wainwright, Katie Knight, Arthur Griffin, Mercedes Griffin

Pairing(s): Kendall Knight/Veronica Clark, James Diamond & Veronica Clark

Word count: 6092

Although the Clark family was an exception regarding their bodies healing from infections, injuries, or diseases, Ronnie remained sick by the end of the week. Only this time, the fever had gotten worse. She could only assume it was because of the day she spent following Kendall and Bobby. Who knew a middle schooler would make her feel worse? Her throat was sore, and there was a rattling sound when she breathed. There was a giant water bottle on her nightstand. Because of her fever, her father took time off work to care for her. He didn’t want to overwhelm Mrs. Knight, and her certainly didn’t trust four teenage boys around his sick daughter. Ronnie was buried under blankets, and she wasn’t allowed to go to work. She had no idea if her father even informed Kelly or Gustavo about her fever. 

Every time Ronnie coughed, she swore she would cough up her lungs. There was phlegm stuck in the back of her throat, but it wouldn’t budge. She couldn’t get rid of it, no matter how much she coughed. She was utterly miserable under all her blankets. The girl leaned over and reached for her water bottle. 

Her dad hooked up a cable box to a small monitor he had lying around, allowing Ronnie to watch any movie she wanted. It didn’t matter if she was actively watching or if she put it on to fall asleep. Alice in Wonderland, 1951, was her favorite movie when she couldn’t sleep. The fever kept her awake because she was sweating and had a stuffy nose. Ronnie kept the television remote under her pillow so she wouldn’t lose it. Reaching under the pillow, she pressed play on the movie and adjusted how she lay to settle down and drift off to sleep while watching the film. The music for the opening credits played, and her eyes fluttered and closed for a moment. She had watched this movie about a hundred times. She knew the score like the back of her hand. The warmth of her bed was comforting, and she couldn’t fight the urge to sleep anymore. It was beckoning her like the aroma of pumpkin spice lattes. The seasons may not change, but it was most definitely autumn in California, regardless of whether the temperature did or didn’t drop. 

It wasn’t long until Ronnie drifted off to sleep and succumbed to the clutches of a cold medicine-induced dream. It might even be influenced by the movie she was watching, but she doubted it. She had seen this film so many times that the plot wouldn’t affect her anymore. 

The songwriter woke up in a field of sunflowers. She loved sunflowers. One of her favorite colors was yellow, but sunflowers also signified happiness. Considering everything she had gone through, Ronnie needed all the happiness she could get. The grass tickled her skin, but it made her realize all too quickly that she was wearing a simple, off-the-shoulder light blue dress. Hopping to her feet, she could barely look over the tallest sunflowers, but the field stretched for miles. She needed clarification. Wiggling her toes, she looked down and gasped when she noticed she wasn’t wearing any shoes. Cringing, she ran in a random direction. The feeling of the dirt between her toes made her gag, and she wanted to vomit. 

Unfortunately, she wasn’t watching where she was going and tripped on a rock. Ronnie fell into the lake. Her discomfort with the dirt took her focus away from the scenery. She didn’t have enough time to look around and enjoy the sunflowers before plummeting to the lake's bottom. The water was clear, and she could see the sun above her. She was reaching out towards the blur of light in the sky. She fell on her back on solid ground. Ronnie took a deep breath. The water was trapped above her. It wobbled and warped as though it were caught on something like plastic wrap. The songwriter stood up and wiped the dust off her dress. She looked around. The floor was black and white checkered. The walls were maroon brick.

Various things were floating in the air: a rocking chair, a board game, a bookshelf, and a fish. She looked around in awe. It was outlandish. But Ronnie felt like she was at home. She was comforted by the outlandish appearance of the tunnel around her. The fear of drowning had subsided, and she started walking down the tunnel in the only direction she could go. In the distance, she could hear a clock continuously ticking away. No matter how far she walked, she never got close enough to make out the distinct noise. Eventually, it would most likely drive her crazy, but for now, it was nice to have something to listen to besides how her feet echoed off the tiled floor. The floor wasn’t cold, thankfully. She understood why she had the blue dress but not why she wasn’t wearing shoes. She must be grounded in nature after being stuck in the concrete jungle for so long. Maybe that was the case. It had been quite a while since she’d gone to the woods or camping. Although she didn’t like going camping, it would be nice to break out of the hotel. Ronnie couldn’t remember the last time she had seen the stars. They were so bright in Vermont. She could always see them clearly because of the lack of light pollution.

The songwriter didn’t know how long she had been walking, but her journey brought her to a room filled with doors. There were doors on the walls and doors on the ceiling. They were all different sizes and colors. Suddenly, she realized the room full of doors was a tight fit. She couldn’t look over her shoulder, but if she did, she would know that the tunnel looked smaller from where she stood. 

“Ow!” Her foot was pushing against something. She moved it to reveal a ruby-red door with a face and a glittering golden door knob that most likely acted as a nose. 

“I’m sorry!” She squeaked, her voice echoed as if she were a giant. 

“What are you doing? You’re much too big to fit in this door!” The ruby red door screamed at her. It reminded her of Gustavo, which made this encounter awkward. 

“How do I shrink to fit, then? I don’t see a door in my size.” Ronnie crossed her arms and looked down her nose at the door. 

“The table! There’s a drink on the table!” The door snapped, yelling at her. There was no doubt in her mind that this door wasn’t precisely like Gustavo. 

Ronnie swore she felt something poking her thigh. It was sharp, and now that she recognized it, it started hurting. She carefully looked around for the source of the pain and noticed a glass table that had yet to shatter from the pressure of being squished against her skin. Without another thought, she picked up whatever was on the table’s surface and ate the pastry. She waited a couple of seconds, expecting an immediate reaction, but then she hiccuped as though she had eaten it too fast, and suddenly she was shrinking. With each hiccup, she shrunk further until she was the same size as the door. The peculiar magic of the pastry had startled her, and the box the pastry was in clattered to the ground next to her. Ronnie gasped when she realized she had shrunk to the correct size and rushed for the door. 

“There’s no other way. The only choice I have is to go forward!” Ronnie reached for the doorknob, and it moved. 

“Not so fast! I’m locked!” The door shouted. 

“Locked?” Ronnie parroted, staring in disbelief. “Shouldn’t you have mentioned that earlier?” 

“Don’t tell me you forgot the key,” the door rolled its eyes. 

“What key? I didn’t know there was a key–” The hair on her arm stood on end, and she was pleasantly surprised by the discovery of pockets in her blue dress. She thrust her hand into a pocket and grasped something cold. 

A glittering gold key came from her pocket. When Ronnie looked at the door again, it was a regular door. There were no eyes, and it didn’t have a mouth. The doorknob was bronze. Perhaps the keyhole had been the mouth. The essential fit in the lock like a glove, and she quickly turned it in. Pushing the door open, she was confronted by a dimly lit forest. Luminescent mushrooms lit the path in orange, red, purple, and blue hues. It was glorious. The leaves on the cyan trees were maroon, and the grass was green and emerald. The path laid before her was gold. She looked down at her feet and noticed she was wearing black flats, which were quite convenient. 

Ronnie had just stepped onto the path when a mid-air smile, awfully bright and toothy, appeared before her. The person who owned the smile materialized out of thin air. A brunette around her age with long hair wearing black clothing accented by gold chains and a purple scarf. Or that was his tail? It was draped around his arms. She gasped and stepped back. 

“I wouldn’t go that way,” he giggled and swung the end of his tail around. It was pierced with a golden fish dangling. 

“James?” 

“Who is James? Are you James?” He wouldn’t stop smiling, and his head tilted abnormally. The ears on his head twitched. He was oddly cat-like. 

“No. You’re James, my friend.” Ronnie took in his appearance. “Or, at least, I think you are.” 

“Well, you must be mistaken. I don’t know you, but you wouldn’t want to go that way.” He gestured behind him where the path was cut in two. 

Signs hung from tree branches or posts pitched in the grass. Each sign directed her in a different direction. Ronnie crossed her arms and quirked a brow. 

“Why should I listen to you? Like you said, I barely know you.” 

“Oh, but if you’re looking for something specific, I could lead the way.” 

“Alright…” Ronnie started walking down the path this cat-boy wasn’t referring to. With the way the jewelry jingled as he walked, she was confident that he was following her. 

“Now, what are you looking for?” He was one nosy cat. 

“I’m not sure. I have no idea where I am.” 

“You’re where you should be,” his smile was almost creepy when he turned to look at her. A shiver ran down her spine, and she looked away. 

“I guess… I want to find my way home.” Ronnie sighed and rubbed her arms. “Or is it my friends? I want to get back to my friends.” 

“Are you sure? You don’t sound so sure.” The cat-boy laughed. “Perhaps you don’t even know what you want.” 

“I do!” 

“Do you?” 

Ronnie opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Although his question was simple, she had yet to learn the answer. The golden path stretched as far as the forest did. She wasn’t sure how long they walked, but the cat-boy had started humming a rhyme as they walked. His purple tail swished back and forth. He watched her as she walked, and Ronnie could feel his eyes burning into the back of her skull. 

The songwriter didn’t know what she wanted, but only because she didn’t know what to expect. Living in Los Angeles was practically uncharted waters, and she tried to make the most of it while working with Big Time Rush. Ronnie had never been in a romantic relationship before. The movies showed her what she should expect, but she still couldn’t help but think she was missing out. Curt was sweet, but she didn’t want to disappoint him. He treated her better than most guys did in Vermont. But she couldn’t help thinking he might stop being so sweet one day.  The anticipation stressed her out. Even though they had gone on a few dates, she felt she barely knew him, like there was something behind his sweet smile and kind words. She felt like a horrible girlfriend for thinking this way. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Curt, but she didn’t feel like he was the right one for her. She wanted to hide parts of herself because she wanted to appear perfect. He deserved someone perfect. 

“Where does your heart lead you?” The cat-boy asked. The path had split in two again. 

“What?” Ronnie knit her brows in confusion. Had she missed something he said? 

Oddly enough, it was like her heart was tugged. She walked down the path to the left without thinking, and her cat-like companion followed. Having company spared her from feeling alone, which she didn’t like in unfamiliar places. Although she had never been to a place like this, she felt at home. The atmosphere was comforting. The luminescent plants, mushrooms, and strange animals were all so reassuring. It felt like she was given deja vu. If this were a dream, she wouldn’t want to wake up. 

The sound of singing tea kettles echoed off the trees, and she perked up. Ronnie gasped when she saw a crooked house with a straw roof. She had most certainly seen this somewhere before. She went around the house and opened the gate to the garden in the backyard, where she could hear singing and tea kettles whistling. 

“A very merry unbirthday to you!” 

“To me?” 

“Yes, you!” 

A nearby babbling brook mixed with the music, and a smile stretched across her face. Wearing a green tophat and a matching green suit, there was someone who looked like Curt. Without thinking, she raced forward and wrapped her arms around him. She was happy to see him. The anthropomorphic brown rabbit squeaked and jumped away. Her sudden appearance had startled them. The cat trailed behind her lazily, and something in a teapot made a mouse-like squeak. 

“Oh, Curt! It’s you, it’s you!” Her face was smooshed against his chest. “I have no idea where I am and would like someone familiar with me!” 

“I’m sorry. Would you like a cup of tea?” The blonde wearing the top hat offered. 

“What?” Ronnie released him from the hug and stepped back. He looked exactly like her boyfriend. Why didn’t he know who she was?  She was confused. If this was a dream, then he should know who she is. 

“Have a cup of tea,” he said, thrusting a cup into her hands and filling it to the brim with amber-tinted water. The steam swirled into the air, curling and twisting. 

“Curt? It’s me!” 

“Who’s Curt? Are you Curt?” 

Her heart hurt. It spread throughout her body as shame overtook her. Was he not her boyfriend in her subconscious? Before she knew it, she was crying, and everyone was confused. The rabbit whispered to the cat-boy, and the blonde stared down at her helplessly. She didn’t mean to cry, but she couldn’t stop herself. It hurt so much that her boyfriend didn’t know who she was. Were Ronnie and Curt even dating? She ran in a random direction, furiously wiping her tears. It was embarrassing crying in front of strangers. The songwriter ran until she accidentally tripped and fell. Her shoulder scraped on the tiled floor, and she winced. 

“My dear, why are you crying?” Ronnie looked up, and someone who looked like her father had a tortoise shell on his back. “Come, dry your tears. You’re underdressed for the ball,” 

The man with a tortoise shell on his back helped her to her feet and procured a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his fancy suit. She muttered a small thank you and wiped her tears. 

“Now, dear, let’s find you a dress for the ball.” 

“Ball? How do you expect me to go to a ball?” Ronnie questioned. She shuffled her feet as the kind man ushered her with a hand on the small of her back. 

“Well, of course, you can’t if you don’t have a dress.” 

“But, I do…” 

“That? That thing is nothing but rags,” the man scoffed. “You need a dress that emphasizes your beauty, one fitting for a queen.” 

“A queen?” Ronnie gasped. “Oh no, no, no. I can’t simply go to a ball with a queen attending.” 

“Nonsense, it’s a ball for the king!” 

“King?” Ronnie gasped. 

“Here you are,” the man quickly ushered her inside a room and shut the door. 

Ronnie tried to turn the doorknob, but her sweaty palms slipped on the bronze. The room sparked to life, and the candles burning on the wall startled her. 

“I need to get home!” Ronnie screamed. She pounded her fists on the door. “My friends need me! They’ll go crazy if they don’t know where I am! My dad, he’ll be upset if I’m missing!” She cried. 

It felt as though she were breathing through a straw. Her back slid down the door, and she crumbled into a ball on the floor. Somewhere in the room, there was a bell ringing. Curiously, she picked her head up, and her eyes widened. A yell ball gown was in the center of what looked like a French artisan bedroom. It sparkled in the candlelight, the ruffles made it look like a flower, and the sweetheart neckline made her flush. She had forgotten that her arms and stretch marks were exposed this whole time, but at least the off-the-shoulder sleeves covered them. With the yellow gown, she had no choice but to reveal her flaws. Ronnie couldn’t hide them. She couldn’t run away from them. They would be on display for everyone attending the ball. Hesitantly, she stood up and slowly approached the dress. It was gorgeous. There was no way she could wear something so expensive. 

Then she caught her reflection in the corner of her eye. She gasped. The light sparkle of golden eye shadow had accentuated the green hue in her eyes. Her hair was in a bun; whichever way she turned, it was like the stars twinkled amongst her blueberry locks. Ronnie almost didn’t recognize herself. She looked at the dress again and tilted her head. Maybe she could try it on. When she looked back at the mirror, she jumped. 

Ronnie was wearing the dress. The silvery lines that made up the stretch marks by her armpits were the first things her eyes flew to. Instinctually, she tucked her hands under her armpits to hide them. She wouldn’t feel so out of place in this ball gown if they hadn't existed. Curious, she lifted her dress to find a pair of golden heels. Her jaw hit the floor. 

The door to the bedroom closed with a soft click. Sconces with flickering candles lined the French rococo-styled hallway. Awkwardly, she adjusted the sweetheart neckline. Ronnie had never worn anything as revealing in her life. It was daunting. She picked up the skirt of her dress as she walked down the hall. Her heels clicked against the marble floor. Outside the windows, she could see rocking-chair horseflies buzzing about and book moths rattled against the windows, attracted to the flames. An accordion owl hooted alongside the sound of an out-of-tune accordion. A grand manor in the middle of the woods was odd. This entire adventure left her discombobulated. 

At the end of the hall, a pair of white double doors were accented with golden ivy climbing up the surface. Reaching for the doorknob, she stopped and took a deep breath. 

“Expect the impossible,” she muttered. 

As long as she expected the impossible, she could handle whatever was on the other side of the doors. Ronnie paused before pushing them open. She had already seen someone who looked like James, someone who looked like Curt, and someone who looked like her dad. The only people left were Kendall, Logan, and Carlos. Part of her was dreading who Kendall would be. She could only guess that Kendall was the villain of this curious world. She pushed the doors open with shaking hands, and light nearly blinded her. Bringing her arm up to shield her face, she stopped in the doorway and gaped in awe. The hallway had led her to the ginormous ballroom. 

Women wore outlandish dresses. Some were patterned with cuckoo clocks, some with barbed wire, and some with China tea cups. Ronnie clutched the railing at the top of the stairs like it were her lifeline. Couples danced in a colorful blur, and the somewhat classical music was off-key or purposefully discordant. Each instrument played a different note. She glanced at the orchestra; most members were misplaying their instruments. A violin player was using the backside of their bow, and a clarinet player was blowing out the bottom as they pressed buttons. 

Ronnie picked up her skirt and descended the stairs carefully. She could only assume the polished floor was slippery, and falling in heels wasn’t the best idea. On the ground level, the colors all around clashed and irritated her eyes. She squinted and cringed at how bright the light of the chandelier was. All she needed to do was get past this room and back on her way to find out how to get home, but did she want to get home? Did she want to go back to her friends? Wouldn’t it be easier to stay in this topsy-turvy world? 

The songwriter stayed close to the wall as she walked quickly; her heels clicked on the floor, but it wasn’t audible, thanks to the music. On the floor level, she noticed everyone, but her was wearing a masquerade mask. She gasped when someone took her hand and whisked her away onto the dancefloor. Her feet somehow knew the steps, but her head was reeling. The twists and turns made her dizzy, and the butterflies in her stomach wanted to escape. 

“May I cut in?” A familiar voice hit her ears, and she let go of the stranger's gloved hand. They stepped away quickly and blended into the backroom. 

The voice belonged to someone who looked like Kendall. He wore a crown and was adorned in a fancy red and black suit. Her hand fit in his like a puzzle piece, and her heartbeat quickened. She shouldn’t be feeling this way about Kendall. Kendall was supposed to be a villain. Kendall was supposed to make her feel awful. But why did this dance feel so effortless? 

“Who are you?” Ronnie asked without thinking. 

“My, my. I figured you would have known who I am.” She recognized his face anywhere. Even though he wore a raven-feather mask, the songwriter could tell who it was. 

“You must be mistaken, I don’t–” 

“It’s in your heart. You feel it in your heart.” He pressed them closer together. It was like she was gliding on air. The hand on her waist was warm and comforting. 

“Your grace,” she squeaked when he dipped her. And when he spun her, she giggled. “Might I ask whatever the meaning of this is?” 

“I couldn’t let a beautiful damsel like yourself watch from the sidelines. You deserve a place at this ball, a place with me.” 

Ronnie’s face flushed, and her breath caught in her throat. What was he saying? What was she doing? Curt was her boyfriend. This was nothing but a frivolous fantasy. She was already dating something. The imagination in her head shouldn’t have swapped their places. Kendall should have been the Mad Hatter. He had no right to be the King of Hearts, not if Curt had captured her heart. But did he capture her heart? It was easy to get distracted when they twirled around the ballroom. The patrons had made space for their king, and Ronnie realized a spotlight was shining on them. Her eyes sparkled in the light, and she couldn’t help but smile. This felt right. She felt right. Ronnie had lost count of how many times he had twirled her around, but the music suddenly stopped, and he let go of her hand. 

In the blink of an eye, she stood in the middle of the remnants of a destroyed ballroom. The once glorious manor was nothing but rubble. Looking down at her dress, she was wearing the short light blue one again and no longer had shoes on. The hair on her neck stood up, and she sprinted towards the door. She slammed it closed behind her and heard it fall off the hinges, but she wasn’t looking back. She couldn’t look back. Ronnie needed to get away. It was a stupid fantasy. It wasn’t real. She wasn’t in love with Kendall. That was ridiculous and impossible! She was in love with Curt. The soon-to-be-famous hockey player was the one she was enamored with. The songwriter wasn’t looking where she was going, so she slammed into a brick wall. 

Crashing to the dusty and dirty floor, she rubbed the middle of her forehead. 

“Shouldn’t I be awake!” She shouted toward the sky. 

That was it. Ronnie was done with dreams, momewraths, and Cheshire cats. She needed to wake up, and she needed to wake up now. But how? She had never been so lucid in a dream before. Would it be easy? Could it be as simple as wishing she was awake right now? Perhaps when she woke up, she wouldn’t have a fever. When she woke up, she would call Curt and take him out on an impromptu date. She shouldn’t have feelings for Kendall. She didn’t have feelings for Kendall. 

A pitiful whine sounded from her throat, and she flopped down on the ground. How did this dream begin? Was it the movie? Was it the cold medicine? She curled into a ball on the dirty floor and tucked her head against her knees. How would she get out if she didn’t know how? 

“Wait–” A metaphorical lightbulb went off in her head. “Cat? Mister Cat!” Ronnie called. She stood up and whipped the dirt off. 

“You called?” The boy who looked like James materialized out of thin air yet again. He was swinging his tail, and the scarf draped over his arms had gotten fluffier. 

“I need to find my way home!” She jabbed a finger in his direction. “How do I get home?” She demanded of him. 

The cat-boy hummed, stroked his chin, and twisted his head one-hundred-eighty degrees as he thought. Ronnie stepped back, alarmed by how effortlessly his neck bent. 

“Well, some people go this way.” He pointed to the left. “But, others prefer to go this way.” He then pointed to the right. “I prefer to take the shortcut.” 

The brunette turned to the brick wall, and like magic, he wrapped his knuckles against the bricks, and before her eyes, they peeled away like wallpaper. Her jaw dropped at the sight of grassy hills leading to a grand castle. The cat-boy leaned against the portion of the brick wall that was still there and smirked. 

“Sweet, right? This is the best way to travel,” he purred. His tail swished happily. 

“This is… wonderful.” Ronnie gasped. She was quickly mesmerized by the magic in this world. Maybe she didn’t want to wake up. But she had to. She needed to wake up. It was silly to believe she could stay in her dreams forever. Carefully, she stepped through what she could only assume was a portal to another place in her dreams. When she turned around, there was nothing behind her. So, the only option was to proceed forward. 

Ronnie traipsed through the hedges. The greenery stretched taller than she could ever be and was wound like a maze. With her hands in the pockets of her dress, she chewed on the inside of her cheek. The grass tickled her toes, and the scent of paint hit her nose. She groaned and rolled her eyes. Something else was getting in the way of her departure.  What was her subconscious keeping her from? What was there to learn from this journey? If the movie influenced her dream, they seemed likely to be playing cards that were painting red roses because they accidentally planted white roses. Turning the corner, she froze in horror. 

Instead of painting white roses red, the card soldiers were painting sunflowers devoid of color with a yellow paintbrush. The blood drained from her face, and her mouth was frozen in disgust.

“What are you doing!” Ronnie snatched the paintbrush from one of the card soldiers and held it away. “You shouldn’t be painting these!” 

“Oh, but the kind likes his flowers sunny.” One card explained as if that was a proper explanation.  

“We accidentally planned flowers with no color, " another card chimed in as they slathered yellow paint on a sunflower. The paint dripped off their paintbrush onto the grass. 

“No, you’re running them!” Ronnie shouted and took the second paintbrush from their hands.

“If we don’t get these painted, then it will be off with our heads!” The third card soldier shrieked. They shook and cowered in fear. 

“The king is nothing but an arrogant tyrant. If he wanted yellow sunflowers, then he should have ensured yellow sunflowers were planted!” Ronnie crossed her arms, yellow paint smeared on her dress. The card soldiers gasped. 

“If he hears you say that,” One pointed at her with a shaking hand. 

“Then it’ll be off with your head!” Another squealed and ducked, covering their head like an Ostrich hiding in the dirt. 

“As if,” Ronnie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “This is my dream, and there will be no such thing! If he dislikes it, he can argue with me!” 

A trumpet sounded in the distance, and the card soldiers screamed in fear. The trio ran around like chickens without heads, and Ronnie stood calmly. She wasn’t going to let some Kendall look-a-like boss her around. Even if it were pleasant to dance with him at the ball, she would give her a piece of her mind when he arrived. 

Cards of all colors unfolded from a deck and formed lines around the area. Ronnie was trapped inside their perimeter. Card soldiers stacked on each other to create an arch, and in the fray, she saw Carlos with a pair of stark white rabbit ears perched atop his head. He wore a stuffy uniform with the castle emblem on his chest and a brass trumpet in his hand. It sounded off, and Ronnie flinched. It was much louder up close than it was in the distance. 

“Hear ye, hear ye!” The bunny hybrid that looked like Carlos blew on the trumpet again. “Make way for the admirable and glorious King of Hearts!” A girl who looked like Katie nudged him. “And the princess!” The bunny hybrid added. 

The King of Hearts and the princess, who looked way too much like Katie Knight, made their way over to Ronnie and the card soldiers. Instinctually, Ronnie hid the paintbrushes behind her back and pulled her lips into a tight smile. The king's eyes were drawn to the flowers almost immediately, but instead of him blowing up, it was the princess. 

“Who’s been painting my flowers yellow? It’ll be off with their head!” Her voice echoed in the air. 

Ronnie flinched and shrunk in on herself. 

“My, my. What do we have here?” The king quirked a brow, and with his scepter, he tilted Ronnie’s head. Her face turned beet red. The red jewel of the heart at the tip of his scepter was ice cold against her chin. 

“It’s a girl,” the purr in the back of his throat made her stomach flip. The paintbrushes slipped out of her hand and clattered to the floor. The princess stared wide-eyed at them. 

“You! Off with you– “ 

“Now, now. Let’s not get too hasty.” He interrupted the princess. Ronnie could only assume they were siblings. She squeaked when his eyes raked over her. It felt like she was prey being stalked by a predator. Butterflies frenzied in her stomach. 

The royal, who looked like Kendall, stepped forward, and his fingers replaced the cold metal of his scepter. Ronnie could see a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose. His eyes were more forest green than hers' emerald green. Gently, he tilted her chin to the left and then tilted it to the right. Previously, she had said she would give him a piece of her mind, but being scrutinized like this was utterly terrifying. 

“Bring her to the palace,” he instructed the bunny hybrid, who stood at attention nervously, sweating. Get her proper clothes.” And like that, the King turned on his heel and walked away. The princess hurried after him, her voice ringing through the air as she scolded him for letting her keep her head. 

Ronnie let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Hanging her head, she exhaled sharply. Her hands went to her neck, and she was grateful she hadn’t been put on a guillotine. The last thing she wanted was to wake up from this dream after being beheaded. That would make it a nightmare, and she would be afraid of sleeping ever again. The rabbit-hybrid resembling Carlos led her to the distant giant palace. The red, white, black, and gold palate was too much. The people of the court whispered when they saw her arrive, and Ronnie kept her eyes glued to the floor. She was led to one of the guest rooms and informed that a maid would be up shortly to put her in something more fitting for the castle. 

Sitting on the edge of the heart-shaped bed, she swung her legs back and forth. How long was this dream going to be? Would she ever wake up? Was she in a coma? Did the fever put her in a coma? Her thoughts were racing, and her back hit the surprisingly soft mattress. It was only this soft because her bed in the waking world was very soft. A knock at the door alerted her, and then a maid came in to fit her in a dress that would most likely be red, black, gold, and white. 

Like the yellow ball gown, this dress had a sweetheart neckline. The bodice was black, and the skirt was burgundy, layered with black tulle. Silver chains looped around her arms and connected to the bodice, and at the back of the dress was a large black bow. Ronnie twirled slowly in the mirror, examining herself under a microscope. Yet again, her outfit changed, and somehow, she looked even better. Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and a small black heart was painted under her right eye. She twirled again in the dress and giggled. Why didn’t she wear skirts more often? This was the most fun she’s had in a while. 

When she left her room to roam around, the castle was silent. Her heels clicked against the white and black tile. She walked slowly and carefully to prevent making as much noise as possible. The songwriter had no idea what would happen if someone found her roaming around while the sun was setting. Golden rays streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, almost making the hallway look heavenly. 

“Out for a late-night stroll, are we?” The king’s hand found its way to her waist as if it were meant to be there, and her breath hitched in her throat. 

“Good– Good evening…” Her voice wavered. He smelled so lovely up close. The real Kendall smelled like sweat and pine leaves, which wasn’t bad, but the sweat could sometimes be gross. 

“Do you mind if I walk with you?” 

“Not at all.” Her temperature elevated when their arms intertwined. It was like she was living a fairytale. Why was Kendall the king? Why wasn’t she pulling away? What was wrong with her? 

“What is keeping you up at night, darling?” Ronnie’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look up at him. In the low light, he looked so heavenly. 

“I need to find my way home. 

“I believe you have found your way home,” 

Ronnie woke up with a surging pain in her side. The classical music from the main menu was playing softly from the television. Her eyes snapped open, and she was face-first on the ground. Peeling herself off the carpeted floor, she groaned and rubbed her head. 

“Note to self: don’t take cold medicine before bed.”

[lostinlewis]

As cliché as it sounds… from haters to lovers alwaya makes for hot sex/interactions.

Oh I agree. This is a good place to start, lets play with a little jealous Lew 👀

Rating: M

Words: 1704

The paddock was big enough and Lewis was famous enough that it wasn’t a given that you would run into him that weekend, especially when you were there as a guest of Ferrari, making it easier to avoid him.

Sat on the veranda outside of the hospitality suite, you downed complimentary champagne after complimentary champagne, finally allowing yourself to relax for the first time since you arrived in Miami that weekend. The chances of seeing him were slim, the chances of him seeing you were even slimmer. For the first time in a long time, a race weekend was something you were determined to enjoy. 

It is impossible to explain to anyone who hasn't experienced it, the silence that falls upon a paddock when the star of the show arrives. Like something out of a movie, time stands still, people too...and then all at once the sounds of photographers and fans alike, began to run towards the entrance to capture the image of the man who is even more beautiful in person than their cameras could ever capture.

All eyes were on him as he walked, except yours. You did your best to not look, instead you chose to focus your attention on the base of your glass as you felt his presence move closer and closer to you.

Keep reading

Do not look at him, do not let him see you…

You thought it was safe to look up the moment you heard the crowds pass by, you assumed you hadn't been spotted, that was until the moment he reached the Mercedes garage and looked back, your eyes met and his lips curled into an almost smirk, a smirk that told you that he knew how good he looked, a smirk that screamed 'I won' without saying a word.

Fuck you, Lewis…

-

You had experienced many race weekends yet the exhaustion felt at the end of the day, even when it was on a day of practice, never got easier. You were tired, tipsy and a little careless with your presence as you tried to find the nearest bathroom.

If you had been in the right state of mind there was no way you would have mistakenly walked into the one place you knew to avoid, but as the sun set on the paddock, the last thing you were thinking about was him.

It was particularly empty as you made your way through the garage, so determined you were to find the bathroom before the day's champagne ruined your dress, you didn't notice any of the telltale signs of location, least of all the man that watched you from the other end of the hallway.

-

"Looking for someone?"

His voice quite literally made you jump as you fumbled for your phone in your purse, not looking up to notice him blocking your exit from the garage.

"Shit...er, no? I'm just leaving..."

You said the words yet you didn't move, frozen still just across from him, it was as if you were waiting for his permission to leave for your legs to start working again.

"For someone that is leaving, you aren't going very far..." There was that smirk again, the smirk that told you of all of the ways he felt he had you beaten. "Still can't stay away from me, huh?"

"Oh you think I am here because of you?"

"Why else would you be here, babe? You were only ever here because of me, remember?"

You didn't respond with words, instead you rolled your eyes at the audacity of the man who stood in front of you, leant casually against the door frame he was half blocking.

"Tell me I'm wrong, tell me you didn't pick that dress hoping I would see you today?"

It was your turn to smirk now, as he admitted his admiration for you without actually admitting it, you knew you had the perfect rebuttal to make him pay for his arrogance.

"I didn't even consider you, Lewis. Ferrari invited me to join them this weekend and I thought it would be a good idea to make an impression on their talent..."

"Did it work?"

You could tell he was rattled by the rapidness of his response, it was working, you would make sure to leave him that day with the knowledge he couldn't get to you anymore.

"What do you think?"

You flashed your Instagram story in his face, an image of you stood besides Charles, your hand placed on his stomach as he wrapped his arm around you. The image was intimate, the image was more intimate than anything that had ever happened between the both of you, and if you weren't mistaken the flare of Lewis' nostrils told you of how much that annoyed him.



“You couldn’t get what you wanted with me so you decided to move onto someone else huh?” 

“Oh Lewis…you really think I couldn’t get what I wanted from you if I tried?” 

“What was it you said before you left the dinner that night? That you didn’t want to be just another one of my women?” 

He expected you to bite back, to fire a counter at him, a sign that he had really rattled you, but you didn’t. Instead you opted to stare into his eyes until the silence was uncomfortable, until the tension in the air choked one of you to the point of suffocation, and you were determined that it wouldn’t be you left breathless. 

Your movement towards him was so slow he didn’t even notice until you were all but a breath away from each other. Still you didn’t break eye contact, still you held your silence until you broke him. 

“Something you want from me, baby?” 

The tenderness of his voice now told you that you had broken him, that his tough unnerving persona had shifted into the soft man who had treated you with nothing but respect from the moment you began to work in his hospitality suite at races, a man that had made you feel so comfortable that you could be all alone with him and feel only safe, a man that had made his intentions clear in such a brazen way yet a man who also told you that he wanted nothing serious, a man who told you he wasn’t the relationship kind, a man who told you that he would take you to the highest of highs in the bedroom if you let him, but a man who also wouldn’t be seen with you alone in public.

You almost let him, you almost allowed yourself to become another number to a man who had amassed many a lover in his time, you had almost fallen…until you saw the way he looked at a waitress on your first date, a look you knew well, a look he had given you many times before as you served his team at a race. 

“There’s nothing you could give me that I couldn’t give myself, Lewis.” 

You felt the sting of your words as you stood on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek goodbye, your kiss lingered against his cheek as you drew in a breath of his sweet aroma. 

It was as you pulled away from him that you felt him at his most sincere, he grabbed your wrist with the gentlest of holds, as if he was scared to break you with any more force. 

“Let me try.”

Asking for permission he wouldn’t wait for, Lewis pulled you into his room, shutting the door with the weight of both of your bodies up against it. 

His eyes ravaged your body before his hands ever did, you stood frozen in the spot as you waited without breath for the man you had lusted after for so long, to have his way with you. 

It was quite the talent with how quickly he could lift you up as he kissed you enough force to make you dizzy. 

As if he had all the time in the world with you, he began to grind into you, holding one arm above your head, he held your face with the other, lacing kisses on every inch of skin he could find until he heard the purr that escaped your lips. 

“Not until you tell me what you want…” 

His voice was huskier than you had ever heard it, gruff with raw want for you in that moment, he cared not to hide the fact that he needed you, and from the hardness that pressed at your core, circling deliberately to drive you crazy with equal need, you could feel just how much.

“Lew-”

You felt his breathy chuckle against the skin of your neck as he devoured it, your fingers played with his braids in a desperate attempt to regain some form of control in the moment. 

“Tell me…” 

The slap of the head against your heat made you gasp, the air that hit you as he moved your panties to the side, allowing you to really feel all that he offered, made you shiver. 

“Plea…please…” 

All confidence left you in the moment, feeling completely vulnerable to the man you were with, you couldn’t quite bring yourself to admit just how you wanted him right now. 

The gentleman in him made it so you no longer had to beg, instead he led you now, slowly placing just the tip inside of you, just enough for you to begin to feel the stretch he would be soon to give you. 

“This?” 

Lewis knew as he stared into your desperate eyes that you needn’t say a word to confirm that this was exactly what you wanted, he could see the lust in your eyes, read the parting of your lips in shock, and feel the grip of your walls around him as they longed to feel more of him. 

“Let me give you something no one else can, baby.” 

Seconds after the words left his lips, he buried himself deep within you before he kept his promise of taking you to heights unknown, making your body find a level of pleasure that you couldn’t even give yourself. Lewis truly was a man of his word. 

[plasticcharmbracelet]

Crow

For @wriightworth for the 2023 AJ:AA Secret Santa!

I have no clue what this is. I hope you can derive some enjoyment from it anyhow?

The sky is the brownish grey of cheap paper, and the dry stalks inside the fence and the dry grasses outside it abrade one another quietly in the weak, warm, suspirant breeze that has breathed unceasingly on him for the long afternoon of three months.

Apollo doesn’t really care whether the birds are scared or not. It’s been one long day / a week / three withering summer months, and the sky hasn’t changed, and he can’t close his eyes.

He can’t move. He can’t make a sound. He has not always been a scarecrow, but he is. He is one now.

Apollo has almost never spoken about growing up in another country, wedged in the mountains east of Nepal and Bhutan, and he has spoken even less about growing up in two different countries, because his childish, snowblind memories of the faraway supported him during his foundling years in Los Angeles the way a bangle bracelet and a broken promise never did.

His foster father in the Himalayas had had little enough choice to bring Apollo and his own son along on those expeditions. Children were obviously at risk in the faraway, but at least at more easily disregarded risk than if left to themselves in a bungalow in the snow for an overnight hike that might take three years on the other end. But Apollo’s gratitude for the trips had extended beyond the simply practical, because -

Because a fugitive in the reported world could wield wonders away. A person could feed promises to the wind and to the steep planes of sunlight and have them kept, in words written on the clapper of a chime hung in the air or drawn in powdered pigment on the snow. 

Because a runaway could have promises kept, and beauty with them. And when he was homesick, it was the faraway he was homesick for.

He had spent years scrabbling at the walls of the world. Very literally, as a child, and then via research and rumors in the internet’s dirty puddles as a teenager, in libraries as a student, and at last, as an adult, by reading between the lines of every job listing tangentially related to Law. His foster father had told him the truth about this, as much as he hated to admit it. Gates to the faraway have irregular locations and subtle locks, and lucky discoveries are children’s stories; everyone who has learned one has found someone to show it to them. 

Two years and seven months out of law school, a job making transcripts overnight, before he had finally seen the advertisement whose in-between-the-lines he had read correctly and whose demands he had been able to meet. A little old-fashioned, the skills required, the wording.

Kristoph Gavin, Esq. A little old-fashioned, the man’s clothes. (Though handsome, striking even, the man who wore them.) A little strange, the quiet pools of tension in the conversation.

And at last, after a probation with the mail and the filing cabinets and the little tests in every detail, he had followed his new boss up a narrow flight of stairs in the strange office building - a fading blue piece of 1980s Los Angeles frivolity with circular windows and half-stories and a wraparound balcony - and into a parlor left over from an earlier time than that, one full of dark wooden furniture and glass-fronted cabinets and a grandfather clock whose silver pendulum only wriggled once in its case, and whose windows looked out not on a wide intersection full of Mercedes-Benzes and box trucks but on this Kansas that would never know Technicolor. 

And his new boss had smiled at him across a desk and a cup of milk with barely a splash enough of coffee to deserve the name before taking his left arm in a blacksmith’s grip, pulling his bracelet off his wrist, and hauling him out of the room over his shoulder as if he were a sack of dry leaves. He was.

The breeze rattles the brown stems, the sun never moves, there’s a pole along his shoulders and one at his back, and he’s forgetting the lines of Auden’s Roman Wall Blues.

In the mountains north and east of Ojai, there is a tiny community started by long-ago immigrants from the same Himalayas, and their spot in the faraway had been a vague goal. Somewhere the rules might be similar enough to what he remembers, where he could conceivably reacclimate or acclimate at all.  But he had anticipated something entirely else for faraway Los Angeles - tomols pulling up onto golden beaches, turquoise Hockney poolwater, willow/tule domes alongside silver screen diners where a girl could be discovered on that lucky afternoon. Colors that would suit Kristoph Gavin, blond and blue and white.

Here there are crows sometimes, circling and yelling above the prarie brown beyond the fence, but they don’t approach. Neither does the man who hired him, fooled him, brought him here, robbed him and planted him in this grim faraway grass.

Over the heather / I don’t know why / I shall do nothing but look at the sky.

A crow lands on him.

Perhaps the wind has become infinitesimally stronger or the haze infinitesimally darker, but it may just be that this crow LOOKS storm-tossed, tumbling out of the air exhausted with feathers in all directions. The oily sheen on it is purplish and its beak hangs open as it heaves to breathe. 

Apollo can do nothing for it. Not a movement, not a sound - but his paralysis, in the smallest of comforts, prevents him from doing anything that will agitate it further. If Kristoph wants him to frighten birds, then his own small comfort will be in letting this one rest, if it decides to. 

He waits. The crow moves up to his shoulder, under the brim of the stranger’s hat that Kristoph had dropped on top of his head, hunches itself into a ball, and sleeps.

Time brushes past, warm and weak and irregular as the breeze.

When the crow at last rouses itself, sorts its feathers halfway, and hops and glides down to the ground, Apollo realizes that he will miss it when it goes. But it doesn’t. It stalks and pecks in a circle around the base of the pole, finding a few bits of dry seed, and something like a worm - likelier a centipede, since his peripheral vision suggests that it has hair-fine legs along it. After it seems satisfied - though how can it be? - it smoothes its feathers a little more and flies back to his shoulder, to rest again.

The pattern repeats another three times. It provides a sense of a day and night cycle, however feeble.

It is his crow now.

Kristoph never makes an appearance from the still, sullen house behind him, or at least not one that he can perceive. There is never the sound of the door, or of footsteps, or clinking pans or anything of the kind. He worries for the bird even more than for himself, should Kristoph spot it, but it seems to understand circumspection and doesn’t fly closer to the structure than an acre-wide circle will bring it, both ends of which Apollo can see.

His crow has never cawed at him, either, or at anything else. It is a surprise when at last it says: “ba.” It’s not a crowy noise; it sounds more like a pet raven in a video clip, making something still a few lengths from music. 

His crow bounces sideways down his arm and back. “Ba-ba ba-ba ba ba?” He wishes, partially, that he could respond, but is selfishly glad that it has stayed close and unafraid of him. “Ba ba ba-ba ba ba.” Something Annie Lennox about it.

Day/night/what passes for them. 

The circles his crow flies become tighter, keeping it closer to him. When it comes back, it wedges itself between the hat and Apollo’s straw shoulder in the remnants of his own shirt. Its feathered-over heartbeat feels fast, but its heartbeat always does.

At the end of one particular circle, then, the bird skims past him and keeps going, in the direction of the blank, disapproving house. It can’t be more than a few minutes that he feels its absence, and minutes are a concept he has lost most of his use for, but he doesn’t like it. It makes him nervous.

His crow has lost its mind when it comes back. It doesn’t caw or scream or ba-ba, but it lands hard on the end of the shoulder pole, where his wrist might be, and flaps hard enough that the beats sound like flags in the wind or a person falling down a flight of stairs. It grips and rustles in its panic, then takes off and repeats its actions at the end of his other arm, hitting the pole and buffeting the air again.

What are you doing?, he thinks. The agitated bird stretches its wings up like blades and strains at the pole. Again. Stop. He worries how long it can continue before it -

His vision becomes a dizzy brown swoop as the pole that holds him upright spins at his crow’s last assault and tips sideways, leaving him at a thirty-degree angle and facing the house the other way. The bird is drinking air on his left wrist, shaking, gathering itself. 

A small brass bell that he had not had time to notice hangs on a string by the door, straight toward the ground, entirely unmoved by the breeze. The rest of the yard fidgets in it, brown leaves insinuating against their neighbors, dry sticks dragging themselves an inch in the dust, cloth in bundles on the ground by the fences almost shrugging, then wrinkling down empty.

The nearest bundle has a pair of glasses. Another is topped by a hooded sweatshirt, bleached grey on top and its original grey showing when the wind lifts it. 

As that understanding hits him, his crow caws for the first time and continues, loud, scraping the air and echoing off the dirty clouds. Other birds, the ones that have never dared to come close to the fenced plot of land, scream back and start to gather. One approaches him, lands nervously three feet away, then ignites its courage and joins his crow further along his arm. They all begin to gather along his arms, all facing the house, staring, yelling. Challenging.

The little brass bell on the porch starts to swing in the air, emits a sour little chime. Two more. Then louder. 

Kristoph, taller than Apollo remembers him, opens the door, one hand raised. 

The crows dive at him, surge at him, in a zigzagging clawed cacophony. One tangles itself in his hair, others snap and stab at his eyes, draw blood from his palms and the bony peaks of his knuckles, though a few of these he knocks out of the air with savage swipes of his arms. Apollo’s and some of the others evade him completely, though, and vanish into the shadows of the house. Kristoph shifts his attention from the birds attacking him and pelts after the interlopers. After Apollo’s crow.

The door hangs open and a few battered crows lie in the doorway or just inside it. Apollo can do nothing but stare and listen as the crashes diminish, the shouts and the wild calls diminish, until the scraping leaves are once again the only sounds half-submerged in the silence. 

It could be an hour/a day/five skipped heartbeats before there is movement from the house. Two crows, each carrying something shining in its beak, hopping out into the brighter dimness and soaring away over the roof for the horizon. Neither has a purple sheen to its feathers. Nor do the next half a dozen that come. 

Minutes and eras.

A scraping sound, not dead stalk on dead stem but something wooden and something that isn’t. 

Apollo’s crow hobbles from the door, dragging a broken claw, a cluster of flight feathers, and Apollo’s bronze bracelet. Its scuffling steps are painful to watch, have to be so much more so to execute, but it hauls the bangle to the foot of the scarecrow pole and waits, chest fluttering. Then it catches its breath and hops flapping at him, falls back to the ground with a sound more like a shaken piece of paper than a caw. 

It tries again, can’t lift the bracelet with one leg. Tries and fails with its beak. Puts its head through and manages a flailing glide to one ruined knee of Apollo’s suit trousers, claws its way up to his shoulder, sidesteps, so tired, along the length of his left arm, and deliberately maneuvers the bracelet onto the end of the beam.

Apollo collapses face-first into the dead leaves and comes up with dirt on his human face. His arms are shaking from their own weakness, not from the sickly breeze. He blinks for the first time in weeks, months, yellow crud in the corners of his eyes. When he sits up all the way, he sees his crow hunched in the plants, staring at him. 

He picks it up and it lets him, and he carries it wobbling on weak legs into what may no longer be Kristoph’s house. He can come back for the wounded birds, but first -

At the foot of the stairs that lead back down to Los Angeles is a scarecrow in a blue suit, its head bent to one side and a tear in its fabric neck from which straw has started to slide to the floor. He steps back, carefully.

The room he had sat in is thrown apart, jewelry and pocketknives and keys and things spilling out of drawers angled downwards from their caves, across the desk, everywhere on the floor.  Black feathers here and there. 

“Is something yours?”

“Ba ba.” His crow nods its head several times, but shakes it again when he starts to paw through the shiny mess. 

“No?”

The bird in the crook of his arm becomes agitated again when he moves for the doorway, unfolds out a wing to one side and then grumbles in pain.

Apollo turns to look and catches sight of his reflection in the case of the grandfather clock. The strange pendulum isn’t a solid rod, is it, but a chain with a jagged silver pendant as a bob. The case is locked when he tries it.

He places the bird as gently as he can on the cushion of a velveteen sofa in the corner of the parkor, despite its bas of concern, then all but charges down the stairs and wrenches the pale blue coat off of Kristoph’s scarecrow, leaves the thing limp against the baseboard and wraps the coat around his left hand and arm as he stomps back up on ever more steady legs. 

He closes his eyes in front of the clock and swings his swaddled fist through the glass of the case. It is a satisfying thing to do.

He pulls the pendant and its chain carefully from the hook in the mechanism, and carries it back to his crow, which is watching him with an intensity that is certainly hope, but apprehension too.

“This?”

A long pause. “Ba.”

He sits on the floor and his crow edges forward and lands gracelessly on his knee. 

“You’re on my lap.”

“Ba ba ba? ba -“

“Fine -“

His hands shake only a little as he holds up the chain and lets it settle around the sleek black neck.

An instant later he has another young man collapsing ragged against him, beautiful in black and purple with bruises purpling his fingers, a man who could be the mirror of Kristoph and who, beyond all clarity, is not in any way like him at all. 

There are so many things they will need to do, soon. But for now, Apollo’s crow embraces him and buries his face against the crook of his neck, and Apollo tilts his head toward him, and holds him close, and loves him, loves him back.

[mercedesservices]

How Do Expert Mercedes Repairs In Drummoyne Ensure The Longevity Of Your Car?

Owning a Mercedes Benz comes with the expectation of unparalleled performance and luxury. However, to maintain this high standard, it's vital to ensure that any necessary repairs are handled by experts. Mercedes Repairs in Drummoyne repairs are key to extending the life of your vehicle and maintaining its value. This blog explores the importance of expert repairs and how they contribute to the longevity of your luxury car.

Why Are Expert Repairs Crucial for Your Mercedes Benz?

The complexity of Mercedes Benz vehicles means that repairs require specialised skills and knowledge:

Precision Engineering: Mercedes Benz vehicles are crafted with precision and intricate engineering. Repairs that deviate from factory specifications can compromise the performance and safety of the vehicle. Expert repairs ensure that every component is handled correctly.

Advanced Technology: Modern Mercedes models are equipped with sophisticated technology, including advanced driver assistance systems and performance features. Trained technicians understand these systems, ensuring that repairs are performed accurately without disrupting the vehicle's functionality.

Warranty Compliance: Using qualified professionals for repairs helps maintain your warranty coverage. Unauthorized repairs or the use of non-genuine parts may void your warranty, leading to higher costs in the long run.

What Types of Repairs Are Common for Mercedes Benz Vehicles?

Mercedes vehicles may require a variety of repairs over their lifespan:

Engine Repairs: Issues such as oil leaks, overheating, or loss of power necessitate prompt engine repairs. Experts can diagnose and resolve engine problems, ensuring that your vehicle operates efficiently.

Transmission Repairs: The transmission is critical for performance and fuel efficiency. Professional technicians can address issues like slipping gears or fluid leaks, helping to prevent more severe problems down the line.

Suspension and Steering Repairs: Maintaining the suspension and steering systems is essential for comfort and handling. Expert repairs can correct alignment issues, replace worn components, and ensure a smooth ride.

Electrical System Repairs: Modern vehicles rely heavily on electronic systems. Expert technicians can troubleshoot and repair any electrical faults, from battery issues to complex wiring problems.

Brake Repairs: Safety is paramount, and brake system repairs should never be overlooked. Expert services can address any issues with brake pads, rotors, or fluid, ensuring your vehicle stops safely.

How to Identify When Your Mercedes Needs Repairs

Being aware of the signs that your Mercedes needs repairs can save you time and money:

Warning Lights: Pay attention to dashboard warning lights, as they indicate when something is wrong. Ignoring these signals can lead to more significant issues.

Unusual Noises: Strange noises, such as grinding or rattling, can signify mechanical problems. If you hear any odd sounds, it’s best to consult a professional.

Decreased Performance: If you notice a decline in performance, such as sluggish acceleration or poor handling, it may be time for a thorough inspection.

Fluid Leaks: Any signs of fluid leaks under your vehicle should be addressed immediately. Different fluids can indicate various problems, and a professional assessment is necessary.

Choosing the Right Mercedes Repair Specialist in Drummoyne

Finding the right repair specialist is essential for quality service:

Experience and Certification: Look for repair shops that specialize in Mercedes Benz vehicles. Certified technicians with experience in luxury cars are more likely to provide the expert care your vehicle requires.

Customer Reviews: Online reviews and testimonials can provide insight into the quality of service at a repair shop. A strong reputation in the Drummoyne community is a good indicator of reliable service.

Transparency and Communication: A reputable repair shop will provide clear communication regarding the services needed and the costs involved. They should be willing to explain any repairs thoroughly.

What Are the Long-Term Benefits of Expert Repairs?

Investing in expert repairs for your Mercedes Benz offers several long-term benefits:

Increased Longevity: Proper repairs and maintenance help extend the life of your vehicle, ensuring you can enjoy it for years to come.

Enhanced Resale Value: A well-maintained vehicle with a documented repair history retains its value better than one that has not received proper care. This documentation is valuable when it comes time to sell or trade your vehicle.

Peace of Mind: Knowing that your vehicle is in the hands of professionals gives you confidence in its safety and reliability, allowing you to enjoy your driving experience without worry.

Cost Savings: Addressing issues early through expert repairs can save you money in the long run. Preventative care reduces the likelihood of more extensive repairs down the line.

Conclusion

Expert Mercedes repairs in Drummoyne are vital for maintaining the performance and longevity of your luxury vehicle. By trusting your car to skilled technicians who specialise in Mercedes Benz, you ensure that it receives the care it deserves. Regular repairs and maintenance not only enhance your driving experience but also protect your investment. Don't hesitate to seek professional assistance at the first sign of trouble, and enjoy the unparalleled performance that comes with driving a well-maintained Mercedes Benz.

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Common Mercedes-Benz Alternator Failures: Specialized Repair and Maintenance Services for Optimal Electrical Performance

Mercedes-Benz vehicles are known for their luxury, precision engineering, and technological innovation. While these vehicles are built to exacting standards, components like the alternator can still experience issues over time. The alternator is a key part of the vehicle’s electrical system, responsible for powering various components and recharging the battery. A malfunctioning alternator can lead to a host of problems, from battery failure to the loss of power in essential systems.

In this article, we’ll explore common alternator failures in Mercedes-Benz vehicles, how to identify them, and the importance of specialized repair and maintenance services to ensure optimal electrical performance.

The Role of the Alternator in a Mercedes-Benz

The alternator in a Mercedes-Benz plays a crucial role in generating electrical power while the engine is running. It converts mechanical energy from the engine into electrical energy to power essential systems like the lights, air conditioning, infotainment, and electronic control units (ECUs). Additionally, it recharges the car’s battery, ensuring there is enough power to start the engine the next time you drive.

If the alternator malfunctions, it can cause a variety of electrical issues that affect the vehicle's overall performance and safety. Detecting early signs of alternator failure and addressing them promptly can prevent more serious problems down the road.

Common Mercedes-Benz Alternator Problems

    Battery Warning Light Activation

    One of the earliest signs of alternator trouble is the activation of the battery warning light on the dashboard. While this light may suggest a battery problem, it is often an indication of an alternator issue. The light typically appears when the alternator isn’t generating sufficient voltage, which affects the car’s ability to charge the battery properly. This warning should be taken seriously, as continued driving with a failing alternator can eventually lead to total battery drain and leave you stranded.

    Dim or Flickering Lights

    A failing alternator may struggle to provide consistent power to your vehicle’s electrical systems. This can result in dimming or flickering headlights, interior lights, or dashboard indicators. In some cases, you may notice that lights become brighter when accelerating and dimmer when idling, indicating that the alternator is not producing enough electricity at lower speeds. Dimming lights are an important red flag that your alternator is not functioning as it should.

    Dead Battery or Frequent Battery Replacements

    While batteries naturally lose their charge over time, a failing alternator can hasten this process. If your Mercedes-Benz experiences frequent dead batteries or you find yourself replacing the battery more often than usual, it’s likely that the alternator is not recharging it properly. In such cases, drivers often mistakenly replace the battery, only to find the new one drained again. A thorough diagnosis of the alternator is essential to avoid unnecessary battery replacements.

    Electrical System Malfunctions

    Mercedes-Benz vehicles are equipped with advanced electronics, including navigation systems, infotainment units, and climate control systems, all of which rely on the alternator for power. A faulty alternator can cause erratic behavior in these systems, such as malfunctioning or unresponsive electronics, radio or GPS issues, and sudden power loss in accessories like the power windows or sunroof. If you notice multiple electrical systems malfunctioning simultaneously, the alternator is a likely culprit.

    Strange Noises from the Engine Bay

    A failing alternator can sometimes produce unusual sounds from the engine bay. These sounds may include grinding, whining, or rattling noises, often caused by a damaged alternator bearing or worn-out internal components. While these noises can also indicate other engine problems, they should not be ignored, as they often signal that the alternator is close to failure and requires immediate attention.

    Stalling Engine or Difficulty Starting

    Since the alternator is responsible for maintaining the electrical charge of the battery, a failing alternator can lead to difficulty starting the engine or cause the engine to stall while driving. When the alternator isn’t supplying enough power, the vehicle may not have enough electrical energy to keep the engine running. This is particularly dangerous if the engine stalls while driving at high speeds or in heavy traffic. If your Mercedes-Benz exhibits this issue, have the alternator checked as soon as possible.

The Importance of Specialized Repair and Maintenance for Mercedes-Benz Alternators

When dealing with alternator problems in a Mercedes-Benz, it’s crucial to seek specialized repair services. Mercedes-Benz vehicles are equipped with advanced technology and precision components that require expert handling to ensure optimal performance. Here’s why specialized services are essential:

    Expert Technicians with Mercedes-Benz Experience

    Mercedes-Benz vehicles are engineered with unique specifications that not all technicians are trained to handle. Seeking specialized repair services means that your vehicle will be serviced by certified technicians with experience in diagnosing and repairing Mercedes-Benz alternator issues. These experts are trained in the brand’s specific systems and use the latest diagnostic tools to accurately identify and address problems.

    Use of Genuine Mercedes-Benz Parts

    Ensuring that your vehicle is repaired with genuine Mercedes-Benz parts is critical for maintaining the quality and longevity of your alternator. Specialized repair shops have access to OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts, which are specifically designed to meet the performance standards of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Using high-quality parts reduces the risk of future failures and guarantees that your vehicle operates at peak efficiency.

    Comprehensive Diagnostics

    Mercedes-Benz vehicles are equipped with complex electrical systems, and alternator issues can sometimes be difficult to diagnose. Specialized repair centers use advanced diagnostic tools to pinpoint the exact cause of electrical problems. This ensures that all potential issues are addressed, from alternator failure to related electrical system malfunctions. Accurate diagnosis minimizes downtime and ensures that repairs are done right the first time.

    Preventive Maintenance Services

    In addition to repairing a faulty alternator, specialized repair centers offer preventive maintenance services that help you avoid future problems. Regular inspections of the alternator, battery, and electrical system can catch early signs of wear and tear, allowing for timely repairs before they turn into costly failures. Preventive maintenance also includes checking and replacing belts, fluids, and other components that contribute to the alternator's efficiency.

How to Maintain Your Mercedes-Benz Alternator for Optimal Performance

Proper maintenance can help prolong the life of your alternator and prevent costly repairs. Here are some tips for keeping your Mercedes-Benz alternator in top condition:

    Regular Inspections: Have your alternator and electrical system inspected regularly, especially during routine maintenance services. Early detection of issues can save you from more significant problems later on.

    Check for Corrosion: Ensure that the alternator connections and battery terminals are clean and free from corrosion. Corroded terminals can impede the flow of electricity and cause alternator problems.

    Monitor Warning Signs: Pay attention to dashboard warning lights, unusual noises, and electrical malfunctions. Addressing these symptoms early can prevent more severe damage.

    Avoid Overloading Electrical Systems: Avoid excessive use of high-powered electrical accessories (like aftermarket audio systems) that can overburden the alternator.

Conclusion

The alternator is a vital component in the electrical system of your Mercedes-Benz, ensuring that all electronic systems function properly and that the battery remains charged. Recognizing the early signs of alternator failure—such as dimming lights, electrical malfunctions, or strange engine noises—and seeking specialized repair services is essential for maintaining the vehicle’s performance and reliability.

By relying on expert technicians, using genuine Mercedes-Benz parts, and staying proactive with preventive maintenance, you can keep your alternator functioning optimally and ensure a smooth, reliable driving experience.

[excluservice]

Pay Attention! 5 Ways to Detect a Faulty Timing Chain in Your Mercedes from Certified Mechanics in Rockville, MD

The timing chain in your Mercedes is one of the most important parts under the hood of your car that helps in synchronizing the action of the vital components of your high-end car. However, like other mechanical parts in your Mercedes, the timing chain is susceptible to failure.

The malfunctioning of the timing chain manifests in the form of different symptoms in your luxury car & here in this article, we will discuss about the signs of a faulty timing chain as shared with us by the certified mechanics in Rockville.

Misfiring Engine

The engine is the most important part of your Mercedes that generates the required power for your vehicle to move. The timing belt helps the crankshaft and the camshaft to function cohesively which helps in achieving optimum valve timing for the efficient functioning of the engine.

However, due to its nature of operation, over the years the timing chain will suffer a lot of wear and tear & would get stretched. This ultimately causes the timing chain to skip a gear on the camshaft or the crankshaft and leads to an engine misfire in your Mercedes.

In addition to the misfiring of the engine, you are also going to experience a lack of power from your engine. This signifies that the timing chain is damaged and needs to be replaced at the earliest. You should get in touch with a Mercedes specialist for the replacement of the faulty timing chain.

Starting Issues

Whenever there is an issue with the functioning of the timing chain, then you are going to face starting trouble in your vehicle. Most of the time it is observed that a damaged timing chain causes your engine not to start or your car to shut down while driving.

The damaged timing chain in your vehicle causes a loss of compression and this adversely affects the engine’s ability to turn over. In addition to that, you are also going to face intermittent stalling of your vehicle because the damaged timing chain also adversely affects the pistons of your engine.

The timing chain seriously affects the valve of your vehicle and they in turn cause catastrophic damage to the engine. A faulty timing chain needs to be tackled immediately because there are instances where a loose timing chain also damages other parts under the hood of the car by banging against these parts when you drive the car.

Meta Shavings in the Oil

The engine oil is one of the most crucial fluids in your Mercedes that is responsible for lubricating the various parts of the engine for their optimum functioning. The engine oil of your high-end car needs to be replaced every 3,000 to 5,000 miles for the efficient running of the engine.

Now, the failure of the timing chain is evident when small pieces of the broken timing chain find their way into the oil pan of your vehicle. Your Mercedes having a faulty timing chain becomes apparent when you get to see small pieces of metal inside the engine oil of your car while it is drained out.

However, there are also other issues like damaged cylinder head valves that can also cause the presence of metal shavings in the oil. You should take your Mercedes to a certified repair shop for getting the problem diagnosed & fixed as soon as possible.

Unusual Sound

Now, there are seldom any instances where you are going to hear anything unusual from under the hood of your Mercedes. However, with a faulty timing chain in your high-end car, you are going to hear an unusual rattling sound coming from under the hood while driving.

The rattling sound is caused due to excess vibration because of the faulty timing chain and the rattling is particularly evident when you are idling.

Illumination of Warning Light

There are numerous warning lights located on the dashboard of your car and the check engine light is one such warning light. Whenever the timing chain of your car is damaged and needs to be replaced with a new one, then the check engine light is going to flash on the dashboard.

However, the problem with the check engine light is that it can illuminate due to a host of different factors & can only be diagnosed by a certified mechanic with the help of advanced tools and an error code reader.

Finally

The above-discussed factors are the top 5 signs associated with a faulty timing chain in your Mercedes. Now, most of the time drivers try to avoid the issue & drive on and this is why their cars suffer irreversible damage. You must immediately get in touch with a trusted automotive repair shop for addressing the bad timing belt.

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At A Distance, Spring Is Green -BL Version (Yeo Jun x Nam Soo Hyun): Chapter 3 : To Judge And Be Judged

Yeo Jun was walking from the quad, heading to his next class when he spotted a familiar car.

That Whiter Mercedes E Class looked like---- The horn that honked next was just a little more proof and if that wasn't enough, he as absolutely sure when the door opened and the driver alighted.

Today he was wearing all black, his dark hair swept across his forehead, sitting atop brown eyes that never wore any kind of emotion.

"Jun Wan" The name just came instinctively to his lips. He looked at that stoic face "Are you here to see me?"

"Like that'll ever happen." that monotone responded.

Jun felt a pang in his chest. "Figures.There's no reason for you to come see me."

"I've been transferred here." his older brother informed him. "I'll start giving lectures next week." Jun didn't respond. "Pretend like you don't know me." This string of words was a directive.

With nothing else to say, Jun Wan turned and left.

Yeo Jun stood in place and watched him go. Only when that car had disappeared, did he finally release the breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding.Seeing Jun Wan appear so suddenly had rattled him a little. In this moment he wasn't focused on anything but that brief interaction so he was completely oblivious to the pair of eyes watching from under a straight bang.

The next Day

The sound of his alarm roused him from slumber.

6:00 am.

Soo Hyun rolled out of bed, using every ounce of his willpower not to cover himself once more with the blanket.

To say he was tired would be an understatement. He'd returned from his shift at the mini mart a little after 2 a.m. It seemed he'd only just closed his eyes and it was already time to wake up and get going.

Get going he did if he didn't want to miss bus to take him to university's shuttle pickup spot or the shuttle bus to the university that would get him to class on time.

He hurriedly showered, got dressed and grabbed everything he would need for the day ahead.

Thankfully he managed to catch his bus on time.During the 30 minute ride, Soo Hyun's eyes drooped and he nodded off more than a couple of times, desperate for just one more wink of sleep.

When he exited that bus, he sprinted to the designated spot for the university shuttle. He checked his watch. 8:01. He would make it in time.

CLASS CANCELLATION NOTICE.

The words sat in the middle of the sheet posted on the door.

Soo Hyun heaved a heavy sigh. After all he'd gone through to get here.

"Soo Hyun." a voice called out to him as he stood staring at the sign. He turned slowly to look at Yeo Jun "Gosh.If I had known, I would have slept in.Right?"

Without a word, Soo Hyun walked away.

"Now that I think about it. I haven't really thank you." Jun walked after him. "I could have gotten into big trouble that night if it had not been for you. Thanks for helping."

Soo Hyun was frustrated. He suddenly stopped walking and turned to the one being a pest.

"I get that you're used to people being kind to you but I wasn't trying to help you. You have an overinflated ego."

Yeo Jun looked at him. "So were you helping that girl? Soo Bin?"

Soo Hyun resumed walking down the hall.

"Gosh.How annoying." he heard the words from Yeo Jun that stopped him in his tracks.He turned to face him once more. "The way you look at me as if you know everything." He gazed at Soo Hyun in a way he'd never done before "It's disgusting."  Soo Hyun tilted his head thoughtfully to the side. He had his attention.

"You're so crooked you won't even accept other people's acts of kindness." Yeo Jun continued  "How dare you judge me? You don't know anything about me." That smile of his was gone and his voice now had a certain chill to it Soo Hyun had never heard before. "What gives you the right?" He wasn't really asking "I treated you like my senior because I pitied you, but you disgust me."

They held each other's gazes for a few moments before something truly strange happened.

"That's better." Soo Hyun replied, his lips pulling into a smile that disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. "It was hard seeing you act so pretentious."

They were back to holding each other's gazes.

This staredown was only interrupted by the sudden appearance of Kim Soo Bin who seemed to be running breathless to the shared class that was now cancelled.

With Soo Bin's arrival Soo Hyun turned on his heels and left, without a backward glance.Yeo Jun watched that dark head of hair leave, as he had done what seemed like countless times now.

It was roughly 10 am when Soo Hyun made it back to the apartment he shared with his younger brother.

"You're early."Nam Koo Hyun greeted his brother as he ate the noodles he'd just cooked. "Hold on." He looked at Soo Hyun and realized he was wet. "Didn't you have an umbrella?You should have called me."

Soo Hyun inspected himself. "It was just a drizzle."

"Have you eaten?"

Soo Hyun looked first at his brother and then at the little table in their crappy apartment. He was eating cheap noodles and canned fish.

Suddenly, he was hit with a memory centered on that person with gleaming golden hair. The way he'd effortlessly handed 100,000.00 to Soo Hyun that day after class. His heart itched.

"I guess you haven't." Koo Hyun pulled him back to the present. "I'll make you some ramyeon." His brother stood to his feet.

"Koo Hyun,Why don't we  order something nice today?"

Koo Hyun's face lit up. "Really? Is it a special occasion?"

"Order what you want." He instructed

"Sweet!" His brother didn't hesitate to pick up the phone to begin dialling.

A little smile graced Soo Hyun's lips as he looked at his brother.If it was even this much, atleast he could do it.

"Remember to chew." Soo Hyun admonished as he watched his brother devouring the takeout with gusto.

"Is it a special occasion?" Koo Hyun asked, with a mouth full of noodles. "Is someone adopting me?"

"As if anyone would." teased

"Better me than you." his brother teased back before stuffing a piece of chicken into his already full mouth.

Soo Hyun smiled, enough to show the dimples not many people knew he had since he rarely smiled.

"Koo-Hyun."

His brother slowed his eating and looked up at him "The deeper tone is worrying me."

"I'm sorry."

"About what?"

Koo Hyun was suddenly exasperated as he looked at his older brother. "Darn it.You're wearing my underwear again aren't you." he accused.

Soo Hyun smiled again. "Just eat up."

His brother sprang to his feet. "I'm right. Get over here."

Soo Hyun darted to his feet and dashed around the table to evade his brother's clutches. "Is it my favourite?" Koo Hyun questioned.

"Stop it." Soo Hyun continued to avoid being caught.

"Give it back then." Koo Hyun whined, forgetting about the food as he chased his brother around the tiny apartment.

The two laughed as they each dodged the other's clutches. Outside the rain continued to blanket their window.

After Koo Hyun had stuffed himself silly, he decide to take a nap. It was still raining but Soo Hyun decided to take a walk.

Grabbing his umbrella, he left the little apartment and headed outside with no particular destination in mind.

He was glad he could have bought good food for Koo Hyun to enjoy today. Sadly, it was not an opportunity that would come often, simply because he couldn't afford to. He still had parts of his tuition fees, books, his father's debts, rent and both his mother and Koo Hyun to take care of.

Soo Hyun wasn't sure why that guy had suddenly popped into his head. Maybe at that moment he wished that he too could just pull out 100,000 that freely.

Tsk. He clicked his tongue. Fate had not dealt him such a fortune.

Finding himself in an alleyway, he sat under an open verandah and shuttered his umbrella.

That guy. That guy and his words floated back to him like spectres.

"I know you had alot of pride, but you're actually pretty insecure."

"You're so crooked you won't even accept other people's acts of kindness."

"How dare you judge me? You don't know anything about me. What gives you the right?" 

"I treated you like my senior because I pitied you, but you disgust me."

Those words. What was with him and those words? Soo Hyun had never cared what other people thought about him before. That was also mainly because though he knew what people said of him and behind his back, no one had confronted him the way Yeo Jun had.

Soo Hyun frowned as he continued to watch the rain.

"Don't drink too much guys!"

"Cheers." 

The people at Yeo Jun's table clinked their glasses for the millionth time.

Jun downed the contents in his glass,feeling like this cup in his hand-----empty.

With a dazed expression he watched the group, each person at  a different stage of drunkenness.

"We're out of booze right?" Chun Guk lifted the bottle to confirm. After which he called out for two more bottles to be brought.

"Are you anxious?"  Those words suddenly floated back to him

"You need everyone to like you,but I get on your nerves." 

"The way that you act like you know me is revolting." Jun thought to himself

"That's better. It was hard seeing you act so pretentious." And he had actually smiled.

What was with him and those words? Who did he think he was ?

"Once more! Let's raise our glasses!" His table got rowdy again with the new batch of drinks.

He pulled himself from his musings , affixed his smile and clinked his glass.

What did that guy know about him?

"You're going already?" Koo Hyun questioned as he watched his brother gathering his things. "But you worked all night."

Soo Hyun put another book in his bag. "I can sleep on the bus."

He'd just finished when something caught his eye on the shelf. Shifting the container sitting atop it, he retrieved the book. Criminal Law Case Studies.

Soo Hyun sighed deeply.

"What's this?"

Koo Hyun grabbed the book, hiding it behind his back.

"Tell me."

"It's none of your business."

"Unbelievable." He looked at his watch. Delaying any further would put him in a world of problems. "We'll talk about this later."

"Mom already knows." Koo Hyun announced as Soo Hyun was leaving. He turned and looked at his brother. "She approved and said I could talk to you.I didn't because I knew you'd be against it." 

"What about college?" Soo Hyun asked.

"I don't go to a fancy one like you do and can't get scholarships.Graduating a dingy school with mediocre grades won't help me find  job."

"The police academy is no joke." Soo Hyun pointed out. "You'll also need money for classes.So just finish college and ---"

Koo Hyun didn't allow him to finish. "Say what you want, but i've made up my mind.I'm moving into a gosiwon next month." 

"Koo Hyun!"

His baby brother ignored him.Sitting at his desk, he put his headphones on.

Soo Hyun sighed.

His journey to school was unsettling . Knowing what his brother planned to do next yanked him by the collar into the past.

Back to that coffin laden with flowers with that smiling face in uniform looking at him while tears streamed down his face.Back to the dejected faces of his mother and younger brother as they sat in the corner of the room.

This wasn't where his problems had begun, but this one event had made his life infinitely worse.Still. What was the point of pitying himself?Neither his, nor the pity of anyone else ever made is life any better.

The world doesn't want to see what youth really looks like.

It's why we can only imitate what grown-ups do by following the rules to a certain point and not wasting our time

We put on a mask on top of the mask we're already wearing and try ever so hard to keep our rue selves hidden.

Spring has always been just a rumor since we're constantly stuck in winter.

Class was back insession the following day and Yeo Jun presented himself early.Meeting Kim Soo Bin at the door, they walked in together amidst the ogling eyes and blushings cheeks that were commonplace whenever girls saw him.

"Jun!" Gung-ho called out to him from his usual place.

"Hi." he waved to his friends. Having seen that Soo Hyun had already arrived, Jun took the empty seat beside him.

Gung-Ho and Chun Guk exchanged glances but they would not be defeated.

"Jun! Jun!" they kept calling. "We saved you a seat."

Soo Hyun, whose head was laid on the desk until now, looked up and glanced at Jun.

"Sorry about that." Yeo Jun replied to his friends. "But I forgot my contacts today."

Soo Hyun was still looking at him.

"Oh." he turned his attention to Soo Hyun. "I brought coffee. It's to apologize to you for last time. I was out of line." He took the cup and placed it before him. "Enjoy the coffee and forget it happened."

Nam Soo Hyun looked at him before retrieving his backpack and moving one seat ahead.When he was safely away from Yeo Jun, he rested his head on the desk once more.

The professor arrived shortly thereafter and the class passed uneventfully. From his place behind Soo Hyun, looked at the back of that head. He also looked at his profile whenever he turned his head ever so slightly. Regardless of his bad personality, he really was handsome. The way his hair sat just above his brow, the flawless slope of his nose.Even his ears were kind of cute.

If he had a more agreeable personality, Jun was sure he would be more popular -- for the right reasons.

Yeo Jun watched the way Soo Hyun held his pen. The way he seemed to be paying rapt attention and taking notes was fascinating.

"Anyway. That's all for today's class." Professor Park announced, signalling the end of the session. "Oh. That reminds me.I forgot to mention this during the last class but I am assigning you team projects for your mid-term evaluation."

There was a collective groan from the class.

"Quiet." The professor settled his students. "I'll let you choose your team though and the project can be about anything.The team leader will inform me of the topic you choose next week and we'll draw names to determine the order of the presentations."

The student groaned again, complaints abounding.

"What about those with no friends in this class?" a student asked.

"Sometimes life boils down to the connections you have." Professor Park replied. "The experience of forcing yourself to team up with other students who share the same goal will become an asset." 

Yeo Jun raised his hand. "But professor. I'm a freshman."

"Isn't this class for juniors?"

"It is." Soo Hyun confirmed 

"Which is why I should be teamed up with someone who gets good grades." Jun spoke up.

"He must be referring to Soo Hyun." Professor Park observed, scratched the back of his neck, his lollipop sticking artfully between his fingers. He looked at Soo Hyun.  "He's your responsibility now." Yeo Jun smiled.

"Professor that's---" Soo Hyun began to object.

Another voice was similarly raised. 

"Professor!" Gung-ho raised his hand. "I'll lead Jun to a good grade."

Yeo Jun's smile evaporated.

"You Han Gung-ho? Professor Park stuck his lollipop back into his mouth.

"I'm old enough to know what I'm doing."

"Soo Hyun. You now have another member on your team. "Professor Park announced.

Nam Soo Hyun turned in his seat and looked at Han Gung-ho who seemed quite pleased with himself. Next he looked at Yeo Jun, who was wearing a tease of a smile again.

With this settled, Professor Park enquired if anyone else needed help being put on a team. Maybe they were scared of also being put on Soo Hyun's team so no one said another word.

Class dismissed.

"Hey. Nam Soo Hyun!" Gung-ho called out in the hallway to the figure walking just ahead of him.

Soo Hyun halted and turned to face him.

"What was with that scowl?" Gung-ho sneered. "We both may be juniors but I am a year older than you. So what was with that scowl?"

Soo Hyun stared at him blankly, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"Not that again. Why you---" Gung-ho was irritated as he stepped towards Soo Hyun.

Yeo Jun, who was also in their company grabbed on to his hand.

"Gung-ho please. We're on the same team now."

"How can I possibly work with that jerk?" Gung-ho griped, looking at Soo Hyun who had not even flinched.

"You have me, remember." Jun tried to smooth things over.

Gung-ho slapped a hand on Jun's shoulder. "Right. Just remember to take your cues from me and Chun Guk and run errands." Gung-ho smiled. "Hye Ji, just follow my lead." he addressed the lone girl in their group.

"Sure. Sure." the response came. "Does that make me the only girl?" she pondered aloud.

"And we're one person short." Chun Guk commented "Jun is also a freshman."

"Wait a second." Nam Soo Hyun stopped the person who was trying to slink past the group in the hallway.

Kim Soo Bin stopped.

"Are you already in a team?" he asked.

"Not yet."

"How about you join ours?" Seeing that she looked hesitant, Soo Hyun continued. "I need someone I can trust on the team."

"Are you saying that you can't trust us?" Gung-ho was offended.

"Someone who works hard." Soo Hyun continued to address Soo Bin. "I wouldn't mind having you on our team."

"If this is about the project we did in the past, I'm okay." Soo Bin replied.

"I don't get swayed by frivolous things.I liked the work you did so I want you to join us. Please think about it."

"What's there to think about?" Yeo Jun stepped in. "Just join us."

As though the matter was settled, he looked at the group. "Let's go. Our first meeting should be somewhere fancy."

Off they went...

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 6, Part 4

Time to investigate if my Chopra's need any extra support!

CW: Mean nanny, distressed infant

If Viola is attempting to say something it will be in brackets, otherwise you can assume it's just trying out sounds Savannah aka Honeybee Mercedes aka Little Ladybug Viola aka Green Bean

I think Viola is about to unlock her sleep through the night milestone when-

Cluckton: *crows* Hear ye, hear ye! It is dawn, 5:10am with a chance of showers! Get up everyone! New Years eve!

Rahul gets up but it would appear Cluckton’s crows haven’t disturbed Cassandra. Rahul knows she only got up to pump a few hours ago so has likely slept less than two hours since. Best thing to do is let her sleep. He didn’t have to get up to tend to Viola in the night so he is happy to go and see her before the day gets underway.

Rahul: Good morning Viola! Did my big brave green bean survive the rain

Viola: ee ee ap (yes papa)

Rahul: Now mama is sleeping but I know she’ll be excited to see you. For now papa can give you breakfast and a change

As normal Viola is delighted to find the teet of a milk bottle pressed to her lips and greedily downs the milk. After burping Rahul changes her diaper and puts her in some day clothes.

Rahul: Now mama, papa, Savannah and Mercedes have to go out this morning so you’re going to get a very nice lady who will come look after you

Viola: *whimpers*

Rahul: Don’t worry, we’ll all be here for a bit yet. Now sit down here and I can get you a rattle. Look, it’s a cute little bunny! We have bunnies in the garden, I think you’ll love them green bean

New Years Eve is here and so are the clouds!

Mercedes: Mama, mama lift! Want snuggle

Cassandra scoops up Mercedes and gives her a snuggle and kiss before placing her in the high chair.

Savannah: Me next mama

Cassandra lifts Savannah and snuggles her. She blows a raspberry on her stomach making the toddler giggle before placing her in her chair. She looks around and lastly lifts Viola gently to her seat.

Rahul: What do we want for breakfast ladies

Twins: EGGS

Rahul: Scrambled eggs it is

Mercedes: NO PLEASE PAPA

Rahul: There is no need to yell. Now what do you mean ladybug

Savannah: We like folded egg

Mercedes: When papa make pretty

Rahul: Omlettes? Eggs with filling folded up?

Mercedes: YES PAPA

Rahul sets about making the breakfast while the twins babble to each other. Cassandra uses the lull to have a shower and Viola takes her time to see if she can see anything in the room. It looks like the only thing in focus apart from her siblings is the ice bucket on the counter. She doesn’t know what it is but she likes the shiny!

Rahul: Here we are team, folded eggs

Savannah: YAY!

Rahul: Now Mercedes, what must we remember

Mercedes: Food no fly

Rahul: That’s right, good memory. Now make sure you eat it before it gets cold. When we’re done we and mama have a special mission

Mercedes: *dubious* What

Savannah: *through food* Will it be fun

Rahul: What do you think darling

Cassandra: We’ll all show up with our good attitudes and make it fun

Mercedes: *still dubious* what

Rahul: You’ll see now eat up

The twins are delighted to learn Viola will not be coming on this adventure. They always prefer to have their parents to themselves. After a big hug they both notice Viola has drifted off to sleep in her chair. They look around then Savannah carefully tiptoes until she’s right beside the chair. On Mercedes signal she throws the biggest loudest tantrum she can, waking Viola up.

Rahul: Savannah! What have I told you about waking your sister up!

Mercedes: But Viola poopy face

The twins burst into laughter and Rahul mutters under his breath. After he gives them both a firm telling off Cassandra takes them to get ready.

Cassandra: It's probably a no but does anyone need a new diaper

Mercedes: Me mama!

Cassandra: I thought we had almost mastered the potty skill

Mercedes: I like mama time

Cassandra sighs and snuggles her cleaned up toddler.

Savannah: Mama where we go

Cassandra: You remember how we saw the doctor yesterday to make sure our bodies were healthy? Today we’re going to see another doctor who will make sure our brains are healthy

The twins share a conspiratory smirk. Of course this mission won’t include Viola. She doesn’t have a brain to check.

The previous default nanny passed away this week so the Chopra household is the first to meet Alana.

(I would like to state for the record here that she was angry and bitter before interacting with the children. My kids are not 100% responsible for this attitude. I just went with it. Okay, back to the story)

After some time playing with the blocks Viola realises she hasn’t seen any humans for a while. Feeling sad she begins to cry, hoping that mama or papa will appear to comfort her. Her wailing eventually brings in Alana.

Alana: What the f- What is your problem? I’m here now, calm down

Viola: *wails* ga nee do (I don't know you)

Alana: Should have known my first job would be with a rich spoiled brat. What do you want? Your parents said you were just fed and changed

Viola cries and stretches her little arms upwards. What she needs is a nice soothing cuddle.

Alana: The heck is that supposed to mean? Look I know you can’t be hungry or soiled so pull yourself together and stop crying

Viola sniffles and wipes her tears from under her glasses. Why won’t this lady just pick her up? She loves being carried and desperately wants a cuddle. Are her parents gone forever? Will she ever see them again?

Alana eventually scoops her up, still trying to shush her.

Alana: Now it can’t be that bad can it?

Viola: *through tears* ma pa ew na (Do mama and papa still love me)

Alana sighs and begins trying to cheer Viola up by tickling her tummy and every so often going, cochie coochie coo. Viola only gets more distressed however and begins trying to bat her hand away.

Alana: Oh you little stuck up ship, stop sulking

To the surprise of nobody with a brain this is not at all comforting to Viola. The next time Alana’s finger dances along her chin she grabs for it. She may not have teeth just yet but she can chomp down on it as hard as her gums allow.

Alana: Gah! That hurt!

Viola: ne da boo (Are my parents alive)

Alana: I have had enough of this nonsense. If you’re so grumpy you clearly need a nap. Where the heck are your sleep clothes

After rifling through drawers Alana finds the regular night onesie and gets Viola out of her day clothes. Laying Viola down in the crib she tries to soothe her to sleep and switches on the mobile. Seeing Viola relax with the lullaby she storms off, grabbing the dirty laundry to wash. Viola falls into a restful sleep filled with dreams featuring her beloved family, yes even her sisters are there.

The girls have their results. Eldest Savannah appears to have a motor delay so the psychiatrist recommends occupational therapy for her. Mercedes however has a speech language delay. Can I just say I LOVE that the mod gave her this because she didn’t say her first word until she was a toddler! It fits. Anyway speech therapy is recommended for her. Cassandra and Rahul take the girls to their first sessions and both twins feel optimistic afterwards.

Previous ... Next

[wmucody]

The sound of a tennis ball connecting with the dorm ceiling echoed the room. Again, again, and again. Cody couldn't count how many times he had repeated this action. He was in autopilot mode. There was too many thoughts racing through his head for him to make sense of, so he decided to just ignore them. His focus maintained on the thudding of the ball and the feeling of its impact when he caught it in his hand again.

His night was disrupted with drunken messages from Mercedes, someone who at one time was held in such close proximity to his heart. She was one of the first friends that Cody made at William McKinley. It was nice to find that connection within someone in a terrifyingly new place. He catches himself pondering from time to time, whether it be in the shower or in a ghost shift at work, maybe all the drama and the friendship could have been saved if he knew how to stop his flirtatious behaviours. Yet here he was again, in the same situation, with the same old friend.

Cody finally dropped the ball onto his bed at the sound of his door being rattled. Pushing himself to his feet, his grey joggers returned to their natural length after being bundled upwards from Cody's resting position. His bare torso was sensitive to the cold air in the dorm room. Opening the door to Mercedes, his body tensed ever so slightly. "Cedes," Cody greeted the other. "Wasn't expecting you to be conscious for the next couple days after your drunk shenanigans." He gestured for her to come in before walking over to his desk. The ring was placed on top of his favourite book, the cover creased due to the numerous readings, he knew wouldn't lose it if it was sitting there; something that he was prone to doing with many of his own items.

"There you go". The words fell coldly out of Cody's mouth as his hand extended out towards Mercedes. His voice and body language showed he was closed off after their previous conversations.

She was hung over. Perhaps that wasn't the right word for the hell she's put herself through the evening prior. Mercedes Jones wasn't a drinker, but last night she had let loose in a futile attempt to forget the craziness that was her life, and it has backfired. Drastically. Her phone should have been taken away, judging from the state of her text messages, especially to Cody. Things with him hadn't always been so complicated. Back in the day they had been best friends, and then feelings had to go and ruin it.

They hadn't spoken in months and yet as soon as the door had been reopened, whatever resolve she had convinced herself she possesses, crumbled. Just like it always did when it came to him.

Despite her better judgement, and her sore body practically screaming at her to not leave the confines of her bed, she made her way to Cody's dorm room; where just days ago she has sought some semblance of refuge from herself.

Shaky hands smoothed at the fabric of her leggings before she raised a hand to knock on the door. She would get her ring and leave. She'd leave him alone. It would be easier for both of them.

@wmucody

[zoeykallus]

Somehow, I thought about the batch + Rex and cars.

What car would they drive?

How they behave when you drive?

And how they drive? I can imagine that tech is a pretty good and careful driver but when you are in an hurry, oh boy. And Echo has a problem with road rage and comment every other driver (there are rules!), but tries hard to keep calm....

PS: Deine Geschichten sind immer gut zum runter kommen. Grüße aus Deutschland;)

Okay this is a newer request and I'm picking it out to do before the others because I already actually thought about this and made some notes on it, weeks ago. Now I can finally use those notes :D The first time I ever made notes for something I write ^^'

Wo kommen denn nun all die Deutschen her? XD Grüße zurück! Freut mich sehr das zu lesen :D

The Bad Batch Headcanons - Cars And Driving

Hunter

Affordable Car: A muscle car. It's a guilty pleasure, but he loves the soul and beauty of old American muscle. He knows they drink fuel like hell, but as mentioned before. It's a guilty pleasure. He'd probably be going with an old Dodge Charger, 1970 440 ci or R/T. It's raw, it's powerful, it's loud and yet elegant.

Look

Look

Car if he had the money: Same car. His guilty pleasure is more or less affordable, so why pick any other car?

How he drives: Hunter is a cruiser. His car is loud and big, it's raw in itself. He doesn't need to race around to be seen. Besides, he's not the kind of guy who feels the need to be seen. It's more about the feeling of driving that car. Feeling the vibration of the V8 engine, the growling sound. Imagine him behind the wheel of such a car, hot damn.

I owned that car once by the way ^^'

When you drive: He's relaxed. Unless you are a hasty or nervous driver. He's not the kind to tell you how to drive or anything like that. He's actually a decent co-driver.

Echo

Affordable Car: Probably an older and used Volvo V70. He's all about safety, especially when he's driving with you. Volvo ha a great reputation of building safe cars. The V70 has a lot of space, for guests, kids or pets. Just in case, you know.

Look

Car if he had the money: The newest Volvo V60, with all extras possible. You know, he's actually a Volvo Fan.

Look

How he drives: Echo is calm and collected. Mostly. As long as no other idiot breaks any rules. He's fiery commenting on idiots breaking rules, but he's not cursing. At least, he tries not to. Driving by the book is his motto.

When you drive: Remember, he loves you, and you love him. He's nervous when he's not driving himself. Telling you when you are 2 miles too fast, reminds you of every sign. Tell's you when to hit the brakes and so much more. Very annoying, wouldn't recommend.

Wrecker

Affordable Car: An old, used Ford pickup truck. It's simple, it's big. Kinda like him. He can transport stuff with it and that's pretty much all he needs.

Look

Car if he had the money: Inkas Sentry. A Canadian beauty build for SWAT Teams and Military. Armored and Off-road fit. Under the hood sits a massive 6.7-liter turbo diesel with eight cylinders and 367 hp. 4WD is standard, and there is room for eight people in the cabin. He doesn't need that beautiful beast, but he wants it.

Look

How he drives: He's chaotic but relaxed too. In traffic, he keeps his calm, he's not that easy to rattle. But if he gets the chance to drive Off-road, he goes nuts. You don't want to be his co-driver when he leaves the road. Break-neck maneuvers and speed, he loves to make the car jump.

When you drive: Layed back and relaxed. No matter how you drive. He is used to Tech's driving and flying. He regularly falls asleep when you drive longer than an hour.

Tech

Affordable Car: He likes German cars. No, not BMW and not Mercedes either. Audi. Aside from the fact that BMW and Mercedes are generally expensive, he does prefer the Audi Design. An old, used Audi A3 is his got to car.

Look

Car if he had the money: 2020 Audi RS7 Sportback (C8) - 600hp/800nm - V8 4.0 TwinTurbo Mild Hybrid. 0-100kmh(62mph): 3.38sec(tested), 3.6sec (official), Top Speed: 305km/h (191mph) Strong, fast, pretty, all extras. He loves that car, almost treats it like a lady. Almost.

Look

How he drives: He knows the rules, but he likes to break them. He drives pretty fast. He's got everything under control, but he likes it speedy and a bit risky. Don't eat before you drive with him, might be better for everyone involved, including the car.

When you drive: He gets travel sickness when he doesn't drive himself, he can't look at his holopad without throwing up, you both learned that the hard way. So he is focused on you. He talks a lot, telling you something about everything he sees while you drive. He can't help it, his brain needs food, and right now he can't do anything but talk to you.

Crosshair

Affordable Car: None. If he can't get his dream car, he doesn't want one.

Car if he had the money: A 2018 Aston Martin Vanquish S. V12.

5.9-liter V12 pumping out 580 hp and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm). Drive is sent through the rear wheels courtesy of an eight-speed automatic transmission. An elegant beast.

Look

How he drives: Despite owning a race machine, he's not a speeder at all. He's surprisingly average at driving, unless he wants to show off in front of you. The car is pretty and fun, but to let the beast out from under the hood, he likes to go on racetracks, and rent some time to drive a few rounds, but you'll never see him speed in normal traffic. He doesn't really want or need that.

When you drive: Very quiet. The only thing you might hear from time to time is a passive-aggressive sigh or grunt when you drive in a way he doesn't like.

Rex

Affordable Car: Any older used car. He really doesn't care much, he takes what he can get and afford. Most likely an old Ford or Kia. The car is not that important for him, and it's certainly not a status symbol, like it is for so many others.

Car if he has the money: Well, if he had the money and could actually really choose, he'd pick a classic car. He likes the vintage charm. Some 1956 Cadillac Fleetwood will do. He's a huge Elvis fan by the way.

Look

How he drives: Calm, collected, sticking to the rules. He's a cruiser like Hunter. He's quick to judge and lecture others about their driving, though.

When you drive: Rex is pretty much the same as Hunter, he is pretty quiet and relaxed as long as you are too.

Personally I love the cars Hunter and Tech picked, but I'd rather drive with Hunter.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@meshla-madalene

@chxpsi

@thebahdbitch

@nahoney22 @ladykatakuri

@darkangel4121

@ttzamara

@arctrooper69

@padawancat97

@agenteliix

@puppetswithteeth