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comicgeekscomicgeek · 5 years ago

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Their Hero Academia – Chapter 46: Doctor’s Orders

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Kimiko Ojiro put a hand on the boy’s arm and concentrated, drawing upon her Quirk. She had to keep this controlled, confined to just one area. As she did, the layers of skin, muscle, and other bodily gunk seemed to just vanish, eliciting a gasp from the boy. It was, even she’d admit, kind of gross. Especially the part where she could see all the muscles and stuff. On the other hand, it was the perfect way to see the bones beneath.

“Okay, I’ve only been doing this a little while,” she said, “but that is definitely broken. I’m ninety-nine percent certain you shouldn’t have a gap there.”

Hisashi Horikoshi, a General Studies student with a drawing-related Quirk, winced. “Any chance you can turn that off? I really don’t like looking at it.”

At that, Doctor Izumi chuckled. “It is a bit strange, isn’t it?” she asked. “But Ojiro here has already saved us a quite a lot on running the X-Ray machine. And it’s easier on you too if there’s no radiation.”

And good for Kimiko too, she had to admit. Doctor Izumi had arranged for a small stipend for her for whenever she’d needed Kimiko’s services as an X-Ray machine. It wasn’t a lot, but it put a few extra dollars in her pocket, and she got some additional experience.

Being Doctor Izumi’s Intern wasn’t too different from what she’d been doing before. Ever since the doctor had gotten her interested in becoming a Medical Hero, Kimiko had spent what time she could studying medical texts, preparing to earn a paramedic’s license, and assisting Doctor Izumi with minor injuries on the U.A. campus. Between that, Hero training, her regular classes, and working on her webshow with Takuma and Kenta, she had a very full schedule.

The studying was going to be the death of her, she just knew it. She was probably somewhere around the middle of the pack in grades, but she needed to do better. Especially if she wanted to be a Medical Hero. There were accelerated programs for Heroes who wanted medical training, she knew, after she graduated, but she had also been warned that they were very demanding. Doctor Kimiko Ojiro had a pretty nice ring to it though, so she was going to give it her best.

Plus, it made her feel like she was really doing something with her Quirk. Something more than just sneaking around. She was proud of the work her mom did, but she didn’t want to be completely defined by being invisible.

“It’s a clean break, fortunately,” Doctor Izumi told Horikoshi. “How did this happen again?”

“Gym class,” he said, looking a bit ashamed. “Fell off the climbing rope and landed on it. Not, ah, real good at climbing.”

“Oh, that’s not so bad!” Kimiko said. She’d been doing it for years. Sure, she didn’t have quite the upper body strength her dad did for it, but she was more than athletic enough to do it without even needing to get her feet involved.

“For you, maybe,” he said. “Those of us not in the Hero course have to make do.”

Kimiko opted not to point out that her new friend Kocho wasn’t in the Hero Course yet but had done good enough to take Third Place in the Sport’s Festival. Horikoshi had actually made it past the first round as well, she recalled, but had gotten taken out very early into Quirkball.

Doctor Izumi examined the break again, then nodded. “You’ll feel a slight tingle here,” she said, laying a hand on Horikoshi’s arm, right above the break. “Can you keep holding on, Ojiro? It’ll be even easier on me if you do.”

“Sure thing,” Kimiko said, not even bothering to nod. It would have been a useless gesture anyway.

“Thank you,” Doctor Izumi said. “Hmm. Probably about fifteen minutes…” A soft glow began to spread from her hand and it was all Kimiko could do not to grasp in shock as the glow spread to Horikoshi and the bones in his arm began knitting themselves back together, as though the damage was going in reverse. Kimiko had a pretty good eye for detail—a necessity when you couldn’t see yourself—and it was so much more than that. She could see little signs of the rest of him rewinding as well. Not a lot, but the smudge on his face, the disheveled state of his hair, all these things rewound too. In mere moments, it looked as though his arm had never been broken at all. Doctor Izumi let out a breath and released him.

“Perfect,” she told Kimiko. Kimiko likewise let out a breath. Doctor Izumi’s Quirk was impressive, to say the least. It was little wonder that in addition to working at U.A., she kept herself on call for multiple Hero Agencies and several local hospitals. She’d even occasionally been raced across the country for special cases.

Which was not to say all her talents lived in her Quirk. Kimiko had already seen that her medical knowledge was very real. Most diseases couldn’t be so easily rewound and there were limits to the damage she could repair.

“Thank goodness,” Horikoshi said. “That was my drawing arm. Don’t know what I would have done otherwise.”

Doctor Izumi smiled. “Glad to hear it. Go get a pass from Recovery Girl, and get back to class.”

“Yes, Doctor,” Horikoshi said, hopping down off the bed.

Kimiko watched him go. Recovery Girl was nearby, sleeping at her desk. “You’re pure evil,” she said in her sleep. “Just like newspaper comics…”

Horikoshi hesitated, then gently touched her. Her hand instantly shot out, grapping his arm. “Ah ha! Thought you could sneak up on me, eh? But I’ve got you now, Dirty Dairu! Ha ha ha!”

“Recovery Girl,” Doctor Izumi said, firmly, “he’s a student. Could you let him go?”

Reality seemed to return to Recovery Girl. “Oh, of course, dearie.” She patted Horikoshi’s arm. “Don’t worry about it, sonny, takes me a minute to remember where I am sometimes.”

Once Horikoshi was gone and Recovery Girl had returned to her nap, Kimiko gave Doctor Izumi a curious look. She tried to telegraph that with her crossed arms and other body language. “Ah,” she began, “maybe this is rude of me… but should she really… be around students like that?”

Doctor Izumi closed her eyes and shook her head. “Recovery Girl outlived her family. Deku and a lot of other alumni have all offered to pay for a place in a top tier retirement home for her, but she won’t have it. U.A. is all she has. At least here, she has people who will watch out for her. And even with her diminishing faculties, she has her lucid moments still.”

Oh. Well. That was… pretty sad, actually.

***

Medical scissors, gauze, medical tape, pen light, mouth-to-mouth shield, rescue blanket, ballpoint pen, syringes, waterproof bandages, tunicates, stethoscope… Each of these and more had a place in the bag before her, had to be loaded in a specific order, each had to be placed in a specific spot.

And in an emergency, each was something that had to be retrieved quickly. You had to know exactly where each and every item in the EMT kit was. Time was people’s lives.

And for the first time, Kimiko had been able to retrieve each item Doctor Izumi had called for without looking!

“I did it!” she squealed, clapping her hands together.

“You did,” Doctor Izumi agreed. “What changed? You were really struggling with it before.”

“Studying,” Kimiko groaned. “And practicing. So much studying. I even made flashcards.” She let out a puff of breath. “I don’t know how you do it, Doc. I start doing all this studying and I feel like my brain’s going to ooze out of my ears.”

It wasn’t like Kimiko was stupid. Well, her grades weren’t the best. She was in the back part of the class, though she was ahead of Takuma and Kaminari. It’s just that her areas of knowledge were very specialized. For example, she knew just about who everybody in the first year was dating and probably at least half of the second and third years. Plus there was all the celebrity gossip she had floating around in her head. And she was great at getting that out to the people.

But ask her to remember facts and figures or solve equations? That was a lot harder.

She needed to get better, she knew. Hard to be an EMT or a doctor if you couldn’t tell the difference between a tibia and a femur. Wait. Was that actual medical terminology? Maybe she was getting better at this!

Doctor Izumi gave her a small smile. “You do realize I didn’t learn all of this in a few weeks, right? You’ve been working with me off and off since the second week of school, but that’s still only been a couple of months. It may have been an accelerated program, but I did go to med school.”

Kimiko made a face and was instantly grateful her expressions weren’t visible. “And how long did that take?”

“Three years at U.A.,” Doctor Izumi said, counting off on her fingers, “the whole time of which I was interning under Recovery Girl. Then two years pre-med, and three years of medical school. All the while balancing Hero work and assisting here. Which is ridiculously short. Aoyama’s husband gives me hell about it all the time. Mostly teasing, but still.”

Doctor Izumi’s cellphone rang. “A phone call is here!” the phone proudly declared, in a voice Kimiko recognized as Deku’s. She looked at the caller id and let out a small gasp.

“Excuse me,” she said to Kimiko, putting the phone to her ear. “This is Doctor Izumi.”

She listened for a moment, something Kimiko couldn’t hear, then spoke again. “That’s… that’s wonderful! Yes, absolutely. My husband and I can be there. Next Tuesday. Thank you, thank you…”

When she turned the phone off, Kimiko realized that Doctor Izumi was crying happy tears. “Good news?” she asked.

Doctor Izumi dabbed at her eyes. “The best, actually. Kota and I, we’ve been trying to adopt for a while now. We’re both orphans, so this is our way of giving something back, now that we’re both successful Heroes and teachers.”

She flipped the phone around, showing Kikimo a picture of an adorable little girl with pale purple skin, darker purple hair, and pointed ears, probably no more than three or four. “Her name’s Himari,” Doctor Izumi said. “She lost her parents in a villain attack about a year ago. Kota and I finally got approved to adopt her. We’re bringing her home next Tuesday.”

Kimiko clapped her hands and let out another squeal of delight. “Omigosh! She’s so adorable! I know you’re going to make a great mom!” A thought popped into her head. “Wait! That means Mister Aizawa is going to be a grandpa!”

The doctor smiled again. “He is. But don’t tell him, or anyone else for that matter. We want it to be a surprise.”

That got a gasp out of Kimiko. “Sitting on juicy gossip like that? Ooooh that’s so unfair…” She flailed her arms and stomped her feet. Doctor Izumi just stared at her, so she quickly stopped. “Okay!”

***

One advantage to interning with Doctor Izumi was that, since she didn’t have an actual Agency, Kimiko was just able to stay in her dorm room, rather than bunking in some Agency with a bunch of sidekicks or whatever. Of course, with everyone else gone, it was oddly empty, but Doctor Izumi kept her working long hours (helping with students during the day, quizzing her over medical knowledge, helping her with paperwork and study aides the rest of the time) so that she didn’t have much time to dwell on it.

Still, she missed the others. Especially Takuma and Kenta. They really were her best friends in all the world. Takuma, at least, was uploading content about his Internship. Kenta had done one brief video at the start and then they’d just texted sporadically.

The school had also had people in doing construction on the third floor, where Kaminari, Tokoyami, Mineta, and Koda lived. As it had turned out, there were actually more than four rooms on each floor. It explained how they were so far apart, actually. The other rooms were just hidden away behind wall panels. They’d unlocked one of those and brought in furniture for Koharu Kocho, the moth-winged girl she’d met during the Sports Festival. Apparently, she’d be transferring to the Hero Course starting with the second semester!

Good for her! Even though Kocho’d beaten her, Kimiko still liked her a lot. Plus, it’d be pretty nice to have the girls outnumber the boys around here. Not that their boys were too bad, but more girl power was always going to be appreciated.

Logically, she knew she should get some rest. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. But the siren song of Hero gossip was calling her. Maybe just a little look wouldn’t hurt. Kimiko opened up her laptop and clicked over to one of the gossip feeds she followed. Which also reminded her she really needed to follow up on whether or not Haimawari was dating Tetsutetsu from 1-B and what was going on with Mineta and that large boy in the Shiketsu uniform…

Some things, she could disregard immediately as clickbait, like the rumors of Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods splitting up. The chances of that happening were almost nil. Others were potentially more accurate, like the possibility that Wing Saber and Stardust were dating. Which was actually pretty gross, since Stardust was his Sidekick. Definitely improper.

“Oh!” Kimiko let out a gasp at the next item in the feed. Sequoia Rose, the daughter of Kamui Woods and Mount Lady, was spotted with a movie starlet she’d rescued from kidnappers last month. A grin crossed her lips. “A rescue romance? Just like Tensei and Takuma!”

But what she saw next made her laugh out loud for a good five minutes before she was composed enough to even think straight.

Fighting back giggles, she looked over a picture of Suneater and Nejire-chan, along with Kenta. Suneater was looking at something off camera she couldn’t see, while Nejire-chan was standing very close to Kenta, grinning wildly. Probably asking him a million questions, she guessed. Kenta was looking slightly uncomfortable at the attention.

But it was the headline that had made her laugh. Is Nejire-chan Scoping Out a Younger Model to Replace Suneater? She knew it was a total fabrication, but some nebulous feeling stirred in her. She pushed it down.

She took a screenshot and sent it to Kenta and Takuma’s phones. Moments later, hers buzzed.

Kenta: Just kill me now.

Takuma: You lady killer you! (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞

I can’t believe you wouldn’t tell me about this, Kenta! How rude!

You know I’m supposed to get first dibs on all gossip!

Kenta: Kimi, you know that headline’s nonsense!

Takuma: Just what someone trying to throw us off the scent would say!

Definitely got to share this with the world!

Kenta: I know you’re both kidding, but I am this close to just taking a bite out of my phone.

Kimiko just laughed. Those boys of hers…

***

It was raining and Kimiko was getting soaked and cold. All the more reason to be glad she could just make her brightly colored pink and neon green costume invisible along with the rest of her, rather than having to strip like the way Mom did. It was plastering her short hair to her head and outlining her features in random blotches.

Doctor Izumi, it turned out, was in incredibly high demand. Trauma centers and ER’s across the country vied for her time and she gave them what she could. Rescue services and Rescue Agencies also frequently called upon her and her skills. Such as they had now, responding to an earthquake in the coastal city of Takodana. It was almost weird to think that nature alone could do such damage, compared to the kind of damage a runaway villain could do.

She’d been making herself as useful as she could, performing field x-rays on civilians, making doors and other things invisible so that other rescue workers could see inside, and sometimes just helping people get to triage where more experienced medical workers could treat them.

“X-Ray,” Doctor Izumi said, pointing to where a pile of rubble blocked the entrance to a small shop. “Can you give us a visual?”

Kimiko nodded, her silver goggles fulfilling their secondary purpose of marking where her head was. “On it,” she said. Carefully, she placed a hot-pink glove on the on rubble and pushed her Quirk outward. Slowly, the rubble became indistinct and then completely invisible. The invisibility spread to each piece touching the one she was, then onto the outer wall of the building itself. It was a lot to make invisible at once and she felt a pressure growing in her skull, but she could hold it for a moment.

Inside, they could see two women, one pinned under a fallen metal shelf, the other holding her hand. A store clerk appeared to be trying to lift it, but to no avail.

“Good job,” Doctor Izumi said. She tapped the communicator in her ear. “This is Doc Clock. We’ve got one confirmed wounded, possibly two additional wounded. Requesting someone with a Quirk than can shift rubble to my location.”

Gritting her teeth, Kimiko released her invisibility field. Her head ached from the strain. She’d never tried to extend her invisibility around that much mass before. It had left her feeling… stretched out.

“Are you all right?” Doctor Izumi asked.

“Fine,” Kimiko said, quickly. No time to be showing weakness now.

“You’re not,” Doctor Izumi said. “You’re showing signs of Quirk Exhaustion. You can only push yourself so far.” She gently touched Kimiko’s shoulder. “May I?”

Kimiko nodded and she felt a strange warmth flowing through her and the headache dissipated just as quickly as it had arrived. Some of the tiredness she’d been feeling was gone too.

“Only about ten minutes,” Doctor Izumi assured her. “Just to get you over the hump.”

“Sorry,” Kimiko said, shaking her head.

“Don’t be,” Doctor Izumi said. “You’re doing great. But you’ve got limits, just like everyone else. A Hero gives their all, but if you sacrifice yourself, you’re just one more body to be rescued.”

Kimiko nodded. “Okay.”

***

Back at U.A. the next day, Doctor Izumi dropped a large stack of paperwork down in front of Kimiko. “What’s this?”

“After action report,” Doctor Izumi said. “I know you’ve seen those in class before.”

“This looks a lot more complicated,” she said. “I definitely don’t remember the ones Mister Aizawa had us fill out having this many lines on it. Or that many little boxes.”

“They’re different for Medical Heroes. Any time Quirks are used in medical treatment, there’s more paperwork involved. Before, we were under the auspices of the school’s consent to treat, but out in the field, it’s different. More liabilities involved and more to be accounted for.”

Kimiko’s head fell on the table. Great. Just great. More paperwork. “How much more complicated are we talking about?”

“They’re generally about twice as long as a regular after action report. More so if things get complicated. I’ve got a lot of my own to fill out, but I’ll help you get started on some, since it’s your first time.”

She carefully put a hand on the stack of paperwork when Doctor Izumi wasn’t looking and applied her Quirk to it. “Started on what?” Kimiko asked.

At that, Doctor Izumi laughed. “Nice try, kid,” she said, pulling up a chair next to Kimiko. “But it’s not that easy.”

Kimiko let out a pitiful whine, but took her hand off the paperwork, releasing her Quirk. “Oh, all right…”

Truthfully, the paperwork wasn’t that big of a nightmare. Though she was definitely beginning to understand why bigger Agencies just had people to handle this kind of thing. But at the same time, each one was a reminder of the good they’d done last night. Maybe her part hadn’t been the biggest, but she actually felt like she’d done important things.

“Um, Doctor Izumi?” Kimiko asked.

“Yes?” she replied.

“I just wanted to say thank you. For giving me this chance. And for believing in me. I know I’m kind of an, ah, airhead sometimes but… Thanks.” Kimiko paused. “I’m smiling, by the way. I know you can’t see it.”

Doctor Izumi smiled. “You’re a good kid, Ojiro. And you’ve got a good eye and a bigger heart. You’re going to do great. And trust me, I know all about the power of someone believing in you.”

In her pocket, Kimiko’s phone dinged with the alert notification from one of her gossip sites. She didn’t bother to check it.

Right now, some things were more important than gossip.

#my hero academia #their hero academia #fan fic #fan fiction #kimiko ojiro #mha eri #my writing #takuma sero #kenta sato

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soulvomit · 5 years ago

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I am feeling like it's finally sunk in that we were never poor. My early life was BROKE and it gradually got better. Still, my short period of time in a van, motels, etc, defined me most - in my head - just a scarce 8-odd years out of 46. Part of it is that we never left the old neighborhood, our living situation was always kinda precarious, we were early adopters of yuppies-living-in-poor-spaces just like we were early adopters of everything else, and neither of my parents managed to buy a home until I'd left home.

The long shadow of a brief period of time, and the places we lived, affected the decisions I made (most of my education is trade school, for example; I was terrified to commit to anything that wasn't working).

Because I still believed I was poor, when I still had opportunities to do more, I invariably made some bullshit choice and chose the least of the things I was offered.

My mother tried to tell me so many times that I had more than I thought I had and that other people were actually jealous of me.

But to my mind, I was always just a breath away from living in a motel like we had when I was a kid, and a mishap away from doing sex work. So I worked every chance that I got. But hard, not necessarily smart.

Plus I could no longer live at home, not with the headfuck of my parents' divorce still being bullshit drama (and it still is, they're still weirdly enmeshed; I could see it being easy to Parent Trap them if they both outlived their spouses) and not with how miserable my homelife was.

I'd worked with my dad and was a BBS kid, so I left recruiting and became a tech worker. I worked my ass off and spent my money in goth clubs and bought a shit ton of CDs, it was very "tomorrow we may die" and a lot of the fun was more in telling people I did tech than actually doing it. The people I worked with were pretty square. As for me, the more money I made, the more money I spent.

After after dot-bomb - I got married because I wanted to feel tied to *something.* We divorced. I moved home. I got an EMT license and took a bunch of healthcare classes. I worked my ass off but here is the thing. If you work in health and you try to be a hard charger like a tech worker, you'll just die, and at least try to make it through med school before you do that.

Now I do bullshit small town graphics jobs and am on food stamps and am in perpetual fear of losing all my teeth and yet for the first time, I feel like lots of people like me. I'm an inoffensive aging goth who has most of their best memories early in life like most people on the planet, who will probably die early. I'm no longer a type-A person trying to be a career woman. All of my edge has been filed down to a nub. Every time I try to type-A it, my body punishes me for it. Probably my dream job at this point would be part-time budtender and I'd wear Hot Topic clothes to work. I don't know what in the hell happened to me, sometimes.

I wish I had used my privilege early. I didn't have to choose the life I lived, and I did. For reference, I divorced someone from a rich family. I wouldn't tolerate the weird entitled behavior he and his family had.

But there is so much else I could have done without him and still ended up financially okay on my own. I could have moved back to LA and taken one of about 3 opportunities. Somehow anything coming from my parents felt less valid, because people told me it was. Or I could have stayed in the first place and grown in the job I was in (I got a recruiter assistant job at 20). And I could have done this based on my abilities and training and aptitudes, not based on attaching myself to someone else.

I thought I was still poor and talentless and that my work was meaningless. It was usually middle class women, who tended to treat me like I was a fluke.

I always felt intimidated by upper middle class people, and successful women looked down their noses at me. Stuff offered me by rich people felt ephemeral - like it wasn't real. So much of my more privileged early life feels like a dream and it felt like a dream *then.*

My women friends worked shittier jobs and were resentful of me. I thought my opportunities didn't count because they didn't come through college or trade school. I thought my work was bullshit and entry level because "duh who couldn't do this job." I didn't realize my opportunities were because of significant levels of privilege and that these people were willing to do much more for me.

My life could have been better and I could have been in a better position.

In adulthood, I bounced around from couch to apartment to couch here and there, moved back home, I thought I would be able to do this forever.

Eventually I got an AA in graphic design. But now I am middle aged, live in a small town, and have chronic pain. My parents lost their shirt in the recession and my dad lives in a trailer. One day soon I may very inevitably be taking care of my parents or someone else's.

And I struggle day after day. I have no flame of passion left. I don't enjoy most of my hobbies anymore and I just sort of ended up here.

And it didn't have to be this way.

Please don't make the choices I made, if you do have a chance to make something of yourself. Please. You will one day be middle aged.

I feel 20 years older than I am, mentally. I am exhausted and burned out. I could have made different choices.

And it didn't improve the lot of a single other person.

Nothing I gave up, even when explicitly told by my deeply resentful poverty-reared ex-partner that I was taking opportunities away from more deserving people, ended up in the hands of anyone less privileged than I was. Not one thing.

The studio guy who had a job for me when I was 22, for example? Nobody else took that job. And he died of a heart attack at 70. My once ample number of Los Angeles professional contacts are either dead or long retired now.

And most of the tech positions I vacated were filled by way more privileged people.

You can make space: leave a hole for someone better to fill. But sometimes nature just fills the hole with sand, and the job or opportunity was specifically for you.

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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years ago

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Grey's Anatomy: Nothing Left to Cling To (16x01)

Oh boy, we're back! This show is one of the hardest that I review, because there are just so many characters and so much going on.

Cons:

I'm never going to be on board with Owen and Teddy! I can't do it! You can't make me! Amelia and Link are fine, Teddy and Tom are adorable. Owen can go be a single dad for a while. Yeesh. There's that scene at the end where Owen finally figures out how to help Teddy - he lists the house and finally seems to be hearing what Teddy needs. And the whole time I'm just like - ugh I don't know if this dude deserves this. Teddy is more annoying with Owen, and much more fun with Tom. I like that Tom is planning on fighting for her, but I feel like it's going to be fruitless.

This is half a complaint, and half a hope. We see Jackson starting up a potential relationship with an EMT, as he and Maggie are firmly broken up. I hope that sticks. I do not want to get back on the Jackson and Maggie merry-go-round. These two characters are at their worst when they're together. I like them both so much better when they're alone, or with other people. Also, it was weird that the hiatus hook was all about Jackson being in peril, but he wasn't, at all. He was helping some climbers who had gotten injured, and he is safe. I thought at first the episode was going to flash back and show all of the drama that had happened in rescuing the hikers, but no. It was practically a footnote on the way to other things. Kind of an odd narrative choice.

Amelia being pregnant is just... sigh. Can't we have just a couple of episodes where the pregnancy-related drama dies down? I guess not. I was ready to be amused by her trying to set up a threesome with Link and Carina. I was even wondering if Carina was going to get annoyed by her assuming that this was an okay thing to just ask. But instead, we've got pregnancy scandal. And it's Link's, right? I can't remember, time-line wise, if there's a chance it's Owen's. Either way, it's drama central once again. I was just starting to really enjoy Amelia and Link, too.

Pros:

I complained that the Jackson drama was so weirdly brushed over, as he wasn't at all in danger. But I really did like the married couple who were found by Jackson after he'd abandoned Maggie on the road. They acted as a benchmark of devotion. She held on to him for hours and saved his life at the cost of serious damage to her own body. And then she fought for him as he got sick in the hospital, wanting to save his life but also to preserve his wishes. It's nice to see a somewhat outside view of a powerful and devoted couple. When you measure them up against a lot of the other relationships on the show, you can see where things falter, and where things hold true.

Speaking of things holding true, this episode takes us through a month of time, as we see Jo get help in a facility, and Alex come to terms with being there for her. Poor Jo tries to give him an easy out, because their license was never filed and they're not actually married. But when Jo is ready to come home, Alex does the cheesy get-down-on-one-knee thing and re-proposes to her, committed as always to staying by her side. This was cheesy and yet perfect. I love that Jo isn't suddenly rescued from darkness by her white knight, but she's doing much better and she's putting in the work. I want to see her and Alex have all of the happiness in the world. They truly deserve it. I also really liked Link and Alex getting drinks together. I wish they would do more with Link and Jo's friendship.

We are seeing the consequences of Meredith's lawbreaking, as she, Alex, and Richard have all been fired, and Meredith's medical license is in question. I like that Meredith takes it all in stride, as she was expecting something a lot worse than community service. There's even the scene at the end where she's telling Andrew that it's like a vacation. And then an email comes, and the board is going to pursue a hearing against her medical license. I would imagine that this is a wake-up call for her, as she realizes what she might have cost herself. It was interesting to see Meredith's dilemma treated almost in a comedic way, because it highlights her privilege as a white woman of means. It's also nice to see that DeLuca hasn't had to pay for his heroic lie, as he is released and back at work at the hospital.

And then there's Richard, who is feeling aimless without his job. He and Catherine are on the outs because Catherine supported Bailey in firing Richard. I like that Richard is angry, and standing up for himself a little bit, but also that Catherine is firm in her own decision. She's angry with Bailey for what has happened, but she's not begging for Richard's job back either. That's an interesting balance. My general dislike for Catherine should be a surprise to nobody who has read these reviews before, but I like this dilemma. I also love the idea of Richard and Alex working together at a different hospital. They were both fired, but their medical licenses are not in doubt. This hospital is in need of an overhaul, and I think Alex and Richard might actually be up to the task. It will be fun to see Alex take on this new challenge, at least for a while.

Before the end of the episode, with the Amelia pregnancy reveal, I was actually really enjoying Amelia and Link's plot. Amelia was confusing in her communication to Link, but eventually cleared it up and told him that she wanted to slow things down, go on some dates. This is how the subject of a threesome gets brought up, and Carina is looped in. I like Amelia as a comedic character. She's at her best when she's not being all broken up about Owen. I hope that even with the pregnancy, we can keep some of this lighter tone.

Tom Koracick is such a joy. I love how happy he was to see Teddy and the new baby, and how he declared his continued feelings for Teddy, but said he would be just her friend and be there for her. He's honestly such a good guy, and I hope he ends up with someone who deserves him. Also, now he's helping out with Catherine's foundation, and he's effectively Bailey's boss. That seems like it will lead to some interesting and hilarious drama!

That's that. All in all, this episode didn't feel over the top, as far as Grey's Anatomy premieres go. It resolved some of the dangling threads from last year's finale, and laid the groundwork for some stories I'm sure I'll enjoy. I'm less sure about some of the other story elements, but that's been true on this show from the very beginning.

8/10

#review #greys anatomy #greys anatomy review #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy review #grey's abc #greys abc

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bereft-of-frogs · 5 years ago

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The fic I’d like to see from you is a fic I can’t believe I haven’t seen yet and think you’d be the best fit for. “Dark World” where Loki gets still very stabbed but not quite as stabbed, so he’s super injured but isn’t dying, but they can’t go back to Asgard and Malekith has the aether and there’s a dust storm rolling it. Very whumped Loki with Thor and Jane he just saved and also the world is maybe ending and if it doesn’t he probably has to go back to jail. (Wait, can this be both memes?)

It can certainly be both. When I posted them both I was like ‘oh these are completely different, these will totally be AUs I won’t write, this is just for fun.’

Look at us now. Even the Harry Potter AU I’m like...dang I could write this though.

(Also reiterating: if anyone wants to write anything based on these headcanon AUs, please feel free, and please tag me in it so I can read them. : D )

So, okay, Loki getting stabbed but not dying.

CW for the description of injuries

First off, I am probably going to write the one from last night - at least a small snippet - where Frigga is captured instead of killed so when Loki is wounded she’s there to take care of them. But a more canon-compliant AU, where Frigga is still dead and it’s just the three of them alone. (Also warning, I’ve seen Dark World...maybe twice? So I might be wrong on some canon stuff, I’m going off of what I see in gifsets and what I read on the wiki and in other people’s fics...):

- Loki’s injuries: so I’ve seen it going around that the reason for the black veins/ grey skin is some kind of poison on the blade, so if there’s no poison on the blade he probably doesn’t die right away. But he’s bleeding a lot, and he’s got a collapsed lung. He’s having a lot of trouble breathing, he’s in an insane amount of pain, and is convinced he’s dying. Cue the desperate apologies and deathbed confessions. At least until he’s too out of breath to talk.

- I like to headcanon that both Thor and Jane have some form of first aid training. Thor is more of field medic and Jane is more Wilderness First Aid (if you’re living in small-town New Mexico and studying astronomy, I’d imagine there’s some hiking to be done to find good stargazing spots and WFA are always good skills to have if you’re hiking in remote locations.) Between the two of them they at least can get Loki stable enough to be moved, but his condition is rapidly deteriorating. They don’t have any equipment, but at least manage to control the bleeding a bit and get him to the shelter of the cave.

- so Thor is feeling...pretty shitty about all of this. Wracked with guilt over being the one who took Loki out of his cell, where he was at least safe, being the one that Loki was hurt trying to save. Loki wakes up a bit and is like ‘it’s okay, did you really think I was going back to jail?’ and they have this horribly sad conversation about death being just another kind of freedom while Thor begs him not to let go.

- while this sob-fest is going on, Jane stumbles across an opening in the back of the cave - one that leads back to Earth. So Thor bundles Loki up again and they make it back to Earth and find Selvig who is like ‘nope nope nope, Loki’s back, don’t like this’ but they’re like ‘cool, Loki is also dying, so it’s fine.’ Selvig’s house at least has some supplies, so they’re able to at least stop more air from entering the chest cavity. (There’s this special type of dressing called an ‘occlusive dressing’ that’s coated in a wax that creates a seal over the wound so no more air can get in. Fun fact.) He’s still not doing so hot and probably needs surgery but there’s nothing to be done, they’ve still got to defeat Malekith. So they kind of bundle him in Selvig’s bed and hope he survives while they go off to end the fight.

- they do and Thor returns to find Loki thankfully still alive but unconscious and fading fast. Thor’s accepted he’s not going back to Asgard since that will find them both in a cell, or worse, but he needs help so instead he turns to SHIELD - but oops SHIELD is actually HYDRA and while they save Loki’s life they trick them and imprison them in the base in Sokovia and voilà more whump as they’re interrogated and experimented on (and who are these other two locked up in this dingy basement?) while Jane desperately looks for them and finds no trace and Sif comes down to look for them and finds no trace...

- but then Asgard does finally find them and basically threatens war on Earth if they are not returned because Odin goes into Protective Dad mode when he sees what’s being done to them and HYDRA all falls apart and Winter Soldier/Age of Ultron shake out a little differently.

(that got a bit away from me there at the end)

(basically the third act of The Dark World is where I start to lose memories of the plot. Somehow they get back to Earth? Somehow Malekith is defeated? How does this fit in with Winter Soldier? I don’t know. I’ll figure it out later.)

(Yes I ended up on PubMed this morning don’t @ me)

(If I write this you know for sure I’ll be reading a bunch of thoracic impalement trauma articles in prep because I’m just that extra)

(The problem with this is I kept being like ‘well for this injury I would do this’ and keep remembering they don’t have a fully stocked ambulance of things they would need to treat this.)

(Yup, fun fact about me, this is how I made money while I was in undergrad and thought I was going to med school, I got my EMT license at 18 and worked on an ambulance during the summers, and was a clinical research assistant in an emergency department.)

(I went into academics instead which obviously is working out...just super...)

(I’m kidding, I really like my death studies/history of medicine degree, I would just also like it if I had a job.)

Thanks for asking!

I have...so many AU ideas now. so many. I am out of control. It’s bananas over here.

#i don't know why i keep ending up on 'captured and experimented on' but here we are #purveyor of AUs #ask meme #chest injury cw #Anonymous

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rcfcel · 5 years ago

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* / 𝔰𝔲𝔯𝔭𝔯𝔦𝔰𝔢 𝔟*𝔱𝔠𝔥𝔢𝔰 ! bet you thought you'd seen the last of me ! lol apparently i like to challenge myself and just haD to bring in my new man so yeah hi , meet raf / rj ! i'm v excited for y'all to meet him — fair warning , i'm starting from scratch with him cause i got #inspired so i apologize if the info below is a mess ! pls love us .

( tommy martinez, cis male, he/him ) i just saw RAFAEL MICHELENA walking down the streets of provincetown the other day playing CHATEAU by BLACKBEAR out loud. rumor has it that the TWENTY THREE year old is GENEROUS, but can also be AGGRESSIVE — overall they’re a MAVERICK. they remind me of LEATHER SEATS IN BLACK CADILLACS, CIGARETTES SMASHED TO ASHES IN ASHTRAYS, & MALT WHISKEY POURED OVER ICE. ( lenny the pooh, 5, antarctica, she/her )

—— * / 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔟𝔞𝔰𝔦𝔠𝔰 :

full name : rafael johan michelena

nicknames : raf , rj

age / dob : twenty3 / february 14 , 1996

gender : cis male ( he / him )

sexuality : openly bisexual

occupation : firefighter

hometown : provincetown , ma

label : the maverick ( an unorthodox or independent-minded person )

—— * / 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔰𝔱𝔬𝔯𝔶 :

so dear rafael here was raised by a single father after his mother passed away shortly after he was born due to complications during labour . raf’s father never really wanted kids as he’d been wanting to focus on his paramedic career and was worried he wouldn’t be home enough to be with his family , but his beloved wife had assured him everything would work out in the end — which , of course , it didn’t really because he was left alone with a baby boy he didn’t know how to take care of .

his dad struggled for most of raf’s childhood , having to juggle both his demanding career and an even more demanding child , but with the help of close family and a very generous family who lived next door and took care of raf whenever his father worked night shifts , it all did work out in the end , just as his late mother had promised .

despite his father being away so much , raf developed a very strong relationship with his father . when he was young , his father was away a lot because he was just starting in paramedics so he got stuck with the less desirable shifts — but as rj grew older , his father moved up the ranks of his career and finally made it into a position that didn’t keep him away from home as late , allowing the two to spend some actual time together .

from a young age , raf knew he wanted to save lives like his father . fun fact : one night when he was young and staying over at the neighbour’s house , he drew a little picture of his father in uniform and then drew himself wearing a little uniform too — the neighbour showed this to his father when he picked him up and the grown man damn near cried .

raf has always been super proud of his dad for chasing his dreams and taking on each obstacle that came his way .

at first , he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a paramedic — which he did , for a short while . after his school graduation , he went to school to get his emt ( emergency medical technician ) certificate and then worked to become a paramedic , by the time he was twenty one he was working the same job in provincetown his dad had been when he was young .

after about a year and a half , raf realized he wanted more . as a paramedic he worked closely with the provincetown firefighters and had always found their bravery inspiring . he got along with the crew well and one night over drinks he confided in them about possibly following along their career path instead . of course they all jumped to say do it , while also giving raf good advice and facts about the job , but nothing they said scared raf away from it — if anything , he was even more excited .

so fast forward a few months , and a very gruelling entrance exam and training period , and he switched out his paramedic uniform for a firefighter uniform and joined his buddies in the station .

it’s been about a year now since he first put on that uniform and rj truly hasn’t looked back since . the hours are rough and the job is laborious , but it’s also super rewarding and he wouldn’t change it for the world .

currently , he lives in a cozy ass apartment in provincetown on his own , although he spends many nights at the station when he’s on duty so i have this headcanon that his apartment is like .. hotel raf lmAO like need a place to crash and get away from shit ? there’s a spare key under the mat .

—— * / 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔦𝔫𝔰𝔦𝔡𝔢 :

labels(s) : the maverick , the hedonist , the contingent

maverick : due to his father’s extraneous job , raf grew extremely independent at a young age . when he was finally old enough to stay home and take care of himself , he honestly thrived .

hedonist : working in such emotionally challenging jobs has taught raf to really live life to its fullest and treasure every moment . he never takes anything for granted and is almost always looking for a fun time during his days off .

contingent : while his independence is clear in how he can take care of himself and make his own decisions , raf is incredibly dependent on those around him for support and companionship . he struggles with being alone and is in constant need of company and friendship .

traits : generous , charming , aggressive , protective , passionate , diligent , indulgent , short - tempered .

aesthetics : leather seats in black cadillacs , thick ringlets curling around chiseled features , black jeans with a lighter in the back pocket , cigarettes smashed to ashes in ashtrays , malt whiskey poured over ice , callused hands stuffed in the pockets of a leather jacket .

soundtrack : honestly , i’ve been listening to blackbear during raf’s entire conception so you can literally just listen to his entire discography to get a feel for his vibe .

personality : while he inherited his father’s passion , drive , and general kind demeanour , raf definitely made a name for himself with his slightly mysterious aura at first glance — maybe it’s the mostly black wardrobe , the cigarette that usually dangles from his lips , or the way his brow creases whenever he listens to someone speak like they’re the only person in the universe , he’s a little intimidating at first — but honestly , anyone who really knows him would laugh at people who comment on his mystery : “ yeah , i thought he was gonna be a total asshole at first , could not have been more wrong though ” has definitely been said numerous times about him .

raf’s actually probably the biggest teddy bear in ptown . his heart is somehow bigger than his hair and he welcomes everyone into his life with open arms ( after a short trial run to make sure they’re not gonna fuck with him of course )

he truly loves his friends more than anything . i’m not kidding when i say his apartment is hotel raf cause legit if u need a place to crash , even if it’s 4 in the morning , you can knock on his door and he’ll likely even give up his bed for you .

wears his heart on his sleeve , probably a little too much for his own good , but thrives off of honesty and trust so he’s definitely your go to guy if you’ve got shit going on .

also your go to guy if you need someone’s ass kicked . he’s a firefighter for crying out loud , he drinks preworkout like it’s water and could probably bench the entire snack pack lbr .

he’s a big old hopeless romantic too — he was born on valentine’s day after all .

—— * / 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔠𝔬𝔫𝔫𝔢𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰 :

once again , let me scream into the void that i am open to pretty much anything . lay it all on me , give me your worst and just rIP my heart out why don’t you . but ! below is a list of ideas i brainstormed up for raf

i really want someone from the family that helped take care of him when he was little !

neighbours , childhood best friends , childhood crush / first kiss

gym buddies PLS give raf a buddy he can call up to go play basketball or challenge to a weight lifting comp LOL

past / present hook ups ! raf’s an emotional guy but his job is stressful as fuck and he def needs soME sort of way to unwind .

exes ! mayhaps they dated in high school and broke up cause theY went off to college while raf stayed back in ptown .

brOS OHMYGODPLS give me joey and chandler , jake and charles , troy and chAD

a brother / sister friendship pls ! someone he can be way too protective of .

platonic soulmates ! my fav !!

an angsty flirtationship / skinny love type deal .

—— * / 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔥𝔢𝔞𝔡𝔠𝔞𝔫𝔬𝔫𝔰 :

his apartment is suPER masculine . like exposed brick walls , brown leather couches , stainless steel appliances , dark oak tables and shelves , probably big windows all over the place cause he loves natural sunlight . and the whole snack pack 100% knows where the spare key is in case of emergencies ( insert that one scene of friends where monica’s like “ i gave you that key for emergencies ” and phoebe’s like “ we were out of doritos ” )

he’s got a lil grey pit bull named lily that he saved a few months ago ! she’s his pride and joy .

like .. rarely uses his phone . he’s got all the social medias , but only really checks it when someone tags him in something or whatever . prefers to call over text cause texting annoys him , he’s an impatient fuck .

definitely is the pack’s lil doctor . he’ll always unwind and have a fun time , but will 100% be on alert at all times for accidents or anything bad that could happen . and if it does happen , he’s first on the scene — i mean , why wouldn’t you want a licensed paramedic that looks like tommy martinez icing your sprained ankle right ?

he’s never really travelled much , aside from the times he’s been called to neighbouring towns / cities during big emergencies and such with his crew . he’s got major wanderlust and really wants to travel to venezuela and such , but he’s also perfectly content staying in ptown for now .

he’s a celiac — idk why , i just wanted to give him some sort of weakness cause he seems too perfect rn .

#snackpackintro #—— ` . ooc !#i didn't really proofread so i apologize for mistakes

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shsl-emt · 6 years ago

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Intro Sequence Go!

Hajimemashite and all that, friendos! You can call me Sandy/SD (he/him) and I’m the swankiest Sylveon around! Seriously though, I’m glad to be here even if timezones are not so convenient (SEA/GMT+8 hewwo from the futuwure!) and I hope to get along with you guys!

I’m the brains and experience behind Kaz, or Kazunari Aikawa the SHSL EMT! He and I both share a job in that we’re first responders (I’m serving army service as a paramedic) but I’m fairly certain he’d totally kick my ass at the whole saving lives thing. Still, he’s a pretty chill dude to be around, and you can count on him to attend to you if you need help!

Even if all you did was break a nail.

Would your OC know Kaz?

If your OC lives in the Osaka region, they’ve definitely heard of Kaz due to the Shinsaibashi Fires incident. (pm me for more information if you need!)

Otherwise, they may have come across an article on the news or watched broadcasts that prominently feature the heroic rescue of over a hundred casualties from the out-of-control blaze at Shinsaibashi Shopping Arcade nearly two years ago; out of them, forty lives and limbs are attributed to a young man by the name of Kazunari Aikawa.

In the last couple of years, Kaz has popped up occasionally at hotspots and other accident sites, tending to the wounded and resuscitating the unconscious as best as he can before letting ambulance personnel take over the reins. Apparently, he travels around the country quite a lot, perhaps they may have seen him around though not recognized him.

There have been… somewhat interesting rumours on the grapevine surrounding Kaz. Specifically, ex-classmates and teachers speak of a shy, fidgety young boy who stammered a lot and shied away from attention; when interviewed or asked, they express surprise that he is now known for being the Super High School Level EMT. Depending on who you ask, the reasons for this shift include puberty, a sudden-death experience, therapeutic sessions aimed at building his confidence, and aliens.

OOC Matters

I’m 100% okay with art of Kaz! Feel free to draw him without having to check with me first, and I’ll be the first to say that the hair isn’t hiding anything important - he just likes it floppy like that.

I’m also open to shipping Kaz, but considering he’s demi, it might take a while to actually open him up to any sort of romantic intention.

Want to exchange ideas, plot murders or otherwise make plans for Kaz and your OC? Slide into my DMs and we’ll have a chat.

Trivia

Kaz admits outright that he doesn’t know what the word ‘aesthetic’ means. He’ll wear anything if asked as long as it isn’t insulting to someone else or publicly humiliating. He can rock a pair of heels, but not run in them.

Kaz likes food with interesting textures as opposed to a certain taste. Probably why his favourite comfort food are these fizzy watermelon sweets that he stands by being the best thing he’s ever had. Ever.

Even though his specialty is first response and treatment, Kaz is also rather knowledgeable on medical know-how, and has a certified license to perform CPR and handle a defibrillator.

The medic pouch you can see strapped to his waist contains a variety of lifesaving tools that he can pull out at a moment’s notice. It’s also a gift from his dad.

Speaking of his parents, characters might know his father as a prosthetist / orthotist who works at the Kenporen Osaka Central Hospital, and his mother as a stay-at-home programmer. Their names are Tatsuo Aikawa and Nora Hayashibara respectively, and you can ask Kaz about them.

#ooc #kaz

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bicokun · 4 years ago

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That kind of thing is made real obvious if you ever end up in the military. Half the stuff they teach you in Basic Training is what people would call “unskilled labor.” We learned how to make a bed to hotel housekeeping standards. How to properly clean a room. How to strip and wax floors. How to wash dishes quickly and efficiently. And believe me people did not get it right the first time and the Drill Sergeants would make sure they knew it.

Heck, there was one time my baby threw up in a Phở restaurant, and the kid who came out to help clean was just moving the mop around. My dad, who was in the Navy for about 14-15 years and had swabbed a lot of decks, had to take the mop from him and showed him the proper technique for cleaning it up, giving him verbal step-by-step instructions on how and why to clean in a certain way.

So, yeah, it’s not like “unskilled” is actually devoid of skills or requires no training. Sure, most people could do it, but most people could do a lot of “skilled” jobs if they had access to the training. Again, the way the military will just let damn near anybody have access to “free” training and most who go through can do jobs in communication tech, EMT, finance, etc that are considered highly skilled on the outside highlights that point. Again, my dad basically learned plumbing and performed at a high skill level, but when he was medically discharged he couldn’t do it in the civilian market because his unpaid for skills in the Navy meant nothing. He couldn’t get licensed because he couldn’t finish the math section since they were all word problems and he’s dyslexic. Credentialing, licensure, and degrees are important regulatory mechanisms, sure, but in a lot of cases it can end up being run like a scam.

#reblog #workers rights #labor

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kilosch · 3 years ago

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After Life? (Part 1)

Hello, I am back. I know it's weird to be hereafter AWOL for months. Strangely, there's a lot of things that happened in the past months. I honestly do not know when to start for reals because it will be a long blog, but unfortunately, Im going to be separate the blog by Part, but I do not know what to title for 3 part blog.

As you may all of you guys know, the last blog is supposed to be my last blog despite how miserable my life is, but, in reality, there's some actual shit that I have to achieve. Still, some people find some of my advice "useful", which I don't know if I should be flattered or not? Did I end up not doing it because I honestly don't know why or just a total coward of not shooting myself?

Let's start by continuing after August of 2021; it was September 2021. My friend Thomas encouraged me to join BORTAC, a United States Border Patrol Unit that mainly focuses on doing Special Operations within the United States, which is like "fuck it! why not!?". Because I legit had no idea what to do with my life and why be like a Special Warfare Operator, I got accepted with my Application and took the exam but didn't pass because I didn't study well. Still, the exam was challenging because it focused on Immigration which is not my style or expertise. September was weird because I wasn't taking care of myself; instead, Im so focused on Building my AR-15, which is one of the proudest projects I've done because usually. I ask help from my dad when it comes to Gunsmithing. My friend Jessica was leaving the job, and it was also my first time like fucking inviting everybody to her farewell. We ended up going Bowling, and I still have the list of who is coming or not, which is ridiculous to see, but I'm glad I could say a proper goodbye after she's been through to her life. She changed my life. Honestly, I missed her.

October 2021, probably the weirdest or confusing stuff happened; I managed to get into eligibility for Chula Vista Fire as a Firefighter/EMT, but I honestly never heard back from them. My buddy Karina has some talent for making Ice Cream? weirdest flex, and she decided to bring one, but I missed it because I was focusing on my Fire Department staff, and I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE! after FUCKING 5 tries, my USPSA career went shit, but I still won't give up on Competetive shooting, somewhere close to October our Project Manager emailed us a bittersweet letter about ending our project and time for us to move on which is a shock all of us I didn't even get the news my friend Alexandra called me and the voice of her like frightened Alex: Kyrie, have you read the email? The moment I recognized that weird non-normal sounding voice of Alex, I knew something terrible. Me: What email? I immediately flipped my tablet and saw that notification of my email "From Justin M" I was like ", Fuck." and read the whole email while still on call with Alexandra, but we all knew this was coming, but it was very early. Some good news is like Katherine got accepted to PA school, and Karina got accepted to Med School (I don't know if it was DO or MD). I'm proud of them, honestly, except I'm not of big fan of how Katherine told me she got accepted; she made it like she murdered a human being. They made it. My favourite Baseball team didn't make it to World Series #sadbleedblue; Everyone is looking for a job as a sub to their Test Site job.

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redditnosleep · 7 years ago

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The Coroner’s Son

by kmcooney

My dad used to work as an EMT back in his twenties while he saved up money for med school. Growing up, I always pestered him to tell me gross and gory details from his time in the ambulance. He used to appease me, much to my mother’s disapproval.

“Girls shouldn’t be hearing these kinda stories,” my mother would clip at us from behind a newspaper. My dad would only smirk and wink at me.

“No daughter of mine is gonna be squeamish, that’s for sure,” he’d retort as he’d pat me on the knee. “She’s gonna hear all my stories, no matter how bloody or filled with vomit.”

“Well, if she’s fucked up, it’s your doing,” my mother huffed.

I didn’t care if it wasn’t “girly” to listen to my dad’s stories. I always loved them.

He told me a story about the time where him and his partner found a severed foot hanging from a tree limb in the local park. His buddy and him tried to get it down with a broom and a coat hanger. They were only successful when the foot came crashing down on his partner’s head, covering him in pus and blood. The owner of the foot came limping out of his trailer, cursing at my dad for disturbing his “property.” I also learned about the time when my dad was called over to an old lady’s house on Christmas Eve. No one was hurt, but the old woman was so lonely that she faked a heart attack to get someone to come and sit with her for Christmas Eve dinner. My dad stayed for four courses. He came back every year after that until she passed away one Spring morning. We all attended the funeral with him. And I even heard about the time when he was called to untangle two teenagers who got, uh, piercings stuck in, uh, let’s just say delicate places.

From broken bones to bloody accidents, my dad has seen it all. And he’s shared it all. Well, at least I thought he had. That is until a few hours ago when we polished off the last of the scotch we had on the shelf.

We were sitting on the front porch, watching the rain hammer into the street, collecting into big, sluggish pools. I set my glass down on the end table and leaned back on the rocking chair. We were silent for a minute, listening to the thunder roll across the small, Pennsylvania town.

“What’s the worst thing you ever saw as an EMT?” I asked, more out of boredom than genuine curiosity. I was sure he would reiterate the story about the time he found a kid who was hit by a drunk driver, his stuffed bunny still clutched in his bloody hand.

My dad was silent for so long that I thought he must have fallen asleep. I turned towards him only to find him staring hard into the night, his knuckles gripping the wooden chair so hard that I swore they were starting to look white.

“Pappa?” I murmured, afraid that I had upset him.

He ran his hands through his greying hair and rubbed his temples. He looked at me and smiled sadly.

“Did I ever tell you why I quit?”

“I thought you quit because you got into med school?”

He chuckled. “Nah, nah that wasn’t the reason. I quit a few months before I even began applying.” He took another sip of his drink and swirled the contents around with his pinky. The ice clinked against the glass lightly.

“You know how I told you how I was close with the town folk?”

Since it was such a small town, my dad pretty much knew everyone he worked with. He knew the local cops, the firefighters, the doctors, hell, even the street cleaners. My dad had always told me about his friend “Frank on the force” or his “buddy at the firehouse.” I guess when you’re in such close proximity to other people, relationships tend to bubble.

“Well I never told you about Paul, that’s for sure,” he sighed.

My ears perked up. “No, I don’t think you ever did.”

“Paul was a town coroner. Well, actually, he was the only coroner our town had. See, we were so small that we really only needed one,” he paused then, taking another sip of his diminishing drink.

“I guess you could say that Paul and I were real close. I saw him almost every time we had a bad shift. Which was a lot, back in the day,” he exhaled. “Drunk drivers, idiotic teenagers, angry men who beat up their wives...I guess that all led to some pretty bad shifts.”

The rain began to pound harder against our roof. I scooted my chair closer to my dad so I could hear him over the roaring of the storm. He smiled and patted my knee, his eyes lingering on mine longer than they normally would have.

“Paul had a son named Kenny,” he murmured, his eyes dampening. “He, uh, well he wasn’t exactly the best son. See, he was a big partier. Always up and in some sorta trouble or another. Nothing too crazy, just a few drug busts and some childish fights. Local kids always joked that he worshipped the devil. Ha! I mean, he had a temper, I’d reckon that at least. But Paul always handled it well. He was firm with the boy, maybe too firm. But firm enough to where he made sure that Kenny knew that if he ever got behind the wheel drunk, he would never step foot in their house again.”

My dad paused for a moment, collecting himself. He watched the storm as I watched his aged face, noticing the wrinkles that lined his eyes for the first time. He seemed smaller than I remembered, more human.

“Well, I guess Paul wasn’t firm enough with Kenny. Or maybe Kenny was just going through a phase or something like you teenagers do,” he smiled sadly back at me. “Like when you dyed your hair pink just to piss off your mother. She hated it, but I always thought it was beautiful.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “I almost forgot about that.”

“Ha, she was real pissed when you did that, thought you were defying her or something,” my dad took another sip of his drink. “But I knew that you were just testing the boundaries. Maybe Kenny was too.”

“Dad,” I asked softly. “What happened to Kenny?”

“It was a long shift. 15 hours, I’d say. Me and my partner Bud were real tired. It was the night of the full moon. I know that you and your mom think it’s horseshit, but weird stuff always happens on a full moon. I don’t know why. Maybe people just like to cause trouble...or maybe it’s something else. But we were finally nearing the end of the long shift. We had already dealt with a drunken brawl, a beat up wife and some old lady who tried to cut her knickers off with a pairing knife.”

My dad finished the last of his drink, wincing as the scotch hit the back of his throat.

“We were called to the scene of a car accident, a real bad one too. Apparently some car had been going 120mph in a 30mph zone. It barreled right into the side of a tree and wrapped itself around its trunk real good. The whole thing burst into flames on the scene. The fire crew was able to put it out pretty quick, but they needed our help treating the crash victims.”

“When we arrived on the scene, we could tell that it was going to be a lost cause. Three fire trucks were lined up on the side of the road, accompanied by no less than five police cars. This was bad, Bud and I both knew it.”

“Scorch marks littered the road, leading us to the dented and smoking mess of a car that stood before us. Its metal was hot to the touch, glowing dimly against the moonlight. Its front hood was completely wrapped around the massive oak tree before it. We tiptoed around melted metal and pools of blood. Now that I look back on it, those were pretty weird signs. I don’t think a car is supposed to get so hot that the metal melts right off of it. But me and Bud didn’t think about that in the moment, we thought about the victims.”

“Were they still alive?” I asked, my breath caught in my throat.

My dad nodded slightly. “Just barely.”

“How did they survive that kind of a crash?”

“Because they weren’t human.”

I paused, waiting for the punch line that never came. The storm lessoned above us, the rain now falling in gentle drops.

“When we got to the driver’s side, we knew instantly that something was wrong. The driver was burnt to a crisp. Its skin was black and charred and its hands...its, its hands were still wrapped around the steering wheel. We thought for sure it was dead. I mean, it had to be. But it wasn’t. It turned its head to look right at me,” my dad paused for a second, catching his wavering breath.

“I swear, it looked right at me and it spoke. It told me to tell its dad that it was sorry, that it never meant to be a bad boy. It told me that it never meant to kill her, he just got carried away.”

“Dad—“

He put his hand up. “Don’t interrupt me.”

“But—“ my dad looked at me with steely eyes and I closed my mouth.

“It told me all of those things and then it turned its head back to the steering wheel. And it was quiet. It wasn’t breathing anymore. So Bud and I are able to get the driver out of the car and put it in a body bag. Then we move over to the passenger side and I swear, I swear that’s the part that really killed me. It was a kid. A small kid—a girl, I think. She was burnt the same way the driver was, the same impossible way. Her mouth was pulled tight into a wide smile, teeth still intact. She wasn’t breathing either. So we loaded her up too.”

“We talked to the police officers and the firemen for a bit and they all say the same thing. That they didn’t know what happened. They imagine that the driver just lost control because he was going so fast. But no one ever reported a car going that fast on that road. Not even one call came through. In fact, the only call that came through in that location was from an out of date phone booth. And it was static, just static and the name of the road—Devil’s Run. Hell, the phone booth didn’t even work no more! So they don’t know how that call was ever placed to start with.”

“So me and Bud go to move the bodies to the hospital and that’s when we get a better look at the car. It’s still a mess, mind you, but now we have time to examine it. Bud goes up to the plate and he nearly faints. He calls me over and asks if I recognize the numbers that are still intact. And I do. I recognize them better than my own license plate. It’s Paul’s car. I’ve seen it every day of my life.”

“Did Paul...”

My dad shook his head. “No, no I knew Paul was working that night. I had already seen him when I took in the old lady who bled out.”

“So, so it was Kenny?” I asked, clutching the edge of my seat.

My dad shook his head again. “That’s uh, that’s what we thought too. So we call into dispatch to let them know that this would be our last run. We wanted to tell Paul ourselves. So we get to the morgue and Paul is all bright and cheerful, he’s just excited that his shift is ending soon. And we just crack. We crack right then and there in front of him. Bud tells him that we have some bad news and I just stay stone silent. I let Bud tell him that we think we have his son. And the entire time, the entire fucking time, Paul just stares at me. Like he can’t believe I could be such a silent coward.”

“But Paul is brave. He tells us he needs to examine the body—son or not. We protest, tell him that we can find someone else to handle the autopsy, but he persists. He says he has to know. He has to know so he can tell his wife. So I stay with him. I stay with him for hours, watching him work under the harsh fluorescent lights of the lab.”

“And Paul, fuck, Paul held it together. He was stone-faced and straight-backed. And when he completed the autopsy, he turned to stare at me. And he nodded. He said that I was right, that it was Kenny. He told me that Kenny had knee surgery as a kid, and his knee matched the body lying on the table before him. Steel plates and all. Dental records matched too. It was Kenny, alright. There was no going around it.”

“So I drive with Paul back to his wife. He didn’t want to tell her alone. I don’t think anyone could do that alone. So I follow him up to his front door, my hand on his shoulder. He nods at me and opens the door with his key. His wife is sitting on the sofa, drinking a glass of wine. Her happy face bubbles into confusion as she sees me standing there. I guess I must have looked like I’ve seen a ghost or something.”

“Paul leaves me in the doorway and he moves towards her, his back slumping forward. That��s when he starts crying. Shit, he barely even makes it to the couch. He just falls on his knees in front of her and cries, telling her that their son is dead.”

“Oh my god,” I whisper. “That’s horrible.”

My dad shook his head back at me. “That’s not the worst part. See, the wife is just sitting there, listening to her husband, and then her face goes real dark. She’s furious. She smacks Paul hard across the face and tells him that this was the worst prank he’s ever pulled on her. Now, Paul is just dumbfounded. He’s sitting there on his knees in front of her, tears just pouring down his face. His wife stands up and glares at me. I swear her eyes could’ve burned a hole in my head.”

“I don’t know what to do so I start stammering on about how we found Kenny’s body and how Paul identified him by his knee surgery and dental records. Paul’s wife goes real quiet like. Then she looks up towards the stairs and yells Kenny’s name. A few seconds later Kenny comes barreling down the stairs, annoyed that his video game was interrupted.”

“Kenny...Kenny was alive?!” I stammer.

My dad nodded slowly. “We didn’t know what to think. Apparently Kenny had too much to drink at the local pub, so he called a taxi to take him home. He left his car there at the bar.” My dad laughed shortly. “I guess Paul’s firmness really did make an impression on him. With drunk driving, at least.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Yeah,” my dad said gruffly. “We didn’t either. So Paul and I headed over to the pub where Kenny says he left the car and low and behold, it’s still there. It’s in pristine condition, license plate and all. Not a scratch on it from what we could tell.”

“Then what happened to the car you guys found wrapped around a tree trunk?” I asked.

My dad ran his hands through his hair. “Well, it was still there too. After we found the car at the pub we headed back to the scene of the accident. The car was still there seeing as how the fire crew hadn’t been able to remove it so quickly. Paul was confounded. He said it was the same exact car. There was even a charred disco ball hanging off of the rearview mirror, the same one he had in the car at the pub. It even had the same initials carved into it—PMK, his full name.”

“But that’s...”

“Impossible,” my dad interrupted. “I know. But that’s not the end of the story.”

“What about the people? The two bodies?”

“Well,” my dad said. “That’s what we looked into next. We headed over to the morgue where we left the teenager and the little girl. When we got there, the two bodies were gone. Straight up and vanished. The security footage didn’t notice a thing. And the records? Those were gone too.”

My dad paused for a moment as we both stared off into the distance. The rain had almost stopped entirely, creating a strange calm that seemed almost unsettling rather than enjoyable.

“Dad,” I asked hesitantly. “I know you think one of the bodies was Kenny...but what about the little girl?”

My dad frowned, scratching his head. “That’s the part that scares me most. We don’t know. We looked into missing persons reports and we couldn’t find nothing. Sure, there were a few missing persons reports of little girls, but the bodies were always found. They were always uh, abused to some degree. But not burnt. No, nothing like this. And that boy’s body was Kenny’s, Paul swears by it.”

We were quiet for a long time after that, listening to the night begin to murmur back at us.

“I quit the next day,” my dad whispered. “I never went back to that road or that hospital.”

“What about Paul?” I asked.

My dad shook his head. “Uh, well, he took his own life—after what happened next.”

“What happened, dad?” I asked hesitantly. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear anymore.

My dad blew his nose into his handkerchief and wiped at his teary eyes. I hadn’t even realized that he had started crying.

“Kenny was a bad kid, he was a bad kid alright,” my dad sobbed. “A few months later they found him in bed with a uh, a little girl. No more than 12. She, she had been dead for a while.”

“How could he...”

“He had been doing it for a while, they reckon. Picking up little kids in that car, touching them....hurting them. Killing them. Keeping them. I don’t, I don’t know how he could have done something like that. But when they caught him, he took off in the car with the girl’s body. He was speeding real fast, too fast.”

“Devil’s Run?” I asked.

My dad just nodded, too emotional to say anything more.

“He crashed, didn’t he?” I probed.

My dad nodded again, blowing his nose into his handkerchief.

“Paul wasn’t the same after that,” he murmured. “Paul gauged his eyes out a month later, on the next full moon. He was in the morgue when he did it. He took a scalpel to his eyeballs and he just, he just kept going. No one found him till morning. And by then, he had cut his arteries out one by one.”

“Dad, I’m so—“

“It’s fine,” he interrupted. “It was a long time ago.”

We sat in silence once more. The crickets had finally come out after the storm, blanketing the night in sound. My dad played with his empty glass, cupping it between his hands.

“Pappa,” I began. “If the crash didn’t happen for a few months later, who did you see in the car that night?”

My dad gently put the glass back on the table, looking up at me stoically.

“I saw Kenny. I saw Kenny and the girl he would murder.”

We sat side by side and watched the full moon rise above the night sky. My dad turned back towards me and grabbed my hand.

“Warnings are everywhere, we just have to listen.” His grip was tighter than normal, almost painful.

“I know, Pappa.”

“Tell your mother I’m sorry,” he pleaded. And then he got up and went back inside.

I’ve been sitting here all night, typing this out. I’m too afraid to go back inside the house—too afraid of what I will find waiting for me. See, my mother has been dead for six months.

#creepy #horror story #premonition #author: kmcooney

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rpausandwhatifs · 4 years ago

Text

TF Do I Look Like To You?!|| Persephone and Isla

@wishes-in-the--markmark @ledabunnie-rp @nerdynumme-rp

Persi had to beg Reiner to come with her, but once she explained herself, he thought it would be a fun trip. He had honestly never seen Persi drive or her license, and was most sure she didn't have it yet, but they were around the same age, it's high time she stopped acting like a heathen. Reiner really wasn’t trying to judge her, but as someone who cares about her (still was never sure if it was deep enough or not)

"Thanks for coming," Persi said watching road.

"Yeah. I needed to get outta the house. I had time to kill since school's remote," Reiner explained.

"Baby sister getting on your nerves? Miss your girl?" She as she propped her legs up on the dashboard.

"Uhh no..my parents were actually..and..I-I don't have a girlfriend," Reiner quadruple taking at Persi because her seat belt wasn't on but the car was quiet. He pulled the car over and stopped looking at her.

"What's up? Why'd you stop? You wanna switch?" She asked, turning her head.

"Put your seat belt on, please," he says leaning back and turning his head to her.

“That’s what you pulled over for?” she asked with annoyance.

“A ticket for not wearing your seat belt in California is like $250-”

“I don’t care. My parents have the money!” she snapped.

“It’s not about the money! Your parents don’t wanna have to pay for your casket because you got thrown through a windshield,” Reiner reasoned with her, and he breathed, “Just..put it on, Persi..”

“I’ll wear one if I drive,” she said back.

“Okay..I gotta see your license,” he said, a little more excited.

Persi pulled out her wallet and took out the card, passing it over to him, “I just got it after having my permit since my birthday...AND I have a clean driving record.”

Reiner knew that she was smart enough to have a fake license and he looked at her then tilted it in the light, and saw the shimmering watermarks. He was impressed, “Alright, can you at least do the speed limit?” he asked as he unbuckled his seat belt getting out to switch with her.

~~~

“So..is she..your girlfriend?” Reiner asked as they parked outside of the loft building, she pulled out her phone to text the girl.

“No..she..well..Yeah she is. She and I kinda don’t like thinking of ourselves as girlfriends but we’re tight you know? It was my turn to come and get her so we can hang out,” Persi was trying to explain and saw the message from her saying that she was coming down. Reiner nodded, “Can you get her bags?”

“Yea sure,” he said, getting out of the car with her.

Isla was so excited to leave out and get some air with Persi and maybe she can get more personal with Persephone. She was confused she opened her door and seen the big boy standing at the back of the rental with the hatchback open. She stopped and looked at Persi with furrowed eyebrows. “Who the fuck is he?” she called out as the ginger approached her.

“My cousin. He needed a break from his perfect family and we’re working on our friendship,” Persi said, snaking her hands around the girl’s waist, knowing that touch calms her down in most situations. The girl fidgeted and picked up her bags, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just us...It’s always been just us..you’re not lying to me, are you? That’s not your boyfriend, right?” Isla asked, walking her bags over to the car, tolerating Persi’s hand on her waist. “What’s your name, man?” she asked, dropping her bags in front of her.

“Reiner...it’s nice to meet you, Isl-” he started before she cuts him off.

“Shut up! I don’t want you here,” Isla bites at him, “Persi is the lump driving?”

“Yes. He’s driving,” he said as he closed the hatch and walked to the driver’s seat, closing the door.

Isla stood back from the car and pouted. Persi realizes she's not in the car. "Is she okay?" Reiner asks, causing Persi's attention to shift. Persephone gets out of the car and pulls her off behind the car.

"What's your deal, Buttercup?" she asks, pushing her hair over and fixing the girl's flyaway, which was met with a swift slap from Isla and she was about to push her until Persephone grabs her arms and pulls her wrists together and then pulls it behind her back, "Stop! Talk to me...Isla! What's wrong?"

Isla panics for a little bit as she realized she's in the girl's "calm down" hold. Then tries to remember what's happening since there doesn't seem to be her parents as the cause and her bags are in the car. Then she trails her eyes to the hatch window and the boy in the front seat, looking down at her hoodie. "This is his..You lied to me! You told me you were single.." she whined, twisting in her hold, purposefully not locking eyes with Persephone.

"I told you he's just along for the ride..It's about time we got some muscle and a guy to pass in the hick-towns, you know?" she tried to convince the girl, trying to follow where her head is going.

"Then why do you have his hoodie?! You had this when we met! I'm not getting into any fucking poly!" Isla pushed her arms and pushed Perspephone back, which caused her to snap and grab the now-blonde brunette and slam her against the car, both of them shouting and fighting until Persephone grabs her wrists again and pins them to the car.

"Fucking chill!" she barks at her, even while she struggled.

"Let me go!~"

"You gonna stop?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Promise me you're gonna stop."

"Pers~"

"Pers nothing, stop freaking out."

"Pers!"

"Shhh! Listen to me..chill out. Alright. Promise you'll stop screaming and being a bitch. When I tell you that Reiner is basically my cousin. He's been cousin-zoned. He's off limits for me. I have his hoodie because he said he didn't want it anymore!"

"Seriously?" she asked, softening up.

"Seriously," Persephone sighed, locking eyes with the girl and loosening her grip, her touch softening.

"The hell is going on back here?!" Reiner asked as he had exited the car and bustled to the hatch.

“Nothing I haven’t already solved. Get in the car..And don’t start your shit about seat belts,” Persephone said walking to the backseat with Isla and opened the door while she went in before her.

Once they drove out of LA, Isla and Persephone were comfortable watching the open road while Reiner quietly drove against the bright streets. “Hey, Reindeer..can you make a left off this next exit? There’s this place I wanted to show Persi.”

“It’s Reiner..And how far off? We’re supposed to be at the suite in like a few hours...” he said with a little concern.

“Come on, dude! A few days won’t hurt!” Persephone said, “You told her you’re not in any rush to get back to your parents being all lovey dovey..So let’s enjoy our trip!”

“His too?” Isla asked leaning into Persephone’s touch.

“Oh yeahh. His parents were like the perfect good girl and jock-like meathead couple back at school,” Persephone said, leaning her head on the other girl, giggling.

“Who are his parents?” Isla asked.

“Rosanna and Mark,” Reiner finally said, slightly indignant.

“Oh yeah...My dad used to fuck her back in the day-” Isla said.

“How was that?” Reiner asked, trying his hardest to hold back stopping the conversation.

“From what he told me they were just young and stuck inside a lot so he’d just go and get her rocks off even if it wasn’t the real thing..Then they hung out before your brother’s baby shower? I dunno he said they were separated and she and him hung out for a while,” Isla said while she fought Persephone lightly since she was covering her in kisses.

Reiner was surprised at how tame their relationship was and wondered why his mother never brought it up. It really put into perspective for him that his parents felt safer leaving their past in the past, definitely something that wasn’t necessary to tell their kids. Growing up, it made sense, but now he couldn’t stand them. They were too perfect and a little too selfish. It was interesting to think that while he was sleeping, waiting for the day his father came back, his mom was staying out and having fun. This imperfection made him think of what exactly his father did while he wasn’t with his mother.

He just kept thinking back to the baby shower and how he heard noises and an ambulance came for whatever was going on inside the house. It was a really fun magic show on the yard but he could see his mother being walked out to the ambulance by the EMTs. His father following right behind her in handcuffs. They never talked about it, and he’d never brought it up again. His father gave him a weird story about how they were talking and she felt labor pains, but someone had fell down some steps and because they live in California, they put him in handcuffs to make sure it wasn’t a domestic situation.

Isla mentions that her mom had came there but just for the party and that she didn’t expect for her old flame to be there. Not long after that she explained to her daughter that she was pregnant with her. Persephone was in the middle of a custody battle with her birth parents so all of this went over her head. Isla chimes in to tell Reiner to turn off the road, but begins to see how much Reiner could use a break like this. She begins to see his and Persi’s dynamic unfold before her, even as she got lost in arms of the girl she missed.

They all talked about school and what it’s been like for them to just be stuck at home, to which they all agreed would be better if their parents didn’t work from home already. The upside, that Persephone and Reiner pointed out, was that their parents were there to watch their younger siblings, who appreciated the extra attention they were getting from what the older kids could see. They just wanted space. Isla would love to get to those other layers in Reiner, and this trip was proving to be her only opportunity.

They drive up to this abandoned overnight campground, long forgotten from the 70s and 80s. Reiner was nervous about the fact that they were trespassing, asking the girl how she found out about this to no answers. Let loose upon this entire campground they found the office, still full of files and documents, laughing at some of the pictures. Isla stumbles upon the proceedure to turn on the water for the cabins and mess hall.

After some very spirited games of darts, foosball and , Persephone and Isla stumble across a loose floorboard with a cookie tin under one of the broken down cabins, they sat and read the notes these two kids left for each other, finding out that they had the girls’ camp one week and the boys’ the following week. They had been planning to meet for years, but obviously since the camp shut down the spring before they could see it through.

Reiner took a lot of pictures of the flowers and a few wildlife, making a note that he was going to get up and go on the morning hikes with his parents instead of pulling all-nighters for homework and extra credit. He didn’t feel himself again today and was starting to really hope that this small thought was the beginning of sunny days in his chest and in his head. He walked over to the giggling girls in the dilapidated cabin, “You girls having fun in here?” he asked, pushing his hand through his hair and drenching it with sweat.

The girls exit and they figure out what they want to eat for dinner for the night, stopping for some In-N-Out not too far from their site. They sit up and tell stories while they pass around a bottle of brandy, Reiner apprehensive to taking sips. He tries a really small shot and doesn’t really like the taste, quickly trying the cola with another shot and not hating it as much. He decided to drink water for the rest of the night to flush out his system since they were driving the rest of the way to the suite in the late morning tomorrow. He was surprised nothing happened, despite being scared about drinking underage but he couldn’t lie about the fact that he sleep so much better even though what he drank merely coated his tongue.

They afixed a tent to the roof of the car and put an air mattress inside for Reiner to sleep there and also be on guard. Isla and Persi slept inside on a bed of duvets and mattress pads Persephone brought from home. The girls obviously stayed up later and fooled around with their drunken antics before Persephone decided to roll up and smoke the ancient weed so that she could sleep and they didn’t dip into their stash, Isla passing on it as sleep finally came down on her.

Being as Isla usually had trouble sleeping all of the way through, so woke up early, snaking out of Persi’s arms with an excuse to go to the bathroom. The girl noticed that Reiner had been missing from the roof rack fortress, so after completing her sunrise ritual and thinking about making sun tea to better motivate her until her next nap in the car, she searched for the creek and saw Reiner with a bright mat, stretching his body up against the babbling waterway. He looked pretty amazing if she could say so herself. She walked upstream to talk, almost startling the other. “Huh?!” he asked, looking down and pulling his headphones out of his ears, “Isla...I didn’t expect to see you this early given how late you were up...”

“OH...uhh sorry if we kept you up..” she apologized shyly.

“Eh,” Reiner shrugged, going into his next pose, “I hadn’t slept in 3 or 4 days at this point, not your fault. Also you two weren’t the loudest things out here, I found out,” he said, straining a little as Isla gave him worried eyes.

“I don’t sleep for long periods of time,” she said, sliding off her shoes, feeling the sand on the bank in her toes and liked the mixture of dirt in it. She tried to mime and mirror Reiner, trying to figure out which routine he was doing and joined along, “I hope you don’t mind me joining.”

“Nah...I’m surprised you caught on actually...”

“I do it myself to balance chakras and a bunch of other witchy things..I’m trying to calm Persi’s energy by getting her into witchcraft..but it’s hard because Persephone is just..It’s hard when you’re two people in one body,” she shrugged.

“Yeah...I guess..My parents always do it, so it makes me feel good after because it’s like stretching. Then I usually go workout with my dad a little so that I’m warmed up for practice after school because I recovered all day eating and going to class..”

“Wow...You’re so organized and your parents are so..involved. I kinda wish I had that, or siblings to make the times when mine aren’t involved...less empty.”

“Yeah, but since I’m older they give more attention to the little ones, and I’m not jealous or anything, but now..it just seems like they have time for each other, and the babies..I dunno what to do now that my -like- next 6-9 months can’t happen. It was like, the only thing keeping me going.”

“Football and going to college for football?”

“Uhhh not really. I guess the fact that I was working towards something? That...it was certain. I guess you could say....Aaaannnd finish strong..!”

“Uh huh...is that the reason why you’re not sleeping..you feel like you’ve lost purpose?~”

Reiner and Isla stop and he shakes out his tension, looking at the girl and playing back what she said in his head, “Purpose? Like the reason to live purpose?”

Isla huffed and scoffed, “No~ more like..it’s what made your life feel whole and gave you peace of mind. And without it...You’re questioning yourself and your angry at something that makes you feel like you failed at something even though you didn’t but essentially it was out of your control?”

“Yeah...wow..it..uhh makes my chest stuffy and tense like..I’m nervous and scared...”

“Does your dad die from smoking?” she asked after he rolls up his mat and walks over to the huge rock and log that hangs over the widening of the creek.

“Nobody in my house smokes,” he said affirmatively.

“Your mom sneaked cigs with my dad, remember? So, how about you figure it out now?” she asked, sitting on top of the rock, throwing her legs over and wets her feet. She enjoyed the cool stream on her feet and the little bubbles rushing up her skin tickling her, and Reiner followed her as he took his shoes off and dips his feet in, shivering a little. The girl reached in her pocket and pulled out the unfinished blunt they had rolled and lit it. She was expecting the boy to freak out and ask politely to put it out, but instead he sat back and breathed her secondhand smoke with such calm and without hesitation. She pulls back and gives him a look.

Reiner understood why she pulled back, since he remembered the little bit of smoking culture of waiting his “turn”. Also, she was still protecting him, but his chest was pained, even after the yoga. He couldn’t take a naproxen or acetometaphin. Hell, he remembers his mother handing him a vallium by accident and nothing happened. Now he couldn’t focus, but he can’t always go on a walk. He felt so weird being the odd one out now when he’s been through many a family gathering and abstained even though Persi and a few of the others didn’t, but Harlan was always there to give him the reassurance he needed. Harlan was home from college, but he had his own things going on. His mother nor Harlan could be there forever to ease his chest or give him the reasons or tell him he’s comfortable where he was. Nobody was going to protect him anymore. He was too scared to move, he wasn’t thinking. He waited until she was done with her turn, sliding it off of her fingers and looked at her, “So..what do I do?”

“I’ll give you brownie points for remembering the golden rule...But inhale slow cus the air carrying the smoke is hot. Puff out your cheeks then swallow the air slow and hold it for a little then let it go,” Isla explained quickly.

“Am I supposed to cough or something?” he asked looking at it strangely.

“Yes, but you’ll just get higher faster, you’re only getting the one hit. I don’t have my license and I wanna get to the diner without dealing with Persi’s roadrage,” she said, taking it back in her fingers.

“Are..you gonna finish it?” he asked.

“No. I’m not. I don’t remember a lot of last night either because of what Persephone and I did or because I did too much or bc this ancient ass grass snuck up on me.”

“What? How does..marijuana sneak up on you?”

“Oh my god you sound like such a square~! It’s one of those things where if you’re trying a new strain it’ll get you higher than expected in an unexpected timeframe...” she says, pushing her hair back and leaning back on the rock, Reiner follows.

“Oh..” Reiner said taking some deep breaths as he felt this calming forcing its way into his chest, “Woah...”

“Woah what?...You alright?” Isla asked, turning her head.

“My chest stopped hurting..like it doesn’t feel tight anymore. I feel..like..wow..I need to do yoga. I need to do my routine again now that I feel like this..” he says, dropping his hand into the water while he took very steady and even breaths, listening more intently to the babbling of the creek. He brought it back up and pushed it through his hair and loved the fact that he was calm.

“See? And how about we try some other types of yoga..Like where we take our clothes off and really embrace the energy?” Isla suggested, putting it out and stuffing it into her shorts.

“I’ve heard of naked yoga, but..do you think that’s..safe? Out here?” he asked hesitantly.

“We started out here as children of the earth, I’m sure she won’t mind..Also we’re going to the suite like right after breakfast so you’ll be able to properly wash off soon,” she was sure to be vague about the goddess of nature and the sun goddess, since they were about to do a ritual.

Reiner was still unsure and thought about what she was saying and honestly, she wasn’t wrong and this girl doesn’t copy Persephone, but is her foil. It just made her better to sit down and talk to, and waste time with her. When she spoke to him, he felt like he could believe what she was saying because she’s lived it, it just comes through. He’d have to ask Persi if she could bring her along all the time. The boy looked over and saw the girl standing stark naked a few feet away, a little shocked. He wondered if he zoned out because he was thinking so hard or if he was stuck because he was buzzed and his thoughts slowing down made him forget the time passing. He sat up and pulled off his shirt.

Back at their little base, Persi had woken up and wondered where those two had gone, hearing their laughter in the distance, she followed their sounds. She found the creek and could barely see them upstream looking like they were doing yoga, so she took off her shoes and started walking on the sand of the beach.

Reiner and Isla were laughing through most of the poses but they both did feel so much better and limber from sitting and driving for so many hours as well as the activities they’ve gotten up to yesterday. Isla looked at Reiner and was so confused because she’s never felt more comfortable naked in front of a man than she did right now. It could be the weed, but also, she just loved his energy he brought. She knew Persi and Persephone didn’t mean to be angsty and chaotic, but being around Reiner was a nice change of pace. She didn’t feel any sexual tension or pressure, so she thought she’d ask him a very fitting question. “Hey can you like..massage my back and help me crack my spine? Yoga for some off reason doesn’t do anything for my back but my extremities feel so good,” she said once she was finished brushing the sand off her knees.

“I gave you the more comfortable sleeping spot, and you definitely need to work on your form..Why don’t you ask Persi to do it?” he said, not able to believe her at first.

“Persi is too rough, and she’s impatient she goes too fast. Also, she usually wants to have sex with me, and I just need someone strong to break my back for me,” Isla bit back.

“Alright, well can you give me a rub down when we get to our suite?” he asks, watching her lay on the rock.

“Why don’t you ask Persi to do it?” she asked him mockingly.

“Her and I don’t have the established boundaries for her just to be rubbing my back. Just because you and I click and we can have that energy like you said, doesn’t mean I get that from her...Also, you just said that she’s heavy-handed and impatient.”

Isla loved how Reiner’s hands felt on her body when he held her up while they did the yoga poses, she didn’t expect for his hands to be better at massages and knowing how to crack her back. She was making so many noises while trying to tell him exactly where to go and communicating what was working that when he stopped and looked up to see Persi, she immediately shoved Reiner into the creek.

“What the fuck?!” Persi asked furrowing her brows, “What the fuck were you two doing? Why’d you just push him into the creek?”

“‘Cus..uhh he tried to kiss me-”

“Where are your clothes?” Persi asked.

“O-over there...”

“And...what were you doing again? Cus I don’t think you lied to me right the first time,” she said, getting more frustrated.

“We were hanging out...And uhhh..phew! That water was cold!” Reiner said, finally climbing out of the creek and throwing his clothes on, walking toward Persi, and handing Isla her clothes. “Persi...believe me..we were doing yoga and she asked me a favor. It doesn’t sound as bad as it looks..”

Persi scoffed and turned around and walked away, tears streaming down her face. She felt so betrayed, unsure of how she could be so stupid, but also that what she saw surprised her and made her jealous. They were stuck on this trip and Persephone just couldn’t calm down now. She really thought Isla didn’t like him that much. She was wondering what changed in the matter of 2 days. From her being completely content with Reiner and her being happily at arm’s length, to him trying to lie about having sex with Isla. Maybe he was right: she was too possessive. The girl was taking all of this out on a dilapidated cabin- breaking all of the windows and using one of the loose pipes to break more things and the petrified wood. It was becoming more clear that yes she was jealous of Isla possibly and allegedly having sex with Reiner, and just a little hurt by Reiner seemingly lying to her about building some sort of a connection. She realized how bad it was that she had gotten angry that they had gone off together.

Isla had spent about an hour listening to Persephone freaking out and reeking havoc on the poor cabin while she made sure that Reiner wasn’t as influenced anymore. Reiner reassures her that he’s fine since she shoved him into the cold creek. She pleads to fix things with her because she was too afraid of her response. They were techincally in the middle of nowhere and she could drive off and abandon them at any time.

Reiner went finally went in and knocked to get Persephone’s attention, “What the fuck do you want?!” she girl growled as she turned around.

“You done yet?” he asked, leaning against the doorjamb, looking around at the broken room, “We’re ready to talk so that we can go.”

“I don’t trust you two...I’m telling you right now...You, I know what you could be capable of, but her...even I’m not sure what she would say or do to protect herself,” Persephone said, tearing up some more curtains.

“So, you’re not even gonna give it a chance?”

“You get one, she’s gonna have to show me I can trust her,” she said, throwing her foot into the walls and busting holes in it.

“And that means you gotta blow up like this? That girl is sitting there half to death out there. If something did happen and it was an accident, you’re not even giving her the benefit of the doubt,” he pointed out, grimacing at the girl’s actions then tries to approach the red head.

“I’m not taking it out on her, so what does it matter?! I can act however I wanna act if I feel so inclined, asshole!” she barked, out of breath.

“Alright, but when it’s appropriate. Didn’t you hear me? Isla has been having a full panic attack because you’re in here and she thinks you’re gonna abandon her or hit her. Either way she doesn’t feel safe,” he explained, reaching for her wrists, the girl fighting a little more before she had to stop and catch her breath since she was hyperventilating so hard until Reiner notices the tears beginning to roll down her cheeks as she collapsed into sobs in her friend’s chest, quickly picking her up. He reassures her and rubs her back while her chest heaved.

“Did you do it? Did you...did you actually kiss her?” she asks.

“Nah. Well I was kinda excited over doing couples yoga and the conversation we were having that I wasn’t even looking her in the face,” he said with a shrug.

“Then what was the noises I heard? And why were you doing something that if someone just so happened to catch you, the dots they connect would be ridiculous...?” she asked, trying to catch her breath.

“I-I I-I I dunno..okay?! I figured that it wouldn’t take that long and she wasn’t giving me that vibe...It was a blurry moment for me!” he admited, “I was trying new things, okay? I was trying sky clad yoga with Isal and I tried some the weed she had and my chest stopped hurting and I could think so much better and I didn’t even try a lot. I really felt better than I have this whole trip, and that’s including the walk and the yoga I’ve been doing for the past 3 months!”

“WH...wait!...You tried weed back there?” she asked, hushing her tone quickly, “We can worry about my jealousy and betrayal later...Did..how come you didn’t tell me?”

“About what?”

“About your..’your chest problem,’ I thought you were just babysitting me to make sure I came back and I didn’t get into any trouble..I-I didn’t kn-know you needed a distraction...” Persi shrinking as she realized how clouded her head had been about Isla, “I’m sorry.”

“That’s the thing, you throw things at me and move independently of others. You never would have known if this didn’t happen,” Reiner explains putting his hands in his pocket, “Can we go now? We can talk about this when we get to the suite.”

“You think I’m gonna let you live in the same space as Isla you have another thing fucking coming...but we should go. So maybe we’ll just get you a hotel room nearby,” Persi bites, walking out of the cabin, seeing Isla waiting by the car looking a little scared.

~~~

They are on a stretch of road in the desert, Persi driving as Isla sat in passenger and Reiner in the back. She thinks of anything to try and keep her calm, take her mind off of the impending fear she has in her head. “What’s for dinner when we get to the suite?” Isla asks, leaning her head against the window.

“I was gonna make my mom’s chicken parm, but I gotta check-in so I might not do it tonight,” Reiner says.

“What do you mean? We’re all checking into the same suite...” Isla says.

“No we’re not. He’s going to stay in a hotel room and visit our suite-”

“Why?”

“Isla, it’s fine don’t-” Reiner said before she cut him off.

“No, it’s not! We didn’t fuck. We were hanging out. You’re not dangerous. Pers, he’s staying with us,” Isla said.

“No. He’s not. I can’t trust him.”

“Why because he trusted me and not you? Does it upset you if we get close?” Isla argued.

“I’m just protecting you,” Persi said.

“No you’re not! You’re hoarding me like my mother did-”

“But you want to get away from her-”

“BeECAUSE she keeps me from interacting with other people like you’re doing right now! You don’t own me. I’m not your fucking property. Your little travel stuffie! I have feelings and my own thoughts and ways of doing shit, and I wanna be able to be comfortable with another guy that isn’t my dad!” she said, making Persi pull over.

“What? Persi, no! Come on we gotta get to the suite...Can’t we...Ugh...This is so dumb!” Reiner complains, getting out of the car once she gets out.

“Where are you going, Reiner?!” Isla asks.

“I’m gonna walk! You two just pick me up down the road when yall done fighting...” Reiner said grabbing his backpack with a few water bottles and a snack, taking quick strides from the vehicle and leaving the hatch open.

“WAi...Urgh! Persephone you selfish bitch!” Isla growls and snaps, shoving Persephone against the car. It sets her off as they fight and fall into the dirt, tussling and wrestling.

“What’s wrong? Your boyfriend leaving make you sad?~” the red-head taunted, causing push her and punch her in the face.

“He’s not my boyfriend! You think everything is about you! You think everything belongs to you and ONLY you! You’re so fucking wrapped up in being 2 people and forgotten about because you were a mistake...I wasn’t supposed to fucking EXIST. Someone wanted you, nobody wanted me. Reiner is tired of being ‘that kid’ where everything is PERFECT! You’re not the only one who needs to...deal or cope with something!” Isla fought as she yelled at her, getting her down and pinning her. She hadn’t realized how strong she would be if she actually had to fight Persephone. “Now stop! You’re losing the fight and we’re losing Reiner!” she threw her wrists above her head.

“NO~...” Persephone screamed, her voice breaking as tears rolled down her face as her head rocked back and forth, erupting into a very juvenile cry. Isla let her up to wipe her tears, giving her a very heartfelt embrace with the girl, “I feel..so alone..and I didn’t even realize...I’m sorry.”

“You’re not alone, babe...”

“I’m like...not allowed to have someone love me...No matter how hard I try..My people, they never really worked it out, it shouldn’t feel like it’s my fault~” she tried to gather herself, trying to wipe her eyes and catch her breath through sobs, “They cursed me to be alone..”

“Hey, hey!..You know I love you. Reiner loves you. That’s all we do is love you. We feel the same way sometimes..And you know where I come from..Open those big beautiful green eyes of yours, the desert needed your tears-”

“Isla, don’t start with all that woo-woo about the universe-”

“The same woo-woo about the universe is the same way people believe in a God, it’s just I believe in multiple gods and goddesses...And you- just like Reiner- have lost your purpose..or just haven’t found it yet. You’re looking for complete and unrequited love like a family and-”

“So I have to believe in a higher power..and it’ll just stop?”

“Of course not! I’m trying to..get you to understand you have to stop thinking it’s gonna be some storm of overwhelming calm or an abundance of good luck or compliments. It’s the little things too, baby. It’s the chance to see the sun rise and set; the wind blowing and your medical health; hey, you got to meet me, and love me, and touch me and my body, you get to hear my voice. You make me happy. Are you always the source of my happiness? No, but are you in a backpack full of things that make me happy? Absolutely!”

Persi was so happy to have Isla and her loving embrace along with her intuitive ways of comfort. Isla was grateful for Persi finally being able to receive some necessary healing. The girl couldn’t be sure if Persephone was along for the ride, but at least they were fighting together. Storms not too far off began to rumble against the mountains and the cloud cover was rolling in. They retreated back to the car and started down the road to pick up Reiner.

~~~

Once at the hotel they decide on a double room just so everyone has room and a bed to decompress from being on the road for about a week. Persephone said that the both of them were going to have to work things out for a couple of days, so she told Isla and Reiner that they can hang out without her. The pair simply slept the first day, sharing fun movies and eating various foods. They both checked in with their parents, where Ro was ecstatic to hear that her boy was okay, and also that he might like a girl. They had already discussed before the call that they didn’t care for their parent’s previous relationship, but it would have some influence and called that the end of the discussion between them. Leda and Mark were laughing uncontrollably at how their children came together and vibed, taking up the rest of the conversation away from their children and back to being a virtual reunion for them.

Isla got up and started to play fight with Reiner on his bed as their parents yammered on, eventually escalading into a pillow fight. They both hadn’t realized their parents had hung up long ago until their room service interrupted them.

“I’ve never had a prom-” Isla slurped up as she ate her food, chewing more gracefully, “If your school has a prom, are you going?”

“No...I didn’t..I missed it. We had it early in the year. Sadie Hawkin’s kinda thing...” Reiner admitted, “And with all of...you know..They’ve just kinda closed for the year. And this trip..I was saving it for that night cus I really enjoy hanging out with Persephone. The grass, everything, meeting you, the yoga...I just, I thought if I wasn’t enjoying it I wasn’t ready, but...it’s the only thing I had left to look forward to that I planned solely on my own and..this has been a lot, man.”

“That’s okay. And that’s very concerning so maybe we should have our own prom and dress up tonight? Like dude we’re doing this,” Isla jumped up excitedly, running to the bathroom. Reiner raised slowly and followed behind lazily to have a better position while she did her makeup. “No~ go get changed...Like dressed up or something! I have hair gel and dry shampoo in my suitcase!”

“I have my own products thank you though and also I can’t watch you put makeup on?” Reiner replied.

“Ugh!” Isla turned around, “I want it to be a surprise! You’re supposed to first see me when you pick me up from my house!”

“I know the routine, but eating in the hotel room is pretty far along if we’re going by that logic,” Reiner showed her his palms in his defense, “Plus, I like watching girls put on makeup...it’s so weird..” he snorts quietly as he puts down the toilet seat cover.

“Well I eat while I put on my makeup, so now you’re in charge of feeding me,” Isla said back with a little giggle.

~~~

Isla had now understood why she saw the dress in Persephone’s luggage, and why she told her that she brought her one that would probably fit her. She wore some cute fishnets she bought at store when they stopped for gas with sleek gown with a slit up to the top of the hip, complete with gloves and a cascading shimmer. Reiner slid on a suit his mother had bought an event his father was going to- some award show or something.

Isla took a long look at herself in the mirror as she put on her pretty dangling moonstone and rainbow quartz chandeliers, it made her think of her mother. What this night is/was for her. If she even remembers that night. She was flashing back to the time the girls in the school she was going to at the time were talking about their dates to a dance, and how their moms did their makeup. Given that Leda was a sort of makeup artist, Isla still would have loved for her to think of a look with her and fight with her about it because she’ll probably hate it. She at least wanted the right to do it. She still might. She sat back and pushed the tears back so that her makeup wouldn’t run. She really didn’t have much since Persi didn’t like it like that. “Hey, uh, I finished the- oh.” Reiner said as she took her last deep breath. Just like he said, there’s nothing exciting after this- they’re already in the hotel room. Persi wasn’t here.

The two spent the night taking prom pictures with bed sheets and table pictures with the service cart that held their room service with one of Isla’s candles. Reiner had some lasting energy from the one glass of champagne and two hits he had. He liked the floaty and lightheaded feeling because he made him feel young. However, Isla was finishing everything because of wanting to enjoy the “party.”

They had gotten to the last songs in their playlist and just decided to be prom king and queen. They laughed and fumbled as they tried to align their arms and bodies for dancing together. “You’ve never danced ballroom?” Isla asked, relaxing into his hand on her back again, her eyes darting to their raised locked hands as they almost robotically box-trotted through the song off-beat.

“I have..You ever let the man lead?” Reiner laughed.

“I’ve never danced like that for real...I’ve only seen it in cartoons and movies. My mom made me miss every opportunity I had to dance with a boy,” Isla explained, rubbing her sweaty hands on the dress, “So, you had packed a suit but not a corsage?”

“I would have bought one if the flower shop was open. We weren’t supposed to get here so late because you two had to have a crying moment in the desert...” Reiner said, wiping his own hands on the handkerchief that was in his chest pocket, then tossing it on the bed, adjusting his cufflinks.

“We were fighting over you, you know?” Isla said, looking down as they lined up again.

“That’s hilarious,” he said as his hand slipped across the middle of her back, pulling her closer and resting her head in his chest as they simply rocked, “I want to sway, but I didn’t want you to be nervous about stepping.”

Isla gasped, melting into his touch briefly before snapping back,“Uhh, no! We actually were! She was jealous-”

“I know she likes me, that’s why this whole prom thing worked out for us,” he scoffed.

“What?” Isla asked, anxious and confused.

“I was gonna ask her to give me my first kiss...cus I know that’s all she wanted. We’re...interesting friends. My mother doesn’t really like her or her situation but...she cares about her dad..the dramatic one-”

“Are you talking about Dan~” Isla asked cracking up, sinking her head into his chest, “But that’s so sweet...The-the kiss thing.”

“Oh yeah~..” Reiner chuckled lightly, rubbing Isla’s back, “It was either that or I found a girl on one of these road trips..do it the old-fashioned way..”

Isla really like him rubbing her back as it went with the music they chose, while they both just stood in between the balcony and the room, swaying lightly to the soft guitar music. She thought about how she wanted to find more wholesome boys than the ones in LA and when her mother was on the road. Through their conversations, she found out about the boring life Persi had and was so glad to have met her so she can talk about her days playing on the cul-de-sac with Reiner. All of the events they went to every year. The occasional fights. It’s interesting to her because all of them aren’t necessarily related by blood, so her suspicions weren’t wrong about them, but it was only opening to her now that she might have changed something that might have been set in place. “Have you ever...you know, liked Pers like that?” she asked hesitantly.

“She’s been growing on me, but she sees things that aren’t me but it means she’s opened up. So I like some of the things about her and what we have as our bond stands but could I see myself in the romantic way she does?..I dunno,” Reiner admitted, “And I don’t mind her having you.”

“Do you think she would mind if I had you?” Isla asked with a small smile.

“I dunno, I think she just likes me, you know? You can..you know..have her. I don’t wanna share her,” Reiner admitted.

“It doesn’t sound as well as you mean it,” she laughed, “You don’t want two girlfriends?”

“What?” Reiner asked, “That... sounds greedy.”

“It’s not ~... especially if you want the both of us,” Isla said, hoping to get through to him.

“I don’t know you and I never admit to really knowing Persephone but I care about her a lot..” he mused, “Also guys on the football team act like having more than one girl is some achievement... everyone does. So far I can accept it as a blessing, but people aren’t prizes. I can argue what you get out of them is.”

Isla was frustrated outwardly and knew it was from being intoxicated. The boy was being so noble and sweet and shameless about his opinions. It was different, he was assertive but not forward. His hair falling just the right way as his hair dressing and gel pulled the rest back. “Fuck, Reiny~ why are you taking your time to kiss me?” She asked.

“Certain song. And you could do it at any time,” he admits, “Why aren’t making an attempt?”

Isla scoffed, slightly offended, “I don’t know what to do with guys my age. My mom always ruined it for me by making us move or giving me terrible experiences about men... Basically she was gatekeeping my heterosexuality.”

“She didn’t mind you being a lesbian?” He asked.

Isla sighed, “I was her little baby until I snapped at 16... she flipped her shit when she saw me sucking dick at a beach rave I found her at. Then that time I was being forced fingered by these chicks and she completely zoned out in the room because she was just... not well and couldn’t do anything. She would force me to do little girl things and my lack of a growth spurt really let her travel a lot with me trying not to get groomed or she used me as a happy place because she forced me to keep my innocence but also destroyed it. Either way she was running from a guy that wasn’t chasing her anymore.”

“Was she on the run from parole or the police?” He asked, “I’m so sorry that happened to you.. really I am. You shouldn’t be punished for your mother’s problems or condition...”

Isla felt his words and sighed deeply as she squeezed him, “Worse. A jilted and psycho ex. She told me that if he found her she’d kill her for escaping.”

“So... how did the horror story end?” He rubbed her back to relax her.

“Some other dude she was fucking killed him for trespassing on school grounds and his family buried him. That or my dad, because he took me to his grave to see him,” she explained, shifting a little.

Reiner looked down at her with a puzzled expression, “Why would he do that?”

“Because my mother made it my life purpose to help protect her from him and that he’s going to get her and kill anyone around and torture my mother to death. My mother miscarried a lot before she had me, like purposefully abort and miscarry babies, I was the one my dad forced her to stop running to have, so my dad loves me but she gets jealous and angry and paranoid... that’s why she sabotages me growing up,” she explained, “My dad was giving me permission and the wherewithal to live my own life while he dealt with my mom's trauma.”

“Persi told me she met you at a beach party when she walked out on her people,” he mentioned, “So my verdict of this is that you’ve not really had a kiss from a guy you genuinely liked and dated because your mom kept you from having and enjoying those experiences..so your dad has been helping you snap out of it.”

“Sounds legit,” Isla smirked, scoffing at herself since hearing it from him.

“Do you genuinely like me?..We haven’t really been dating and I know that this whole trip is a date, but what do you think of me so far?” Reiner asked.

“Are you kidding me?” Isla asked, throwing her hands up out of the hold, then drops her exasperation into confusion, “Wait...well, I mean I like the general vibe of you and the idea of you I’ve built up in the past maybe from what Persi had told me about you. You’re really..really cute! And I-”

“Are pretty high and a little drunk,” Reiner said, chuckling and shaking his head, trying to take her hands again, “Calm down, Isla.”

“I know~ but why would you ask me that?” Isla laughed going back to intertwinning with the boy.

“Because Persi told me she’s coming back for Prom tonight,” Reiner admitted, “And...I’m gonna kiss her tonight...And I dunno what’s gonna happen after that but I know that I’m still gonna really like her..And I’m really only starting to get to know you and I love it so far and-” he sighed deeply, “I didn’t want to take her away from you or anything..A-and I don’t even want...sex..with her..I just want to have her in my life..And just like- watch her be happy and make her happy every way I can.”

“Wait...Reiner are you asexual?” Isla asked pulling herself away from him, “It’s clear you’re romantically attracted to her, but...you don’t want to have sex with her...”

“I don’t want to have sex with anybody, get it right,” he interrupted her, “That’s the whole ‘a-’ part in ‘asexual;’ I want her but I hadn’t been able to tell her, but I was gonna give it a go when we...you know..had our moment...”

“Yeah, I’m getting that but you’re..like..an adonis. You’re not attracted to anyone sexually?” Isla asked with slurs, leaning back into him, “Have you even tried?”

“I know sexuality is fluid and I have felt, you know..fluid - oh god what am I saying?” he said as he broke into laughter and let the girl go before catching her again, realizing she��s more intoxicated than he expected- but mostly because he feels loose enough, he didn’t know this is what happens when someone tries to keep up with him, “Woah, hang on, sit down...You okay?”

Isla plops onto the bed, “You’ve been demi-sexual before?” she asked, leaning back.

“Yeah, I guess so,” Reiner said as he heard the door to the other room open and close before looking at Isla, who began wildly snickering, “Compose yourself..”

~~~

Reiner rushes to the connecting door to their rooms and not the actual door, hearing the knocks again. Persephone had gone out and bought a new dress and actually did her makeup and hair. She went with a more bright and light colour palatte and chose a very pretty cream hokey dress with flower and some frills to make it seem either homemade or expensive. She wore her mother’s earrings and Dan’s engagement ring on her hand as well; she had picked out a beautiful clear crystal adornment. All of this still complimented the other couple’s color scheme and styles.

“That’s...wow..” Reiner said as he opened the door slowly and then Isla jumping up to yank the door all the way open and gaped at the girl,

“Holy shit, Persi.”

“Persephone..I look most like it tonight..” she chuckled calmly, then looked down at her garter stockings that have white skulls in the delicate lace, then takes the flower off the dresser and hands it to him. “You said Babies’ Breath for accent, yes?”

It was making Reiner’s head spin. Her entire composure was different, and the inflections of her tones and her rough Northern English accent had even softened and became more clear. He nodded slowly and breathed out, scoffing awkwardly, making her awkwardly laugh under her breath- his eyes watching her glossed blushed lips turn and relax. “You look...absolutely angelic, Persephone,” he finally said after a dry swallow.

“And you’re very stunning-”

“And I’m FUCKED up!” Isla yelled, pushing the boy into the other room with Persephone and closing the partition door.

“...She alright?” the girl asked, giggling.

“Do you not understand how different you look right now?” he asked.

“I had to put it all together, I know what I look like, love..And how long are we gonna wear this whole..thing, because it is awfully uncomfortable seeing as I usually don’t wear this..That’s what Isla’s for,” she mentioned, trying to hide her willies.

“Well I did a 20 song playlist turning up with Isla, and I’m..not gonna lie I’m tired and sobering up, so how about 5 songs and we call it a night?” Reiner asked sweetly.

“Great because I could only think of 5 songs when you asked me,” she sighed in relief, relaxing her body.

“That was...well before this trip, Persephone,” he said slowly, then holding out his hand gently, and lowering himself slightly, “May I have the pleasure of the dancing with you?”

“Yes, and may I?” she said, covering her giggle before getting met with a nod as she returned to a secret place: Reiner’s chest. It’s something she thought she was going to have to miss if he had gone to college and only see and experience when he came home. They rocked gently back and forth, Reiner changing the patterns in slight ellipses. His hand on her back reminded her of when her Otosan would soothe her back to sleep when she used to have nightmares even though she hated his guts. She felt like Reiner made things make sense by being the simplest answer. It just always seemed like she didn’t belong in their world and he said that it was okay. He let her know that he cared no matter how many strange looks his mother gave them or any of the other families in the cul-de-sac. The fact that their parents were friends and lived near one another in a community she didn’t fit in always upset her. She wanted normal and boring. Or at least not to live with her Dads’ best friends and their kids. The girl looked up at Reiner and then looked down as she sighed heavily, “Reiner...”

“Yeah, Persephone?” he asked quiet and sweet.

“Why..why’d you really ask me to do all of this?..I mean, I’m helping you break out, but...here we are..secretly trying to fit in,” Persephone said, chuckling lightly and shaking her head.

“Because you can always have the same as someone else and it just...be different for you..I dunno how to explain it, but...I wanted...to have control. Something- well- someone who would help me do it,” he said, pulling her out of his chest and looked down at her. She was so vulnerable in his arms and he knew if he did this right and everything was planned, then he’d have this moment forever.

“What-what’s that supposed to mean?” she asked innocently, scoffing and looking away.

“It means that everything in my life was sure until all of this quarantine..stuff..-fuck it..This shit took everything away from me. My plans were ruined, and getting my first kiss at my prom was the only thing I knew if I planned it then I’d...I wouldn’t feel so lost and hopeless,” he admitted, finally feeling himself try to stray away from his vanilla upbringing.

Persephone was shocked and her heart sank to hear him curse, but there was part of her who smiled. She knew he was trying to break out but she didn’t know it was because of her. It was making her head spin on top of the fact she instantly as nervous because the boy she thought never wanted her chose her for his first kiss. “R-Reiner...oh my god!” she tried to say in disbelief as her face remained distant. They had both since let go, but she wished she couldn’t and that she never did. It all made much more sense than it should have. It was the only other thing she never understood about him, it wasn’t brotherly, or familial, hell- it’s not even friendly. He loved her. She rushed back to his chest, embracing him tightly, “I didn’t know you hadn’t even had your first kiss...”

“I’m asexual. And I’m married to my goals, so I’d rather make..being loving a goal so that I’m not a robot...I wasn’t sure when I was gonna be ready, but...part of me always wanted to know, you know,” he took her in just how he expected and like nothing earth-shattering wasn’t just revealed.

His words made the both of them laugh, and pull apart slightly again, Persephone finally raising his hand, “How uhh..how far did you wanna take it?”

“The rest of my life,” he answered quickly and breathed in hard, looking away. Startling her for a moment, but she figured it’s a hard night for him to form thoughts. “Oh the kiss-uhh..there..there’s depth to this?”

“Yeah, there’s a regular kiss on the lips,” Persephone explained, finally pulling him in and giving him a slow peck, unable to hide her smirk at the little butterflies and his grip tightening, “Okay~ and there’s the teaser,” she moved in again, letting him lift her slightly as she teased the kiss and little further.

“I feel like my heart’s about to explode out of my chest~” Reiner piped up and loosened his grip as he panted after the teasing kiss, “Wow...I-I think that’s enough for now...uhh”

“You really like me~” she realized as she was lowered, holding him again, “And what do you mean for now? I’m kinda...in the middle of something with Isla-”

“I’d..fuck..I’d already spoke with her while I was waiting for you,” he explained, still catchin his breath, returning his embrace instead of the hold, “She was fine now that we’ve had a conversation and I was able to ask her how she felt about me and all of that.”

“Well, what’d she say?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“How about, Miss Envy...we talk about it over breakfast tomorrow morning?..Pretty sure she’s passed out...” he said, quickly kissing the top of her head andleaving his mouth there briefly.

“And uhh...I’ll upgrade us back to the suite tomorrow too..” she admitted meekly, blushing hard as she buried her face in her chest.

#persephone grace #isla artemis #reiner pansino-fishbach #prom

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koganphrancis · 7 years ago

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Gay 4 JT 4Eva

Also: New Writer, Who Dis?

Before I begin my recap of this week’s episode, let me send a sincere plea to TPTB at Shameless: PLEASE HIRE AN ACTUAL LGBTQA WRITER! It’s nearly the end of the second decade of the 21st century! Do we really need a bunch of different characters stating one reason (and one reason alone) that makes them gay or straight? No, no we don’t.

So, a brand new (to Shameless) writer is thrown into the mix and he gives us what was pretty much universally crowned on social media the most boring episode of this shit show ever, and that’s saying something to all of us that watched Season 6.

It’s so hard to know where to begin, since I want to save ALL the Ian foolishness for last.

I guess we’ll start with Frank since he’s very cut and dried this week: Gets a credit card, gets a car, gets fired because the store he works for is closing. The show tried to make a statement about online driving brick and mortars out of business-which was “news” at least 5 years ago, maybe more. Frank also had a very (to me, anyway) un-Shameless talk with Liam about being poor. This show used to wear that like a badge of honor, but now we have Frank hemming and hawing before admitting that they are, but instead of his old rants about fuck capitalism/fuck the establishment/people who work towards material goals are soulless-he buys a car online. In a nutshell, this is what’s wrong with the entire show now-don’t argue “character development and growth” to me-none of us tuned into this show hoping Frank one day turns into a typical TV dad with a job and a lawn to mow on the weekends.

Next I’ll tackle Debbie-in yet another brilliant piece of retconning, she’s suddenly 16 years old. Now, I’ve said it before and you can Google it just like I did: You have to be 18 years old to attend any kind of accredited welding school in the state of Illinois. Those classes deal with equipment that can kill and maim not only the person using it, but those around them as well. You have to be a legal, liable adult for anyone to put that shit into your hands. Did she steal Ian’s ID to enroll in the school?

Anyway, 16 y/o Debs is on what’s turned out to be a 2 day bender and has had unprotected sex that she can’t remember-multiple times. Um, I have zero experience with drugs, but from anything I’ve read, Ecstasy doesn’t erase your memory-was she really being fed rufies by that long haired guy? Anyway, when he informs her they’ve been banging for two days she leaves Franny (who’s been sitting in a bathtub set up with pillows and a blanket presumably all this time? She didn’t need to be fed or changed?) with the dude and takes off in search of a morning after pill, which she can’t purchase in Missouri because she’s...not 17 yet.

It was established in the first episode that Lip is 23 now, which makes his Irish twin Ian 22-but Debs is 6 years younger than Ian? So, for those 3 seasons Ian was 17, she was 11? She raped Matty when she was 11/12??? She got pregnant at 13 and gave birth at 14? And Child Services didn’t take her and the baby away from Fiona, but sent her to a parenting class instead? Yeah, okay, right.

Anyway, she gets thrown in jail but a parent or guardian doesn’t have to come bail her out, and her storyline for the night ends with a very offensive, not funny racist bit in a drug store. I don’t care that this is “Shameless”-in real life that guy probably would’ve been shot in Missouri for standing up and shouting like that, and the real life media would have a field day about terrorists.

Carl-who we now know is 15-is still driving Fiona’s mini SUV around? Now that we know he’s not old enough to have a license, does that make sense? His role in the night’s episode is minimal-he basically drives Lip around looking for Brad.

Lip and Fiona were experiencing parallel storylines-both were deeply, DEEPLY concerned about other people’s lives this week, but not the people themselves. They both had all these, “I can’t let this happen to ME!” moments of narcissistic bullshit that was really hard to take. In Lip’s case, he’s running around trying to get Brad back on the path to sobriety because if a guy like that can’t do it, what hope is there for LIP? Yes, Lip, make this all about you. And it really sucks, because a very natural concern is right there, but they’re having Lip ignore it: instead of worrying how Brad not being able to stay sober reflects on Lip’s own chances, why not have Lip be concerned for Brad’s son, and pledging to do anything he (Lip) possibly can so that kid doesn’t grow up with a father like Lip had? There’s a ridiculous line where Lip tells Youens he has to come help Lip find Brad because who better than a drunk to know where to find a drunk? That line ignored two major points from the series-one is that Lip himself is a drunk, and two is that Lip has spent a lifetime with his family hunting down Frank when he disappears. They were that desperate to drag Youens into this week’s plot?

Fiona’s whiny “it’s all about me!” plot centered on her finding a dead woman in her apartment, being eaten by her dog. The show shocked me by finally having an actual, accurate fact about that-the dog has to be put down, by law, because it ate human flesh. They even have a man come from animal control and drag it away-but miraculously by the end of the episode, Fiona has the dog. Dafuq? And you know they’ll never explain it.

Anyway, Fiona gets freaked out when she realizes no one cared about this woman, and that that could happen to HER. So she decides to remedy it by getting Ian to make up with her. She goes over to the EMT building and walks right in, just like everyone else. Ian’s there taking inventory on the truck, because he’s always there, because this is the least busy emergency response service in any major city in the USA-did they change their phone number to 912 or something? Anyway, she’s not there to apologize as much as she’s there to LET Ian apologize to her. The whole “feud” thing they’ve got going on is stupid and contrived as hell, but her showing up at his place of work and setting him off is cunty no matter what-and not because of his mental health either, just in general. They just bitch at each other and we’re supposed to think that Ian is sooooooo concerned about those at risk youth when, as has been pointed out many times, Mickey and Yevgeny both fit in that category and he’s written them off without a second thought. Ian’s comments about Fiona only caring about money and not people are A: something he said in Season 7-and the people he was referring to then were her own flesh and blood siblings, and B: didn’t stop him from leaving Mickey and returning to her house and life, so he needs to nut up and lie in that particular bed he made. And Fiona-I get that she didn’t have a choice when Frank and Monica left her holding the bag with all the kids when they were young, but then Fiona made the decision as an adult to take legal custody of them-she stood up in court even after the judge begged her to reconsider giving her life over to them, so every shitty putting herself first thing that she’s done since then IS something to hold against her. Her going to Ian not because she loves him and wants peace between them but to hedge her bets against winding up alone and forgotten was a shitty thing to do. You know how nearly every season Fiona asks another character if she’s a bad person? The answer by now is abundantly clear: she is. The way to not wind up alone is to make sure others aren’t neglected and left by YOU, Fiona.

Just like last week, Ian has the funniest line in the episode, and once again, it’s unintentional, but he growls at Fiona, “I don’t know who you are anymore.” This from the character that since before the time he said, “This isn’t me anymore,” hasn’t been consistent for two weeks in a row. How did this show turn to such shit???

Ugh, then there was the Svetlana/Vee/Kev shit. After all this time, suddenly Kevin feels insecure about his wife having good sex with another person. Vee says Svetlana is a woman, so she knows what feels good to a woman’s body. Kev (who is no longer a redneck this week, in case you were wondering) makes the logical leap that he should have sex with a man, because that will feel as good to him as woman on woman feels to Vee. (Are we sure the new writer’s name isn’t just a nom de plume for John Wells?)

Kev runs into Ian at Patsy’s. Ian’s looking at his phone-I’d like to think Cam was sending #BringMickeyBack tweets using his non-public accounts, but he’s not typing, just swiping, so let’s hope Ian was on Grindr trying to find someone to fuck without a lecture first. Anyway, Kev asks Ian how he knew he was gay, if he was straight and began experimenting and just “decided” he liked being gay “more”. Ian says he just kinda knew. Kev says, “So you just always knew you were into dudes more.” Instead of just saying, “Yes, I’ve always been gay,” Ian has to predicate his answer with a brand new story about how he went thru this “weird phase” with a girl for all of 5th grade because he knew/had been told he was supposed to be into girls. Plus he DOESN’T mention the fact that a decade later, he had to prove it to himself by fucking a woman. Oh, fuck you, Shameless. You’re just never going to let Ian be all the way gay, are you?

Anyway, Ian says, “It wasn’t until, ah...” Kev says, “Until what?” and stupid me at home, foolishly thinking Ian’s going to say, “Until I joined Little League and fell in love with the first baseman...” But, no, he says, “Justin Timberlake” and a lot of people online are praising the writer for having watched old episodes, but I’m figuring he watched a You Tube clip of Ian coming out to Mandy. I don’t think the guy immersed himself in the show.

Anyway, then there’s a bunch of flawed logic showing up all over the place. Kev agrees with Ian that JT is hot, then asks Ian if he’s attracted to him-which is SO WEIRD when you consider Kevin’s known Ian since he was a kid-Ian says no but gets saved from having to get into it further when his to go order is given to him by Snore with her three lines in as many weeks (more about Ian’s thrilling drink order later). Later Kev finds a gay guy and goes into the Alibi bathroom to give his first bj but he-and the gay guy-decide Kev can’t possibly be gay because he doesn’t have a hard on. Yes, because gay men can’t NOT pop a boner at all times when they’re in close proximity to each other. And how did Ian’s attraction to a hetero dude prove his homosexuality? And then on top of all that, Vee goes to see Fiona and has an epiphany of her own-since she’s not sexually attracted to Fi, she can’t possibly be a lesbian, no matter how much she’s enjoying sex with Svetlana. And what about the fact that both Ian and Mickey were able to have sex with women? That means they’re not gay by the logic on display in this ep-altho Vee having sex with Svetlana doesn’t make her gay, so? All this shit is why I know the latest writer ain’t gay either. Ugh.

What is it with Shameless writers that people of compatible sexuality can’t be friends without having sex? Fucking Sue telling Ian he couldn’t be friends with a gay guy when he met Terror, now all this bullshit? I’m sorry, I don’t think not being sexually attracted to hot mess Fiona says anything about anyone’s sexual orientation.

Oh, and Fi tells Vee she likes being dominated by Svetlana, telegraphing an upcoming Fifty Shades Of Ghetto Grey story coming up for Kev and Vee a mile away.

All right, back to Ian. At the beginning of the episode he’s sitting in the kitchen, isolated from the family conversation, his arms crossed over his chest (and he’s wearing a particularly ill-fitting and ugly shirt-I’m usually down for offbeat wardrobe choices, but he just looks crappy), and he’s fuming. There’s a bowl of cereal and a coffee mug at his place, but no sign of his pills-is he off them? Is he manic? We’ll never know. Carl is bitching about his tuition, Ian asks him how much he needs, Carl says a little over four thousand, Ian says he’ll pay him five to kill Fiona.

Whoa, hold the phone. We had to suffer thru the jail visit in 601 where he gave Mickey shit about it being his own fault he’s in there for the “attempted murder” of his “sister”, but now he’s maybe half joking (at best) about doing the same to his actual sister? FUCK YOU, IAN. Too soon, Shameless. Too fucking soon.

The only thing I was mildly interested in this week was how they were going to handle/explain Ian’s tryst with the old couple-did he really have oral sex with them both, or did he get the money by blackmailing them, and what would he tell Terror about it, and what would that asshole’s reaction be? You know, other than a lecture-would he freak out that Ian “cheated” on him right after they got back together? Would he dump Ian’s ass?

At Patsy’s, Snore gives Ian his order-a soy latte, no foam, extra hot-Yes! Ian is bringing Terror another crap soy drink at the center, right? Wrong. A dream finally comes true and we get another Terror-free episode, but this week I actually wanted to see him, because I wanted shit to go down. Silly me, I let myself forget that every week Ian is a new character, a practically blank slate.

#Recap #Season H8 Episode 6 #TW rape mention #We're only halfway thru the season and it's getting worse every single week #We haven't even hit the *bold and audacious* stuff from Ian-that shit's really gonna hurt based on what we've suffered so far #Not impressed with the new writer #He's no worse-but also no better-than any of the rest

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firefighterkingdom · 4 years ago

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#11 – How Firetrucks Are Made and Ordered | Lt. George Asi

On this weeks episode we talk to Lt. George Asi who does procurement and ordering of firetrucks for Bernalillo County Fire Department (BCFD). He informs listeners on the custom ordering process which you can make each firetruck unique and even include ice cream machines if you wanted (hint: he’s never done it). This is an eye opening episode on how the process of firetrucks.

Robert Sanchez: All right. We’re back. I’m Robert Sanchez. We’re Firefighter Kingdom. I have my cohost Vince Trujillo, and also the producer and makes everything look nice for us here in Firefighter Kingdom. We have a great guest and a friend of mine, it’s been a friend of mine for a long time. We have George Asi. He’s a lieutenant with Bernalillo County and he’s here to talk specific about the logistics program and kind of speccing apparatus. I was kind of interested just talking to him about, and kind of learning all the stuff that goes into it. Hey, George, welcome to Firefighter Kingdom.

Lt. George Asi: Good morning. How are you?

Robert Sanchez: Good. Today’s your lucky day. You get to be on my podcast.

Lt. George Asi: Awesome. Thanks for having me.

Robert Sanchez: Hey, no problem, bro. Me and George go back long time, man. We’ve had some good times together riding Harleys and hunting and camping and all kinds of stuff.

Lt. George Asi: That’s all we’ve done. Nothing else.

Robert Sanchez: We won’t talk about it. This has to be on a public view.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: No, again, bro, it’s always nice seeing you and having you on. I appreciate it, bro. Again, I was just thinking when you and I were talking the other day, or I think we were eating lunch or breakfast or whatever, we were talking about what all went into speccing the trucks. I know on Facebook you put out some pictures of the actual truck. It’s amazing to me. You just can’t go to the corner mart or a used firetruck lot and buy a firetruck. That’s not how it works.

Lt. George Asi: Maybe back in the day it was like that, but nowadays it’s much more in depth, much more work that goes into speccing and building a firetruck that people just don’t understand. They think call up the dealer, order a truck and it’s good to go. They don’t realize that there’s months, maybe even years of research and development to put the trucks that we have out in the field together. There’s a lot that goes on on the background that people just don’t realize that goes on.

Robert Sanchez: Right. This podcast, we’re going to get into more detail in how it happens, but I just wanted to kind of bring up your history in the fire service, how you got into even speccing firetrucks. It’s been interesting … Since you got in fire … I was going to mention your dad. He was a firefighter for a long time. He’s a great guy. I have the honor of knowing him also. Your history in the fire service, how did it come about, you even kind of getting to this part of it?

Lt. George Asi: You kind of hit the nail on the head there a little bit. My dad, I’m second generation firefighter. My dad was a firefighter and still kind of plays a role in the local volunteer fire department where he’s from up in Las Vegas. I grew up in the fire service. I grew up going to trainings.

Robert Sanchez: In the firehouses, pretty much.

Lt. George Asi: He was an instructor back in the day before there was the state fire academy. They used to do the traveling show and they used to go from city to city. Every year they’d pick a different city and do the fire training for the state of New Mexico. I grew up as a very young, young child, as a baby, actually, I was about six months old when my dad took me to the first fire school. I grew up in the fire service and at a very young age, that just kind of what I was going to do, and I kind of set my path forward in that. Obviously my dad’s my hero and my mentor, but since then I’ve had numerous other people that’d been in my life that have mentored me in the fire service and I’ve been fortunate to surround myself by great people that look out for my best interests. I’m blessed.

I’m grateful for everything that I’ve been able to do with my career. I’m getting to the point where I’m coming towards the end of my professional career. I’ll probably move on and do something else after I retire. I think I fought my first fire when I was about nine or 10 years old with my dad and I’d go to fires with him because they’d get called off duty and I’d go with him to fires. I’d seen him do some crazy stuff. Wondered how he’s still alive today because man, there was just some unbelievable stuff, stuff that you only read in books and you think it’s fiction.

Robert Sanchez: Back in those days, there wasn’t many rules and stuff like that. They’re short on staff, they’re short on equipment, so they did whatever hey had to do at the time to make it happen.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. I knew as a very young age that this was going to be my career and I was going to do this full time. It’s worked out. It’s definitely been different. The path that I though it was going to take was probably, in the long run, it ended up being the same thing, but it took some turns and it was cool. It made me a better person for where I am.

As I grew up and I got older, in 1992 I was able to get on with a local volunteer fire department as a junior firefighter. Obviously, a friend of my dad’s and the chief there, he brought me on. I was always very involved in everything in the fire service. I’d spend days with my dad at the fire house on duty. All kinds of cool stuff. Gene Martinez gave me the opportunity to become a junior firefighter and basically was just a title to get me into the ranks. It didn’t mean anything. I got my own set of gear. I would beg, borrow my dad’s vehicles to go to calls. It was just a good time. It was a lot of fun and that’s how I got into it. Several years down the road I became an officer in that volunteer fire department and eventually becoming the chief. That’s where I first started or I started-

Robert Sanchez: speccing.

Lt. George Asi: speccing fire trucks. We were looking at buying a Tender. That’s kind of where it started. There’s just a lot of research that goes on when you’re starting to do this kind of stuff, because you’re spending a lot of money and it’s public money. You want to do the best you can do to get the best dollar you can out of that purchase.

That’s kind of where my professional career started and how I got introduced into speccing trucks and stuff like that. It’s been kind of crazy and I knew when I graduated high school, I had another friend, anther mentor that got me into the EMT side of the thing. Back in the day it was just firefighting. That’s all it was. Getting into the service was starting to change, and in order to get into fire departments, you needed to become an EMT. He worked for a private ambulance company in Las Vegas. He was instrumental in getting me down that path. As a senior, I was taking extra classes to become an EMT. When I graduated high school, I went two months later I did my state boards and I got my state boards, and then they picked me up at the local ambulance service and I started working there as an EMT. Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: Then you became a paramedic, right?

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. Shortly thereafter I worked there for a while, got on with the fire department there in Las Vegas and that was another great experience for me because I was able to work a shift with my dad on the same truck. There was no nepotism rules at that time, I guess. It was-

Robert Sanchez: Whoever wanted to work the truck.

Lt. George Asi: I guess they were hurting for bodies, so luckily I was there at the time. It was a good experience. It was just one of those departments that didn’t pay a whole lot. It was tough times for me, I was making ends meet. I started working still part time at the private ambulance service. Long story short, the city got a new contract with a new ambulance service provider, because the fire department didn’t do EMS at the time. They still don’t. They went out for a bid, they got this company and this company reached out to any of the old employees from the old company to cross over and go work for them.

I jumped at the opportunity. I figured I’d just get on part time and see how it goes and go from there. Sure enough, they offered me a full time job, doubled my salary at the fire department. It was a no brainer for me. I was newly married, young, so I jumped ship from the fire department, probably the worst decision I ever made, but you know what? It opened up a door that I didn’t expect to open. Yeah. At that point, I worked there for about a year and they approached me, they pulled me and my wife in one day and they said, “Hey, you have what we see to be a good paramedic and we’d like to send you to paramedic school. Have you ever thought of it?” It was kind of just a huge blow, it was unexpected.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: They were like, “We need to know by tomorrow if you’re going to go to paramedic school or not.” I’m like, “Uh, well, I guess I need to talk it over with my wife.” We did. We went home and she was like, “Yeah, go ahead.” Did, signed up, got enrolled that next week in school and at Eastern New Mexico in Roswell and went through their program, pretty rugged year and a half. I came out of there with a paramedic certificate and single and a license to practice.

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. That seems to happen sometimes in paramedic school. It’s tough. It’s no joke for sure. It’s still not. It’s even got worse nowadays.

Lt. George Asi: For sure. I think there’s way more stuff they’re covering now. It’s just a different animal now. Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. You got in Bernalillo County Fire Department after the paramedic stuff.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: I think the logistics division is kind of one of the better operated logistics divisions in the fire departments that I see. It seems like in your division, you guys are allowed to do quite a bit and it seems like you get a lot done, and one of them is speccing trucks.

Lt. George Asi: Yep.

Robert Sanchez: What’s the first thing, when you want to spec a truck … If we have a ladder truck’s being specced or a pumper, an engine, what’s the first thing you do?

Lt. George Asi: Kind of give you a little bit of background, is the department has created a vehicle replacement plan. They did that several chiefs back, they had the forethought to look sand see okay, let’s do a 10, 20 year plan on vehicle replacements. The chiefs back then, they basically went through and saw our fleet was an aging fleet at the time. It was really old. The mechanics were super busy trying to keep them up and running, stuff like that.

Lt. George Asi: They were able to basically get the oldest stuff replaced first in the busier stations. The plan was they set out the plan, they’ve published it, it’s in the policy, the vehicle replacement plan. We follow that vehicle replacement plan to this day. We modify it, we update it every year. What we do is we know probably two years in advance what we’re going to be doing. We’re basically working two years ahead of where we’re at right now. Right now I’m working, we’re getting a ladder truck built and it’s in process. I’m already working on next year’s and the following year’s purchase, the next vehicles that are going to be purchased.

Robert Sanchez: Another apparatus.

Lt. George Asi: The other apparatus. Yeah. Seeing the ladder truck going through the production and stuff like that, it’s kind of the end for me. That ladder truck’s been the project for two years. That’s kind of the end process of it for us. We still have to finish it out and get it equipped and then get it in service. That’s the first thing is identifying what we’re going to purchase for that budget cycle if you would.

There’s a lot of things that go on, and one is the money, obviously. You’ve got to have the money to purchase these apparatus because they’re not cheap. We’re looking at anywhere from a half a million to one and a quarter million dollars for a piece of apparatus. It’s a lot of money. We have to obviously budget for that.

The county is in a unique situation because probably four or five years ago they passed a public safety tax. The fire department gets a portion of that public safety tax. That’s what we use to purchase our apparatus. There’s other funding sources that we use. We use in New Mexico, fire grant process. Those are only $200,000 grants, but they’re good enough to purchase Tenders that are not that half a million dollars and above and brush trucks.

We’ve been buying brush trucks the last couple years because of the New Mexico Fire Grant, we’ve been awarded that grant the last three or four years for apparatus. We’ve got two brush trucks and a Tender that’s on order right now that we purchased through that great process. The funding is the biggest thing.

Once you identify the funding, you know what type of apparatus you’re going to buy, then you start working on that. What we do is we look at what we have currently in our fleet. If we’re doing an engine, we look at what we’re doing in our fleet. Is it working for us? That’s our goal is to make things better for the end user, the firefighter, and make it as safe as possible. We look at what we have currently in our fleet. Is it working for us? We get a lot of input from the field guys. We’ve kind of done a kind of committee thing where it’s myself, Chief Valenzuela, Chief Pettis, and one of the mechanics and an engineer from the field. We usually try to get an engineer that’s a more seasoned engineer that has been on multiple apparatus, not just one apparatus for their career.

Robert Sanchez: When we are talking engineer, just so the public knows, that’s the driver of the apparatus.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. Of course. That’s the driver of the apparatus. The ones that have been on there, and they have good communication skills. We want them to be able to reach out to other drivers who are on those apparatus, maybe not been on multiple apparatuses but they can go and talk to somebody, they’re respected, they know how to talk to somebody, and they can put those answers into a Word document. They’re basically the word of the field that they bring back to us when we’re building these trucks or talking about how we’re going to build these trucks.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: Getting the ideas from the guys. Obviously, I pride myself on tying to get as much input from the field. The end users, the guys, the firefighters, the ones that are sitting backwards, the officers who are there, trying to get every need that they possibly have addressed in the new build.

Robert Sanchez: Right. That’s great. You get the money, the funding, so you go to say, I know Bernalillo County’s Pierce apparatus, right?

Lt. George Asi: We’re primarily a Pierce apparatus department. A large majority of our fleet is Pierce. That’s one of the other relationships. You have to have good relationship with other people outside of the department. Like I said earlier, there’s a lot of research, and I would say even development that goes into the building the trucks. The trucks that we built 10, 15 years ago, there’s been a lot of technological changes since then that when you’re talking about pump control modules-

Robert Sanchez: NFPA requirements.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah NFPA changes every five years. They have revisions every two years. You have to maintain that. Those changes are sometimes not stuff that we want but it’s part of the NFPA process. The NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association. They publish standards for performance guidelines. They’re basically a guideline. The builders, like Pierce Manufacturing is an NFPA certified builder. They basically build to NFPA certification-

Robert Sanchez: Standards.

Lt. George Asi: Standards. Yes. When there’s guys that say, “Well, why do we have to follow NFPA?” We don’t, but the builder follows NFPA and that’s the way they continue to get their accreditation and build a good product because it’s a standardized version.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. There’s a lot of changes that happen that we would like to have that from the past that are no longer available because they’re unsafe practices. It’s just not safe or they’re just not doing it anymore.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: There’s a lot of that stuff that goes on. We have to be up to date with that code and the NFPA standard. It slipped my mind right now what number it is. I have a binder at work that we follow those guidelines and all that stuff.

Robert Sanchez: You guys go to Wisconsin, right? Is it Appleton?

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. Appleton, Wisconsin.

Robert Sanchez: Twice for each apparatus. Right when the build starts and then when it ends. Is that correct?

Lt. George Asi: There’s two trips. One is the pre-build. Basically, you go over there, during this whole time we’ve already met with our sales rep. We have multiple meetings to talk about the changes we want, what we want them to do for us, and we’ve gone back and forth with the specifications and the component list. I’ll just use an example of this last ladder truck that we’ve built. We did 11 conference calls or meetings before we went to Appleton to do the final pre-build conference.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: We met 11 times, all the committee or part of the committee members with the sales guys, to hash out some of those details that we want on our truck that maybe not everybody else gets or it’s different from somebody else. They’re all 100% custom trucks. They have a boiler plate that they use with the transmission, the engines and stuff like that, but for the most part, everything else, the compartment configurations, the locations of the compartments, the seats, windows, all that kind of stuff, we tell them where we want them and what position to be in. All that stuff has to be laid out in advance.

Even when we do get to Appleton, what we’re doing is we’re meeting with the Pierce Manufacturers, their engineers. We sit down with their engineer. If there’s something, a point of contention that we couldn’t work out in the pre-build, we have the engineers come in and we explain why we want to do what we want to do, and it’s basically their job to figure out how to make it happen. It’s crazy because when you’re building a truck, you’re only limited by your own imagination and what you want to do with your own department. Obviously, everything takes money but the crazier the things, I’ve seen some crazy stuff over there in Appleton. Different departments have different train of thought.

Robert Sanchez: They’ll do it. If you have the money, they’ll do it.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. If you want to pay for it, they’ll do it. If you want an ice cream machine in the truck, they’ll put one in there for you. They’ll do crazy stuff like that.

Robert Sanchez: Yeah.

Lt. George Asi: The pre-build is basically three days of sitting in a conference room going line by line with the specs just to make sure we got everything, all our T’s crossed and I’s dotted, make sure everything’s good. Inevitably we still miss something during the build process. We work with Pierce Manufacturing and their local dealer is Siddons Martin Emergency Group. I’ve been working with Jose Adamillo, he’s a sales guy. He’s been our sales guy for 25, 30 years or more and he’s getting ready to retire, so we’ve been working with [James Hollis 00:21:59], who’s a regional sales manager.

Lt. George Asi: Those guys have been great. Everything that we ask them to do, they’re on the money, they’re there getting us answers and if it’s a no, they have good justification why it’s a no and why we can’t do what we want to do with that kind of stuff. It’s a long process, like I said. It’s 12 to 18 months of pre-work, then it starts, when guys actually see the trucks on the website, on the Siddons Martin Emergency Group website, you’re looking at 12 to 18 months of work that’s already starting to happen. Basically the build time is anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks depending on the apparatus. The ladder truck’s probably going to be 12 to 16 weeks.

Robert Sanchez: That’s crazy. In the fire service, if you’re realizing that you need a truck tomorrow that’s too late, right?

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. You kind of have to have a little bit of forethought and some planning going on there. Yeah. If you realize your truck took a dump and it’s got a catastrophic failure, you’re behind the curve ball there a little bit. There’s manufacturers that have trucks that are-

Robert Sanchez: Commercial chassis.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. Demo trucks that they built for demonstration stuff like that that they can pick up fairly easy, but it’s not going to be what you want. It’s not going to be exactly what you want. That’s the thing that with us we’re building everything to how we want things built, specifically to how we do business here in Bernalillo County.

Robert Sanchez: Right. When the pictures, and you’re showing the progress on there, so that’s firefighters can go to the website and see that. When it’s complete, you go to Appleton, Wisconsin again and you look at the finished product?

Lt. George Asi: We do. We look at the finished product. We basically have our spec sheet is probably 16 pages long. We go from item by item and there’s five of us that go, we usually take a mechanic. If not, we take a mechanic from the dealership that we bought the truck from, from Siddons Martin. Their lead mechanic will go with us just to make sure that they have built the truck to our exact specifications. We find stuff in there all the time that is not right or it didn’t come out quite as good as we wanted it to come out.

Robert Sanchez: You can change it.

Lt. George Asi: We can change it. Obviously comes with a cost. Anytime you change anything it’s going to cost you some money, but Pierce and Siddons Martin have been really, really good about working with us on some of those changes that maybe we forgot or maybe that Pierce just overlooked or it wasn’t clear enough in the description of the specifications of how to do things.

Yeah. We’ll go over there and we’ll go item by item. We’ll look at every piece of the apparatus. We look at the paint. We look at the graphics. We look at moldings, screws. If we find screws loose or stuff that’s not fastened correctly, we write it up. It’s a punch list and at the end of the inspection, we give that punch list to Pierce. We go through everything. We show them exactly what we didn’t think was right and they go back and fix it.

They usually fix it within a week to two weeks depending if it’s major. It’s like paint smudges or paint runs or scratches in the paint, or screws that are falling off from the headliner. One time we forgot to put the visor on the engine and Pierce went halfers on it with us. It’s a $4,000 piece. We ended up paying $2,000 for it. That kind of stuff, they work back and forth with us. Obviously they want us to have exactly what we want and they want us to be happy. They really do go above and beyond with their customer service to make us happy.

Robert Sanchez: When you’re doing the punches that you’re talking about, it ain’t a field day. It’s an all day thing. You’re there all day long.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: You’re on creepers and everything, right?

Lt. George Asi: Exactly. We’re usually there from 9:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon and we’re underneath the truck. We’re getting up close and personal with the driver train. Everything, the springs. We look at everything. What’s nice with Pierce is when they do your frame rails, it’s an all custom truck. When they cut the frame rails, every single hole is put there for a reason. When you go through that final inspection and if there’s a hole and it doesn’t have a bolt or a wire or something running through it, there’s something’s wrong.

Robert Sanchez: Oh yeah.

Lt. George Asi: They’re missing something. It’s real easy to kind of go through that process and see that something’s not right or it’s not working, it’s out of place or whatever. Yeah. That’s one little thing that we look at is the frame rails. If there’s a hole that’s open we need to know why there’s that hole open because they tell us in the build process they don’t put holes in the frame unless there needs to be a hole there for a specific reason.

Robert Sanchez: Right. That’s crazy. It’s crazy. You start to think about it. I think this is interesting, fire fighters and the general public, because you just don’t go down to the local dealer and pick up a truck like you would your personal truck or car. It’s a big process and it takes over a year in the making, correct? I mean, the fact that there is an apparatus replacement plan, that’s definitely needed. Most departments should have that.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. They should have an idea when they need to replace their apparatus. For us, again, NFPA has a guideline of when you should replace apparatus. They say that they should be removed from service after 10 years. We’ve been behind on our plan because of funding, but we’re getting caught up. What Bernalillo County has done is when the plan is finally caught up, the vehicle will be in frontline service for seven years. At that seven year mark it’ll get replaced by a new vehicle. That vehicle will go into the pool-

Robert Sanchez: Spare.

Lt. George Asi: A spare status. They’ll keep it as a spare for up to three years. Like I said, we’re behind in our process, so our trucks have been on the front line for 10, 11 years and then they go to the pool fleet for four or five years. That’s a credit to our fleet, our mechanics. They do a great job. They’re very short staffed at the time now but they do a great job of keeping our fleet on the road and maintained.

You and I have traveled the country and I’ve had opportunities to talk to other logistics folks while we’re on trips and I think we’re pretty fortunate that we have a pretty decent program with our mechanics and our vehicle replacement plan. Not only that, I think our facilities are much better than a lot of departments throughout the country. Our guys are kind of spoiled in a way that they all have their own bunk room. They have their private space. I’ve been to departments, we’ve visited departments in Philadelphia that have dormitories. EL Paso, we went to visit their newest station, it was all dormitories, 30 some guys in one room. It’s interesting.

Robert Sanchez: Right. Yeah. You’re absolutely right, man. Just traveling the country, you just get to see how fortunate we are. Some of the fire stations it’s just a funding thing. Some of these fire stations back east, you’re seeing fire houses that some of them are over 100 years old and made out of brick. They look at them and they keep them up to date as much as they can. We’re definitely lucky.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. For sure.

Robert Sanchez: I was curious, too, once you do the finished, you guys go down there the second time for the apparatus anyways, and you look at it and it’s all done, how do they ship the truck back?

Lt. George Asi: As a buyer, you have the option to either get it shopped down to you or driven down to you. We choose to have it get driven down to us for the mere reason is if there’s any bugs that they come up during that time, that’s on them, because we haven’t taken delivery of it.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: If we were to take delivery of it from there, because I get questions from guys on the field, why can’t we just drive them down and take them to our facilities? Basically, if you take delivery at the factory, you’re responsible from once you leave that factory-

Robert Sanchez: Even if it’s in an accident, if it breaks, anything.

Lt. George Asi: Exactly.

Robert Sanchez: That makes sense.

Lt. George Asi: Any mechanical issues that arise during that time. We had Engine 40 got in an accident on the way down here that I-

Robert Sanchez: I didn’t know that.

Lt. George Asi: A lot of people didn’t know that. Pierce ended up having to fix that front end. The bumper was all messed up. They had to do some painting ad stuff like that. It was in a minor accident.

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. Okay.

Lt. George Asi: That’s the reason that it gets driven down here to Albuquerque to Siddons Martin Emergency Group. They look it over. They do a once over and they change the fluids. That’s part of the deal that we have with them. Once that’s all done, we go back and do another inspection at Siddons Martin to see if there’s any more scratches that came up during the travel. We do another little inspection.

If there’s things we find, we make them take care of it before we take possession of it. That sometimes takes two weeks to a month and a half to two months to get it from the dealership for us. At that point, we take possession of it, we take it to our fleet, and then we start adding the equipment, radios, because we get the radios installed, but we don’t get them hooked up. We got to get the radios hooked up, programmed, all the other equipment that goes on the truck. We buy a truck, we buy it and then we buy all the equipment that goes on that truck. When you get a truck, you get all new equipment on there, except for the air packs.

Robert Sanchez: Right.

Lt. George Asi: Most of the equipment is brand new. We put all that equipment on there. That way when we put it out, it’s a brand new truck, brand new equipment.

Robert Sanchez: Ready to go.

Lt. George Asi: Ready to go. Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: That’s great man. Shoot. Thank you for being on. You know we have a Vince Trujillo, our cohost, he’s in our community segment. Hey, Vince. How you doing, brother?

Vince Trujillo: Good man. Thanks. Actually this is pretty interesting to hear all of this going on. As a member of the public, I don’t even understand how the whole firetruck purchasing process works. It was so interesting to hear that. I was going to ask the question, but you said the price tag, $500,000 plus, even over $1 million.

Lt. George Asi: Right.

Vince Trujillo: When it comes to custom made vehicles, what people don’t understand is you probably have more experience messing with high price custom automobiles than the average rich private owners.

Lt. George Asi: I don’t know. There’s some pretty crazy stuff out there. Yeah. They’re very expensive pieces of equipment.

Robert Sanchez: How much are the ladder trucks cost?

Lt. George Asi: Our ladder truck came in at $1.25 million.

Robert Sanchez: Okay.

Vince Trujillo: That’s because it has a ladder, it has all kinds of other features on it.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah. Obviously it’s got 105 foot ladder, a lot of hydraulics in it, it’s still go at pump, it’s still go water, and then just the chassis, it’s got to be a bigger, beefier chassis to hold all that weight.

Vince Trujillo: Yeah.

Lt. George Asi: That truck I think is coming in at about 78,000 pounds.

Vince Trujillo: Wow.

Lt. George Asi: Pretty heavy piece of equipment.

Vince Trujillo: You don’t want to run into that thing in the intersections.

Lt. George Asi: I guarantee you-

Vince Trujillo: You’re going to move.

Lt. George Asi: It’s not going to move.

Vince Trujillo: Before it does. You were talking about the customizations. You said the guys going backwards and stuff. It immediately got me thinking, because I think I saw movies where you have people actually looking into, they have a mirror for the guys going backwards, right? Explain to me, what do they have?

Lt. George Asi: They don’t have anything. Our department doesn’t have anything like that. We’ve transitioned to, because a lot of the guys are complaining that they’re getting carsick or they can’t see the scene as they’re rolling up to it. We’ve made the trans … I think this is our first truck that has all forward facing seats.

We’ve had trucks in the past that have both rear and forward facing seats. We build the trucks to be able to grow within the 10 years. We, right now, only have three man engines, so we have four positions in the truck. Before we had volunteers so there was a chance that we would have four or five guys on a truck. They built five, six man trucks. Some of those seats were rear facing, some were forward facing. Most of the guys would elect to sit down on the forward facing seats.

Vince Trujillo: Is it first come first serve, or you’re a backwards facing guy and that’s your station.

Lt. George Asi: If you’re the firefighter, if all you have is rear facing seats, then you’re sitting-

Vince Trujillo: It’s whatever, you jump on and the guys that get sick, they want to get forward facing.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: Now you’re doing forward facing seats on that too. Is old school, having rear facing seats, is it just an old tradition?

Lt. George Asi: I guess it was tradition but it was a matter of the circumstance.

Vince Trujillo: The technology.

Lt. George Asi: The technology. Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: At that time.

Lt. George Asi: There used to be all open cabs or partially open cabs. There was only places to put seats in so many places. Most of the time you had to sit back to back with the driver or the officer and that’s the way it was. There was no other room to put other seats. There was just no space for it. One of my first engines that I rode on was one like that. I rode backwards for a couple months when-

Vince Trujillo: How was it?

Lt. George Asi: It was cool. It was a partially open cab. We had a covering but no door. It was just steps.

Vince Trujillo: I don’t think I’ve even seen that.

Robert Sanchez: When I started the fire service, that’s where trucks were. It’s not too, too long ago where apparatus firetrucks, they had to sit outside basically and you smelled exhaust and you were hot from the sun, no air condition.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: Was that a budget thing, do you think?

Robert Sanchez: That’s the way fire trucks were made back then.

Vince Trujillo: Made it so you could get in and out quickly or something?

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. You had a little yellow bar right in front of you and you flip it up, and you get out of the truck.

Vince Trujillo: I don’t think I remember seeing that.

Robert Sanchez: That was here for only here for a couple years when they had those trucks, but yeah.

Vince Trujillo: This was 90’s maybe or something?

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Robert Sanchez: Early 2000’s.

Vince Trujillo: 2000’s.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: Okay.

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. 90’s, huh?

Lt. George Asi: Before that, yeah. Obviously older than that. I’ve talked about the NFPA stuff. That was part of the NFPA standard that changed because they were seeing higher incidences in firefighters getting cancer and they were attributing that partially to the diesel exhaust. That’s why they went from an open cab design to a more closed cab design to help with firefighter safety.

Vince Trujillo: Yeah. That’s interesting because I don’t even remember those trucks.

Robert Sanchez: Do you remember the firefighters standing on the tail board?

Vince Trujillo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve seen that.

Robert Sanchez: That wasn’t too, too long ago. That was still in the 90’s.

Vince Trujillo: That’s no longer. They don’t allow that.

Robert Sanchez: No. It’s against the law. Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: Did people get hurt, I guess?

Robert Sanchez: Yeah. People got killed, hurt.

Vince Trujillo: Wow. Imagine that. You’re going and doing your job and how’d you die? Fell off the truck, of all the ways that firefighters can get injured. Geez. What happens to the old trucks?

Lt. George Asi: The old trucks-

Vince Trujillo: You guys sell them and then make money back on that?

Lt. George Asi: No. Typically, we don’t do that. One of the other nice things about Bernalillo County is we’re the second largest department in the state, and we’re fortunate that we have a budget that we can replace apparatus on a yearly basis. When our apparatus is replaced it goes into a spare pool. If a truck goes down for maintenance issues or has a break and needs to get replaced by one of the older trucks, it gets put back in service as a temporary basis until the new one gets fixed.

Once we’re done with them in the float pool, then Bernalillo County I think prides themselves in helping other people. We’re the bigger brother that we want to help smaller departments grow. We’ve done a lot of donations of our apparatus. Most recently we donated one of our old engines to Cuba Volunteer Fire Department. They’ve been a recipient of our apparatus before. They’ve taken possession of I think two other apparatuses from Bernalillo County. Bernalillo County used to be yellow and white before we went to the black over red. You go to Cuba and you see the yellow engines over there. It’s like I remember that truck. They’re repurposed for other departments who don’t have a whole lot of money. They can’t afford to buy a half million dollar piece of apparatus. We give them the truck for $1. They basically buy it for $1.

Vince Trujillo: Do you guys get some benefit to that? Write off or anything?

Lt. George Asi: You know, that’s questionable. Obviously the county I’m sure gets some sort of a tax write-off. I think what we get more out of is that we know we’re helping a department that’s not as fortunate as us and that they’re providing a service to their community that they would otherwise not have the ability to do so. I think helping our little brothers out and giving them a piece of equipment that’s going to help them in their communities support them, I think that’s a greater gift than any dollar amount I think for us anyway.

Vince Trujillo: That’s great to hear that. My last question, though, is both of you mentioned something about you get custom, you could put an ice cream machine in there if you wanted to. What’s the craziest thing you’ve heard people putting in the fire machine?

Lt. George Asi: In the firetruck?

Vince Trujillo: You don’t have to mention which one it was.

Lt. George Asi: You know.

Vince Trujillo: Was there anything weird like a beer cooler or anything?

Lt. George Asi: I’ve seen refrigerators inside the cabs of the trucks. What else? Just locations where compartments go, it’s just crazy because you wouldn’t think that … One of my first trips to Appleton, and it’s cool because we usually get to walk the production floor and see what other people are doing. That’s where we get a lot of our ideas of what we want to do.

One of the apparatus I saw, and it was a four wheel drive apparatus. Bernalillo County has four four wheel drive apparatus in the east mountain areas. They sit really high. What I noticed on one of them that I was like oh wait, I was walking by and I saw in the front wheel well, because there’s probably, what? I would say 28 to 36 inches of space between the wheel and-

Robert Sanchez: I would say so.

Lt. George Asi: Somebody thought of the idea of putting a compartment in that wheel well.

Vince Trujillo: Wow.

Lt. George Asi: It was a giant wheel well, but it was curved on the bottom and they put a compartment there. I thought that was a-

Vince Trujillo: Making use of all the space.

Lt. George Asi: Pretty unique use of the space. Just something that you wouldn’t … I since have never seen anything like that.

Vince Trujillo: You’ve never seen an ice cream machine.

Lt. George Asi: I’ve seen coffee makers.

Vince Trujillo: Ah, yeah

Lt. George Asi: Not ice cream machines. Coffee makers for sure inside the trucks.

Vince Trujillo: Thanks so much, George, I appreciated having you on. That was pretty cool-

Lt. George Asi: Thanks for having us.

Vince Trujillo: Enlightening, see how that process works, which is not a small process.

Lt. George Asi: Yeah.

Vince Trujillo: I appreciate that.

Robert Sanchez: Thank you very much, George, Lieutenant Asi from Bernalillo County Fire Department. Thanks for coming on the show. I appreciate all the information about apparatus. Again, it’s hard to, as the general public, but even as a firefighter, I mean I never knew things where you don’t realize all the work that you guys, your division puts into to making the trucks.

Lt. George Asi: Yep.

Robert Sanchez: Again, man. Signing off from Firefighter Kingdom, your host Robert Sanchez, cohost Vince Trujillo, producer. Don’t forget to listen to us on Apple podcasts, Spotify, and-

Vince Trujillo: Firefighter Kingdom.

Robert Sanchez: Firefighter Kingdom Facebook.

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