#nice of Esteban to help him out and to explain a few things to him

[macaiv]

Source: Track Walk Youtube Channel

Short COTA track "walk" with Esteban

[fernandoswarcrimes]

𝓟𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓰𝓻𝓪𝓶

Summary: The one where Charles finds out Mick and Lance are bestfriends with Monaco’s very own Princess. Word count: 3.7k Requested: no but I hope you enjoy <3 Warnings: google translate German, otherwise this is nothing but soft wholesome fluff Note: this has been sitting in my pea brain for a WHILE now so please enjoy what I think it’d be like to see Charles with a princess 🫶🏻

Taglist: @totostables @yourmom-lmao @weirdestmentalityphilosopher @dessxoxsworld @aracee

If it was one thing Charles dreaded every season it was the Monaco race.

The one race that always evaded him and seemingly had it out for him like some sort of curse. But atleast he could sleep in his own bed for the weekend that was the only plus.

Some of the drivers decided to get together and have dinner Friday night since most of them lived in Monaco anyways. There were a few who opted out, mostly the older drivers who wanted to rest from the flight in.

But what piqued Charles' curiosity was once the group had got to the restaurant, Esteban explained that Mick and Lance declined the offer to come out with them, claiming that they both seemingly already had plans. It was unlike the two to not go where Esteban went, usually you never saw the trio far apart.

“I’m sure it’s nothing, they’ve been talking about Monaco for a few weeks now so there’s no telling what the two are up to, they said they’d see us tomorrow.” Esteban shrugged as he sat down next to Daniel.

“Maybe they’re at Jimmy’z?” Lando questioned, causing Max to snort. “Mick? Partying?? Yeah I’m sure that’s what he’s doing. Lance on the other hand that’s more believable but not Mick.” The Dutch boy said shaking his head, he had grown up around the German boy and even now he was still shy and kept to himself.

“Maybe they just don’t wanna hangout with us, have you ever thought of that?” Pierre asked, causing Yuki to shove him “be nice, mick is nice guy, maybe he is just busy.” The shortest driver hadn’t spent much time around the German boy but he knew how nice he was just because everyone spoke highly of him.

“Gracelinde please! We’re not supposed to leave the palace!” Mick whisper shouted as he chased after the smaller girl. Lance could only laugh as he followed after the two. “Oh come on Mick, have a little fun there’s no harm in a little exploration stop being a goody two shoes.” He said, patting him on the shoulder before catching up to the blonde, wrapping his arms around her waist as he hoisted her up, swinging her around in circles in the middle of the dead silent street.

Mick sighed as he heard Gracie’s laugh echoing through the night as Lance swung her around. He knew she wasn’t supposed to leave the palace, at least not without supervision of her bodyguards Dimitri and Alexei since it was a security hazard but she had somehow convinced him and Lance to sneak out with her.

Scratch that she convinced Lance to follow her which meant he had no choice but to go with them to make sure the two didn’t get arrested or kidnapped. Which he wouldn’t doubt the two would somehow get themselves into if they weren't being supervised.

Sebastian would be so disappointed if he saw what he was doing right now, he was sure of it.

Mick couldn’t help but be a stickler for rules, he just never felt the need to break them. He wasn’t his dad. Which is why it was stressing him out that the older girl convinced the dark haired boy to sneak out like a they were still fourteen, he was sure if they got caught they’d be in so much fucking trouble.

“Come on guys really let’s just go back already, Grace if your parents find out they’d have our heads that you didn’t take Dimitri and Alexei with you.” He tried reasoning with the bubbly blonde who just looked up at him with a pout once Lance had finally put her back on her feet. “But what if we got ice cream instead? We’re already almost to the main strip” she asked hopefully. “Yeah come on Mick ice cream??” Lance added on mirroring the hopeful look the older girl wore hoping that he’d agree with the Gracie’s idea to get the sweet treat before going back.

Mick just put his hands on his hips as he gave them a disapproving look. Lance wanted to make a comment about it but Gracie had beat him to it.

“You look just like your dad when you make that face.” The smaller blonde blurted out honestly as she pointed a finger at the look he had on his face. Which caused Lance to cover his mouth to keep the laughter at bay. The German boy dropped his hands from his hips as he threw his head back with an exasperated groan. “Gracie!” “What! I’m being honest, you do!” She said, throwing her hands up in a “what” motion.

Mick just sighed knowing she meant well. “If we get ice cream do you promise we will go straight back home?” The blonde boy questioned as he looked down at her, he was trying to think of what Sebastian would do in this situation, he probably wouldn’t have let any of them get as far as they did that’s for sure, but they were already near the ice cream shop so it wouldn’t hurt to just get it anyways before going back, it’d probably make the two listen to him better. “Yes! Swear it!” Gracie shouted, clasping her hands together excitedly.

“Fine, we can get ice cream then, but we’re going straight back to the palace afterwards-” Mick said leaving no room for argument but the blonde girl and Lance had already taken off towards the main road causing him to sigh and follow after them, he could already tell it was going to be a long night.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Gracie was never good at time management. It was something her mother always complained about but it wasn’t the blonde's fault she easily got distracted, she just couldn’t help it. Her grandad always compared her to a bunny rabbit, brain always getting sidetracked by little things never staying on track.

Which is exactly how she ended up stopping at the bakery down the street to get some croissants instead of being on time to meet Lance at the Aston Martin garage like she promised.

After glancing at the clock in the shop, she quickly paid and was soon rushing through the streets, Dimitri and Alexei hot on her heels as they tried their best to keep up and not lose sight of the smaller girl through the crowd of people lining up to watch the race that was due to start in the next forty five minutes.

The blonde princess felt her phone ring causing her to frantically dig in her purse, nearly dropping the ringing device once she pulled it out to answer it. But before she could get a word out the Canadian boy was already speaking through the phone to her.

“Twinkle Toes you said you would be here and you’re not, because I don’t see a five foot blonde ballerina princess standing in the Aston Martin garage right now. Sebastian thinks I was fibbing when I told him I had a friend coming today Gracelinde. You’re making me look so uncool right now.” Lance spoke quickly and quietly through the phone as he paced around the garage, the older German driver found it amusing how worked up the kid was getting over this.

“Lancelot relax, I’m walking into the paddock now. I got a little distracted on my way here. There were these croissants at the bakery down the street and I had to have one you know me. I got you one as well because I’m so nice-“ Gracie said before getting cut off as she ran straight into someone, her phone clattering to the ground as she caught her balance.

Both her and the mystery stranger had the same idea of bending down to pick up the phone because not two seconds later their heads were knocking against each other causing the blonde girl to let out a string of giggles as she took her phone from the stranger's outstretched hand. “I’m so sorry!”

“No no I’m sorry! I wasn’t looking where I was going and I should’ve been-“ Charles blurted out before looking at who he bumped into, his words trailing off as he locked eyes with the blue eyed girl he felt his heart catch in his throat as he realized just who she was, it was hard not to know, she was Monaco’s own crown jewel.

Holy shit he just nearly knocked over the fucking princess of Monaco-

“I’m uh- I’m Charles.” He stuttered out holding his hand out which caused the blonde to giggle again as she gently shook his hand. “I know. You drive for Ferrari, they call you il predestinato don’t they?” She questioned, her head tilting to the side as she looked up at him with a smile. Her French accent made the Italian nickname sound even sweeter which nearly made him melt on the spot had it not been for Mick calling out to her as he jogged over.

“Grace! Komm schon, Lance bekommt gleich einen Anfall, du weißt, wie es ihm geht, und Seb will dich kennenlernen.” Come on, Lance is about to have a fit, you know how he is, and Seb wants to meet you. The blonde boy spoke, putting an arm around her shoulder as he started leading her away from Charles after giving him a quick hello and a goodbye, she threw the fellow Monègasque a smile and a wave over her shoulder before focusing back on what Mick was rambling about as the two quickly walked off towards the Aston Martin garage to meet the two drivers.

Charles just watched the two leave, being left with even more questions now than before. He didn’t notice the Aston Martin Guest badge hanging around her neck, nor did he know that Mick and Lance knew the country’s princess let alone were friends with her, or that she knew German. Everything was just shocking him this weekend.

Carlos had seen his teammate standing in the middle of the paddock with a weird look on his face and wondered what was wrong with him, so he decided to go see for himself. “Ay! Cabrón you alright?” He questioned laying a hand on the younger boy's shoulder making him yelp out of fright from suddenly being knocked from his racing thoughts.

“Merde! Carlos don’t scare me like that.” Charles said, pushing the Spanish man’s hand off his shoulder as he hugged his arms close to his chest taking one last glance in the direction where Mick and Gracie had walked off to before looking at Carlos. “I’m fine mate, just a bit jumpy for the race is all.” He lied, he couldn’t tell him it was because he nearly trampled the princess of Monaco. Carlos would never let him live it down and he knew if he told Carlos, that’d just mean Lando would know and then everyone else would too because Lando and Daniel couldn’t keep secrets to save their lives.

“I need to go see Pierre, I will see you before the race mate.” The bright eyed boy said before quickly walking off towards the AlphaTauri garage in search of his best friend, surely Pierre would have advice on his sudden dilemma right?

What could possibly go wrong?

“Pierre! I need your help!” Charles called out once he spotted the Frenchman sitting outside the AlphaTauri motorhome with Yuki talking about god knows what, he didn’t have the time to be curious and ask.

“What did you do now Charles? Scare a girl and embarrass yourself?” Pierre questioned looking up at his best friend through his sunglasses who just stood there frozen causing the light haired boy to raise his eyebrows in question when the Ferrari driver didn’t deny that statement. What had Charles done now, he thought.

“Nevermind- I don’t want to speak to you anymore. I’m going to find Max, he won't make fun of me.” Charles said, turning on his heel with a pout and walked off over to the Red Bull garage. “Charles what the- did you really scare a girl!? I was being sarcastic!” Pierre called out, throwing his hands up in confusion, causing Yuki to look between the two with a questioning look not really understanding what was happening.

Charles quickly made sure to send the Dutch boy a text explaining he was coming by to talk to him.

Max was already standing outside waiting for him after getting the text, because he’d always help Charles when he needed it. “Is everything okay mate? You look a little pale.” Max questioned looking Charles over, he knew the Monaco race always stressed his emotional support rival out but this didn’t look like it was that. This looked like something more serious.

“Inearlytrampledtheprincessofmonacoafewminutesago-“ Charles blurted out, frantically as he ran his hands through his hair, the reality finally setting in for him of what a disaster it could’ve been while the Dutch boy just stood there dumbfounded not catching a single word of what Charles just said.

“Listen, I know you speak three languages but that was not any of them, try again, slower this time so I can actually help you with your problem.” Max said, placing his hands on his hips waiting for him to repeat what he just said, this time more clear.

Charles took a deep breath before explaining, “I was on my way to find Carlos and I wasn’t watching where I was going and I bumped into this girl-“ Max nodded following along failing to see the problem, Charles could charm any girl he pleased even if he was a little bit dumb, that was part of his ever growing charm. “-and when I handed her phone back to her because I completely knocked it out of her hand, I looked at her and I realized it was Gracelinde Grimaldi the fucking princess of this country mate! I nearly knocked her to the ground and I couldn't stop stuttering, I introduced myself and she said she knew who I was which just made me panic even more.”

Max gave Charles a deadpan look as he listened to him ramble, because only he could manage to be that unfortunate, of all the people he could’ve nearly knocked over of course it had to be the literal Princess of Monaco. “You do realize who you are right mate? Ofcourse she knows who you are, everyone in fucking Monaco does. Did you atleast apologize to her?” He questioned which made Charles let out a noise of offense “of course I did mate! Who do you take me for?” He questioned before pausing “don’t answer that I am already embarrassed enough, I went to Pierre and he just bullied me before I could even explain what happened.”

Max stayed silent for a few seconds, taking in all the information Charles had thrown at him. “Well, did you atleast have a conversation with her?” He asked, crossing his arms as he tried to see how Charles could redeem himself after this. If the girl wasn’t mad then there wasn’t anything to be freaking out about all he had to do was give her a charming smile and move on with his day he didn’t get why he was freaking out so bad.

“I- no. Mick showed up and pulled her away to go see Lance and Seb, I think? He was speaking in German and that’s all I understood.” The Monègasque boy said, throwing his hands up trying to get his friend to see the bigger picture of this delima.

“Wait Mick and Lance- you think that’s where they were Friday night?” Max questioned after Charles pointed out that Mick and Lance seemingly knew the girl, and both were absent from dinner; everything was starting to make sense to him now.

“I mean I guess? It’d make sense. I just don’t get how they’d know her, they don’t live in Monaco?” Charles questioned, causing Max to shrug. “So what’s your game plan? You’ve got to talk to her again after the race.”

Charles shrugged, scuffing his shoe against the ground. “I think I embarrassed myself enough for today mate, you know? I don’t want to make it worse by trying to talk to her and getting too nervous to speak again!”

Max wanted to strangle Charles.

Mick also wanted to strangle Gracie.

She had not stopped talking about Charles ever since he pulled her away to go meet Lance and Seb. He didn’t know she’d be so fascinated by the fellow Monaco native, If he had he probably would’ve introduced the two sooner but he figured she had already met the Ferrari driver before remebering how Charles got invited to the palace a few years ago.

“He seems like a really nice guy Micky!” Gracie said, looking up at the taller boy. “He is Grace, you can talk to him after the race if you like, but we promised your parents you’d be at the Aston Martin garage with Lawrence before the race started so that’s where we have to be.”

The blonde just nodded with a small sigh knowing he was right as they walked inside, Lance letting out a shout of relief at seeing the two. “Where have you been??” He asked, pulling the smaller blonde into a tight hug. “I told you! I got distracted at the shop and then I ran into someone and dropped my phone-“

“It was Charles, Charles ran into her.” Mick filled him in which Lance just looked at her like everything suddenly made sense now, of course Charles would be the one who accidentally ran into her and vice versa, the two were so oblivious sometimes.

“Oh! Your croissant!” Gracie said, pulling the paper bag out of her bag and handing it to him with a wide smile as she excitedly told him. ”It's a chocolate one, you said those were your favorite!”

Lance smiled, shaking his head as he took the bag from her outstretched hand. “Thank you G, I’ll eat this after the race.” He said handing it to his trainer to hold onto since he could really eat anything else before getting in the car.

“Okay, Dad brought you a new book to read if you get bored cause it’s gonna be about two hours but after the race I think some of us are going out to eat if you wanna tag along, if not I’m sure Mick will hangout with you at home.” Lance said, guiding her over to where his dad was sitting towards the back of the garage.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Charles managed to miss the podium by mere seconds, but he supposed P4 was better than nothing. It just sucked that he wasn’t able to win his home race yet again. After gathering his things he started making his way out to the back lot. Max and a few others wanted to go out for drinks to celebrate a good race and weren't going to let him out of going despite him saying he just wanted to relax at home.

He thought back to what the Dutch boy said about trying to talk to the blonde girl again but he figured she had left already, seeing as alot of the drivers had.

Though to his surprise he saw her standing in the middle of the walkway with a confused look on her face as she looked around it seemed like she was lost. He weighed his options, chance facing more embarrassment or just go on ahead to his car?

He chose to chance it and walked over to her.

When he was a few steps away he saw the look of relief that flashed across her face when she noticed him. “Charles! Finally a familiar face, I’m kind of lost.” The blonde admitted as she looked around “Lance told me to meet him at the back lot but I’m not sure where that is, Mick isn’t answering his phone, and I was too scared to ask Sebastian when he was leaving.”

Charles noticed the two older men standing a few feet behind her glancing at them for a second, he assumed tbose where her body guards before giving her a soft smile finding it adorable that she was scared to ask Sebastian of all people for directions knowing the German man would’ve more than likely walked her there himself just because he was that nice.

“I can show you where the backlot is I’m headed there myself, I know how confusing it can be around here sometimes especially after a race when everybody’s busy trying to pack everything up.” He offered, he didn’t mind showing her, it would give him more time to talk with her which is what he was hoping for.

“Really? You’d do that? You’re such a gem Charles.” Gracie said with a bright smile as he offered her his arm to take which just made her shake her head amusedly but looped her arm through his anyways. “Congratulations on P4, it was a good race. You did really well.” She complimented which caused his face to flush as the two made the walk to the back lot.

Charles' mood about missing the podium was lifted at hearing her say he did really well, coming from her was better than any position he could’ve placed. “Thank you, that means a lot.” He said softly as he looked down at her watching as her eyes roamed around at all the different team hospitality buildings.

“Do you come to races often?” He couldn’t help but ask, wanting to know more about her. The boy hadn’t seen her around the Monaco paddock years prior let alone any of the others but then again he doesn’t pay very much attention to his surroundings sometimes, hence the mishap of nearly knocking her to the ground earlier.

“This is actually my first time attending a race,” Gracie said with a small smile. “I watch them when I can from my phone though. It’s such an exciting sport” she gushed as she talked about how exciting it was to actually be able to be there today to see the race in person. He understood her excitement. He had been invited to the palace in 2019 but she was out for a charity event that day so he didn’t get to see her at the time but fate clearly works in mysterious ways by making them bump into each other three years later, in Monaco, at the Grand Prix.

As the two made small talk getting closer to the gate she could see Lance and his Dad talking and knew this would probably be her only chance to see him again. “Are you free this week by chance? I’d like to get to know you better when things aren’t as hectic.” The ocean eyed girl asked, looking up at him, eyes sparkling with curiosity.

Charles felt dumbfounded, she wanted to see him again??? Even after nearly trampling her? This weekend had to be a fucking dream and he was fully prepared for the rude awakening that was gonna happen any second, but it never came. “I am, I am free, yes.” He stumbled over his words and nodded quickly with a bashful grin once he managed to get the right words out to answer her question.

“Gracie! Let’s go, I'm hungry!” Lance called out noticing her walking through the gate with the Ferrari driver. She ignored the boy as she came to a stop, turning to look at Charles happy that he was indeed free.

“Great! Say Tuesday? We can meet at La Pampa around one?” Gracie asked with a bright smile to which Charles nodded in agreement. “Tuesday yeah yeah, that works for me. I’ll be sure to be there, consider my whole schedule cleared.” He said giving her a smile, it was hard not to smile at her when she was looking at him with such a genuine smile. It made him feel seen, as just himself, and not Charles Leclerc, formula one driver for Ferrari.

“À bientôt!” See you soon! She said leaning up on her tiptoes, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek before skipping off towards Lance and Lawrence, the brown eyed boy giving her a light shove into the backseat before getting in after her closing the door as his dad started the car. Dimitri and Alexei getting into the car next to theirs.

Charles couldn’t believe his luck, because for him the luck of the draw only draws the unlucky and usually that meant he became the butt of the joke due to Ferrari's strategies. But this? This felt different. He would just have to see how far his luck would go before it inevitably ran out.

He just hoped this time

just this once

that luck would be on his side.

[leffee]

I thought I’d talk about the girlfriend thing from my last thing I since the mom thing is going to be a whole thing lol

So where it came from was I had a thought that he would try to find himself being a bit confused if you will only because he knew he was close to Sunil but wasn’t sure of his feelings in general but he also would try to not rule out women basically trying to stay open in the beginning to anything.

!Trigger warning! Just in case I hope you’re ok with this I know it’s a bit much!!

He met her at a coffee shop.. she was nice enough.. he struck up a conversation with her because he’s friendly.. he thought she was nice..pretty..maybe she could be what he was looking for? He still wasn’t sure of his feelings in all honesty..he didn’t feel anything but she did.. so he asked her out thinking that maybe it took time.. it was going well at first a few laughs.. a few dates then she started getting a big pushy.. a bit mean.. take me here.. she wants the best restaurants..she wants expensive gifts! ok so she likes the finer things that’s ok!..then the accusations he’s cheating.. he talks to Sunil to much.. she isolates him more and more..he tries to object and talk it though.. she doesn’t like that.. a slap! a punch! he has to listen or it happens again and again so he’ll learn right? Then comes the intimacy whenever she wants with whoever she wants.. but it’s not cheating she tells him! he wants to leave.. break up.. but it’s hard..it’s scary.. she has so much control.. he can’t.. he’s stuck, he’d scared,he’s bruised,he’s mentally drained.. he’s rethinking everything he cries much more then he would care to admit.. but he hides it well..he doesn’t want to worry anyone everything this is normal right? It’s how he was raised with parents who taught him that this was normal.. BUT there’s one man who showed him that it’s NOT ..Sunil.. who knew that Vinnie wasn’t acting right wasn’t himself..who didn’t buy the act, who was suspicious from day one! the gut feeling he had was strong this time he knew what he had to do..

Sunil comes over unannounced with all of the rest of his friends behind him and confronts her.. a lot of screaming and arguing and some police assistance later she was arrested..

Vinnie stayed with friends..he’s safe.. but being alone again was hard.. but what was harder was fighting everything mentally all over again.. memories came back from his past.. were all women like this? Everyone outside of his circle couldn’t really be trusted right away especially ..women…

But men.. the one man he could trust was still there like he always had been he was still there.. his comfort, his best friend, his everything sunil.. and rusty he knew he would always be there to he explain everything to him they got along great.. shivers was so fun to hang with and play video games.. and Esteban helped him learn how to dance in a whole new way being at his dance studio was one of the best things ever!

So maybe one day he’d try again but he was fairly certain that men were the direction he’d probably be leaning toward.. but a few other things down the line in his life would definitely confirm that for him.

I would like to clarify that not all women are like this! and yes he shouldn’t let one bad experience ruin it for him. But mentally it would take time to heal from all the bad experiences some women in his life had put him through including his parents (which will be explained in another post) in The back of his mind he knew that men were what he was leaning towards in the first place but didn’t want to limit himself it doesn’t mean that strangers are scary either he still doesn’t mind being around women or trying to befriend, work with or talk to them! He just wouldn’t date them It just time but he will heal and continue to grow!

Let me know if you’re still interested in the mom’s thing!



(Added after writing it all: just wanted to say that I have barely checked this whole thing for typos etc because it's long and for once I'm not willing to go through all of it to check it because I want to post it as quickly as possible. Just a heads up and I'm sorry :') )

Okay okay so you know already how much I love everything about it, I love when my son's in pain!! I want to say sooo much but there's so much text (which I looove) I just don't know how much I will be able to do, I will try though.

Oh yeah, here and now I tell you that I of course appreciate the trigger warning, plus someone else might need it, but seriously, I don't think there's anything that I personally would need trigger warning for :3 I love everything and anything containing mental/physical/both anguish, it's not too much at all.

I really like that Vinnie's fine with her liking "the finer things" like in general, look how nice he is! Though of course in this particular case it was not okay at all :'). Also I thing we should give her a name so I don't call her per "she" or "girl" all the time. I will call her hmmmm Violet. Yeah, she's that. Such a nice name for such a vile girl...

Ok ok so I can just imagine the look of shock on Vinnie's face the first time she slapped him. I imagine he barely registered the pain because, sure she was pushy and mean to him sometimes, but he did not expect anything physical at all. So he was just left standing there, rooted to the ground as he tried to process what just happened, with a red mark quickly appearing on his face. Oh I love when he's in pain.

And that line "He has to listen or it happens again and again so he’ll learn right?". Like, damn this is so cruel from Violet. Because he would never raise his hand at her, of course he wouldn't! But he thinks it's somewhat alright if he's the one doing it to him... After all, he's the man, he can take it, right? After all, what's a single slap or punch? it's not that bad... At first it really isn't, but of course later it becomes much worse. The thing is he has an easy explanation, it's not like he will tell his girlfriend is hitting him, of course he won't... it just happened a few times, no big deal... And that explanation is his clumsiness, he can just say that he tripped. the thing is, I think at first no one would even question him if they noticed, Vinnie is always covered with bruises, nothing new. Until it starts happening a little too often. Besides, marks and bruises on his face of all places? That's not something he usually bruised when falling over.

I know this a hypothetical scenario, but I can't help but wonder if Violet at the beginning genuinely loved him or was otherwise genuinely, positively interested in him or was she like that from the very beginning.

And then there's the part of him wanting to break up but being unable to, a masterpiece! You know, you actually descirbed it pretty accurately to how it works in real life. In real life people having abusive partners (on top of other reasons of course) don't break up because of safety reasons. Sounds paradoxical, doesn't it? But no, not exactly. Safety is in predactibility. So even if a partner is abusive, at least the one their abusing often knows what to expect from them. Yeah, it hurts, but it's something they know, and something you know=something your brain deems as safe (even if it's really not). And so I imagine this is the kind of vicious cycle Vinnie would feel himself trapped in (again, on top of everything else).

Ah, my whump loving self actually adores it! He's bruised, good good, I can just imagine his battered body, and not only face of course because that's why too visible. I can just imagine he would because of it move a bit more stiffly, he wouldn't dance because it simply hurts that much to move at all, especially when doing all those bendy things while dancing, it's just a big no-no.

And he's mentally drained, even better! Oh, the spark gradually disappearing in his eyes, how did he get to be like that again? Everything was alright not so long ago, was it his fault? Did he really deserve it? Something tells him he did, otherwise Violet wouldn't treat him like that, right? And she wouldn't cheat on him if he was just a little better overall. He can change... it shouldn't be that hard, should it? She's a nice girl after all...

Plus the bit of him thinking that this is all normal. I. Love. It!! I know I know, I said it multiple times already, but I just really love when he suffers. And his parents taught him this was normal? Oh my, perfect! Poor Vinnie I mean, but damn.

Just... Vinnie gradually being more and more broken while being with Violet. He just... falls apart step by step, at the same time of course trying to act like nothing bad is going on with him, because he's Vinnie, he can take it, it's not that bad (it is), plus it's normal, right? I just *squeals* I can see that so much, the gradual change. His hair being messy, bags under his eyes, just tired lines on his face from crying. And then looking like he's always out of it because he barely sleeps, or he pumps so much caffeine into himself that's he's left trembling but at least awake. He stops doing everything that brought him happiness before because it just doesn't anymore because he's constantly thinking about things with Violet and all that. I just aaah. He's so pretty when he suffers <3 which just makes me love Violet but also despise her so much.

Anyway, so yeah, Sunil can tell. But wait!!! What if, you know Sunil has those visions of his right? So what if aside from gut feeling, the first day or so when Vinnie got with Violet Sunil had some vision about Violet abusing Vinnie, but at first was very confused and not willing to trust it because quite frankly, what the hell. Needles to say though it wasn't wrong.

Now going to that next bit with everyone coming over, I can't help but imagine they did while she was beating the absolute shit out of Vinnie like she often did, because he, in her opinion, did something wrong. There's some blood too, maybe from his nose or something. And during the whole confrontation bit and also police I can just imagine he's so fucking torn. Because everyone's just talking to him so much and there's so much "Vinnie!" "Vinnie!" and some more "Vinnie!" and he just... doesn't know. On one hand there are his friends and he would kill for them, but then there's Violet who insists he help her, so he just keeps going forward to her, then stopping, going back, because what the hell is he supposed to do??? He's so overwhelmed and he knows logically his friends are right, but he feels forced to be on Violet's side, the whole safety thing I mentioned earlier. Plus, she will beat him up more if he doesn't help her, won't she? ...He has to help her, she's his girlfriend, right? So yeah, just really really torn in two. He has no idea who he's supposed to listen to and he's so overstimulated, all this fighting, all this screaming, especially in his head.

But then it ends, she's... gone? Police? He barely knows what happened. But it's suddenly so quiet. So calm? He's not sure. Wasn't he in pain? If he's safe now and if it was the right thing to do then why does he feel so empty?

And this line "were all women like this?" I just feel his pain so much, with all the pain he endured I can blame him, first his mom/s (in my and yours headcanons :3) and then his girlfriend? I can just imagine this disapointment, because he doesn't want to, but he can see the pattern. And the this "Everyone outside of his circle couldn’t really be trusted right away especially ..women…". Oh hells yeah, this is so raw. Yes yes he doesn't trust anyone outside of it! It's just soooo mwah! Perfection. I don't know what else to add here, but I do love me a Vinnie with trust issues. What can I say, he definitely has anxious (sometimes called ambivalent) attachment style, trust me😀👍.

So yeah, I soooo understand your headcanon about him with men versus women now and I love it. And the stuff with Sunil, Russell, Shivers (even though I think he would be pissed at him a bit due to that whole living with him at one point headcanon of yours haha) and Esteban. God, I love me some Vinnie and Esteban stuff.

But of course he still love their girls!!! Of course he does, they can be (mostly) trusted, but as you said, anyone outside this circle? Hmm not so much, he's much more apprehensive. And Sunil... ah, his everything!

Yes yes, of course not all girls are like this, obviously! And while this is technically "just" one experience, oh I would love if it did ruin it for him :3. I mean, it was pretty damn traumatic, and I just love to think he's way more affected than it shows. I'm personally in the boat of no forgivness for certain people, and she's definitely one of those people that if it were me I would not forgive in the slightest, and like if it was mt friend or something I would also think that. Look, some people just don't deserve forgivness if you ask me, there are plenty of people that if they came crawling to me with apologies I would happily make them dig their own grave and then shoot in the head so they fall to said grave. It's not that hard not to ba a total asshole especially for prolonged periods of time, you know?

Like, people so often say that if a teenager did something really bad they scrutanize it, yes, but often add "they were just stupid teenagers, and we all did something stupid when we were teenagers". Like, no??? It's not that hard to be a decent human being. I don't care if you're a shit girlfriend while you're 14, 25 or 65, you're still a shithead. Okay okay, I sidetracked.

Something else? I mean, I could talk about it for hours, but I think that's all [short version lol]. As you already know I would love to see the thing about his parents so much, feel free to drag him through as much pain as you want, I'm completely willing to see him like that :3.

Also, I know the whole healing part and all and that it's good. But I would just love if he didn't heal. Pain and suffering forever!!! There's so much emphasis on healing in today's world, which is good of course, especially in real life, duh! But my fav fictional characters? I would just love if they didn't heal. Character development/growth? Hate her more often then not, I don't want my blorbos to heal damn it, I want them to be in pain and he's no different.

Damn it, why did I have to give her the best name possible, I could have just named her Kunegunda (it's an old Polish name and it sounds really funny), it would have been so much easier.

[ellieswhoreeee]

It’s you. [1/2]

authors note: Hellooooo lovely’s! this is new short story that has been in my notes for a while so i thought i’d post it. The first part is short but the second part will be way longer. Give me two days max to actually post it tho, anyways enjoy! :)

Summery: In which Ellie crushes on the daycare worker, aka you. She and Jesse invite you to a party and things get pretty intense at said party.

Pairings: ellie williams x fem! reader

warnings: swearing, alcohol, marijuana, ect.

-

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Jesse questions curiously as he follows Ellie along the road. He wasn’t sure where she was dragging him, but she seemed to know the way like it was in her nature. She picked him up from the tipsy bison and gave him a quick, ‘follow me’ and that’s where they are now. Jesse could never say no to Ellie. Being her best friend was rough sometimes.

“Will you just follow me? I’ll tell you when we get there.” Ellie insisted, continuing to lead Jesse towards the schools. After a couple of minutes of walking, they finally arrived at Ellie’s preferred destination. Ellie and Jesse stopped a couple of feet away from the school; waiting. Ellie leaned into the fence and kept her attention on the door.

Suddenly the door was forced opened. The force behind it was caused by a bunch a little kids. They ran out the door like a pack of runners, and made their way towards the playground. A woman, who was carrying a child on her hip and had another child was clinging onto her cargo pants walked out of the door calmly.

“Guys, you guys shouldn’t run like that. You guys could get seriously hurt.” She scolded lightly at the kids who were already playing. The children looked in her direction and nodded.

“Yes, miss y/n!” They chorused in sync. It’s almost like these 7-11 year olds practiced together just to get it right. You placed your hand on the Ronnie, the boys head and messed with his hair gently. He continued to hide behind her and clung onto her pants.

You then squatted down to his level. Ronnie’s sweet innocent eyes looked at you. “Why don’t you go play with everyone else?” You asked the little boy in concern. Lately the little boy had only been with you, following you around. You were worried about him.

He shrugged his shoulders, his eyes then fall onto the ground. “You look lonely…” He responded innocently. “I know how that feels, so i don’t want you to feel that way.”

You smiled, and patted his head once again softly. “Ronnie, i’m okay. I promise. I want you to have fun with kids your age. Me and Chelsea will be watching, okay?” He hesitantly nodded, and ran towards the sandbox where Lily and Esteban were playing. You looked at Chelsea and kissed her on the forehead. She coo’ed happily like the child she was and started to play with your necklace. You stood up and continued to watch over the kids in your care.

“Isn’t she pretty?” Ellie asked, almost starstruck by your appearance. She was watching your whole interaction with those kids. Though it might not seem impressive to other people, it was impressive to her.

Jesse chuckled lightly, and nodded. “So, you’re crushing on y/n?”

“Crushing is a strong word-“

“Oh, come on! You just dragged me over here just so you could stare at her.” Jesse interrupted with a smirk on his face. This would be useful in the future. “Well, i can’t say i’m surprised. She’s really amazing.”

Ellie’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “You know her? I thought she was new here?” Ellie didn’t know much about you, only bits and pieces from people around town. It seemed like everyone had something to say about you- all nice things of course. She hasn’t even heard one negative thing about you.

Jesse once again nodded. “She came from the neighbouring settlement a few weeks ago,” He then noticed her eyes trailing towards the baby. He pointed at the baby on your hip and then crossed his arms over his chest. “Not her kid, or even remotely related. Currently 19, volunteers for everything except patrol and… is single.”

“Let me rephrase my question… How do you know her? When did you guys ever talk!?”

“Cool it, soldier. We got to know each other when Maria asked me to give her a tour around Jackson. We’re just friends.” Jesse explained to his best friend in the calmest and most sincere way possible. Ellie hummed, and only nodded.

“Look it’s Ellie!” A kid squealed happily and started running towards her. Ellie smiled widely and hopped over the fence so she could hug the kids that were running towards her. 5 kids crashed into her and started a dog pile.

“Ugh, you boogers are heavy.” Ellie joked in a rough voice, just so the kids would believe her. The kids screamed as Ellie gently ticked them. It took a could of seconds for you to actually notice.

“Alright guys, leave the poor girl alone.” You walked up to them slowly, and started to shoo them away.  You noticed the commotion so you decided to help. You’ve seen her around, but haven’t spoken to her before. She was always around someone which intimidated you. You couldn’t help but be interested in the girl. Everyone you spoke to liked to bring her up. They always mentioned something amazing she did. You thought she wouldn’t have noticed you.

But here she was, and this was the perfect moment to talk to her. The universe was definitely on your side. Ellie was sitting on the ground and looked up at you. You noticed her freckles first, and then her soft green eyes. She was even prettier up close. You held out your left hand towards her, and hoped she’d take it.

“So you’re the famous Ellie that my kids love talking about.” You inquired, a small smile on your face as you looked down at the girl. Ellie took your hand, and you helped her get on her feet.

“That’s me… Guilty.” You laughed lightly at her reply. The both of you stared at each other with shy smiles on your faces.

Chelsea’s cooing broke you from your trance, so you looked down. “Sorry for not introducing myself sooner, i’m-“

“Y/n… Yeah, i know about you.” You raised your eyebrows, which she took for as something negative. So she wanted to save it. “I mean, me and Jesse were just talking about you.”

You looked at Jesse who just shrugged his shoulders. You chuckled. “Nice to see you too, Jes.”

“Howdy, y/n. I didn’t want to ruin your eye fucking fest.” Jesse smirked, and nodded towards you and Ellie.

You rolled your eyes. If he saw anything different then he would probably use it against you. So you opted to not show your true reaction. “So what was it that you two were talking about? Right, me. Spill.”

Ellie looked nervous, which Jesse noticed so he decided to help her out. What kind of best friend wouldn’t? “There’s this bonfire that i’m having tonight and I was telling Ellie that we should invite you… Which explains why we’re here.”

You hummed, and nodded to what he was saying. It was all making sense to them. “And where is this bonfire?” You asked.

“My place. My parents aren’t going to be home tonight, so i decided to throw a little party. You interested?” Jesse explained confidently. Everything that was happening was such a coincidence. Luckily it was going in their favour.

“So, will we be seeing you tonight?” Ellie questions with a cute smile.

You thought about it for a moment, and only looked into her eyes. She didn’t look away which told you a lot. You subconsciously bit your lip, which Ellie payed attention to. “Yes, Ellie. You will be seeing me tonight… Crap, i gotta go. Bye guys!” You turned on your heel and walked over to a kid who just got hurt. “Micheal, what happened buddy?”

Ellie could still distinctly hear your voice as you continued to talk to a small boy. She turned to Jesse. “Nice going, Jesse. You really saved my ass.”

“Thank me by actually hooking up with her tonight.”

-

[ilovejevsjeans]

Why '5/10' Ricciardo isn't giving up on his McLaren quest

“Oh, don’t make me do that!”

In a routine McLaren interview with selected members of the media, Daniel Ricciardo is asked to give himself a grade for his performances this season.

“From an on-track point of view, like a results point of view, I wouldn't give myself too much of a flattering grade,” he says. “But I don't want to say what I think! Because that just makes me sound pretty shit.”

After eight races, Ricciardo is ninth in the drivers’ standings. He has finished sixth three times, but never higher. In qualifying, he’s been knocked out in Q2 on three occasions, and in Portugal didn't even make it past Q1. Most importantly, he has less than half the points scored by teammate Lando Norris, who in 2021 has done everything to make Ricciardo's difficult adaptation as glaring as possible.

"On a more positive, on like an off-track grade, I'll definitely give myself a nine," he says. "Definitely, the results aren't through a lack of trying. And I certainly feel like I've put in the work.

"I think it will eventually come to fruition, and it will show. But so far the on-track stuff, I don't know… call it a five out of ten. I'm certainly wanting to improve that."

The start of the 2021 season has been difficult for every driver who's changed teams. But it bears admitting that Ricciardo's struggles are more notable. Sergio Perez has already won a race (admittedly in fortuitous circumstances) for Red Bull, Carlos Sainz Jr is close to Charles Leclerc's points total at Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel is having his renaissance at Aston Martin, and even Fernando Alonso after two years away is now regularly beating Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon.

These guys no longer need to find the words to talk about adaptation, a lack of mileage in pre-season testing and car specifics. They are facing fewer questions of that nature. But not Ricciardo.

"I've been trying to use different kinds of analogies to explain to – without being rude – the outside world, to try and get the words across," he says. "Ultimately, yes, I've been driving F1 for a few years and all the cars are… they're not the same, but it's the same category at least.

"But with some of the way the car is at the moment, some of the quirks and the way it likes to be driven, I'm basically trying to get good at kick a ball with my left foot. My instinct is obviously kick a ball with my right foot, that's easy. But now to really perfect this car, I'm trying to now learn how to kick with my left. That's maybe a good analogy."

Even if it is a good analogy, you'd think a driver of Ricciardo's race-winning calibre should have already figured out that left-foot kick – and he too is keenly aware that it's not a process that can go on forever.

"Once you can kind of balance it on this nice little knife edge, the car can certainly be quick," he explains. "And I think that's probably another way of putting it as well, is that it does have a bit of a sweet spot, but it is just quite small. And obviously, if you're outside of it, then you're not getting the performance.

"Even Lando is saying the car is quite different this year. And, you know, the tyres have changed, and most drivers seem to be commenting about that. And now the floors are narrower at the rear. So there's some changes as well, which maybe even if I was still in Renault or Alpine this year, maybe there would be some similar kind of comments or difficulties.

"But I've got to a point now where I'm also trying not to fill my head with it. It is different, sure. But it can't be different forever. At some point, this is it, this is the car I've got, and 'different' needs to become 'normal' and get on with it."

Ricciardo's difficulties are made more curious by the fact that two years ago he'd already switched teams, and his adaptation from Red Bull to Renault had proved much smoother. But with McLaren it's a different situation, he insists.

"I think, going into a new team, you're always going to have to find or adapt to something," he says. "And I would say adapting to the Renault, I was still able to adapt with a similar driving style or something that was more natural for me. Yeah, the car felt different, but I could still approach it with the same style.

"Where this one now, currently the car feels different. I think the Renault, there was some adaptation but also I could still kind of use my style, call it instinct. Where the McLaren, it's a little more detailed than that, I guess. I look at it as a positive as well, like in the long run if I can learn how to drive with a different style, then I have more tools in my arsenal."

The faster "different becomes normal" for Ricciardo, the better for McLaren. The team is currently fighting with Ferrari for third place in the constructors' standings and needs a strong Ricciardo to hold onto the position it claimed last year.

"I told them, 'I'll be half a second quicker,'" he laughs when responding to a question about whether his expectations of McLaren have matched reality – perhaps hinting that, if there is a side that hasn't had its expectations met, it's McLaren itself.

Yet Ricciardo's broad smile suggests that, for his part, he is satisfied.

"I think, from a team feeling and environment, like I'm very, very, very happy", he says. "I would love to think that they are also happy.

"It's just now really sorting the on-track stuff, and getting, obviously, the stopwatch going. I think we're in a position now where, yes, currently I need to drive this car better. But I think we also don't want to lose, let's call it my strengths and what got me to this position.

"There's also the two-way street of me continuously giving feedback to the team about, 'Okay, what you guys can do better to help me'. They're obviously trying to help me drive the current car, but I'm trying to help them get the car to obviously a happier place [so] that it's not like, you know, [me] overthinking every corner and trying to be with this style here and this style there, ultimately to get to a place where we can drive naturally.

"I think when you're free, that's normally when the lap time comes, so it's a two-way process now. The team has been great, and I want to give them more, absolutely. But I think they also understand that it's a journey. I signed a three-year contract with them. We'd love to have fireworks already, but we know that we've got time on our side to get it right, and go through the process properly.

"I think with McLaren, there's a lot of things I love. They tick every box, and there's always follow-ups. If I ask a question, if they can't answer it immediately, then, you know, I'll be sure to get a phone call or an email or something.

"And they're also very open-minded. There is some new faces in the team. But there's also some people who have been at McLaren for years and years, but they're also not holding on to the world championships from however long ago, they're constantly trying to be better, evolve, stay with the times. The mindset creates a really nice energy in the team and that's really cool."

There's definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Ricciardo enjoyed a strong drive to sixth in the French Grand Prix, pulling off some striking overtakes, while in last weekend's Styrian Grand Prix he could have finished higher than his eventual 13th without a short-lived loss of power that led to him allowing four rivals through on the seventh lap. And, all in all, Ricciardo did score six times in the first eight races of the season.

"It's funny, because I look at Bahrain and I outqualified Lando," he points out. "I think I was the only new driver to do it, you know, in the new team. So it's funny, you look at race one, you're like, 'oh, well this is, you know, a 10 out of 10'.

"But currently, it's probably been a bit of unfamiliar territory. Because normally, especially like qualifying, when I need to pull the trigger, so to speak, I can find the lap time – I don't want to say easily – but relatively comfortable. And it's certainly taking a bit more probably just conscious effort at the moment, so that's where it's been a bit more challenging. But yeah, although my score says 'call it a five' – and it's what it is now – I am uberconfident that increases as the year goes on.

"So panic not, my friends."

In the end, Ricciardo simply has no choice. Whatever it takes, he needs to make it work with McLaren, as it's probably his last chance to go for the title, even if right now it looks like a long shot. Mercedes and Ferrari didn't make a play for his services when he was a free agent, and there's probably no way back to Red Bull either.

If Ricciardo still wants to win the title, he's got to do it with McLaren. And he hasn't got that much time left either.

"I think it was Monaco 2016, where I was talking about my age," Ricciardo, now 32, says. "Now that I've got older, I'm in my 30s, I think the reality is I'll be in this for as long as I want, in terms of the age. At least for now it isn't going to slow me down, not in the next few years.

"If I'm still hungry and determined, I can keep that window open for the title. I'm aware now [a chance] to win five titles is becoming slimmer and slimmer. But still to win one, I think there's time on my side.

"The McLaren one is certainly where my ambition is. And I definitely want to see this one through hopefully with a lot of success." (X)

[williamsmybeloved]

F1 drivers on a family reunion

(for the context, seb and his kids were the ones making it at their home)

Seb Vettel #dad

he is the organisator

he wants family reunited all together at least once a year

checks on everything, if it’s alright and if not tries to nicely explain how should it be

Carlos Sainz #helping

helps organise who is doing what

is really excited to see family again

Pierre Gasly #deco-man

helps with decorations

most of the time spends with brothers but doesnt mind a convo with alcohol or poker uncle

Charles Leclerc #walking confusion

was ordered to do the only thing- help lil gasly

what did he do? helped him? no.

zoned out, figuring if he should take the box on the left or right? definetly.

when everyone arrives, he spends most of the time with george talking about a thing they currently obsess about

Mick Schumacher #daddys fav

was supposed to be helping in kitchen but made the charles’ work instead

spends the most time on fam reunition with dad, talking also with cool uncle

Nicki Latifi #master chef

kitchen is his district

spends all day talking with people that currently go minibar, because he doesnt move from it, (he wants to know how guests like his food)

George Russell #way too motivated

organised the seating plan and then did mick’s work

on FR is mostly with charles, but def goes to say a word or two to a few uncles

Lando Norris #vlogger

is recording the whole thing

just goes to this corner, then to this one (vibes there for a sec) and ignores the fact that he was supposed to help pierre

Yuki Tsunoda #baby

“F@CK, B!TCH, BA§TARD”

Daniel and Max (ricciardo and verstappen) #legendary duo

the funny and the competitive cousin duo

they always make some “trouble” and funny drama

Esteban Ocon #paparazzi

takes photos of everything

spends most of the time playing poker and talking with poker uncle

Lance Stroll #gossip boy

first thing he does- gets a alcohol uncle some drink (so he can talk gossips later), then he says hi to everybody

otherwise, plays poker with este and fernando (listening to the gossip they spit)

Antonio Giovinazzi #007

“are you xy’s son?” he hears a lot because people often forget about his existence

he is satisfied with sitting besides alcohol uncle

mostly because he loves how fun is it with him after a few drinks

Lewis Hamilton #cool uncle

that one person everyone loves and hates at the same time

young soul forever

Sergio Perez #cool uncle but not like that

his confusion and inteligence made him likeable

no one knows how but it did

Fernando Alonso #poker uncle

barely greets with anyone and already asking who’s playing poker

Kimi Räikkönen #alcohol uncle

do i even have to explain?

Valtteri Bottas #where are you

sits quietly next to kimi, listening to his drunk ramblings

literally just sit and observe others the whole time

but can have a lil fun with kimi

(bonus) + seating plan

[lovewriting-5]

Roads:

*gif credit goes to @miyku*

2. Into The Woods

3. Bear Station

1. 1452 Lame Avenue, Seattle:

I stepped off the school bus and met up with Sean Diaz and Lyla Park. Lyla shouts “See you tonight! Don’t be late, losers!” I intertwine my fingers with Sean’s as we walk to his house. Lyla on his right side, says “Are you both going or am I going to have to hang out with just one of you?” I shrug while Sean replies “I don’t even know if I wanna go tonight?” Lyla says “Oh please. It’s gonna be fun! You guys hate every party.” I chime in “They’re all the same. Too many people, too fucking loud, everbody’s wasted.” Lyla a little frustrated with our indecisive responses “You just described...a party!”

All of a sudden there was a ping coming from Sean’s sweatshirt pocket. He checks the text and it was from his dad, Esteban. A little annoyed with his dad constantly checking on him, he says “It’s dad. Wants to know if I’m coming home after school. Jeez, I’m not a ten year old...” I tell him “He just cares about you.” Lyla adds “You should be happy your dad’s looking out for you.” We continue on our way to Sean’s house and he must have decided that he was going because he asks “So what should I wear tonight?” Lyla responds sarcastically “A condom.” I chuckle “Alright I’m in. Paying plenty of attention in Sex Ed class, I see...”

We walked past Brett’s house who shouted “Hey, lovebirds! Back from the loony bin?” I roll my eyes. Lyla shouts back “Shut the fuck up, dickhead!” Brett just gave us the middle finger. Once out of sight, I gave her a high five and say “Damn, your neighbor’s an asshole.” Sean says “Yup. Always true to himself.”

We sat on the front porch of his house. Sean sat in the middle between Lyla and me. Lyla being observant, says “Man...We need to find a couch for your yard one day.” She pulled out a pack of cigarettes when Sean says “Oooh careful...Last time my dad almost busted me out here...” Lyla explains “Because you were alone. Your dad wouldn’t bust us. He loves us. So...you both want a hit or not?” I’m not a smoker so I declined. Sean who technically didn’t decline one, says “Nah. Maybe at the party. Track stars aren’t supposed to smoke, ya know...” Lyla coming back with “Yeah, sure. I’ll remember this when you’re begging for a spliff tonight...”

Lyla, the all knowing of this party tonight, says “Speaking of weed...I got that covered tonight. What else do we need? Eric said his parents don’t leave shit at the cabin so...we better make an official party list...” She takes out a sharpie from her backpack, grabs Sean’s left hand and begins scribbling. Sean a little confused, asks “Hey whoa, what the hell are you doing?” Lyla always quick with a response tells him “Don’t move! You’re my human post-it note. First we need money for supplies...munchies...chips n’ dip...soda...et cetera...” He says “This better wash off!” I place a hand on his stretched arm and lean closer to get a better look at her handiwork. Then she adds “And of course, we must not forget...ZE BOOZE!!!”

While looking at the list on his hand, he says “I can probably snag a six-pack from dad if he’s got enough. Hey, did you ever think of maybe...just...sending a text instead?” Remembering one more thing, she grabs his hand back “Hmmm...Oh right! Blankets. It’s gonna get chilly tonight! You and (Y/N) are gonna need something to snuggle under...Oh, one last thing! C...O...N...D...O...” He looks over and gives me a small embarrassed smile when Lyla was saying that. Pulling his hand away he says “Aargh stop! You’re out of room, punk!” Noticing the small drawing at the bottom of the list, he says while teasing her “Is this how you see a penis? Damn, you should try and actually see one for real.” She says “You don’t wanna go down that road, dude. My chances of scoring tonight are probably...ten times yours.” Her and I have talked about it numerous times when he wasn’t around. Lyla looks over at me and gives a wink. Luckily, Sean didn’t see because I could feel my cheeks getting red.

The three of us look up at the sky and noticed the airplane flying over. Lyla says “These fucking planes, man...I wanna hate them, but...I’ll miss them so much if I move somewhere else. Shit changes so fast...I get so emo sometimes, wondering what’ll happen to us once we graduate. Will you both still be my BFFs? Will shit ever get better than 1452, Lame Avenue?” Sean confirming “Yeah, man. Friends forever.” Lyla sounding a little worried “Yeah but...What happens if we go to different colleges? Or you two get sick of me? Whatever...” I assure her “You heard of the Internet? No way distance can tear us apart. We’re freakin’ fighters!” Lyla sounding better, says “Yeah, you’re right...Best freakin’ fighters forever...”

“OK, it’s getting way late and I gotta pick out my outfit for tonight. Skype later when you’re ready. Hugs!” Both of us give her a hug, “Talk to you guys soon.” Sean says “Hello, Friday night...”

Sean and I walked inside his house and heard laughing coming from the kitchen. We set our backpacks down by the front door. His dad, Esteban says “Hey! Perfect timing! Just the two I wanted to see.” I smile but Sean groans “Sure. But we’re a little busy.” Daniel interrupts “Did you see Lyla? She said we could go to the movies next week. She said...”

“Dude. Bug her, not me! You’re not exactly her type.” Sean says. “You’re lucky they put up with you...” Esteban says. He says “Jeez, thanks pop. I feel really supported right now.” While gently nudging my arm with his elbow.

Esteban begins “You’re welcome. And now we need an objective judge. That would be you!” “Really?” Sean asks. “Hey! No fair!” Daniel objects. “Shhhhh...Court is in session. Judge Diaz presiding over the case of the last Chock-O-Crisp.” Sean interrupts “We...we have to go...Uh...Get ready for a party and stuff.” Esteban says “Well if you want to attend a party and stuff...you have to earn it...your Honor.”

“Aww shit.” Sean says. Daniel says as Sean mocks him “Hey, he swore!” Esteban who is used to hearing this from his sons, says “Yes, I heard, tattletale. Please Judge Diaz. Be an example to the court and society. Then you can go hook up or...chill or...whatever! Now...Who deserves to eat this final...Chock-O-Crisp? Your adorable little brother who eats about ten bags a week...” Daniel trying to persuade the decision smiled at me and points to himself. Esteban continues “Or your poor suffering father...who slaves over a hot engine to provide his family with a home and a garage?”

Daniel raises his hand and shouts “Me! Me! Me!” As Sean pulls his hand down. “Come on Judge...” Daniel says. Esteban says “Shh. Let him decide...Judge? The verdict, please.” Sean places his right hand on his chin and looks at me to help decide. I smile at him, place a hand on his shoulder and say “I’m staying out of this, Judge Diaz.” He thought about it for a few minutes.

He gave the last Chock-O-Crisp to Esteban, “Daniel is guilty of being a brat! So the Chock-O-Crisp goes to...Señor Diaz!” Daniel trying to debate “What? No way! You’re a cheat!” Sean proudly says “Nope. I’m the law.” Esteban being a good father says “Your Honor, I can’t let you punish an innocent man...So...” Daniel who is very happy, says “Ooohhh yessss...” Sean says to Esteban “Yeah, I always knew you’d confess.”

Esteban heads back to the garage “Okay. Back to work. I hear an engine calling my name...And you better play nice together...Like you always do...” Daniel says “I have to go work in my room too.” As he walks away, he lightly hits Sean in the stomach. He tried to grab him but Daniel was too quick. Sean shouts “Yeah, don’t hurry back.”

I was in the kitchen helping Sean gather supplies for the party, when I hear him knock on Daniel’s bedroom door. I lean against the side of the fridge facing the hall, cross my arms and watch. Sean says “Dude, come on, open up!” From the other side of the door, Daniel shouts “Why?” Sean says “Because!” I slightly shake my head. Daniel says “Okay, okay...” as he opens the door ajar. Sean asks “What are you doing in there, Dr. Frankenstein?” Daniel still not happy with earlier “You gave my Chock-O-Crisp to dad.” Sean tells him “So what? He gave it back. Dude, you are so spoiled...” I roll my eyes at the typical banter between these two.

Sean asks “What’s with the scissors?” I noticed them in his hand. Daniel tells him “You’ll see...but not now...so don’t come in!” Sean sarcastically says “Oh man! Damn, sounds pretty serious! Should I call an ambulance now, before it’s too late?” I giggle. Daniel says while laughing “Maybe...All I can say is...watch out for my costume in three days! This Halloween is gonna be awesome! Are you going to the party tonight? At Eric’s house? Will Lyla be there?” Sean says “Yes, yes, yes and NO. You can’t go. Teenagers only.” I join them and tell Daniel “Sorry dude. You know Lyla and I would love it if you joined us but you wouldn’t have fun at this party.” Daniel says to Sean “They’re way nicer to me than you...Did she ask about me?” Messing with him, Sean says “Yes, she wants to marry you.” Daniel says “Shut up! And I don’t care if I can’t go...because...because...I have secret stuff to do...Alone!” He closes the door. Sean yells back “Of course you do.” Daniel peaked out the door then shut it again. We walked into the living room. I tell him “I’ll put the supplies in our backpacks and then I’ll be in your room. Would it be okay if I leave my school stuff here?” He says as he wraps his arms around my waist and I wrap my arms around the back of his neck, “Yeah, it’s no problem at all. I gotta go find that loooove blanket.” He heads down to the garage to see his dad.

I removed the school stuff and set them on the dining table. I placed the party supplies in the two backpacks. I walked into Sean’s room, it has only been a few times when I have been in here. The times when I have visited, we hung out in the main house with his dad and younger brother. I walked around and looked at the pictures on the walls and things laying around on the floor. I noticed the two trophies next to a picture of Daniel, Sean and Esteban on the shelf. I remembered that day, it was a track-and-field meet. Lyla and I went crazy cheering him on. His skateboard was on a shelf above his bed. He tried to teach me and there were successful moments but I enjoyed watching him show off. I also looked at some of his drawings lying around. He was really good. There were some that I remember watching him do. I saw some sketches that he kept from when he taught me how to draw. I always enjoyed seeing how enthralled he gets when he draws.

I sat on the edge of his bed glancing at the Gamer magazine that was lying on the mattress. He walked in, mentioned that he talked to his dad and he gave him $40. I say “Wow, that is so cool!” He walks to the bed and sat down. We began to kiss. I placed my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him closer. He leans forward and we begin inching toward his pillow. It seemed like we kissed for awhile when his phone pinged from his back pocket. He pulls away and breathlessly says “Must be Lyla.” He pulls out his phone and we both look at the screen. It was her telling him to get on Skype.

He gets up and sits at the desk to call Lyla on his laptop. I sit on the edge of the bed in the middle. He turns his laptop a little so I am able to be in frame. Lyla appears on screen with a smirk, she says “Hola, lovebirds...Just give me a minute! Gee, where did I put the...Hold on! Okay, hi! Did you get everything on your hand-list?” Sean tells her “It’s all in our backpacks, yeah. Daddy hooked me up with some cash, so...we’re set for the night. In case we need anything else...” She says “Or if you and (Y/N) need anything else...Ooh la la!” Sean sighs and I flip her off with a wink.

Daniel comes bursting in the room wearing a skull mask and carrying a bottle of some kind of red liquid. He says “Sean, Sean! I’m done, look! I made zombie blood! It’s...um...corn syrup and food coloring...Hey! Hi Lyla!” He waves to her. I stay out of these moments.

Sean begins escorting him out “Get out of my room, Daniel.” Daniel apologetically “I was just...” Sean says irritated “Come on, man!” Daniel still apologizing “Just...” More irritated, he says “Just bugging the shit out of me again after I told you to knock? Yeah, I know.” After Daniel left, Sean goes back to his laptop “Anyway...” Lyla scolds “Sean, you’re an asshole! What’s your problem?” Trying to come up with an excuse, he says “But...” She says “I want to see his zombie blood if you don’t...” I add “I agree with her. The zombie blood sounded really cool.” He looks at both Lyla and me, says “Sorry, sorry...I’ll make it up to him...He knows I can be a dick...I’m just stressed out about tonight...” Lyla says “Oh please...we are gonna have so much fun! Maybe tonight’s the night...I already see the two of you got started with delaying on calling me.” As she winks.

Sean asks “Okay...So when are you coming over?” Lyla says “I just have to hit up the Momster for the car keys and...hope she doesn’t make me lie too much about the party...I’m already in trouble from last time...” I get up, stand behind the chair and tell her “This time, don’t get caught!” We then hear Daniel outside “I didn’t mean to! Stop! Don’t touch it! It’s for Halloween! Leave me alone! I’ll call my dad!” Sean looks out the window and says “Hold on, okay? Something’s going on outside...” Lyla yells “What do you mean? Hey!” I quickly move out of the way as Sean runs out of the room. I shrug to her and then run out the door.

We get outside and see Brett with a hold on Daniel’s arm. Brett angrily says “Look at my shirt, asshole!” Daniel sticking up for himself, says “What’s the big deal? It’s Halloween!” Sean went into big brother mode “Hey! Don’t ever touch my brother!” He says while shoving Brett “You hear me, Brett?” Brett says “Fuck you, Diaz! He got his fake blood shit all over my shirt...Look!” Daniel frightened says “I told you it was an accident! You better leave us alone!” Brett reaches and tries to grab him but Sean and I get in the way. Brett says “Oh yeah, go hide in your dad’s garage! Pussies! You think you own the block!”

I keep my arm in front of Daniel to block him from Brett. Sean steps in between. He shouts “Dude, step back! He didn’t mean it, he’s a fucking kid!” Brett shouts “He’s a fucking retard!” Sean having enough “What...What did you just say?” Brett says “You heard me, bitch...” He shouts “Don’t ever touch him again!” Brett trying to get under his skin, says “Or what? You gonna get your daddy?” Sean tells him “Hey asshole! I don’t need him, to protect me from you!” Brett shoves him and says “Oh? You wanna go?!” Sean shoves him back, both Daniel and I shout “Sean!” Sean shouts “Oh yeah, motherfucker?!” Brett crossing a line “Then go back to your own country.”

Sean punches him. Daniel now scared says “Woah...Sean! You hit him!” He tells me “Get him inside! NOW!” I try to get Daniel to go but he won’t budge. He shouts “Sean!” Brett tackles Sean by the legs, shouting “You’re dead meat, bitch!” He begins punching Brett’s back and hits with his left fist. Brett shouts “You and your whole fucking family are going to jail! Losers!” Sean shoves him and he falls on a rock in the ground. We start hearing sirens. Daniel frightened, asks “What...what’s going on?”

Sean goes to check on Brett, he says “Oh fuck me...(Y/N), get over here!” I tell Daniel “Stay right here.” He asks “Sean...is he hurt?” We never notice the cop car pull up until we hear the officer command “Okay...okay, step away! Now!” Brett is laying on the ground gasping for air. Sean says “Calm down, officer.” The officer yells “Shut up! And step back!” The three of us back away from Brett. The officer pulls out his gun and points it at us. He commands “On the ground, Now!” Sean says “Hey, wait...This guy was...beating up my little brother!” Daniel frighteningly adds “He started it!” The officer commands “On the ground! NOW! Hands behind your head!”

The three of us get on the ground with our arms up. Daniel scaredly, says “Sean!” Sean frightened, says “This is fucking bullshit!” The officer goes to take Brett’s pulse when I see Esteban. He runs toward to five of us. The officer moves his gun on to Esteban. He asks “Sean, what’s happening?” The officer shouts at him “Get on the ground, sir!” Sean tells him, frighteningly “Dad! We didn’t do anything, I swear...” Esteban says looking between us and the officer “Sean, be quiet...Officer, listen...” The officer yells at Sean “Shut up!” He says “I’m sorry, dad!” Daniel really scared, says “Daddy, I want to go home.” Esteban trying to keep everything calm, says “Be quiet! They’re good kids, officer.” The officer shouts “Don’t move!” He says “I’m sure they didn’t do anything.” Officer repeating himself “I said don’t move!” Daniel says “Stop this.” I say “We didn’t do anything...!” Esteban says to him “Daniel, it’s gonna be alright.” The officer swings his gun between the four of us. He shouts “On the ground!” That’s when the most unthinkable thing happened. The officer unintentionally fires his gun at Esteban who collapses to the ground. The officer says quietly “Shit.” All of a sudden, Daniel yells “AHHHHHHHHHH!” There was a giant force that came out of nowhere.

Both Sean and I wake up to the sound of a leaking fire hydrant and everything is a mess. Utility poles are tipped over, rocks and debris litter the road and yards. In the road, we see a vehicle on fire. We both whimper a “No.” The police car was upside down and the officer was dead. Sean goes to his dad and says “Oh fuck!” Esteban has blood all over his chest. He tries to wake him up but it isn’t working, “No way! No...” I go over to Daniel and trying to wake him “Daniel! Hey! Come on!” Sean shouts “Come on! We gotta go! Now!” Sean comes over by Daniel, picks him up and carries him to the front porch. We grab our backpacks as we hear more sirens getting closer. Just before they arrive, we run.

[angst-art-writing]

Locks and Keys, Promises to Keep

TW: Reference to abuse and torture. Creepy whumper.

It was silent, other than calm breathing. Artemis lied on her back on the floor, letting the coolness of it ice the bruises and aches she felt. She stared up at the ceiling. Even if it was silent in that room, she could still hear the buzzing of her own thoughts in her head, echoing louder and louder the more she tried to silence them, to think of something else. She didn't even notice Santiago coming in before he called her name.

"Art?"

Her head turned towards him, and she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Hey," she mumbled. He smiled and shut the door quietly, heading over and plopping down right next to her. Santi was the only Reaper who was close to her age, and wasn't a total dick. She'd known him for a while now, he was one of the only...friends she had. They were close, but distant. Siblings.

"Well you look just lovely, huh? I think the white brings out your eyebags. And your hair- What's going on with that?" He teased, nudging her gently with his elbow.

"Oh, shut up." She rolled her eyes at him, and he smiled wider. She came with an insult of her own. "I know you aren't talking shit when your teeth are as crooked as my sexuality."

"I love our chats." It was quiet for a second before Santi spoke again. "I heard what happened. With the Neoma girl."

"Hm? Oh...Yeah. Her." It was hard to get her out of her head. She was mumbled in with all the other thoughts, one of the only not-as-shitty ones.

"Why didn't you just tell them?" He looked over, with a raised brow.

She shrugged, mainly because she still didn't really have an answer. Or, none that she could say to him. She didn't want to endanger him with her own thoughts of defiance. Countless times she'd dream of running away with him, making their own life, but it was unrealistic. It was stupid. Home was here, and it would always be home. Santi had seemed to accept that, and part of her was jealous of that fact.

"I knew you were stubborn but not like that." When she didn't answer again, oddly (as she was usually up to talk), he kept talking and asked, "What do you think? About living here now?"

"I absolutely hate it. Even home with dad was better than this." She frowned and leaned back some, tilting her head back against the wall. "At least then I could take walks on my own, you know? Instead I'm stuck here. All the time."

Santiago gently reached for her hand. He didn't try and hug her, which was appreciated. Hugs just felt like traps now, even if she couldn't help but lean into them, fear always wrapped around her as arms did. A warm embrace only for cool fingers to dig into old wounds, hug you so you can't get away. Hugs didn't feel safe, but she longed for them, from the right people. People she could trust. She took his hand and sighed before she continued, "I mean, I guess the only good part is I don't have to worry about groceries anymore, right?" She tried to joke, and smiled softly. But he didn't really know what that meant.

Santi shrugged a little.

She would often sell herself and let people do whatever they wanted, and people would give money to her. She knew how to steal, of course. But if she was caught once it would mean very bad things. It was easier to trade. Still, not having to do that anymore wasn't good. Vincent let people do whatever they wanted anyways- But Santi didn't need to know that. He didn't know most things, and Artemis didn't want to tell him. He wasn't the right person to talk to, and besides, he had his own worries.

"I'm sorry," he said after a second. "Is your dad staying here too?"

"I don't know. Maybe.."

"Maybe Vincent will let you stay at my place with me?"

"That's nice, Santi, but it would never fly." He squeezed her hand tighter, and she went on. "I have a tournament today."

"Groups?"

"I hope not. I'm exhausted."

Santiago had never seen her fight before, and she was thankful for that. He knew how much she hated those things, and Artemis would hate for him to see her as entertainment. It was one of their promises.

She could remember it clearly. They were sitting under Vincent's desk, hiding. He was hiding from his boss, Spencer- of the Workers Unit. They developed weapons and suits for the Reapers, using information from the other Unit, the Researchers. Researchers conducted experiments on Mythics, the like.

They had sat under that desk, across from each-other. One of the first promises. It was forbidden for Santiago to see her fight. After they had made that promise, they had been dragged off, away from eachother.

Before that one, however, there was the very first promise. That they would stay together, no matter what. It was so easy to say that, to lock fingers together and promise on it. She looked towards him, and she saw him on that day. He was so small, his eyes bright. Even now his eyes were still bright. She wondered if she looked the same from then too.

He turned and looked over, and Artemis was whipped out of the memories. It was one she cherished. He sighed and smiled a little. "I kinda wish I was like you. People seem to like you here, y'know."

"What?" She turned to look at him, startled.

"Y'know, they're always training with you, they want to push you. You get all kinds of attention. They like you."

They like to use me. But she just shrugged and looked away, before he spoke again. He looked unbothered, but he kept talking.

"They enjoy you." Exactly. She hated that. "You fight good, they want to make you better.. You get attention from the boss himself, they give you weapons. They love you, Art. Just.. sometimes you don't listen. I kinda wish I got that attention."

She said nothing and just looked down. He was right. It was true. She did get a lot of attention.. Maybe they were just trying to make her better, in some way.. She didn't have time to dwell too much on it before he said something.

"Here- I have some oranges I stole from the kitchen." He fished into the pocket of his pants and took a few out, passing them to her. She took one and let go of his hand to start peeling it.

"Thank you.. Hopefully these ones aren't moldy." He sighed heavily.

"I only did that once. When are you going to let it go? You already got back at me, you threw up all over me, remember?"

"That was just karma." She smiled at him slightly. It felt weird to smile, it felt like someone was just pulling the corners of her mouth up to force her to do so.

Santi nudged her again, leaning against her and smiling. He pushed his head against the side of her face, making her lean to the right slightly. She turned and flicked his forehead, sniggering.

The two just sat with each-other, and Artemis allowed him to braid her hair. As he did so he told her about what he was working on. Santiago was part of the Workers, and he told her about the new suits they were working on, and how soon the Researchers might be able to extract powers from the Mythics. He sounded excited- Artemis tried to share it but...

"Santiago!" A voice called distantly from outside.

"Ah, shit. Thats me-"

"No, really?" Artemis glanced back at him and he stood, letting go of her hair. "Go on, you'll get both our asses kicked if you're caught. Mostly mine, since you're the good one."

"Thats not true. They like you better." He raised an eyebrow, and then stood. He didn't know all they did to her. And what he did know, it was excused. It was her fault, a punishment for her actions. Truly, it was.

Artemis scoffed and pushed at his leg slightly. "Go, then. I'll see you later, mkay?"

He moved forward and grinned at her, pausing to flick her in the head. "Adios." He waved and then slipped out the door, and Artemis was left alone again. She slumped back against the wall, gingerly touching the braid he had made. She waited, this time dreading when the door would open again.

---

It had been a few days, and Artemis stood in the bathroom, preparing for another assignment. Vincent had explained to her what to do, and her main focus was to kill Paige. It was a fancy event, more or less a trap. The Researchers would be talking to some important scientists, so that way they could occupy their lab, at a fancy dinner one of them was hosting. They had invited Vincent, as well as the co-bosses, Esteban and Spencer. They could take one plus person each, and sadly, Artemis was that person for Vincent.

When she had asked how they were going to get Paige there, he had simply said he would leak information that Artemis would be there. She didn't know how, but she was in no place to argue. Just get the job done.

She stood in front of the mirror, her hands fumbling with the tie. Since there weren't many girls involved with the reapers, they mainly just had men's clothes. She stared at her reflection for a moment and just felt disappointed. She had a bruise developing on her jaw, and her eyes were sunken in and drooped. She looked exhausted, hurt. Weak. She wanted to kill the person in front of her, wanted to bash her head into the mirror.

Artemis glanced down and tied the tie, throwing on the coat a second later. She let her hair spill down over her shoulders. It was almost to her waist by now. Paige's hair was longer. For a moment she was no longer in that bathroom, but up on the rooftop with that girl. Her hand went up to her neck as she remembered the cool blade pressing against her throat. She could see Paige, panting with bright eyes, her shadowy hair moving in flow with the wind, wings curling.

With a soft sigh she picked up her dagger and slipped it inside her coat and the image was gone again, a barrier blocking it away inside her mind. Still, she tried to shake away the girls' eyes. Her eyes held honesty deep inside their blue.

She opened the door and Vincent was there. He turned and looked her up and down. "You look nice," he said politely. Artemis mumbled a pathetic thank you, before Vincent placed his hands on her shoulders and turned back. "Your hair is very long..It's very pretty," he said with a smile, combing his hands through her hair. She was tense, waiting for him to pull her hair and wanting nothing more than to slap his hands off of her. Of course, she just stood still and just stood there tensely, unmoving.

"I like it," he mumbled. He continued to smooth down stray hairs on her head, fixing the imperfections. She wanted nothing more than to chop it all off, then and there. She hated the touch but he was also making her hair oily. He took a white ribbon from his pocket, tying it in her hair.

She glanced into the mirror again, just for a moment. The dagger felt heavy, pressing against her body. Her hands burned, burned with the blood she was about to spill.

Who was that? Was that really her, staring back at her?

She didn't know.

Vincent smiled at her reflection, patting the side of her face. "There, see? Perfect."

[ameliathefatcat]

Disney Tacking serious topics

In this series I’ll be writing an outline for an episode of a Disney show where they tackle a serious topic

Elena of Avalor: Bullying and invisible disabilities

1. Isa and friends episode

2. Srta. Marisol introduces a new student Amelia Katz (yes, she is named after me.) She says Amelia and her family have just move Norberg to Avalor. And tells to take a seat Quique and Cristina.

3. After taking her wobbly set Amelia asks to switch chairs with Quique telling that wobbly seats bother her a lot. Quique tells her to deal with it. Amelia tells him that wobbly seats make it hard to her to force. Quique stats making the table wobbly.

4. Srta. Marisol sees this and Amelia who was starting to tear up. She asked what’s going on. Quique says that the new girl is upset about a wobbly chair. Amelia asks if she could step out for a second and Srta. Marisol. Quique after Amelia leaves asks why Amelia got to step out. Srta. Marisol says every student learns differently. And tell Quique switch chairs

5. During lunch Quique makes fun of Amelia, the chair thing and Amelia’s speech impediment(like me she has trouble saying her ‘r’s and speaks really fast sometimes). Amelia over hears this.

6. During reading Amara, Cristina and Amelia are in a group of three and Amelia is really struggling with the story. Amara is getting frustrated at her and asks her is she even knows how to read. Amelia starts to get upset and Cristina tries to comfort her by patting her back. Amelia tells her not to touch her back

7. Over the next few days Amelia weird behavior is witness, being sensitive to loud noises and wearing headphones during music, her constant fidgeting, her short attention span, her messy handwriting and General social awkwardness and weirdness.

8. Quique and Amara think it’s funny to pretend to do Amelia’s ‘weird’ behaviors a lot of the time Amelia can see and hear this

9. During art one day after Amelia has been in school for a few weeks she accidentally while fidgeting knocks over paint and spells it one Quique and Isabel

10. Quique and Isabel are both mad. Isabel says if Amelia act the way she does why is she even in school and Quique rudely asks what is wrong with Amelia. Amara, Isabel, Cristina all silently nod heads in agreement for Quique’s question

11. Srta. Marisol see this and tells Isabel and Quique to apologize to Amelia. Quique asks about Amelia’s behavior and she says that some students are different and special but still should be treated the same as everyone else.

12. Cristina knows the language that Srta. Marisol used after Amelia left to calm down she tells her friends that Amelia might be disabled but she couldn’t see anything

13. At recess Quique goes up to Amelia who was by herself and asks what is her deal. His friends going up to him.

14. She said non of his busines. He than asks if she was disabled and that she didn’t look disabled

15. Amelia gets extremely angry and upsets and yells that not all disabilities are visible like Cristina’s and called every very interesting and unique insults.

16. Quique demands to know what is wrong with Amelia as Srta. Marisol comes over and talks to everyone about their behavior

17. When Isabel gets home, Elena tells her that her, Cristina and Amelia are all going to have a sleepover. Isabel is little upset and Elena explains that Isabel knows what is like be the new kid and Cristina knows how it is like to be disabled.

18. The next weekend it is the day of the sleepover and Amelia and Cristina come to the palace.

19. It was awkward at first, Francisco tried to play a song but Amelia covered her ears (Elena pulled her grandfather aside and told her about Amelia being noice sensitive). During dinner Amelia is humming as she eats which annoys people. Esteban tells Amelia to stop humming and eat normal, Amelia says she can’t control it (Elena pulls him aside and tells him that Amelia was different and to be nice since this sleepover was supposed help Amelia after what happened at school. Esteban sighs and says he will try too be nice.) For dessert Luisa made rice pudding for the girls, Isabel and Cristina were eating it but not Amelia. Luisa asks Amelia why she doesn’t want the pudding and tells her to try it. Amelia says pudding gag and so does yogurt. Amelia adds it is because of the texture.

20. After dinner when the girls are in their pajamas Amelia said she had enough and wanted to go and ran off. Cristina finds her. Amelia who is sort of talking herself says she has Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and Dyslexia and she was upset that everyone was treating her like a freak and pitying her. Cristina comes up to talk to her. Cristina transfer out of her chair to the floor and pulls Amelia into a hug.

21. Amelia get embarrassed and asked how much did Cristina hear. Cristina tells her that it ok and that she didn’t know. Amelia stops crying starts to talk to Cristina.

22. Both girls talk how they enjoy art and other stuff, Isabel joins them. They talk Amelia said she loves to tell stories but due to her Dyslexia it is hard.

23. The three girls become friends after Isabel and Cristina realize who smart, kind, caring and funny Amelia is and eventually Quique and Amara realize that too.

(All of Amelia Katz’s symptoms are shared with me)

[ograndebatata]

My future Eleteo children

Okay... I’ve been meaning to make this post for some time now, but other things kept putting it off... but recent events have inspired me to finally put it together, so here it is.

These are my versions of the children Elena and Mateo end up having. Technically, they’re part of my Tales of the Ever Realm AU, but I started working on them before said AU was a ‘truly set thing’. I’m not sure how fair it is to count them as ‘future children’, but I still wanted to share them. 

To those interested in knowing more about them, please click below.

Candida Doroteia de Alva Flores (girl) -  The first born child, and the heir to the throne of Avalor, Candida takes very much after her father. Her long hair, facial features and complexion are more reminiscent of her mother (though she wears her hair tied in a braid rather than a ponytail), but her eyes and hair color are inherited from her father, and her general personality is also closer to him.

At first glance, she looks like a vain girl who takes great pride in her appearance, given the dresses, tiaras, hair ties and hair pins that she wears, but any long period of time spent with her leads people to see that she’s a quiet child who goes about her studies dilligently, and a bit of a lone wolf, a big reason for her apparent pride in her appearance is to hide her lack of self-confidence. She is open and easygoing with her parents and their closest friends and their children, but draws into her own shell with people outside that immediate circle. 

She’s shy and soft-spoken enough that some have suggested that she may not be ready to be the future queen, but both her parents insist that Candida will be the one making that decision if she wants to, and both believe she will be a good queen.

Since she was a child, Candida was compassionate to others and tries to do her best to help people if she sees them in trouble. And while she doesn’t make a show of it, she’s determined enough that if she runs into a problem she will keep trying to solve it until she exhausts every possible option.

She likes history and literature, and while she’s not as interested in magic as some of her siblings, she does like it to a degree, and is good at defensive spells. 

She also has a good singing voice, and likes to play more than one instrument, though she mostly sings to herself when she feels she needs to cheer herself up. 

She’s close to her parents, and also to her Aunt Isabel and to her Uncle Desmond. She’s also somewhat close to ‘Tia Val’ and ‘Tio Manuel’.

Alexandro Rui “Alex” de Alva Flores (boy) - The second born child, born a little over a year after Candida, and very much her opposite in many ways, being an impulsive sort who believes in following his instincts and thinks he can take everything that life throws at him.

He has his mother’s hair and eye color, and a skin tone similar to hers, but he wears his hair short. 

He loves sports (his favorites being fencing, olaball, and horse riding) and very much dislikes studying, to the point it can be a struggle to get him to attend his lessons, which is not to say that he is dumb, as he certainly is clever enough to devise ways to sneak pan dulce from trays or explain why he was late for his lessons. Compromises to get him to attend his lessons have to come about somewhat often, and a few times it’s even necessary for his parents to put their foot down, most often Elena. 

But despite how different he is from his older sister, they do get along well, and she’s the first he will turn to if he feels he can’t turn to his parents. And while he can be a bit conceited when he wins, as well as a sore loser if he loses, he’s overall a nice boy. And as much as Elena is the one who puts her foot down with him, he’s closer to her than to Mateo. 

He doesn’t very much like magic at all, typically finding it boring, although like all of Elena’s children, he had to do the ‘required basic training’ to control the magic he was born with.

Outside of blood relatives, the ones he’s closest to are ‘Tio Gabe’, ‘Tia Naomi’ and ‘Tio Marzel’.

Leonor Matide de Alva Flores (girl) - The third born child, and the oldest of a set of fraternal twins, both born a bit two years after Alex. She has her mother’s hair and skin tone, and green eyes like her late great-grandmother Luisa and her late first cousin once removed Esteban. She doesn’t wear her hair as long as her older sister or mother, but it still goes down to the small of her back when she wears it down, which she does most of the time. She most often wears a wizard robe similar to the one her father wore when he started out as Royal Wizard.

She’s one of the spitfires in the family, and while no one will say she’s a bad child, much less evil, she tends to get in trouble for three main reasons.

For one, her passion for magic matches her father’s, and she can’t wait to know all the spells there are to know, which can lead to her trying to cast a given spell before she’s ready for it. 

For another, she’s a very competitive child, who gets offended if anyone doubts her magical sklls, often going above and beyond the call of duty to prove them wrong, sometimes with less than stellar results.

For yet another, she has a very intense rivalry with her twin brother (who’s as interested in and as passionate about magic as her) always wanting to prove she is better than him.

All of these things already lead to some incidents, although both siblings learned to restrain themselves after one of their competitions almost had a very unfortunate outcome. 

That said, for all that she and her brother bicker and compete about magic, both are there for each other when it really matters, and woe be whoever derides or mocks one of them in the other’s presence. Also, for the surprise of many, she’s a very affectionate child,  and when someone she loves is sad, she always goes for hugs first before saying she’ll teach a lesson to whoever made them sad.

While Leonor excels at magic, she’s much poorer in just about every other field, and although her grades still aren’t ghastly per se, everyone thinks she could do much better at everything if she put in half the effort she puts into learning magic. Like Alex, she fares quite well at sports, and more than once tried to copy her father’s elaborate magical acrobatics (not always with the best results).

To the surprise of some, she is actually a very affectionate child, 

She idolizes her mother and father, and other than her twin brother, the sibling she is closest to is her big sister Candida.

Outside of her family, the one she is closest to is Fiero, to the point that out of she is one of only two of Elena’s children who calls him Tio Fiero. Not only is he funny (there is something weirdly hilarious about his near-constant seriousness), but he is very patient when teaching her and her brother magic, and has plenty of stories to tell them about their great-grandfather, which they both love to hear. 

She is also close to Olivia, although the now Royal Wizard has less time to teach her magic. She also likes spending time with Carla, and although the malvaga does not actually teach her magic, she will be open to helping her with magical practice on her free time.

Lucero Ignacio de Alva Flores (boy) - The fourth born child, and the youngest of the twins. Like his twin sister, he has his great-grandmother’s green eyes, and his mother’s hair color, although his skin tone is a few shades darker than hers. 

He also wears his hair rather long (about shoulder-length), as he thinks it ‘makes him look cooler’. He also tends to wear a wizard robe similar to the one his father did when he first started out as Royal Wizard. 

He is as much of a spitfire as his twin sister, and his love for magic matches hers, which is why he tends to get into trouble also (whether alongside his sister or separately from her). He is as competitive towards her as she is towards him, and also tends to take it personally if his magical skills are thrown into question. 

That said, he is as present for his sister if she needs him as she is if he needs her, and he will defend her from anyone who tries to hurt her in any way, just like she does him. 

He is somewhat less inventive with magic than his sister, but he is better at grasping the theory of it, and will often get the handle of a spell faster than she does. He also has more patience to sit through academics, and does better at school work than his sister. However, she has him beat in terms of acrobatics, and if they play olaball against one another he usually loses. 

Like his sister, Lucero is more affectionate than many expect from such a spitfire, to the point that he and his sister have no fights over who gets to comfort anyone they love who happens to be sad near them both at the same time: they always share the task. However, he ia bit shyer about ‘getting affection’.

Also like with his twin sister, his favorite person after his parents is Fiero (he is the other of Elena’s children who calls him Tio Fiero), and he will attach himself to the former malvago at any half-chance, for the same reasons his sister does, and generally has an opinion of him similar to hers: there’s something funny about his constant seriousness, and his stories about Alacazar are wonderful to hear, and he’s a great magic teacher.  

That said, he does think Olivia is much more fun when it comes to showing them the actual fun side of magic.

He also like spending time with Carla, whether it’s practicing magic with her help or listening to the stories of her adventures (although she always turns him down if she asks him to tell stories more related to her confrontations with Elena on the days they were ‘more at odds’).

Núria Jazmin de Alva Flores (girl) - The last born child of Elena and Mateo, born a bit over seven years after Leonor and Lucero. 

She has somewhat darker hair and complexion than either of her parents, and dark-brown eyes. Like her mother and her oldest sister, her hair falls down to below her waist when she wears it down, but out of the whole family, she is the one who tends to change up her hairstyle the most, even outside of formal occasions. 

Like other last-born children, she feels she is the family baby, although her siblings and especially parents try to not make her feel that she is. Sometimes, she worries that she doesn’t help her case by being so much of a mommy’s and daddy’s girl, but she secretly loves that they care when she feels down and loves their hugs when she is sad.

She is also the girliest one out of Elena’s daughters, at least when it comes to her attire, wanting to wear dresses and change up her hairstyle simply out of personal preference rather than to make herself feel confident.

She insists she doesn’t want to be babied just because she is the youngest one, and that she is just as capable as any of her older siblings. And to give her due credit, she can back up her words, as she performs very well in academics, is good at fencing and olaball, and also does well at magic. That said, she is secretly a bit afflicted by the fact she doesn’t ‘truly stand out’ in any field. Candida sings better than her, Alex is better at sports than her, and both Leonor and Lucero are better at magic than her. She may be above average in most things she does, but she does not excel at any specific one like any of her siblings. And that worries her sometimes, as she feels that if she isn’t ‘truly uniquely special’ at anything, she’s less than them.

Both Elena and Mateo reassure her that she is perfectly special and fine just as she is, and Núria knows they speak the truth. 

But all the same, deep down she wishes that someday she will find anything she can be the best at. 

She gets along well with all her siblings, but she does not have a ‘true favorite’ among them. Like all of Elena’s and Mateo’s children, she loves her mother and father. Outside of her blood family, the person she is closest to is Prisma.

[sohannabarberaesque]

Underwater America with Peter Potamus: Florida’s Treasure Coast

Continuing our cross-country tour (and fictional TV series), our heroes travel further south along Florida’s coast in our latest installment. This episode takes place in July 1970.

The ten of us continued down State Road A1A after finishing off a dive in Pelican Flats off Cape Canaveral—a dive that started with the exploration of a grassy reef and ending with all of us swimming alongside three-dozen-or-so manta rays. What a way to make a living.

“We’re going to a wreck next?” Magilla asked, peeling a banana in the back seat.

“Yep! We’re going to Fort Pierce.” I replied as I waited for the traffic light to turn green.

“Ahhh, but can it top the rays we saw?” Breezly said, still giddy from the experience.

The more I thought about it, the reef dive seemed somewhat ordinary up until that moment. “Who knows. I think we got lucky that day,” I said as I drove the minibus along the street. “We were just…there until that happened.”

Hokey, who rode shotgun that day, agreed. “True, true, Peter my buddy. We may have swam with the rays, but we came out of there wet and hungry, as we always do!”

I snickered. “Okay, okay, I get the picture. I suppose we should get some dinner in a little while. We can get a snack before then.” Everyone else agreed. We had lots of time before we got the nitrogen out of our systems, anyway. I decided on a seafood restaurant—complete with patio—in North Hutchinson Island, only a short drive from Vero Beach, one of the northern cities of the region of Florida known as the Treasure Coast.

The food was plentiful, even for the ten of us: a few lobsters, fried catfish and plenty of battered shrimp would keep us full for awhile, and the sides—cole slaw and hush puppies—topped off this delicious meal. “OH, BOY!” we explained, and dug in.

Naturally, the lobsters were claimed by Hokey and Wally, who had desired them ever since a failed attempt to bring back a couple of them from our Pelican Flats dive. We didn’t mind; I filled myself up on the shrimp and hush puppies, while a couple of others, notably Squiddly and Mildew, admired the catfish.

“Oooh, those spices!” Mildew said joyously, savoring the seasonings put into it. “What do you think’s in it?”

“I don’t think they’ll tell!” Squiddly chuckled, biting into a delicious shrimp.

Wally had a pair of shrimp at once, together with plenty of scooped-up cocktail sauce. He found it delicious, although he did not expect the sauce to be as strong as it was—there was plenty of horseradish in it to clear his sinuses. Fortunately, a glass of water helped him through his little coughing spell. “Perhaps a little sauce isn’t a bad idea. Just a little, dont’cha know!” he said, laughing.

The sea breezes added that extra bit of enjoyment indoor eating just doesn’t have. We also got to view some small beach gettogethers of about five or six people, and were able to get an up-close view when we walked along the beach after dinner. Unfortunately for Squiddly, not a single one of those parties had a guitar, though it did have plenty of beer.

For many, the combination of the tides and the wet sand feels so nice between the toes of those who walk along it. For us, the water was just a fact of life. We had been underwater for so long by this point that we simply didn’t experience as much of a pleasant surprise as other people usually have, those who stroll along the beach or wade in the ocean to unwind after a long day. Not to take away from the wet sand, though; we felt it and we liked it—that is, until we were about to get into the minibus. I was adamant about us not tracking sand into the car, and we wiped off our feet with a towel before we got inside.

We spent the night at a motel in Vero Beach, booking three rooms for the ten of us. While Magilla watched some television and Squiddly filled the bath for a good night’s rest, I read up on further information regarding our next destination, the Spanish wreck Urca de Lima.

The Urca de Lima, a 305-ton Dutch-built merchant ship, was one of a dozen ships in the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, tasked with carrying goods and treasure from the New World back to the Spanish Main. The Urca de Lima was one of five ships captained by Juan Esteban de Ubilla.

On July 24, 1715, Ubilla’s fleet, supplemented by six other Spanish ships, commandeered by Antonio de Echeverez, and a French ship, El Grifón, sent to ward off pirates, set sail from Havana, Cuba, intending to reach the city of Cádiz in Spain. Among their combined booty was a large amount of gold and silver. The Urca de Lima, though, mostly carried goods, along with some private silver kept in chests. The fleet, however, made it as far as Florida when a hurricane hit them, pushing the ships to the coast and either sinking or grounding them. Only the French ship escaped unscathed. More than half the crew of those eleven ships died, including both commanders. The Urca de Lima, however, steered into a river inlet, and the hull remained intact. This allowed the goods to be salvaged, keeping the survivors well-fed for a few days.

The ship’s cargo was eventually salvaged and the ship’s hull burned down to the waterline in order to hide it from pirates, although the existence of the sunken fleet was widely known by that time.

In December, the salvage camp was heavily raided by two British privateers—Henry Jennings and Charles Vane—and their men, and made away with gold and silver totalling over $3 million in today’s money!

Since its rediscovery in 1928, numerous salvage permits were granted, but very little came of it, as far as treasure was concerned. There was a silver piece here and there, but that was it.

Those thoughts were still with me even as we took a stroll along one of Vero Beach’s most popular tourist attractions, McKee Jungle Gardens, a botanical garden off U.S. Route 1.

This time it was Loopy de Loop’s turn to enjoy himself, following the semi-carnivorous overtures his lupine colleagues Hokey and Mildew gave at Tosohatchee. He stopped to smell the flowers with every new variety that came into view, and there were well over a hundred different species, in addition to the gorgeous streams and ponds we viewed that morning.

“Ahh, nature!” exclaimed Loopy. “Is there anything as breathtaking as a botanical garden, with so many magnificent flowers on display in a single place?”

“Yeah, underwater!” Squiddly eagerly replied, taking a bit of power out of Loopy’s monologue.

“Uh, yes, that as well, but I’m sure you understand, for you are but an octopus!”

“True…” Squiddly’s voice wandered off.

Having cleared our minds of any ill thoughts, and rejecting a suggestion by Mildew to abandon Loopy at the garden, I drove back onto the highway and headed east back onto A1A.

Upon stopping in the city of Fort Pierce we chartered a boat to take us to the Urca de Lima, east of Jack Island Park on the opposite side of the Indian River. Everyone checked their gear and put it on, while I piloted the craft out of the river and back onto the ocean.

I was happy to learn that, as the wreck was only 200 feet from shore, we would be diving at very shallow depths compared to Pelican Flats: ten to fifteen feet. I set a diving time of sixty minutes, with no decompression necessary. Maybe we would get a look at some more fish, but for now, it was all about the ship. To ensure that the wreck would not be damaged by an anchor, we instead used a mooring buoy to keep the boat in place.

We dove in following the safety briefing. Once we were close to the floor, we split up into our usual groups. As we swam along, we noticed that there was very little of the ship left, with only the keel, garboard and one side of the boat visible after that entire time, and even then what remained had a lot of vegetation grow on it. After all, this was a wreck that was over 250 years old, and a lot of things tend to happen near the shore in that length of time. The sands and the wildlife come and go—mostly come. Nevertheless, some of us were still in awe over what is basically an old-style artificial reef.

Although I was convinced the chances of finding even one coin were slim, that obviously didn’t stop Hokey, who brushed along the ocean floor with his hands in the hope of uncovering said coin. Wally, being his trusted friend and divemate, couldn’t help but join in and also find nothing. Convinced their big score wasn’t going to happen, they continued to swim along the hull.

We explored the area outside the ship for other remnants. South of the ship’s main structure, Lippy and Hardy were able to find some cannons strewn about—five in all. This in itself is a fascinating thing, although there were originally more cannons around the ship; several of them had been salvaged, cleaned up and exhibited. Mildew and Loopy soon joined them, and Mildew had a little fun by peeking inside, and reaching his hand into, one of the cannons. Eventually, the others joined in after seeing enough of the hull.

As they enjoyed themselves, I was reminded of the salvage operations that took place for decades (and which brought several of the cannons to the surface for exhibition) and continue to take place today, and felt that continued operations would evenually diminish the diving and snorkeling experiences many locals and tourists greatly enjoy. After all, it isn’t every day you have a shipwreck in your own backyard, let alone one that is very accessible.

Art by Bob Jiggles

I began to swim with Hokey and Wally away from the cannons after awhile, heading west. We had intended to see the sights of some fish that may be around, but we ended up finding one of Urca de Lima’s anchors instead, laid out along the ocean floor. It appeared to be about ten feet long and, like the cannons, were completely rusted. It gave us an idea as to how much of the ship actually remained, as almost everything else was broken up over time. The other anchor was also among the items salvaged and exhibited to the public.

Meanwhile, Mildew, still hoping for a trinket or two, reached into the other cannons and found nothing but maybe a stray rock or two perhaps making their way inside. Running his hands along several spots on the ocean floor didn’t work, either. Although the others were convinced they weren’t going to find anything, it didn’t stop Mildew, one of the most tenacious among us in whatever he did. Not until Loopy placed a hand on Mildew’s shoulder and shook his head did he give up his own little treasure quest; the bubbles gushing from the regulator hinted at a sigh of disappointment.

Squiddly swam along the remnants of the hull, his camera picking up the entirety of it, along with some of the animals for size comparison. He would tell me later that it might have been better were we to create a chain by grabbing each other’s legs. We might’ve made a good animal yardstick.

Feeling that we had seen enough of the wreck, I called for the whole crew to surface. We made our way back to the boat, somewhat disappointed. It was a delight to view a wreck, sure, but our expectations had been set too high. Although the ship was burned centuries ago to prevent detection by pirates, we still thought there was plenty for us to see.

We continued further south on our journey. Our next stop was Key Largo, home of John Pennekamp State Park, featuring some of the finest coral reefs in the country and home to a diverse group of marine life. Many of us felt like going on another dive before then, so we parked our minibus at a beach in Jupiter, just north of West Palm Beach.

Magilla and I broke out the bike pump and set about refilling the tanks with pressurized air before we could hit the water again. “It won’t be long now!” Magilla said excitedly, even though we had nine tanks to fill.

This time, we entered from the sands of the beach, donning our fins once the water was halfway up to our knees. This was strictly a pleasure dive where we could just play around in the water for awhile at a shallow depth. Usually this consisted of playing tag with one another, as Breezly and Magilla demonstrated, although some others had fun in different ways: Mildew felt like basking in the sun’s rays even in the water, and posed as though he was laying back in a beach chair, letting nothing bother him. Wally, a bit of a zany character himself, joined Mildew a minute later. Hokey and Loopy interacted with the occasional fish passing by them, while Lippy and Hardy just swam around, unsure of what to do themselves; they were simply content with watching.

We explored further by swimming towards the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. Our heads above water, the view was clear for all of us. Squiddly pointed in the direction of six creatures congregating together. “Manatees!” he exclaimed joyfully.

I removed my mouthpiece. “Must’ve gone after a female,” I said, before putting it back in. We swam closer to the pack while keeping our mouthpieces on, even though our heads were above the surface; we didn’t want to deal with ocean water in the hose.

The manatees turned and started to swim away from the shore, where we confronted them, eager to pet and stroke their heads and play with them for a few moments. Some of us wanted to stroke their bellies, too, and the manatees felt so happy to receive some attention. Squiddly joined in on the lovefest, too, even though his job was to film; I got his back, however, recording him nuzzling against a manatee’s cheek.

We spent a few minutes with them before they had to leave, looking to try again someplace else. We waved goodbye to them and began to head back to where we began our dive. It was getting a little late, anyway, and we needed some food in our bellies. We were also a little exhausted from all the diving, as was easily demonstrated thusly:

“Why’m I walking all topsy-turvy?” Breezly asked, wobbling as though he had a few beers.

“Alors! Those sea cows must’ve made us love drunk!” Loopy added.

Only Squiddly and I walked properly, with my fins slung over my shoulder, as we discussed plans together.

“Hey, how come those two are all right?” asked Mildew.

Everyone else still had their full gear on, well after they had been completely out of the water.

“You need a rest!” Squiddly and I called out to them.

We had to rest up for what I figured would be the pinnacle of our vacation: Key Largo and John Pennekamp State Park, and what better place to do so than what Hokey called “The Entertainment Capital of Florida,” Miami. At least it still is, while Jackie Gleason is still taping his variety show, and until Walt Disney’s next big thing opens to the public.

Avoiding all kinds of alcohol—which probably knocked out half the potential restaurant options in this city—we also wanted a place with prices within our means, which knocked out another quarter of the city. After twenty minutes of driving around the city with no place to go, we decided on a small diner where they not only served the usual fare, but also come Cuban delicacies.

The lively conversation soon switched from the wreck and the manatees to Key Largo. Pennekamp State Park had some of the best coral reefs in the nation, along with a diverse section of marine life. I could hear the excitement in their voices. Some of them even wanted to enjoy a second day there, as we did with Wally’s secret spring.

“If I can find a good motel, sure!” I quipped.

Anyway, that’s our Treasure Coast adventure. If you like wrecks that you can enjoy at shallow depths, I strongly recommend the Urca de Lima off Fort Pierce. If relaxation is more your thing, be sure to visit the almost-endless stretch of beaches. Remember, if you’re interested in diving, please receive proper instruction and follow all safety protocols before going in.

While I’m mentioning relaxation, why don’t you relax awhile yourself? Our next episode will be diver’s heaven—Key Largo. Look for us next week at the same time.

[bazwillendinflames]

Read on AO3

A Diaz brothers Hogwarts AU for @head-full-of-things for the LIS2 Secret Santa. 

Sean’s baby brother is born at the height of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s terror. The first time Sean saw Daniel he was struck by just how tiny he looked. 

The world outside was so scary and Sean had already been taught what to do if there was trouble. (Find Mum or Dad unless he can’t. Then hide and be very, very quiet.) Sean can’t help but look down at the tiny baby curled in his cot and worry that baby Daniel wouldn’t be very good at hiding. He cried when he woke up and he only settled if someone told him a story; part of hiding was being quiet, what if- 

Sean made a promise to himself to look after Daniel no matter what, whether scary wizards or thunderstorms. 

Daniel grows a little and starts to walk and make noises that might be words. Outside, things get worse. 

His parents tried to keep the reality hidden. But Sean overheard worried conversations between them, read snippets of the news about deaths, heard them cry late, over lost friends, when he should be sleeping. 

And then it just stops. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named stops. Sean spent that fateful Halloween night huddled at home with his Dad. Having a set of Muggle-born parents made any late night walks impossible, even for treats. 

The next morning, they tell him it’s safe. Or safer. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is dead now, stopped by a boy his brother's age. (That horrified Sean. That he would try to kill a baby. That someone might even want to kill Daniel.) 

The magical world is alive once more, full of joy and celebration. Just not for the Diazs. Karen walked away from magic; walked away from them . She gives Sean her wand and Esteban an address to write to. She leaves baby Daniel with nothing. 

Sean spent that night with his Mother’s wand under his pillow, pledging to use it to protect his baby brother if needed. His childhood had taught him that you had to be careful and if Daniel was too young to look out for himself, it must be Sean’s job to fill that role. 

He just hoped wherever Harry Potter ended up, he had someone to protect him too. 

  “Davis, Tracey.”

Sean glanced over at the group of first years, quiet for the first time since they had entered the hall and still waiting in line, trying to pick out his brother’s dark hair. In the crowd, it was impossible to find him. 

“On ‘D’ now,” Lyla whispered, “Dan will soon, right?” 

“Yeah.” Sean gave up on trying to find him. “Is it weird I’m more worried about his sorting than my own?” 

“Slytherin!” The hat roared, followed by applause from the table. Tracey ran over, leaving the stool at the front of the great hall empty again. 

Lyla laughed. “It’s sweet. You complain about Daniel, but it’s all talk.” 

“Diaz, Daniel.” 

Sean ignored Lyla, looking over as the tiny figure of Daniel moved towards the front of the hall. Daniel’s eyes drifted over to their table and he smiled at his younger brother, although he didn’t seem to notice. (Daniel was staring at Lyla all doe-eyed instead, typical .)

There was a long moment as Daniel pulled a face at whatever the sorting hat was whispering to him. Stubborn as ever. 

Then, Daniel looked directly over at their spot, giving Sean an excited thumbs up. He knew which house Daniel was in before the sorting hat declared him a “Hufflepuff!” 

Lyla poked him, “move up.” 

They shifted along, making a big enough space for Daniel to squeeze in. 

“Sean, Sean, we’re together!” 

“I knew we would be.” 

The sorting continued, with a few more additions to the Hufflepuff table. To Daniel’s delight, Chris joined them too. He lived in the same village as their Grandparents and the two had spent last summer together. They were also joined by Jacob’s sister, who seemed much less shy than her older brother. 

A hush fell over the hall when “Potter, Harry” was called. He looked even smaller than Daniel, with an explosion of messy black hair covering his scar. It was hard to believe someone so young had put an end to the terror of his childhood. 

“So cool,” Daniel whispered. 

The sorting hat declared him a Gryffindor and Sean was a little relieved. It wasn’t his fault but Sean had always thought Harry Potter would be a magnet for trouble. The last thing he wanted was Daniel getting dragged into it. 

His brother didn’t seem to share that concern. “Ah, no fair. He’s like so cool.” 

“Nah, you’re already enough of a handful enano .” 

“Hey!” Daniel stuck out his tongue and he smiled at his younger brother. 

Sean was glad that Daniel was in Hufflepuff with him. He could keep an eye on him and keep him on the right track. Truthfully, Sean couldn’t imagine Daniel anywhere else. His natural curiosity may have suited Ravenclaw (seriously, the kid never stopped talking) but Daniel had the biggest heart.

Besides, it seemed just right the Diaz brothers were together. 

   After the welcome feast, Daniel insisted on showing Sean his new dormitory. Whilst most of the other students seemed tired after a long day of travel and heavy meal to follow, Daniel was bouncy as ever, practically leaping up the stairs, dragging Sean behind him. 

“I’m coming, enano, slow down.” 

It was sweet, actually, to see such excitement on his face when he first saw the castle. Daniel had been pestering him for years about what Hogwarts was like, both in his letters and during his otherwise peaceful summers. He had been counting down the days till he got his school letter for as long as Sean could remember. 

“Ta-da!” 

Daniel was already bouncing on the bed in the furthest corner, messing up the homely, yellow patchwork blanket on top. The room was nice and clean, still yet to be turned into the unorganised tip Sean’s own was after five years of living there. 

“Come jump with me.”

“Really Daniel-“

“Please.” 

Sean glanced between the open door and his brother’s pleading face, before jumping onto the bed with him. Daniel laughed giddily, half-crushing Sean when the brothers eventually lay down. 

“Do you think Dad will miss us now we’re away?” 

“No way, he’ll love the peace.” 

“No fair. I don’t talk that much.” 

Sean wrapped his arms around him. “Okay, okay enano, he’ll probably miss us every day.” 

“Can I write to him soon? Just to let him know I’m okay.” 

Sean glanced at the slightly worried expression on his face. “Sure. I’ll show you where the owls are kept later.” 

“The hat wanted to put me in Gryffindor.” 

“You are pretty brave sometimes. And reckless.” 

Daniel nudged him. “You mean cool.” 

“Yeah. Guess you’re stuck with me instead.” 

“That’s not too bad. I guess.” 

“Dad was in Gryffindor.” 

“Cool!” Daniel sighed. “What about…” 

He swallowed a lump in his throat. “Karen was a Ravenclaw. She was artsy and shit.” 

“I wish I could write to her too.” 

He frowned. “You know Karen made her choice.” 

Daniel pulled a pillow over his chest. “Okay. It’s so big here. And the stairs move! So magical.” 

“We’ll help you so you don’t get lost. Jake and Lyla are prefects so they’ll watch over you.” 

“But you’ll help too?” 

Sean nodded. “Yeah.” 

“Will show me where the dragons are?” 

“There’s no dragons at Hogwarts. And don’t go looking. The forest is dangerous.” 

Daniel half-yawned. “Okay. But... it’s safe here, right?” 

“I promise.” 

Daniel seemed relieved. “Will you help me unpack?” 

“No chance,” Sean said, pulling himself off the bed. “Leave it for tomorrow. You’re had a long day.” 

“I’m not even tired,” Daniel said, trying to cover another yawn with his hand. 

“Whatever you say.” Sean ruffled his hair, watching as Daniel rolled over in bed, blinking sleepily. “Goodnight Enano.” 

Sean pulled a blanket over him, watching his brother breathe peacefully. 

He’d look out for Daniel, no matter what. 

   The first week back from school was always hectic. After weeks of sleeping in, Sean felt zombified each morning. Lyla was her usual bubbly self no matter what time of day, so he relied on her to drag him to the right class. 

Having Daniel around was a little weird at first. His brother usually wrote to Sean every few days, sending pages of rambles and questions and drawings. Having him there in person instead meant most of the questions came directly from him, and his morning were much louder, but it also meant that Sean could actually hug his brother and the usual homesickness wasn’t so intense. Another figure appeared at their table in the library and all his Hufflepuff scarves seemed to go missing. 

Despite all the little changes having Daniel there meant, Sean was glad to share it with him. His Dad would be surprised at how well they got along at school. Even in his weekly letter, he seemed impressed that Sean was helping him. (Esteban wrote more to Daniel than him. Daily, even. So he wasn’t the only homesick one.) 

“You’re a big softie,” Lyla said. She was lying across his lap, eyes closed. Their closeness used to get a lot of strange looks and questions (how many times had he had to pretend to be sick when people asked if he was dating Lyla before they got the message?) but in the sixth year of platonic cuddles, no one looked twice. 

“Shut up,” he replied, already knowing what she meant. 

(Okay, maybe that’s why people called them a married couple.) 

   It hadn’t even been a full month when Harry Potter caused his first drama. Daniel, despite not being there, was more than happy to explain exactly how a first year had gotten on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Sean couldn’t help but roll his eyes: flying perfectly the first time and immediately getting on the team was a typically Gryffindor thing to do. (He was a good player, from the little Sean actually got from Quidditch. He only went to the games to help Lyla heckle the teams. Plus, the announcer with the purple hair was cute.) 

“Do you think I can join the team?” 

“No way Enano.” 

“No fair.” He pouted. “Well, I’ll practise all Summer with Dad and then I’ll be the best ever.” 

Sean couldn't help but snigger, Daniel had been on a broom exactly once and fallen off and into their neighbour’s garden. His training broom had been in the shed ever since. 

“Can’t wait.” Lyla fist bumped him. She was the captain of the Quidditch team. Sean mostly went to the games to support her, he was better at sports played on the ground. (“There’s no magic in being a fast runner.”) 

“Harry is so cool,” Daniel continued, “do you think he’s the Chosen One?” 

“There is no ‘Chosen One’. He’s just a kid.” 

“He’s my age.”

“Exactly.” Sean ruffled his head. “Just stick with Chris and Noah, okay?” He glanced over to where Jacob was chatting with his sister. “And maybe talk to Sarah-Lee. She seems nice.” 

Daniel was frowning but he nodded. 

Lyla flicked the back of his head. “Chill dude. I’m pretty sure he already has a Dad.” 

“I’m just looking out for him.” 

“He’s a sensible kid. Dan will stay out of trouble.”

“Shut up,” Sean replied, which Lyla knew meant she was right. 

“Plus,” she added, “Hogwarts is a safe place.” 

   “Troll, troll in the dudgeon!” 

Panic rippled across the hall as teachers rushed to hurry them somewhere safe. Lyla disappeared to lead the younger years inside, Sean following her quickly. 

“Sean?” Jacob’s voice was heavy with worry. “Have you seen my sister?” 

“No. Isn’t she with the other first years? Lyla’s meant to be leading them.” 

“No. She left dinner early. She was upset, our parents-” 

“I’m sure she’s on her way to the common room.” 

“I know she’s not.” Jacob glanced in the halls. “Do you ever have feelings of like, older brother instinct?” 

With growing dread, Sean nodded, all too aware he hadn’t seen Daniel since breakfast. “I’ll help you look for her.” 

Jacob smiled gratefully, his reason for agreeing so quickly going unsaid between them. With all the chaos and the looming threat of a troll, they slipped off easily. Sean hoped that Daniel was with Lyla; chances were that he was looking for Sean, not the other way round. (He almost-believed it.) 

“Where do we start?” 

“Sarah’s still new so she doesn’t know a lot of places. When she gets upset at home, she locks herself in the toilet.” 

“It’s a start.” 

The hallways were so empty it was almost eerie. Sean and Jacob stuck close together, both holding out their wands as a precaution. The first of the girls toilets they checked was empty, the second belonging to a miserable ghost. 

“Maybe she did go back-”

Jacob’s hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. Sean jumped a little. 

“What-” 

“Did you hear that?”

Sean listened and a moment later he was met by a scream and a heavy thump. 

“That has to be the troll?”

“Shit.” Sean followed Jacob’s sprint, already running through all the healing spells he knew. (The voice sounded so young.)

The bathroom was a mess, with smashed bits of sink and wall everywhere. The troll stood in the middle, growling at four small figures by its feet. 

“Sarah!” Jacob called, spotting his sister, who was clinging onto the hand of the Gryffindor girl next to her. There was a Gryffindor boy too, with the signature Weasley red hair. But all of Sean’s attention was on his own brother, who had positioned himself protectively in front of the two shaking girls. 

The troll roared, oblivious to their arrival. It swung the hefty club down. Sean cast a protective charm, hoping his simple ‘Protego’ would be enough to help, just as another small figure jumped up on the troll’s back, sticking something up its nose. 

Sean held his protective charm, trying to work out if he could cast on the other kid, when one of them shouted ‘Wingardium Leviosa’, causing the club to hit the top of its head. It slumped down and the kid rolled off, close enough that Sean could make out his signature scar. 

What the hell was Daniel doing fighting a troll with Harry Potter?

“Jacob,” Sarah sobbed, running over and flinging herself at him. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Sean mostly directed his question at Daniel, but all the first years (they were first years…) seemed a little terrified of him. 

“I was going to ask the same thing Mr Diaz.” Professor McGonagall stepped into the bathroom, followed by Professors Snape and Quirrell. “You’re lucky you weren’t killed.” 

Daniel shuffled back a little, unsure if Sean or McGonagall would give him a sterner talking to. 

“Well-” 

“Mr Diaz, Mr Hackerman, as sixth years, perhaps you could explain why you are here too?” 

“Some of our first years,” Sean began, fixing Daniel with a stern look, “were missing. As a Prefect, it’s Jacob’s job to look for them.” (It was mostly true.) 

“I asked Sean to come too,” Jacob added. 

“I suppose the fact it was your siblings were the ones missing has nothing to do with it?”

Under her strict gaze, Sean felt like a first year himself. 

“Although, I am much more concerned that a bunch of first years felt like they were capable of taking on a troll by themselves-” 

“Excuse me, Professor McGonagall…” the Gryffindor girl began timidly, “it’s my fault. I thought I could handle it alone because I’ve read about trolls. Harry and Ron came to rescue me.” She glanced at Daniel and Sarah-Lee. “They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I thought I could be all heroic but…” 

Sarah-Lee had another little sob and McGonagall turned to her. In a much kinder voice she suggested Jacob take his clearly distressed sister to the medical ward. 

“Daniel,” Sean said, “are you hurt?”

“No.” 

McGonagall continued to lecture the poor girl about responsibility, taking away ten points for Gryffindor. “As for you two,” she said, addressing Sean and Daniel, “it is clear that the older Mr Diaz was only trying to help protect some overambitious younger students. Ten points to Hufflepuff. Same for Mr Hackerman. As for the younger Mr Diaz, perhaps you would like to explain what you’re doing here?” 

“I was just trying to help Sarah. She got all upset and ran off so I brought her some food. I didn’t know about the troll.” 

“I see no reason to punish being in the wrong place or time. Sean, please escort your brother back to your common room.”

Sean and Daniel headed out. Daniel was being unusually quiet, his eyes downcast. 

“Sean, I-” 

“Come here.” Sean pulled Daniel close to him in a tight hug. “You scared the crap out of me Daniel.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.” He murmured. “I just wanted to help Sarah-Lee and…” 

“He was,” a voice said, “Daniel was really nice.” 

It was the Gryffindor girl from earlier. Her face was a little red and she sniffled a little. 

“Are you okay Hermoine?” 

“Yeah.” Hermoine smiled at Sean. “Thank you for helping us. That protective shield was good thinking.” 

“Thank God you didn’t need it.” He sighed. “You… okay kid?” 

“I was only in the toilet because I was crying,” she said, her voice wavering a little, “and then Sarah and Daniel came in. He brought her some sweets because she missed dinner. I was upset because…” she sniffled, “I don’t really have any friends. So, Daniel gave me some too.” 

Daniel blushed a little. “You said to be nice to Sarah-Lee, so…” 

“When the troll showed up, everything got very out of hand. Harry and Ron were trying to stop it.”

“Not you?” 

She looked a little embarrassed. “Well, I-” 

“Look kid, just be careful. When you first start and you have magic it’s easy to feel invincible. But sometimes, you have to know when to walk away. Or run, in the case of trolls.” 

Hermoine nodded but Sean wasn’t convinced. It was impossible to keep a Gryffindor out of trouble. 

“If you don’t have any friends yet,” Daniel said, “you can sit with us in lessons. Plus, you’re so smart!” 

Sean couldn’t help but feel a swell of pride for his brother’s offers. Daniel was definitely an extrovert, able to make friends with anyone. 

“I’d like that.” Hermoine smiled, a little shy. “I should go back to my common room now. But, I’ll talk to you tomorrow Daniel. Thanks again…” 

“Sean.”

“Thank you Sean.” Hermoine left, looking much more positive than before. 

That left Sean and Daniel alone again. 

“Do you think Professor McGonagal will tell Dad?”

Sean had been in trouble enough times to know. “Yeah.” 

“Ah man.” 

“Dad will understand.” Sean ruffled his hair. “Hey, I got in trouble for the first time way before Halloween my first year.” 

“What happened?” 

“Well, it was all Lyla’s fault really…” 

   “You must have been so freaked out.” 

“I know. What the hell am I supposed to tell my Dad?”

Lyla was half-lying on Sean but he made no effort to move her. It was the only thing stopping him from getting up to check if he was safe in bed. (Sean had done the same when Daniel was a baby. He used to creep in at night to look in on his brother. If Daniel got restless or woke up, Sean would whisper stories through his cot bars until one of them fell asleep.) 

“It was an accident.” 

“That’s even worse. It’s like he’s in danger by just being here.”

Lyla patted his hand. “I don’t think trolls are a constant problem. And you can’t expect him to just go home.” 

“I know.” Sean resisted the urge to turn to the direction of his dorm. “So, what do I do?” 

“Maybe…” 

“Oh, I could walk him to class and…” 

Lyla sighed. “Sean.” 

“I’m going all Dad-mode. I know.”

“Wish I had an answer dude. Just look out for him.” 

“It’s not just Daniel. That Gryffindor kid used ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ and it worked but also it was the only spell they remembered.” 

Lyla rubbed her forehead. “Cause they’re kids. Shit.”

“Yeah, shit.”

They sat in silence for a while, thinking. (Worrying mostly, on Sean’s behalf.) 

“Let’s help them then.”

“Help them what?”

“Protect themselves.” Lyla sat up. “Who better to help them then the best freaking fighters?” 

Sean pulled her into a hug. “This is why you’re my best friend.”

   (They spent free afternoons teaching Daniel defensive spells, sometimes joined by Chris, Sarah-Lee or even the three Gryffindors Daniel had managed to befriend - fighting a troll together helped, he guessed. Hogwarts might not be safe but it was home. And Sean always wanted his brother to feel safe at home. 

And if that meant the best freaking fighters gained a few more fighters… that was okay.) 

[navalcriminalimagines]

Comfort zone - 6

Tag list (if you want to be tag, just let me know!): @madpanda75 @zombz78 @zoeykaytesmom @mommakat32 @hannahlouise98 @imaginecrushes @cold-blooded-girls @sweetsummertime99 @solleblu @somewhatcarisi

Rafael never expected this many people to be at his abuela’s funeral. They all knew her but most of them were not very close to Catalina during her last years. “Hypocrites,” he muttered to himself. However, he certainly expected his ex-fiancée and former best friend to be there, not that he liked that idea. Walking to the Church, Lucia holding her son’s arm while you simply stood on his other side. When he stopped walking, you and his mother did too, “Mijo?” she wondered. He gave her a quick look before turning his attention on you, “Do you mind pretending you’re my fiancée?” he asked. This doesn’t look like the Rafael you first met, even Lucia was confused. “I don’t feel like answering too many questions, explain my life and my choices. Not today, and I know all these people are here to know the latest news,” he sighed, “I wish I could throw all them out, they didn’t care about abuelita when she was still there,” Nervous and sad Rafael is a very talkative Rafael.

“Where’s my diamond, then?” you simply smiled to calm him. He returned your soft smile and was about to give you a good reason to tell if someone asked, but Lucia was faster. She got closer to you and Rafael, making sure no one could see her taking off her ring and putting it on your finger. You let her do but searched for Rafael’s expression.

“Mamí, that’s-” he went to say.

“That was my mother’s, there’s no better engagement ring, right?” she gently smiled at her son.

“Lucia, I don’t-” her look was enough to make you shut up. Still holding your hand, she brought it to Rafael’s. His long and thin fingers intertwined with yours, with his grandmother’s ring in the middle. “Thank you,” he mouthed at you.

Pretending to be Rafael’s fiancée wasn’t that hard but he made it even easier. The few times you were not looking for a physical contact with him, he was with you. And it seemed natural. The least expecting contact was when his lips fell on yours. And the weirdest part was that it wasn’t to prove a point to someone. Well, actually, “What kind of couple about to get married, doesn’t kiss?” he said. That’s the only thing you pretended that day; buy his explanation.

It’s only on the ride back to Manhattan that you checked your phone. You had a few missed calls from work and texts from Sonny.

[From Sonny] : Thinking of you for today. Give Barba my sympathy. Love!

[From Sonny] : I hope everything is okay. When are you coming back to Manhattan?

[From Sonny] : Should I worry to not hear from you? Text me when you read this, pls

[From Sonny] : Thanks to barba for texting Lieu so I know you’re okay. I’m cooking for Amanda and Jesse tonight. See ya at work

“Did you text Liv?” You asked Rafael after taking off and reading Sonny’s texts.

“Yes, SVU can’t do anything without me,”

“I heard Cabot and Novak were very great ADA before you,” you teased to let go all of the troubles of the day. It felt good to hear him chuckle.

“Yeah-yeah” he gestured his hand, “But I have something they don’t,”

“Oh? What?” You asked. But Rafael didn’t think it through before speaking so he searched for a reasonable thing to say but he couldn’t find one.

“A— penis?”

That was the least expecting thing you thought he would say. But he did and you laughed.

“Damn, you do have a penis? I honestly couldn’t tell,”

Rafael wanted to keep going on that game but a part of what he wanted to answer was true. You couldn’t find what about it. He didn’t want a joke and his sass to betray him. Which is a big part of why he acts differently with you, especially those past weeks. He thought being natural and casual with you couldn’t let you realize he was in love with you.

“No answer?” you added after a silence, “I’m very disappointed in you, Rafael Esteban.” The look of his face was too priceless, you regretted not to record it so you could look at it over and over. Your laugh field the car, while Rafael’s mouth was still forming a perfect “o”. Esteban is a nice middle name but Rafael hates it and he worked hard to hide it, in his professional life so nobody would find out. And his own mother betrayed him.

“Yup, tu mamí,” you spoke again. “She told me you hate it but come on Rafi, it’s a nice name. Very Cuban,”

Coming out of your perfect lips, he actually loved hearing his middle name. Just like he loves when you say Spanish word and calls him Rafi. His mind went on thinking about what it would sound like to hear you say Papí. To him. In bed. While he fucks your senseless.

“Did you swallow your tongue?” You asked.

He turned his face to you and smiled. You exchanged looks between him and the road, trying to figure out what he was thinking about. “What?! Come on, talk! That’s creepy,” you exclaimed.

“Do you realize how amazing you are, Y/N?” The surprise of his words made you lose control of the car for a second, you freaked out briefly but Rafael didn’t react, still staring at your profile.

“How many scotches did you drink, Rafi?”

“Not so many to be drunk or even dizzy but enough to tell you this. There are so many things I wished I would have said to abuelita. And before that, to my father. And I don’t want to do the same thing with my mum or- you,”

“Why me?”

“Because I care about you. More than you think, Y/N,” he paused, “but hey, I get it, you’re in love with Carisi and I don’t want to be a problem for you. I want you to be happy even if it’s with him- or Jeff or someone else. I just want you to know that you make my life better and you make me better,”

You definitely lost control of your car this time. You stared at Rafael for too long, and before you knew it, you hit the car in front of yours. Thankfully, you were not going too fast and the shock wasn’t too hard. You felt dizzy but it’s either because of the accident or Rafael’s declaration. Nobody was hurt, but the other driver was very angry. He yelled at you for breaking his car and then he yelled at Rafael for letting you drive. “A woman shouldn’t drive,” apparently. This made Rafael sarcastically laughing but not you, he saw your jaw clenching and your fists turning white. “My bad, she’s so beautiful I can’t get my hands off her. You know what it is— or maybe you don’t. I mean, I don’t see how a woman could be interested in you,”

The man was about to punch Rafael but you stood in the way and locked his arms before he was able to touch a hair of Rafa. You pressed him against his car, holding his arm in his back to hurt him. “Wanna have a stop in jail for assault on an Assistant District Attorney?”

“What?” the man realized he could be in trouble, “O-okay, let’s forget about the accident, huh? Nothing happened,” he said, scared.

You heard Rafael laughing and you let the idiot go, “Have a nice evening,” your friend said. You checked your car quickly, there are some repairs to do but you could still make it to Manhattan.

“When I said I didn’t want to be a problem for you, I wasn’t asking for you to kill me,” he joked but like you already told him before, love isn’t a game to you.

“Sorry- but I wasn’t expecting to hear you say something like this,”

He thought before talking, “You can pretend I didn’t say a thing. I don’t mind, hermosa,”

“How could I?”

*

Rafael offered you to stay over for the night but you gently refused. You needed to be alone right now, to think about everything that is going on and for the past two months. Breaking up with Jeff and not hearing for him at all, Sonny and now Rafael. And between all of this, your mother reappeared and you learnt you had a sister. How could your life become this?

In front of your door apartment, your mother was waiting for you. You didn’t bother to greet her, you didn’t smile. “Not happy to see me,” she said.

“Why would I be?” You stopped next to her and didn’t open your door. You didn’t want to invite her in.

“I guess apologies won’t be enough?”

“No chance in hell,”

“Listen, I know you hate me and I understand but you have to help your sister. She is depressed, broken and I don’t know what to do,”

“Sorry to hear that but I’m a cop, not a therapist. All I can do is to find who did this to her,”

“And do you plan on doing that by taking a day off?”

“Excuse me?” you interjected.

“Your coworkers came to see us! I asked about you and they told me you were not working today,”

You wanted to answer, gave her a lot of explanations, to tell her everything you had on your chest but you were too tired to do it. You didn’t have the courage to go there.

“Listen, my coworkers will do everything they can to help Lacey, I can assure that. Now, I’m pretty tired and I would like to be alone,” you confessed, hoping she would leave.

“So, nobody is waiting for you in there? Not even Jeff?”

“Goodbye mother,”

You got into your apartment and left your mother behind. With a bottle of wine, Friends on tv, some ice cream, you curled under your blanket and tried to forget about everything. What is happening with Rafael? Why are you uncontrollably attracted to him? You can’t help, when he is around, you feel something you can’t explain. But Sonny? What is it with him? Are you really in love with him? What is love actually? You loved Jeff, obviously, but it was casual. You’ve always known him, he always been there, especially when your father got sick and then died. What would you have done without him? What is love or just fear to be alone again? Maybe you just stayed with him to be with someone, cause no one else was there?

A terrible headache forced you to lay down in the dark and you fell asleep eventually. When the alarm rang, you shut it off, telling yourself just five more minutes. But it turned into a few hours, until someone knocked at your door. Liv was standing there and let herself in when you opened. “Liv, What- what time is it?” you asked, confused.

“11. Everyone worried about you, are you okay?” She wondered, concerned about your mental health. .

“Yeah, it’s just- I was too tired I’m sorry. I’m gonna take a shower and come to work,”

“Y/N, are you sure you don’t need a few days off? I can see you’re going through a lot, maybe you need to leave the city?”

You sat on a chair and invited your boss to join you. You sighed before answering, “To go where? With who? My work is the only sure thing I have right now, I don’t-“

“This job is already hard enough, and I can’t let my detectives come to work depressed and anxious,”

“I’m not-“ you started to interjected but Liv raised her hand.

“I read your file, Y/N. I know your struggles in the past, are you taking medication again?”

“No, absolutely not! And I don’t want to!”

“I want you to have medical exam,”

“What? Don’t you trust me when I say I’m not taking anything?” You stood up, angry at your boss, your hands started to shake.

“It’s not about the pills but your mental health. If the shrink clear you, then you come back. If not- well, we’ll see.” You were out of words. Just tears came out. “You’re a good detective, Y/N. But you should ask yourself if you’re mentally strong enough for it.”

And she just left.

[cartoonfangirl1218]

Home for the Holidays

“So what do you say?" Tomiko asked jumping up and down in her carriage seat as they headed toward the docks that would take her back to Satu in time for the holidays and for Isabel to remain in Avalor for the Navidad festivities. “I don’t know.” Isabel hedged, glancing out the window at all the colorful decorations and candles lighting the streets. 

"Oh come on," Tomiko said waving her hand  excitedly "You should totally go to the Avaloran Navidad dance." 

“I told you, I’m excited to go back home for the holidays. But I’m not in the mood for any dances really.”

Tomiko stopped her excited squealing to approach Isabel on her bed, “Are you still bummed about Hiroto?”

Isabel grimaced at the memory of her ex boyfriend but managed to smile assuredly at Tomiko, “No. It’s been two months, I’m over it.”

It wasn’t like she was lying. She really was over Hiroto. After the mourning and heartbreak, she was able to see now that they weren’t good for each other. She had admired him for his intellectualism but they also had a constant competition over who was more smart. 

Their dates were more like debates. The romance they shared had fizzled out and honestly, Isabel was happier now that she wasn’t constantly researching and writing new articles for scientific journals to prove to Hiroto that her ideas had merit.

She was fine without him. It’s just that...she did have someone to go to the Navidad dance with. 

Not that she thought she needed a man to be complete but ever since she returned home from the University of Satu, she had felt out of place. Though she had stayed in touch with her friends like Quique, Amara and Cristina and knew what was happening in Avalor, it wasn’t the same. She didn’t know about day to day happenings, new people that arrived, people that had gone. It was like she was a stranger in her home. 

Likewise, most people she interacted with hadn’t gone overbroad for college so they didn’t understand the fun she had in daily life in Satu, they didn’t get her references or the people she spoke of. And when it came to explaining her studies, blank stares all around.

At least if she had Hiroto, they could compare their worries over tests and talk about what their mutual friends were probably doing.

Though she was obligated to go to the Avaloran Navidad Ball tonight, she was simply going to make an appearance and then go back to her room and try not to stress about how uncomfortable she felt in her own home. Tomiko was urging her to stay the whole time but she didn’t want to subject herself to it.

The carriage stopped and both girls got out, hugging each other tightly. The subject of the Navidad Ball completely forgotten as they exchanged goodbyes and well wishes for each other’s families and seeing each other soon in the coming semester.

The ride back to the palace was uneventful as Isabel fell asleep, still stuck in Satu time. It was all she could to wake and then drag herself through the palace and sleep off her confused body clock.

It felt like only a matter of minutes when a harsh, urgent knocking interrupted her sleep. “Huh? What? Come in.” Isabel called, rubbing her eyes and straightening herself out.

Gabe poked his head in with a smile, “Hello Princess Isabel. Elena sent me to wake you up, you have an hour to get ready for the ball and you slept through Elena’s, Luisa’s and Esteban’s attempts to wake you up.”

“Whoops.” Isabel said with a sheepish grin, “The time differences really throw me for a loop. I’ll be ready.” 

As she got up from her bed to search her closet, she muttered, “Let’s get this over with.”

She heard Gabe’s curious voice, “Are you not excited for the ball?” Isabel startled realizing that Gabe was still in the room and that he had heard her cranky comment. Though it made sense, he was a trained guard he had honed his reflexes to hear the slightest sound in case of ambush.

She looked at his face it wasn’t judging just curious and Isabel had to rub her eyes again. Though she had seen Gabe a few times since she returned, she still couldn’t believe how much more mature he looked, and if it was even possible...more handsome.

His face didn’t have the same young boyishness as a five o’clock shadow that only served to highlight his cheekbones and other facial muscles. His actual muscles were only accentuated with each taunt biceps straining against his tight, festive green red uniform. But what really served to show his maturity was the steady look of poise and capable that he exuded. Now here was a man who knew what he was doing.

Isabel had to admit when she was younger she had a silly childish crush on him, he had always been the nicest to her and willing to indulge in listening to her ramblings about her inventions. She was over it, but as her eyes couldn’t help but linger at the sight of her muscles she thought maybe her crush quite wasn’t over. At least she still had a healthy admiration for his kind nature and physique. In a purely platonic sense of course.

“Oh it’s just..” Isabel struggled to brush off her comment. Say she had a headache or something, but as she looked at him, she remembered how patient and encouraging he was to her when she was freaking about her college application to Satu, and how he encouraged Elena to accept her on their team when Ash was on the loose. He was always there for her to lend an ear and make her feel better. 

“I don’t want to go because I feel like a fish out of water. Here, in my own home! There are events and things that have happened here that I don’t know about, inside jokes, and birthdays I have missed. I feel like a stranger and being around people just makes the feeling worse. Though I love going to Satu and going to college there, I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world, I just..I don’t like feeling this way.” Isabel confessed.

A weight lifted off her chest for a second and Isabel inwardly mused that saying all this outloud did make her feel a tiny bit better especially with Gabe listening so intently. He truly cared about what she was saying.

“That sucks you feel that way.” Gabe simply said and Isabel felt even more relief. While Elena was good at pep talks, Elena knew her sister would say that things would get better, it didn’t matter that she was here in day to day life but it is the big moments that counted and she would always be part of Avalor. But this was better, Gabe confirming how she felt sucked was good. It was nice just to hear someone else got why she was upset instead of immediately fixing it.  

“You know, you don’t have to stay at the ball if you don’t want to, but think about it this way. You can be part of the party instead of missing the action. Make your own inside jokes with your friends, enjoy the festivities. Isn’t that what Navidad is sort of about. Feeling part of the whole community, not feeling like a fish out of water.”

Isabel nodded, understanding what he was saying. A part of her kind of liked the idea of making new inside jokes besides she had been longing for Navidad tamales all December when she was in school, she had been counting down the days till she returned so she could gather with her family by the tree to open presents. Yes, she wasn’t going to let some bouts of discomfort stop her from enjoying that again.

“Thanks Gabe.” Isabel smiled.

“No problems.” Gabe lightly squeezed her knee, “And if you ever feel out of place, come to me and we can talk about old times lke nothing ever changed. Hey, like, remember the time I turned into a block.”

Isabel giggled at the memory as Gabe walked to the door. “I’lll definately do that.”

“Also save me the first dance.” Gabe winked leaving Isabel very excited and right at home in Avalor once more. 

[father-lost]

Father Lost; Chapter 2

Chapter 2 Everything was a mess. He was sitting freely now, nothing attached to him but the I.V. that gave him fluids. He had a mess of papers sprawled across the bed; newspapers, printed articles, and a tablet open to the internet, browsing through Sean’s Facebook to see if he couldn’t make heads or tails of where the boys have gone off to. It wasn’t until he saw a post about the police finding them in Beaver Creek that he began to put the pieces together. So the boys fled the police, walked until they ended up at a little truckstop, the police were called because of theft. When the police arrived, the place was ransacked, the owner saying that he was attacked and robbed. Things went dark after that for about two months before they were spotted in Beaver Creek, police ending up at Claire’s and Stephen’s. They must not have stayed long before being chased out again. Then the news goes dark until there’s an update in the papers that Sean was hospitalized in Sacred Hope Hospital, Daniel missing. He was being contained until he was healthy enough to go on trial. He chewed the skin rough on the side of his thumbnail, the phone to his ear as he listened to it ring. Sean was in the hospital, that meant he was hurt, and Daniel was missing. “Hi Curtis, this is Esteban Diaz, we went to school together back in Seattle.” He spoke once the phone kicked to life, handing him over to the hands of an answering machine. “I’m really sorry to be calling randomly out of the blue, but I have no idea what to do. I need an attorney, and I need a good one, please. I’m currently in the hospital, please call me on my cellphone, 541-323-7738. Please.” He hung up the phone, stomach killing him. On the tablet, he dove further into the news that his oldest was in the hospital, uncovering he wasn’t the only one. A boy named Finn McNamara was also admitted after attempted robbery of a man named Merrill's estate. The man owned a pot farm that the two were working at. He put the tablet down, hands brushing over his face as he tried to imagine it. He wasn’t mad at his boy, he found work that keep him off the radar and he was taking care of Daniel. He wasn’t sure if he had Daniel working the fields or not, -and if so he hoped Sean had enough sense to keep his little brother away from people who would influence him negatively. He would rather Daniel stay away from the stuff all together, but Sean couldn’t do it all on his own. He sat back, knees pulled up, keeping the hospital gown over them. It’s been nearly three days since he woke up, and he was feeling fine enough to leave, but the hospital seemed hell bent on keeping him. If they were going to detain him, then they better do it. Suddenly his phone started ringing. He jumped, had lashing out at the mobile phone. He didn’t look at the number, praying to god the message he sent to Sean earlier made it through finally and this was his baby boy calling him, begging for him to come get him like he used to do in elementary school when he missed them. “Hijo?” He asked, heart pounding in his throat. “Hi daddy.” An adult voice answered back in a chuckle. Esteban let off a labored sigh, crossing his legs. He rested his head in his hand, hands shaking like he was face to face with a gun again. “Curtis,” he breathed, wanting to let the man know he was still there, just trying like hell to cope with the disappointment that his fantasy hadn’t come true. “Hey, I got your message, obviously. What’s up?” He asked. The man on the other end of the phone was a lot more casual than a lawyer normally would be, and if it wasn’t for the past of the two, that would be different. “October 29th, my son Daniel was outside playing, he accidentally got fake blood on the neighbor kid. White boy, real fresa, his father is no better. The kid started some shit, my oldest ended up in a fight, of course the cops got involved.” He explained wanting to go over as much as he could. “Uh oh.” The voice grunted on the other side. “So we looking at hate crime? I can win that no problem.” He added, a light boasting tone to his voice. “No, hijo pushed the kid, knocked the wind out of him, cop pulls a gun on them. I went out to break it up, got shot. I just woke up four days ago.” He explained. “Oh shit,” the man sounded concerned but didn’t push to make any guesses. “What happened to your boys?” “Sean ran. Comes to find out, the boy lived but the cop died. They went to their Grandparents in Beaver Creek but were apprehended and fled again. Last seen, they were working a pot farm in California where they were assaulted, Sean ended up in Sacred Hope Hospital guarded until he gets better then he’s going to juvie, Daniel is missing.” He finished. He was back to chewing the now raw skin on the inside of his thumb, thumbnail short and rigid. He waited for any sort of response, any at all until the man whistled almost sounding defeated. “Well shit, Esteban.” He grunted. ���A cop died,” the father groaned, falling back against the pillows. “They fled the law making them look guilty. They were working a pot farm.” “They did nothing wrong!” He boomed. “Of course the hispanic boy is the bad guy! That’s what’s wrong with this fucking country since the fraggle took office!” He defended. “Ssh, sh,” the man laughed. “Sh, honey, baby cakes, I got you.” He teased, trying to calm him down. “I’ve already got a couple ideas. Step one, we find your sons, step two, we stop anything from progressing in court. Step three, find out a way you can repay me because we are definitely going to have to pull out a lot of stops with this one.” Esteban sighed, eyes closed, smile coming to his lips as the relief flooded him. “Got any idea where they might be headed?” “Mexico, I think.” Esteban didn’t open his eyes, feeling a little bit of comfort for the first time in 4 days. “What is with people trying to flee to Mexico?” The man on the other side muttered. “Because I used to live there.” Esteban shot back, reminding him that he wasn’t a born American citizen. “I forgot my princess was a terrible, awful, scary, Mexican thug.” The man on the other side of the phone, Esteban rolling his eyes but he couldn’t help the smile at his lips. Curtis always played jokes like that, calling him princess, or honey or baby cakes. It was just...sort of natural for them. “I own land, it used to belong to my Grandmother.” He replied. “They probably think that that’s going to be the easiest way out.” “He wouldn’t be wrong, if he can get across the border without dying.” The other man was serious now. “Have you tried contacting him? Or his grandparents?” “No,” he admitted. “Well, no to contacting Claire and Stephen, yes to Sean, but he must have ditched the phone, my message bounced back as unavailable.” He hated this, he hated the whole thing. “Ok, where is the best place for you to meet me?” The sound of rustling paper could be heard on the other phone, the faint clicking of a pen preparing to write. “At this hospital.” Esteban replied, looking at the only information he had about the whereabouts of his kids. “Geez baby, you aren’t even gonna meet me halfway?” Curtis scoffed playfully. He hadn’t been called this many pet names since he was with Karen, and it felt odd, but kind of nice? “They won’t let me check out even though I’m fit enough to leave. I think it’s a tactic; keep me here so I won’t interfere with the trial. Bet the racist bastards wished I’d have stayed dead.” He gathered up the papers, putting them in a pile. “Gotcha, I’ll come and break you loose. Send me the address and I’ll leave right away; should be there in a few hours.” The sound of shuffling and setting things away could be heard, and finally that feeling of relief began to outweigh the feeling of worry. “Will do, Curtis. Thank you.” He smiled, voice dropping to something warm and sweet. “Anything for you, babe.” With that, he was gone. The man punched in the address of the hospital, sending it to number who called him, and one to the email incase the number was a landline. Taking a breath, he laid back down against, eyes closed. He could take a small nap while he waited, he was almost positive he’d be there in the morning. Esteban wasn’t a holy man, but as he let the silence of the room fall over him, he prayed; prayed his boys would be found amd praysd they could overcome this nightmare. His boys deserved better, and was willing to devote his entire life to making sure nothing bad ever happened again.

[lovewriting-5]

Rules:

*gif credit goes to @creating-tabs*

5. Sanctuary

7. Bending Laws

6. The Gingerbread House:

It was a week later at the Reynolds’ house. I woke up to the sun filtering in from the windows. I faintly heard footsteps moving around upstairs. I sat up and stretched. I stood up and folded the blankets. Claire came downstairs and made her way to the kitchen. I said “Morning, Claire.” She said “Morning, (Y/N).” She looked dressed and ready for the day. I grabbed my change of clothes laying at the end of the couch and head into the bathroom. I come back out ready for the day. I walked back to the couch and put the blankets away.

A few minutes later, Stephen came down the stairs ready for the day as well. He said “Morning, (Y/N).” I said “Morning, Stephen.” Claire had started a pot of coffee. They both grabbed themselves a cup and sat at the kitchen island. I got myself a glass of water.

The guest bedroom door opened and then closed a second later. We heard tiny footsteps rushing down the stairs. Stephen says “Daniel, must be awake.” Sure enough there he was. Daniel says “Morning.” Claire says “Morning, sweetie.” I say “Morning, Daniel.” Stephen says “Morning.” Excitedly, he asks “Grandpa, can we play with the train set upstairs again?” Stephen says “Of course.”

Ten minutes later, the both of them were off upstairs. A few minutes later, the train has left the station. Claire must have noticed the shark tooth necklace around my neck earlier but she didn’t know when the best time was to ask about it. We were sitting at the kitchen island having a conversation, she asks “I noticed the shark tooth necklace around your neck. Where’d you get it?”

I didn’t know how to answer. Sean and I have talked about how much we want to reveal to them. I tell her “Sean...gave it to me.” She says “That’s nice.” She didn’t press on more. A couple minutes later, she says “Guess I better get breakfast started.” I ask “Would you like some help?” She said “That would be lovely, thanks.” She decided to make scrambled eggs and waffles. I got the ingredients out for her as she instructed me on what to add when.

From above we hear Daniel, “Choo choo!” Stephen says “Careful chief! You’re going too fast!” He says “We have to! We’re late on schedule!” Sean must have just woken up because we hear the guest room door opening a second time. I hear Daniel say “Sean! Finally!” Claire shouts up to him, “Sean, are you awake? Breakfast’s almost done, so come down when you’re ready, okay?” He shouts back, “Okay!”

The sound of the train set was still going. Claire sat back down at the island. Breakfast was just finishing up when footsteps can be heard coming down the stairs. I turn and see him enter the kitchen. Claire says “Oh my, look who’s awake! Good morning, sleepyhead...” I say “Morning.” He sleepily, says “Morning. It’s that bed...feels like a cloud.” She tells him “I know!”

Sean sits down next to me at the island. Plates and silverware were sitting in the middle. I pass one to him and he sets it down next to him. He sets one in front of him. I set one in front of me. Claire calls upstairs, “Daniel, breakfast time! Your brother and (Y/N) are ready!” Daniel yells down, “Grandpa is showing me a boxcar!” She yells “Stephen, your grandson needs to eat now! You can show him the boxcar later!” She turns back to us and says “I love how they’re getting along...” I nod in agreement.

Sean asks “What’s on the menu this morning?” Claire says “Well, someone told me the buttermilk waffles are back.” He says “Mmmm-hmmm! Awesome!” I say “They smell delicious!”

Daniel comes into the kitchen and takes a seat next to Sean. Claire asks “Are you boys done playing?” He tells her “We had an express delivery with the passengers, but...the engine broke down!” Stephen comes in with the engine in hand, “Yep. Has to go straight to the workshop!” She reminds him “Good...No trains in the kitchen remember?” He says “Gotcha, chief.” Daniel says “Choo choo!”

Claire went to open a drawer when the handle came off. She says “Oh, sugar! He can fix trains but...not my kitchen...” She picks up the frying pan and walks back over to us. We hold our plates up as she scrapes scrambled eggs and waffles onto them. Sean pours himself and Daniel some orange juice. I stand up and get more water. I sit back down and begin eating.

In what seemed like a long time, these tasted like the best scrambled eggs and waffles I’ve ever tasted. Claire asks “Did I make enough? Everything’s okay?” I tell her “It tastes delicious!” Sean says “It’s great as usual!” Daniel says “You’re the best cook ever!”

Claire says “Looks like you’re getting cozy with this new country life, after all!” I say “Yeah...It’s nice to be far away from everything...feels like we’re the only ones out here...” She says “Well, that’s exactly why we love it. It feels safe, unlike the big city...” Sean says “I get it.” Daniel says “I like it. It’s cool here!” She says “Well, bless your soul. You’d get along good with our neighbors. We try to lend a hand...like to Charles next door...He lost his wife and...things have been hard on him and his son...He would just get lost in Seattle. But we’re all taking care of him here...”

Daniel says “How old is his son?” Claire tells him “I think he’s your age!” He says “Ooh, cool!” After we finish eating, he quickly glances at Claire and then lifts his hand a few inches off the counter. The plates and utensils start stacking together into the middle. Sean and I don’t say anything and he gently sets them down.

Claire walks back over to the island to see how we’re doing. While laughing, she says “And I thought Stephen was a fast eater!” She takes the plates and utensils. Daniel begins “Hey, grandma? I wanted to ask you something...about that locked room upstairs...”

Sean and I look at him. Claire says “I told you there is nothing to see in it, Daniel...” He asks “Why were you in it this morning, then?” She continues “Because there’s a lot of old junk in there, and...Besides, it’s not safe for you to explore, okay?” He says “But we’ll be fine —“ Claire turns away silent.

Claire puts the dishes into the sink. She says “Why don’t you go explore outside? You sure look like you’re getting better. Get some fresh air!” Daniel says “I’ll wait for Sean and (Y/N)! And then we’ll go! We won’t be loud! Promise!” She says “But be careful nobody sees you. Stay in the back, okay?”

Sean waits for Daniel to leave before he says “Maybe you should tell him that it was Karen’s room...” Claire says “It’s just a room now, Sean...Nothing to see...” He tells her “Daniel needs that...He doesn’t know anything about her...” A little sincere, she says “I know, poor thing...but his mother isn’t in there anymore...So nobody goes in the room, okay? I’m serious...”

He asks “Did mom ever contact you? She only talked to dad a few times...then she was gone...” Claire sighs “Yes, she was...You know, Sean, I don’t really want to talk about this anymore. It’s over...Anyway...You have to respect my rules under my roof, okay?” He says “Of course...Always.” I say “Okay.” Claire says “I appreciate that...Now, you both better go find Daniel...”

She starts walking out of the kitchen when she adds, “There’s a shed with some old toys outside...I’ll...bet Stephen has the key.” Sean says “Daniel will freak...” I tell her “Thank you...”

We place our glasses in the sink as Claire sits in her recliner. We start walking around the house. Sean checks on Daniel who is working on homework. I peak out the window near the back door. Then I go over to the aquarium to try and find the fish. Sean comes back into the living room. Claire says “Sorry for getting upset, I...I just don’t feel comfortable talking about all this.” He tells her “It’s...It’s fine, really. We don’t have to.”

The three of us all of a sudden hear a faint pop. I jumped a tiny bit. Claire says “What? He’s letting him play with firecrackers again? Aw, for Christ sakes...”

Sean begins “Hey, Claire...” Claire asks “What’s on your mind, Sean?” He asks “Do you know anything about...dad’s funeral?” She says “There was a service...we couldn’t make it in time, but we sent flowers. I’m sorry, Sean...” He says “It’s okay...I just wanted to make sure...somebody took care of him...” Claire says, sincere “Hopefully...you can go visit him at some point...” He says “At some point...yeah.”

I look up from the aquarium, ask “I hope this isn’t out of line but if you don’t mind me asking, what did you think of him?” Sean says “You can tell me. I won’t get mad.” Claire begins “Well, your father was...He was his own person.” He says “That’s it? I mean...I know you guys didn’t really get along...” She continues “It’s just...Esteban was very different from us. And he never took a single step to change any of that.” I saw that that struck a little nerve with him. He took a few seconds before saying anything. He says “Sounds like dad. He wasn’t one to smooth things over.” Claire says “Trust me, I know the type. But he did raise you boys on his own. Can’t argue with that.” He says “Yeah...He worked his ass off for us...Wish I’d realized that sooner.” She says “Don’t worry, Sean.”

I ask “What’s the story with your neighbor?” Claire explains “Charles? Poor man used to be a basketball coach, but had to move out here after his wife’s passing...He’s got a job at the rail yard now, and...Well, he’s still recovering.” Sean says “Wow...I mean, that’s sad.” She says “We try to give him a hand...Keep an eye on his...drinking problem. His son, Chris, is a little angel, though. I think Daniel would be a good infuence on him...He’s got great role models, after all...” He says “Thanks...” I add “We’re trying our best.” Sean says “Wel...Thanks, Claire.” She says “You are very welcome...It’s always a pleasure.”

Daniel comes into the living room. Sean says to him, “Man. Can you imagine watching a slasher movie out here? Deep in the woods...No one around...” I say “Yeah, that would be really cool.” Daniel says “No way! Too scary...” Still examining the aquarium, I ask “Have you ever seen any actual fish in here?” They say “Never...” Daniel goes over to Claire and asks “Hey, grandma, where are the fish?” She says “Well, there’s only one, and he’s terribly shy...”

Sean sits in a side corner by the TV and pulls out his sketchbook. Daniel and I sit on the couch. He says “Hey! We wanna be in your drawing!” Claire says “Awww, don’t draw me like this, Sean. I’m a mess!” He says “Don’t worry, I’m drawing the whole room.” He begins sketching. She adds “Good. It’s so nice to see you practice, you’re so passionate!”

After he finishes sketching, he says “I’m gonna go see Stephen in his study and get the key.” Daniel says “Cool.” He leaves the room to head to the study. I go and look at the ship in the bottle. I ask “What happened to the ship?” Claire says “Oh, that thing? Stephen made it years ago, but it fell and he doesn’t know how to fix it...” I say “That’s sad...Looks pretty cool, anyway...” She says “Yeah, well...It’s life!” Daniel and I sat back on the couch. We just chit chatted.

Before Sean left the study, Daniel decided to go and hide. He didn’t tell me where he was going. Claire is about to walk out the door when she runs into Sean. I hear her say “Oh, there you are, Sean! Got the key? Hey, I have to go out and run some errands...Can you do me a big favor? Do you know how to work a washing machine?” He tells her “Since I was about 8...” She says “Of course...Can you throw in the clothes from the basket after the next load? They’re in the bathroom.” He says “Totally, yeah...No problem.” She says “Thank you so much...Feel free to start tidying up too, it’s good for the health to keep a house clean.” Sean tells her “Definitely. They can help too.” She says “Oh, and remember, for your own safety, no phone and no internet. I know, I know, boring rules...” He says “Don’t worry, Claire.” The front door opens and then closes.

Sean comes back into the living room. He mentions that he got the key and a little bit of what him and Stephen talked about. He noticed Daniel was gone. He asks “Where’s Daniel?” I tell him “Hiding.” He asks “Want to help me find him?” I say “Of course.”

Sean held a finger up and calls out, “Hey, Daniel! There’s work for you!” From somewhere in the house, he yells back “Uh, no! I’m busy!” I shake my head, smiling. Sean yells back “Busy my ass! Come over here!” He yells while laughing, “You gotta find me first!” Sean says “Jeez...” We check all over the first floor but no luck. Then we head upstairs. We check their bedroom but nothing. Sean points in the direction of the bathroom and says “Shhhh...”

We came up with a quick plan. We noticed the shower curtain closed and the door wide open. I go to the shower curtain and Sean stays kind of hidden in front of the bathroom door. I say “I know you’re in there...” I pull back the curtain but no luck. Daniel comes from behind the door, “BEHIND YOU!” That’s when Sean grabs his arm and says “GOTCHA!” We both laugh. Daniel says “Okay, okay...”

Sean says “No more hiding, seriously!” Daniel says “Okay, okay. What do I have to do?” I tell him “You tidy the mess in your room and we’ll take care of the rest. Cool?” He says “Yeah, sure...it sucks...” He walks out the bathroom and toward their room. Sean says “We know...Thanks.” I help him carry the laundry. I say “All right. Let’s get it over with.” We take the laundry downstairs and put them in the washer. We look at the controls, Sean says “How many programs doses this thing have? Okay. It will do.”

We walk out and go back into the living room. We see Daniel quickly hang up the phone. Sean says, furiously “What the hell are you doing?” Daniel says “What? I just picked up the phone!” He says “You know what, dude? We are not supposed to be here. Who was it?” Daniel says “I don’t know! Some kid! It was just a prank...” I tell him “We know, just...be careful, okay?” Daniel says “Don’t worry!”

We walk to the back door, I say “You guys ready? We can go out, now.” They say “Yes!” We put our winter gear on. I open the back door and we step outside into the snow.

The snow looked beautiful with the sun shimmering off it. There was a slight breeze. We could hear water splashing around from next door. Daniel says “Aawwww! Man, finally! Feels so good to be outside. Reminds me of the cabin. Aowwwwww!” Sean and I join in, “Owwoooooo!” He says “Watch out for the pack!” We walk around the yard and check things out for a few minutes. We head over to the shed. Sean takes the key out of his pocket and tries to unlock the main door. He says “Get ready for storage wars?” I ask “What’s wrong?” He says “Frozen shut! Of course...”

We all of a sudden hear something running through the snow. Daniel says as he points to the house next door, “Look!” We watch as a kid climbs up the steps of his treehouse. One of them breaks and the kid starts to fall. I gasp and place my hands over my mouth. Daniel extends his hand and stops the kid from hitting the ground. I see out of the corner of my eye that Sean pushes Daniel’s arm down as the kid is gently lowered to the ground.

The kid examines his hands. We walk closer to the fence with Daniel fast walking in front. We wave to him. The kid waves back. He asks “Hmmm...uh...Did you see that?” I say “Yeah...We did...It looks like you’re okay, though...” Daniel says “You were almost floating!” The kid says “I-I was...I was! I could feel myself in the air...It-It was awesome...”

The kid had on some sort of costume. Daniel says “That’s an awesome costume...Who’s your favorite superhero? I love...” At the same time, they say “Power Bear!” The kid says “Oh man, I have the Mega Power Bear! You should check it out!” He says “Dude, that’s so cool!”

A man comes running up to the kid, kneels down and places his hands on his shoulders. The man says “Chris, oh god...Look, I am so sorry, are you okay?” They hug. Chris says “Dad, I’m fine! I promise!” Sean and I look at each other concerned. The man says “Are you sure? Listen, I shouldn’t have...”

The man looks over through the fence and notices us standing there. He stands up and puts an arm around his son. He asks “Do you know them?” Chris says “It’s-It’s okay, dad, they’re cool! He loves superheroes! Even Power Bear!” The man says “Ah...gotcha...Hey, there...Are you staying with the Reynolds?” Sean says “Oh...Uh...Yeah. They’re our grandparents.”

The man says “I see...Oh jeez, Chris...you don’t have any damn shoes on. I’m sorry, buddy, let’s get you inside...” Chris says a little defeated, “I, uh...Yeah, okay dad...” The man says “Thanks, guys...Oh, and...uh...if Claire asks, tell her everything is fine...” Sean and I say “Sure...” He adds “No problem.” The man says “Cool. See you around, then.”

Chris gets onto his dad’s back. He says “Thanks, guys...See you later...” Daniel tells him “Yes we will!” We wave to them as they walk back towards their house.

Sean frustratedly, says “Daniel! Did you forget everything about the rules already?” I say “Sean, it’s fine.” Daniel says “Sorry...Did you want me to let him fall? Really?” I calmly tell him, “No, you...You did the right thing. But listen...We can’t let anybody know...We have to keep a low profile out here...” Daniel stuck his tongue out at Sean. He says “He’s like my age...I bet you would have done the same exact thing...Don’t be mad...” Sean tells him “I’m not mad, dude. It’s...It’s over.”

Sean reminds him “Daniel! Remember that we’re hiding out...So no training and no showing off your power...” I tell him “From now on, you stick with us all the time...Okay?” We playfully push each other and walk back towards the shed laughing.