#no they made me go to the lab and then wait until the results came back

[shinysteph]

Cannot sleep because kidneys hurt so bad!!!

[millenianthemums]

Chapter 6 of Mabel’s Guide to the Power of Friendship is up!!

Writing this one took me a while, and then the art also took a while… everything took a while. i always enjoy writing this once i get to it, though! hope you enjoy this one too.

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INDEX

chapter text under cut:

It was hard for Mabel to really relax, knowing that Bill was lurking just below the floorboards. But by the time the sun was low and her family was gathered around the dinner table, she’d mostly put it out of her mind. It was hard to be miserable with them around.

“You think Soos will bring more empanadas when he’s here tomorrow?” Dipper asked, picking at the strangely opalescent casserole on his plate.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were insinuating something about my cooking,” Ford said wryly.

“Whaaat? No! No, don’t be– that’s ridiculous,” Dipper said. “This is great! I mean, it’s a million times better than last time, this one didn’t even come to life and attack us–”

“Don’t jinx it,” Stan said.

“Hey, c’mon, guys,” Mabel piped up. “It’s the thought that counts, right? It’s really sweet that he tried. Besides, even Grunkle Ford can’t be perfect at everything.”

Ford chuckled. “Thank you, Mabel. As far as backhanded compliments go, that’s quite nice.”

“It’s true!” she said. “So what if you’re not a chef? You invent, like, six magical contraptions a week!”

“That’s a wild exaggeration,” Ford said with a grin. “It’s been at least a month since the last one. Although Fiddleford and I have made some real progress on our current project…”

“New project?” Dipper perked up. “What is it?”

“Oh, I don’t know if the details will interest you that much–”

“Shaaare!” Mabel demanded. Dipper immediately joined in, both of them pumping their fists and shouting “Share! Share! Share!” until Ford laughed and gave in. They all knew he didn’t really need that much encouragement, but it was fun anyway.

“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you.” Ford waved his hands to set the scene, the way he always did when he started talking about science stuff. “So, we all know that unicorn tears have remarkable healing properties, right? But we also know that unicorns aren’t generous creatures, and trying to obtain some tears by force often creates more injuries than they could ever heal.”

Stan snorted. “And how many tries did it take for that lesson to set in?”

“Not the topic, Stanley. Anyway, our goal was to synthetically recreate the healing properties of the tears, eliminating the need to seek out the real thing. This has been in the works for a long time; in fact, our biggest breakthroughs came from studying the sample Mabel and her friends obtained last year…”

Dipper extended a fist to Mabel, and she proudly bumped it.

“...And I must say, we’ve had some very promising results with the latest prototypes! There have been some hiccups here and there– we really should have fireproofed the lab sooner– but I think in the next few weeks, we might even end up with something that could surpass the healing properties of unicorn tears!”

“Nice!” Mabel held out a fist to Ford. “Take that, you overrated horses!”

Ford laughed, accepting the fist bump. Stan clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Here’s hoping you get it workin’ before we set out again. It’d make things way less stressful on the boat. Heck, the coast guard medics might even have time to forget our names!”

“Wait, you’re setting out again?” Dipper asked. “When?”

“End of the summer, same as you kids!” Stan said proudly. “First thing in September, we’re headed right back out there.”

Ford nodded. “We still have a lot more to investigate. I expect we’ll be very busy once Fall comes around, which is why I’m under strict orders to ‘take it easy’ while we’re here. Otherwise, the elixir would probably be finished by now–” Stan crossed his arms, and Ford quickly added “--but I completely understand the point of it. Rest is important, kids.”

“Darn right,” Stan grunted. “Far as I’m concerned, we’re both on vacation for the summer.”

Dipper tapped his fork on his chin. “So you won’t be studying Gravity Falls for a while?”

“C’mon, brobro,” Mabel chided. “Grunkle Ford’s willingly taking a break for once, let’s not remind him of all the extra stuff he could be doing!”

“That’s not what I meant!” Dipper protested. “I’m just saying…”

“It’s a fair question,” Ford said. “There certainly are plenty of mysteries left unsolved around here. But I think Stanley and I have broadened our focus a bit too much to give special attention to Gravity Falls anymore. Just our brief stay in the Arctic Circle alone has raised so many fascinating questions, and we still have so many more places to investigate… there’s just not enough time to solve all the world’s mysteries, I’m afraid.”

“Hey, relax, Poindexter,” Stan cut in, shoving Ford’s shoulder. “We’re not the only ones working on this stuff. Something tells me Gravity Falls’ll be in good hands, even without us.” He gave Dipper a meaningful wink. Mabel couldn’t help but smile at the way her brother’s face lit up.

“Hey, guys?” Dipper asked, leaning back in his chair and trying to seem subtle. “Can we talk after dinner? I was hoping to get some feedback on this project I’m working on…”

Mabel’s smile faded. “Is it about that dumb thesis contest?” She turned to the Grunkles and pointed accusingly at Dipper. “He won’t let me help with it! He wouldn’t shut up about how cool it would be to win and get a big smarty-pants paper published, and now that he’s allowed to start working on it he won’t even tell me what it’s gonna be about! I could have done like fifty illustrations by now if—”

“I told you, there’s nothing to share yet!” Dipper protested. “I’ve… kinda been putting it off. I’ve still got a week until the topic proposal’s due…”

“Then what do you need Stan and Ford’s ‘feedback’ on?”

Dipper tugged at his shirt collar. “Uh… it’s…”

“I could help,” she said, voice a little louder than she’d wanted. “Even if it’s something I’m bad at, I could help make it look cool. If you just told me a little bit about it…”

Dipper sighed. “Look, Mabel, I promise I’ll share it with you soon, okay? I just… I want it to be a surprise.”

Mabel looked at him doubtfully over the rim of her water glass. She wanted to keep prying, but it was clear she was just making him uncomfortable. He didn’t want her help, he just didn’t know how to say it. She could tell.

“Okay,” she said, trying not to sound hurt. It was fine, really. She had high-speed bike riding; Dipper was allowed to have things just for himself too. It was normal for twins to grow apart. She drained the rest of her glass and stared down at the tablecloth.

An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment. Then Stan spoke up. “Speaking of surprises. Hey Sixer, remember that thing we ran into off the coast of Greenland in March?”

Ford laughed. “How could I possibly forget? Now, kids, I don’t know about you, but nothing in my paleontology education gave me the impression that wooly mammoths were aquatic…”

Soon Mabel was too wrapped up in seafaring stories to be sad about anything.

——-

Bill must have fallen asleep at some point. He’d been lying there, in the basement, in the dark, with the Pines’ infernal voices ringing above him, but then something had happened. The voices changed. And suddenly he wasn’t in a basement anymore. He was lying on an exam table, and his arms were strapped down, and his eye wouldn’t close, and the air was thick with antiseptic. And there were voices all around him, moving around him, but he knew he couldn’t look, he just had to keep his eye focused on the stars overhead, just don’t look, just don’t look at them, just pretend they’re not there, pretend you’re among the stars and nothing’s happening, nothing hurts. So he didn’t look away, not even when the quiet voices he could hear through the pain changed again, became painfully familiar, he still didn’t look, even when they started screaming, even when their cries and pleading were drowned out by the sounds of flames, even when the heat waves twisted the air and the crunching, sizzling, tearing sounds and the smell of burning meat drowned out all his other senses he still didn’t look, he didn’t look down, he wouldn’t–

And then he was back in the basement. It was dark and still. The only sound was his own ragged breathing.

He sat up and scrubbed at his face with the blanket he’d been wrapped in. Dreams. He hadn’t been ready to deal with dreams. Other people’s dreams were a riot. Not his own.

He’d been distracted too quickly to dwell on the last one. He’d foolishly hoped that would be the last one for a while. But no, of course not. This world couldn’t allow him even a moment of peace. Every sleep was going to be like this.

In the dark, he staggered to the small bathroom in the back of the room. He ran the cold water in the sink and rinsed his mouth until he forgot the taste of the smoke. It was so vivid. So convincing. Even though none of it had made any sense, it felt real.

He stared numbly at the mirror. Their voices. He’d remembered them, of course. Despite all the worlds that had sprouted and withered between then and now, despite everything he’d tried, he’d never been able to stop remembering them. But he never thought he’d have to hear those voices again.

Someone knocked at the door.

His first thought was “thank god”. He’d been desperately hoping for anything else to think about. His second thought, as he heard the door unlock, was “that could be anybody”. So he stood just at the edge of the room and prepared to run for cover, until a small, high-pitched voice said “It’s me.”

Bill relaxed a little. Not a lot, but more than zero. He scrubbed his face dry and straightened his bowtie before she entered, trying to look as stoic as possible. She didn’t seem to notice anything amiss as she rushed in and slumped against the door to shut it. Both her hands were busy carrying an overloaded paper plate.

Trying her best to not let it fold under the weight of the food piled onto it, she glanced around for a surface to place it on. The curved lid of the wooden chest was considered, then quickly rejected when the plate started sliding. She winced before resorting to setting it down on the floor beside the beanbag. Finally, she retrieved a packet of plastic utensils from a takeout place and laid it beside the plate, trying to make it look presentable.

“We need to get a table or something in here,” she muttered as Bill drew closer to inspect the offering.

“YEAH, SOME APPLIANCES WOULD BE NICE TOO,” he joked. “I’M THINKIN’ A STUDIO APARTMENT KIND OF SETUP. WASHER AND DRYER OVER THERE, THAT CORNER’S THE KITCHEN… FULL-SIZE JACUZZI ON THAT SIDE, OBVIOUSLY…”

“I have six dollars,” Mabel piped up.

Bill laughed before he could stop himself. Encouraged, she went on: “I mean, there’s an empty fish tank and a car battery in the garage. We could make a hole in the side and stick a blowdryer in there for a jet. That’d be fine, right?”

He laughed again. “I LIKE WHERE YOUR HEAD’S AT, KID. IF WE SHUT OFF THE SPRINKLERS, WE COULD SET UP A FIRE PIT IN THE KITCHEN CORNER!”

“Perfect plan!” Mabel laughed along with him, but then seemed to think better of it. “But okay, hold on, we can start with the home renovations later. For now, you should eat.” She pointed to the plate. “It’s just some leftovers from tonight. Figured taking more snacks would look suspicious. But if it, uh… disagrees with you… then just let me know tomorrow.”

That wasn’t a glowing review. Looking dubiously at the alleged “food” on the plate, he didn’t see much reason to doubt it. Still, he tried to look grateful as he picked up a plastic fork. “WILL DO,” he said, trying not to look down.

“I’ll come back down tomorrow, before the others wake up,” she said, crossing back over to the door. “Including Grunkle Ford… ugh, that’s gonna suck. But once I’m back, we’ll figure out a plan, okay?”

Bill glanced around the room. “I THOUGHT THIS WAS THE PLAN,” he said.

“C’mon, you can’t just stay in one tiny dark room all summer! This isn’t Guacamole or something.”

Bill snorted. “GUANTANAMO?”

“Whatever,” she said, flushing. “The point is we need to get you outside once in a while. You have scales, things with scales need sunlight or they get sick. And what’s the point of all this work if you get sick and die??”

She had a point there. Bill shifted uncomfortably, realizing he wasn’t totally sure if the sun thing would apply to him or not. “YEAH, FAIR ENOUGH. KEEP FORGETTING THIS…” he gestured to the body, “…THING NEEDS ‘VITAMINS’ AND SUCHLIKE.”

“Relatable, honestly. But there’s a bunch more stuff to plan out, too! We need to be able to contact each other in emergencies. And, like, a secret knock so you know when it’s me, and a code to communicate…” as she spoke, her hands started flapping with excitement. “Oh my gosh, it’s like one of those spy games Dipper likes. We could make a guidebook with all this stuff! Like a, what, codex? For the code? We could make our own code! You can handle that part— I know that’s your thing, it’s literally your name… I get to do all the art, though. It can have a scrapbook vibe— I gotta find my craft scissors with the zig-zags—”

“KID.” Bill cut her off. “I KNOW IT’S IN YOUR NATURE NOT TO TAKE STUFF SERIOUSLY. IT’S A GOOD TRAIT! MAKES LIFE A LOT MORE BEARABLE. BUT THIS ISN’T SOME SILLY SUMMER CRAFT PROJECT. THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH, GOT IT? CAN WE TRY TO ACT LIKE IT’S IMPORTANT?”

She looked hurt. “Silly things are still important,” she muttered. “We could hide it in here. And even if someone finds it, it could be any goofy old thing I made! Dipper showed me how to do that invisible ink thing; I could act like the empty space is just unfinished parts! I dunno, I just… I thought it’d make this whole thing a little more fun.”

Bill squinted at her as she stared at the floor, arms crossed tight over her chest. Then he rolled his eye. Maybe he was being a choosing beggar here. This was Mabel Pines; of course she’d want to make some stupid game out of this. And the whole plan was to humor her. If this was what it took to keep her invested, he should probably just play along.

“OKAY, FINE. I’M IN,” he sighed. “WE CAN MAKE A BOOK OR WHATEVER.”

She lit up again. “Really?? Yes! Awesome! It’ll be so fun, I promise.” She paused and glanced at the dark window. “But we can start that later. I gotta go get at least a tiny bit of sleep first.”

Bill shrugged. “SURE. CAN’T KEEP THIS BODY ALIVE IF YOURS GIVES OUT.”

“Thanks for the concern,” she snorted. “And see you in the morning.” She gave a quick wave before shutting the door behind her.

Watching the door, he heard the heavy “clunk” of the lock clicking shut, then rapid footsteps bounding up the staircase. He sighed and pinched his forehead. That much youthful energy couldn’t be sustainable. She probably wouldn’t live past 20.

As he waited for the various noises and occupants of the house to settle, he wolfed down the food as fast as he could. The kid was right to be apologetic, but if he ate quickly, he didn’t taste it much. It was just fuel anyway.

When the plate was finally empty, he dropped it back to the floor and picked up the plastic fork. He rinsed it in the sink as well as he could, wiped it dry with the paper napkin that came with the set, then bent one of the tines away from the others. He leaned one side against the crack in the door, listening intently to the silence from above. There wasn’t a whisper of movement.

He stuck the tine of the fork into the lock.

It was more stubborn than your typical household lock, but Bill had bested much worse with much less. It only took a little finagling before he heard the “clunk” he was listening for. Slowly, cautiously, he eased the door open. The hallway was dark and empty. He stashed his impromptu lockpick in his hat, locked the door behind him, and crept up into the house.

—-

The place was as quiet and dark as he’d hoped for. He’d been right to judge by the footsteps above him that they’d all gone to bed. And thankfully, even without his usual glow, the stars outside were bright enough to see by. He crept along with his back against the wall, testing each floorboard before he stepped, scanning his surroundings.

The decor was about the same as he remembered, with a few notable changes. A lot of the ceiling and walls had been replaced; probably necessary after they turned it into a big stupid robot last year. And it seemed like someone else might have moved in. There were some new decorations that weren't anything close to the “style” he’d come to expect from the place. Lace doilies hung from the tops of chairs and sofas like dusty cobwebs, and handmade blankets and wall hangings were scattered all around. Shooting Star was crafty, sure, but these didn’t look like her handiwork. The colors were way too easy on the eye, and there wasn’t a crumb of glitter to be seen. If they were her doing, they were a big step down in quality.

But if they weren’t, it meant an extra person to deal with. Better keep his eye out.

He turned a corner and a massive shape blotted out the hallway ahead. He scrambled back, clenching his teeth tight beneath his eyelids to stop a yell from escaping.

Then his eye adjusted, and he had to stifle an irritated growl. It was just that stupid pig. He’d forgotten how huge it was now, and it looked a lot less pathetic from a low angle. It was sitting in the middle of the floor, directly in his path, staring down at him. Its eyes glittered in the moonlight like two tiny black teeth.

Bill glared up at it defiantly. Just let it try and make a move. He might not have magic, but he still had claws and teeth. A ripped throat wasn’t as flashy as immolation, but it was still perfectly fatal.

The pig returned his stare with no discernable expression. A few silent seconds crept by.

Then the pig gave a grumbly snort and laid its head on the ground. It flopped onto one side and closed its eyes with an indifferent sigh.

Bill hurried on, telling himself to thank his lucky stars instead of feeling indignant. Still, his ego stung a little. Not even livestock saw him as a threat anymore.

To his relief, he had no more surprise encounters as he cased the second floor. The layout of the rooms was about the same as before, which meant the sounds of walking from above his little home base would still be a reliable method of tracking the inhabitants. He steered well clear of all the bedrooms and kept his back to the wall, and the floorboards beneath him kept silent. He was out of practice with walking, sure, but nobody who grew up causing problems ever forgets how to sneak through a hallway.

Once he’d made mental notes of all the storage spaces that might have supplies he could use, he headed for the portal. On the way through the gift shop he snagged a small notepad and pen from behind the desk. Scanning over the portal wreckage, he made a list of the missing components and tools he’d need. In code, obviously; secret codes were literally his name, after all.

Once the darkness outside started to lift away, he cut his work short and headed back. He tore the used page from the notebook and placed it and the pen back where he’d found them, exchanging them for a single paperclip that he stashed in his hat with the paper. That was all he felt comfortable taking for now. It was much too early to start gathering supplies. Anything left out of place would definitely make the kid suspicious. For now, he’d just plan. Make sure everything went as smoothly as it possibly could. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get all the power tools and steel he’d need down to the basement without being noticed, but there was no point freaking out about it now. He’d figure out logistics later. He could pull this off. He was going to pull this off. He had no other choice.

By the time the first pink rays of light had breached the horizon, he was back in the cell. The paperclip made a perfectly serviceable lockpick to latch the door behind him. Like nothing ever happened.

He curled up in his nest of blankets, trying to hold his eye open. Hoping to ward off the dreams a little longer. But eventually his exhaustion won the battle. His eye slid shut.

Maybe the next dream would at least be over quick.

—-

Bill’s wish came true. As soon as he jolted awake, he regretted making it. It felt like he’d been yanked out of a tar pit by his eyelashes, but his brain stayed behind. His head, chest and eye socket all felt like they were stuffed with wet cotton, and his bones were shaking with this sudden painful chill. His thoughts were so slow and muffled that it took a second for him to even realize that someone was staring him right in the face. He lurched away and fell backwards off the beanbag.

Mabel poked her head over the beanbag and beamed down at where he lay on the floor in a tangle of blankets. “Morning!” she said in a bright half-whisper. “How’d you sleep?”

Bill glared up at her with silent disdain. After a moment, she seemed to take that as an answer. “Yeah, me too. Had a lot of stress dreams. Anyway, time to figure some stuff out.”

She disappeared from view for a moment, then reappeared at his side with a fuzzy pink notebook and a chunky pink pen with a glittery pom-pom topper. She leafed through the book for a minute, then looked up at Bill. “You ok?”

“I’M DYING,” Bill croaked. It was barely hyperbole. That freezing, sinking pain just kept getting worse. Every second he kept his eye open, it felt like gravity increased tenfold.

Mabel hissed through her teeth. “Hold on a second.” She vanished from view again, then popped back in with a mason jar full of what looked like the fluid from inside a neon pink glowstick. She propped him upright and shoved it into his hands. “Drink this.”

Bill ought to have been at least a little suspicious of a drink presented so vaguely. But a billion years of drinking cocktails made from substances meant to power quantum reactions, combined with the weight of sheer exhaustion muffling all his thoughts, meant that he barely hesitated before lifting the jar to his eyelids and taking a gulp.

A second later, his eye shot wide open. “WHOA!” he shouted, blinking rapidly.

“Ooh, I might’ve put too many pop rocks in that batch,” Mabel said. She grabbed the jar and shook it, sending frozen fruit shapes and plastic dinosaurs clattering around in a glittery whirlpool. “Mixing it usually helps. Dipper keeps telling me to warn people before I give them this stuff—”

Bill grabbed the jar back. He took an approving glance at the crazy-looking drink— now that his brain was working, he could fully appreciate the vibe— and then knocked back another mouthful. A rush of energy buzzed through his brain, setting his neurons alight like christmas lights hooked up to a nuclear reactor. The dangerously sugary concoction stung the inside of his mouth like acid, but this was a fun kind of pain. “OH, THIS IS PHENOMENAL.”

Mabel’s face lit up. “You like it??”

“DO I?!” One more swig and the jar was empty, and Bill was actually bouncing in place a little. “I FEEL LIKE A WHOLE NEW TRIANGLE! WHAT IS THAT?!”

“It’s Mabel Juice!” she beamed. “My own personal secret recipe! It’s so secret, not even I know what the secret is! Seriously, I hardly ever write the ingredients down.”

Bill laughed. “WELL, COLOR ME IMPRESSED, KID! I HAVEN’T HAD A DRINK THAT GOOD SINCE THAT BATTERY ACID DAQUIRI I MIXED BACK IN THE ‘30s. AND THIS ONE DIDN’T EVEN DISSOLVE MY STOMACH!”

Mabel’s smile dropped for a second, then returned. “I’ll take that as a compliment!” she said proudly. “I’ll bring more down later. I’ve got a million different brews you can try! The others don’t drink much of it, they always complain about how there’s ‘so much sugar’ and it ‘burns their mouths’ or whatever…”

“HEY, THEIR LOSS! I’LL TAKE IT OFF YOUR HANDS! EXTRA BURNING ON THE SIDE, IF YOU’VE GOT IT,” Bill offered. He had to hand it to the kid; she made pouring on the charm pretty easy. In a better world, he would’ve hired her as a barista in the Fearamid.

Mabel grinned, but then her face froze. From somewhere upstairs, the familiar sound of heavy, clomping footsteps rang through the ceiling.

Bill froze in place too, his eye locked on the ceiling. His teeth clenched tight behind his eye socket as he tried to repress his anger. Like a favorite song after you set it as your morning alarm, that sound made his blood boil on contact.

“Grunkle Ford’s up,” Mabel whispered. Bill glanced over to see her watching the ceiling too. “I thought he’d at least sleep ‘til five…”

“RISKY GAMBLE THERE,” Bill muttered. “FORD DOESN’T HAVE A SLEEP SCHEDULE, HE JUST WORKS ‘TIL HE KEELS OVER.”

“He’s working on it,” Mabel said defensively. Maybe Bill hadn’t kept all the derision out of his voice. He kept his mouth shut, just to be safe.

“Okay. Alright. This is fine.” The kid was clearly reassuring herself more than him. “He shouldn’t hear us down here. Nobody heard you screaming your head off the other day, they shouldn’t hear us just talking… we should be fine for now. As long as he doesn’t wander down here and happen to just randomly get close to this room. Or wander upstairs to his office and pass our bedroom and happen to look in and notice I’m not there. So as long as he stays on the exact floor he’s on now, we’ll be okay…”

“KID, RELAX. YOU SOUND LIKE PINETREE,” Bill laughed. “WITH HOW LOUD THOSE STEPS ARE, WE’LL HAVE A TON OF WARNING IF HE HEADS FOR ANY STAIRS. JUST CUT TO THE CHASE SO YOU DIDN’T WAKE ME UP FOR NOTHING.”

She shot another worried glance at the ceiling, then nodded. “Okay. Sure. The chase… hold on.” She grabbed her notepad and pen again, then started rooting around for something else in the backpack she’d brought. “The Chase, part one. Secret messages. Ooh, that’s good.” She opened the book and labeled the first page with that title. Bill bit his tongue to stop himself from pointing out that huge pink bubble letters weren’t the best choice for subtlety.

“Now,” she said, throwing the notebook down like a frazzled detective presenting her notes. “I would’ve loved to, like, build a two-way radio out of soda cans, or find a way to send smoke signals through the A/C system or something. But I think we should wait on that ‘til later. Right now, simplicity’s the name of the game.” With a victorious flourish, she revealed the thing she’d fished out of the bag. It took a second for Bill to parse what the battered old thing even was. A cell phone. An ancient, blocky brick of a flip-screen cell phone.

“YEESH!” he exclaimed as she shoved it into his hands. “WHAT ANCIENT BURIAL GROUND DIDJA DIG THIS THING OUT OF? IT’S OLD ENOUGH TO BE YOUR DAD!”

Mabel snorted. “Give me a break! It was the best one I could find in the closet where Grunkle Stan keeps all his burner phones.”

“WELL, I’D HATE TO SEE THE COMPETITION!” Bill remarked. “WHAT WAS THE WORST ONE, A CLAY TABLET? A BONE CARVED FLUTE TO CALL THE NEANDERTHAL TRIBE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN?”

Mabel hid a giggle behind the turtleneck of her sweater. All according to plan. Jokes were a great way of lowering a mark’s defenses, even if they didn’t land. And despite her best efforts, Shooting Star was a good audience.

He held down the power button and marvelled as the dusty, scuffed screen actually lit up. “WHAAAT! LOOK AT THIS LOGO! THIS COMPANY WENT UNDER IN 2002! THE CEO BURNED DOWN THE OFFICE TO HIDE TAX FRAUD AND MELTED HIS EYELIDS OFF!”

Mabel clapped her hands over her ears. “Ugh!! Why would you tell me that?”

“BECAUSE IT’S HILARIOUS! THE GUY WAS A TOTAL LOSER ANYWAY, HE WAS TOO UPTIGHT TO TAKE MY DEAL AND COULDN’T EVEN HANDLE A WEEK OF NIGHT TERRORS BEFORE HE CRACKED—”

“Anyway!” She cut him off. “This was the only phone I found in the closet that could send texts. We need to be able to keep in touch, so you can let me know if you’re hurt or need more supplies, and I can warn you if people upstairs can hear you practicing your evil laugh or something.”

“WHA— HEY! WHO EVEN— NOBODY NEEDS TO PRACTICE THEIR LAUGH, THAT’S JUST STUPID.” Bill hoped he didn’t sound too defensive. There was no way she actually knew about that, right?

She just rolled her eyes, holding back a smile. “Point is, that phone is yours. Nobody’ll recognize that number. My number’s in there already, you can text me in morse code if you need something.”

Bill looked up from the phone screen to squint at her. “MORSE? C’MON, KID.”

“What’s wrong with morse?”

“THAT’S THE MOST BASIC CODE IN EXISTENCE! YOU REALLY THINK ANYBODY IN THIS HOUSE WOULDN’T RECOGNIZE MORSE WHEN THEY SAW IT?” he said. “YOU THINK THEY’LL SEE YOU ANSWERING TEXTS IN MORSE FROM SOME RANDOM NUMBER AND HAVE ANY OTHER THOUGHT BESIDES ‘SHE’S HIDING SOMETHING’?”

Mabel sighed. “Okay, fine, Mr. Code Snob. What should we use?”

“WE SHOULDN’T ‘USE’ ANYTHING. WE JUST KEEP THINGS VAGUE AND SIMPLE,” he said. “ANYTHING THAT EVEN LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT BE CODE WILL JUST GET PEOPLE’S ATTENTION. BESIDES, IN A HOUSE FULL OF CON ARTISTS AND MYSTERY DORKS, I DOUBT THERE’S ANY CODE WE COULD USE ON THIS THING THAT NONE OF THEM WILL RECOGNIZE. THESE TEXTS NEED TO BE AS BORING AND UN-MYSTERIOUS AS THEY CAN POSSIBLY BE. SO BORING THAT NOT EVEN PINETREE IN HIS SNOOPIEST MOOD WOULD GLANCE AT ‘EM TWICE.”

Mabel pursed her lips. “Spam!” she said after a minute. “Dipper and I get spam texts from random numbers all the time. We can make up a system where I know what you’re saying based on what you’re trying to sell me. Like a scam alphabet!”

Bill’s eye crinkled with his version of a grin. “NOW YOU’RE TALKING!”

Mabel grabbed her pen and started rattling off scams to list in her notebook. Stan had clearly taught her well, and between the both of them they soon had a massive list to work from. On the opposite page, they listed phrases to match with each scam. “NEED FOOD”, “NEED SUPPLIES”, “INJURY”, “FIRE”, “RACCOON GOT IN”, and so on. As soon as they had a workable “alphabet”, the kid insisted they start deciding on secret knocks. They’d just started to argue about whether “shave-and-a-haircut” was too uncreative, when suddenly Mabel stopped short and held out a hand. Before Bill could ask what was up, he realized what she’d heard. A voice from upstairs. A voice that was much too prepubescent to be Ford’s.

“Dipper’s up,” Mabel hissed. “Why is Dipper up? He never gets up this early on his own… Did he notice I was gone? Is he looking for me?? How am I gonna get back up without—”

“GEEZ, RELAX,” Bill said. “LOOK, THE STAIRCASE TO THE ATTIC IS RIGHT ACROSS FROM THIS ONE. JUST WAIT UNTIL HE’S IN THE KITCHEN…” he pointed to that corner of the house, from where Ford’s voice was now ringing through the ceiling, “AND YOU CAN SNEAK BACK UP WITHOUT BUMPING INTO HIM. JUST DON’T LET HIM SEE YOU LEAVING THE BASEMENT, AND WE’LL BE FINE.”

“I don’t like how much you know about our house.”

Bill pointed to his eye. “REMEMBER HOW HALF THE DECOR IN HERE USED TO BE MY EYES?”

“Yeah, duh. Doesn’t mean it’s not creepy.” She shuddered, and Bill tried not to laugh. At least the memory of his powers still inspired fear… but he didn’t want her knowing how happy that made him.

Mabel gathered up her stuff and headed for the door. “I gotta go before he notices I’m not sleeping. Soon as I get a chance, I’ll sneak back down and we’ll sort out the other stuff on my checklist.”

“FAIR ENOUGH. BE SEEING YOU, KID.” He couldn’t resist putting a little extra emphasis on that word, pointing to his eye again with a smug, half-lidded smile. Shooting Star was his ally for now, sure. But she shouldn’t forget where things really stood. He was the one who was really in control here.

“And I’ll use the We Will Rock You knock.”

“UGH, COME ON!” Bill protested. “I’M TELLING YOU, SHAVE-AND-A-HAIRCUT IS THE GO-TO FOR A REASON, IT’S PRACTICAL—“

“See ya later!” She winked and vanished through the door. The lock clicked heavily into place.

Bill glared daggers at the door until the sound of footsteps had faded away. Then he took off his hat and rifled through the lining, taking a reassuring glance at his folded-up notes. And the paper clip fastening them in place. That dumb kid put way too much trust in that lock. Did she really not realize the danger she’d let into her house? Did she really not know what she was dealing with?

His eye was drawn in by a soft gleam from deep within the hat. He brushed some fabric aside and stared at the fragment of his dimension. It caught the dim light in the room and threw it back much brighter, twisted into colors that didn’t exist anymore. It hurt to look at it with this new eye. He let his gaze rest on it longer than he should have.

Then he tore his eye away and shoved the hat back on. No, she definitely didn’t know. The fact he was still here— still alive— was proof enough of that.

[fallingdownhell]

I absolutely love your works!

Can you make hurt/comfort with kazuha, albedo, alhaitham, cyno?

Where we're on a heated arguments about them too focusing on their job and completely forgot about reader

In the middle of the argument, the reader said

"Was i really nothing to you? Was i just some kind of object that you can just forget that easily?"

Thank you

Thank you so much!<3

And of course I can! I am always down to write some pretty, delicious angst!

Characters Included: Albedo; Cyno; Alhaitham; Kazuha

Content: Gender neutral reader; pre sumeru archon quest for Cyno's part; hurt/comfort; arguments; shouting; slight cursing;

Word count: 6k words

Thanks so much for the request. Hope you enjoy the end result!<3

Albedo

It was rare for Albedo to come down from his lab all the way up in Dragonspine to the City of Mondstadt. You never really minded it, knowing that you could go there to see him at any time, while he also paid regular visits to your home.

Yet, for some time now.. those visits have stopped. He never came by anymore, far too consumed on some discovery he apparently made a few weeks ago.

Even when you travelled all the way to his laboratory on the mountain, in the icy colds of Dragonspine, Albedo had given you no attention whatsoever.

He had acknowledged your arrival, then went back to his work, while you were sitting in some corner by the fire, trying to warm up again. Even your attempts at conversation were flat out ignored, seeing as he never bothered to give an answer. You weren't even sure if he had noticed your departure a few hours after you had initially arrived.

You tried again two more times, but as you got the same result every time, you eventually stopped trying and didn't go back to Dragonspine.

Then, two weeks ago, you heard that Albedo was back in the city for a supply run.

Hoping that you would run into him to finally talk to him you spend your day in Mondstadt, but you never laid eyes upon him. When you asked Sucrose about it, she told you that he had already left again.

You went home to see if he made a trip there and you just so happened to miss him. But upon your return, you didn't find any note from him or any other indication that he had ever been here in the first place.

The same thing happened again a week after that, and by now you finally had enough. You went to the Acting Grand Master and she told you that Albedo would be back today again, to drop of some reports.

Which is why you were waiting for him outside of the Knights of Favonius headquarters, though still in some respectable distance.

When you finally saw him again after a few weeks, it felt like you haven't seen him for a lifetime.

So, without hesitation, you made your way over to him before he could enter the building. Yet, he seemed to be so deep into his own head that Albedo didn't even notice your approach.

Only when you were directly behind him and firmly said "Albedo.", did he stop and turn around, looking at you.

You could see the expression in his eyes once his gaze landed on you, like he had a sudden realization that you still existed and he had forgotten about that until that very moment. It honestly hurt.

"Hey. Where have you been all this time? I missed you..", you said, hoping to get some kind of positive reaction out of him.

"You know where I was, (name). I was busy.", he said and then turned around to leave again. You were honestly astounded that he simply wanted to let things stand as they are. Well, not today and most definitely not with you.

"You wanna leave? Just like that? Seriously?"

That seemed to have at least some kind of effect on him, as he stopped once again and turned in your direction. Except for this time, he wore an annoyed expression.

"What else do you want from me? I said that I'm busy."

After that, an argument broke out between the two of you in the middle of the street, but neither of you cared. No matter how much attention you drew upon you, it was too late now. You were both to heated and too caught up in it to stop now.

Things were said in the heat of the argument, you were sure both of you regretted ever saying out loud, yet neither of you could care less right now. Everything seemed to be fair game at this point.

Until Albedo said one specific thing.

"Archons, you're impossible sometimes, (name). Insufferable. I've better things to do right now, you know!"

Immediatly after he said that, Albedo knew he had crossed a line. The way you went silent, no comeback falling from your lips. You were just staring at him in shock, like you couldn't believe that he had just actually said that. He wanted to retract his statement, but his pride prevented him from doing so.

So, instead, you both just stood there for some time, silently staring at one another. When no reply came from you, Albedo dropped his head, then turned around once again. But before he could take a step, he heard your voice again, though this time, it sounded broken, silent sobs being held back.

"So, that's it? Was I nothing to you?", you whispered, your voice slowly starting to break from the tears forming within you, but Albedo was still able to hear you. "Just some kind of experiment or plaything that you can toss aside and simply forget about? Do I mean nothing to you?"

Upon hearing how broken you sounded, and what you actually said to him, he instantly turned around again, the sight of tears rolling down your face feeling like a knive had been thrust straight into his heart. And what's worst was that he was the cause for your tears.

You stood there, waiting for an answer from him. Yet, when nothing seemed to come out off his opening and closing mouth, you just nodded at him.

"I see..", you said, your voice now entirely void of any emotion whatsoever. That, and the fact that you were the one now turning around to leave him like that, was the twist of the imaginary knive in his chest.

Finally being able to break free of his frozen state, he rushed towards you, stopping you in your tracks as he pulled you into his chest, caging your arms around you, burying his face against your shoulder.

"I'm sorry.. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry..", he whispered over and over into your ear, which only made the tears fall from your eyes even harder. You were shaking against him, struggling to breath. You wanted to break free from him, but at the same time, you never wanted to leave his embrace again.

"I'm so sorry, (name). You're wrong. You mean everything to me. I'm sorry I made you feel like that wasn't the case. And I apologize for the horrible things I said to you."

You stood there for a few more seconds, basking in his arms, then decided to slip free. Albedo let you, almost certain that you would be walking away from him now.

But you didn't.

Instead, you turned around to look at him, allowing him to see your tear stained face that he was the cause of.

"I think... we have a lot to talk about..", you mumbled, not being able to look him in the eyes entirely. But Albedo still saw it as what it was supposed to be.

A chance. A second chance to talk things out with you, make it better between you two.

And he gladly took that chance.

From now on, he would do anything to put a smile on your face every day, never wanting to be the cause for your tears ever again.

Cyno

Two months.

That was how long it has been since you had your boyfriend to yourself for more than a few hours.

Every day, he came back from his work much more later than he usually would, sometimes even not coming home for days on end. He didn't even leave a note or something to inform you of his absence, making you even more worried about him.

And now, even when he was at home with you, he was so cold and distant towards you. Sometimes, he went straight to take a shower and then to bed, not even sparing you a second. Other times, he did spend time with you, but you could tell that his mind was somewhere else, giving only short answers to your questions and statements.

Seeing all this, you couldn't help the doubt starting to well up inside you.

Did he fall out of love with you?

Did you do something wrong? Was he mad at you?

Was he... cheating on you?

You didn't want to think any of these possibilities true, but it was hard to ignore them when Cyno was behaving like this.

You tried to talk to him about this, how you felt, a few times, but he never really listened to you, keeping the conversation short so you couldn't bring your point across.

And now, you began to not only doubt him and the relationship as a whole, you doubted everything.

Did he ever even love you?

Was he only doing this out of convenience?

Were you just.. something expandable to him?

All of these questions and doubts plagued your mind day in and day out, not being able to find any answers to them whatsoever. The only one being able to give you the answers you so desperately wanted and needed, refused to give them to you.

It was driving you insane.

And now, you hit your breaking point. You weren't able to take it anymore. The constant doubt had turned itself into a depressive episode. You wanted to break free from it, but you also wanted to give Cyno one final chance. One chance to explain himself to you, to tell you the truth.

If he refused again, you would not hesitate to leave. Your mind was made up, everything was arranged. You had a small bag prepared, filled with clothing and other stuff you needed.

Tighnari had offered you to stay for a few days at Gandharva Ville where you could sort yourself out if you were not able to talk things through with Cyno. You were so grateful to him, though a small part in you still hoped that it wouldn't come down to this.

That evening, you waited and waited for Cyno to return home from work, but with every passing hour that he didn't show up, you lost more and more hope that he would come home at all today.

You sighed and were about to get up from your spot in the living room to go to bed, when the sound of the front door opening caught your attention. After all, it could only be one person that has the other key to the apartement.

"Welcome back!", you greeted him as you went out to the hallway, seeing your boyfriend standing there. He looked at you with a tired expression but didn't say anything in return.

Instead, he walked right past you, not sparing you another glance. You were baffled, to say the least. That blatant ignorance from him was what gave you the last push you had needed.

"Seriously?", you just said, turning around to face him again, this time though, wearing a stone cold expression.

"(Name), please. Not right now. I'm tired in case you didn't notice."

"Oh, I did notice. But I don't care anymore, Cyno. We have to talk."

"Please, (name). We can talk tomorrow, okay? I just want to go to bed now, not argue about something trivial."

Oh, he really dealt the final blow with that one.

"So, that's it? Do I even mean nothing to you? Was I just some kind of object you can forget about? Does this relationship even mean anything to you anymore?", you threw all of that towards him, not caring that you got more and more worked up with every word you said.

When you were met with nothing but silence from him, you took that as his answer to your questions.

"Okay..", was all you said, turning around and grabbing your packed bag before you went out the door, not even sparing Cyno one last glance. You just wanted to get out of there.

Cyno just stood there for a few minutes, still looking at the spot were you were standing before. Only now did the events catch up to his tired mind, yet he still didn't move.

He saw the defeated look on your face, the way your shoulders slumped at his dismissiveness, but he shrugged it off. Instead of running after you and trying to mend this misunderstanding, he went to the bathroom, took a shower and then made himself comfortable in the bed.

He was sure you would have returned by tomorrow and then you could talk about it.

....

Two days.

Two days have gone by and you still hadn't returned home. By this point, Cyno was beyond worried about you. After all, it was dark when you went out and he hasn't heard from you since then and no one in the city seemed to have seen you, either.

Thinking back to your last words towards him made him want to beat his past self up for not sitting down and talking to you then and there. For not running after you and bringing you back. Back to him where you belonged to.

He knew that he was neglecting you these past two months. It's not like he wanted to do so. Work has been increasing for him, the sages at the Academiya were up to something, and not of the good kind.

It put a lot of pressure on him, yet at the same time, he had to try and keep a low profile, for his sake as well as yours. But in doing so, he didn't even notice how much he had distanced himself from you. He really wanted to punch himself in the face for that, but it's not like that would bring you back to him, so he refrained from it.

He had been searching for you almost the entire day when you hadn't returned yet again. But his search seemed to not be granted success today either.

Not knowing what else to do, he decided to head over to Gandharva Ville. Maybe Tighnari would be willing to listen to him and maybe have a suggestion on how he could find you and apologize to you.

Once he arrived, he immediately made his way over to his friends hut, not caring for all the looks other people gave him. He was used to it at this point anyways.

As expected, he found Tighnari sitting at his table, scrunched over some research report. Upon his entry, his ear twitched and he looked at his friend. Cyno did find it odd however, that his friend looked at him with such a surprised expression. After all, it wasn't unusual for him to arrive unannounced.

"Cyno? What are you doing here?"

"What, can't visit a friend anymore?", he said jokingly, though it didn't sound convincing at all, judging by the look on Tighnari's face.

"You're right..", Cyno sighed instead, grabbing an empty chair and sitting beside his friend. "I need your help. It's about (name).."

"Oh, that situation? Yeah, I've heard about it from them already."

"You did? From who? And when?", Cyno asked, suddenly gaining new hope. If you were here, he might still have a chance at finding you.

"From them. I offered them a place to stay for a few days. Though after everything they told me, I didn't think you would actually search for them."

So you were here... and his best friend knew about the situation and was severly judging him. Cyno knew he deserved it, but he still wanted to try and make things right again.

"Tighnari, please tell me where they are. I need to talk to them. Please."

Tighnari looked at him long and hard, most likely trying to assess his intentions.

With a sigh, he then turned back around, focusing his attention back to his research. "I gave them the open cottage on the other side of the village. They should be in there, seeing as they haven't left it since they arrived here."

"Thanks.", Cyno mumbled, scrambling to get up from the chair to rush to where you are. He was almost out the door, when Tighnari's voice caught his attention again, calling his name.

Cyno turned around, facing his friend again. "Don't fuck it up again.", he advised, to which Cyno nodded his head. He wouldn't, he would make sure of that.

When he arrived at your temporary residence, he immediately went to knock on the door. He waited outside for a few seconds, but no reply.

So he knocked again, more urgent this time.

Still no reply.

"(Name)!", he exclaimed this time, knocking on your door again, but still to no avail.

Getting desperate, he decided to just try and see if the door was unlocked or not.

It was. The door slid open soundlessly, inviting him inside. Carefully, he walked inside, letting his eyes take in the interior. Since the door and most of the windows have been shut, it was almost dark in here, and to top it off, he didn't hear a sound.

He was almost panicing again, thinking that you might have actually left this place, until his eyes fell on the bed, and on it, he saw your sleeping figure.

Relief flooded over him, finally being able to see you again and to actually have the knowledge that you were safe and sound.

He then walked closer to you, only to take in your state. You may have looked peaceful sleeping like this, but your eyes were red and swollen, telling him that you had cried before falling asleep. And he knew that the reason for your sadness had been him.

The need to punch himself rose again, for making you feel this way when he had promised to do everything in his power to never do that.

Instead, he decided to crouch down on the floor, next to the bed, gently taking your hand into his, placing a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

He would wait here until you woke up again, no matter how many hours from now that would be. He would wait for you and ask you to please consider talking to him.

He wanted to properly explain himself and apologize to you. Whatever you decided on doing afterwards, he would comply by it. If you wanted to break up with him, he would understand that. If you decided to give him a second chance, he would thank you on his hands and knees.

But that decision would be yours to make and he was prepared to accept whatever would be thrown his way. But for now, he was content with simply holding your hand, quietly enjoying your presence which he had missed so much...

Alhaitham

The Scribe of the Academiya has been getting more and more busy these days. Well, for now, it's best to say "former" Scribe, since he has been temporarely promoted to Acting Grand Sage.

You knew that your boyfriend had absolutely zero intention of keeping that position, even if he was more than befitting for it, seeing how knowledgeable he was.

But he much rather prefered a simple life, and you couldn't argue with that logic. Who wouldn't like that, especially when pay and work hours weren't really affected either way.

Still, for now, both you and him had to live with the changed circumstances, even though neither of you were happy with them.

Alhaitham was working even more now, trying to sort out certain matters until a new Grand Sage has been chosen. You haven't really seen or talked to him in days, yet you brushed it off, telling yourself that it would change again once he got his old position back again.

Sure, he may have cancelled a few dates and had to call off a get together with your parents, but that was perfectly understandable.

You continued to give yourself excuse after excuse, hoping that soon enough, things would get back to the way they were before all of this had happened.

Couldn't take too long...right?

...

Three hours..

You had waited for him, at Puspa Café, where you were supposed to meet for your first ever date in ages again.

And he didn't show up... Again.

You wanted to give Alhaitham the benefit of the doubt, but it was getting increasingly more difficult for you.

When you got to the home you shared with him, you were greeted by an eerie silence, telling you, that he wasn't even home to begin with.

Probably still at the Academiya, working.

You sigh, adding yet another dissapointment to the list, as you went into the bathroom to get changed into more comfortable clothes. To think that you dressed up for the occaison, only to experience heartbreak again.

It's really starting to get difficult for you to forgive him for all this stuff.

....

Yet another date cancelled by him, thanks to not showing up... Again..

But this time, he didn't even come home in the evening.

It had you worried about him beyond anything, not knowing what was going on since he always came back.

You didn't sleep that night at all, only for him to angrily walk through the front door at three in the morning, mumbling something about the incompetence of the people he was forced to work with.

He only spared a glance in your direction before he went straight into the bedroom. By the time you got in there as well, he was already fast asleep in the bed. And when you woke up in the morning, he was already gone, not even leaving you with a note or anything like he usually would.

Somehow, this was your last straw.

You endured the exact same scenario so many times before. Yet, somehow, this time was just one too many times.

Next time, you promised yourself, next time you see him, you would talk to him about it, no matter if he wanted or not. Because if you didn't then there was no reason in your eyes to continue this dying relationship.

....

Turns out, the next time you would see him would once again be in the dead of the night, thanks to Alhaitham not coming home again any earlier.

When he walked through the door, he was surprised to see you still awake. Normally, you would already be asleep and he would just silently slip under the covers next to you, enjoying what little he was able to get from being close to you again gave him, before he was also knocked out cold.

But with you standing there in front of him, expression cold and hard, he knew something was up with you. And yet, he just didn't have the energy to deal with that right now. He just wanted to sleep.

"We need to talk, Alhaitham."

No greeting, no nicknames, no nothing. You were definitely upset, yet he still tried to get out off talking right now.

"Can we do this tomorrow, (name)? I'm tired."

"You mean like all the other times you promised me something and then stood me up? No, I think not. We talk about this now."

Oh, so that's what got you so upset?

"Look, I told you I would be busy for some time until things at the Academiya get sorted out. You can't tell me you didn't know about this.", he tried to reason with you, but it only seemed to upset you even more.

"You did say that.. but it's been weeks since I've last actually talked to you. It feels more like I'm your housekeeper right now, not your partner."

"This is absurd. Now you're just thinking too much into things, (name)."

After that statement, an argument broke out between you two, right here in the hallway where you "greeted" Alhaitham. You weren't full on shouting at each other, but you were talking pretty loudly. If people were to walk by outside, they could probably hear every word you guys were throwing at each other.

But neither of you cared right now.

At some point, Alhaitham walked past you, into the living room, trying to escape the argument. But you insisted on continuing it, following him into the room and at this point, he was getting fed up with the situation.

"Archons, (name)! Can you just shut up and leave me be? I don't have time for trivial things right now!"

Immediately after he said that, you went silent and his words caught up with him as well.

He looked at you, saw how tears started to form in your eyes and instantly regretted ever letting those words fall out of his mouth. Nothing was more important than you in his eyes, and yet, he still said that to you. Like you didn't mean the world to him, which you did.

"(Name)-!"

"So, what? Was i really nothing to you? Was i just some kind of object that you can just forget about that easily? To toss aside when you don't want it anymore?"

You hated how your voice cracked halfway through, how tears started to escape your eyes. And despite how much his words had hurt you, you still didn't want to run from the situation. You had to see it through.

"If that is how you truly feel about me, maybe we should end-!"

Before you were able to end your sentence, you were suddenly pushed against a strong chest, warm arms keeping you in an embrace you had longed so much for, yet right now, it wasn't comforting at all.

"Let go off me..", you stated weakly, giving no indication that you planned to reciprocate his sign of affection.

"Never..", he whispered, and with the way he sounded right now, you could almost think that he was starting to cry as well. Almost..

"I'm so sorry, (name). I truly didn't mean to say that. Please, you have to believe me, I don't mean it. You are not trivial to me, nor is our relationship.

I.. I love you. I truly do. Though I don't openly say it that often, that doesn't mean my words hold any less truth in them. You have to believe me."

"I want to... I really want to believe you, Alhaitham. But with the way things are and have been for those weeks... I don't think I can.."

By now, the tears are streaming freely from your face and you weakly put your hands against his chest, needing some kind of stability.

"Then let me prove it to you. Let me prove to you that I still love you like the first day, that I never stopped loving you, even if my words and actions made you think otherwise."

You were silent after that for some time, thinking it over. You had no idea what the best course of action for you would be, but in the end, you decided to go with what your heart was telling you. Wether or not you would regret that decision, you had to find that out in the future.

"...One more chance. You better don't fuck up again or I'm leaving for good.", you mumbled against his chest, his shirt already stained with your tears, but neither you nor Alhaitham cared about that in the slightest.

All he could focus on, was you in his arms and the fact you granted him with another chance. And he intended to use it the best he could.

Kazuha

Between travelling around the different nations and helping out Beidou on board of the Alchor from time to time, Kazuha never really had much time.

You love Kazuha. You really do...

But sometimes, you just can't help but wonder if you even have a relationship with him at this point.

When he's gone again, for weeks or sometimes even months on end, and the only form of communication with him stems from a few letters sprinkled in between here and there, how could you not doubt?

In the beginning, you used to travel around with him. And while you enjoyed the time spent with your boyfriend, getting to see all those different places and creating wonderful memories with him, you eventually grew tired of it.

That's not to say that you didn't enjoy wandering around the nations with Kazuha by your side, but you just couldn't imagine spending your entire life like this. Never being provided with a place of your own, to call your home, constantly on the go.

It just wasn't your way of living.

Kazuha understood that and would never force you to accompany him, just like you would never force him to stay with you, even when sometimes the loneliness just got more to you than on other days.

He always came back to you, but he never stayed for more than a few days before he was out the door again, not to be seen for an unknown amount of time.

It was difficult, living like this. You tried to live off the memories and happy moments you had with him when he was here with you, but it wasn't enough anymore. You wanted him by your side again, but you also knew that he would suffer in the long run if you were to ask him to stay here with you.

However, in your mind, it also wasn't an option to just leave thing unmentioned.

Which is why you made the desicion, that the next time he would come home to you, you needed to talk to him about your thoughts and feelings, in hopes you could come to a solution together.

.....

Turns out, the next time he's home again would be three months later. And like always, only letters could have been exchanged throughout this entire time.

Kazuha already had a sneaking suspicion that something wasn't right with you. He couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but the way you were writing in these letters sounded off from your usual way, which is also why he tried to make it back to you as soon as he could. He felt bad that it still took him this long, but there was nothing he could have done about it.

The city he resided in when he got that particular letter from you underwent a strict lockdown only hours later, due to a prisoner escaping. The entire city had been shut down to find him as quickly as possible, all forms of communication had also been cut short.

It took them three weeks to apprehend the convict again, and as soon as the city doors opened again, Kazuha was out of them and on his way back to you.

...

When Kazuha arrived back at the little cottage the two of you shared, it was in the late afternoon.

Already, when he opened the door, he was absolutely certain now that something was wrong. Usually, you would come running to greet him at the first noise or hint that he had come back.

But now? Nothing.

"(Name)? I'm back!", he yelled, in hopes of getting your attention this way, but still, no reaction. Maybe you were out buying groceries or something?

Still, Kazuha decided to wander through the different rooms, just to make sure he wouldn't miss anything. And now, he's glad that he did as he saw you sitting on the patio, wrapped up in a comfortable blanket.

As he approached you, he noticed that you must be deep in your thoughts, just staring ahead of you. He gently opened the door and when that also didn't seem to catch your attention, he decided to speak up.

"Darling?", he asked, cautiously, not wanting to spook you.

You flinched a little at the unexpected sound coming from behind you, but just as quickly, you relaxed again, realizing who that voice belonged to.

"Kazuha. You're back.", you stated, grazing him with a small smile as you turned around to look at him, but nothing more. Normally, you would jump up into his arms, almost taking his breath away.

But Kazuha didn't say anything about it, instead, he grabbed one of the other chairs and sat right beside you. He gently took one of your hands into his, holding it like that. He missed this, missed this physical contact with you.

"Please.. Tell me what's been bothering you, darling."

"....was I that obvious?", you asked, causing a small smile to appear on Kazuha's lips. But he didn't answer, instead waited for you to continue on.

You sighed, fixing your gaze away from him and ahead of you again, thinking about how to best approach this. It was silent for a few minutes until you spoke up again.

"It's just... You're always gone for so long that I-!"

Before you could actually finish your sentence, Kazuha began to groan beside you, making you look at him in confusion.

"(Name).. you know that I don't like being bound to one place."

"I know that, but-!"

"No but's! You knew what you were involving yourself in by being with me. Why are we even having this conversation now?"

You were shocked, not expecting Kazuha to immediately get so defensive about this. All you wanted was to talk to him and maybe propose an idea you had got when he was away. But the way he was acting right now made you feel bitter.

"Can you just listen to me? I'm not trying to confine you, I just-!"

"Yes, you are, (name). What else could you possibly want to achieve by beginning the conversation like that?"

Fed up from being interrupted by him a third time now, you've had enough. An argument started to ensue, when you didn't even intend for this to happen.

You've never experienced something like this with Kazuha, he was always level-headed, calm and collected. So why was he suddenly getting so defensive over this topic. It really wasn't like you were trying to hold him here.

But, with each thing said, both you and him grew more and more heated, the shouting starting to get louder and louder, until Kazuha suddenly stood up.

"If I knew you would get like that, maybe I shouldn't have returned at all."

As you heard him say that, you instantly went silent, looking at him with your eyes wide open.

No.. he couldn't mean that, right?

It also now seemed to catch up to Kazuha what he just said, as he also turned to look at you, shock written all over his face.

"(Name), I...", he began to stay, but trailed off, not knowing what he even wanted to say in the first place. He knew he had fucked up with that statement.

"So, that's it? I wasn't anything to you? Just something you can toy with when you get bored, only to be thrown away when you don't want me anymore?"

A single tear escaped you, running down your cheek and Kazuha immediately had the instinct to wipe it away from your beautiful face, to pull you into his arms and tell you how sorry he was.

So he did just that, pulling you into him, holding your face against his chest as he held your head secure with his hand, your tears now starting to come out freely.

"I'm so sorry, darling. I didn't mean to say such horrible things. No words can express how much I regret ever letting them out of my mouth."

You weren't able to answer him, your breathing being erratic, trying to choke down your sobs and crys. It positively broke Kazuha's heart that he was the immediate cause for this.

He just let you cry in his arms until you calmed down again, all the while he kept apologizing to you over and over, telling you how much he loved you and how much you meant to him.

The two of you would have to continue this conversation, but not today. Not when both of you were this wound up from everything that had happened.

The talking could be done tomorrow. Now was the time for healing...

[sophios-draws]

lego dimensions portal dialogue!!

i compiled some of the silly ones (see end for notes)

GLaDOS

I always thought it would be wonderful to have a deep, emotional connection to someone… until I met YOU. (to chell) (gayass line #1)

Well, well, well, look who’s back. You must love science almost as much as me. (to chell) (gayass line #2)

Oh well, if it isn't the grand return of King Moron and his Mute Princess. (to chell and wheatley)

Well done. It seems you have mastered the graceful and noble art of ‘bouncing’. (to chell re: repulsion gel)

Very good. With the accelerative power of Propulsion Gel at your disposal, you need only worry about your wits being slow. (to chell re: propulsion gel)

What’s wrong? You look tired. Would you like a break or a nap? Maybe I could get an associate to rub your feet for you if I’m not boring you too much. (to batman et al.)

Did I mention I had a cake made JUST for YOU? Unfortunately none of the typical ingredients were available, so it consists mostly of sawdust and leftover propulsion gel. If anything, I think that just gives it even more of a personal touch. (to chell)

Wheatley

Oh dear. Someone booted up on the wrong side of the BIOS this morning, if I’m not mistaken. (to chell re: glados)

Ugh. Uh, I must have forgotten to, to carry the zero… And ummm… Let me try again, let me try again. I don’t suppose you know what, what’s Pi? Is it three something? (to batman et al.)

Seriously, where do you learn that stuff? What is it? Textbooks? Is it, um, online courses? Um, I mean, do you have to go to some kind of y’know, retreat, where you wear robes and things? And there’s some chap with long hair and a guitar? (to chell)

You want to say, “I TOLD you, Wheatley. I SAID you were too hard on those poor little mutant boxes, whose only ever crime was trying to make their daddy proud. And now they’ve run away from home, each of ‘em hiding GLaD-knows-where, scared and alone in some dark, dingy corner of the lab.” (to chell re: frankenturrets) ("glad" instead of "god"... checks out)

Keep it up! Although no mad rush, ‘cause I’m actually working on an apology speech… which I think is… is… quite beautiful. (to chell re: frankenturrets)

Ah! You all came back! I never thought I’d be so happy to see your little improvised-robotic faces! But I am, I am! And… what I want to say is… *throat clearing* if you don’t want to step on buttons, then DON’T step on buttons! Alright? Don’t step on a single one! Not even if an orphanage is burning down and the only way to activate the sprinkler system is to step on a button, don’t do it! Don’t… Well, you probably SHOULD do it in that case, but other than that, you know, do what you wanna do. You’re strong, independent mutant boxes! Think for yourselves, be yourselves! (to frankenturrets)

Cave Johnson

Caroline… I think I’ll have extra cheese on my ‘four cheese burrito’ today… throw in a side of coleslaw too. Oh wait, is this thing on?

Caroline, hold my calls. I need to go see a man about a mule. What was that? Alright. Good. Mule. Gonna go see him in the bathroom. Back in ten. (??? sir what is this about ???)

You might have noticed some safety warnings on the walls. Just ignore ‘em. I keep telling the Bean Counters danger’s just a natural part of science, but boy they don’t want to hear it. Like telling a paradox to a robot – makes their heads explode.

Now, the lab boys were adamant that I do not give you any hints on these tests. To be honest, they think I’m spoiling the results just by talking to you. Hizenstein Uncertainty Principles and so forth. I’ll give ‘em something more practical to be uncertain about. Their next paycheck. Anyway, overruled. If you think I’m affecting your decisions in any way, don’t be afraid to speak up. I’m not made of glass. That reminds me: Caroline, do we have a wing made out of glass yet? Let’s get on that, Caroline. (we know what became of that...)

Rick

And luckily for you, Rick the Adventure Sphere – just call me Rick – is here to show you how it’s done! You best get your ointment ready, sweetie, because with this assault course right here, you are going to FEEL THE BURN! (to chell) (no amount of context can save this line)

i watched playthroughs of the lego portal content and its pretty neat. there are three chunks of portal content: the starter pack aperture science level, the portal 2 level pack, and the portal 2 adventure world. downloadable voicelines are only available for the first of those three, afaik. the lines i included here are a mix of all three, transcribed directly from the youtube playthroughs. there are a lot of really good lines that i didnt include so if people are interested ill post more

[mj-iza-writer]

Masochist whumpee who messes up simple tasks to get hurt by their master. When whumper notices this they get very angry and decide to show whumpee what real pain feels like

Warning: lab whump. Inclusion of detailed amputation.

"Whumpee, you're going to get into trouble if Whumper catches on that you are messing up their experiments purposely", Test Subject 2, watched from their cell.

"I can't help it... It's the only way we get attention is when they test us", Whumpee held onto their side as the stinging went away, "I just want attention. I don't care how I get it."

"We are test subjects for this lab, we don't get things like that", Test Subject 3 sighed, "just behave before you get in a lot of trouble."

Whumper came in and opened Whumpee's cell.

"Come on. Let's try this over again", Whumper sighed as they lifted Whumpee into their arms.

Whumpee laid their head against Whumper's chest as they were carried to the room.

"Don't get too comfortable", Whumper scolded, "I'm not exactly happy with how your results are going. You've been causing a lot of unnecessary issues. I know it's not my test either, as the others are doing just fine."

Whumpee gulped.

"Wow, it's almost like night and day, you did that perfectly", Whumper frowned, "almost too perfectly considering earlier you barely understood what I was asking from you."

Whumpee nodded and looked down.

"You aren't purposely screwing up are you?", Whumper glared.

"N-no Master, I just thought a little more about what you wanted and was able to complete it now", Whumpee smiled weakly, "I-I'm sorry."

"Ymhmm", Whumper leaned on the table and pulled out their phone, "how about this video. I decided to place a camera in Test Subject 4's cell for a different a test and was upset to learn this behavior."

Whumpee gulped again as their conversation was played in front of them.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?", Whumper grew angrier, "you have no rights in this lab. You have no rights to having wants for attention. You are a pitiful rat. My rat. I do not like that you played me as a fool."

Whumpee held their head down, "I-I'm sorry, I-I just want to be loved. I miss...."

Whumper backhanded Whumpee, sending them off the lab table and to the floor.

"You don't get to have wants", Whumper yelled and stomped toward them.

Whumpee crawled backward until they ran into the wall.

"Please... please", Whumpee pleaded.

Whumper grabbed them by the neck and pulled them up.

Whumpee stammered and choked as they were pushed against the wall.

"You want attention so much.... you just signed up for my newest experiment", Whumper grinned evilly, "I've been waiting to do this to somebody, but I didn't know who. It will be rather painful you see."

"No please", Whumpee whispered.

"You want my attention so much. Well, here you go", Whumper dropped Whumpee and watched them fall to the floor.

"Prepare them", Whumper stomped out of the room.

Whumpee was strapped down to a table and dressed in surgerical drapes.

Whumper came in dressed in surgical dress.

"Please Master, forgive me", Whumpee pleaded, "I won't do it again. I won't ask for anything. No wants, nothing. I won't even talk unless you want me to."

"I know you won't... not after this", Whumper sighed.

A team came in, also dressed for surgery.

"This test it to study how much pain the human body can be in. The test subject will be getting amputated at their wrist on their right arm. They will have to meet a certain predetermined threshold before anesthesia is offered", Whumper looked over the team, "this will also prepare this subject for future planned test. This subject is right-handed, so I will be able to study the effects of losing that hand."

"Please", Whumpee yelled, "don't do this... please."

"To late", Whumper didn't look at them, "everything is prepped, I'm not stopping now."

The first slice was made.

Whumpee's scream was blood curdling.

Whumper continued, ignoring Whumpee.

"We will leave some skin here for me to sew the stitches", Whumper sighed.

Whumpee continued to scream.

"Place something in their mouth for them to bite down on", Whumper continued to cut, "prepare the bone saw. I've already cut the arteries and veins, we are tying them off now. Nurse hold that."

"Whumper, they are reaching a very high rate. May I recommend anesthesia now", a different person showed them the screen, "they don't look like they are doing alright."

Whumper looked at the screen, then at Whumpee.

Whumpee was pale and shaking, sweat glistened from their skin.

"No, not yet. I want to see what happens once we hit bone", Whumper grinned.

Whumpee whimpered. They were in too much pain to even attempt yelling now. Their vision blurred and everything sounded muffled.

"Whumper in my professional advice may I...", they tried again.

"No you may not", Whumper sighed calmly.

Whumpee whimpered as they heard the saw start.

"Please", Whumpee whispered quietly.

Their back arched as the saw hit bone.

"You may give anesthesia", Whumper watched.

Whumpee was taken to their cell and laid down on the floor.

The other test subjects watched sadly as the nurses walked away.

"Ar-are you okay?", Test Subjest 2 broke the ice.

"N-no", Whumpee rolled over to look away from them. They cuddled what bit of their arm was left.

Whumper removed more than what was originally planned. After the anesthesia was given, Whumpee fell unconscious. Whumper decided to take more.

"What happened... what did they do?", Test Subject 3 asked curiously.

"They uhm", Whumpee couldn't say it. With tears in their eyes they showed the left over part of their arm.

"No", Test Subject 1 gasped.

"I wasn't given anesthesia until they cut into the bone. I felt it all", Whumpee sobbed, "I just wanted attention", they whispered, "is that bad of me? ""

After a few days Whumpee was taken back into the room so Whumper could examine the wound and make sure it was healing properly.

"How are you feeling?", Whumper talked absent mildly.

"Ok", Whumpee whispered, they made a small whine when the bandages were removed.

"What nothing else to say. You know you can talk right", Whumper moved the stump around.

"No Master", Whumpee kept their head low.

"Hmm, I guess that's fair. The surgery took a lot out of you, I bet. Your recovery seems to be doing well. You're eating and progressing. No signs of infection either", Whumper started to put new bandages on, "looking back, I believe I may have gone a bit too far by doing this to you... at least without the proper anesthesia for you. I'm sorry about that. You just made me so mad. I couldn't help myself."

Whumpee let a few tears fall. They splashed onto their uniform.

Whumper reached up and lifted Whumpee's face.

Whumpee's eyes were sunken in and dark. Their color was much paler than before the amputation. Their lip quivered as Whumper studied them.

"I understand that I shouldn't have messed with your results, bu...", Whumpee sniffled, "but what was so wrong about wanting attention. It's not like I was asking for much, I was happy with you beating me up. I just craved human touch.... wa-was that wrong?"

More tears fell from Whumpee's eyes as Whumper studied them.

"I have no answer for you besides the fact you ruined my research. In that, you irritated me to which I didn't care what you wanted", Whumper frowned, "I..."

"I know", Whumpee whispered in frustration.

"Hmm, alright back to your cell with you", Whumper frowned, "I'll consider if I want to give you any gifts for an apology."

"Don't bother, in the end you got what you wanted. You wanted an amputated test subject, you got one", Whumpee sighed.

"Watch your tongue", Whumper warned, "you can be upset, I understand that, but you may not speak freely."

Whumper sat at their desk studying some notes.

A nurse entered.

"How can I help?", Whumper frowned.

"Whumpee is refusing to eat, they denied breakfast and lunch", the nurse sat down, "they are dangerously close to getting sick if they don't eat. After that procedure."

"Tie them down and tube feed them then", Whumper frowned.

"No I'm not doing that", the nurse crossed their arms.

"Excuse me?", Whumper looked a bit shocked.

"After what you did to them, and what you do to those test subjects, you owe them all an apology", the nurse frowned, "they are all severely touch starved, you need to do something before they all die of broken hearts."

"I do, do I?", Whumper grinned, "tell me... since your the professional, what should I do to make a bunch of test subjects happy?"

"They're test subjects, but they're also people... can't you agree on that?", the nurse frowned.

"Fine if you are so concerned you can be the one to ask each one if there is something that can be provided to make them comfortable. I guess I should make it up to Whumpee, and it wouldn't hurt to boost their morals. Whumpee can't have anything until they eat though, got it?"

The nurse came back and handed a paper to Whumper, "everyone has spoken."

"Let's see what the idiots want", Whumper looked at the paper.

"Test Subject 1 wants some books... approved. Test Subjest 2 wants thicker blankets... approved. Test Subject 3 wants me to die or a coloring book and markers. Coloring book is approved, but they get crayons, I don't want marker everywhere. Test Subject 4 wants to die... makes since they are going through a bad experiment right now. They would like softer blankets... approved", Whumper frowned, "Whumpee wants attention and cuddles... they get a weighted blanket and a weighted teddy bear", Whumper went through the rest of the list. "Everything else is approved."

Whumper went down the corridor where the test subjects were kept. All of them huddled into the corner of their cell.

Whumpee turned away when they saw Whumper walk by.

"I thought I'd let all of you know your request were approved, at least most of them I don't plan on dying or killing any of you", Whumper sighed and started to leave.

The nurse entered minutes later with a cart.

"I come bringing gifts", they announced.

Every one came close to their cell doors to look.

Everything was handed out, but Whumpee still sat in the corner of their cell... they watched.

"Pss.. Whumpee, come here", the nurse finally came by, "Whumper approved for you to have a weighted blanket and weighted toy so I hope you like these, but you can also ask me for a hug whenever you like. That goes for all of you."

Whumpee took the gifts and nodded, "thankyou so much", they tenderly walked back to where they were sitting. Covered up with the blanket and cuddled the stuffie.

It wasn't enough, they needed more. They were thankful to the nurse for getting these things for them.... but one thing they had learned was not to voice their wants or desires too loudly. These items would have to do for now.

Probably a different type of story, I hope it's okay and that you enjoyed it. Thankyou for the ask.

[sailorsenshishitposter]

Liquid Snake x Reader

Warning for language but it's part of the copypasta. Also British stereotypes in case that offends you.

Liquid Snake

You have a thing for bad boys, are attracted to English accents or you just have a massive inferiority complex.

First Date:

You are a soldier working on Shadow Moses Island. Your partner has just taken Solid Snake to a locked cell after bring tortured by Ocelot, now leaving you and the blonde alone together. He turns your way and you try not to shit your pants Johnny style. He looks at you, then places a palm on your shoulder. "Oi mate, I think ell be outta it fo' a while. Care fo' a spot o' tea?" You're not really left with much of a choice so you follow your boss.

You eventually reach a cafeteria for the staff. Liquid dumps all the coffee out of the pot and begins to fill it with earl grey tea. "You hungry?" You shake your head. You couldn't possibly eat after seeing what the man had for himself on a tray. "Nothing like good ol' beans an marmite!" He then grabbed the pot and drank it all, scalding his throat. "That was bloody good, that it was!" Was your superior some kind of freak?

He then went on a long speech about french infants or something? You didn't really care and started to zone out. You didn't realize you had fallen asleep until you woke up to liquids final words. "And next thing I no, the bloke is ripping out me vocal cords. That's wot I get for workin' with a red head who got his fashion sense from a BDSM club." Just then you heard a noise. !

It was none other than Solid Snake, having made his escape. Liquid was furious. "BRUV, HOW DID YOU ESCAPE!" His twin walked closer. "That's not important. I just came by to tell you that you're wrong. You can't download UNO for Xbox." Liquid then felt his veins begin to twitch. "Everyone has UNO dipshit. It came fo' free with your fucking Xbox!" His twin then gave him a smirk. "I didn't get it, I have the oldest Xbox known to man."

"No you don't, I bought mine on day one you fucking tard."

.....

"Well, mine didn't have it." He was determined to prove Solid wrong. The two men soon ended up in a screaming match, various swears tossed back and forth. "I DON'T FUCKING HAVE UNO MOTHERFUCKER!"

"GO TO IT IN THE ARCADE AND YOU'LL BE ABLE TO DOWNLOAD IT FO' FREE, YOU DUMB WANKER! IT'S A FUCKING CARD GAME, THEY DON'T EVEN CHARGE PEOPLE FO' IT!"

"I DON'T HAVE TWO, I DON'T HAVE THREE, I DON'T HAVE FUCKING FOUR, I DON'T HAVE SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN, OR ELEVEN!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW A GODDAMN BLOODY THING, IT'S FUCKING UNO, IT'S FREE-" Suddenly Liquid stopped. He raised his hand to his chest and gave out a weak cough. He then toppled over, a result from the FOXDIE. "Damn. Never seen someone get so angry that they straight up had a heart attack. Colonel, the plan worked. I'm bringing Meryl back and then we're going to pound town. Just don't expect me to call her afterwards." You couldn't hear the other voice on the codec call but you had a hunch that it was something along the lines of "Wait, what?-"

Shit. Well now you were out of a job. You went to the lab and found a computer already logged in. It was time to start looking for shady jobs on Craigslist again.

[simmerdowndee]

GROVE-ING TOGETHER MINI EPISODE TWO PART FOUR

Theo and TJ2 come back from pizza. They seem to have had a blast because he came back with all kinds of toys and gifts. 

Theo: We had a blast didn't we bud? TJ2: Yeah dad, we did! Dakota: Glad you guys had fun.  Theo: His mom is on her way to get him, and then I wanted to talk to you babe.  Dakota: That’s actually perfect, because I wanted to talk to the both of you! 

Jessica knocks on the door and comes in.

Jessica: Did you have a good time with your dad?  TJ2: Mom, we had so much fun! Dakota: TJ, why don't you go play with miso, she is very friendly.  TJ2: I got a dog too!  TJ2 goes and plays with Miso in the kitchen while the adults talk in the living room. Jessica: The lab says it may be another 24 hours, sorry for the delay.  Dakota: Oh that is fine.  Theo: It is? Dakota: Yes babe, it is. We don’t even need the result, he isn't yours.  Theo: Dakota, please. We talked about this. 

Dakota: No babe, this isn't me in denial. I KNOW he isn't yours for sure.  Jessica: How without the results? Dakota: Your son started to look around and saw pictures of our daughters. He asked if they were his sisters, and made the comment that “they look older than him.” I asked him how old he was and he said that you told him he had to be 7 while you were here.

Theo: What is she talking about Jessica?  Jessica: He’s just a kid, he doesn’t know what he’s saying. 

Dakota: Kids, they are very honest.  Dakota: So I did some digging, because I couldn't wait for the results.  Dakota: Did Theo ever tell you I was a lawyer?  Jessica: Uh… no. He didn't… 

Dakota: Well unfortunately for you, I still have plenty of contacts at my former firm. I had them look into his birth certificate. I bet you could imagine my surprise, when it stated he’s only FIVE.  Dakota: So Theo, unless you cheated on me while we were in college, he’s not your son.  Jessica: She’s making that up.  Dakota: And now you have the audacity to say I'm lying in my own house? Here Theo, here’s his birth certificate.  Theo looks at the document Theo: There’s also another man's signature on it. Jessica, is this true? Jessica: I… uh…uh Dakota: How did you plan to get around the DNA results? We sent them to an official lab?

TJ2 comes back in. 

TJ2: We went to a lab before we got here. It was fun. My uncle Charlie works there! 

TJ2 runs back out again.

Dakota: Wow…  Dakota: You planned to give him tainted results? Dakota: Once again, I am a lawyer?  Theo: Jessica, why would you lie about something as serious as this? Jessica: He needed a father that would provide for him. I knew you would step up if you thought you had a kid….. Theo: You come here and cause tension between my pregnant wife and I because of your poor choices??  Jessica: I’m sorry Theo.  Theo: And you put your innocent kid in the middle of this?  Theo: HE THINKS I'M HIS DAD, JESSICA. 

Wow, Theo never really gets this mad.. He must be disappointed at the results…. 

Theo to Dakota: What are you doing? Dakota: Calling the lab and telling them the results are tainted.  Jessica: Wait, please. I don’t want my brother to get fired. Please.  Dakota: And how is that my problem?  Jessica: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I will take my son and go.  Theo: Not before you explain to him what is happening. 

Jessica calls TJ2 into the living room. 

Jessica to TJ2: We have to leave now sweetie.  TJ2: Am I coming back tomorrow dad? Jessica: Unfortunately baby, no. The lab results said Theo isn't your dad.  TJ2: But I wanted him to be my dad…. Jessica: I know baby, me too…

*Theo kneels down to TJ2*

Theo: Hey bud, if you ever need anything, or just want to talk about computers, just give me a call, okay.

Jessica: We’ll be going now. Theo: I meant what I said to him.  Jessica: *nods her head*

Jessica and TJ2 leave and Theo walks in the kitchen. I follow behind him. He puts his head in his palms. 

Dakota: Are you upset with me? Dakota: I’m sorry I didn't wait until the results but -  Theo: I am so happy you decided to be nosy. 

Was not expecting that reaction……

Dakota: Really? Theo: I honestly don't know what I would've done if he turned out to be mine. All I could think about is how it's going to change our family dynamic. 

Theo: I was very afraid I would lose you…

Dakota: I would never leave you, Theo.

Dakota: I would just have to accept our new reality at that point… Dakota: But at least we know the truth now.. Dakota: Theo… Theo: Yeah babe? Dakota: Are you upset he isn't yours? You seemed very disappointed… Dakota: You can be honest.  Theo: When I spent the day with him, I knew he’d fit right in with our family… he likes a lot of the things I did when I was his age.  Dakota: Mhm.  Theo: But, I still wouldn't want to change what we have right now if I didn’t have to.  Dakota: *Nods* Theo: Hey, look at me.

Theo: I love you. I love our kids. I love OUR family. You guys are all I need. I promise.

Theo: I’m so sorry you had to deal with this. Dakota: I love you too. It’s fine… it’s over now, right?

Theo: Yes. I don’t think anyone else will pop up from the past.

Theo: If they do, we will not answer the fucking door.

Dakota: *Laughs* Theo: Oh I meant to ask, what did the lab say? Dakota: Oh! When I called to inform them of what was going on, they let me know that her brother had been fired earlier yesterday morning, so he wouldn't have been able to taint the results as they had planned.  Theo: So, do you still want them? Dakota: Absolutely. I’m gonna put them on the fridge like a school drawing.  Theo: Babe… *Laughs* Dakota: Fine, I won't do that… but we will keep them for security purposes.  Theo: Sounds good.  Theo: I kinda want to go get our kids now.  Dakota: Yeah, let's go get them. I miss them.  Theo: We can all stop for pizza.  Dakota: Oh our kids get pizza seconds huh… Theo: See, everything is back to normal. You are back to being dramatic as hell.  Dakota *Laughs* Theo: I love you babe. 

Dakota: I love you too. 

I’m glad this is all over with. I don't think I could handle waiting another day for results. I know Theo would have done the right thing, he’s always been responsible. 

I’m just quite frankly glad he didn't have to….

[sugarmapl]

Prompt time!

Scara being a brat cuz he wants negative attention and Kazuha not falling for it

Kazuha hugs him and scara cries

The end

Do with this what you will, but I'd like scara to have a little angst, as a treat

(No pressure though I know you got stuff going on! Have a fantastic day and remember to drink water and do your stretches!)

Awww thank you so much!! I hope you have a great day as well <3 and I gotta say, this prompt was awesome! I really liked writing it so much that I jotted this down ASAP! I really really hope you like it!! (p.s. i love scara angst!)

kazuscara drabble ~800 words; angst with a happy ending :)

a name

Scara was bored. Kazuha had been busy all morning with “sword maintenance” and asked that the puppet not disturb him for a little while. But what was he supposed to do? Wait around like some pathetic housewife? So, of course, he had to bother the samurai.

The entire scenario reminded him of his time in the Fatui, spending long hours with Dottore in his lab. Scara would wait what felt like an eternity while The Doctor was busy with an experiment, or pouring over results of a test they had just run. Inevitably, the puppet would grow restless in his boredom and end up pestering Dottore one way or another until the fellow harbinger had enough and snapped at him.

He would “punish” Scara by hitting him, or cutting him open, or calling him a series of colorful and degrading names. But Scara never minded those “punishments”. Secretly, he craved them. In those moments, he always had The Doctor’s full attention. No matter what insulting words and names were thrown at him, he loved them all. Because they were his. Scara had never gotten a proper name, so he would take anything he could get.

The puppet wondered if the same method would work on Kazuha. If he bothered him enough, would the samurai “punish” him too? He decided it was worth a shot. It had been a while since he craved such strong attention, and it had already been hours since Kazuha went into the other room to polish and sharpen his blade. Apparently, it had some kind of spirit trapped inside of it, so it required special attention. But Scara required special attention, too!

Without further hesitation, he pushed open the wooden door to their little makeshift blacksmithy. Instantly, Kazuha’s head whipped around at the intrusion.

“Scara, I thought I asked you not to disturb me,” the samurai said calmly. He wouldn’t be an easy one to break.

“Yeah, so what? You expect me to listen? I’m bored,” Scara whined. He started fiddling with the smithing tools on the workbench, picking them up and playing with them before putting them back down in a different place.

Kazuha was very orderly when it came to the tools, so the puppet knew that the action would get on the samurai’s nerves. However, Kazuha surprisingly remained unflinching, merely letting out a light sigh.

“Please don’t touch those. I’m almost done, so just wait outside,” he said in his usual gentle tone.

Scara was unsatisfied. Shouldn’t he be getting annoyed by now? Dottore always hated when he messed with his stuff, he assumed most humans would be no different. That would have been more than enough to set The Doctor off by now. Maybe Kazuha just needed an extra little push.

The puppet walked over, draping himself across Kazuha’s body and leaning into him. The samurai sat with his sword in his hand, and from the added pressure was forced to double over at the waist. He merely grunted, but made no move to push Scara off or smack him like the puppet expected.

“I’m not gonna leave until you play with me. Haven’t you given the stupid sword enough attention already?” he grumbled from on top of him. As he spoke, he increased the pressure on the other’s back.

“I only need a few more minutes, I promise,” Kazuha told him gently.

Now Scara was the one getting annoyed. Why wasn’t Kazuha getting angry? Why wasn’t he caving? Was Scara so inconsequential in the samurai’s eyes that he wasn’t even worth getting upset over? Frustrated, he reached down and yanked the red blade out of Kazuha’s hands before chucking it across the room.

“No, I want you to be done now,” he spat bitterly. He didn’t know why he was getting so angry. He was supposed to be the one pissing Kazuha off, but the samurai’s indifference stung even more.

“Scara!” Kazuha finally cried in exasperation once his sword had been tossed away. But he still didn’t sound irritated, more like surprised. Just how much patience could one person have?

“What’s the matter with you?” Scara couldn’t help but ask.

Kazuha looked back at him in confusion. He finally stood up so that they were facing each other. “With me?”

“Yes! Why don’t you push me off? Or call me names, or smack me, or-”

“Is that what you want?” Kazuha asked, still perplexed.

“I just want you to do something, anything, but you won’t even acknowledge me! I-”

He stopped talking, because in an instant Kazuha had wrapped him into a hug. It was tight, but not suffocating. Soon after, Scara felt a soothing hand running up and down his back.

“What-”

“I’m sorry,” Kazuha interrupted him in a whisper. The words brushed the puppet’s ear, making their way to his non-existent heart where they settled like an anchor.

Scara couldn’t even reply because he was too busy choking back a sob. Subconsciously, his own arms raised to wrap around Kazuha and return the hug just as the first tear slipped free. From there, it was like the floodgates had opened, and suddenly the samurai’s shoulder was drenched.

“It’s okay,” Kazuha said softly, “I see you, darling.”

And that only made Scara cry harder. He had just received his first precious name.

[mikaela-granger]

The Long Wait (Season 6) Chapter 6 – What Did I Miss?

Fandom: Grimm

Pairing: Sean Renard/OFC

The Long Wait Masterlist

A/N:  While Sean is dealing with his ghost problem, Lorelei is reuniting with her friends and family.

Events in this chapter are occurring concurrently to the events of Chapter 4 and 5.

***Lorelei’s POV***

“Hey stranger, long time no see.”

A smile broke across Lorelei’s face when she saw her brother standing at the door. “Hey.”

Nick approached her, giving her a hug. “How are you doing? Any updates from the doctor?” He asked as he perched on the edge of her bed. Lorelei had sent a message to Nick and Adalind last night, letting them know that she was in the hospital and probably would be for the foreseeable future.

Lorelei nodded. “Yeah, Dr Brody came in a short time ago. My preeclampsia is being a little bitch. Thankfully, I got here early enough that it’s settled down a bit. They started me on magnesium sulfate to prevent any seizures.”

Nick nodded slowly. “And preeclampsia is what hospitalised you last time?”

“Yes. Although its not that bad this time. I did however get a second diagnosis. It’s called HELLP syndrome. It’s basically a disorder of the liver and blood.” Lorelei explained. “The name is an acronym of three abnormalities seen on lab analyses. Hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, and low platelet count.”

Nick looked concerned. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Lorelei shrugged. “If they didn’t catch it early, it could have been. It’s actually rare and has vague symptoms. I got lucky they realised that was what I had.”

“Lucky indeed. So, what does that mean for you and the twins?”

“I’ll be in the hospital until I give birth. Which will probably be within the next week. Sooner rather than later.” Lorelei told him.

Nick sighed. “You certainly don’t do things by half, do you?”

Lorelei sighed. “No. No I don’t.” She agreed. “But enough about me, I’ve been out of the loop. What the hell has been going on?”

Despite Nick not wanting to cause her any more stress, she managed to convince him to fill her in on what had been going on within their group. Lorelei found out that Black Claw had wiped out HW in Portland. The only survivors had been Trubel and Eve. Trubel had headed off to help HW in other parts of the world. Nick admitted that the destruction of HW’s Portland branch had pissed him off and he’d made the mistake of attacking Sean in the precinct, resulting in his arrest. Nick had been transferred to the North Precinct which had been all wesen, loyal to Black Claw. There Nick had met Bonaparte, who had played with his mind and tried to get the Grimm ancestry book. Nick had been saved by Eve, resulting in the deaths of everyone at the North Precinct. No wonder Bonaparte had been pissed when he returned to the house. Lorelei also found out a little more about whatever arrangement Sean and Nick came to. The North Precinct attack was successfully blamed on Bonaparte. Sean returned as Captain. Nick, Hank, and Wu kept their jobs. It sounded like things were returning somewhat to normal. Although Lorelei knew that any trust her friends and family had in Sean had been destroyed. Not that she could blame them.

“Does Renard know most of the plan was your idea?” Nick asked Lorelei and she confirmed he did. “What was his reaction?”

Lorelei shrugged. “I assume he’s hurt. But I think he gets why I did it. I get the feeling most of the blame will be on you though.”

Nick also provided an update on the stick and the cloth. Apparently, Eve had been able to see some kind of symbols on the cloth that the others couldn’t see. Between that, the side effects she seemed to experience after being healed by the stick, and something called a death grip she experienced when trying to get rid a dead Black Claw agent from the spice shop, she had believed more answers could be found on the cloth. Eve didn’t believe anything good could come from the stick. Lorelei also learned that Adalind and Diana had seen the cloth, with Diana being able to see the symbols like Eve could.

“I was wondering how Diana was capable of seeing the symbols that weren’t even visible with spectral imaging. And then Eve reminded me what Mom said about Diana having a special destiny.” Nick told her.

Lorelei bit her lip. “So, you think Diana is somehow connected this?”

Nick sighed. “I don’t know.”

Before leaving, Nick showed her a photo of Diana’s drawing of what was on the cloth. Something about the layout looked familiar to Lorelei, but she couldn’t quite place her finger on it. Nick begrudgingly sent her a copy of the photo. He insisted she should be focusing on herself, but Lorelei pointed out that she had a lot of free time at the moment. And it wasn’t like she was going to be doing anything crazy.

Later that evening, Lorelei received a brief visit from Wu. It seems Nick had told the others about her concerns about them hating her. She’d been receiving messages from the others all day, assuring her they didn’t think any less of her due to her husband’s actions. Wu decided to let her know in person, while also updating her on the changes that had been happening to him.

“So, you’re not wesen but you can woge?” Lorelei asked after her friend filled her in about his lycanthropia.

“Correct.”

Lorelei looked at him in concern. “And how are you feeling about this?”

Wu shrugged. “I was freaked out at first. But I think I have a pretty good handle on it.” He thought about it for a moment. Wu had mentioned accidentally killing two Black Claw agents at the precinct, no doubt he was considering that. “For the most part.”

“I suppose it can come in handy.” Lorelei commented and Wu nodded.

“That is true.” He agreed. “I’ll be able to provide some more muscle for the group.”

It was nice to see that her friend had a positive outlook towards the changes he had been undergoing. He accepted that it was something that he couldn’t change and learnt to deal with it. Lorelei could relate to that to some degree. When she first realised, she had access to powers, although a little freaked, she had looked at the positives of it. Even when she realised that perhaps the newfound abilities weren’t her children’s, although there was a little worry, she didn’t freak out. Lorelei did wonder if it would be a temporary thing, but worrying over it wouldn’t benefit her at all. She just accepted that this is the way things were, and she’d give it more thought it the powers continued after the twins were born. When she’s accidentally killed Bonaparte using those powers, there was some concern. Lorelei had just wanted the man to stop hurting her friend. Yes, she wanted the man dead but didn’t realise how much power there was behind her words. Still, she was a lot more cautious about what she said and did at the moment, Lorelei didn’t want to risk accidentally killing or hurting someone again.

The next day Adalind came in just before lunchtime with Kelly and Diana. Diana filled Lorelei in on her night with Sean and Olivia. It sounded like things had gone well. Lorelei was relieved to hear that. This was the first time Sean had been solely responsible for the kids, and although she had been sure things would work out, there had been some part of her that had wondered how it would play out. Lorelei was also relieved the find out that Sean had already moved them back into their home. She knew he would but was still surprised it had happened so quickly.

Adalind had set Diana up to with a colouring book, giving the women an opportunity to speak. Lorelei asked how things were between her and Nick. Adalind had blushed, admitting that things seemed to be well. Nick had told Adalind he loved her, and Adalind finally admitted to him that they were soulmates. Although surprised, Nick had taken the news well. “Mommy, does this mean you and Nick are getting married?” Diana asked.

Adalind looked a little flustered at that question. “Um, I don’t know. Maybe. Why do you ask?”

Diana shrugged. “Well, Mama and Daddy are soulmates, and they’re married. And Monroe and Rosalee are soulmates, and they’re married.” She replied.

Lorelei stepped in. “Well, just because people are soulmates doesn’t automatically mean they have to get married. It’s a personal choice. But, between you and me. Yeah, Mommy and Nick are eventually going to get married.”

Diana seemed happy with that answer. Adalind raised an eyebrow at Lorelei who shrugged. Lorelei knew her brother. He was someone who believed in marriage and she had no doubt that he would eventually want to see a ring on his soulmate’s finger.

“Actually, speaking of asking questions. There is something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Lorelei said to Adalind. The blonde looked at her with interest. “I was wondering if you’d be my other support person when I’m in labour.”

Adalind looked surprised. “You want me there when the twins are born?”

Lorelei nodded. “Yeah. You’re one of my best friends and you’re someone with experience in giving birth. Plus, I’m having twins and I’m not sure if one or both will need to go to the NICU. Having another person, I trust to follow them up there will make me feel more at ease if they do have to go.”

Adalind looked flattered that Lorelei trusted her to be there when she would be at her most vulnerable. “I’d be honoured. Of course I’ll be there.”

Lorelei flashed her a smile. “Thank you.”

Eventually, Adalind and the kids left. An hour or so later, Angela arrived with Olivia. “Hi baby.” Lorelei gushed upon seeing her little girl. “I missed you.”

Angela and Olivia stayed for a while, giving Lorelei the chance to spend some time with Olivia. Lorelei would be in the hospital until the twins were born and then who knows how long after. She had been preparing Diana and Olivia for the twin’s arrival. As Diana was older, she understood that changes would be happening. Olivia didn’t understand the same way. It was going to be a big change for her when the twins finally did come home. Furthermore, she also didn’t understand why Lorelei was in hospital and why she couldn’t stay with her. When Angela eventually headed home, Olivia had not been happy at being separated from her mother. It broke Lorelei’s heart, hearing her little girls sobs quietly dying off the further from Lorelei’s room she got. According to Angela’s message, Olivia had cried herself to sleep on the way home, although she had been in a better mood by the time she woke up. It didn’t make Lorelei feel better though. She felt guilty not being able to console her daughter, about being separated from her. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Lorelei awoke early the next morning, surprised by how well she had slept the previous evening. She had woken a few times to use the bathroom but had fallen back to sleep with ease. As Lorelei used the bathroom, she noticed more discharge in her underwear than usual. There was a jelly like pink mucus. Lorelei frowned slightly but wasn’t overly concerned. The nurse, Debra, was coming in to check her vitals as Lorelei exited the bathroom. Debra wasn’t concerned either, especially when she had Lorelei show her.

“It could be the show. The mucus plug from the cervix.” Debra said as she helped Lorelei back into bed.

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Lorelei commented. “Do you this means I could go into labour soon?”

Debra thought about it. “Not necessarily. It can come away days or even weeks before labour begins. Are you having any contractions?”

Lorelei shook her head. “No. I don’t think so. I do have back pain, and I’ve noticed an increase in the Braxton Hicks. But those are normal for this time of the pregnancy.”

Debra offered her a smile. “That is true. If you like, we can have a look, see if anything is happening.” She said as she wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Lorelei’s arm and added the device to measure her heart rate to her finger.

Lorelei shook her head again. “Nah. If I start having contractions maybe, but like you said, the show can come away days before labour starts.”

Debra nodded. “How are you feeling in general? Anymore nausea or headaches? Vision changes? Shortness of breath.”

“Not really. If anything, I’m finding it easier to breathe since the girls started dropping further down into my pelvis. Only problem with that is I have to pee even more.”

Debra chuckled. “I know exactly what you mean.” She said as she made note of Lorelei’s vitals. “Blood pressure is still quite high, even for you. Dr Brody still wants to induce you on Sunday?”

Lorelei nodded. “Yeah, if the girls still haven’t made an appearance by then. I’m kind hoping they start making their own way into the world. Being induced doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience.”

Debra shook her head. “It’s not. I had to be induced with my first child. And my second. I manage to avoid it with my third, but I wasn’t dilating so they had to do that manually.”

“Oooh. Yep, I’ve read about people’s experiences with that.” Lorelei looked down at her belly. “Come on girls, don’t make mama go through that.”

Debra laughed. “Ah, if only it were that easy.”

Debra was finishing up when Lorelei’s breakfast arrived. Despite always hearing people complaining about hospital food, she’d been lucky. The food she received was pretty good. As Lorelei was finishing up with her breakfast, Sean arrived. Things seemed to be going well at home, for which Lorelei was grateful. However, she could see that something was bothering Sean. After finishing up in the bathroom, she asked him.

“Why didn’t you tell me Livy has powers?”

Lorelei gave him a strange look. “I don’t think Livy has powers. Does she?”

Sean nodded. “Apparently so. I woke up this morning to find her standing by our bed. I asked her to show me how she did it. And needless to say, it involved magic.” He looked at Lorelei. “You didn’t know?”

Lorelei shook her head. “No. I didn’t. Last week Ella noted a couple of times she entered the nursery to find Livy out of her crib, playing with her toys, but I assumed she was just climbing out of the crib.” Looks like Olivia was taking after her big sister. “Is it like with Diana? Her eyes woging when actively using her powers?”

“Yes. Her eyes glowed the same blue colour yours did when you…told Bonaparte to die.” Sean informed her. Which was news to Lorelei.

“My eyes did that?” Lorelei asked slowly. Neither Sean nor Adalind mentioned that little nugget of information. Did her eyes woge when she was telekinetically moving things around as well?

“They did.” Sean confirmed. “You didn’t know?”

 “No. But, I suppose it makes sense. But, back to Livy. If she’s getting herself out of her crib, it might be time she’s upgraded to the toddler bed.”

“I was thinking the same thing.” Sean agreed.  “Just wanted to double check with you before I did that.”

Lorelei smiled fondly at him. “Mon amour, if you think Livy is ready for the toddler bed than go for it.”

Sean seemed unsure but after a moment he nodded. “I’ll get that done tomorrow morning. I’ll be on paternity leave as of then.” He informed her.

When Lorelei woke from her mid-afternoon nap, she felt an usual surge of energy. To make use of the energy she went through her hospital bags, the ones containing her belongings and the one for the twins. Even though she had gone through these bags’ multiple times already, she went through them again. Double checking against her list, while also looking over the suggestions she found online. She didn’t want to have worrying about needing something while in labour or just after birth. Everything was still set up at home. Even though Sean had intended for them to be living in the Black Claw mansion, he had not yet had the stuff from the twin’s room moved over. Which worked out well as they had not stayed in that house. The car seats were already in her car, which Adalind had advised was parked in the garage at Sean and Lorelei’s, keys had been handed over to Sean. Angela had let her know that Amelia and Amanda had spent the morning at home helping to ensure everything was ready. All three were ready and able to take car of the kids when Lorelei went into labour, including Kelly.

Frowning, Lorelei gently rubbed along the bottom her bump. Ever since she’d woken from her nap, she’d been having pain akin to period cramps. They weren’t too bad, but it was uncomfortable. Plus, her lower back was really hurting. Struggling a little, Lorelei got out of bed. Perhaps she had been sitting for too long.

“You checking out already?”

Lorelei looked at the door, a smile crossing her face. “Hey. No. Just making sure I have anything.” Lorelei replied. “It’s great to see you both.”

Rosalee returned her smile, pulling the younger woman into her arms. “It’s good to see you. I’m sorry we haven’t been able to visit.”

“That’s alright. Things have been crazy lately.” Lorelei told her as Monroe stepped forward to hug her as well. “I’m a little surprised to see you guys here this time of day. You’re usually at the shop.” Lorelei didn’t miss the look the couple exchanged. “What?”

After their silent conversation, Monroe turned back to Lorelei. “We were actually here for another reason and decided to kill two birds with one stone.” He admitted.

Lorelei stared at them, her eyes narrowing as she looked between them. Her eyes suddenly widened, and she gasped. “Oh my god! You’re pregnant! She squealed.

The smiles on their faces said it all, but Rosalee verbally confirmed it. “Yes. I’m pregnant.” She laughed as Lorelei threw her arms around her.

Lorelei reached to grab Monroe. “Get in here.” She said, drawing him into a group hug. “Oh my god, this is amazing. You guys are gonna be the best parents.”

Eventually, the group hug ended, and Lorelei looked at her friends. “So, how far along are you? When can we expect the baby to arrive.” Lorelei didn’t miss the look they exchanged. “No, don’t tell me you’re having twins as well?”

“It’s actually triplets.” Monroe informed her.

Lorelei’s eyebrows shot up as she looked between them. “Wow. You got three on the first go.”

Rosalee nodded. “Yeah. We just found out. Although Diana is the one who gave us an indication there may be more than one.”

“Diana could tell?”

“Yep.” Monroe replied.

“And to answer your first question. I’m about 10 weeks.” Rosalee told her. “Due date is early July but it could be earlier as I am carrying multiples. But I suppose you are aware of that.”

Lorelei nodded. “Oh yeah. Well, I know some great websites and blogs regarding carrying and raising multiples, I can send the links to you.”

“That would be great because we are….”

“A little freaked out.” Monroe finished and Rosalee nodded in agreement.

“I get it. I was a little freaked out when I found out I was having twins. It is a completely normal reaction.” Lorelei assured them. “And you guys have the love and support of your friends and family. We got your back.”

A/N:  I’m taking creative liberties with Rosalee’s pregnancy. Obviously in the show, we don’t really know much about it, especially as the show ended while she was, I assume in the first trimester. But we do know all three triplets were born as they were mentioned in the flashforward. Unfortunately, I don’t think we know their gender or their names. I do plan on continuing past the shows ending, so what do you guys think? Fraternal triplets? Identical? Boys? Girls? A mix? What about names?

Next Part

Taglist: @zoexme, @nu1freakshow, @star-yawnznn, @bella250

Banner by @cafekitsune

[twitchystitchwitch]

In the US Nationwide even offers insurance for pets besides dogs or cats. Out of my 5 animals that would be eligible for an insurance plan by species alone, 3 of them are on insurance. My two cats and my ball python are all on very basic "illness and injury" plans. The price of vet visits (the exam itself) and routine vaccines is not covered, but any medication, testing, or procedures are covered under a similar plan to the one above (cheaper deductible for younger animals, though)

My two animals that aren't on pet insurance are my rescue bearded dragons. Both have very extensive pre-existing conditions that an insurance could easily attribute to all health issues they have (one had severe metabolic bone disease for years, the other has at least one brain aneurysm and has spent the last few years battling a very antibiotic resistant infection), and so even if I could get them covered it would never really pay out because any testing or treatment could be marked as a pre-existing condition and written off

There is a remarkable difference in the emotional toll of needing to do testing for my covered animals vs my not covered animals. My ball python needed a panel of senior blood work done earlier this year to get a healthy baseline for her, and because of a lab mix up and a clerical error I was told that her values were concerningly abnormal (this was thankfully not true, but for 4 days I thought it was true). While I waited for the vet to get back to me about the results my only concern was whether or not she would be okay. The blood work itself brought her to her yearly deductible, and any treatment after that would be 90% covered. All my attention was able to go into monitoring her and looking for any signs anything was wrong

One of my rescue bearded dragons (the one with the aneurysms and infection) needed a CT scan. We had done every conservative treatment we could to determine what was causing the strange swelling behind his eyes (diet adjusted for the possibility of certain deficiencies, eye based antibiotic treatment, injectable antibiotic treatment, and after an eye culture a specialized antibiotic course that the bacteria weren't resistant to), so if we wanted to determine the cause and if it was treatable he would need to do a scan. For lizards this involves a pre-scan work up, anesthesia, contrast, and the cost to cover the machine and the staff, as well as recovery ICU time because anesthesia is rough on reptiles. It came out to about a thousand dollars, just to determine if he had something treatable or not. If it had been an abscess in his eye socket then he would have needed surgery under CT guidance to drain it. I wasn't given an estimate for the price, but from the look on the vet's face if things had gone that way I imagine it would have been a LOT more money. Since he wasn't on pet insurance, I had to not just worry about if he would make it through the CT and about what we would find, but also worry about being out a minimum of $1000. I had to determine if I could actually afford that, on top of weighing the pros and cons to his health. It made the whole thing a lot worse and I was physically ill from the stress for weeks. If I could get Scout and Stanley covered I would in an instant, because when my cats or my python run into issues it is the stress of a sick animal and covering the initial charge until I am reimbursed, but nothing else after that. With Scout and Stanley (and before he passed away earlier this year Spike) I also have to figure out the logistics of covering treatment as a whole

I've been following what's been going on with Belphie the kitten and his person, Greer Stothers, has just mentioned pet insurance in a tag on a post and I wanted to give an example from my life backing up why pet insurance can be a good idea and why I think it is worthwhile.

Two years ago my sister's dog had bloat while she was on vacation. The kennel he was staying at recognized symptoms and called my sister to clear them to take him to the emergency vet. My sister is very financially secure and this dog is an enormous part of her life, so she said yes with barely a moment of hesitation. That ended up being about twelve thousand dollars of emergency surgery.

Large Bastard and I got pet insurance for Tiny Bastard the same week because we realized that if someone had presented that option to us, we would have had no choice but to have Tiny Bastard put down, and we didn't want to be put in that position.

I did a lot of research about different kinds of pet insurance and different levels of coverage and annual maximums and deductibles and so on and so forth. Tiny Bastard is a senior dog, so this was going to be expensive no matter what options we went with, so I chose a moderately priced plan with a $500 annual deductible, unlimited annual coverage, that pays 80% of the bills incurred annually below the maximum. What that means is that we pay the first $500 of care totally out of pocket, after which point we are reimbursed 80% of any vet bills for care covered by the plan.

The first year we had this plan I was kind of iffy about it. It's a noticeable monthly expense and we didn't even spend the deductible in vet bills the first year. Except that a month before the policy was set to renew, Tiny Bastard got diagnosed with diabetes. We now have monthly insulin costs and syringe costs; there are tests she has to have regularly to monitor her overall condition and we need to do more frequent vet visits to track symptoms.

Suddenly the insulin alone means that the insurance is break-even within six months and the additional visits and tests are something we can afford instead of something we'd have to put on credit.

Our plan (through ManyPets) covers medication, surgery, diagnostics, medical equipment, and euthanasia and cremation. It doesn't cover pre-existing conditions, joint conditions for dogs who were signed up over a certain age, dental care, spay/neuter, vaccinations, or prescription food but honestly all of that makes me just kind of wish we'd signed her up earlier - her knee problems *would* be covered if we'd had her signed up as a puppy, and the monthly cost would have been lower if we'd signed her up then. And there are at least a few emergency vet bills that I wouldn't still be paying off on my credit card. Hell, I've probably paid more in interest on some bruising she got in a fight three years ago than I have for this policy as a whole.

I am glad that Greer is able to take care of Belphie. I am glad that my sister was able to take care of her dog. But I'm also really, really glad that for a relatively low cost, I would be able to take care of Tiny Bastard if she were catastrophically injured, or if she needed emergency surgery. I'm glad that I'm able to take care of her now with her medications and her additional vet visits.

There are a lot of people who say that pet insurance isn't worth it, especially not for young animals. But if your young animal gets very sick, or gets badly injured, or eats a hairband and needs an emergency endoscopy, then it will probably be VERY worth it. It's a risk/reward question. You feel like you're wasting money if you're paying for a policy that you never use, but honestly that just means you're lucky to have a healthy pet.

I'm lucky that Tiny Bastard was relatively healthy before I got the insurance; I'm also lucky that she was insured when she was diagnosed with a chronic illness that will need lifelong care. This enables me to provide care for her that would otherwise be financially unmanageable, and that makes the insurance *extremely worth it* from my perspective.

And Belphie is a good example of why it's a good idea to get coverage even for very young pets. Greer is recommending it because this kitten has required a tremendous amount of care during a period in his life when it's generally taken for granted that a cat will be healthy. (And Greer is not stupid for forgoing pet insurance - pet insurance is still a relatively new concept and there are lots of people who are leery of it for a number of good reasons)

So I'd say that if you've got a pet or are getting a pet it is very worthwhile to find a pet insurance plan that fits in your budget. There are a variety of plans out there and some are very inexpensive. Check coverage levels (you can even get some with wellness plans that include dental care and vaccinations) and see if there's something that works for you.

I personally don't think I'm ever going to own another pet without having pet insurance. It's ridiculous how much easier it is for me to say yes to diagnostic tests or different treatments than it was before because I know I'm going to be able to fit Tiny Bastard's care into our budget.

[themonaproject]

Update!!! I repeat, this is not a drill..

Okay so... last night? yeah, last night. So remember I told you I had a crush? Yes, the Chinese boy. BOIIIIII last night was a doosey lmfaoooooooo i cant stop laughing i swear.

Okay so... timeline from when i met him up until last night

I happened to meet him in the lab that I have classes in here at the school. Two girls in my class were having a issue where they had bought something online and...it just so happened that it went to the collection place on the other side of the campus instead of to the one right outside our dorm. They had told one of our teachers about this, so she, the teacher, went to one of her students on the other side of campus and brought him, the boy, to show them where to go where the collection placed was concerned. Anyhow, when the teacher and him came to the lab, the girls had stepped out to the bathroom so the teacher told us to introduce ourselves to the boy and yadda yadda yadda so i, obviously taking an interest in him, started talking to him and asking him questions and such.

...sigh

So i happened to see his nails and that they were painted and i was like, in my mind, "ugh, i hate that i keep finding out that everyone is gay by their nails [and i will clarify this statement in another post lmaoooooo], is no one straight anymore, Jesus, all the hot guys are gay asf" but anyhoos.... At the time, his hair was all black and in the usual asian boy bowl cut, nerdy looking skinny guy right?.... So this was either in April or so.

CUT TO!!!!! the Tuesday, when my class went on a tour on this rainy ass day to pingjiang road. We were in and out of stores and I had seen something and made mention of my upcoming birthday right, so the 2 other girls in my class were like "your birthday?? omg" but i just told them i wont celebrate because it was deadlines time and we had class and so on so i wont be able to rlly enjoy it blah blah blah right

WE ENDED UP HAVING A MEETING ON THE THURSDAY before my birthday with the principal from my country, he came to hang out with us, the international students and invited us out to dinner with him and yadda yadda yadda. Now, I got there first and then the 2 girls came to the room and saw only me there so they ended up inviting me to the club. I would say the club is where my delusions began. Oh yes, definitely the club. We ended p going on he Saturday night to the private event and... when we got to the club, we met up with him and he took us inside. Now... he took us to our seats, played games with our table and, obviously because he's working, he was walking all over the club, making sure all was well, taking smoke breaks outside, hovering some more and yadda yadda. Now... *deep inhale* I hate that... everything happened and turned out the way it is today, but you know what they say, a crush is the result of a lack of information. When I saw him, he had his hair looking like something you would see on a model or pop idol, blonde to the from and rest of the hair black and shaped nicely and ladida... jewelry and all, he was looking fine 99. Now, he took us to the bathroom, obviously because we aint know nun bout the place. While we were in the bathroom, he waited for us to come out and i came out first and was just washing my hands, checking my makeup and yadda yadda, he came to me and sometimes, even tho im speaking english, my mandarin slips out and he almost leapt over the moon because he heard me speaking mandarin. He asked for my wechat and i gave him.

So now the party is happening, he came to check on us and asked me if i was having a good time.

...why just me tho? Was he just taking care of me because im foreign and in his work place? hmm. Anyway... while the night went on, i hadn't seen him for a lil bit so i messaged him to see where he was and he replied immediately.

...where i come from.. that is very green-flaggy. So obviously i liked that. A hot guy, texting back immediately? 10s across the board, right?

Okay, so he told me where he was... and then proceeded to ask me where we [me and the girls] were. Obviously i told him we were still at the table and dancing and blah blah blah. He even sent me a video of where he was...

...the delusions were being feddddddddd, hear what i say to youuu. lmaoooooo THE DELUSIONS WERE BEING FEDDDDDD!!!

Ok now soooo... cut to a few weeks after, exams for him were coming up, my exams were literally in the week right after my birthday. I ended up asking him to recommend some places to eat, right? Responding immediately, he offered a whole lot. I... <.< THE DELUSIONS ARE BEING FEDDDD he recommended so many lawdddd imma eat for the rest of my life clearly. I was grateful. Now, I liked him and so other ppl [my ppls] knew and was cheering for me and him obviously.

Now here is where he started to have me fked up lmaoooo I realised he would never text me first or interact with my posts on wechat. Now On WC, you can determine who can see your posts and who you can block your posts from and whose posts you dont wanna see and such like, right?

I had a thought that he couldnt see my stuff UNTIL i made a particular post about wanting to go outside but the rain was keeping me inside and i wanted it to stop. Now, I'm not a chicken head, when i see some shit, i stay peeping it, yk... so every time we spoke, i started the conversation.... he he did the bare minimum yk. He started our convo ONCE. And it was in the morning, he woke up hella early. 7:47 am. I'm lookin at the msgs rn because i wanna give facts. HE HADNT EVEN GOTTEN OUT OF HIS BED YET! He messaged me to ask if i wanna come to a party at the club. He never got back to me with the price or anything.... !? I was supposed to message him and beg for the price or something? Anyway, I had asked him if there was a event and he had to end up contacting the club to find out info. That... went south, we ended up doing a movie night instead at the dorm so.. that was a bust. Plus, he wasnt even gonna be at the club because he was visiting his family back in his hometown, so i had lost interest from the time he told me he woiuldnt be there. I was wondering if he wasnt keen on telling me because he didnt want me at the club WITHOUT him. idk... delusions were eating this idea upppp tho.

And this is the thing, our convos were always longgg and I realised we had alot in common and could be good friends, if not even in a relationship right? I realised, he was doing basically nada while I was making all the moves, starting convos first 99% of the time and reaching out first.

Now me messaging him about the club came after i had decided not to msg him or interact with his stuff until he put in work where I was concerned. Now atp I was starting to think yhhh this is a one-sided thing... there was so much going on in my head, i literally felt like screaming and couldnt even sleep. My mind was going insane bruh... over this man... AND HE WAS SLEEPING VERY GOOD AT NIGHT TOO YK!?

So now, last night... i mean there was so much he did that had me confused but if it's one thing i know for sure, I aint letting a man tell me more than once that he dont want me. that's fs. Cut to last night, now... I go on wechat moments to see the pics and videos from the graduation event that happened during the afternoon... and... I see that he had posted. So i opened the moments to see what he posted and... he posted a video of his hand grabbing different girls bo0bs in the club and I was--... i was shooketh-- I WAS SO SHOOK I LEAPT ACORSS MY BEDDDDDDDDDD i was too shocked bruh. I was literally like "SINCE WHEN DID THIS BECOME A WHORE HOUSE!!!" mans was on some hoe tactics bruh.... and it all started to make sense to me. he is a WHORE. I--...

Safe to say, that mf crush is done. Yeah, I might srtill think about him and stuff but idk if i still feel the same i felt before that video... He officially killed off my feelings for him bruh... idk wth is going on but I'm not a part of nun.

AND HE HAD THE AUDACITY to be telling me he wants to live a simple and quiet peaceful life... fkin liar. peaceful my ass.

I gone tho lmao

madness

[savingwaterinter]

Project

DEFINITIONS

Story: a description, either true or imagined, of a connected series of events Tales: a story, especially one that might be invented or difficult to believe Science Fiction: books, films, or cartoons about an imagined future, especially about space travel or other planets

STORY

During the summer of 2045 the people of Ecuador and all around the world started making use of water without thinking, causing concern about water scarcity. Moreover, I was aware of that problem years before people started fighting for water. As a result, In 2050, I made a portal gun which helped me to time travel. The gun went through several tests and didnt work so I made changes adding a Tesseract. 

My plan wasn't going alone. For this reason, I went in search of friends who could help me in the mission of preventing water scarcity. Ultimately, The only friends that I found were Juan and Annia. These two friends helped me go to the past and for it they came to my laboratory. When they arrive they have doubts about the time portal gun but I solve them. 

-“Do you understand the plan?” I said

-“I have some doubts about it. How do we know that we will be good at the other side of the portal?” Asked Annia 

-“I already tested it. I took the risk and travelled through the portal gun to the past.” I said 

-“I also have a question. You said that you need someone who stays here in the present to keep the portal open?” Asked Juan with fear

-“Yeah, I need you to keep the portal open, I will go to 2023.” I said euphorically

We went inside the wormhole with our backpack. Due to this, we arrived in the past. We went to my college in which I studied and I had a deja vu. However, we talked with the director about what was going to happen but he thought that we were crazy, so he kicked us out. We waited until the bell rang. We stopped them and talked to them, making them aware of what was going to happen. At first they didn't take it seriously but after some minutes they noticed that We were from the future but we almost caused a butterfly effect. Eventually,  We went back to the lab and travelled back to the present. In our first look we saw that everything changed, however,  we didn't see Juan. 

-”Do you think that Juan never escaped the other timeline?” I said sadly 

-”I hope he escaped.” Annia said doubtful

-”Hello! I thought you would never come back.” Said Juan-”Thank god! I thought you got lost in the different timelines.” I said euphorically.

REFERENCES

Science fiction. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/science-fiction

Story. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/story?q=Story

Tale. (s/f). Cambridge.org. Recuperado el 12 de octubre de 2023, de https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-spanish/tale

PICTURE

I made this image generate from AI with a website called DALL-E. In this website i decribed the picture and what i wanted it to be like.

VIDEO

SLIDES

https://www.canva.com/design/DAFw3o27flw/ZGPGnZFepsd9Q4iPT6bt5A/viewutm_content=DAFw3o27flw&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=publishsharelink

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2 in Limerick

Hey everyone, it's Katie again. I'm posting late because I got a really nasty case of food poisoning that I've had to deal with, which unfortunately also means I don't have as much to talk about from this past week in Limerick, but I'll cover what I did do so you can still get a feel for my time here.

Monday: Last Monday was the only day last week I felt healthy enough to go to lab. In the morning, my mentor, Nina, showed me some modifications she made to the set up steps for the hydrothermal carbonizer, since it seemed to be having issues with heating and cooling. Basically, I was told to increase the temperature gradually and watch the data to make sure the internal temperature did not exceed 200 Celsius. In the afternoon, Nina and I tried to run the HTC with a water sample, but the device was still having issues, so she had to call her supervisor and another lab technician for help. They were all speaking Polish, so I had no idea what was going on until Nina took me to another building to find another HTC. Unfortunately, those were all broken or missing parts, which leaves her device as the only HTC we can use. It's a little frustrating, but I'm fine with working together with Nina instead of on a separate experiment since it's still a great learning experience for me. After work, I did some laundry, then went to the second half of the Mario movie (I missed the first part finishing my laundry and then trying to find the place it was at).

Saturday: I was feeling better (or so I thought), so the Arcadia group and I tried to go to Galway, but we needed to buy tickets in advance, so that was a bust. Instead, we got a quick lunch and took the bus to Killaloe, a small lakeside town in Clare. We walked around a bit, then lay in the grass by the river for a little while to enjoy the sun. I guess I enjoyed the sun too much, because I ended up very dehydrated and had to take a pit stop at cafe to rehydrate. The rest of the group got a quick snack before the bus came, and then we went back to UL. It sucked that I was feeling sick towards the end, but Killaloe was such a cute little town with a very pretty view, so I'm glad I got to see it.

Monday: After literally sleeping all day Sunday to recover from Saturday, I decided I ought to get my stomach issues checked out, so I went to the University Hospital Limerick Monday afternoon. Once I was checked in, their nurses came to take my vitals and get blood tests done, and then gave me vials to, delicately put, "collect my own samples." A fun thing about sleeping all day is you often forget to drink water, so I had a needle in my left hand the whole time I was there so that they could administer rehydration fluid through an IV. If you've never had one before, it's interesting because you can feel the coldness in your veins nearest the injection site, but it definitely gets the job done and made me feel so much better. Afterwards, I was discharged with a new appointment scheduled for Wednesday morning to get my test results back.

I'll leave you with a few notes from today: The doctor's appointment went fine, they determined that the issues were caused by campylobacter, but my blood test that morning showed lower infection markers and I was clearly feeling better, so I should be getting back to my regular study abroad life soon. Can't wait to update you about the (rest of) this week, I promise it'll be really cool and won't involve needles in my hands.

[mirandacarewjones]

No 431

 

My son had a mole on his back which he thought had changed in size and colour.  He mentioned this to me whilst we were both in Sri Lanka. 

 

When I checked the photograph of this same mole (a picture that I had taken two years previously) I saw he was absolutely right.  It was now much darker and considerably bigger. 

 

I rang our friendly Sri Lankan doctor who told us to go straight to the hospital to see his ‘go to’ dermatologist, whom he would inform of our imminent arrival. 

 

We waited for ages outside the doctor’s door and after witnessing countless brazen queue-barging episodes, we were called in.  

 

The Sri Lankan’s do not really understand our silent English queue system, and when I see how much quicker they are in getting access to the doctor, I completely understand why they wouldn’t. 

 

One man leaned over to look at our numbered entry ticket, number 13.  He then showed me his number 15 ticket and smiled warmly.

 

As soon as the door opened and a nurse came out, number 15 shot past at the speed of light and darted into the doctor’s inner circle.  When he came out he whispered to me, “I’ve told the doctor a foreigner was outside waiting to see her.” 

 

Thank you so much Mr Queue Barger.

 

The dermatologist agreed that my son’s mole needed closer investigation but declared that she’d left her special diagnosing ‘dodgy mole’ tool behind.  My son and I thought this was turning into a bit of a fiasco until she offered to remove the offending mole and then have it analysed, as opposed to the other way round, analyse then make an informed decision on removing it or not. 

 

The son and I are of the same thinking .... cut it out and be done with it! 

Marvellous decision we all thought, as we were led out to go and wait upstairs outside another door. There we sat on a bench and clutched more paperwork. 

 

A smiley Sri Lankan lady approached us and, with the universal signal to hand over our medical information papers, thoroughly scrutinised the content and what procedures we were waiting for. 

 

She informed us we were in the right corridor outside the correct surgical room of the dermatologist we should be seeing. 

 

She then sat down beside us and fussed over an old man in a wheelchair. 

I looked at my son and then back at the Sri Lankan lady.  “Excuse me, are you a nurse or doctor working in this hospital?”

 

“No,” she replied. “I just come and bring my father for his weekly treatment.”  “Ok, fair enough,” I thought. 

 

The dermatologist from downstairs had finished with her Outpatients Surgery and was now approaching us. She signalled to follow her into the operation room. 

 

Our nosey neighbour on the bench decided she should come and loiter in the room too. Her father was asleep in his chair. Why be bored outside when you can be entertained inside? Exactly ... you shouldn’t. 

 

My son proceeded to strip off his shirt and lie down on a chilly stainless steel gurney.  After a numbing injection in his back, the whole mole was to be removed and stitched up. 

 

I motioned with my head the presence of our extra voyeur standing in the doorway, which made my son convulse in giggles.  The dermatologist had to stop cutting whilst the patient controlled his heaving shoulder blades. 

Fifteen minutes later we delivered the mole in a specimen bottle to pathology in a separate wing of the hospital. 

 

A week later the pathology unit emailed to say the mole was benign and no further treatment was necessary. 

 

I can't remember exact figures but I think the total bill came roughly to about £45:

 

The consultation with the dermatologist was £3.75

The operation/surgery was £15-£17

The biopsy and lab test results were £22.50

 

Bish, bash, bosh! That’s the way to do it. 

[skruffie]

okay so now that we're home and i'm eating some arby's as a reward this is how the last 24 hours have been. sorry in advance for you all reading about my medical stuff so I'll throw it under a cut:

at work yesterday I got some rather immediate pelvic pain that was also radiating to the right side of my body, so i was like "HMM!! this feels pretty awful, maybe just really bad cramps?", very carefully walked over to the target that's near my workplace, and didn't even wait til I was out of the store to throw back some ibuprofen. it definitely helped right up until it wore off and then since then there's just been this persistent ache. it thankfully moved away from the lower right side of my body mostly. but like

the pain was still there today. we went to the farmer's market and walking around definitely made the pain more apparent and it also has felt different than standard cramps. with it's persistence i called the nurse hotline through my insurance and she was like "okay! well based off your symptoms, i recommend going to a walk in or urgent care within the next three to four hours. also just don't eat or drink anything"

awesome

So I go to the clinic, keeping Alice in the loop and I'm waiting up front with the nice ladies there while she's struggling to pull my insurance, and finally she's like "I'll just bill it saying patient confirmation and send you back". the doctor went through the usual pressure tests for testing for my appendix and was like "you still have it, correct?"

"yeah"

and the expression on her face was akin to the times when I've been in TTRPG, when VB made a particularly gruesome damage-dealing hit against whoever I'm playing. pained sympathy. i almost asked "uhhh, am I about to not have an appendix by the end of this day?"

she was like "i'll call [hospital] to let them know you're coming" and I specified that I should be going to the emergency room, so

i drove home and got alice and we went to the emergency room together!! there was not even a second of waiting in the lobby before I got called back for bloodwork and then the attending doctor asked me some questions. it sounded more uterine rather than appendix so after a bit of a wait then i got wheeled up to the ultrasound room

and well, uhh by that point with the pain of the vaginal ultrasound i was confident it was definitely not my appendix because it got rather significantly worse while the tech was gathering the images. she did check where my appendix was just to be certain but I think we knew by that point. Alice reported that the images looked like melted film.

There was some more waiting while they did the lab work and finally the results came back as simple fibroids. I got a shot of toradol in the arm, a prescription for more, and we were finally out of there after like 4 hours.

also at some point between the urgent care parking lot and pulling into our apartment's parking lot, the glasses case I put my clear pair in (to put on my sunglasses) disappeared in my car so I went to the ER with my old glasses instead. it is definitely in my car but I'm going to rest a bit and digest dinner before I go try to find them.

Bek's first ER visit as a patient 🎉 When you have persistent pain for over 24 hours that also happens to mimic appendix issues you kinda have to jump on it.

GOOD NEWS THO

Not only do I have to deal with at least one (1) fibroid in my chest, I guess my reproductive organs wanted to join the fun too!!

[sumsebien]

two wrongs don't make a right // viktor

arcane masterlist

summary: when viktor left the undercity for his dreams, he left his childhood best friend behind. what happens when, after many years and many mistakes later, they meet again in singed's lab?

pairing: viktor x fem!reader

warning: language

word count: 5.5k

a/n: fell in love with this man and wrote this. you have @milkbaer to thank for being a reason for me to watch the show in the first place and for the unconditional support all the time 🤧😚

...

When Viktor told Jayce he was going to meet a friend, he didn’t think he would actually make it there. It had been years. And he had to make himself forget the path leading to that place. He promised himself he wouldn’t go there again. But that was easy to say when he was a child up until he became Heimerdinger’s assistant. He had been a young, hopeful man with a will, a desperation for discovery.

The place was the same as he knew it. It was the same gorge with sharp stone walls and a narrow stream slicing through. Though, something was darker and it wasn’t just the polluted waters. Something in the air had changed and perhaps, he understood it first hand.

Since he began testing Hexcore on organic matters, something became different. He was different. Desperate. Because he knew what he wanted the result to be. Augmentation. And there was only one person he knew that successfully reached that level of augmentation, the kind that might save his work, his life.

Viktor balled his fist, resting it against the door for a moment. With his other hand, he gripped tighter onto his cane, knuckles going white. A brief question of “What has it come to?” flashed before his mind. The answer was not enough to make him turn around and walk the other way. So, he knocked.

Moments later came a voice echoing from inside. Not the deep, raspy voice of Singed. A sweet one, as smooth and soft as honey. “Who is it?” When Viktor failed to answer, it continued, “I swear you don’t have to pretend to be polite, Silco!”

And then, the door flew open to reveal a young lady. She wore a stained apron over a boiler suit, goggles pushed halfway up her forehead. He didn’t know Singed had taken a project partner. The man always made himself out to be a lone wolf.

“You’re not Singed,” he said, a curious smile playing on his lips as he stood straighter.

Viktor was too busy noticing that she was not the scientist he was searching for to notice the striking resemblance she bore to someone he once knew.

But she did.

Through Y/N’s scratched lenses, in that shitty swamp green light, she could still pick out features of the boy that occupied her entire childhood. The amber eyes that had her past frozen forever behind them. As she peered into them now, she could still see the reflection of herself standing there in the rain, her heart broken and bruised. That girl had hoped for a boy who would stay, yet all he ever did was leave.

The odd silence between them made Viktor stop and think. She could hear the gears spinning in his head as he pieced things together. The look he threw her when he finally got it sent her into a frenzy of mixed emotions. And in the panic, she released her hand, letting the door swing shut.

Viktor was quicker, jamming his crutch into the closing gap. “Y/N, wait.”

Y/N didn’t wait for him, quickly stepping into her lab, sliding her goggles back down. She was not going to let him see her like this. He did not deserve to see her like this. She grumpily sat back down at her desk, lifting vials of Shimmer up and putting them down again.

Efforts to ignore the sound of footsteps growing in her direction failed when she sighed, looking at his shadow on the floor. “What do you want?” she asked, as unconcerned as her shaky breaths would allow.

“I wanted to talk to Singed-”

“Well, Singed is not here today. You might as well leave now.”

“Yes, I can see that. But I said “wanted”, past tense,” he said with a small laugh.

He grew an even bigger ego. She supposed that wasn’t so impossible, seeing that he was a big-shot scientist who resided in a palace on the better side of town. She must give it to him. He had the gall to walk in here uninvited, unwelcome after all those years of stony silence. Now, he expected her to listen to his needs?

She spun around in her chair. “Oh, my apologies,” she drawled, lowering herself into a bow before flickering her gaze upwards. “What do you want now? And how may I be of service to you, good sir?”

He seemed unaffected by her attitude. “You’re working with Singed?”

“Yes.”

“For how long?” he asked, leaning forward against his cane.

“Since you left.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s impossible.”

Y/N had a feeling the questions weren’t going to stop anytime soon. She returned to her work, for real, this time. Singed did leave a lot of notes that desperately need translating if anyone was going to be able to read them in the future. “Believe me, it wasn’t thanks to you. Don’t flatter yourself.”

He paused. “You helped create Shimmer? You helped weaponize it?”

“Just because they don’t pass my name around doesn’t mean I wasn’t there.”

“No, no. I’ve always known you were brilliant. But-”

The statement softened her heart, more than she thought anything from him could. She let her guards down, enough to turn and look at him again. But that was her mistake. Viktor was grappling with something. His gaze sweeping over the equipment, the notes on the wall, the skeletons on the shelves, Rio in the tank. For a moment, she was afraid of his opinion about her.

His amber eyes turned dark, tinged with the purple radiating off of the vials behind her. He continued, quieter than before, “Have you seen the people out there?” and then a bit louder, “Dying from this substance?”

These types of confrontations were sadly no longer foreign to her. When she joined Singed, she knew what she was getting herself into. And with time, she understood how the system worked. All the criticism, the hate? They were just noises, buzzes aimed to throw her off track. He threw her off track. And for what? For her to detach herself from her work - the one thing that would not betray her?

She felt fine being painted as a villain by her contemporaries. If that was what it took to change lives, so be it.

“Is that what you came here to do? Question my morals when you and your councillors don’t have any either? How very rich of you all.”

Viktor could scoff. His morals were absolutely fine. He and Jayce were trying to make lives better for people, from Piltover and Zaun, not trying to use them as lab rats. Y/N had no case against them and Hextech.

“That thing is dangerous as it is. Putting it into people’s hands, making it more accessible is dangerous!”

Y/N stood up, walking past him. His eyes followed her across the cavernous room. She dug around at another desk until her hands found a stack of paper, its edges frayed and curled. He recognized the font as she approached him once more. Piltover’s newspaper.

How did she get access to it from all the way here?

Y/N flipped through the pages one by one, reading them out to him. Dangerous experiment blows up Academy districts’ residential block; Inventor Jayce Talis found guilty of conducting illegal, deathly experiments against warnings of the Academy; A twist: Jayce Talis exonerated and given permit to continue research. And more recently, Progress Day’s speech promises little progress.

Y/N threw the newspaper at his feet. “Still, somehow, you think Hextech is safe? You sit on your high horse and you look down your nose at me. You think because you people got approved by six people, that makes your work noble and selfless. It’s all for profit, Viktor. Not progress or whatever the fuck you tell yourselves so you can sleep better at night.”

Viktor remembered all of those headlines. Especially the last one. Not because it was recent but because it was true. From what it sounded like, Heimerdinger was not handing the green pass to any of Jayce’s and his recent inventions any time soon. And their recent troubles with Hexcore which stubbornly would not seem to work despite all the runes he had racked his brains to come up with.

And how could he forget what Jayce said to him the other day? “Maybe Mel’s right. Maybe we shouldn’t sit on our asses and hope they won’t one day attack us. Maybe we should create our countermeasures.” Viktor had refused, violently. It was a ridiculous notion to even consider. They didn’t create Hextech so Piltover could use it against the people. But then again, they didn’t create Hexgates so the rich could get richer, for corruption to tear up the governments either. It happened anyway.

Could it be? Could it be that she had a point? That despite his intentions, he did play a part in creating new problems for the city to solve? And perhaps, even much greater ones now that his own partner, his dear friend thought it a good idea to get involved in warfare?

“Necessary sacrifices, wasn’t that what you called it when you left me for your great destiny’s calling?”

Viktor opened his mouth to answer her. The guilt that plagued him all these years for leaving her behind caught up with him. He was young and he was vengeful, knowing what Singed did to Rio. He did not know what he had until he lost it. He refrained from thinking about it, burying himself into his work. But in his dreams, he still saw her. He still heard his own voice echo back to him tauntingly, hauntingly.

“Please don’t go. Don’t leave me,” she had pleaded, terrified.

“It’s a necessary sacrifice, Y/N. You’ll understand, for me.”

Viktor left her there in the downpour. He left his childhood behind that day too. The most innocent and pure-hearted part of who he was. He didn’t even blink twice. He didn’t even turn around once. He was cruel then for what he did. And he was cruel now for having just realized what the biggest crime he had ever committed was. It wasn’t being unable to get Hextech out there, changing lives. It wasn’t failing to work out how to get organic matters to survive after being augmented by Hexcore. It wasn’t about science, at all. It was his betrayal. He betrayed her and he betrayed the boy from the Undercity slums.

He knew he was not going to get either back.

Viktor looked at the shaking hands that she tried to hide behind her back and those eyes that once spoke to him. Now they were shielding themselves from him, masking the pain and hurt with anger and disgust. He recognized it. He had that same, exact look in his eyes the last time he saw Singed.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ll go. I won’t bother you again.”

“Do it,” she whispered. “That's what you always do.”

Viktor turned to the door, taking those painfully heavy steps. His chest tightened, his breathing grew shallow, his vision turned hazy. He wondered if this was what it was supposed to feel like when he walked away the first time. He made it through the threshold and then he collapsed. Fits of bloody cough left his weak body as the door closed itself behind him.

…

When he left, it was like another dimension had wedged itself into reality and stretched the space taller, wider, deeper. It swallowed Y/N whole as she stood with her back to the door. She could not look at him go. As much as she disliked it, Viktor could still hurt her. Though this time around, she had much more to lose.

She remembered what it took to get herself here. Singed, a famously cold and cruel man of science and reason, had to be there for her. He had only dealt with chemicals and numbers before. A heartbroken teenage girl was the last thing he expected to find in his lab. But even so, he tried to be there for her as a mentor. He sat with her on the floors, unable to say or do much. When she could hear sense, he would encourage her to find her passion within research. And it worked.

Y/N stopped crying and then gradually she stopped thinking about him. Shimmer was what mattered. It was going to be her legacy. Or at least that was what she thought.

In the deafening sound of machines whirling, she still heard a thump. She could not ignore it. She tried to, even sat back down her desk and scribbled two whole words down. And then she was up again, cracking the door open just a smidge to peer outside. That was when she found him on the ground.

Y/N gasped in horror, rushing to his side as fast as her legs could carry her. Viktor lay on his side, his crutch three paces away from him. There was blood on the floor in splatters, some above his lips. He was still breathing but it was weak and ragged, barely there. Y/N tried shaking him back to consciousness, calling his name, begging him to come back.

When none seemed to work, Y/N found herself wishing Singed had been here. He would have known what to do. He would have done it by now. An hour ago, she would have done it too.

But Viktor made her question a lot of things in his presence. She knew something was wrong when she began worrying about his opinion. It bothered her. She hadn’t had to second doubt her beliefs since him. This time it was the exact same. He appeared long enough to send her down the same path and then he left her to find her own way back.

Y/N slid her right hand underneath his arm, blindly feeling for his crutch with her left. She reached the middle of the lab and she stood, torn between Viktor and her work. It was always one or the other. She never had to think what would happen if Viktor was the one who needed the Shimmer.

She took one look at the Shimmer on the desk. It was the easy way out. She knew how to use it. She had watched Singed use it many times before, once on her. But it didn’t help that more than anyone, she knew the cost, the possible complications, the things it did to a person.

The risk was far too great a cost.

…

When Viktor opened his eyes, he thought he would be right where he had fallen. He actually thought he wouldn’t wake up at all. He definitely didn’t expect to wake up, still breathing and tucked into a warm, comfortable bed. Although he didn’t feel all that well, his mouth dry and his mind foggy, he felt better than before.

The reason, he supposed, was the mix of herbs that flooded the room with its therapeutic aroma. There were steaming buckets everywhere on the floors.

Once Viktor had registered that this was all real and not a fever dream, he began noticing things around the room. Taped on the curved ceilings and the walls were sketches and notes. The small, cramped space he was in was just big enough for a twin-sized bed, a dresser, half a desk and a stool where he found most of his clothes neatly folded. Viktor gulped, only just now realizing that he was almost naked in someone else’s bed.

When he heard the crack of the door, he closed his eyes again, turning his face towards the wall. He heard a sigh, footsteps and a thud. Another bucket he would imagine. The mattress dipped. Another sigh.

“What did I do wrong?” he heard Y/N say. Quiet as a whisper. She leaned in to hear his breathing. The smell of her shampoo filled his nose and he prayed she didn’t notice how fast his breaths were. “Uneven breathing,” she said. And then he felt a soft hand on his forehead, her hand. “Forehead is not hot.” Her hand moved to cup his cheek and he had to fight the urge to blush. Although, he wasn’t sure how well he could control that.

“Viktor, can you-can you hear me?”

Y/N had hoped for an answer. She did everything she could remember. Back when she lived on the streets, by the mercy of a lady who ran a bathhouse, she’d seen people, sick people walk out of saunas healthy and strong. She didn’t have every single exact herb that they had but what she kept all these years in a tin box beneath her bed should be enough for now.

Viktor should wake up soon. He had to. Maybe it was just a waiting game. That was all. He would come back to her. She had her worries, though, about the bags under his eyes. They were dark cool purple against his stark white complexion. This was not his illness. This was his doing.

She brushed her thumb over his sharp cheekbones. He looked so tired. Even now as Viktor rested, he still didn’t look at peace. She let her hand fall from his cheek to adjust his blanket. Smoothing the linen over his chest, she thought about bending down and kissing his cheeks.

Y/N didn’t. She just thought about it. Instead, she went to stand up. He was going to need some food and water when he woke up. But she couldn’t move. A hand had slipped into hers and tugged her back.

And just as she hoped, Viktor blinked back at her. She didn’t know how much she had missed the glint in those golden eyes until she thought she might lose them forever.

Y/N squeezed his hand, blinking back the tears that threatened to slip right down her cheeks. “Oh, you’re still alive!”

Viktor smiled. “You didn’t want me to die?” he croaked in his sleep-laden voice.

“So you can leave me for the third time? Still unbelievably insufferable, I see. You must be fine. Thank God for that.”

Viktor took a moment to look at their intertwined hands by his side. He was going to savour it. After all, it was everything that his younger self had ever wanted to do. Then, he flicked his gaze up to meet hers.

“Thank you, Y/N. Not God.”

She nodded. “You’re welcome, Viktor.”

Despite his wishes, she slipped from his hold, going to grab him some clothes in the corner. He slowly sat up, observing her notes a little closer. Her work was bold and daring. Whatever she was working on with Singed had surpassed his own studies in terms of speed. They were almost at the finish line. There was only one thing that bugged him. It was that she did not use this new Shimmer byproduct on him.

“You didn’t do it,” he said. “Why not?”

Y/N frowned when she caught him moving. She didn’t answer his question right away, rushing over to drape a button down shirt over his shoulders. “Yes, that will do.” On her arm, she hung a pair of loose pants. She held it up and eyed him up and down. Viktor blushed, holding the collars of the shirt together with one hand. “This may be a bit too short for you but it’s all I have-”

“Y/N. It’s perfect.”

She grinned. “Alright. Change. I’ll be back with tea.”

Viktor felt guilty to see Y/N haul two huge buckets of water on her way out. He wanted desperately to help but there wasn’t much assistance his lanky arms could offer her. So he just changed into the clothes. The white shirt was a tad loose than what he was used to and the dark blue pants only came up to his ankles but he liked them. It was different.

When Y/N came back, she took a pause to look at him from the doorway. He had swung his legs off the bed, a loop-sided grin on his face. And he held his arms out to show her the outfit, wordlessly asking her what she thought with a small raise of the eyebrow. He looked handsome in the outfit he wore when he came in, the tight-fitted pinstripe burgundy shirt, ivory vest and scarlet tie. But in this billowy white button up and ill-fitted pants, he looked younger. He would make one hell of a poet or a bard.

Y/N gave a small laugh. “You look good,” she said, handing him a cup of tea before sitting down by his side. After a moment, she spoke again, “You asked me why I didn’t use the Shimmer.”

Viktor cradled his mug, turning to her. “Yes. Isn’t that what you are working on?” He gestured to her notes on the wall.

“It is.” Was there anything this man did not notice? She opened her mouth and then closed it again, unsure of what to tell him. The truth, perhaps? That she questioned everything she had been working so hard for? That she second guessed the very thing she had been obsessing over until all she could dream about was getting the formula just right?

His quizzical gaze didn’t help either.

With much hesitance, she finally heaved a sigh and said, “I’m going to show you something. But you have to promise me you won’t freak out, alright?”

He nodded. She trusted that he wouldn’t be scared. He was an inventor himself. If anyone could understand, it was him. Y/N placed her mug down on the bedside table and slowly rolled up her left sleeve to reveal the contraption that had saved her life just as easily as it could take it away.

Viktor observed the thick silver cuff that sat right above her elbow. It was carved out intricately with rhombus-shaped pockets where Shimmer flowed through. Her veins on her left arm were lit purple but as they travelled down her arm the colors paled and the shine dulled until it blended perfectly into her skin tone. That was why he failed to notice it.

She was observing him, chewing on the insides of her cheeks. “It saved me from the same conditions you suffer. But it drains me of my energy some days. Other days, it makes me overly antsy, I say things I don’t mean, do things I don’t remember afterwards.”

“Y/N-”

“You were right before, Viktor. It’s unpredictable, unstable, unsafe. And ever since I’ve had it, I’m dangerous too. I really didn’t want you to suffer even more.”

It broke his heart to hear her say that. He would rather her disagree with him. He really didn’t mind an argument, as long as she was defending her work. He could tell she had believed in Shimmer when she talked about it to him earlier. Exactly like any scientist who was worth a damn should.

While Viktor might not share that belief in Shimmer, he had his own in Hextech. And he had heard himself in her voice. He had fought for Hextech against unimaginative government officials and skeptical rivals for years. Still, he had never felt drained after those talks. Not like how he felt recently, having to convince himself to believe in what he was doing.

He put the mug down on the floor and took her hand, holding it in both of his. “Not to me. Not dangerous, no. You saved my life, Y/N. Even though you had every reason not to.”

She smiled before taking her hand back, playfully bumping her shoulder into his. “What about you? And who’s this Jayce Talis that has replaced me?”

Viktor rubbed his hands together, looking away to hide the inevitable disappointment that crossed his face after she retrieved her hand. He scoffed, “No one could replace you. You know that.”

“I suppose I do,” she laughed. “Do go on, though.”

“Right well, Jayce had his apartment blown up. I was there to confiscate all the research-”

Such typical Viktor behavior. “Let me guess, the research intrigued you.”

“Precisely,” he nodded, a glint in his eye at her correct guess. “I helped him figure out some calculations to convince the Council not to destroy everything he made. We became partners in research after that.”

The story didn’t sound like the one she had pictured in her head. From all the evidence she had pieced together, she’d always thought Jayce was the main researcher. She would imagine that he had help from his assistants, but not that of a research partner.

“So let me get this straight. You saved his ass and his work. Became associates. Invented all this awesome technology together. Yes?”

“Correct.”

“So, how is it that we only hear about Jayce Talis in the papers? Your name should be everywhere.”

He shook his head, brown hair falling over his eyes. The idea humored him. “Ah, well, I’m not exactly the face people would like to see first thing in the morning over breakfast. Besides, science is what matters. I’m happy as long as I can create.”

Y/N felt oddly protective of him. He never stood up for himself in situations like these. Even as kids. She was always the one to speak up when the bigger kids shoved him around. She wondered all these years whether he had anyone to remind him not to take shit from people. Something told her that he didn’t.

She decided to leave it alone, though. He did sound like he no longer wanted to speak of the issue. “And are you? Happy?” she asked, instead.

He twiddled with the handle of the mug, looking away again. And she knew his answer before he gave it.

“I am. But the Academy is not this fantastical place I had imagined. There, politics ruled science. Things take decades for approval. At least things that are actually practical to the people.”

Spoken just like the Viktor she knew. Always so unwavering in his quest to improve conditions for people. They shared the same dream, still. Only thing was that they had taken different paths, away from each other.

Y/N leaned into his side, resting her cheek against his shoulder, “I guess not everything turned out the way we thought it would.”

Her voice was soft. Her hair was also soft. Viktor sucked in a breath. She had never been so close before. Made it hard for him to think. “I guess so.”

“Was there anything you would have done differently?”

“Many things. I wouldn’t have left you.”

She lifted her head just to give him a look. “Oh, you don’t need to say that. I forgive you. All is well.”

“No,” he said with a firm shake of the head. She needed to know how he felt. “I shouldn’t have left you. If I could change things, I would have brought you with me to Piltover. ”

Y/N was still smiling, joking around. “And do what? Be a librarian?”

“You could, if you’d like. Or you could study at the Academy. Become a champion of Piltover.”

She tapped her mug against his, reminding him to drink before taking a sip. “And where do you imagine yourself? In this dream?”

“I could be your associate. Or your assistant. Either way, you would be much better company than Jayce and Heimerdinger combined.”

It sounded like an absolute dream to him. The two of them, together, in a lab. Their desks filled with messy notes and coffee cup stains. He’d be tinkering away at his desk while she wrote on the board, mumbling the calculations. And at the end of the day, she would go home with him to their humble apartment. They would have a quaint, lovely existence outside of work. Perhaps some kids. Though, she probably didn’t need to hear the last parts.

“Sounds like we’d spend a lot of time together, then.”

He nodded. All the time, for eternity. “Like when we were children. Remember?”

Y/N placed her mug down and casually said, “I had the biggest crush on you when we were children.”

Wait, what? He shook his head. What did she just say?

“I never had the courage to tell you. You were very angsty and cold as a teen. I was scared you might think I was dorky.”

This was outrageous. For the record, he never thought she was dorky. He thought she was splendid, intelligent, gorgeous and for sure, out of his league. She deserved someone better than a sickly crippled kid. Selfishly, though, he still wanted to know if there was ever a hint of a chance that his fantasy might have been more possible than he thought.

“And has time fundamentally changed this…eh...fact?”

She shrugged, gaze faltering. “I wish it had.”

Viktor didn't have enough time to process his dream actually coming true before she turned away, rising to her feet. “Um, tea’s cold. I should-”

“No!” he almost shouted. Y/N looked back at him with wide eyes. He ought to say something more. Soon. ”Stay, please. I-I have always liked you too. No, more than like. I like you strongly,” he managed to say before he got cut off by a coughing fit.

He attempted to apologize again but she shook her head, nodding at the mug. He brought his lips to the cup, testing the temperature of the liquid. It was just warm enough not to burn his tongue off. Viktor took a gulp, one that was entirely too large.

While he drank, she raised her eyebrow and asked, “You like me strongly?”

“I do. That was a poor choice of word. I meant that-” he sighed. “What I wanted to say-”

Her hand cupped his cheek, quieting his mumbling immediately. His skin was on fire under her touch. It was quite funny to watch him sigh in frustration, running his hand through his hair, messing it up. She would have stayed still and watched him work each word out one by one. In her defense, he looked awfully adorable. But she supposed that was a bit cruel.

“I love you too, Viktor,” she said. “And I regret not telling you that when I had a chance. As I regret not doing this sooner.”

She brought her lips to his, closing the gap between them in one blink of an eye. He tensed up when she did, taking a second or so before relaxing entirely. He then sighed against her kiss. And she smiled. How long had he been waiting for this?

Y/N wished she could see his reaction but then again, feeling his lips on hers was enough to send her reeling for days to come. She had committed everything to memory by the time the kiss ended, in case it never happened again. But she had a hunch that this was not going to be the case at all.

Viktor was still holding his mug when she pulled away. And it made her laugh. She took it from him, placing her lips exactly where he did. Slowly. Full of intention as she drank from his cup, sending a little wink his way.

“Y/N,” he said, his eyes shamelessly on her lips before flickering up to meet her eyes.

“Yes?”

“If I asked you to go with me, start a new life, leave all this behind, what would you say?”

She didn’t want to disappoint him. But she didn’t want to give him the wrong idea either. Viktor was the love of her life, once. In many ways, she loved him still and would always continue to do so. But she had a life here, responsibilities that awaited her. And she wasn’t exactly the type of person who would walk out on her mentor who also saved her life.

Y/N opened her mouth, rejection on the tip of her tongue. But when she saw the big eyes gazing at her, full of hope, dreams and potential. She found herself thinking about spending the rest of her life looking into them, having them be the first thing she saw in the morning and the last thing in the night. Wherever they lived, long as they were together, they would be happy. But even the best-laid plans of mice and men oft go astray.

“Then I’d say two wrongs don’t make a right, Viktor.”

To her surprise, he didn’t frown or scowl or look at her with puppy dog eyes, begging her to change her mind. The gleam of hope didn’t diminish at all, even despite her obvious rejection.

“Ah, but that’s the thing about us, scientists. You see?” he said, looking up at her notes on the ceiling. “All these notes hold an infinity of what-ifs on them. That’s all they are, if we stop at thinking and planning. But we don’t, do we?”

Viktor touched her cheek, running his fingertip along her jaw until he reached her chin. There, he stopped. His eyes scanned her features. The corners of his lips lifted slowly into a smile when her gaze fell on his again.

“That’s what I see when I look at us. An infinity of possibilities. The only way to find out which may come true is to try.”

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