#normally I have a ride my boss picks me up every day but on Sundays I tell her to sleep in and i either walk or take my scooter

[electricneonbat]

Sometimes when I'm walking to work and I get to the big hill at the end of the walk I put on the Pacific Rim theme song or an equally intense action movie song because it genuinely helps me get up the big hill

And sometimes, when I'm writing, it feels like a big hill

So we're putting on the PacRim theme song and walking up the hill and we can rest when we get to the bottom

[thehiccupingbanana]

Well You Could've Fooled Me

Fandom: The Mentalist

Relationship: Patrick Jane / Teresa Lisbon

Summary:

Prompts: 1) Tweet: "Been dating this guy for 7 months and today he asked me why I don't have a boyfriend" 2) "Oh no, we're not married!" "Well, you could have fooled me." or: Five times People Thought Jane and Lisbon Were Dating, and the One Time They Were Word count: 1,958

CW: death (mention of a murder for a case, no details) (If I missed any, please let me know!)

[READ ON AO3]

1.

It was a normal quiet day in Cannon River but something felt off to Lisbon, she just didn’t know what was going to happen, but it wasn’t good. 

“Sheriff, there’s a man here from the FBI to see you.” Officer Jacobs said, knocking on the already open door to Lisbon’s office taking Lisbon out of the daze she was in.

“What did he say his name is?” Lisbon asked.

“Abbott?”

So, this is what was going to happen today. Lisbon thought.

“Of course, Jacobs, he can come in.” Lisbon said, with a tension headache already arriving.

“ Sheriff  Lisbon, is it now? How are you?” Agent Abbott asked walking around her office, looking at all the knick-knacks sitting on the shelves.

“Hello, Abbott, what can I help you with today?” Lisbon replied, ignoring all pleasantries. 

“I just wanted to let you know that we are closing in on your boyfriend. We narrowed it down to where he might be, and if you tell me where he is now, then we can save a lot of time for both of us.” Abbott said, picking up a conch shell off of Lisbon’s desk, flipping it over in his hands before setting it back right side up on her desk.

“He’s not my boyfriend and I don’t know where he is.” Lisbon stated, watching Abbott’s movements- watching the conch shell that Jane had sent her a week prior.

“You know, it’s been a while since I have been to the coast.” Abbott started before smiling and saying, “Have a good day Sheriff.”, before walking out.

2.

Lisbon was glad she was able to work with the FBI, and see Jane again, but she didn’t miss dealing with Jane’s antics. She was very glad it was a Friday, with a case freshly closed, and neither Fischer nor Lisbon was particularly interested in case closed pizza. Fischer went to the bar to order their first round of drinks and when she arrived at the tall table, Lisbon grabbed for them.

 “How much paperwork did you have to fill out to cover Jane’s mishap from earlier?” Fischer asked.

“Honestly, not as much as I thought I would have to.” Lisbon chuckled, taking a sip of her drink.

“How do you put up with it? Scratch that, how do you put up with Jane? Doesn’t it get tiring dealing with him all day every day?” Fischer sat down and rested her chin on her hands.

“No, not really. I guess working with him for ten plus years, I just got used to it. But at least I’m not his boss anymore, that cuts down on a lot of paperwork.” Lisbon shrugged.

“I’m sure there are other perks you have to not being his boss anymore.” Fischer winked. “Do you have any plans for the weekend?”

“Jane and I usually watch a movie on Friday nights, on Saturday’s do some chores around the house, and on Sunday’s just relax before going back to work.” Lisbon explained.

“You and Jane are like an old married couple with your weekend plans.” Fischer chuckled.

“We get that a lot, which is weird considering we are not married or a couple-”, Lisbon started.

“Good evening, ladies.” Jane said, resting his hands on Lisbon’s shoulders giving a small squeeze before pointing at a stool next to Lisbon and asking. “Is this seat taken?”

“No, it’s not, but Jane, why are you here?” Fischer asked.

“Teresa texted me that you both were going out for drinks so I thought I would offer you both a ride home. Whenever you are ready of course, I can play some pool while you talk and drink.” Jane replied.

“Come on Lisbon, he calls you Teresa, and is offering you a drive home. How can you honestly tell me that you are not dating?” Fischer voiced when Jane walked away.

“We have known each other for ages, it would be weird if we didn’t call each other by our first names every so often and he offered you a ride home too. Jane and I are not in a relationship, we are just good friends” Lisbon replied defensively. 

“Whatever you say.” Fischer said, barely hiding a smile behind her glass.

3.

“Why don’t you just use the key that I gave you Jane? Yes, I’ll be leaving work in the next hour. Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you at home. You too, bye.” Lisbon hit the red end call button on her phone, before going back to typing her end of the day reports on her computer.

“Wait, did you just say that you and Jane are living together?” Fischer spun in her chair to face Lisbon. 

“Jane’s Airstream is in the shop due to being overdue for maintenance, and the FBI doesn’t really allow Jane to sleep in the bullpen on his couch.” Lisbon responded nonchalantly waving her off, “So we don’t really live together, he just sleeps in the guest room or the couch in my den.”

“And you said that he has a key to your house?” Fischer cocked and eyebrow.

“Just for the time while his Airstream is in the shop, besides it’s easier than him picking the lock every time. No, it’s not like that.” Lisbon replied to the small chuckle Fischer released.

4.

Lisbon walked into the break room to get some more coffee, where there were two blond secretaries chatting and giggling, as soon as they saw Lisbon, they stopped.

“Hey Lisbon, I wanted to apologize to you.” the secretary Lisbon recognized as Ms. Taylor approached her.

“Umm, okay?” Lisbon responded, confused.

“I didn’t know that you and Jane are dating, so if he tells you I did anything, I didn’t know, I’m sorry again.” Ms. Taylor responded before walking away faster than any innocent person would, almost bumping into Jane as he was walking into the break room.

“You look very confused Lisbon.” Jane started, “Ahh I was hoping I would be able to tell you before she did, but alas.” 

“What are you talking about? What is she talking about?” Lisbon asked, confusion in her voice.

“She was flirting with me so I told her we were dating so she would stop. I didn’t think you would mind given the situation.” Jane waved off.

“Okay, but why me?” Lisbon continued asking.

“You’re cute, Teresa.” Jane smirked before walking out with a newly poured cup of tea.

5.

“Hello, Ryan Crawford? This is Patrick Jane; my wife and I are out house hunting and noticed your sign in front of this lovely house on King Street. When are you available for us to walk around and take a look inside?” Jane spoke on the phone, staring towards the ‘For Sale’ sign in front of a small blue house.

‘Wife?’ Lisbon mouthed at Jane.

“Yes, we are in front of it now. You can be here in five minutes? Perfect. We will see you then. Bye.” Patrick stated ending the call on his phone.

“Wife?” Lisbon voiced this time.

“What? You have been my wife before in a case to get a killer. Don’t be surprised.” Jane smiled, giving Lisbon’s hand a quick squeeze. When he sees a car come down the road he gets out of the car, walking to the other side of the car, opening the door for Lisbon, putting his hand on the small of her back and shutting the door once she was out.

–

“You’re under arrest Mr. Crawford, for the murder of Jason Barrett.” Lisbon stated, slapping handcuffs onto Crawford, before reading him his rights.

“Wait, won’t your husband be upset about not being able to buy the house?” Crawford asked.

“Oh, Jane? Yeah, we’re not married. Duck your head.” Lisbon told Crawford, pushing him into the back of the issued SUV.

“Well, you fooled me, that acting was a little too convincing.” Crawford said as Lisbon shut the door.

1.

Lisbon walked into the living room to see Jane already up and dressed, folding up the blanket he had been using, setting it down at the end of the couch. 

“Good morning. I got a call from the shop that the Airstream will be ready around 10, and I can pick it up, maybe you can give me a ride to the shop later? Then I can get out of your hair, until you grace me with your presence again.” Jane smiled, “Do you want me to make you breakfast? I already prepared your coffee maker; I’ll press start on the machine now that you are up.” 

“Yes, coffee, yes.” Lisbon replied, half asleep sitting down on the couch, where the blanket wasn’t.

“Your wish is my command dear.” Jane bowed before walking to the kitchen. Lisbon did a small chuckle before resting more into the couch. A couple of minutes passed and Lisbon started to fall back asleep, but the smell of coffee had her open her eyes again.

“I have a question for you.” Lisbon started, taking the coffee from Jane’s hands, and took a sip. Jane took a seat next to Lisbon on the couch, his eyes shifting back in forth like he was reading her face like a book. "Jane, why don't you have a girlfriend yet?"

Jane visibly relaxed once the question was out in the air but started to chuckle, "What are you talking about?" 

"Why don't you have a girlfriend? I know something happened back on that island with Kim, so you are clearly ready for a relationship. While I will not complain about you making me coffee in the mornings, but aren’t you tired of not having someone to go home to?" Lisbon asked sincerely. 

Jane’s eyes went back to reading Lisbon, before his face went pink with embarrassment. "I am not as good at reading situations as I thought I was. However, you have always been a translucent read to me Teresa. But you asked me a question and my answer is a question to you. Are you telling me, you are not my girlfriend?" Jane stared into Lisbon’s eyes.

“Why would I be your girlfriend?” Lisbon said in a high pitch voice. “Wait, that came out wrong, not that I wouldn’t want to be your girlfriend, but why would you think that I- that we-”

"Teresa, when you gave me the socks, I didn’t have as much control over myself and I told you I love you. I felt like I screwed everything up, but you told me you love me too and you grabbed my hand. I just thought you wanted to take things slow-." Jane explained before getting cut off by Lisbon pressing a light kiss to Jane’s bottom lip, midsentence.

“You thought we were dating for what, six months? And I wanted to “take it slow”? Jane, I thought you were telling me you love me like friends, if I knew that you assumed we have been dating for the last six months, you wouldn’t have been sleeping on the couch, in my den.” Lisbon explained.

“Teresa, I do love you, you are my best friend, my partner, in both work and life, there’s no one else I want to be with. No matter if you want me to sleep in your bed or if you just let me make you coffee every morning, I just want you in my life.” Jane smiled.

“I do want you to make me coffee every morning, and I also want you to stay here. We can pick up your Airstream today, but stay another night.”

“Can I ask you a question first?” Jane asked, and Lisbon nodded in response. “Will you be my girlfriend, for real this time?” This time Lisbon’s response was to grab Jane’s face in a long, much needed, kiss.

A/N: decided i'm just gonna post all my ff to this blog and not deal with having multiple blogs for each fandom i want to write for. also finishing and editing some wips that have been sitting in my google docs, some for a couple of months, some for several years. This one is 1/? and has been in my docs for only a couple of months. maybe i'll get better at titles by the end of the year ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

My other The Mentalist work(s): Dinner and a Confession

[code-of-creation]

As a Canadian of working age who desperately tried to push past their disability and keep working until they spited their disability so badly that they now cannot work, I really hate my life.

I've always known I have medical issues. I got my first jobs babysitting at age 8 (I grew up in a cult, this was normal) I worked at a restaurant a family member owned, illegally, at age 9. Half of everything I earned went into savings. I was earning 100 a month working Saturday and Sunday, 9 am to 11pmish (closed at 10, cleaned until the boss was done cashout) At 12,I quit working to focus on school after relenting to allowing my parents to medicate me for depression during their divorce. At 15, I made up for lost time by living on a relatives couch for the summer and working every shift I could at a local bakery. I didnt know I was manic at the time from bpd. Even with my manic energy, I would work until I was about to pass out on my feet. This was a summer of work, so three months straight of 5am to noon, then I'd "stay to cover" until 4 or 5 pm. I was working under a relative and got berated for not finishing tasks within the time I had, or becoming confused from lack of sleep. Sometimes they would randomly have me, a 15 year old, do closing for the bakery. Thankfully the store closed at 9 and everyone left at 10, but those nights felt like forever and finding a ride home wasn't always easy. I earned about 4000$ that summer, ith the plan of using it for laser eye surgery. Unfortunately at the time the surgery wasn't advanced enough for my prescription. But I was told that laser eye surgery was improving every year, and once I reached adulthood, it'd be a safer process than doing so on a teen anyways.

So I did my best to not spend too much, and only spent 1000$ from that amount between age 15 and age 18 when I graduated highschool. Though I still had financial support from my dad, it went to my grandmother. I lived with her and frequently bought things I didn't want to ask for money for, such as personal hygiene supplies, or felt was unnecessary such as new clothing, art supplies, and bookw. I didn't work during this time, as the bipolar low and divorced low income parents who hated each other meant I was super depressed. I was then manic for the last two years of highschool. I got a job at a bakery while still in 12th grade, but was fired due to an employee who was past the 6month probation period using my lack of knowledge on employee rights to maje me think I was fired so I wouldn't show up, which got me fired.

I had gotten accepted into university before I graduated highschool however, and since even the McDonalds wasn't hiring, I figured I'd use my measly education fund to move on campus and live as a fulltime student until I could find enough work to supplement myself. I don't remember most of those months, as I had a huge crash from the mania and got a compassionate medical refund and allowed to leave.

This meant I would soon be on the hook for the assive student loans that somehow happened from a measly one semester, which I do not understand to this day. My family still thought I was functioning fine enough to be responsible for myself however, and I had no financial support. I felt guilty mooching off my grandmother and there were no jobs, so I moved back to the cult and took any job I could find, which was a catastrophe. I don't remember that time very well, but I cycled through jobs at a hardware store, babysitting with government compensation for a relative with 4 kids and an untrained pitbull, and others. Finally I got job at a big chain restaurant thats famous for cross contaminating food. The manager was abusive, I didn't know my rights, and I cried at work many times. I still picked up every extra shift I could, and took as much overtime as I could, trying to pay off student loans before they spiked interest. Couch surfing once again, and mooching meals by visiting relatives.

Eventually I had to quit the abusive job after I got yelled at in front of customers. I was given a bullshit writeup for wearing black jeans and not black trousers, while other employees were allowed to wear trousers all the time. The write up said it was because I was showing disrespect to management. Which was absolute bullshit as she had also just gone off on a tirade of how I put my hands on my hips when she talked to me. A habit I didnt realize I had, and that meant nothing other than I don't know what to do with my hands when they arent busy.

Anyways, Couldn't find any more jobs and still had more loan left, so I took off to the city and couch surfed with a relative who did an amazing job getting me help at first, and was my boss at my new job, but being their employee was bad for our relationship and even though I was constantly looking for new jobs, I was having no luck and always exhausted. I was also fighting to try and get mental health help, to get help for many physical problems I'd been having with my body, and trying to get my meds sorted out. The medical system was so complicated, flaky, inaccessible, and downright antagonistic that I ended up fully crashing. Glossing over details that are still too traumatic to discuss, I ended up homeless, then only able to afford renting a room. I finally got diagnosed with Autism, Bi-Polar disorder, deform knees, and Non alcoholic fatty liver disease. There is still a lot wong with my body. I am always in pin nd always denied help for it. In May of 2023 I had to quit a job I was doing well at, as I had been on another manic high trying to get my life together and burned myself out so badly from working part time, legit fighting to get access to the medical care I know I need, and dealing with having to rent a room with shitty housemates and just hating living in poverty. Due to the medical and dental neglect of doctors and dentists who always accused me of lying about dental hygiene and illegal drugs, my teeth had to be pulled out and in the 5 years it took me to save the money for implants, an "extremely unusual and unexplained OooOooo" excessive bone reabsorption took away my entire upper jaw. I got told theres no way to fix my upper jaw, stabilize teeth strong enough to eat with, or prevent my face from caving in. I just got told last week that I dont have enough breast tissue for a breast reduction under my healthcare even though my breasts have been nothing but pain and discomfort since they came in, and stop me from breathing at night. They keep taking away my doctors and not replacing them or giving me students who arent qualified to be helping me. My body constantly hurts, I feel like part of my brain died last year, I went to the hospjtal when I was suicidal and they legit did nothing but starve me. I am falling to pieces and suffering and have no more family to support me. Im in the red every month. I dont have money for savings. I'm on my bedroom floor crying because I want so badly to not have to struggle anymore, but I also sound perfectly normal and rational to others and apparently hide my problems well, because I keep getting denied help. I cant keep doung this.

Canada doesnt care about people with disabilities or helping anyone. It only cares about its image. Its spending all its resources on shallow bullshit and not bothering to put in the time, effort, or genuine funds to fix the problems. This new benefit is no more than a hollow pr stunt. My quality of life is garbage after working my ass off for nothing. Fuck the government.

The new Canada Disability Benefit will lift about 25,000 adults out of poverty, according to new numbers released by the federal government — a figure well short of the hundreds of thousands the government said the benefit would help when it introduced the legislation in 2022. "We have an opportunity in the House to bring about a once-in-a-generation change and lift hundreds of thousands of working-age Canadians with disabilities out of poverty," Carla Qualtrough, then the minister of employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, told the House of Commons on September 21, 2022. The Liberals passed Bill C-22 in June 2023, creating a new federal benefits program to lift people out of poverty by topping up provincial supports. Payments will begin rolling out in July 2025. The maximum benefit for low-income Canadians with disabilities will be $200 monthly. While 1.6 million Canadians with disabilities live below the poverty line, April's federal budget indicated only 600,000 would be eligible for the new benefit.

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[heyyyharry]

Harry suggests they watch Fifty Shades of Grey together

(a blurb from the Flatmate Series / pre-relationship)

Word count: 2.6k

Warning: heavy sexual tension and mention of smut, but also a lot of fluff. 

Yes, I had to rewatch the film and fast-forward to the sex scenes to write in such details lmao. This is my favourite flatmate blurb at the moment ����

.

.

.

“Let’s watch Fifty Shades of Grey tonight.”

Y/N widened her eyes at Harry. She thought he was joking, but as he entered the title onto Netflix, she snatched the remote from his hand immediately.

“It’s my turn to pick the movie,” she said, making him scoff.

“No, it’s my turn. You picked the movie for two weeks in a row because last week I couldn’t decide between Coraline and Corpse Bride, remember?”

Y/N huffed as she gave the remote back to him. She wasn’t into the idea at all, but she was curious to know why he insisted on picking this one and not one of those ‘everyone’s favourite’ movies that he would normally pick.

“Harry.”

“What?”

“Isn’t this movie about sex?” Y/N muttered as her cheeks turned pink. Fortunately, her flatmate was looking at the screen.

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It’s not like porn though. Don’t worry.”

“Have you watched it before?”

“No, but everyone says it’s bad.”

“Then why do you wanna watch it? Let’s put on something good! Something with Timothée Chalamet!”

“I’m tired of Timothée Chalamet!”

“No one is tired of Timothée Chalamet! You suck!”

Harry stopped before he was about to press play and turned to her, raising his eyebrows. “Well, you can watch your Timmy when you’re alone. Tonight we’re watching this terrible movie for a change. It’s gonna be fun.”

Y/N tossed her head back as she groaned. “You’re making me watch this because I said no to watching porn with you!”

“Not true! Don’t disrespect porn like that!” He scoffed. “Porn makes you horny, this will be like a nice little comedy. I mean, the books are shit on paper, this should be worse.”

“You’ve read the books?”

“I’ve read one chapter. I was a curious horny teenager, don’t judge me.”

“All right then.” She sighed and let him press play. “If it gets weird, we’re turning it off.”

.

.

.

The movie turned out to be more entertaining than they had expected, especially when they had unintentionally started a competition to see who could point out more mistakes. Harry was definitely winning, but Y/N didn’t mind. She was in hysterics as he kept throwing in random comments about every single scene.

“Why does she keep biting her lip? What’s wrong with her lip?”

“Did he fucking track her phone?! This guy’s a stalker!”

“Never get too drunk when you go out, Y/N. I don’t want you to end up in some creep’s...sex dungeon!”

But when came the first sex scene, Harry was as quiet as a mouse. He had expected it to be ridiculously unrealistic like the whole idea of the story, but this scene was actually kind of...hot?

Y/N didn’t even notice his sudden silence. Her eyes were fixed on the screen and he had to steal a glance at her when Christian laid a naked Ana down on the bed and started eating her out.

Y/N was nibbling on her lip. Even though she didn’t show much from her facial expression, seeing the way she switched to a different sitting position with her legs crossed, Harry assumed the scene was doing something to her too. For some reason, watching two characters fucking turned him on less than watching his flatmate squirming because of it.

He assumed this would have been fun to watch with his friends, but was definitely a terrible choice for a movie night with his crush. Now he couldn’t help but imagine himself making love to her like that. It must have been a long time since she slept with someone. If only he could show her what she’d been missing and made her feel so good she wouldn’t wish to be with anyone else. Even that stupid actor Timothée Chalamet.

“That was...something.” Y/N released a sharp breath once the scene was over and turned to smile at Harry.

He smiled back, wanting to throw in a joke to clear the tension but his mind was completely blank at this point. They were only forty-five minutes in. He wasn’t sure if he could get through two hours without at least an erection. God, he was so fucking screwed.

“She’s got a nice little butt,” Y/N said as the actress stood fully naked with her back to the mirror. He supposed she wanted to make this less awkward for them, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about her butt.

“You’ve got a nice butt too.” He nudged her with his shoulder and she slapped him on the arm.

“You’ve never seen my butt!” Then her mouth fell open. “Have you?!”

“No! It was just a guess!” I wish I had though, he thought as Y/N pushed his face away and looked back at the screen.

The next sex scene came right after. Harry almost cursed out loud when Christian tied Ana’s wrists together with a tie, thank God the mum showed up and interrupted the couple before they fucked again. Y/N burst out laughing, and he did too, but out of relief.

He prayed his dick would just stay calm until the credits started rolling. If only it wasn’t so fucking sensitive! Look what you’ve done to yourself, dumbass. You should’ve gone with Timothée Chalamet.

“Who wrote these dialogues? Oh my god!” Y/N giggled as the characters started talking again.

“If you agree to do this, you’re gonna want your own room.”

“Why? Because I’ll be your sex slave?”

“Take me as your sex slave, Christian. I want a bigger room!” Harry joked, making Y/N guffaw as she put her head on his shoulder.

Harry’s laughter died down as his limbs went stiff. He didn’t want to move, afraid that she might pull away and he might never have another moment like this.

“Which one is yours?” Ana asked as she and Christian walked into his garage.

“All of them,” the guy answered, making Harry cackle.

“That’s gonna be me one day,” he said and nodded his head towards the screen. “I’m gonna be a sexy boss who owns ten expensive cars and a place like that. Minus the sex dungeon, of course.”

“I could see you having a sex dungeon though.”

“I already have one.” He turned around and pointed to his bedroom. “Wanna see it after the movie?”

The joke got him a smack on the leg as Y/N shot him a glare. “Anyway,” she breathed. “If you’re gonna be that rich, at least give me a ride in one of your expensive cars.”

“Would I still be hanging out with you then?” He playfully arched an eyebrow, making her laugh softly.

“Oh, you would beg to hang out with me,” she said with her head still on his shoulder. At this point, neither of them was paying attention to the movie.

“Wanna hear how I imagine our future?”

Harry pursed his lips as he gave a nod. “Sure, tell me.”

“Okay.” She jolted right up and turned to face him, putting her elbow on the backrest and her head against her knuckles. “It’s ten years from now, yeah? Say you’re a CEO living in a big mansion. You’ve got everything you’ve ever wanted, but you are so lonely because you don’t wanna fall in love and settle down.”

Harry rolled his eyes, laughing slightly as she gripped his shoulder to make sure he was still listening.

“One day, while walking around your rose garden, you start thinking about the good old days when you were in college and shared a flat with a lovely girl. Oh, where is she now? you wonder. So you hire a spy to look for me and find out I’m living in the suburbs with a husband, two kids and a puppy...or a cat.”

“Boringggg.”

“Shut up!”

“Do go on though. What happens next?” he asked, putting his hand on her knee.

Smiling, she went on, “you decide to come visit me on a beautiful Sunday. I open the door and I’m so surprised to see you. ‘Hey, do you remember the night we decided to watch that awful sex movie,’ asks lonely thirty-year-old Harry. ‘How could I forget? I’ve been having nightmares since,’ says beautiful married Y/N.”

Harry tossed his head back and laughed as Y/N tried to hold it in so she could finish her story.

“Then you say to me, ‘that night, you told me to give you a ride in one of my expensive cars if I ever got rich. So would you like to go somewhere with me on this fine Sunday morning?’ , ‘Oh, I really want to,’ I say to you, ‘but my husband would be jealous so I have to turn you down.’ Then we say goodbye and I close the door, leaving you standing outside for a long moment. You walk back to your expensive car as it starts raining, and suddenly, you feel sad.”

“Sad?”

“Yeah. Because you have finally realised that, you’ve been in love with me this whole time!” Y/N exclaimed as she grabbed his shoulders. “Unfortunately, it’s already too late because I’m now happy with my husband, two children, and a dog...or a cat. The end!”

When Harry said nothing, she lightly elbowed him. He looked down as she looked up, her cheek pressing against his shoulder as she gave him a pout. “No applause?”

“Your story sucks,” he said, smirking as she puckered up her lips and turned back to the TV.

“Oh no, we forgot to pause!” she said.

“Well, we already know what’s gonna happen so I don’t think we’ve missed much.”

“You’re probably right.”

As she continued watching the movie, he was watching her. Thanks to her stupid story, now he had to worry about his future ten years from now. How could he compete with her husband, two children and a dog, or a cat?! And the nice vision with ten cars and the big mansion didn’t sound so nice anymore since he knew for sure she wouldn’t be in it. His heart already broke for thirty-year-old Harry.

Maybe he would stay up all night to blame himself for what was yet to happen. But now he had a bigger problem to deal with.

As they reached the final sex scene, Harry was embarrassingly and painfully hard. Thank God for the pillow that sat conveniently right beside him. He put it on his lap to hide his hardon while already thinking about jerking off in the shower once this movie had ended.

He reluctantly checked on Y/N. She was sitting so still, but he could see right through her neutral expression that she desperately wanted to touch herself. After a moment, she started rubbing her thighs together, and Harry’s jaw went slack as he suddenly forgot how to breathe.

Fuck, this is better than porn. I’m going to hell, he thought while stroking his thigh with one hand, the other still resting on her leg.

He wasn’t sure if he was so horny his mind was playing tricks on him or her skin was really burning under her pyjamas. He could feel it, and now he was too awkward to remove his hand from her leg. He kept watching her face as the moaning and the music from the movie turned his face scarlet. When she pressed her lips together, he couldn’t help it anymore.

“To be honest,” he spoke with a voice full of breath, “I’ve always wondered if this was the kind of content you’d masturbate to, since...since you don’t watch porn.”

Y/N swallowed hard but she didn’t seem offended at all. Her eyelids fluttered as she gave him a bashful smile. “I...do watch porn.”

“Oh?” Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Yeah, I’ve just...never had an orgasm by myself…”

Holy shit. Harry’s mouth fell open as he gripped his knee. He hoped he wasn’t being too obvious? Shit, was he being too obvious?

He swallowed hard, fixing the pillow on his lap and slightly grinding his hips against it to get some friction on his crotch area. His head fell back to the backrest of the couch as Y/N pulled away and did the same. They were looking at each other, their faces so close Harry couldn’t focus on anything else.

Half of him wanted to excuse himself and went to the bathroom to jerk off, the other half wanted to stay and finish the movie with her. This was the most intimate moment they had ever shared and he certainly couldn’t let it go to waste.

“You okay?” she asked and he gave a nod, licking his lip.

“Not gonna lie, these sex scenes got me quite worked up.”

“Oh…” Y/N chewed on the corner of her mouth as she shifted around a bit. “Um...are you…you know...”

“No, am I what?” He smirked. Of course he knew what her question would be. He was a bit embarrassed that she could already tell from looking at his face, still he had to hear her say it.

“Y-You…” she stuttered, “you know what.”

“No, Y/N, I’m afraid I don’t.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, and with a bit of hesitation, pointed to his lap. “That.”

“That? What’s that?” He sounded amused. “I don’t get it. Care to elaborate?”

“Forget it.” She waved him off. But did she really think he would let her get away with this?

“You want to know if I’m hard?”

The question made Y/N groan as she buried her face into her palms. She didn’t deny or confirm it, but he already knew he was right.

“You’re wet, aren’t you?”

“Stop!”

“Y/N.”

“What?” She huffed as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her hands away from her face. She gave him only one quick glance before looking back at the screen, but he knew she was too flustered to continue watching.

“Promise me you’ll try tonight,” he blurted, unsure why he’d said it, but he didn’t regret it for the look on her face was priceless.

“Try what?”

“Make yourself come.”

Y/N gripped the hem of her shirt, her eyes went round. “Stop messing with me. It’s not funny anymore!”

“I’m serious. Promise me you’ll try,” his voice was low and heavy as if he was out of breath. “Don’t think too much. Just...get yourself wet and feel it out, love. You should know your body better than anyone, right?”

Y/N was quiet for a moment, which made Harry think he might have crossed the line and she would definitely get mad at him. But then she shifted her eyes to her lap and finally gave a nod.

“Yeah?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she softly confirmed. That one word alone could make him bust his nuts right on that couch. He was glad it didn’t happen, still, he wished he could tell her what she was doing to him.

As soon as the credits started to scroll, Y/N turned off the TV, wished him goodnight and fled straight to her room like a scared little deer.

Harry heaved a sigh of relief. He got up, turned the lights off and hurried to the shower to take care of his big problem. He didn’t know if she kept her promise and touched herself before going to bed, but he assumed that she did, and came so hard to those filthy thoughts that his legs felt like jelly once it was over.

As he rested his forehead against the shower wall and let the warm water run down his back, he shut his eyes and told himself to stick to PG movies from now on.

[knguyen-covidjournal]

Lockdown Items 1-3

My Laptop (Macbook Air, 2015)

Since going into lockdown, I became unemployed for the first significant period of time in my life. As someone who depends heavily on keeping busy for my mental well being, I was desperate to do work of any kind. Luckily, many small businesses owners are friends with my former boss and were reaching out for help building e-commerce sites since their brick-and-mortars were closed. Through phone and facetime calls, many emails and screen recordings, I’ve been able to get three different sites up and running, allowing those businesses to continue to make sales during these times. I spend a significant amount of time on my laptop on jobs like these, school work and graphic design work. It is the singular most used item throughout my time in quarantine and is the item that keeps me on track and productive. Beyond the productive usage, I also use my laptop to watch Netflix or Youtube and as my primary means for video calls with friends and family. I use it for entertainment during defined hours of the day so as to not distract from the work I have to complete.

My Phone + TikTok (iPhone X, 2018, @kimtalkstheatre)

My phone is second only to my laptop in item I’ve used the most through quarantine. That being said, I have primarily used my phone to film videos and scroll through Tiktok for hours on end. I have become entirely engrossed in the app, posting upwards of 4-5 times a day, and have amassed a small following of 5000 followers since May. I actually turned off the function on the phone that tracks how much time you spend on each app, specifically so I wouldn’t have to face how many hours I spend on Tiktok. I find it creatively challenging (my account is themed around theatre, so everything I make has to be related to theatre), and funny, which has proven to be the entertainment combination I needed. Frankly, I would rather spend two hours on Tiktok than watch a movie. Beyond this, I use my phone to find recipes, make my grocery lists and communicate with my friends. What’s been interesting is how immediate socializing with friends has become - where I normally have to schedule a date and time weeks in advance, it’s been refreshing to be able to pick up the phone, call them, and walk with them 30 minutes later. The immediacy of contact, now that everyone is essentially glued to their phones, is really felt when I text my friends or family. Lastly, my phone on hand means I’m always near my music, which I can listen to my broadway playlist.

My Car (2006 Corolla)

My car is barely a sheet of metal on wheels, and I have never appreciated it fully. My parents are separated and have split custody, so twice a week my brother and I make the commute from one home to the other. Normally we would go to school/work in the morning from one home and go to the other home at night, all through public transit. Without that sense of normalcy or schedule, we’ve been driving together every Sunday and Wednesday. It’s been nice for bonding time with my brother, as we blast music and catch up. The half hour drive has become our thirty minute ritual that gets us out of the house and in a different headspace. Beyond that, I live about 20 minutes by car from my closest friend, a distance I wouldn’t be able to cover without public transport, which I am still not comfortable taking. Having my car means I get to see my friends in the flesh, from a social distance, and can go on walks at a moments’ notice. Having the car lets me visit my grandmother and cousins, without the fear of potentially getting sick on the ride over and spreading it to them. Long drives when I am losing focus on my work has also proven to be an effective means of jolting my brain into a renewed sense of productivity and work.

(I will take a picture tomorrow morning, and either include it in the comments or as a separate post).

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

On The Street Where You Live, Part 2

This got long so I had to break it up into 3 parts. Apologies!

I'm warning you, this chapter is pretty degenerate. And has sex scenes 😥

***

Patience perused the dresses on the rack. Two girls from her high school were at the normal-priced rack, giggling and casting smug looks behind them at the girl in the ratty skirt flipping through Woolworth's discount rack. She tried to ignore them.

Too out-of-style... wrong size... too much lace... finally, when she was beginning to despair, she found a gorgeous green dress with a white sash and a ruffled bodice at the very end. It had a rip in the skirt, but that could be fixed.

She walked home, and as soon as she stepped through the door she was met by a familiar face. Leonardo was sitting on the couch, hair ruffled. His face brightened when he saw her. "What are you doing here?" She said.

Mommy came in, buttoning the front of her dress. "Did you find a prom dress, honey?"

"Yeah. It's ten dollars."

"I could have one made for you," said Leonardo. "My father and I are tailors."

The thought of Silvio with his giant sausage fingers sweating over her dress made her want to drink Drano. "It's nice of you to offer, but thanks."

Something in the air smelled fishy. Literally. Leonardo had his waistcoat (with the St.Joseph's emblem) draped over the side of the couch.

"Patience, sweetie, go get the photo album. I want to show Leo some pictures."

'Leo'?

Mommy looked happier than she had ever seen her before. Her skin was flushed and she looked at Leonardo with adoration that seemed closer to worship.

Patience reluctantly got the album out of the cabinet and Mommy flipped it open on her lap. Black-and-white photos of days gone by--days when Mommy and Daddy didn't scream or hit each other--flashed past.

"This is our wedding day," said Mommy, pointing to a photo of her and Daddy, her radiant in a long-sleeved white dress and Daddy in his army uniform. "Richard had just come back from serving in World War Two."

"My father served the war as well," said Leonardo. 

"Which side?" Said Patience, and her mom scowled at her.

"He fought for Italy. But he was never a fascist, just a patriot. When he saw how bad things were going for Italy, he switched to helping the Allies. He helped rebuild Italy. And after it was all said and done, he came here to start a new life."

Patience had a distinct feeling that some of that was bullshit, but said nothing. 

"Mrs. Winslow, you look radiant. A true Southern beauty."

Mommy giggled. "That was a long time ago."

"You are still beautiful. I know you still turn heads when you're out." He winked. "If I were your husband, I'd be too afraid of someone stealing you I'd never let you out of the house."

God, he knew how to lay it on thick. She grumped to herself as he paused over a picture of Patience. "Is that you, Pazienza?"

Patience was about eight, in a checked pinafore and her hair in braids. "Yeah. That was the church picnic, remember, Mommy?"

"I wish I had pictures like these," Leonardo said softly. "All of them are so happy and lovely. I can tell you all adore each other."

"Don't you have baby pictures?"

"Not many. We lived a rough life. Photographs were a luxury few of us could afford."

"You poor thing," said Mommy, cupping his face. Patience looked away. She hated the syrupy way Mommy spoke to him. He wasn't her son. Patience was her daughter, and she was RIGHT THERE.

They reached the end, and there was a picture of the family in front of their new house in Garland City. Patience was forcing a smile, as was her mother, and Richard wasn't smiling at all.

Patience winced. "That's when we moved to Garland. Urgh."

"Why the move?"

"Well, Greenhaven PD wanted dad to come to Garland to work on some assignment with the Garland City PD. And it's... kinda dragging."

"What assignment?"

Patience looked at her mom, and doubt flashed across her face. "Organized crime," she said slowly.

"You don't want to tell me? That's fine. I don't blame you." He rubbed his finger over the photograph, lingering on Patience's face. "You really do look like your mother, Patience. Both of you are beautiful. Richard is a very, very lucky man."

Patience couldn't help it. He was handsome and she was a little flattered. "I need to... go do homework."

"Richard is due back soon as well. Thank you for dropping that casserole off, Leo."

Patience escorted him out. "It's lovely spending time with you and your mother. We should all go out together sometime."

"I'm not sure my dad would like that."

"Well, we just won't tell anyone then." He leaned against the side of the door, shielding his pretty face from the sun with one hand. "Patience, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" She wondered when Woolworth's was closing.

"There's going to be a celebration at St. Joseph's next Sunday. Feast of St. Gennaro. Would you like to come with me?"

"Uhm, I'm actually going to be doing something that night. Prom. I have a date."

He paused, and something settled over his face. "I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." 

His blue eyes were glassy in the sunshine. "Who with?"

"Salvatore Mallozzi. I think you know him."

"I do indeed." He looked away. The joviality of his manner had seemed to vanish. "Thank you for having me over." He walked down the steps to the house, not looking back.

***

"You look beautiful, sweetie." Marilyn fixed her hair a bit and steppled back. "Perfecto!"

Patience looked at herself in the mirror, turning her head this way and that to admire the makeup. "Thanks, Mommy! You did a great job."

"I still think you should have worn my black dress. It'll look so charming and vintage." 

"Ha. I'd get hell for it from the other girls, I'd never live it down."

She looked out the window. "You'll have to introduce me to your date soon."

Patience had no intention of doing so, and would make excuses to the end of time. "Sure, I will. We'll all have to have dinner or something." She checked the clock. "Well, off I go. Bye, Mommy."

"Have fun, sweetie. Don't get carried away." The look on her face was bittersweet as she watched her daughter leave the house.

***

Salvatore had offered to pick her up, but she refused. She REALLY didn't need her mom and dad to see who she was dating. So she walked down the cracked streets to Salvatore's house.

He lived just a few blocks over, in a small, cramped tenement with an overgrown yard and a car on concrete blocks on the street opposite. She nervously knocked on the door, and it was pulled open by a plump girl with red lipstick and frizzy blonde hair. "Oh, you must be Patience!"

"Are you... related?" 

"No. My name's Barbara. I'm here for the prom as well." She stepped into the doorway, showing off her ruffled polka-dot dress. "I'm going with Gabe, Salvatore's brother. I like your dress!"

"Salvatore has a brother?" She followed her in.

The house was packed, hot and noisy. A boy that looked similiar to Sal, but with longer hair, was straightening his bow tie in the hallway mirror. He looked over and smiled at her. "Hi! You must be Patience."

He yelled something in Sicilian behind him, and was answered by a woman's voice in another rapid smattering of Sicilian. A woman with thick dark hair and thicker eyebrows was cooking something in the smoky kitchen as Patience emerged into the living room. As she looked over at Patience and frowned, the resemblance to her two sons was so striking she wondered if she were simply Salvatore in a dress with a little eyeshadow. 

"Why can't you get a nice Italian girl?" The woman yelled in the other direction.

"Quiet down, mama!" Salvatore yelled back from another room.

There was a man sitting on the ripped couch, holding a beer. She vaguely recognized the dark shades and the slicked-back hair.

"Patience! So this is the girl that my Sal is so in love with. Let me get a good look at you.

"Skin and bones," sniffed the mother.

"That dress looks lovely on you, darling. Twirl around." She did so. "Che bella!"

Barbara came in and collapsed on the sofa. "Are you done in there, Sal?"

"I'll be ready when I'm ready!"

"I've known Sal since he was knee-high-- I'm his part-time boss. Name's Dario Malone, but you can call me Bats. Cause I'm battier than a warehouse full of 'em!" That seemed to amuse Malone, and he threw his head back and cackled.

Dario Malone... that name sounded familiar. She felt like she'd seen it in the newspaper before. A door swung open and Sal stood there in a well-cut white tuxedo, his black hair in a neat side-part. He was holding a corsage. 

"You look great, Sal! You're so handsome! Your suit's... amazing!"

"I let him borrow it," said Malone. "After all, it's a special night."

"You look stunning," Salvatore managed, his eyes like saucers. "Your dress... it's...,"

"From the clearance rack at Woolworth's." Salvatore stepped forward and pinned the corsage to her breast. "May I?"

"You may." Patience took his arm in hers.

"This kid is like a son to me," said Malone. "So you better bring him back home before midnight, understand?" He wagged his finger in a parody of a mother. 

She laughed. "Sure, Mr. Malone."

"Salud, Sal." He lifted his beer bottle. "You make this a special night."

Barbara and Gabe and them got in the car, a swanky Cadillac that was probably borrowed as well. Barbara and Patience sat in the back, Gabe and Sal in the front.

The ride was long and glitzy and filled with laughter. Salvatore blew through two red light and the speed limit, but she didn't care. Barbara cracked raunchy joke after raunchy joke. When they finally arrived at the prom, Patience staggered out, dizzy, when Sal held the door open for her.

Their car outshone every other car in the parking lot. People stared in admiration at the Mallozzi brothers and their dates as they escorted them into the auditorium.

A banner proclaiming CLASS OF 52 WILLIAM WESTON HIGH SCHOOL hung over the dance floor. Punch bowls and glitzy dresses galore. High heels spinning in a dance. Neon streamers everywhere. Patience was bedazzled, and had to hang onto Sal's arm for support.

"Yahoo! Let's dance!" Barbara grabbed Gabe and spun him into the crowd of dancers, and Sal followed suit.

None of them knew how to dance, that much was clear, and they kept knocking into other people and each other. Patience was laughing and blushing, and hooked her arms around Salvatore's narrow shoulders

Even his pallor had flushed, and he was grinning broadly.

They separated when they became exhausted, and Sal led her over to a chair as he went to get them punch.

Patience leaned her elbows on the white tablecloth as Sal disappeared into the crowd. This was the best night of her life and it could only get better. She never wanted it to end.

"Excuse me? Excuse me? P-Patience?"

She turned around to face a brown-haired boy with coke bottle glasses and a bow tie. He was holding a pen and a notepad.

"Yes?" He looked vaguely familiar.

"I'm Mike. I'm in your gun class, I think."

"Oh. Yeah. You always come in dead last. I'm sorry for beating you by fifty points last Friday, I shouldn't have laughed at you."

"It's fine. I'll take another elective next year. I'm not big on shooting, anyway, journalism is more my forte." He scratched his head, looking nervous. "I'm covering the prom for the yearbook. Can I ask you a couple questions?"

"Sure." She moved over to let him sit down.

"First question: Who is your date?"

"I'M her goddamn date, and you better beat it, you fucking mick." Sal was standing there holding two cups of punch, his fingers so tight she worried that it would shatter.

He stood up. "Sorry. I'm with the yearbook, I was just interviewing--"

"I don't give a fuck what you're doing, find another girl." Salvatore's voice was a snarl.

"Sal, calm down. He really WAS just--"

"What the hell did you say to my brother?" Snarled someone else from behind. A tall brown-haired boy with a lantern jaw and a suit 2 sizes too small blocked out the light.

Sal slid the drinks over to her and faced him, body tense. "Get lost, Seamus. This doesn't involve you."

"Fuck you, Mallozzi. I got a fuckin bone to pick with you. You put my buddy Sam in the hospital. And you was the one trespassing on Bulldogs territory!"

A small circle had formed, watching the two boys. "Oh, no," Michael said in a small voice.

Sal pushed up his sleeves just as Seamus took a step forward. The look in his glistening, coal-black eyes made her shudder. A chill ran down her spine. In her mind's eye she saw the Irish boy's head stomped into the curb, and heard the echoing crack through her brain.

"What's going on here? Are you fighting? Enough!" Mr. Tolbert, their burly gym teacher, was elbowing his way through the throng.

Sal looked over to the teacher and looked about to argue--the cords on his neck were standing taut. But Patience wrapped her arms around him from behind, and saidnin his ear. "Forget about it Sal. He's not worth it. C'mon, let's dance a little more."

Mike tugged his brother in the other direction, and Patience led him back to the dance floor and pulled him into a slow dance. She tilted her head up to rest their foreheads against each other.

He smelled like cigarette smoke, her boy, and as the gentleness in his eyes returned, she leaned up and slowly pressed her lips against his. They stayed like that, still, tasting each other, their bodies molded together. When they separated, he whispered, "Let's get out of here?"

"What?" She giggled.

"I know a place--a beautiful little place that the two of us can go for some alone time. Come on, let's go!" He tugged her towards the exit. She looked back, her hair whipping. "What about Gabe and Barb?" 

"They have friends who can drive them home. C'mon!"

***

It was indeed a beautiful little place. On a hill that overlooked the vast, glittering lights of Garland City, he had parked her car. She gazed out over the cornucopia of shining lights, spread like a blanket to the mass of darkness that was the bay. "Oh, Sal! This is wonderful!"

He was sitting back, smiling rakishly. "One hell of a sight, huh? Found this place while exploring one day. Thought it would be perfect. No one comes around here cause it's right off the highway on the forest reserve. The trees hide it from the road." 

If Patience had been more suspicious, she probably would have questioned why he was out here so remote "exploring", but she was caught up in a whirlwind of love and it didn't occur to her. "It's perfect. Thank you. This--everything is perfect."

"I sure hope so. A perfect night for a perfect girl." he smiled at her. He did have the most wonderful smile. It lit up his whole face. He was handsome, in that gangly way teenage boys often were, youth softening his features before they became angular adult's features. His skin was very fair, milky pale and shaved clean of the faltering stubble that had just started to come in. His eyes were not hard anymore, but as soft and dark as a doe's, his hair a matching sable that was carefully combed out of his face. 

And she was drowning in him, so much so that when he put a hand between her legs she didn't object, but leaned forward to meet him in a kiss.

She was hypersensitized, breathing heavily and moaning as his mouth went from hers to the soft nape of her neck, nipping her slightly as his hand worked under her panties to reach her warm, damp confines.

He pressed the tip of his finger inside her, slowly moving in circles, and she stifled a moan. She could see him getting hard through his pants, and spontaneously rubbed him through the fabric. He swelled under her hand, becoming more erect with every rub she gave him.

He moved up to a tiny pinprick of flesh between her cleft, and the shock of pleasure was so electric she gasped. "There," she said. "Yes, there, yes, keep rubbing!"

He encircled it with his finger and thumb, pressing and rubbing and sending her heart to her throat, and she increased her movements, gripping his bulging head through the fabric and squeezing it.

"Fuck," he said when before now he had been silent, and his voice was strained. He pulled his hand out--she squirmed--and wrapped his arms around her, searching for the zipper of her dress, and when he yanked it down, it nearly tore. She gave a half-cry, half-laugh. "Sal!"

Her breasts--what little of them there were-- popped free, and he smothered his face in them, licking and sucking the sensitive red tips. She grabbed his head, her fingers sinking into his soft black hair, not sure whether to pull him toward her or away, the stimulation zinging to the ends of her toes.

He unbuttoned his coat halfway, and pulled it off the rest of the way in his haste. The shirt came off too, and his bare chest was revealed, lean and scarred with every rib visible.

"Sal--" he quieted her with another kiss, pulling off her dress until she was in nothing but underwear and thigh-highs, and the underwear went too, dangling on her ankles.

The world swirled as he pulled a lever to put her seat back, and her head thudded against the soft seat as he climbed on top of her. He did not weigh much, but he seemed heavy as he pulled down his zipper, head bent so that his hair came free to shadow his face.

Something brushed her wet, spread opening, something hard and desperately hot, and before she could say a word he was fully sheathed in her, his thick cock spearing her spongy walls, and the pain wa so sudden and sharp the slow shreds of pleasure that had begun to build up vanished.

He began to move back and forth, his hips spasming as he forced his cock as far as it would go and pulled out, leaving just the head in. 

Whatever pleasure she might have felt was gone by the harsh movement and sudden penetration without any time for her to adjust. She struggled, the pain making tears come to her eyes, before he slammed her back down with a deliberateness to it that said don't do that again.

She looked at the car ceiling, tears streaking down the sides of her face as put his whole weight on her hips, grinding against her harder than a bullet in a chamber. The thought made her think of gun class, and if she had a gun right now, and she wondered whether she would use it on him right now.

Her long, pale legs unwillingly curved around his slim hips, her underwear hanging from one ankle. The lights of the city reflected on the dashboard, and on her quivering toetip, twitching back and forth as he slammed into her.

He froze, head nestled to the nape of her neck, and gave a moan that vibrated against her skin. Something hot spread through her lower body, like a warm, wet puddle. 

They lay like that for a moment, him harshly breathing against her skin, before he rolled off.

She sat up immediately, despite the stinging between her thighs, and pulled her dress around her. Her nose was running in addition to the tears that streamed down her cheeks. As she hefted herself, she felt something warm trickle down her leg. When she looked down she saw a streak of blood, mixed with white, slowly making its way down her thigh.

"Marry me," said Salvatore.

Patience looked over at him in utter bewilderment. He was lying on his back, his narrow chest exhaling and expanding and his fly undone. The thing that had caused her so much pain was lying there on top of his pants, looking almost comical with its clumsy, mushroom-shaped head and the veins running helter skelter across its length.

"Are you joking?" She was trying to keep the sob out of her voice and it came overly hard.

"No! I'm serious." He rolled over to look at her with sheer adoration. "I want to have kids with you, I want to come home to you, I want to do this every night. I love you, Patience!"

"Sal, we're still in high school! How do you think you're going to support us?"

"I'll quit school. I've been thinking of leaving school anyway. I'll find a place for us. I got a job--I can support us both, no worry."

She gave a mirthless laugh. "With what, three dollars an hour? You're fucking delusional."

"I got connections. I could make a living--"

"We're not getting married. Get your head screwed on straight--"

The slap he delivered her knocked her head into the car door, and she saw stars.

Clutching her head, she turned frightened eyes onto her boyfriend.

His eyes made her freeze like a rabbit in the headlights. They were burning coal, livid and infernal. "You think that I can't support us? Can't hold down a job? Or is that what you expected?"

He pulled her forward by her throat. "Cause I'm just some fuckin lowlife, and I'll never be anything more than some scumbag working a dead-end job, cause I'm nothing but a criminal, cause I'll never be an honest man, for the same reason you won't introduce me to your parents. I killed people before, you know, Patience?" He punctuated his words a harsh shake of her head. His two fingers were cinching her throat, cutting off her air supply. Her gaze was starting to turn white. "I killed people and I'll do it again. I ain't a boy, Patience. I'm a MAN." 

He let her go. "And don't you ever forget it."

She clutched her throat, coughing weakly, her eyes overflowing with tears of pain and fright. Salvatore paused, then smashed his fist against the dashboard. "FUCK!"

They sat there like that, Sal still and Patience sobbing weakly, until Salvatore reversed the car.

The trip back was quiet. Salvatore made several attempts at conversation, but when she didn't respond, he lapsed into angry silence. He dropped her off at the corner without a goodbye.

During the walk back she felt like a medieval woman doing the walk of shame. The weight of what happened weighed on her as heavy as a mortar. All she wanted was to hide safe and sound, away from the horrors of the night. She wanted her mother's soft voice, her soft, comforting touch, her kind, gentle dark eyes. Whenever anything had gone wrong, whenever little Patience was crying, Mommy would hold her and put her on her lap and kiss her tears away.

She felt like bursting into tears when she saw the glowing orange squares of her windows come into view.

Patience rushed through the front door, waiting to topple into her mother's arms.

A very different scene greeted her.

A familiar elegant figure was sitting on her--her--couch, one leg crossed over the other. His white shirt was undone and unbuttoned down his chest, and his pants were loose on his hips.

He looked over slowly, putting glass of white wine down. A brassiere was lying discarded on the floor. "Did you come back from your prom date, Pazienza? With Salvatore?"

"It's eleven at night, why are you here?"  She was screaming and crying and did not need to deal with this and wanted him out.

"I think you know exactly why I'm here,  Patience." His voice was quiet in the silence of her house.

The realization hit her like an avalanche. Slow, creeping, then collapsing in a sudden wave.

"You... and Mommy..." her voice was small. She didn't want to believe it.

He was standing up to lean against the wall. His golden hair tumbled over his shoulders as he tilted his head to look at her. "It took you long enough."

Fresh tears stung her eyes as she struggled to comprehend the end of her happy child's version of her parents' marriage. "Mom! Mommy!"

"Your Mommy is not coming. Your Mommy is asleep and she won't wake up for quite a while."

He let a long, strong arm drape across the doorside. He stared at her slowly, intensely, his eyes dark and amused.

"Wouldn't," he said, "It be a tragedy if your father was to hear about this?"

The idea pierced her brain, sunk into it like a winestain. She thought of her parents divorcing. Marilyn and Richard. Those happy picnics, the fair trips, the family dinners, the household disappearing. She thought of Daddy finding out, and the despair she imagined on his face made fresh tears dot her cheeks. "No. No, please. Don't tell him--If, if it needs to, I will, but please, not you, not now--"

"And what would you do to make that a reality?" He stepped closer, until the scent of his cologne hit her. The sickly sweet made her gorge rise, as did his smile.

"No," she said as she realized his words. "No." She looked behind her, praying for her father to get back.

"Fuck you. I'm not--you can't blackmail me like this! I won't fuck you and you won't take advantage of me like this! I--" she was crying so hard she wanted to collapse. 

Leonardo took her wrist and slammed her against the wall. "Time is ticking, Patience. Your father is due back in an hour." A sly, vicious smile broke across his face. "Let's get to work."

He divested her of her dress, which fell in a crumpled heap on the ground. His body was warm and attentive, unlike Salvatore, moving carefully and warmly against her trembling body, supporting her against the wall and capturing her lips in a deep, soul-sucking kiss. She smelled his sick sweetness and felt the thick curly hair between her fists, and wanted to vomit.

And then he was in her. His hot stiffness was invading her damaged warmth, rubbing and sliding carefully over her wounded walls. His cock was already warm--from what, she did not know.

Leonardo was considerate, a slow, careful lover, seeking the ways to make her squeal. He touched her in the right ways, rubbing her clit and thumbing her nipples while he covered her mouth with his.

"You're wetter than I thought you'd be," he whispered. "Did you and your boyfriend have some fun before you came home?"

He separated, cock half out of her, and the thin strings of white plastered his cock.

She wanted to sob from shame.

"What a naughty girl," he whispered in her ear.

No. Not after Salvatore. Not after this.

He dropped to his knees in one fluid motion, and pressed his mouth to the apex of her thighs.

Her knees buckled as he gave his first suck, followed by a lave, drawing out the seed from her body.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she could only helplessly cry as the tip of his tongue teased her sensitive lips and clit.

He withdrew his head to gaze into her eyes, and the infinity beyond them made her spine stiffen.

"The only seed you need to have in you is mine."

He stood up, and in the same movement, thrust into her. 

Her back weakened as he began his steady rhythm, hips thrusting back and forth measuredly until her belly began to build up with more sparks of electricity. 

She didn't want it, she didn't want any of it, all she wanted to do was flee to the refuge of her room and cry. But he wasn't letting go of her, he was hammering and kissing and pleasuring her, until the climax building up in her abused body was too intense to ignore.

The head of his cock twitched, and she knew he was close to release. "Wouldn't it be grand if we had a baby?" He murmured into her ear, punctuating his words with a warm, wet lick. "We'll have a little girl together. Oh, papa will be gone, promesso, and even your mother, if you so desire. Take it all in. Every bit. I'll make you a mother alright, and you'll bear my seed until your legs collapse and your body can't take it anymore."

His lovingly hissed promises sent her into a mindless state of panic, of giving up her school, her parents, of everything that ever meane anything to her. The vestiges of her encounter with Salvatore had put her in hysteria, and it had reached a breaking point. She drew her head back and slammed it into Leonardo's with a loud crack.

His cock pulled free, and she slammed onto the ground just in time for her to pull her green dress around her body and make a break for her room.

She slammed her door shut and locked it with the slim wire latch, which stretched taut when Leonardo tried to force his way in. "Pazienza."

The doorknob jiggled.

"Do you want your father to know about this?"

The chain snapped taut.

"Let me in."

She stood in the middle of her room, moonlight bathing her. "Go away."

"You'll be mine soon, anyway. Your mother will belong to me, and so will you. Why not make this easier on yourself?"

"Go away!" She crushed her hands over her ears and knelt down, and sobbed, praying for the clink of metal and the thuds to melt away and the sound of her father's boot's to come thudding in, but for that moment in time, all she could do was crouch and wail, and wish desperately for the night to end.

***

The next few weeks, Patience avoided Salvatore. She took a different route home, even though it was a mile out of her way. She never went to see him at the butcher shop.

She knew Leonardo kept visiting her mother. Many days she stayed awake, eyes wide open and tortured as she knew what was going on down the hall, trying to banish the faint moans from her subconscious. But she kept her door locked. Her window latched.

A month later, she missed her period.

[paradisobound]

I Want It, I Got It: Chapter 7

Summary: Phil Lester was a worker for the BBC in London. Working in the advertising department, he was content being alongside his friend and fellow coworker PJ during every shift. However, the BBC is temporarily being used as a film set for a new movie staring Hollywood ‘It’ star, Daniel Howell. Being stuck as an extra on the set, Phil finds it’s hard to ignore the famous star. And maybe, just maybe, Dan finds it hard to ignore Phil as well.

Word Count: 1.4k (this chapter)

Warnings: Occasional swearing

Rating: Mature (for right now)

Updates will be every Wednesday at 4pm and Sunday at 1pm EST

**MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3**

Phil arrived to the BBC the next day for his normal work schedule.  He managed to get his assignment done for the BBC radio one and he had sent it in the night before after sleeping off his anger at the day. 

He got to his office with a sticky note on his desk to go to his boss as soon as he arrived to pick up his next assignment. So he sighed, put his stuff down, and headed off  to see his boss. 

He didn’t get to see his boss often, namely because he never had any problems arise where he particularly needed to see her. Her name was Louise and all her knew about her was that she was a blonde who died the tips of her hair funky colors. 

He made it to her door and knocked twice before a “Come in” rang out and Phil pushed down the door handle. 

Louise was sat at her desk, her hair put half up and a blazer buttoned tight around her waist. She was scribbling something onto a pad of paper but Phil just quickly took a seat and waited. 

“Oh, hi, Philip.” Oh right. He’d forgotten. She called him Philip. 

He cringed internally. 

“We have a few options for your next assignment and if you give me two minutes I can print them off and give them to you to read over. One is for next weeks episode of the BBC London Podcast and the other is that we need a new snazzy looking logo to go with the BBC Radio website.” 

Louise tapped away at her keyboard and Phil waited patiently. Somewhere in the distance, Louise’s printer whirled and she stood up, walking over to it, and picking up the papers. 

She flipped through each paper and then handed them to Phil to look over. “Just so you know, you can choose any one of the assignments but the one for the BBC website is a little bit more in demand.” 

Phil looked at both of the pages and decides he’d rather do the BBC website first anyway since it’ll take up less of his time. “I think I’ll work on the BBC website this afternoon and then begin the one for the podcast as soon as I’m done.” 

Louise smiled. “Have fun.” 

Phil just gave her a cut nod and grabbed his papers as he walked out of her office and down the hall back to his own. PJ was just setting up his desk with todays work when Phil walked through the doorway. 

“The tube this morning was worse than usual.” PJ griped as he undid his scarf from around his neck and drooped it off the back of his chair. “I swear there was no standing room and no one knew how to let someone on. Missed two trains and had to wait for the third.” 

Phil stifled by a chuckle. “Should have taken a taxi at that rate, mate.” 

“And pay 30 quid?” PJ laughs. “No thanks. I’ll be late.” 

Phil laughed to himself and plopped into his desk chair, ignoring how it creaked because it was slightly old and way too overused. He opened his laptop and opened up Illustrator as he prepared to begin the new logo. 

He was already into gradient coloring a circle when PJ interrupted him. “How did yesterday with Dan go?” 

Phil felt his shoulders tense and he looked up from his laptop, his teeth unintentionally grinding together. “It didn’t.” 

PJ adjusted his glasses on the edge of the nose and then looks at Phil with furrowed brows. “What do you mean?” 

Phil shook his head and reached up, pinching the bridge of his nose. “We met up like planned and I took him to the eye. He was very nice and kind and I really enjoyed the little time we spent together. But then when we got off, the paparazzi and a bunch of teens and adults were waiting for us and he asked to go back to the hotel.” 

PJ spun in his chair and took off his glasses. “Wait, what happened?” 

“Exactly what I just said.” Phil commented, feeling his stomach begin to knot. 

PJ opened and closed his mouth softly before he remained silent. He looked between the floor and Phil. “Did...did he just like...not want to be around you anymore? I don’t get it.” 

“No, Peej...nothing like that.” Phil says, his voice softer than before. “Dan was very overwhelmed and I think he just needed to be alone.” PJ nodded once and then gave him a soft smile. “But he texted me after and I think it’ll be okay.” 

PJ began to speak again when the sound of footsteps behind them grew louder and Phil turned. He sighed quite loudly when he saw Gemma walking their way, her heels someone still sounding loud on the carpeted floors. 

“Phil Lester!” Gemma called out as he approached his desk and yanked an empty chair up to the side. She fell into it and settled at his desk. “What did you have to do to get a Daniel Howell follow and why didn’t I know about it?” 

Phil rolled his eyes and sat back. “It’s nothing.” 

“It’s not nothing, Phil!” Gemma pushed. “Daniel Howell followed you and I want to know how you managed that.” 

Phil shrugged. “We met on set.” 

“On set?!” Gemma exclaimed. “Oh why couldn’t I have been on set and maybe I would have gotten one.” 

“Hey!” PJ called from the side. “I didn’t get a Dan follow and I was on set.” 

Gemma looked at Phil with big eyes. “How did you manage to get one then, Phil? Spill your secrets.” 

“We talked, he asked for my Twitter and Instagram and I gave it to him.” 

“He just asked for that?” Gemma asked, her voice incredulous. “You’re acting like this isn’t a big deal. Phil, you got a Daniel Howell follow.” 

“It’s really not.” Phil said back. “There’s nothing to really even say about it. Dan’s a nice guy.” 

Gemma sat back. “Have you been speaking with him?” 

“A little bit.” 

Gemma’s eyes bugged out of her head. “A little bit? How is this not a big deal, Phil! You’re talking to a literal celebrity.” 

“It’s not a big deal.” Phil reiterated. “It’s not a big deal because it’s just Dan. He’s a normal guy.” 

‘Wow, you’re getting a little aggressive, don’t you think?” 

Gemma cut off her words before shooting him a side ways glance. Phil let’s out a breath and looks up just in time to see PJ staring at him with a look of what are you doing? 

Frankly, Phil doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore when it comes to Dan. 

All he knows is that Dan’s been messaging him since Tuesday and everything seemed to be better. But Dan was returning back to the USA to finish filming as they speak on his fancy private jet. According to Dan, he wasn’t even a fan of a private jet but everyone told him how it was essential for travel.

He feels like it’s stupid but Phil honestly would kill for a ride in Dan’s private jet with him. 

Phil shakes his head and looks back at Gemma with a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. I’ve had a long few days. I know it’s not an excuse to be a dick but―”

She flashed him a wide toothed smile and stood up from the chair she was sat in, brushing down her dress back to laying flat against her thighs. ‘That’s okay, Phil. I understand it. We all have those weeks.” 

She flashed another quick smile at him and then left the office, her heels still managing to make a noise against the carpet. Phil turned his attention back to his laptop and saw a new message on his Instagram…that he wouldn’t admit that he had open just in case Dan messaged him. And this time, he did. 

It read: 

danielhowell: what’s your number? Texting will work better for me when I’m in the states. 

He doesn’t even realize he’s reacting to it until PJ scoffs. “What did Mr. Howell send you now?” 

“He wants my number.” 

PJ cocked and eyebrow. “Really moving fast, don’t you think?” He joked. 

Phil laughed and finished typing out his number to Dan. “Dan’s a nice guy.” 

And really, that’s the complete truth. 

[nationalsupersagency]

Sundays Are Fundays, Right?

Sunday mornings were the busiest at the Happy Platter. There were three churches near the diner and they all held mass three times a day. After the services, churchgoers would be hungry. Since most of them were families, they wanted an affordable family friendly place to eat at. The Platter was a perfect choice.

Violet had already been working for five months. The job added more stress to her high school and superhero careers, but she sucked it in and took it like a trooper. This particular time was a bit more stressful because it was the point in her life where she was filling out college applications non-stop.

‘You can’t put all your eggs in one basket.’ her dad would press. Both parents were pressuring her to fill out applications to schools she had absolutely no interest in, adding to the stress. 

Then of course, teachers piled up everyone's homework, made exams more frequent and more difficult, and expected students to study for several hours outside of school. How they could expect them to do it all was beyond her.

The first services started at seven, which is when the Rydingers expected Violet to clock in. This one day in particular, Violet refused to get out of bed after her alarm clocks first warning, telling herself, ‘I’ve got time’. She realized about five minutes before Tony was supposed to pick her up that she didn’t have much time.

Bursting out of bed, she brushed her hair and buttoned up her dress. There was no time to put on makeup, which she did mainly because she always got bigger tips. 

She dashed down the stairs, took a banana from the fruit bowl, and consumed it in under a minute.

“Hey, Vi.” Her father greeted as she came down the stairs. “I thought you were already gone?”

“No time, gotta go!” His daughter threw the peel in the garbage and ran outside right as Tonys car pulled up.

As expected, when the churches let out, the masses came in for brunch. Violet had been functioning as normal for the first couple of hours. As time passed though, more people came as less people left. Violet experienced this several times since starting work five months prior.

This lady wanted a western omelet. This gentleman wanted three eggs with a side of bacon and toast. Some other lady was arguing with her three-year-old over what she was going to order him. A moody pre-teen, angry once again that her parents dragged her to church and wouldn’t end her misery and just take her home, snapped at Violet in protest that she would order nothing. 

Violet would be mad, but she sympathized with this girl. She wanted to hug her and tell her, ‘I’ve been there. I’ve been there so hard.’ Knowing moody kids though, she refrained.

Her stomach had been gurgling since the beginning of her shift but Violet had been ignoring it. Come around ten forty-five, she began to see the diner spin like an amusement park ride.

Realizing she was not feeling good, Violet finished dispensing food to a table of four and went into the backroom. There was only one chair in the kitchen at the end of the line. All the chefs paid no mind as they were scrambling eggs and flipping pancakes.

‘I’m just going to close my eyes for five minutes. They’ll understand.’

She didn’t see clearly once she woke up, but Violet heard voices. Someone was gently squeezing her hand and cupping her shoulder.

“Oh thank god,” said a male voice, which she registered to be Tonys. “Vi.” he shook her gently. “Violet, are you ok?”

When she came completely back to reality, Violet saw she was surrounded by what felt like half the diner staff, including Mrs. Rydinger.

‘Oh, shit.’

“What happened?”

“You passed out, sweetie.” she told her. “Guess you got overwhelmed.” Not that she could blame her since every table was filled and more people were coming in and expecting to be seated right away.

“Oh.” Violet blinked. When she attempted to stand up, Tony gently kept her down.

“Don’t move yet.” he said tenderly. One of the older waitresses, Debby, came by with a cold glass of water, which she handed to her.

“Hi, hon. You feeling alright?” Her voice was hardened by years of smoking.

Violet shrugged as she consumed some of the water. “I’m fine.”

“What did you eat this morning?” Mrs. Rydinger asked.

Now Violet felt like a moron because she couldn’t lie and say she had a good breakfast but telling them the truth would be alarming news.

She shook her head. “Just a banana.” 

As she feared, Mrs. Rydingers face showed signs of anger.

Mrs. Rydinger walked over to the counter where all the prepared plates were and found an order of their Big Breakfast, which consisted of three eggs any style, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage, and toast.

“Hey, that’s for the customer.” Brutus protested. “Brutus,” Brutus was the favorite amongst them not just for his cooking but his sense of humor and protective demeanor of the waitresses. They called him ‘Big Brutus’ because of his round figure and broad laughter. When music started playing, he would dance whilst still working. 

“Make the customer another one.” Mrs. Rydinger told him. “Vi passed out. She didn’t eat this morning. She needs to eat.”

“Oh good lord.” Brutus sighed and looked over at the corner of the kitchen where Violet was sitting. He knew that girl wasn’t taking good care of herself with how damn thin she was.

Mrs. Rydinger came back with the plate of food.

“I want you to eat as much as you can.” she said. “Violet, if you told me earlier you didn’t have much to eat this morning, I would have given you something.”

Violet was just silent, knowing she’d have more to say.

“I’d rather you come in a little late with a full stomach than on time with nothing.”

What could Violet say without the risk of upsetting her boss, and hopefully, in the future, her mother-in-law? Mrs. Rydinger was a very sweet and caring woman with a nurturing aura, like Helen. Violet feared this woman would start to worry about her.

She started nibbling on the bacon, which was cooked a little too well for her liking.

“I’m sorry.” Yeah, sorry she was too tired to get up on time and get a balanced breakfast before heading out the door.

“Just keep that in mind next time,” she said, squeezing Violets shoulder.

“Do you want us to call your dad?” Tony offered. Maybe letting her off early would be helpful.

Violet looked over at the clock hanging on the wall, which all the employees would look at like a diety they offered gifts to. She had about two more hours left. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary,” she said. “After I eat this, I should be ok.”

His girlfriend was too proud to accept defeat, he knew that. If Violet went home early, she would feel terrible about it for at least a week, so what else could she do but finish what she started?

“Are you sure?” Mrs. Rydinger questioned. “You’re not going to get in trouble for leaving early, you know.”

Violet shrugged as she bit into one of the links. "I know, but,” she listened out at the customers overlapping conversations filling the restaurant. “I’d like to stay and keep working until the end of my shift if that’s ok.”

Her boss just nodded. “Of course. Take your time with that food and whenever you’re ready, you can head back out there.”

When the young couple was alone again, Tony planted a sweet kiss on her forehead. 

“Please don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I’m sorry.” she just shrugged.

“No, Vi,” Tony was trying to get her to look into his eyes. “When you didn’t wake up after I first called you, I thought something really bad happened.”

“But I’m fine.”

“I know, but,” Tony sighed. “I was freaking out.”

Well, at least she didn’t pass out on the floor or he’d had to carry her to the chair. She had been teaching him how to pick her up bridal style for some time as it was more difficult than it looked. Maybe he would have liked that, since he practically had nailed it to a t.

“I would be too if it were you instead of me.” she assured him. “Rest assured, I’m still here, I’ll be back to my old self in a bit, and until I leave for college, I have no plans to quit this job.” If it meant she could spend more time with him, Violet was determined to stay. “I’ll finish this plate and see you back out there, alright?”

If the plate weren’t between them, Tony would have embraced her. He kissed her forehead again instead.

“I love you.”

It wasn’t the first time he said it, and it wouldn’t be the last.

“I love you too.”  

[primary-colour-hair]

Powerful Yet Powerless: Working through Hurricane Sandy NYC

6 years ago October 29th 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit New York City and was one of the most challenging time of my life. While we knew this was possible we did not know it would actually hit or be as devastating as it was and cause so much chaos. Luckily I suffered no damage to my apt but all of Lower Manhattan below 34th Street (including my building) was without power for a week and due to this the salon/school was forced to close.

I previously lived in Bermuda for 7 years so was very used to hurricane warnings, high winds, tropical storms, hurricanes, loss of power and having to improvise. I had experienced several hurricanes including 2 that had shut down the salon for 3+ days each as the power was out downtown. In the aftermath I had rescued my garden furniture from a 60ft drop onto the 8th tee of the golf course at the back of my house and had watched a whole beachfront restaurant get washed away from the cliffs above. But nothing could prepare me for the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

I lived on the second floor of a pre-war building in the heart of SoHo. My sturdy building was over 100 years old and was not going anywhere. (nor was I) It was likely my street would be flooded or windows may leak as my building was in an evacuation zone, a part of the city that would spend the rest of the week without electricity.

As I left work on Friday evening it was uncertain how the next 48 hours would play out or if anything would even happen. My boss's kids helped me put towels around our windows in our SoHo School to soak up any leaks. The building management company sand-bagged the entrances and we crossed our fingers. We had scheduled a big event for weekend and although many people had cancelled we still had many Ambassador salon owners & stylists who had arrived earlier in the week for a long anticipated 4-day education event and decided to stay. We hosted one day of their event and were forced to cancel the remaining 3 days when the venue lost power. See Salon Today for a write up about how the business coped with this. 

I spent the weekend at The Highline Park & Central Park and except for the updated news bulletins no-one would know there was a hurricane due. The weather was grey and cloudy yet the water was the proverbial calm before the storm. It was a normal NYC weekend, anything could happen.

When the MTA Shut down rail & bus service on Sunday afternoon we knew it was serious and imminent so we waited!

By Monday morning the wind was picking up and the streets were eerily empty. The owner had made the decision to close the salons, school and academy for the day due to the MTA Shutdown and hurricane threat. The hardest part was the waiting so I walked to work to see what was needed. The perils of living 3 blocks away and being a Manager/Key-holder is that you still go to work, even when no-one else does. I did what I do best which was work: I emailed all staff & students that we were closed and to stay tuned for updates. I answered emails, planned & adjusted schedules, organized closets and even did 6 loads of laundry!

By Monday evening the wind had really picked up and was howling, trees were shaking and the water was choppy but, for now, I still had light & power. My building was loud with the sound of pounding feet & banging suitcases as my neighbours packed up to leave SoHo. For me, life carried on as normal and I was staying put. I cooked dinner and sat down to watch a movie: the Con-Ed robot call came just as the opening credits were rolling (Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows) advising me that the power was about go out. Literally 5 seconds later it did.

Although you can think you are prepared for a power outage you never really are. I had candles but couldn't find the lighter, had a torch but dropped it and the batteries fell out and had failed to fill the sink with water for whatever cold water is required for!

I ate dinner in the dark and watched the movie on my laptop, until the power died. Then I went to bed. My building was unusually quiet and as nice as that was it was also quite eery. As far as I could tell, my neighbours next door were home but no one else on my floor was. As the week went on it was apparent we were the only tenants left in our 6-story building.

I woke up the next day very early and for that blissful second when I awoke all was well until the reality kicked in: I had no light, heat, electricity, phone service or wifi, no fridge, could not take a shower or flush my toilet, or use my phone or laptop. More worryingly, I could not really see to get dressed so ran the risk of odd shoes! As I had no food I decided to take a walk to see how my city had fared overnight. My street was messy with tree branches and leaves but not flooded, good sign! I had absolutely no idea if anywhere was open or if anywhere had power. By the time I had walked up to 23rd Street I saw a few  groups of people walking and then I saw a store open! It was running on a generator and was both warm and cold at the same time! I asked the store owner for any news and he told me power was completely out below 34th Street and spotty above it.

The next day I woke up early with a plan to keep walking until I found electricity and life. I packed my electronics and chargers and started walking north. I walked from SoHo to Midtown (36 blocks, 2.5 miles) and once I got past 30th St I found a deli, with electricity! I bought breakfast, snacks and drinks and continued. My plan was to find a hotel and park myself in the lobby to inconspicuously charge my devices. I walked a few more blocks and found a hotel with a large lobby. It was packed! I perched on a window sill and begged my way to 1 socket to charge the first device I could. I scoffed my breakfast eagerly and chatted to the people around me, most were locals living in a blackout zone. Eventually I was able to nab a seat and a second socket and even connected to the wifi. My first concern was to let my family back in The UK know I was fine then check the local news. Wow, we were very lucky in NYC that although we had damage and loss of power many places close by were flooded (including the subway), there was a lot of damage and many waterfront homes had been flooded or sadly washed away. Eventually I found out that a few of my co-workers who lived on Long Island, Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn had severe damage to their homes.

I checked in with my owner and team to ensure all were ok and then logged on to the school social media to give our students an update. I spent the day answering emails to students, staff, stylists, class attendees and hairdresser friends across North America reassuring them I was fine and New Yorkers were made of tough stuff! I had Advanced Academy Classes scheduled for the upcoming weekend in our NYC Academy and in Philadelphia, North Carolina and Chicago. I spent several days liaising with the team to check, confirm or reschedule travel but as I had no idea when the airports would re-open there was literally nothing I could do but wait for updates. By Wednesday limited buses were running in Midtown and parts of Manhattan but they did not go Downtown below 14th St as all the traffic lights were out (no power) and it was too dangerous. Some subways lines were slowly reopening in parts of the city (mostly above ground lines) and others were in the process of being pumped. In Midtown tourists were buzzing about without a care in the world while locals compared stories of their neighbourhood.

As the week progressed I continued my daily walk to and from the same midtown hotel with all electronics I could carry leaving my apt as soon as it was light and returning before dark. I made friends with the other people in the lobby who were also trying to work from a single socket and lobby bench and we all shared power sockets, news, stories, drinks and snacks glad of the sense of normality, if even for an hour. My building was still almost empty and it was unnerving walking below 14th Street due to the lack of street lights, traffic lights and phone signal.

The organisation we were scheduled to teach 2 of our upcoming weekend classes for in Chicago and North Carolina were pressing me to confirm our staff would be travelling. It was difficult as I was unable to contact some of the staff and local transport was very spotty with airports runways slowly reopening and flights being cancelled daily. By Friday I had organised for the 4 staff to get a ride to the airport(s) and kept my fingers crossed their flights would take off. I cancelled the Philadelphia class.

I checked on the salon one day and found my owner and co-worker there, fulfilling product orders, packing them and driving them to midtown to mail. We had no light, no power but had to remain some sense of normality to the rest of the country and orders had to be filled!

All this time I had still not had a shower and had begged a shampoo sample from a hotel employee to shampoo my hair in the restaurant bathroom, generic product never felt so good!

By Saturday morning I had had enough, having broken sleep, poor nutrition and lack of bathing and was on the verge of tears wondering when normality would ever resume when at 5am the power came back on! It was amazing, my lights came on, the clocks started flashing, the radio blasted out and general noise resumed. I was so happy!! I jumped out of bed and plugged every device in to charge up. I checked my apartment for damage and all was fine (thankfully)

I took a (cool) shower, grabbed my camera and ran out into the street. I could not stop smiling and felt so alive again! I walked through SoHo to The Lower East Side towards the sunrise like a moth to a flame and walked over The Manhattan Bridge. My City was waking up and had been brought back to life, horns were beeping, lights were flashing and normal life was resumed. I walked across The Bridge to Dumbo and back marvelling at the golden skyline staring back at me and how lucky I was to live in this amazing city.

Eventually I went home and had the longest shower ever then took myself out for a celebratory dinner!

[texanpeanut]

Lyra

Before I left home for Peace Corps Senegal, I spent a lot of time saying goodbyes. I said goodbye to friends from school, friends from home, and my family, thinking I was done with goodbyes for a while.

As it turns out, I've had to say a lot of goodbyes here, too. At the end of pre-service training you say goodbye to your fellow trainees, older volunteers go through close-of-service, some of your friends terminate their service early or go home for medical reasons, and some people have to switch sites for various reasons. They're always hard for me. It's not the kind of thing that gets easier over time. I haven't gotten used to the feeling of seeing someone you got so close with leave so quickly.

A week ago I had to say my hardest goodbye yet. Not to another volunteer, but to my dog. She was an amazing companion and I don't think her loss can go without saying anything, so I'd like to share her story, our story, here.

She first came into my life December 31, 2017. I was spending time inside my hut with some of the kids in my village when all of a sudden a boy runs inside and tells everyone "the dog came back!" The rest of the kids run outside immediately and when I go outside to see what's going on, I find them all throwing rocks at a tiny puppy, cowering against the fence of our compound. Naturally I'm outraged, yell at the kids to stop, and scoop her up in my arms. I had no idea what to do. I decided to take her back to my hut, give her some water and peanut butter, and let her rest while I figured out the next step. I called and texted some other volunteers and asked my family about it, and decided I would let her stay overnight then see what I would do in the morning. In the morning there was no going back. She had stolen my heart and I gave her a name - Lyra. I had just finished His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and was in love with the story, so it was the first name that came to mind.

Lyra and my host-nephew, Bailo, on the day I found her. 

Lyra turned out to live up to her namesake. She was full of energy, super spunky and bitey, and would not let anyone boss her around. She was pretty easy to take care of, though. She loved to snuggle and followed me everywhere, and was always receptive to meeting new people and dogs. She was my running buddy, my roommate, my fur-child, my sweet baby. I poured so much love into her. She was my favorite thing about site - even when I was having the worst of days I was happy to be in village because that's where Lyra was.

When she was a puppy she used to curl up in my lap and fall asleep immediately.

Our first selfie. 

Sweet potato nap time :) 

One of the weirder things she brought back to my hut. 

We had a great time together for about nine months, then things started to go downhill. After several months of trying to set a date with the veterinarian in Kedougou to get her spayed, it finally happened September 25, 2018. The surgery seemed to go okay at first. She was pretty groggy afterward, but perked up the next day. I could tell she was still in a bit of pain but figured that was normal post-operation. We rested in Kedougou for a few nights, then traveled back to site together.

I had only been back at site for two nights, then on Sunday morning September 30th, shit hit the fan. I had slept in and was eating breakfast and watching a movie on my laptop when I looked over at my bed and saw a lot of blood coming from Lyra's stitches. I freaked out and tried to help her, tried to keep her from licking it, but every time I touched her I was met with growling and snapping. So I quickly got dressed, opened the door to my hut in case I needed help, then called another dog-owning volunteer for advice. While I was on the phone, Lyra got up and left my hut to go walk around. The other volunteer and I decided that if she was up and walking she was probably fine - I just needed to go get her and make sure everything was clean. So I hung up, finished getting ready for the day then set off to go find her.

I left our compound and looked around in the cornfields out front but didn't see her, so I came back and told my host family I was looking for her then went to go sit in my hut for a little bit in case she came back on her own. About 5 or 10 minutes ticked by before I got anxious and decided to go look again. This time I walked behind our compound and found her lying in the tall grass.

From afar I could tell there was a lot of blood, and as I got closer I saw that her stitches had come completely undone and her intestines were spilling out of her body. She was still alive at this point, but I was panicking, and ran to go get my host dad. He was not very helpful and told me to stop crying (which wasn't really an option for me at this point). So I frantically called a couple other volunteers trying to figure out what to do, and they convinced me to bring her back into Kedougou. I was scared the journey into Kedougou would make things worse, but they helped me realize it was basically the only option. My site mate called someone from my road town to come pick us up from village, and then we paid for an entire car to get us to Kedougou as quickly as possible. My sitemate sat in the back with her and held her down, because every time I tried to comfort her or keep her from moving around she would bite me. At one point she bit my hand so hard I thought she broke it.

We got her to the vet around 6:00 PM and sat outside with another volunteer while the vet operated on her. About an hour later he was done, and she looked how she did at the end of the spaying operation. Sewed up and groggy. Somehow he had put her intestines back inside of her, and I thought everything was going to be okay.

We walked her over to the house where we were met by other volunteers and were all hanging out together while she rested. Not long after we laid her on the ground, she started throwing up blood. A scary site, but we got her to drink some water and cleaned her up a little and again, I thought it was going to be okay. I went to go take a shower, came back, and relaxed for a little while with everyone else.

Eventually I looked down at her and noticed her chest wasn't rising and falling anymore. We gathered around her and felt her heartbeat for a few more minutes. She twitched a couple times, and then there was no more heartbeat.

It was the worst day. After a day of experiencing the whole range of human emotion, I was left heartbroken. I called my mom on the phone and cried so much I think I used up all the water in my body. I had made so many plans in my head for us. We were gonna go back to America together. We were gonna ride around in my car together. I was gonna take her to the dog park. We were gonna hike the Appalachian Trail together. She was gonna go with me to grad school. She was supposed to be my companion. And then it all ended.

The one good thing about this whole horrific experience was the support I got from the other volunteers in my region, and other volunteers who reached out to me over the phone. Maura and Cason helped me get her to Kedougou, Dustin met us at the vet, and Paige, Chase, Archie, and Ellen helped me say goodbye to her the next morning by helping me have a burial for her.

I wish none of it happened. I wish she was sitting next to me as I type this with her head in my lap. I wish she was here to go running with. I wish I could still pick her up by the armpits and dance with her, like we used to do in my hut. I'm grateful for the times we were able to spend together and the short life I was able to give her, and I'm sorry the end of it was spent in so much pain. However I felt like I did everything I could to help her, and I'm glad she won't hurt anymore.

Doing what she loved most - eating peanut butter. I hope there’s lots of peanut butter in dog heaven. 

Her first dog toy sent to me from a friend from home. 

Goodbye, buddy. You may not be with me anymore, but your memory will stay in my heart forever. 

RIP Lyra, December 2017 - September 2018

[weekendshowcase]

Pokémon Silver, a Retrospective

by Antonio Garland

    It’s hard to believe that it’s been 17 years since the release of the original Pokémon Gold and Silver games on Game Boy Color. For me, it was the first time I had to get a game the day it came out. I’ll never forget buying Silver on Sunday morning, July 29, 2001, and playing it through the entire day. Last I remember, I put in 400 in-game hours playing it.

   Recently Nintendo re-released Pokémon Gold and Silver for virtual console    on the Nintendo 3DS. I picked up Silver to see if it still held up.

   For the sake of time and convenience, I won’t get too into what Pokémon is or what you do in it (if I did we’d be here all day). All you need to know is that it’s about 10-year-olds skipping school to make animals fight each other…but in a G-rated way. Likewise, I’ll attempt to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t played it yet (even though it’s a near 20 year old game).

   When I first played it back in 2000, I was blown away by its features, specifically the newly added calendar. Basically, you set a real world clock and weekly calendar that allowed certain events to happen during certain times and days of the week. This also affected the Pokémon as you could only find certain ones at certain times of the day. This was a monumental feature not normally featured in a videogame.

   If you’re familiar with the first generation, Pokémon Red and Blue, then you probably wouldn’t/didn’t have too much trouble picking up and playing the second generation. However, it’s surprisingly friendly to newcomers and features lots (and I mean LOTS) of tutorials to tell you what to do and how to play. There are tons of non-playable characters (NPCs) and street signs alongside the roads you travel that give advice and tell you plenty of information. Despite all of this, even if you do get lost, it’s still one of those games that if you talk to everyone and try everything, you won’t be lost for long.

   The game takes place in the fictional Johto region. I always found that most of the places in Johto are based on Japanese locations. There are towers that resemble Japanese Pagoda towers, with the interior of several houses designed after Japanese homes. There’s Goldenrod City, which is the biggest city you’ll visit (at least in Johto) that offers casino-style games (though still G-rated), a shopping mall, Pokémon hair salon, and light rail station. Later on, you’ll visit Olivine City, which is a harbor town that will later offer you a ride on a ship to a faraway land. I can go on about the locations, but again – we’d be here all day. I’ll just add that you will also go to places that are rumored to be home to legendary and mythical creatures and maybe you’ll even cross paths with a place that looks familiar if you’ve played Pokémon Red and Blue.

   Returning from the first generation are gyms and gym leaders. For all intents and purposes, gym leaders serve as the game’s bosses. Each one specializes in a specific type ranging from bug to flying-types. There are a total of eight gyms in Johto that are located in the various towns in the region, along with the elite four and champion, who serve as the game’s last five bosses.

   Speaking of Pokémon types, this game introduces two new types, dark and steel. They were added in to give more variety and serve as new bonus features to help spice the game up. However, another major reason was to even out the balance of the other Pokémon’s mechanics. Back in Gen 1, there was a type called psychic. Since they had extremely powerful moves, few weaknesses, and due to programing errors, psychic types were basically game breakers. A major nitpick is that back then psychic-type Pokémon were supposed to be weak against ghost-type Pokémon; however, all the ghost Pokémon were also poison Pokémon…psychic Pokémon were strong against poison, so it cancels them out as being strong against psychic Pokémon (Oops!).

   Psychic Pokémon were only weak to ghost and bug Pokémon; not a single ghost-type Pokémon move worked on psychics and there were almost no bug-type moves. The only bug-type move that really worked—pin-missile—was very weak. It had a chance of hitting two to five times, but even if you were lucky enough to have it hit all five times, it still did minimal damage. Heck, the only real ghost-type move was lick, and as I said, ghost-type moves didn’t do a thing back then. Most of this was due to a programming error when Niantic was editing the game.

   The moves are so much more balanced in Gold and Silver. While psychic-types are still one of the strongest types in the game, the addition of steel and dark-types help nerf (weaken) the nigh unstoppable psychics. In addition, ghost-type moves were fixed to actually work, and they did add new ghost-type moves such as shadow ball. They even added a new ghost-type Pokémon that isn’t poison, Misdreavus.

   The game is loaded to the brim with all kinds of things, many of which I’m purposely avoiding mentioning for spoilers. One thing I can say is that while many features from Gen 1 are present in Gold and Silver, one major feature that’s absent from the second generation is the safari zone. In Gen 1, there was a city that had an exhibit called the safari zone. Once you enter you’d be able to catch many rare Pokémon that aren’t found anywhere else in the game. While I didn’t care too much how the Pokémon were caught, since they weren’t caught traditionally as were other wild Pokémon, I did like how it was a special feature that had its own unique flair. Instead, Gold and Silver introduced a bug catching contest. Depending on which day of the week you visit a specific place, you could participate in a bug catching contest that allowed you to catch bug Pokémon in the traditional manner. The bug Pokémon you caught within a time limit determined what kind of prize you won afterwards, plus it allowed you to keep the Pokémon you caught.

   With the addition of new Pokémon, there have been changes to older ones. Some Pokémon from Gen 1 obtain new pre-evolved forms and new evolutions. There are even new evolution methods such as during certain times of the day, holding items when traded to evolve and only evolving if they like you enough. Naturally this was acclaimed as these new changes added more to an already amazing gameplay mechanic. Personally, I didn’t care much for the trade evolutions due to needing another system and copy of the game to use it. In hindsight, it makes sense—ultimately you do need to trade to obtain every single Pokémon, but it’s still annoying to see something you want and never be able to get it without another copy of the game.

   The game surprisingly holds up pretty well on virtual console. Honestly, when I first played it, it felt weird since I’m used to more updated versions with better graphics. The last generation I played was Gen 4, so I was used to the more automatic battles in those. When I played Silver on virtual console, it felt sluggish. I was expecting the game to advance on its own, then I remembered that I had to keep hitting A or B to advance the text scroll. While a bit annoying at first, I quickly got used to it again and it wasn’t so bad afterwards. The game is pretty much like the original, though I wish there were a few extra choices, such as the option of being able to play with the original Game Boy aesthetic. If you didn’t have a Game Boy Color, you could play Gold and Silver on an original Game Boy with the same green coloring.

   Another feature I would prefer, similar to the SNES classic, would be an option to fill in the border around the game. Being a Game Boy game, it doesn’t fully fill the 3DS screen and I wish there was an option to fill in that black boarder. At least I wish it was like the Game Boy Player on GameCube which allowed you to stretch the screen and fill the border.

   Unlike most virtual console games on 3DS, this doesn’t include a quick save feature, which I’m presuming is so you can’t exploit certain choices in the game. Also, the game-link cable functions have been replaced by a Wi-Fi function for convenience-sake.

   I will admit, when I replayed it, many of the Pokémon I used didn’t always do what I wanted and battles usually became convoluted. While the game encourages you to have a full party of six Pokémon, you only need three or four. That’s how many I used and I made my way through with little trouble (or maybe it was because I knew what to expect, lol).

   Nitpicking aside, it was a perfect port of the original. It’s a beautiful game that still holds up today, even if the graphics and gameplay speeds are a little short for today’s standards. It’s a large adventure that will leave you fulfilled for hours. Minor spoiler, once you’re done with the game, there’s a gigantic after-game that’s not only nostalgic, but it will keep you entertained for quite some time.

   I give the virtual console version of Pokémon Gold and Silver an 8/10. However, my advice is if you really want to play the second generation then you should play the remakes, Heart Gold and Soul Silver on DS. They not only have everything the originals had, but also have upgraded graphics, faster and more innovative battles, and they add many more additions to a game that’s already flooded with content. I was actually cautious about re-buying a game I played nearly two decades ago, mostly because I was buying something I already had. In fact, it took me a few weeks to actually buy it. It’s a journey I’m glad I retook and I highly recommend anyone wanting to relive the same nostalgic feel or wanting to embark on it for the first time to check it out. It really is a journey paved in Gold and Silver.

[kazosa]

Secrets - SoA: Chapter 4

Summary: Reader has lived in a life full of secrets. When her father dies unexpectedly and sends her on a trip all over the country, she finds out just how much like her father she really is. The end of her trip brings her to Charming, CA where she finally gets some big pieces of her family puzzle put back in place and form new relationships with the people there. Chapter 4: Normal day at the office Warnings: language, teasing A/N: If it wasn’t clear before, this takes place after the events of the final episode, so SPOILERS Word Count:   2300 Tags: @telford-ortiz-teller  @sam-samcro  @tstieff  @yourcroweater  @kacilove26  @hiddlelove

IF YOU WISH TO BE TAGGED, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IN SOME WAY. ASK BOX IS SAFEST WAY, BUT I DO TRY TO LOOK AT ALL COMMENTS AND REBLOGS. COMMENTS WELCOME! Secrets Masterlist

     The ride to TM was short and quiet. You could feel a noticeable change in Chibs. You supposed it had to do with appearing professional and not like he’d spent the night with you in his bed. He pulled up to the office door to let you off and he went to his usual spot to park. It looked like you were the first ones to arrive. There were no other bikes in the lot and you were fairly certain that the MC were the only ones that worked at TM. You stood by the office door as you waited for Chibs to come over.      “Dah’lin, are you going to need help with anything? I can get the prospects in to help,” he offered as he unlocked the door.      He let you step inside after he glanced around the office interior. The boxes seemed less daunting than you’d remembered. “It depends on how well it’s all organized. If it’s all neat and tidy, you won’t even need me to go through it. If it’s a mess, I’m gonna need at least one person.”      You opened one of the boxes marked “Inventory” and scanned the contents. There were some files that were in disarray, but not too bad. You checked the other boxes and that was when you’d made your decision.      “One helper ought to do. This isn’t bad. It’s not a big mess, but it could be better. Do you have a way to scan these in to the computer? It would be better to have this all digital. Paper files are difficult to organize,” you asked.      Chibs’ blank stare gave you all the answer you needed. Maybe you would need two people after all…      “Okay. I’ll get started. I’ll figure it out,” you assured him.      He looked relived for a moment and was going to start opening the shop, but you stopped him before he stepped out.      “Hey, Chibs,” you called. He turned slightly and looked over his shoulder at you, “What do you want from me?”      He let go of the handle and turned to you. “Wha’ do ya mean, lass?”      Jesus, you felt like a school girl with a crush standing in front of him like that.      “I mean the hot and cold from you. I may not understand what being “Bud’s daughter” fully means, but I’m a grown-ass woman with a mind of her own. I don’t have any hang-ups about you, could you just get over yours or let me be?” you asked.      He didn’t want to let her be, but she was right. He did have shit to deal with. Buddy’s girl had no idea what she was stepping into. It wasn’t fair to keep it from her, but he didn’t know how to tell her. If he could just get through her being there, she would be on her way and he wouldn’t have to tell her. Starting something up with (Y|N), no matter how much he wanted to, was not the best idea in the world. If Marcus found out who she was, he wasn’t sure if he had the manpower to protect her. Marcus could hold a grudge and he needed to find him and talk to him.      “I’ll talk wi’ ye about it later, love. First, I need to find someone,” he pleaded and went to look for Tig.      When he stepped out of the office, Tig had just rolled up. He strode over to where the bikes were parked to talk to him.      “Mornin’ Pres,” Tig greeted him.      “Tig, I need you to stay here with (Y|N) today, watch over her, help her with whatever she needs, alright?” it was more of an order than a question.      “Sure, Boss, where are you going to be?” he was curious.      He sighed heavily, “I need to find Marcus.”      Tig didn’t get off his bike, “Marcus? What the hell do you need to talk to him about?”      “Bud and Marcus had history, I want to make sure it doesn’t come back on her,” he explained.      Tig nodded in understanding, “You sure you want me to stay here?”      “Aye, I’m sure,” he said warily. “Maybe get Chuckie over here to help her. Just make sure (Y|N) isn’t alone.”

     You watched from the door as Chibs rolled away without a look back. You’d seen people act like that before. Tig was walking toward you as he talked on the phone. Your gaze didn’t leave Chibs until you couldn’t see him anymore, by then, Tig was done with his phone call.      “Tell me he isn’t going to do something stupid,” you said not looking at Tig.      “Oh, no. Chibs won’t, Happy will, but Chibs won’t,” Tig responded.      “That doesn’t make me feel better, Tig,” you looked at him now.      Tig put his hand on your shoulder to turn you back inside the office. “What are we doing today, sweetheart?”      You chuckled, “A shitload of paperwork. You good at filing?” The deer-in-headlights look told you all you needed to know. “It’s okay, Tig, I can manage. Will Chibs be back sooner or later?”      “No, no, honey, I’m here to help. Show me what you need me to do,” he said.      Tig was surprisingly good help and was willing to take orders from you and that, to you, said a lot about him. He stopped every once in a while to comment on the names on the paperwork and would make up little stories.      “Look at this one. Jacob Pringle. What the fuck. I bet he was one of those guys that went to church every Sunday and did freaky shit in bed as soon as he got home,” he’d said about one.      “He probably has a ball gag and likes to be dominated,” you offered.      “YAASSSSS! I knew there was something I liked about you!”      You just chuckled and continued getting the box you were in back to alphabetical.

     As it got closer to lunch time, you were starting to get antsy. Chibs wasn’t back yet and you hadn’t heard from him. You tried not to worry, but you did anyway. He’d been gone since you got to the shop and it was getting close to 12:30.      You put your file back in the box and went to the door to stretch. The big building at the end of the property had caught your interest for the moment.      “Tig, what happened to that building?” you asked.      He looked up to see what you were looking at. “Oh, had a fire a few years ago. We’ve been trying to clean it out, but it’s slow.”      “Gonna rebuild? What about insurance?” you were curious.      Tig changed the subject. “I’m gonna give Chuckie a call. He knows this system better.”      Tig pulled out his phone and made the call. Twenty minutes later, Chuckie came rolling up on a Vespa and it was all you could do not to giggle at the sight.      “How the hell did you guys pick up Chuckie?” you asked.      “We pick up strays,” he grinned, implying you were a stray, too. “He needed a place to fit in. Happened to be here.”      Tig went into the garage to do the work he was supposed to be doing that day and Chuckie settled in. Being a former accountant, he explained everything to you in words that you understood rather than, “this thing goes with that thing and the other one is what goes here.” Chuckie had been working the majority of his days at Scoops so he didn’t have much time to help out at TM as he would have liked. He apologized to you more than once that you were having to clean up the paperwork. By the end of the day, you and Chuckie had gotten through three, very stuffed boxes and were getting ready to call it a day when Chibs finally came back. You grabbed your purse and met Chibs at the door.

     His visit with Marcus wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad either. Thankfully, Marcus had been aware of Bud coming back when the club needed him and hadn’t sought retaliation. Relations between SAMCRO and the Mayans had been good over the last few years and neither Marcus nor Chibs was looking to ruin that. Diosa was doing well and both parties were pleased with the relationship. Though Robert was his brother, Marcus had long since put the mystery to rest, especially when he found out why Robert had ‘disappeared.’ It was Marcus who had told Chibs what happened all those years ago.      “There will be no retaliation from me or my club. I’d rather it not got around…what he did. Robert got what he deserved.” He thought a moment, “Tell me, homes, is she like her pops or her crazy moms?” Marcus had encountered Debbie Teller only once and it had been memorable, to say the least.      Chibs was sitting on his bike getting ready to leave. He thought a moment, “She’s quiet like her da and mostly like him, but watch out for Debbie. The lass has a mind all her own, though. Hard to pin down.”      Marcus grinned at his business partner. “She gonna be at the party? I think I’d like to meet her.” The look on Chibs’ face made him quickly add, “Just for social reasons!”      “Aye, I expect she’ll be there,” Chibs conceded, not entirely sure he could deliver, not entirely sure he wanted to. He started his motorcycle and made the long ride back to Charming. The story Marcus had told him was still fresh in his mind as he pulled into the lot at TM.

     You know that feeling you get, the one where your stomach jitters when you see your crush? The one where your heart races, your skin flushes and you want to just stare at them? Chibs was sitting on his bike, taking off his gloves. You couldn’t tell if he was watching you the way you were watching him. His helmet was next, his hair being pulled up with the helmet until the helmet lost its hold and his silvery hair fell about his face. His body shifted to the left and he rose on his foot and swung his long leg over the back of the bike. You watched him still as he took a moment to stretch before bending over to put his helmet in the hard saddlebag. My God, he’s actually got an ass. Unlike most guys.      He stood back up straight and made his way to where you stood.      “E’rything go okay?” he asked, trying to sound casual.      You squinted up at him, not just because the sun was shining in your eyes. He was hiding something.      “Yeah, Chuckie is a trip, exhausting, but a trip,” you said.      Just as the words came out of your mouth, Chuckie passed by you, “I accept that. See you tomorrow?”      A half-smile touched your face and you nodded your head a little, watching Chuckie leave.      “Did the chain get put back on your bike?” Chibs wanted to know.      Since Tig had left, around lunch time, you hadn’t seen him. “I don’t know, actually. He said he had work to do.” Chibs was going to walk into the garage, but you stopped him, reaching up to take off his sunglasses. “Filip,” his given name sounded foreign coming out of your mouth, “where were you all day?” You held his folded sunglasses between your index and middle fingers, waiting for a response. He didn’t want to tell you, you could see that easily, but you’d made a pact with him, no lies, no matter what.      “I went to see the president of another club,” he was doing his best to be honest.      “What about?” you were wary now.      He put his hand on the door jamb above your head and leaned in so close, you could feel his breath on your face.      “You.”      His mouth was teasingly close. All of this tension between the two of you was making you insane. You couldn’t look in his eyes, not when his lips were so close, daring you to close the distance. He raised his hand to your jaw, his finger tracing the line back to your ear then down the groove in your neck before his hand slid to the back of your neck, pushing your hair out of the way. He gently pulled you to him, your mouth meeting his. His hand on the door jamb dropped to pull you in tightly to his body, his other hand still on the back of your neck. You put one arm around his waist the other on his chest. His tongue grazed your lip and you answered by parting you lips. His tongue danced slowly, languidly, with yours.      When he finally broke away from you, leaving you breathless and in shock, he didn’t say a word, he just took his sunglasses out of your hand, put them on then took your hand, pulling you along with him. He pulled you over to his bike and pointed at the seat. You took your helmet out of the saddlebag and got on the bike after Chibs. Still in a daze and anticipating what was going to happen at Chibs’ apartment, you didn’t notice half the garage was staring at you as you rode off the property.

[blschaos3000-blog]

Its 1: 15 pm hazy

  Welcome to 8 Questions with……

Meet my friend Karen,who is one of the kindest and most compassionate people left on this planet. I have known Karen for several years,she and I met after Lori passed away and she stayed with me as I was getting crushed by grief and loss.  She has donated to Sockvember many times as well donating several times a year to Red Cross,you are getting the idea that Karen is a very caring and generous soul,right? Karen is also a relentless crusader for animals,all types of animals whether it be a abandoned dog,injured possums,hungry birds or a pocket cheetah like her new cat,Doogie Howser. She gets up early to feed her crew,check her TNR traps,rescues the cats and if possible helps them find a home or if they feral,she’ll get them neutered and released back in their area. Family is the most important thing to Karen and if you are a friend,you’re family. I have really enjoyed reading about Karen’s crazy adventures through the years be it a ice storm that led turned a small trip into a multi-hour ride from hell to rooting for her Braves and yes,even losing a few of her rescues and fosters. She has shown me and hundreds of other people around the country what being a caring and loving human being looks like. Simply put,we need a LOT more people like Karen in this world. I hope you enjoy reading and sharing Karen’s interview as she answers her 8 Questions

 Please introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about yourself. 

I am Karen Jones nee Estes originally from Charlotte, NC but I have been in the Metro Atlanta area since the day Elvis allegedly died. I am married and I have one son who is the light of my life (from my practice marriage). I worked for about 12 years in HR/payroll but in 2016 I was beyond tired of Atlanta traffic and I changed jobs to be closer to home (less miles and less money lol but also way less aggravation from traffic). I work in the preventive maintenance department for a biotechnology company in Kennesaw, GA.  I love all animals but I also love bacon so whatever category that is called – that is where I am. DON’T TOUCH MY BACON!  I am an overly sarcastic person so keep that in mind while reading the rest of my answers.I am a firm supporter of donating blood/platelets at The Red Cross and being an organ donor. If you have doubts about donating organs then you need to do some reading  https://www.donatelife.net/  

 What was it like growing up in your house? Is this how you developed your love for animals?

  My house was cool growing up, my parents are both insane (although I have never had them tested) and they love animals too but they also eat meat.  We had rules and curfews and chores but we also had love.  I would certainly say that my love for animals was developed by watching my parents. I used to make fun of them for birdwatching and bringing home leftovers to feed the possums. Now I do the same thing which makes my son cringe when we go out to eat and I ask for a to-go box so I can feed the critters. So watch out kids – you will become your parents one day! I remember my mom finding an injured owl on the road one night and she wasn’t going to leave it there to suffer so she slipped out of her slip, wrapped up the owl, put it in the car and headed home. Apparently the owl was not hurt because a few miles down the road it hopped up on the steering wheel and watched her drive home. We had plenty of dogs who were saved from the side of the road, dogs who “we are not keeping” but of course ended up staying with us. My dad came across some young flying squirrels and those were brought to our house and released in the backyard. He’d go out at night and call them and they’d come down and eat the peanut butter he set out for them.      Non animal related – our house was the hang out for all the cadets in Civil Air Patrol. My parents preferred that we hang out at home with MTV (back when MTV played nothing but music videos) and eat pizza so the kitchen was always stocked.     Holidays were always an “eat yourself into a coma and still have plenty to take home to eat for the next 6 months” type of event. Mama T (my mom’s mom) was one of the best cooks on the planet, she loved to cook and she loved to watch people eat what she prepared. This is why my family is incapable of preparing normal size meals lol     I must mention that having “insane” parents is a lesson in itself. Both of my parents started out at the phone company as linemen, humping poles as they called it. Neither of them have a “can’t do” attitude. They have the “do what you have to do” attitude so I picked up on that a good bit. If something doesn’t work then you try something else, if that doesn’t work then try something else. We aren’t a “one and done” type of family. I think this is how I reached MacGuyver status among my friends – it is 99.9% true that when there’s a will, there’s a way.  I am extremely lucky to have the parents that I have and to have picked up on 1/10 of their knowledge and attitude.  I hope that my son has picked up a lot of that too.     I could write a book on this subject but I’m trying to keep it short. Bottom line is that I have the best parents who have taught me a lot of life lessons and above all taught me to always help out if you’re capable of doing so. It cost you absolutely nothing to be kind.

What was your first pet and tell us about it?

The first pet that I can remember was our hamster Cinnamon. Other than watching her roll around in the plastic ball I don’t have a lot of memories. I can’t remember there being a time in my life where there wasn’t a dog or a cat or some fish. I just know life has always included a pet.

How did you meet your husband? What attracted you to him?

This is a loaded question. I met him when I worked part time at Winn Dixie where he was an assistant manager. This is a running joke because I met my first husband when we worked at Kroger together. I ask myself every day what attracted me to him! For starters – he stood out because he is bald and has beautiful blue eyes. We started dating and learned that we both love animals, The Three Stooges, prefer Miracle Whip over mayo and we both hate celery so it was obvious that we were meant to be together.

 How did you get into animal rescue? Did you take any classes or workshops to get trained?

  I wish I knew the answer!!!!!!  I think it all happened by being in the right place at the right time?  No classes or anything like that. Most of it is common sense and thinking back to what my parents did when they came across an animal in need.

 What are some of the big “no-nos” in helping injured animals,especially wildlife?

Do NOT try to make the injured critter become your pet!!!!!!!!! Seek advice on how to keep it comfortable while you find a trained rehabber. Wildlife that has been injured needs to go to rehab and then released back into the wild. While you mean well in what you’re doing, you can actually be causing more harm. So keep it safe and find a rehab facility.

 What have been your three best rescue stories?

Oh gosh – I don’t want to hurt any of their feelings so I will tread lightly. My current foster/rescue is Abby. She came into Getalong Dachshund Rescue: https://www.getalongdachshundrescue.org/our-dogs/   with her sister Zoey in 2017. Zoey was extremely overweight and Abby was mostly blind and deaf. Zoey went on a diet and managed to go from 22.88 pounds down to 11.5 then was adopted. Abby went totally blind and is now a forever foster with me. She and I are extremely bonded and have our own communication skills.     Freida Mae who was found in a ditch in rural AL in the rain. She was not claimed at animal control and Getalong Dachshund took her in and treated her infected and swollen mouth which involved removing pretty much every tooth in her head. I left the Sunday before Thanksgiving 2018 to pick her up. My husband woke up early (which is unusual) and asked where I was going. I told him it was an emergency foster, he rolled his eyes and went back to bed. Freida Mae was sooooooo skinny and soooooooooooo cute. She won my husband’s heart when I sent him a picture of her. When I got home he came outside and said “Give her to me” and that was that. We found out a month later that she also had cancer which could not be treated. She put up a great fight though. She was eating better and gaining weight and playing and bossing the cats around. She had my husband wrapped around her paw. She could do no wrong. Sadly we had to say goodbye to her in March just four months after we said hello.     I can’t leave out Titan because he was the first rescue/foster back in 2001 I believe it was. He was an owner surrender to another rescue group and we took him in. He was quickly adopted to a family in Rhode Island. After getting updates of him in his new home we also asked them to adopt us. Titan had his own beach chair for his beach trips. He went to a great family where he had many happy years. I am friends with his mom to this day.    Can’t leave out Fonzie who was picked up by animal control and never claimed. The happiest dog on earth! Imagine our surprise when we found out he had a broken jaw! He never showed any sign of pain and he was eating dry food, all while constantly wagging his tail. (I know you asked for three but you’re getting four stories). Fonzie cannot hide under blankets because his wagging tail gives away his location. He was adopted 9 months later and is living the best life ever! When I took him to his new mommy he was greeted with a “Welcome Home” sign, a huge basket of toys and his new pillow and blankets. 

We won’t talk about Doogie………….(“Doogie is pretty awesome!!!”-Paladin the cheetah)

 How do people go from wanting to help animals into becoming the worst animal abusers when they become hoarders? Have you yourself ever worked a hoarder house?

I think for the most part they start out wanting to help and then things spiral out of control and they don’t know how to ask for help. I’ve never been directly involved in a case involving hoarding. 

 Share your opinion about TNR and the pros and cons of the program.

I am no expert in this field so please understand that this is only my opinion which is based on information I have read from numerous sources.Any litter bearing animal will basically self adjust (for lack of a better term) based on population. This is what is happening with coyotes in Georgia, there’s basically an open season on coyotes but the coyotes are now having larger litters and more often. So in my opinion TNR is the lesser of two evils. I was fortunate enough to find a group in my county that provides services for feral cats so I was able to get the feral family all “fixed” and vaccinated for free. So I believe in TNR vs euthanasia. 

 Is your husband also a animal rescuer?

He is guilty by association. He complains about my efforts but he’s still around so…………..he found a kitten in the woods a few years ago and no sign of mama after 8 hours so he brought it home. For me to bottle feed. So he is what I’d call the diet version of a rescuer. He complains about it but he is the first one to steal snuggles from the animal. 

 Do you think Kerri should keep one of her kittens?

Absofrickinglutely!!!!!!!!!!!!

  The cheetah and I are flying over to watch your latest possum rescue but we are a day early and now you are playing tour guide,what are we doing?

   Honestly there are so many things to do in and around Atlanta and I rarely do any of them! I prefer to sit on the porch and bird watch and at night watch the critters. But if I were to venture out I’d start off by taking you to breakfast at The Red Eyed Mule in Marietta for the best burger you’ll ever eat! Then perhaps we’d stroll up Kennesaw Mountain for a bit of Civil War History. From there we’d hit Art’s Bagels in Acworth for the best Bronx Bomber bagel sandwich. Squeeze in a trip up the road to Chattanooga, TN to visit Jerry at Opie Acres to learn all about possums (technically Opossum but in the south we just call them possums) https://www.facebook.com/OpossumRescueTn/. The night would for sure include a drag show put on by The Armorettes. All of their tips are donated to HIV & AIDS charities in the Atlanta area. https://www.thearmorettes.com  We aren’t into too much of the tourist things here. We’ve been to the aquarium and to the new Braves stadium but with every passing day we both hate crowds more and more and going anywhere almost always involves traffic! So we either go north or stay at home! 

  Oh…..before I forget,if you need a doctor’s note for work or school,Dr. Doogie Howser will write one for either 5.00 or two bags of Temptation treats,your choice.

I like to thank Karen for agreeing to sit and have a chat up. I really love this lady very much and think she is quite amazing.  I’m sure we’ll be seeing more pictures of Doogie as he can continues to cause a ruckus in the Jone’s home.

Karen has a InstaGram page that you can follow here.

Thank you all for your continued support and please feel free to drop a comment below.

8 Questions with……….Animal rescuer Karen Jones Its 1: 15 pm hazy Welcome to 8 Questions with...... Meet my friend Karen,who is one of the kindest and most compassionate people left on this planet.

[fandoms-equal-life]

Rewriting Their Stars Once Again - The Greatest Showman Fanfiction

Chapter 2: A Combination of Panic and Wonder

Originally Posted on Ao3: 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13365846/chapters/30845328#workskin

Summary:

Phillip has heard the news of Anne’s pregnancy, so what now?

Notes:

Thank you all so much for your comments and kudos! This fanfic got 1390+ hits in a week and I have never even written a fanfic before. It amazes me! Now that I’m not a nervous wreck like I was when posting the first chapter let me clear some things up!

1. I realize that periods are an actual sign of pregnancy, but my brain is weird, and I thought about how awful it would be to do trapeze pregnant.

2. To clear the timeline up for anyone wondering, a lovely reader named Madi told me that P.T. met Jenny Lind in 1849, so the movie most likely takes place a couple years before and after that. So, I’m placing these first chapters in December 1853.

Please leave comments about what you think! I love hearing feedback!

Chapter Two: A Combination of Panic and Wonder

Pregnant.

Never in a million years did Phillip Carlyle think he would be a father.

With his role model of a father, especially.

As he sits on the ground with Anne sobbing in his arms, he has no idea how to react. He is elated. Absolutely elated. He loves Anne with all his heart and would do anything to make her happy.

But they couldn't have picked a worse time to get pregnant.

The circus isn't doing as well as he would like.

The last couple months, the crowds have started to decrease. No matter what Phillip tries: new performers, new dance numbers, cheaper tickets, the crowds are not as big as they used to be.

When Barnum retired a couple years ago, (that's what he calls it, but all the circus performers know he'll always come back for more) he gave half of the show's income to Phillip, but all of the responsibility. He manages the money, advertisements, random problems (including any animal related ones), and all the performers. He loves his job, but lately there is more responsibility than he usually handles. First, he gave the original performers a raise because, at the time, the circus was doing very well. They deserved it and he wanted to show his immense gratitude for their beautiful show. Next, the rent on the docks was raised. Not by much, but enough to get his problems started. When summer ended, and the children went back to school, the crowds started to lessen, and the financial problems started to grow. Now he was dipping into his own savings to keep the circus running smoothly.

Phillip chalked it up to the people of New York lacking imagination at the moment. The rising tensions between the North and the South is putting a damper on every soul. No one wishes to share their imaginations and wonder, even if right now is the perfect time to get lost in the magic of the circus.

The oddities knew nothing of the struggles that the circus was facing, not even Barnum. Phillip has been keeping everyone extremely distracted. He gives Barnum and all the performers the correct amount of money each month, even if that means placing less money into his own bank account. He lies to the performers about the number of tickets sold each night, tells the Barnum family to come on Saturdays when he knows the most people will be there, and he sends the circus performers out to celebrate so he can manage any problem alone. He knows he can ask the circus for help, as they are his family, but he refuses to do so.

People might say it is his ego making him do this, but really all Phillip wants is to see the happy faces of his family. Lettie belting out a song, Tom riding his horse and shooting his gun, and Anne flying through the sky with her brother are what bring him the most joy in life.

Phillip honestly thought his plan to keep the circus running was working smoothly. He had bought Anne this small apartment about a year ago, knowing that she would not want to be far from the circus or someplace extravagant. Also, due to the fact that people are cruel and judgmental towards Anne and Phillip's relationship, finding a place to live is not an easy task. Phillip always has enough money to pay rent, keep plenty of food on the table, buy any necessities, and to spoil Anne a little (she always states that he hates when she spoils her, but that look in her eye and smile on her face when she tells him off says otherwise). Besides the fact that he could tell Anne was somewhat worried that he started to work on Sundays, Phillip thought everything would be fine until summer came.

Phillip did not think he would need large sums of money at the place his life is right now.

But currently, the best thing in his life was crying on the ground while Phillip was staring at the wall, thinking of the secrets he holds.

He knew he had to compose himself for Anne. Pretend the circus was not a mess and that he was ready for their life to change in an instant. He knew that Anne did not enjoy losing control in situations, so that was one reason this was upsetting to her. They were young, in love, and worked for a circus, this is not the exact life a normal pregnant couple would have.

Finally, after slightly composing himself, he picked Anne up and carried her to the couch. He sat down, placed her in his lap, and held her until she was ready to talk.

After about 10 more minutes of panic and tears, Anne started to feel better. She shifted to the seat next to Phillip and looked up at him.

Phillip knew he needed to say something. He wanted to say something comforting and assuring, but in his current state, what actually came out of his mouth was, "Pregnant, huh?"

At that, Anne started to laugh. She had so much anxiety built up in her after that doctor's appointment that he could tell she needed this laugh.

After Anne stopped laughing at Phillip's question, he asked her to explain what happened the doctor's appointment.

"Well, I think the doctor thought I was ditzy because as he started asking me questions about my symptoms, and all the signs were pointing to pregnancy. Besides the vomiting, I have felt out of touch with my emotions. The other day, W.D. ran into my shoulder when passing me in a rush, and I almost bit his head off! Plus, I have not bled in two months, which I know is not something we usually discuss, but it is usually very irregular anyways so the thought of conceiving a child never crossed my mind-

"When the doctor told me I was pregnant, I was transported into a different world. The only thing I could do is look at the wall. Charity - bless her heart - rushed the doctor out of the room and asked all the questions. She was the one that told me I was about two months pregnant, almost three. She also told me the horrible morning sickness would most likely fade in a about a month, but pregnancy is different for everyone."

Anne was talking so fast that Phillip was having a hard time keeping up. He was too young to remember the birth of his baby brother, so all of this is just as new to him as it is Anne. When she finished talking, it took Phillip a minute to comprehend what she said.

When Phillip did not know how to respond he did the last thing Anne would expect, he kissed her.

She most likely thought he would run his hand through his hair or start pacing the living room, one of the many bad habits he has obtained once he stopped drinking.

Instead, he kissed her with so much love and passion, he knew by the way her body melted into his that she felt content for the first time in hours. This is what they both needed in that moment, the feeling as if nothing could stop them when they put their heads and hearts together.

When they separated, Phillip smiled at his love. She no longer looked as distressed, and this brought him great joy. In that moment, he knew he had to somehow fix the circus's problems before the baby is born. He wants their child to see the magical place Phillip and Anne created and be proud of their masterpiece. He wants a life of love and wonder for this baby that he never had.

After a few seconds of smiles and silence, Phillip asked a very important question, "When we tell the circus about the newest addition, can we place bets on the sex of the baby?"

~~

Anne told Phillip it is traditional to wait until the mother is 3 months pregnant to tell the family, but Phillip is acting like a kid on Christmas thinking about announcing the news.

"Charity wouldn't tattle on us, so P.T. and the girls do not know of the news. Caroline and Helen are going to be so excited for a little sibling! Caroline will have someone else to boss around and Helen won't be the baby of the circus anymore! W.D. is probably going to hate me at first, but then realize he will be an uncle. I'm kind of hoping Lettie bursts into song, is that an odd wish?

The shine in Phillips eyes are so bright. He is so excited. Anne knows there is a part of her that is excited too, but worry is taking over her mind. The first thing freaking her out is the size of their apartment. She knows that Phillip owns half of the circus, which means they can buy a bigger place, but this is New York. Houses are expensive, plus Phillip is a white man with a colored woman, who knows who would serve them. Also, the home needs to be near the circus. Plus, Anne has noticed that Phillip has been spending considerably large amounts of time at the circus lately. He used to never work on Sundays, the circus's day off, but lately he will leave early Sunday mornings while Anne was still asleep and come back home before noon. He also stopped celebrating with the performers after shows. He would always insist that he would catch up with them, but then he never showed. Anne would come home to Phillip fast asleep. Some people think it is because of his old alcohol problem, but Anne knows he is stronger than that. Now that Anne thinks about it, this is the brightest Phillip has smiled in a couple months.

There are so many things running through her head right now, she can only imagine what her headspace will be like at four months or six months, or even at nine. There is so much preparation for this little life before it enters the world. Phillip might be ecstatic, but Anne feels the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Chapters 1 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 ~ 10 ~ 11

[cincinnie]

Wrong Send

Author’s note: I was bored. 

KidLaw/LawKid prompt.

Title says it all. 

@a-redharlequin  @cucuxumusu and the rest of the Kidlaw chat +18

Eye candy means an attractive person

It simply started when he got laid last friday night with a young lady. An great eye candy and a pretty great lay. He had to ask for her number which she gave without second thoughts and left without a word. Kid noted a bit of limping as she left while staring at her ass. The rest of his Saturday was normal as it could be as he had to work with few papers for the company, he was working with as a assistant executive of his sarcastic, demanding, snobby little shitty boss named Trafalgar Law.

Law was the youngest company head of the Shichibukai group merged together and benefited to each other’s company. Law rose his company for scoring a 100 billion business deal with the government that automatically granted his riches beyond Kid’s dreams. He didn’t know how such man could make so much money with an age of 26. But even though, his boss was gifted with everything that anyone would be jealous of from looks to money, Law had a terrible personality and trust issues. When he got hired, Kid didn’t know how he deserve the job at all. He was a delinquent, bad grades, crappy college but he had skills on the field, the only thing that gave him courage to try his luck and apply. Not knowing, he would even get accepted three days after his interview.

His thoughts were interrupted with a phone call. Kid looked at his phone and the screen reads, Killer He quickly picked it up and answered.

“Busy.” He spats, knowing Killer would try to lecture him from his actions last night. He didn’t get that eye candy to his bed without any competition, that he quickly dealt with.

“Someone’s being pissy.” Killer spats back. “Just checking up on you if that eye candy you took home last night, didn’t murdered you. But hearing you being pissy means she either walked out on you or you fucked up and vomited on her.”

“That was fucking college days, Killer. Stop bringing up that shit.”

“It’s hilarious.”

“Oh, fuck you too.” Kid snarls. “She goes home limping and a number on my phone. I bet you didn’t think I’m capable of that.”

“Oh?” Kid could hear that sarcastic tone of Killer’s voice clear as the day. “I bet you can’t get her laid with you twice.”

That sent Kid on the edge. “Excuse me?”

“I know, you heard me right.” Killer scoffed. “I bet a thousand bucks you can’t get laid with her again.”

“A thousand bucks?! Since when were you this bloody rich, you bastard?!” Kid screamed, bolting off his seat. He kicked his chair down in frustration. There’s no way, Killer would do it. He’s bluffing. He definitely was.

He heard Killer chuckled, pouring gas to his head “If you do get her on your bed, I’ll pay a thousand bucks and you get to drive my bike for a week.”

Kid gulped, imagining himself riding, Killer’s rare edition motorcycle's that he’s been dreaming to steal away but Killer somewhat installed so much security bullshit on his own home it was next to impossible to even touch the said bike.

“What if I can’t get her then what? I’m not as rich as you, bastard.”

“I’ll set you up to date Lola.”

Kid’s eyes widened in despair. ‘You won’t dare, you fuckin bastard!”

“Try me.”

Kid clicked his tongue, weighing his pro and cons but found a quick thousand bucks and getting laid twice in the weekend was heavier than dating Lola, knowing the eye candy, he took home gave her number. A great advantage it was.

“Deal.”

“You got till the end of the weekend. Good luck~!” Killer mused, happily as he dropped the call..

As the Killer dropped the call, Kid realized his mistake. Never in his short life, Kid had gotten laid twice with the same person ever. It was his cocky ass pride that shoved himself into this. If only, his voice of reason existed in the first place. If only it bloody did.

He walked around this apartment, thinking what he could do if he ever wants the girl back but found not a clue how to do so. He grabbed his phone and texted Zoro. Another assistant of a top executive in the Shichibukai group and the only man, he could stand among the 7 others, he hated working with. Zoro was known to be stoic yet behind all that terrible personality and bad sense of direction, he was the only one Kid knew that get laid frequently like Killer.

Dude, how do you get laid twice with the same person in the same weekend?  Kid quickly texted and waited anxiously in his sofa. Completely forgetting about the paperwork, he supposed to finish this evening.  

I’m not a sex god, Kid. Zoro replied.

Help a brother here.  Any ideas?

Nope.

Come on, bastard. I’ll buy you a sake if I win this bet.

Fine. Send a dick pic or something. You owe me.

K. Would that work?

Pray it does. Worked on my side.

Kid ruffled his red hair, frustrated. He have never done this before and never know if it ever works. Does it ever even work now?

Kid looked at his phone book looking for the girl’s name, he vaguely remembered. He ran towards the bathroom, striped of all his clothing and snap a quick photo. He didn’t even looked at it twice and send the said photo without hesitation. If he did, he’ll never get laid this sunday if ever that happens.

Kid took a quick bath and waited, anxiously but a reply never came that night. Kid fell asleep while he waited for a single text from the girl.

Sunday Morning

Eustass Kid was the biggest idiot that have lived in this solar system. He didn’t deserve to live this shame, he just have commited. It was a disaster and even an existence of a black hole in front of him would not help him recover of this shameful act, he have committed.

He stared at the photo, eyes widened as it could be. He throat felt tight, he couldn’t breath. He wanted to die on the spot now and then. To end this suffering, shame and all that cocktail mix of this feeling inside of his stomach.

The girl didn’t leave her number on his phone but changed a name in one of his contacts. Which would be Trafalgar Law’s number. His boss. His boss of all the person, that she could change it was him. It had to be him.

Kid looked at Law’s picture message. He was in the office, working on papers piled in his side. His hair was in different directions, his eyes looked he didn’t sleep a wink and his middle finger was raised. He looked at Kid, with a little smirk in the end of his lips.

Oh my god. He’ll fire me. Kid thought. Dying inside.

That whole day, Kid never had a courage to reply his boss but mentally preparing himself for monday morning. A day, Kid will never look forward to.

Kid was fucked. He was totally fucked. Killer laughed his ass off after knowing Kid accidentally sent the message to his boss. Zoro on the other hand didn’t made a single comment on the whole ordeal, as he knew himself what kind of person, Kid’s boss is.

Kid rested his knuckles on Law’s mahogany wood door. It was already night,  Law asked him to come to his office. Pretty sure, Law wanted to save a bit of Kid’s pride by firing him privately in his office by night when no one else was around. Kid swore he’ll never send those types of messages ever again in his life and never say deal every time, Killer hands him a bet that he’ll lose on. Setting up a date in Lola was long buried in his mind. Kid would make sure, after the talk with his boss, he’ll move into south blue where he’ll spend his days as a senile old man, never once again laid after.

This shameful thing will be buried deep in the world and never once again be spoke again. Ever.

Kid took a deep breath before knocking on Law’s door.

“Come in.” He heard, Law ordered and Kid did. He slowly opened the door but surprised with office.

He have been in the office a handful of times only, rarely Law invites anyone his office. It was always on the meeting room, function hall or what not but never once, Kid remembered Law’s office was this...romantic looking.

There were scented candles in every corner of the room, a huge red sofa was in the middle of the office where Law sat down, legs crossed and looking at him rather unusual. A bit off of his character.

Law had a bottle of wine in his hand, popping the cap off and pouring in his wine glass. Kid noticed there was two wine glasses in the coffee table. Thinking, it might be Law’s way of burning him down, degrading him till he was dust before sending him off his way.

“Do you know why I called you here, Mr. Eustass?” Law asked him a question. Kid only gulped, mentally preparing himself of the stupid speech that he have been practicing since sunday afternoon.

“Because I accidentally sent you a dick pic.” Kid replied, his stomach clutched like a rope inside.

Law stops pouring wine on the second glass and looked at him, with wide eyes. “Accidentally?”

Kid looked at Law, eyebrows raised. “I was supposed to send that to this girl I me-” Kid stopped as he noticed Law’s hand on his mouth. Murmuring something that was loud enough for Kid’s ears.

‘I thought that was for me…” Law looked like he was about to cry. The Trafalgar Law who was known to be ruthless in business, who fires anyone he deemed unworthy and weak, the same man that he hated was on the verge of tears over a fucking dick pic, he accidentally sent.

“You thought, it was for you?” Kid shouted in disbelieved. He slapped his mouth with his hand, shutting him up.

“Uhm, yes? You sent it on my number. I assumed it was for me!” Law said, crossing his arms.

“Why would you assume it was for you?” Kid shouted back, clutching his hair. This was not what he imagined it would go.

“You’ve been sending me this weird signals that bastard flamingo noticed and I like you since the start. I mean, your personality is terrible bu-” Law said rather in casual manner but stopped halfway as Kid fell in his knees.

“W-w-w-w-w-what? You’ve liked me!?” Kid’s mind was stuttering at this point, unable to comprehend what level he was dealing with.

Law raised an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ve been sending you signals but you’re rather denser that I thought you’d be. Now, you’ve sent me that….photo. I was rather ecstatic you’ve now noticed after months being with you.”

“W-w-w-!?” Kid couldn’t talk straight at all. Law simply stood in his seat, stood in front of him and knelt in front of him. His long tattooed fingers brushed on his lips.

“Shall we make this night a bit more special, Mr. Eustass-ya?”  

End.

[jacewilliams1]

I just wanted to fly the little airplanes at the little airport

I went to the airport when I was 16 and never came home again. That was the joke in my family. Between my sophomore and junior years of high school, while I was away working at a summer camp in the Poconos, my parents moved.

It’s not the beginning of a bad joke; they actually told me they were going to do it ahead of time and, at the end of the summer, brought me to our new house in Colts Neck, New Jersey. I was a bit devastated by leaving my entire world 15 miles up the road and starting a new school. Friends, teachers, teams, were all gone.

A couple of days after settling into the new home, it felt rock bottom. I had the end-of-summer blues and the future looked bleak. To top it off, on the first day of school a couple of kids tried to shake me down for my lunch money and I wound up in a fight, which of course I lost, and got dragged to the principal’s office. I had enough juice in my old school that neither of these things would’ve happened.

My mother went to ceramics with a friend whose husband owned an aircraft maintenance shop. I was taken to meet him at the local airport in Colts Neck, which was a little over a mile from my new home. We drove down the dirt access road between cornfields, and over a slight rise, a magical world appeared. There were grass runways and airplanes. An airplane took off. The scene was complete all at once and etched into my memory.

A new world awaits at the end of that road.

The airport was a magnificent place. Stripped cornstalks swayed in the late-summer fields, runways of dirt and grass cut from them, at the intersection of the runways in the corner of a cornfield swiveled a ragged old, yellow wind T made from a discarded drone, two concrete hangars with gray doors weathered almost white sat on a slight rise, and a concrete hangar-office combination was set dead-center of the airport. And there were the airplanes, unknown, full of infinite possibilities. There seemed no end to the adventures this airport whispered to the 16-year-old me. It was the Hundred Acre Wood come to life. A thousand adventures would begin and end there. I was drunk imagining it all.

I looked into the windows of every airplane, stared at the dials, knobs and levers. I admired their lines and tried to connect names to the shapes.

“Why is that one called a Taylorcraft?”

“Because a guy named C.G. Taylor built it.”

“How about the Piper?”

“Guy named Bill Piper.”

“Stinson?”

“Stinson.”

That seemed simple, yet pretty unspectacular. I expected airplanes to shout excitement and mystery at every turn, including their names.

After a brief, “want a job,” my new boss gave me a ride in a yellow and white Cessna 150. It was the first time I’d ever been in an airplane of any size. This one had two seats. This was one of the magic machines.

The instruments and gauges twitched and hummed with the flip of a switch. The boss hollered “Clear!” through the open side window and I jumped a mile. The engine rumbled to life and gave the machine a little dog-wag as the prop ticked over. He wasn’t an explainer so I just watched from the right seat while he taxied, then ran the engine up and checked some stuff. With a lot of looking around, we pulled out onto the strip and in went full power. I watched out front, then my attention fixed on the little main wheel outside of my side window as it rolled through the grass.

The magic happened.

The wheel lifted out of the grass and I could see the shadow of the airplane tearing across the tops of the cornfield, getting smaller as we rose. It was as you would imagine watching an angel rise. Funny, I don’t remember much of the flight; I just remember melting into the sky, knowing I was transcending all that was past and now beginning to live my future.

From then on, I went to the airport after school every day, looked at every airplane, walked the airport grounds, and asked a million or more questions. On Saturday and Sunday I worked in the maintenance shop and after a couple of weekends I’d earned a flight of my own. I had no money, zilch. I just worked for flying time. The flight instructors were young and could see in my eyes the puppy-like desperation to fly. They took pity and a great young guy named Steve Reynolds offered to give me my first lesson. I owed him a car wash, but I knew he was just paying it back a bit, helping out the airport kid.

Just a circle on a map, but an important place all the same. (Image from Paul Freeman)

Flight instruction was not very formal. Someone may have suggested I buy a Kershner manual, but for five bucks they may as well have suggested I buy an airplane. I didn’t have five bucks, and if I did, I would have bought flying time with it. So, I asked questions and the instructors and everybody else would sit and talk to me about flying, hour after hour.

And then I was flying. Steve was in the right seat showing me where all of the levers and knobs needed to be. He took off and at 300 feet I started to fly.

“Don’t stare at the instruments. Look outside for the horizon. Hold it at this angle for 70.

“Relax your grip. Keep the nose there for straight-and-level. Now, like we talked about, coordinate aileron, rudder and elevator for the turn.

“The nose is dropping, a little back pressure. Whoa, just a little, just ease it back to the horizon.

“Can you see okay? Maybe next time you can use a cushion.”

Utter embarrassment. At 16, I was only 5’2″. Luckily, I had five more years of growing left in me, but on that day I was a skinny little kid flying the airplane.

All too soon, we started a descent for the airport. I stayed on the controls for the landing. It was very important in my mind to be trusted enough to touch the controls while landing. Now, it seems similar to years earlier sitting on my dad’s lap thinking I was driving the car. I taxied to the tie-down area, and with a lot of coaching, a lot of power and a lot of brakes the wheels finally settled into the worn spots in the grass where they normally rested.

I was in a fog. Steve was debriefing, using his hand as an airplane as all aviators do, but stopped mid-sentence: “You can’t hear a word I’m saying.”

“Uh, no, go ahead.”

“That’s okay. We’ll get it later when the rest of you comes back to earth. Give me your logbook.”

“I don’t have one.”

Steve grabbed one from the showcase. “Got a buck-and-half?”

“No.”

“Well, when you get it throw it in the cash box.”

I stared at the entry: 1968, Sept 28, Cessna 150, N4061U, Colts Neck to local, straight and level, turns, climbs, glides, Steve’s signature with an official number and CFI-A. Flying time was .6.

My father picked me up to go home for dinner. I wasn’t old enough to drive, yet.

“How was your flight?”

I was in a cherry-pop, post-coital haze. Not that I had any idea what that was at the time. I managed to give him the details on the short drive home, but I couldn’t actually focus. My father gave what would become a familiar response to my flying exploits. A shake of the head and, “You’re nuts.”

That night, I couldn’t anchor into my old world. I carefully printed my name, address, and phone number into the appropriate spaces on the first page of my logbook, and for the hundredth time reread the entry of my flight. A logbook with my name, a log of my flights, more magic. I had a profound feeling of destiny with that book in my hand, a little embarrassed by the kid-scrawl that I didn’t realize I would never outgrow.

I didn’t have fantasies of flying fighter planes or big jets, I just wanted to fly the little airplanes at the little airport, surrounded by grass and cornfields. Being there, flying there, was a tactile experience. All of your senses were involved. I wanted that piece of aviation that was an integral part of the history of flight. Wood and fabric airplanes on a grass strip reached all the way back to aviation’s infancy. I just wanted to absorb all of that into my soul. The only fantasy I had was living my life in the present and dreaming about the next day. I couldn’t have been happier.

The post I just wanted to fly the little airplanes at the little airport appeared first on Air Facts Journal.

from Engineering Blog https://airfactsjournal.com/2019/06/i-just-wanted-to-fly-the-little-airplanes-at-the-little-airport/