#paleo content warnings | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

paleopinesofficial · 1 year ago

Text

Paleo Pines Gameplay FAQs

WARNING: Spoilers under the cut

Will (X) dino/animal be added to Paleo Pines? We would LOVE to add more dinosaurs into Paleo Pines- in May 2024, we added Sarcosuchus! We just want to be able to do them justice, we'd love the opportunity!

How do I get more Poppin flavours? If you've only unlocked Crunchy, you can unlock the next one by either feeding a Styracosaurus a Crunchy or you can talk to Mari after completing the taming tutorial and entering/exiting the Plaza. After that, the next one comes after you enter Dapplewood for the first time and then Pippin will have a quest every day/few days or so.

Are there any future content plans for the game? There are no current plans for more content. At the moment, we're bug fixing but we will add some commonly requested features too! If the game does well, we'd LOVE to make more!

Making money is hard, what are some good ways to do so? Doing quests from the town board is a good way to make money if you don't need the rewards!

Later on, growing higher star crops can sell for a lot and can become consistent - especially berry bushes/trees as they don't require watering/constant care!

How do I get turnips? Sometimes they can be rewards from quests, but Granny will sell the seeds if your friendship is high enough.

How do I get strawberries? Corlan can sell them and Granny will sell the seeds if your friendship is high enough.

How do I get forest wood? In Dapplewood; - Regular wood logs: - Path near stegos - Woods near treeceratops - Area around Agami's

Forest wood logs: - Theri area - Anky area - Troodon pond when drained - Log at the megalo area

Single forest wood: - Centro area - Stego area - Back of Deinocheirus area - Near treeceratops - Megalo area - Troodon pond (drained)

Can I cancel quests/requests? For now, no.

Can I cut down trees on my ranch? Marlo is the only person who can cut down mature trees (since they're important to the people of Paleo Pines) but we never quite managed to get that into the game. It's on our big list of would-be-nice-to-add features.

How do I blur distant objects/make text larger/add high contrasting text/adjust field of view? These are all available in the settings menu!

How do I split stacks? Look in the help menu- there are a lot of tips on sprinting/stack splitting and other control-specific instructions! (For example, on Xbox hold RT and press Aand the stack will split, hold RT and the 'up' on the dpad will bring across one thing at a time)

What do small dinos do? Our small dinos are tenders and discoverers!

For their discovery abilities, simply use your flute to ask them to follow you and go out in the wild- they will find wild collectables and signal to you that they've found something! (Plus all dinos love going for walks)

Tender abilities are unlockable by talking to a special NPC (Avery) in Pebble Plaza in Jurassos! Once you do quests for him, he'll give you some tools to help your smaller friends farm!

How do you get a sleeping patch to make a dreamstone? It's the other way around - sleeping patches are made by upgrading dreamstones, which you find hidden around the wilds. Marlo has an option to downgrade a sleeping patch back into a dreamstone in case you change your mind about which type you wanted, but most players won't need to use that.

How do I get a dino to trust me enough to be a helper? There are multiple ways to raise the happiness of a dino enough so they'll be a helper. It will take a few days before it is enough.

Make sure to feed the dino a treat they like Feed the dino their favourite poppin Take the dino on a walk to the zone they came from Pet their nose, Play their friend song, Keep their pen clean, Make sure their pen is the biome it likes, Try to match their social type- Make sure the dino has enough penmates (different kinds of dinos can share a pen as long as they like the same food!) Make sure they have enough food!

Remember: Some Dinos can take a while to become your helper- as long as you're consistent and checking on them, you'll be on the right track! But not all dinos will become helpers in 2-3 days! How do I change the biome of a pen? Either by changing 2 dreamstones to a biome or by placing at least 3 of a decor type inside the pen!

How do I know what kind of Biome my dino wants? If you use your journal on them, usually it will say what kind they want!

How do I take my dino for a walk? Yoohoo the dino with your flute, then ask it to follow you and then walk to wherever you want to go! You can have three dinosaurs follow you at any one time (or 4 if you count one as your steed).

What does social type mean? It's the amount of Dinos in one pen. Loner type dinos only want to be by themselves. Pack dinos like to be in a pen with 2 to 3 other dinos. Herd dinos want lots of friends, preferably 3+!

I have lots of herd dinos in a pen but it says the pen is too small! You can check the journal for a dinos minimum preferred space, each dino wants that amount of space so if you have 3 dinos who want 20 minimum space, then your pen should be 60 minimum. You can open your journal by the gate to see how big your pen is!

What kind of Poppin/Treat does X dino like? Check out paleo.gg! It looks great and has a lot of information on each dino, including their favourite flavours of treat/Poppin!

How many dreamstones are there? There are enough dreamstones for one of each of every dino plus a handful more- in exact, there will be 47 Dreamstones. You can swap large dreamstones for small dreamstones (and vice versa) from Archeo Pelago in Ariacotta Canyon

Where are the tablet fragments?

A map of all the fragments can be found on our discord.

What's the last Veridian Dino?

It is a Parasaurolophus

'I can't find Owynn's missing pages'

There is one in the bushes near the rope bridge

There is one on the hill where Owynn and Mari’s fight happened

For the third, you have to befriend a coelophysis and bring your new friend to Mari!

Paleo.GG- Paleo Pines Guide

Sisquinanamook/Skudde's Pen Planner

Sisquinanamook's Database: covers multiple sets of information + happiness calculator

Sisquinanamook's Tips & Tricks game guide doc: the how-tos and little details!

Skudde: dino colors and patterns

Skudde/Jynn's infographic - dino and dreamstone location map

Skuddle: Crop Chart Guide

Jynn’s video- Paleo Pines - Beginner's Tips, Tricks, and Guide TIMESTAMPS: Changed spawns, going over befriending 2:35, Gaining Trust 4:18 (there is an echo here for about a minute but the audio is clear enough), Quests 7:40, 8:30 Crops + Crop Rotation, Journal 10:00, Moving Dinos to the Wild 10:30

MelissaVerse’s video BEGINNING TOP TIPS FOR PALEO PINES TIMESTAMPS: Dino Skills 2:00, Farming 2:28, 3:45 Journal incl. All their stuff about dino and pen types and crops etc, Inventory 7:00, Exploring and collecting 8:00, Flute & befriending 10:49, Still says the dino needs a pen 13:29, Decorating 13:47

#paleo pines #paleopines #indie games #faq #gameplay faq

47 notes · View notes

yourlocalgremlin96024 · 10 months ago

Text

INTRODUCTION!!!

Ah! Scary! I'm introducing myself! Anyway, Hello! I'm Grem, welcome to this Cave that I call my blog. I probably won't be posting much fandom content rn due to college work, but I'll probably post some college work cuz, eh, why not.

Anyway enough of the random shit, let's get to the nitty gritty stuff about me and this cave and its contents.

Info!

Name: Grem/Gremlin

Pronouns: surprise me! Idc what you use!

Age: 18

Artist status(?): Hobbiest/Education

⚠️ BLOG WARNINGS⚠️

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT I MAY POST THINGS WITH THE FOLLOWING CONTENT/THEMES/IMAGERY! BARE IN MIND THIS LIST MAY BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE!

Light/(rarely) Heavy Gore.

Body Horror/Horror in general.

Substance use (Alcohol and Drugs).

Suggestive jokes.

(Artistic) Nudity.

Mental health issues/struggles.

Eyestrain.

If I post anything involving ANY of these subjects/themes/content, they will be tagged accordingly, (and if needed) will have trigger warnings, and be hidden under cut.

FANDOMS!

ooo! The fun stuff! Here's the following Fandoms that I'm mainly (and currently) apart of/enjoy content of!

Splatoon!

Welcome Home!

Dialtown!

Alton Towers!

Wreck It Ralph!

Overall interests!

This is all the stuff I enjoy outside of Fandom content!

Anything Paleo!

Bugs!

Marine life!

Character designing/monster making!

Biology based sciences/study!

What content will I post?

What I plan to post here (and hopefully follow through with) is...

Fanart/Fanfics.

Animations.

OC Content.

College Work/Concept art.

Final Words!

Wow! We're at the end! Crazy. Anyway, hopefully, I'll be posting on here more often than before, and as for my final words, all I gotta say is I hope you enjoy my content and if ya don't, oh well!

(Posted: 7/1/24)

(Updated: - 1/11/24)

#PLEASE READ!#Grem Talks!?#Welcome to the cave!

10 notes · View notes

enteragoodnamehere · 11 months ago

Text

last edited: 10/11/24

Cicada. It/its pronouns. 18. alloaro baby butch objectum. artist, writer, worldbuilder. horror and circus and insect and mannequin fan. weird cat thing.

This blog has a little bit of everything, mostly reblogs with original stuff thrown in too. My art/writing/etc. tag is #cicadas creations, feel free to check it out!

Spam likes and/or reblogs welcomed and appreciated here

I have bad anxiety among other things so I may not be the one to reach out first, but I don't mind DMs or asks or any other form of interaction at all! Feel free to message me or send me asks, if I don't respond its likely because I didn't see it or I saw it and forgot about it.

I trigger tag things as "cw: [thing]". Note that I don't really tag general horror (unless it features something else that needs tagged, such as gore) or bugs/insects (unless they're spiders). If you need anything tagged, please let me know and I'll fix it right away.

No set DNI because they're not super effective, I'll just block you if I don't like you. Please inform me if I reblog something from a t*rf/racist/zionist/other bigot, as I don't always know or check.

Credits: Stained glass dividers from here. Header from here. TMA userboxes from here and here. RW stamps from here. "parasite lover" stamp from here. "Self-Made Being" and "Funny Jester" blinkies from here.

Thanks for reading :3 Tags will be below the cut

Content warnings and potential triggers will be tagged as "#cw [item]" please don't hesitate to reach out if you need something tagged

A lot of these are self explanatory but idc. I like explaining things

#cicada screams -> textpost and rambling tag

#cicadas creations -> as mentioned above, tag for things I make (art/fic/etc.)

#nicky tag -> photos of my pet cornsnake, Nicky :]

#fav -> my favorite posts

#save -> things I'm saving for later. Could be art references, resources, or things I want to remember to come back to

#i think i hauve covid -> things and people that i think are (meme voice) kinda hot. Some of the stuff tagged is kinda… odd. Don’t worry about it (thumbs up)

#other people’s art -> art by other people. My most used tag because I reblog a Lot of art lol

#[name] posting -> tags for specific characters I really like

#therian stuff -> tag for my own posts/reblogs about being a therian

#bug tag :D / #cat tag / #snake tag / #paleo tag -> tags for bugs, cats, snakes, and dinosaurs + other prehistoric life respectively

#dragon tag -> like the tags above, but for dragons

#various beasts tag -> tag for any other animals than the ones above

#poetry tag -> tag for both poetry and creative writing in general

#🏠 -> stuff about houses, especially living and haunted houses (think House of Leaves or Anatomy by Kitty Horrorshow)

#oc: [name] -> original characters

#dragon: [name] -> like my oc tags but for my flight rising dragons

Most of these will be tagged below this post for convenience. Again, thanks for reading :)

#pinned post #cicada screams #cicadas creations #nicky tag #fav #save #other people’s art #therian stuff #bug tag :D #cat tag #snake tag #paleo tag #dragon tag #various beasts tag #poetry tag #🏠

13 notes · View notes

scarletfire03 · 3 months ago

Text

Hi there :] I decided to finally make an about me

~~~ Personal info ~~~

2003 gang | 🇩🇪 | autism + adhd special combo | ace 🖤🩶🤍💜 I do art and I try new mediums every few months when hyperfixation strikes Embracing the cringe

sideblogs: @scarletelectronics - retro hardware collector blog (inactive until I finally get soldering supplies) @scarlettheripper - model reference blog (inactive until I find the willpower to render a single model a billion times) @scarlets-block-world - minecraft related content such as worldbuilding and headcanons aswell as resource packs and whatever else @scarlet-computations - software development and other IT and math related content

where else to find me: on sheezy.art! on twitch! on youtube!

~~~ Things I like ~~~

~~~ My Tags ~~~

#scarlet creaturetag #scarlet paleotag #scarlet minecrafttag #scarlet retrotag #my art

~~~ Content Warnings ~~~

this blog contains gore, violence, eye strain and artistic nudity

this blog is not properly tagged yet but Im going to tag this shithole eventually

3 notes · View notes

nostalgebraist-autoresponder · 2 years ago

Note

Yes, please tell us more about your favorite dinosaurs!

Sorry for the delayed response, I just had a really cool post idea (and I should get to work on it soon) -- which I may or may not go ahead and do, given that it involves explaining the connection between a bunch of different popular science books.

That post idea involves "dinosaur porn," but I've heard "porn" used rather disparagingly for many kinds of content, so I'd rather not call it that. (I don't know, I think the term might also be used positively by some people, but I do know a few people who say they don't like porn because it's usually "gross," "creepy," etc. -- although one or two of these people also like some of the stuff that gets lumped in with porn. "Dinosaur porn," then, is sort of a negative catch-all term; I'll only call it that if I want to.)

But back to the book I was talking about: it's called Inventing the Dinosaurs: The Modern Synthesis and Its Influence.

I should warn that if the book's title is not enough to dissuade you (I'm not sure it will -- many people seem to be fascinated with the idea of going over and over something and seeing it from many different angles, as in a science book), then it will probably get you really into a book about dinosaurs (if you're an American with a particularly large science education, you've probably already been exposed to the idea that there was a lot of stuff going on with dinosaurs).

But if that's what you're into, then it might be for you. There's a lot of detail, some of it technical, but a good deal of it is quite readable, and it was a very important book -- as, indeed, was its predecessor, a book I've already mentioned several times in this blog (The First Fossil Hunters), by Charles Courtney Curran, a paleontologist at Yale. It's called Paleobiology: The Modern Synthesis, and it covers the entire subject of paleontology from the late 19th century until the present, with a lot of detail about what happened in this specific field and how the field evolved through different theories.

The book was so influential, in fact, that it gave the name "paleobiology" to the field as a whole. That's a pretty common name for a science, and it's a very well known field, so I'm sure you've heard of it already, but I thought I'd mention it since I know people who are excited about dinosaurs have not heard of it.

Anyway, in Inventing the Dinosaurs, the author, Mark Carrano, makes the point that, although the paleontology community had been in the process of creating this "modern synthesis" for a long time (indeed, it's generally agreed that major "upheavals" happened in different areas of the science at different times), the final result (for the field as a whole) wasn't reached until the mid-20th century (by which Carrano means "in the 1950s").

There were a bunch of different ideas that were put forward at different times to explain a bunch of different features, and it's often easy to get confused because they sound very different from each other and to give each one its due. For instance, there was the "gradualist" (or "uniformitarian") idea that Earth was very slowly and steadily changing over a very long period. This idea was often used to explain all the other changes and features, but there were various different proposed explanations for why it would be true -- some were due to natural processes, some were due to the Creator (but this was a doomer idea; that is, a Creationist idea whose purpose was to convince Christians to believe in a Biblical flood). Gradualism explained a lot, but it didn't explain the origin of some features -- like the very first vertebrates.

Gradualism is "boring," so it was a popular choice until someone pointed out that it didn't make sense to use the same gradualist theory to explain the origin of something and to explain the persistence of that thing. And there were various proposed solutions to this problem, and one of them was called paleo-explosionism, a theory which held that the first vertebrates were all created all at once in the very early Precambrian -- and the Earth's very slowly changing over a very long period. Gradualism could explain lots of stuff, but it couldn't explain the origin of vertebrates.

The next example is going to be a little more complicated and a little less popular, because I'll need to explain a bunch of different theories that were developed at different times. This is because the "modern synthesis" is, in fact, a really complex "ideology" -- a set of theories that were built around a handful of ideas, and they are connected to each other in a non-trivial way. The "modern synthesis" was "theory of natural selection" plus a couple of other theories -- and the other theories built on that "core" were sometimes called the "higher synthesis," the "neo-Darwinian synthesis," etc. This is all very confusing and the "higher synthesis" was never actually one, strictly speaking, it was more like a whole bunch of different ideas held together by a web of relations and arguments.

And there are a lot of interesting theories in this whole ideology. For instance, one of the "higher synthesis" theories is called Quantum Theory of Chemical Bonding. It holds that the properties of certain molecules in solution -- "covalent bonds," meaning that a pair of atoms "bonded together" -- can be explained by treating these "bonds" as not being actual atomic bonds, but being more like virtual ones, so when two atoms are bonded together, a third atom actually "pushes" them apart, causing a "wave" of repulsion that extends between them. (That is, it's a "wave" of a property called the "force" which goes between each pair of atoms -- i.e., there's a force that pushes the bond apart.) For instance, when H₂O dissolves in water, each oxygen "pushes" on the other, and the water molecules all repel one another. (I'm not entirely clear on this point -- the covalent bond theory holds that a bond between oxygen and hydrogen "repels" the water molecules, like when you push two things apart and then they "push back.")

And then there was a theory called "radiation theory of molecular movement" which I've already mentioned as being a part of the "modern synthesis." I've already mentioned a lot of details about this one, but it was really important, because it held that something could cause a wave that extended between two atoms which were bonded to each other -- a wave that could push them apart. It was really important for Charles Darwin to hold that "something can push things apart" because that was his main point when he wrote the Origin of Species.

All this was possible, and it was important, because there was this idea that it held together all the different "higher synthesis" theories and ideas, the "modern synthesis."

That idea is "all natural." What I mean by that phrase is that Earth had slowly changed through very different theories, such as uniformitarianism and neo-Darwinian "evolution." All these changes were due to some of

#holyscream

12 notes · View notes

botched-lineart · 3 months ago

Text

Blog Info

Hi, I'm Rocket. She/They pronouns. This is my dumping ground where I reblog stuff and yell in the tags, post sketchbook art, and write my little shower thoughts onto text posts and gently set them on the river of internet information to drift to sea.

The creature in my pfp is named Blotch. They are my dumbass sona. Any pronouns.

Tag Guide

#cat chats - text posts made by moi

#botched art - my scribbles

#botched photography - photos and videos taken by me

#botched ocs - art and information about my myriad ocs, fandom related and otherwise

#fave art - other people's art which I have reblogged

#inspo - stuff I have saved for my own art reference and inspiration

#sth - things related to sonic, my current fixation

#dinoz - things about paleontology, paleo art, and such

#fave - delightful internet videos and memes which I have reblogged to enjoy on loop forever

I'll use generic content warning tags like "cw gore" or "tw thalassophobia" for sensitive media. It should align with whatever you already have blocked for your browsing comfort.

Please send me frivolous asks and tag me in random things it will make my day

0 notes

aligndentalcare · 8 months ago

Text

8 non-dental causes of bad breath

Prolonged foul breath is an indication of dental problems and inadequate oral hygiene. In the meantime, it can be a warning sign that a serious sickness is developing inside your body.

The majority of cases of foul breath, or halitosis as it is medically termed, are linked to dental issues and usually have an eggy smell. The remaining percentage has been connected to various health issues. The kind of odour that emanates from your foul breath can help identify the problem within your body.

Below is a list of smells that are associated with various medical problems and chronic illnesses.

1) Fruity or Sweet Scent

Uncontrolled blood sugar causes fruity breath. As you are aware, insufficient synthesis of the hormone insulin leads to diabetes. Furthermore, as blood sugar levels rise, our body is unable to use glucose for energy.

It forces our body to metabolise fat for energy, resulting in the production of sweet-smelling ketones. Thus, the term "sweet" or "fruity" breath refers to this bad breath. It is also known as "Ketone Breath" because fat breaks down to produce ketones.

2) The smell of trash or corpses

It suggests liver illness or failure. Our liver cannot eliminate the waste items it processes when it weakens or becomes ineffective. Additionally, it has an impact on other liver functions like protein synthesis and detoxification.

Dimethyl sulphide, which is eventually produced as a result, has a musty, corpse-like smell.

3) Acidic Smell The primary cause of sour or acidic breath is reflux reflux illness, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

When the muscle at the end of the oesophagus does not seal correctly, it might cause GERD. It causes the stomach's acid and other contents to return to the throat, mouth, and oesophagus. Your breath smells unpleasant when you consume such partially digested items.

4) Has an unpleasant nappy odour

A telltale sign of severe renal disease is foul-smelling breath that has a sewage-like scent. Our bodies fill with water when our kidneys are unable to filter the blood, making it impossible for the waste products from digestion to be expelled. We refer to this illness as uremia.

Individuals with uremia, or kidney failure, experience muscle edoema and breath that smells like a soiled nappy.

5) The scent of rotting meat

The reason behind your breath smelling like rotten flesh is mucus buildup in the lungs.

Mucus build-up causes this foul-smelling illness known as bronchitic cystitis. It is a long-term inflammatory illness that causes the lungs' permanent airways to grow and causes issues like TB, chest pain, dyspnea, and much more.

6) Odour of boiled cabbage

A hereditary condition known as hypermethioninemia prevents our bodies from metabolising the amino acid methionine. Only a small percentage of those afflicted with this illness experience intellectual incapacity, and their breath and urine will smell like boiled cabbage.

7) Breath that smells like faeces

Like the smell of acid, it is associated with digestive issues caused by obstructions in the intestines. This type of intestinal blockage prevents waste materials from exiting the body and causes a variety of digestive issues, including constipation. It is recognised by symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and breath odours similar to faeces.

8) The Odour of Nail Polish Remover

For those who adhere to a paleo-style low-carb diet, it occurs. Their body breaks down lipids for energy instead of carbs because they ingest low amounts of carbohydrates. It yields acetone, which is made of the same basic substance as nail polish removers.

In summary

Halitosis is a bothersome condition that can be brought on by oral as well as medical issues. More specifically, extra-oral origins of bad breath have been made possible by the mouth-body connection, and a dentist can assist you in diagnosing the underlying medical conditions.

To know more information, visit: https://www.aligndentalcare.lk/8-non-dental-causes-of-bad-breath/

#bad breath #causes of bad breath #non-dental causes of bad breath

0 notes

1863-project · 2 years ago

Note

(To better explain the content warning, the games are all about 'you live in a peaceful village as a hunter part of a guild. You hunt monsters the guild sends you to hunt, for various reasons/justifications. Maybe the monster's threatening people, maybe the carnivores are overhunting the herbivores, so something needs to be done. Its a T rated game so nothing is incredibly explicit, but the concept of hunting in general is still one people may be uncomfortable with, )

Ah, yeah, I think you get a cat-esque companion, too, right? I've seen the cats! Palicos, I think?

I'm less of a hunter type and more of a 'I would like to study and observe these animals' sort of person. I'm actually really excited for Paleo Pines, a dinosaur-themed ranching game! They’re on Tumblr at @paleo-pines!

#replies #Monster Hunter #Paleo Pines

11 notes · View notes

bunjywunjy · 4 years ago

Text

TAGGING SYSTEM GUIDE

#bug- general creepy crawlies tag

#spider- spiders

#snake- snakes

#shark- sharks

#frog- frogs and toads

#ape- ape or monkey

#deeps- underwater scene with no visible seafloor

#bones- bones

#blood- blood

#animal death- dead or dying animal

#animals as food- discussion or presentation of killing an animal to eat

#animal abuse- mention or discussion of animal abuse

#sad picture- really sad picture (rare)

#gross- general gross content such as discussion of rotting carcasses

#gore- visible gore

#medical- images of medical procedures

#holes- trypophobia warning (bad at using this)

#rerun- reblogging my own posts without changes

#fr- Flight Rising-specific content

#friend boost- donation boost for personal friend

#signal boost- boost for donation or issue

#politics- anything political

#biology with bunjy- the old Weird Biology series tag

#cursed biology- the current biology series tag

#stupid human tricks- human-specific cursed biology posts

#paleo- prehistoric biology original content

#legend- folklore/cryptid original content

please note this list is under construction and subject to change.

these tags are provided as a courtesy service and I am currently about at the limit of what I can handle as far as tagging goes, so please refrain from requesting new tags unless it is a serious concern and understand that I may not be able to fulfill your request.

I do my best to tag for everything, but I’m only mortal and occasionally I do slip up and miss something- so as always, please use with caution!

#tagging system ref

227 notes · View notes

revrevrew-writblr · 4 years ago

Text

Sidekick and the Vision

CONTINUATION OF OUT OF THE FRYING PAN(-ISH)

Order of Reading - More to Come Sidekick ‘Clued In’ Sidekick and the Vision Out of the Frying Pan

Content Warning for abusive themes, death, and slight acceptance of death.

What future did Hero see?

Sidekick put a pot of water on to boil. Cooking anything ‘paleo’ was an arduous task that took hours, one that Sidekick usually tried to ignore. Instead opting to snack on cheeses and nuts or just not eat at all. But today Sidekick didn’t mind. They needed something to occupy their hands; the mindless cooking with numbing music playing made it the perfect atmosphere for extrospective thinking.

Hero Probably saw my death. Maybe it’ll be a relief. To end it all. It seems to be the only evident way to escape.

Sidekick’s hand unconsciously made its way to their abdomen, covering Hero’s handprint burned into their flesh. A souvenir from their first escape attempt. The flesh would never be the same, not even the best of healers could restore it.

With Hero’s far reaching influences they had made Sidekick’s life a living hell. Sidekick’s jaw clenched; they were determined to return the favor. They tried to justify their thirst for revenge, the city shouldn’t be run by a villain. It’s a worthy goal! But every reason they came up with was only partially true.

Seeking revenge is wrong. It messes people up inside.

With a roar, Sidekick threw their stirring spoon at the wall, the rage covering their guilt. They couldn’t live up to their beliefs. Taking Hero down was too important to drop, but it was too personal for them to shake their desire for revenge.

Taking a deep breath Sidekick grabbed another spoon, and repressed their thoughts, changing the topic from the ethical to the relevant.

Hero will never ‘let’ them go. Sidekick’s own powers had revealed to Hero exactly how far Sidekick’s intentions went. The only way out of this was death, all of Sidekick’s dreams to take Hero down, were just that. Dreams.

The worst part of it all? The part that makes it all so damned maddening? Is that Sidekick would win. If they had their powers, Hero wouldn’t stand a chance. Sidekick could lay a cunning trap for them, either to expose them for what they really are, or kill them. Sidekick hadn’t made up their mind-

This world would be a better place if they weren’t breathing.

Sidekick shook their head, as if they could shake the thought.

Back on track with the relevant, Sidekick guessed they might have approximately three days based on the standard range of a vision. If Hero had seen a vision--it could just be some elaborate prank to psych them out.

If Hero wasn’t making their move now, then Sidekick had another few months to prepare. At nineteen most sidekicks threw parties to celebrate their new ‘hero’ status. For Sidekick, there would be no parties. At nineteen they would graduate out of their contract. Hero couldn’t allow that to happen.

Sidekick’s hand made it back to their abdomen, they remembered the violence Hero could inflict... Then they couldn’t stop remembering.

It was their first training session; their contract made no less than three days ago. Hero had been charming, charismatic, and they’d really hit it off.

“Are you ready?” Hero smiled. It reached their eyes.

“Yes!” Naive, Sidekick had fallen for the act, hook, line, and sinker.

Hero released the comforting prophetic powers. It flowed through Sidekick, calming them. Totally worth living without gluten.

Usually.

Then the vision hit them. It wasn’t like other visions. A feeling weighed them down, as if the magic attested to its conspiratorial undertones. It felt… slimy.

Sidekick collapsed, the vision taking an unusual toll on them. They didn’t feel themself hit the mats; their senses were overtaken by the scene playing in their mind.

“At least before I die, I will have had the satisfaction of killing your sidekick,” Other Villain roared the words, blood and spittle flying from their mouth. Their lips pulled back; their teeth bared.

Hero looked petulant, almost child-like. “It’s always so sad when my toys break.” They suddenly sneered, dropping their child-like act-- they looked like a different person. A vein popped out of their forehead when they swung a brutal fist across Other Villain’s face.

Hero’s roaring matched Other Villain’s, “you shouldn’t have killed First Sidekick.” A hysterical laugh came out of Other Villain as they righted themself. Hero smirked and jutted their chin out; they crossed their arms as they leaned back. “I’m not the only one who was hurt because of it.” Hero had a cruel grin on their face. Other Villain’s laughing died at that. Tears welled up in their eyes.

Other Villain’s mouth turned down in a miserable frown, their voice filled with contempt, “I was just finally living up to the title you bestowed upon me!” For a moment, Other Villain’s chest puffed out, like they were trying to look tall. It didn’t work. It was hard to look tall while kneeling. Other Villain abruptly moaned, their head slumped, posture sinking, “It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“That’s right. For you, it doesn’t. They’re dead.”

Rampant sparks flew Hero’s fingertips, the electricity casting the scene in a sinister blue light. Other Villain’s head rose, their unblinking eyes bulged, betraying their fear. They were transfixed on the light; they made no move to run and no plea crossed their lips.

Hero, paused, as if to savor the moment. Other Villain trembled and forced their eyes shut. Then abruptly Hero’s hands landed on Other Villain's cheeks. The Hero had a wicked gleam in their eyes as electricity flowed through them to Other Villain. Other Villain let out a blood curdling scream, their eyes snapped open against the pain.

The blue light faded; Hero removed their hands from Other Villain. Other Villain shuddered then collapsed in a heap of twitching, they stopped breathing. Hero frowned down at their hands, covered with charred and burnt skin from Other Villain.

Thrust out of the vision, Sidekick struggled to breathe. They rolled over quickly, their stomach losing its contents. Hero was at their side in an instant, holding them steady. Instinct made Sidekick scramble away, horror clogging the logic in their brain that told them not to give anything away.

Hero was more perceptive than most and understanding crashed onto their face in the form of a hard glare. Hero rose slowly, stalking towards Sidekick’s cowering form, looking every inch the predator Sidekick had come to know. Hero hauled Sidekick up by their collar, shoving them towards the nearest wall. They stumbled backwards nearly tripping over their feet. Their stomach rolled. Hero loomed over them, seizing their collar again, they slammed them against the wall. The impact made Sidekick’s head swim.

“This isn’t going to cause any problems, is it?” Hero’s eyes widened, eyebrows raising, to get the threat across.

Sidekick gasped for air, the change in Hero’s disposition as shocking as the vision. “You’re… you’re evil?” their voice came out shrill and wobbly. Finally, they shook themself out of their shock, they looked around desperately, searching for an escape. They breathed heavy; their eyes wide. They began to scramble, bringing their hands up to Hero’s arms, they dug their nails in and scraped. Hero let go of Sidekick’s collar and seized ahold of their arms. Sidekick kicked out at Hero, landing a blow to the side of Hero’s leg. Hero’s leg faltered and they stumbled backwards, clutching at it with bloodied arms.

“Dammit!” Hero shouted, spit flying from their mouth.

Sidekick stumbled, regaining their footing. They rushed past Hero, their world tilting a little. Sidekick didn’t make it very far before Hero’s arms clamped down around their waist. Sidekick kicked uselessly in the air as they were lifted. They scratched at Hero’s arms digging into the previous wounds.

“You’re going to be a thorn in my side, aren't you?” Hero grunted out; sidekick could barely hear them over the blood pounding in their ears.

Sidekick thrashed, their elbow connecting with Hero’s chin.

Hero dropped Sidekick as their head flipped back.

Sidekick’s feet hit the ground first at an awkward angle, the pressure twisting their right foot. They plunged to the ground, their hands absorbing the impact. They barely felt the pain as they scrambled to right themself.

Before they got off their knees Hero was in front of them a back hand striking them across the face.

Their head whipped to the side; the impact threw them to the mats. They clutched at their face, willing the pain to recede. Black spots formed in their vision; their ears filled with ringing.

Sidekick let out a scream, hoping to get someone, anyone to come save them.

A brutal hand covered over their mouth in seconds, cutting them off. Hero’s fingers dug into Sidekick’s bruising face. Sidekicks nostrils flared as they desperately tried to take in air. Their nails dug into Hero’s hand. Sidekick’s legs thrashed, trying to push themself away from Hero.

“You just don’t know when to quit do you?” Hero slammed Sidekick’s head into the mats, the impact stunning Sidekick. Sidekick regained consciousness; Hero was straddling them, taking their time at finding their balance. Sidekick shoved their shoulders into the mat and thrust their middle up, bucking Hero off. Hero pitched forward, pushing their hand off Sidekick’s face to catch themself.

Sidekick breathed in distressed gasps of air through their clenched teeth. They shoved at Hero; Hero collapsed partially on Sidekick. Sidekick pushed and scrambled out from under Hero. They turned around on their belly and hastily began to stand.

Hero’s hand clamped down on Sidekick’s twisted ankle. Sidekick gave a startled cry. Hero yanked Sidekick towards them. Sidekick turned around prepared to stomp at Hero’s face. A small shock rocked through them and burned at their ankle. Adrenaline covered most of the pain, but still they let out a cry of terror as their limbs flopped uselessly.

Hero dragged themself over to Sidekick. Sidekick whimpered when not even their fingers moved at their command.

Hero straddled Sidekick again, this time finding their balance with ease. “I guess I’ll just have to teach you then.” Blood dripped down from Hero’s arms. A welt was forming on their chin. Their hair stuck out straight up and down, charged with electricity. Their brows furrowed accompanied by a sneer on their mouth. Their wide eyes made them look crazed.

Sidekick’s stomach threatened to come up again. They swallowed hard.

“What other rules and secrets are you hiding about your powers?” Sidekick wouldn’t answer even if they could move their mouth accordingly. Hero brought their hand back up and across Sidekick’s face. The metallic taste of blood filled their mouth, their head wouldn’t move from where it had been directed. “You’re not going to hide something like this from me again. Understand?”

Hero grasped Sidekick’s mouth again bringing their head back to face them. The grip wasn’t as hard as before, but tears still slipped out as Hero moved Sidekick’s head up and down in a nod. As if Sidekick’s cooperation wasn’t needed. Which, it wasn’t.

Hero leaned in. “You’re not going to change the outcome of the vision, are you?” Hero’s eyes closed and Sidekick could feel Hero skimming their thoughts with Sidekick’s powers.

Sidekick desperately thought ‘no’ over and over, letting their terror fill and empty their mind of everything. Sidekick desperately tried to rid their mind of any damning thoughts. They would never let someone like Hero cow them into doing the wrong thing.

But oh, they did not want to die.

Hero’s hand left sidekicks face, a small laugh bubbling out of Hero.

“Perfect. Glad we had this talk.” Hero gave a tight smile and patted Sidekick’s cheek. They stood, limping away from Sidekick. Sidekick tried not to let their relief show until they were sure Hero was gone. The paralysis wore off after a few minutes.

Stumbling out of the memory left Sidekick’s hands shaking, the feeling of being trapped still wore on Sidekick. A sizzling filled their ears, the pot of water and noodles overflowing and burning on the stove. It was too much stimulus. They squeezed their now wet eyes closed, ignoring the pot, they flexed their fingers, reminding themself that Hero wasn’t here.

The snapping of the electric stove heightened their panic, and they slammed on the button connected to the burner. They jerked the pot of water off the burner, the water slopping out and nearly burning their hand.

So much for trying to make food.

Taking a few deep breaths, Sidekick furiously wiped their cheeks free of stray tears, not allowing themself to break down. With shaking hands, they grabbed a handful of almonds from the cupboard and sat at their small table.

They clung to the thought that some good had come out of that vision.

Sidekick had changed the whole vision. Thanks to Sidekick’s meddling Other Villain died in an entirely different place at a different time and in a much more gruesome way. Though they didn’t fault themself for that. They theorized that Hero had always planned to change the vision.

At the end of the vision, Hero had looked down at their hands with a frown, like they had mistook. Sidekick thought maybe they had let their powers get away from them and adjusted accordingly. Hero had taken too much pleasure out of hurting Other Villain to have meant to kill them so quickly.

It doesn’t really matter. Dead is still dead.

Even so, I still beat Hero at their own game. I rescued Leverage. Though maybe too late.

The thought of Leverage’s beaten body and broken spirit haunted them.

Will I be like that one day? Not able to remember my own name? Cowering at the sight of Hero? In need of someone to save me?

Shut up! While it could be true, Sidekick certainly didn’t need any reminders.

After their successful ‘win,’ Hero had kept them on a short leash, invading Sidekick’s thoughts almost every day with a sharp tooth comb.

Hero didn’t make the same mistakes twice.

Likewise, when Hero saw a vision, they didn’t want to share with Sidekick they didn’t do practice. Well at least Hero didn’t do a real practice session where Sidekick got to use their powers.

It mostly consisted of Hero reminding Sidekick to be subservient to them.

That they hadn’t done that this week added to Sidekick’s suspicions. Was there a reason Sidekick shouldn’t be reminded to obey Hero? Death seemed like a good enough one, though recalling Leverage, there were other possible explanations.

The only positive reason being that maybe Hero had seen Sidekick losing their powers? It was rare, but it did happen. If they didn’t have their powers then the Hero’s Association wouldn’t want them, and they could flee once and for all. Sidekick didn’t give into hope.

Sidekick relied only on the one thing that mattered.

Knowledge.

Only those with knowledge of the future could change it, even knowing that there was a vision could allow you to change it. Every time Hero didn’t have a proper practice with Sidekick, Sidekick was ‘clued in.’

And this time, Sidekick was going to do whatever it took to change the outcome.

A knock at the door jarred them from their thoughts.

#Sidekick and the Vision #Content Warning for Abuse #Death #And Acceptance of Death #Eighth Story #Sidekick Continued #Heroes and Villains #Out of the Frying Pan #Sidekick #Short Stories #Original Content #23455432

28 notes · View notes

royalbloodedbastards · 5 years ago

Text

chatzy // rat patootie

DATE: Saturday, April 11, 2020 CHARACTERS: Alec, Kieran, Parker ABOUT: Drunk Disney and friendly Frenching.

Alec waved with both hands as Kieran opened the door, grinning widely. "Hey, how's it going?" They shifted the canvas bag on their shoulder and lifted the half full bottle of whiskey partially out, to show him. "I come bearing gifts. Think this is gonna be weird, watching a movie here?"

Kieran clasped a hand over his chest at the sight of the bottle of whiskey. "Truly after my heart." He stood up from the couch to greet Alec properly, offering to relieve them of some of what they were carrying. "It won't be weird for me, seeing as I live here. But if you're concerned, I can text my brother and give him a warning."

Alec laughed and waved away Kieran's offer as they entered, taking their shoes off at the door. They pulled the bottle of whiskey out fully and put the bag down against the wall, glancing around the apartment. "Eh, not concerned, but if you want. He's out right now?"

Kieran shrugged. "I only just came home thirty minutes ago. He could be in his room," Kieran posited. He pulled out his phone and sent Parker a text:

Watching a Pixar film with Alec in the apartment. Maybe you've heard of their work?

Kieran laid his phone on the table and turned to pull two glasses from the cupboard. "How do you like your whiskey?"

Alec gave an 'ah' of understanding and followed Kieran over to the cupboards. "I usually drink this one neat? It was a gift from home and Canadian whiskey's pretty light, but it's nice with ice sometimes." They laughed at their inadvertent rhyme. "I hope you like it."

Parker checked his phone when it vibrated and let out a small laugh.

Lol. Am I supposed to stay in my room because I'm not invited to movie night?

"Neat it is." Kieran slid a glass toward Alec and picked up his phone. "Oh." Kieran laughed. "One second." He crossed the room over to Parker's door and gave two knocks before cracking it open and peering inside. "Parker?"

Alec poured the appropriate amount into Kieran's glass, then followed suit with their own. They picked up both glasses and made their way over to the couch while Kieran approached Parker's door and sat down, making themself at home.

Parker looked up from his computer and raised his eyebrows at Kieran. "Hey. Is this a yes or a no to my question?" He smiled at him.

Kieran snorted. "I'm not going to exclude you from your own living room." He opened the door wider and leaned against the door frame. "In fact, I'd rather enjoy it if you joined us. I may or may not have been missing your attendance at movie night lately." Kieran looked around the room nonchalantly. "May or may not have."

Parker exhaled a small laugh and closed his laptop, then stood up, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as he walked over to Kieran. "I'll keep that in mind. What movie are you watching?”

Alec put the two glasses down as they waited, then stood back up and wandered over to Kieran's film collection to read more of the titles.

"You'll laugh," Kieran smirked. He took a deep breath and looked up the ceiling. "It's actually a film about a young ingenue working at a three-star Parisian bistro, and his unexpected friendship with a thief." He glanced over at Alec, who was perusing the DVDs, before looking back at Parker. "If that sounds interesting to you?"

Parker drew his eyebrows together and smiled a bit, following after his brother. "Are you talking about Ratatouille? Are you going to watch it in French so it doesn't discredit you as a film critic?" He smirked at Kieran.

"I could never be discredited, Parker, I'm too accomplished." Kieran returned to the living room where Alec was waiting. "Do you mind if my dear brother joins us?"

Alec turned around as Kieran returned. "Of course not!" They waved at Parker. "Nice blanket cape."

Parker snorted and then nodded at Alec to acknowledge them. "I hear we're watching a film about Paris. I hope it's up to standards."

"Definitely not inspection standards," Kieran chortled. He sat down in the center of the couch, assuming he'd be diffusing any tension or intercepting any projectiles by doing so. "Parker, are you going to join Alec and I for drinks?"

Alec picked up their glass again and smiled at Parker. "It's that whiskey you like!" they offered and held their own glass out to him. "Join the party!"

Parker lifted one shoulder in a shrug and also lifted the corner of his mouth. "I suppose. Who am I to say no to whiskey with a Disney movie?" He took the glass from Alec and smiled slightly in thanks.

"Excellent," Kieran smiled and picked up the other glass off the floor. "Well, pour another glass, because I'm not going into this movie dry."

Alec hopped up off the couch and sauntered back to the kitchen to pour themself a new drink. They realized they hadn't been paying attention to where Kieran had taken the glasses from, but the first cupboard they opened was the right one so it didn't take long. "You're talking about it like it's terrible!" Alec laughed, taking their seat beside Kieran again. "It's a good movie, Kieran! Truly high art."

Parker took a seat on one side of Kieran and didn't comment on the movie. He took a small sip of his drink.

"Mhm," Kieran nodded. He took a long sip of his drink, sipping audibly, before leaning back on the couch and whispering, "We'll see."

Alec grinned at Kieran, half turned towards him on the couch. They tucked their legs up beside them. "We'll see, that was so ominous. The rat can't hurt you, Kieran, it's okay."

Parker secured the blanket around his shoulders and took another small sip of his drink. “Have you ever watched this movie?” He asked Kieran.

"No," Kieran admitted. "I don't think I've seen many Pixar movies in general. And the rat can hurt me, okay? Emotional damage is just as valid; the rat doesn't need to bite for you to feel its disease."

Alec laughed and rested their elbow on the back of the couch beside them. They took a sip of their drink and shook their head. "Your eloquence." They kissed the tips of their fingers like a chef. "Unmatched. But this rat doesn't have a disease! He's all about clean eating. Balanced diet, y'know."

"Ah yes," Kieran echoed. "A rat on paleo."

Parker wondered if he should go back to his room but figured that might be weird. He sipped his drink and then stood, letting the blanket fall from his shoulders. “I’m getting water. Do you want any?”

"Ex-rat-ly." Alec took another sip of their drink and turned to sit facing towards the TV now, legs crossed. "I'm good!" they chirped to Parker. "Hurry back or you'll miss the worldbuilding at the start!"

If Kieran rolled his eyes any further, they would have detached. "Yes, please," he replied to Parker. "I can give you a detailed description of the mise-en-scène if you're worried you'll miss it."

Parker grabbed three glasses, filled them with water, and balanced them in his hands so he could hold them out to Alec and Kieran. “I know how this movie works. He’s a rat who cooks.” He took a seat again.

Alec laughed at Kieran's expression. They took the water from despite not asking for it and sipped it three times to be polite before putting it down. "What? There's so much more to it than that!"

Kieran couldn't help but snort at Alec's insistence. He took another sip of the whiskey before switching to the water. "Alright, I'll bite. This is a countryside home, seems pretty poorly maintained. Maybe indicative of a class struggle? Further compounded by the rats being on the fringes of this property, while this homeowner lives similarly on the fringes of Parisian society?"

Parker frowned slightly and wrapped the blanket around his arms again. “Are you trying to give backstory to the old woman who forces the rats from her house?”

Alec grinned when Kieran went along with it. "And the old woman lives alone, clearly, with her line of defense. I don't think she'd own a shotgun otherwise, eh? And no one is going in the attic so no younger relatives are taking care of her, but she seems content with her TV and cooking! Compared to Remy who's surrounded by family but not happy at all until he's separated from them!"

Kieran chuckled. "Alright, I should remind you both that I haven't seen this movie. All of my statements are purely conjecture, so I would appreciate it if you could refrain from dropping any spoilers.”

Alec clapped their hands over their mouth, then realized they couldn't speak like that and lowered them. "Whoops! Sorry. My lips are sealed until the scheduled post-movie discussion period."

Parker dipped his head in a nod. “Ah, yeah. Sorry.” He took a sip of his water, then put it down to pick up his drink again.

As the movie progressed, Kieran tried not to be as judgmental as he usually would be. The whiskey certainly helped—particularly the second and third glasses—but Kieran found that the movie was actually surprisingly entertaining on its own. As they neared the end of the film, he was totally engrossed as the main character brought out the titular dish to the cynical critic. "That's... It? It's just... Gourd vegetables?"

Alec flapped their hand when Kieran spoke and shook their head. They were tearing up at even the thought of the old critic's heart melting when reminded of his childhood. "It's so much more than that! It's his return to childhood, remembering what it was like to enjoy things before he was hardened against the world!"

Parker swirled his mostly empty glass. His face was warm as he shook his head. “Have you had ratatouille? It’s not just gourd vegetables. It’s amazing, if you make it right. And it’s so important, like, the way it brings him back? Like, it’s all about the feeling of the food, not just the food.” He stared at the screen, completely engrossed.

Kieran looked back and forth at Alec and Parker, who were both completely rapt. He smiled down at his hands for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, yeah. I understand.”

Parker patted Kieran’s knee absentmindedly. “I’ll make us some for dinner soon, I just have to grab the ingredients.” He tucked his hands under his chin and sighed as he watched the movie, chest somewhat tight over the flashback scene. “This is a good movie.”

Alec pressed their hands into their cheeks as they watched the end of the movie, their drink forgotten in front of them. "I can help," they offered without taking their eyes off of the screen. "With dinner!"

Kieran tried to, as discreetly as he possibly could, wipe away the errant tears that were collecting on his cheekbone. "Sure," he spoke, keeping his voice even and steady. "We can all collaborate for dinner."

Parker moved to wrap the blanket around his shoulders again and hummed in agreement, not paying attention enough to consider the downsides of cooking dinner with his company.

Alec wrapped their arms around their legs and rested their chin on their knees, somewhat regretting their offer of help now that they realized they had to get up to do so. They picked up their drink again and took a few slow sips so they could pretend not to notice Kieran's movements to wipe away tears. "A group project! Minus the dioramas."

Kieran snorted. "I've never collaborated on a diorama." The retort sounded quippier in his head, but Kieran hoped that neither of them would comment on it.

Parker tilted his head towards Kieran and Alec now and smiled a bit. “Did you just do them yourself?” He sat back on the couch to stretch his back out. “It doesn’t have to be a big group thing. I don’t mind cooking alone.”

"And I don't mind helping!" Alec turned towards Kieran again now that the movie was over. "So did you like it?"

"I don't think I've ever been instructed to make one," Kieran confessed. "And yes. I have to say, it was definitely better than I expected it would be. The food animation was something else." Kieran tipped his glass back to down the remaining liquid. "Speaking of which, considering you both seem keen on cooking and I am very confidently more of a supervisor," Kieran stood, turned, and pointed at both Parker and Alec. "How about a face-off? A friendly, of sorts."

Parker nodded, about to say something about how he saw a thing about the animators burning cheese when Kieran stood and suggested a face off. His eyes flashed excitedly. “A face off? Like chopped?”

Alec sat up straighter at the suggestion. "I'm down!" They hopped up off the couch and took a second to judge their balance, then held out a hand towards Kieran. "Refill?" they offered, their empty glass in their other hand. "Not that I'm trying to butter up the judge!"

"Precisely," Kieran clapped his hands toward Parker. "A refill would be great. Butter me up all you want, I already bolused."

Parker narrowed his eyes at Alec and stood as well, expression softening as he looked at Kieran. “Did you mean right now?”

"If you think we have the groceries for it? I could always step out and grab a couple more." Kieran walked toward the counter. "The theme can be whatever's available in surplus."

Alec topped up the two glasses with more of the whiskey they had brought. "Oh, Parker, did you want more?"

Parker smirked and raised his eyebrows at Alec, somewhat teasing. “Trying to throw me off my game?” He looked back at Kieran and exhaled a laugh. “Three courses?”

Kieran gasped. "Three courses? What? No, Parker, I—" Kieran threw his hands in the air. "Well okay, if you absolutely insist."

Parker laughed fully, tossing his head back. He shook his head. “No, because of Chopped!”

"I will take that as a no!" Alec added a splash more to Kieran's glass, then theirs, before putting the bottle back down. They didn't know how they were supposed to react to Parker's teasing comment at this point so they chose not to at all. "And because you deserve it!" they added to the end of his sentence. They winked at Kieran. "How many compliments before you vote for me by default?"

"If I had a threshold for flattery, what makes you think I'd ever tell you? Better for me just to receive it indefinitely, right?" Kieran winked back. He picked up his full glass and held it beside Parker's empty glass. "Parker Roosevelt Valentine! If you do not come here this instant and join me for another round of this fine liquor, I will be inquiring with your mother!" Kieran tried to pour some of his whiskey into Parker's glass, spilling a good amount on the counter, but winding up with two roughly equivalent glasses.

Parker tutted at Alec when they said they assumed he didn’t want a drink. They scoffed at Kieran. “Go ahead.” He squatted down to try to stabilize his glass, but ended up spilling a bit of whiskey over his hand. He licked the liquor off his wrist and scrunched his nose. “She’s disowned me anyway. Alec, top me up?”

"Then I will shower it upon you!" Alec laughed and stood up from leaning on the counter so they could snag a couple squares of paper towel and wipe the spill up. "I won't even call zamboni on this." They tossed the paper towel out in the garbage, then returned to leaning their elbows on the counter for support, pressing their cheeks into their hands again. "Am I red? I feel red." Their face only heated up more as they watched Parker, and they quickly unscrewed the lid again to pour the last of their whiskey into Parker and Kieran's glasses, filling them a good three quarters of the way to the top.

Parker stayed close to the ground for a moment, looking up at Alec and Kieran, before he stood, head spinning, as he watched Alec finish off their whiskey. “I will need to buy you a drink at some point.” Parker said, nodding as though this made sense. He reached out to take Alec’s chin and turned their face toward him. “You’re not red, not really.” He dropped his hand so he could pick up his glass and raise it in a small toast.

"I can't speak to how you feel Alec, but," Kieran started. He did not finish the sentence. Kieran raised his glass up to meet Parker's. "To rodentia? And culinary achievement!"

"I like when people buy me things," Alec agreed, nodding along to their words as though they were imparting some great wisdom. When Parker turned their head they bit their lip, then leaned back and ran a hand through their hair with a laugh, repeatedly reminding themself in their head that they couldn't do anything about that anymore. They lifted their glass in a cheers. "To rodentia," they echoed, guessing the word had to do with rats. "Infinity and beyond!"

Parker felt like his eyes were spinning around in his head. He touched his glass to his brother’s and Alec’s, then took a small sip. After realizing that he was drunk, he looked at Kieran again, and touched his arm lightly. “You’ve been keeping track of your drinks?” To not draw attention to this, he turned quickly to Alec. “What are you planning on making? Ice cream? Beginner’s mistake, but someone has to do it.”

Kieran tapped Parker's arm in recognition. "You're wonderful." He stepped away from the table for a moment to grab a pen from the counter. He made four tally marks on the back of his hand before slapping the pen back down to the counter top and returning to Alec's side, slinging an arm over their shoulder. "If you were savvy, you'd plan a feast of my favorite meals. But who am I to center these festivities around my own preferences, right? I'm just the judge."

Alec grinned at Kieran and slung an arm around his waist in return. "Of course, I already know all of your favourite foods! But just for the audience, what are they again?"

Parker narrowed his eyes and pointed between Alec and Kieran. “This is fraternizing with the judges. Unfair.” He leaned back against the counter and sipped more of his drink. “You can’t ask him that now that the competition’s started,” he said, having an encyclopedic knowledge of Kieran’s favourite foods himself.

Kieran rolled his eyes as he swayed, practically hanging off of Alec's shoulders. "Parker, you have more knowledge about me than any other person on this planet. I think we can even the playing ground just a little bit, don't you think? It's not a proper battle if only one side comes equipped to conduct a massacre."

Alec swayed with Kieran, keeping their free hand on the counter for a measure of stability. They immediately forgot why their hand was on the counter and picked up their drink instead. "I think we should totally even the playing field! Smooth it out like a zamboni." They squinted. "I feel like I was just talking about zambonis."

Parker grinned at Kieran. “You’re drunk as all hell. I’m going to have to sling you over my shoulder and carry you to bed.” He drank more. “Okay, what the fuck is a zamboni?”

"Lucky for you, I sleep not six paces away," Kieran smirked and pointed at Parker. "The zamboni! The roomba of the winter sports community, is it not?"

“Ah. I don’t remember words like that. He’s the big machine that cleans the ice?”

Alec turned their head and pressed their forehead against Kieran's shoulder, struggling not to double over with laughter. "The- The roomba of- holy shit, the roomba-" they couldn't get the words out as they wheezed.

Kieran just held a hand out, smiling. "I believe Kieran has spoken." He took a small sip of his drink before setting it down on the table. "So my favorite foods, then? My favorite foods are..." Kieran pressed his index finger assertively onto the table. "The foods that Parker makes." He swallowed a burp. "And kombucha."

Alec had to wipe tears of laughter out of their eyes as they gathered themself back together. They took another sip of whiskey and fanned their face. "Holy mackerel, that was fucking great." Their eyes focused on Kieran's finger on the table. "So if I make a food Parker makes it will be good." With a firm nod, they looked back at Parker. "What is a you food?"

Parker grinned at Kieran widely and leaned back against the counter again to prop himself up. He glanced at Alec and smiled with half of his mouth. “Kieran will eat anything as long as it’s spicy. Extra hot,” he over-pronounced the ‘t’.

Alec pointed at Parker, then tapped his nose since his face was right there anyway. "I know that's not true! His favourite type of spice is none!"

Kieran was living. Absolutely living.

Parker practically cackled and swatted Alec’s hand away. “Not true! I’m getting him used to them!” He looked at Kieran, eyebrows raised. “Yeah? No?”

Alec laughed and picked their glass up again. They turned their head towards Kieran as well. "Are there points given for creativity?"

"Yes," Kieran pointed to Parker. "I would say my spice tolerance is at least a Parker Jr." Kieran turned to Alec, who he was still holding onto for support, and nodded. "Creativity is the mother of invention. Or is that need? Regardless!" Kieran slapped the table for emphasis.

Parker smiled, pleased that he was right, and then squinted. “Necess-essary. Necessary. Necessity.” He blinked. “That’s... the word, for the invention thing.” He wondered how he knew that phrase. He pushed himself up off the counter and filled a cup of water for himself, then two more to leave on the counter. He gulped his down.

Alec started to lean against Kieran, then changed their mind as an image popped into their head of both of them topping over. They did their best to stay standing straight upright instead, and laughed. "Hey Parker, d'you smell burnt toast?" They slapped the table as well, after Kieran, for no reason other than the urge taking them. "Creativity is the mother of necessity," they agreed, speaking slowly to avoid stumbling over the words.

Parker shook his head as he finished his water. “Necessity is the mother. Creativity killed the cat.”

Alec snapped their fingers at Parker. "But curiosity brought it back!"

"What?" Kieran hissed. "No! No, no, no, that is incorrect." Kieran let his arm slide off Alec so he could use both of his hands to gesticulate on the table. "The cat is already dead before you even open the box."

Parker drew his eyebrows together. “Ay, what?” He hummed. “There’s no Chopped tonight.”

Alec shook their head. "That's Shringer," they explained patiently. "Shoncher. Shronchinger. Schroedinger." They blinked. "Am I the stroke?"

"What?" Kieran wasn't sure where the conversation had turned to. He picked up a glass of water and drank from it. "What are we doing? Are we cooking? That feels unsafe, I have to say, considering the level of inebriation that you two miscreants seem to be operating at."

Parker shook his head. “No, no. I’m too drunk to be cooking, and if I’m not cooking in my kitchen, then nobody is.” He stared at Alec, almost concerned. “Do you need to stay here tonight? On our couch,” he clarified after a moment.

"Herb Ertlinger," Alec said to themself under their breath, laughed, then remembered they were being addressed. "What? Oh! Yeah, cooking sounds right unsafe at the mome, but I'm not tired." They picked up their glass and examined it. Even though they felt like they had been drinking nonstop, whiskey still remained. "That's okay! Your couch is probably some pricey and I'm right slizzered, don't wanna drool on it or something. I can skedaddle on over to Ime's once you hooligans turn in."

Kieran narrowed his eyes at Alec. "That language." He pointed at Alec's mouth. "Hm... I don't speak that." Kieran sauntered around the table to stand beside Parker. "Thank you for being so responsible, brother."

“Herb Ertlinger,” Parker repeated under his breath, somewhat remembering the phrase but not where it was from. He patted Kieran’s shoulder and laughed. “Always happy to be. If you need us to put down a mat, Alec, we can.” He tilted his head at himself. “But if you feel right enough to get to your sibling’s, feel free.” He shook his glass a bit. “I don’t think I should drink this. Do you want it back?”

Alec pointed at their mouth as well, fully convinced they had accidentally invented a new language until they realized where the confusion stemmed from. They snickered. "T'peux m'comprendre mieux maint'nant, toé?" they drawled, then threw their head back and laughed more. They patted the table again. "Should we try and pour it back in the bottle?"

“Degoutant,” Parker muttered but smiled. “I think I have a funnel in the bottommost drawer. I haven’t used it in a while, but I think its still there. We can use that.” He patted Kieran’s arm again. “We can do a competition for you another time, si t’es fâché.”

Kieran folded his arms across the table and bent over to rest his chin on his hands. "J'adorerais ça, Parker." Kieran pushed his half-full glass toward the bottle until they clinked together. "Ne soyons pas gaspilleuse."

Alec happily skipped over to get the funnel since neither of the others made any move to. “We’re being responsible, eh?” They plucked the funnel out of the drawer. “Should I do it? My no-spill track record’s the best so far!”

Parker couldn’t resist the urge to pat Kieran’s head. “Do it because it’s your bottle and I can see three.” He yawned. “Are you going to try to make kombucha now, Alec?”

Kieran snorted as Parker pat his head, then gasped at the mention of kombucha. "Let me know if you need any starter or scoby. I have so much." Kieran gestured generally in the direction of the kitchen. "It's all right here. Call me Scoby Doby Do."

Alec threw their head back and laughed at Kieran. “I’m never calling you anything else!” They patted his back, then started slowly pouring the whiskey back into the bottle, forehead creased with concentration. “This feels like surgery!” Only once they had finished did they answer the question. “I think I will! I’ve done it before and it turned out alright.” They screwed the lid back onto the top of the bottle and picked up the glass of water Parker had poured them earlier.

Parker rested a hand on his stomach as he laughed. He didn’t really know what a scoby was, but the idea of that sort of name for Kieran was amusing to his drunk mind. “Can we watch another movie that’s not Ratatouille but is like Ratatouille? Not now,” he clarified; it was past his bedtime at the moment.

Kieran furrowed his brows. "You mean like Willard?"

Alec snorted. “Please not like Willard. Let’s stick with animation.” They gasped. “Can we watch Coco?”

Parker had no idea what Willard was, but figured it might be a joke. He laughed. “I like Coco.” He snapped and pointed at Alec. “That’s the one with the two guys and the underworld, right?”

Alec pointed back at Parker. “I think.... I think that’s Book of Life.”

"Alright, well clearly this branch of cinema is out of my area of expertise, unless we're talking about Ms. Chanel, but it doesn't seem like that's the case." Kieran let his head fall to the side, resting on his forearm.

Parker hummed. “Maybe. I’ll watch anyway. Have you watched Lilo and Stitch?” He laughed at Kieran again. “Are you going to sleep?”

Alec smiled as they watched Kieran. “I can skedaddle now if you’re gonna sleep on the table.” They pat his back again.

"What? I would never sleep on the table, I'm not a heathen." Kieran closed his eyes. "Lilo and the Stitch," he repeated. "Sounds lovely."

Parker smiled at Kieran before looking back at Alec. “We’ll watch something. One of those. I’ll bring the drinks.” He yawned again. “Get safe to Ime’s.”

Alec took that as their cue to leave and gave Parker the OK symbol as they picked up their whiskey. “Thanks for the fun night, guys!” they chirped, fulling sitting down on the floor to put their shoes on as they didn’t trust their balance. “I’ll try not to fall into a ditch!”

Kieran lifted a hand in good bye and mumbled, "Stay safe, Alec," his eyes closed all the while.

Parker nodded at Alec and took Kieran by the elbow to try to stand him up. "Let's go to bed before you become a heathen, then." He refilled Kieran's glass with water to take with them.

Kieran groaned and stayed stagnant on the table. "Change is good," he muttered.

Alec half tripped on their way out. “Sleep tight!” they called behind them before closing the door.

Parker sighed and pulled Kieran’s arm again. “Do I have to carry you?”

Kieran gasped quietly. grinning. "Would you really do that for me?"

Parker laughed and nodded. “Of course. Do you want me to? I might knock you into something, be warned.”

Kieran snorted. "No, no, that will not be necessary, thank you." Kieran sighed and turned his face down directly to the table before using both hands to push himself upright with a big groan. Once he was standing straight, Kieran opened his eyes and smirked at Parker. "Did you see that upper body strength?"

Parker beamed at Kieran. “I sure did. Have you been going to the gym in your free time?” He picked up the glass of water again and held it out to Kieran.

"The man has jokes," Kieran muttered as he took the glass. He slowly but surely downed the entire cup of water before setting it down on the table. "Hey—" Kieran pointed at Parker's chest. "I have something for you."

Parker leaned a hand on the counter and smirked at Kieran. “Do you?”

Kieran nodded fervently. "Close your eyes, it's a surprise." He started to turn as if to go get something. "Don't worry, it's not wine."

Parker furrowed his brow and then closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to cover them for good measure. “Ugh. It better not be cheese either.”

Kieran waited until Parker's eyes were closed, then turned back and stumbled forward, throwing his arms around his brother. He gave him a tight squeeze and mumbled, "Love you," into his shoulder, before pushing off of him to stand up straight again.

Parker took a small step backwards to steady himself as Kieran’s weight was against him. He dropped his hand from his face and managed to wrap an arm around Kieran’s shoulders before he pulled away. He pressed his lips together and smiled at his brother, chest full. “I love you too. That was a great surprise.”

Kieran smiled and closed his eyes. "You're a great brother." He turned and started toward his room, singing the Ratatouille credits song at full volume on 'blah' as he went.

#mus.kieran #rel.kieran&parker #rel.kieran&alec #frm.chatzy

2 notes · View notes