#princes highway accident today

[jdgo51]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR DECEMBER 6, 2023

Prepare Him Room

By Betty J. Smith (Washington, USA)

READ ISAIAH 40:1-11

"To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

ISAIAH 9:6 (NIV)

"'In October 1975 I had a near-fatal car accident and suffered a dislocated hip, a wounded knee, broken ribs, and facial lacerations. After multiple surgeries and two weeks in the hospital, I was released to recuperate.

When Advent arrived, memories of past Christmases engulfed me: gift-giving, letter-writing, baking, candy-making, pageants, parties, cantatas, caroling, and special worship services. I lay in bed with a tear-stained face and cried out, “Dear God, how will I ever get ready for Christmas?” Then familiar words sprang into my mind, “Let every heart prepare him room.”* I realized that the only preparation I truly needed was to prepare my heart to receive Christ anew.

And what blessings I received! My children were close by and helpful. I embraced the help of my sisters in Christ who worked around my home. I discovered ways to minister while I recuperated at home. When I was able to get around on crutches, I attended three events that made my Christmas season feel complete. Let us truly hear and respond to the call to prepare room for Christ in our hearts."' We can feel joy, even when things aren't in the best place. We can be ill, distracted or whatever and we only have to focus on Jesus to set it all in place.

Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World,” 1719.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"All thanks and praise to you, Holy One, for the precious gift of Jesus Christ. Open our hearts to accept Christ anew and serve him joyfully." Amen.

Isaiah 40:1-11

"'1 Comfort, comfort my people! says your God. 2 Speak compassionately to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her compulsory service has ended, that her penalty has been paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins! 3 A voice is crying out: “Clear the LORD’s way in the desert! Make a level highway in the wilderness for our God! 4 Every valley will be raised up, and every mountain and hill will be flattened. Uneven ground will become level, and rough terrain a valley plain. 5 The LORD’s glory will appear, and all humanity will see it together; the LORD’s mouth has commanded it.” 6 A voice was saying: “Call out!” And another said, “What should I call out?” All flesh is grass; all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass dries up and the flower withers when the LORD’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are grass. 8 The grass dries up; the flower withers, but our God’s word will exist forever. 9 Go up on a high mountain, messenger Zion! Raise your voice and shout, messenger Jerusalem! Raise it; don’t be afraid; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 Here is the LORD God, coming with strength, with a triumphant arm, bringing his reward with him and his payment before him. 11 Like a shepherd, God will tend the flock; he will gather lambs in his arms and lift them onto his lap. He will gently guide the nursing ewes."' God is there with you in all things. He is true to HIs Word and never leaves our side. I feel very blessed to have Jesus in my life. Joe

[atlanticcanada]

Flights and schools cancelled, collisions reported as wintry weather hits the Maritimes

A low-pressure system brought snowfall to parts of the Maritimes Thursday night into Friday.

In Nova Scotia, many schools across the province are closed Friday due to poor road conditions and inclement weather.

All schools in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island remain open.

BUS ROUTES AND ROAD TRAVEL

Halifax Transit says some bus routes have been put on snow plans due to the road conditions.

A list of snow plan routing can be found online.

The snow has started! ❄️To see if your bus is on Snow Plan, follow @hfxtransitalert & find out more about Snow Plan routing here: https://t.co/2mj9BYDK1k pic.twitter.com/3hBtHAIwJZ

— Halifax Transit (@hfxtransit) February 24, 2023

A tweet from Saint John Transit says its buses are running Friday, but some may be delayed or detoured due to road conditions.

All buses are running today (Feb 24th) but may be delayed or detoured due to road conditions. #SJTransitAlert

— Saint John Transit (@ThinkTransitSJ) February 24, 2023

A section of Highway 4, near civic 8700 in Alton, N.S., was closed for about an hour Friday morning after a school bus and garbage truck collided. 

Nova Scotia RCMP tweeted just before 9:30 a.m. that no one was injured, but students were still being checked by paramedics as a precaution.

Police confirmed shortly after 10 a.m. that no one was injured and the highway had reopened.

Due to a collision between a school bus and garbage truck, Hwy. 4, near civic 8700, in #Afton is currently closed. No one injured, students being checked by @EHS_NS as a precaution. Hwy. 4 will be closed until the school bus and garbage truck are removed. Pls. avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/F8baX4ue8B

— RCMP Nova Scotia (@RCMPNS) February 24, 2023

Meanwhile, police in Saint John, N.B., say their officers are responding to multiple collisions in the city.

Due to snow-packed and slippery roads, the Saint John Police Force is advising residents to drive with caution.

February 24, 2023, 8:15a.m. Officers are reporting multiple accidents in the city. Some roads are snow packed and slippery. Please drive with caution. pic.twitter.com/ECYYORC2FS

— Saint John Police (@saintjohnpolice) February 24, 2023

WINTER PARKING BANS

The Halifax Regional Municipality is advising residents that the overnight winter parking ban will be in effect from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m.  Saturday to allow crews to properly clear streets and sidewalks.

AIR TRAVEL

The Halifax Stanfield International Airport is warning of flight delays and cancellations due to Friday's messy weather and recommends travellers check the status of their flight.

Today's weather may cause flight delays or cancellations. Our Winter Operations team is working hard to keep the runway clear. Remember to confirm your flight status with your airline before heading to the airport. pic.twitter.com/s11f8Iw8Cb

— Halifax Stanfield (@HfxStanfield) February 24, 2023

Other Maritime airports are not reporting weather-related delays or cancellations.

Flight information for other Maritime airports can be found under the following links:

Halifax Stanfield International Airport flight information is available here.

Charlottetown Airport flight information is available here.

Fredericton International Airport flight information is available here.

Saint John Airport flight information is available here.

Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport flight information is available here.

Sydney Airport flight information is available here.

from CTV News - Atlantic https://ift.tt/NM3Ed4R

[stockmarket3334]

Princes freeway accident today 08.08.22 | Accident on princes freeway Traffic chaos

Princes freeway accident today 08.08.22 | Accident on princes freeway Traffic chaos

Princes freeway accident today What happened in Princes freeway today? Westbound Kororoit Creek Rd crash on Princes Freeway. Everything that interests you can be found in our article. News from the scene of the accident, statements from the authorities and all other details. Read our article to the end. Princes freeway accident today traffic accident in Princes freeway at the moment: what…

[ffxvficrec]

GladNoct Big Bang Round Up

General Rating

You can also check out the collection here:

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/GladnoctBB2021/works

We’ve listed the archive warnings and ratings, but please remember to mind the tags!

I'll Catch You by kickcows

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Mature Rating

Noctis Caelum, the famous movie actor, has been injured due to a bad car accident, and the one to help on the road to recovery is a physical therapist by the name of Gladio Amicitia.

Sands of Destiny by countingpaperstars

No Archive Warnings Apply

Explicit Rating

After leading an attack on the holy city of Insomnia, Prince Gladio, adopted son of Tenebrae's queen, acquires a dagger that gives the one who holds it access to the Sands of Time. Gladio ends up on the run with Insomnian Prince Noctis after being accused of killing Queen Sylva. They must learn to trust each other in order to protect the ancient treasure from dark forces and unmask his mother's assassin, or fall into ruin along with the fate of their world.

The Deep Dive by Noctislucent (Baekhanded)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Teen Rating

Gladio is a researcher, a historian 'obsessed' with finding the lost city of Altissia. He sets off on the journey of a lifetime to find the city with a team unmatched by any.

He finds so much more than he bargained for

chasing honey by ignisgayentia

No Archive Warnings Apply

Explicit

After an assassin threatens Prince Noctis’s life just before his journey to Altissia to deliver an important address, King Regis hires outside protection, the trusted Amicitia Guard, to escort Noctis to Altissia alone. When Noctis first meets his assigned guard, Gladiolus Amicitia, tensions between them are high, but along their journey, things slowly start to change. After dealing with attempts on their life, daemons, a broken down car, and crappy hotel rooms, they learn more about each other and their destinies than they ever expected to. How will Noctis deal with the conflicting feelings he has for his bodyguard?

Thy Kiss Art Broken Glass on Mine Lips by BumuBokkusu

No Archive Warnings Apply

General Rating

A Greek Gods/Mythology AU where Regis is lamenting to the gods over his people who are sick and dying from the mysterious Starscourge disease that is plaguing the kingdom. The gods hear the King's plea and offer him a bargain. Because they want to test this King’s heart, they offer him a deal: they will heal his people of the scourge if he sacrifices his only son. After much consideration and heartbreak, Regis decides to give up his own son for the sake of his people. The gods place a curse upon Noctis, one that will last throughout the rest of his life. It is a curse that slowly turns the boy into cold, crystalline, shimmering glass until the day he becomes completely petrified - a melancholy statue. Gladiolus, a farmhand that has fallen in love with Noctis, embarks on a quest to rid the prince of his cruel fate, even if it means denying the gods themselves.

Highway Tune by EzraTheBlue

No Archive Warnings Apply

Explicit Rating

Gladiolus Amicitia lives a quiet, unassuming life as a long haul truck driver, when he picks up a quiet, sullen young man hitchhiking along the highway. Gladio soon realizes that his passenger is hiding a few secrets: primarily, that he’s Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, run away from home on the eve of his father overseeing the signing of a peace treaty that will end a fifty-year war. Secondarily: he’s being chased by an assassin who wants him dead for reasons unknown, but he’s unrelenting and his grudge is very, very personal. Gladio can’t ignore someone in trouble and agrees to get Noctis back to Insomnia safely, even though Noctis’ attitude and their pursuer won’t make things easy. The road home is treacherous - will Gladio and Noctis make it safely, or will their assailant prove an insurmountable roadblock? Or… will their own conflicted emotions get in the way?

Caught in a Storm by Mangoesaregood8

No Archive Warnings Apply

Explicit Rating

An early morning training session is interrupted by a sudden incoming storm. With the battery dead in the Regalia, Gladio and Noctis are forced to weather out the storm in the cave. However Noctis got soaked, so Gladio devises a few creative ideas to help the prince keep warm as they wait to be rescued.

Vide Cor Meum by HeartlessAngel

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Mature Rating

M.E. 744: a terrorist faction opens the West Gate, overriding security protocols overseen by the Crown’s Shield and Captain of the Crownsguard, Clarus Amicitia. Hundreds of Galahdian refugees pour into Insomnia, much aware that they will not be received with open arms. They are helped into unmarked vans and cars to be driven and released into anonymity in the slums in a coordinated mission orchestrated by the terrorist faction’s leader: Izdihar Abadi, wife of Clarus Amicitia, Gladio and Iris’ mother.

Far from everyone manage to escape into the night. The Crownsguard arrives with haste to neutralize the threat and close the West Gate. It’s a massacre that would have gone unrecorded had Gladiolus Amicitia not been found beside his mother’s body, clutching the Master Key to the Wall’s Gates.

Clarus rushes Gladio to the Citadel where he makes a covenant with Crown Prince Noctis, five years overdue, to assure the Amicitias’ place in the Lucian Court. And so begins Gladio’s life as the Shield of the future King, shrouded in suspicion, hurt, and unattainable wants.

Besmirched by hesp

No Archive Warnings Apply

Teen Rating

The stories say that it was once wielded by a king of old to turn the tide of a great battle. That it could fell dragons with a single sweep of its blade that shone like daybreak. That it could rally the hearts of men, even when all hope had been lost. While the name of the king and the place of the battle have been forgotten, the storied Sword of Light is the last hope of Noctis Lucis Caelum, heir apparent to the crown of Insomnia. With few clues and less time, he is smuggled out of his childhood home as a centuries-old plot descends upon the city. Outside of its protective walls, Noctis meets Gladiolus, a man whom fate had tied to Noctis long before their paths crossed in the wilds of Lucis. The two agree to journey together in search of an object that may not exist on a quest that may be doomed in hopes of restoring that which may be lost forever.

Working apart but in tandem, Ignis Scientia, trusted adviser and friend of Noctis, remains in Insomnia to search for clues about the Sword of Light and ways to aid Noctis in his quest. Ignis is joined by Prompto Argentum, a commoner and unlikely friend of Noctis, whose own abilities may be the difference in attaining their impossible goal.

Gravity by HardNoctLife

No Archive Warnings Apply

Explicit Rating

Noctis Lucis Caelum is celebrity royalty with a secret, Insomnia's Prince of Pop-Rock searching for love in all the wrong places.

Gladio Amicitia is a wayward son, returning to Insomnia after wandering the Lucian countryside for five years, looking for a steady income and a good time.

When their worlds collide after a one-night-stand, it sets them up to learn the hard way that it's okay to fall for someone you can't have—so long as you don't hit the ground.

The Curse of Eternal Sleep by The_PrincessCat

No Archive Warnings Apply

General Rating

When the child of King Regis and Queen Aulea Lucis Caelum is born, a grand Unveiling Celebration is held and all of the kingdom is invited. Everyone is present, except for Ardyn the Sorcerer. The Three fairy siblings Nyx, Libertus and Crowe bestow gifts upon the young infant. However, after both Crowe and Libertus grant their gifts, a puff of ruddy smoke appears in the center of the celebration and Ardyn appears in the midst.

He curses young Noctis to prick his thumb on the end of a fishing lure on his 18th birthday and die. All this because they refused to invite him to their party. In a self satisfied gesture, Ardyn disappears the way he came.

King Regis hides away his son, unwilling to let his only son face this fate. During the years that lead up to Noctis's eighteenth birthday, Noctis begins to fall in love with a boy from another kingdom. Unbeknownst to them both, it is both Noctis's downfall and tragedy.

When Noctis fall into his thousand years slumber, Gladiolus Amicitia springs into action to journey to the end of Eos and will fight a dragon for True Loves First Kiss.

Bloom by Crazyloststar

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Mature Rating

Ancient texts suggest the Shields of Kings were so devoted to their charge, they sprouted flowers from their very skin. Over time something changed; the power of the crystal, their devotion, or something else unknown. This idea became stories told to elevate the dedication of those who took up the position of Shield to the royal family.

Either way, the Shields of today now honor their ancestors and their duty by covering their bodies with flowers permanently with ink.

But the stories of old are more than fairy tales.

A Silver Compass by katerleegrand

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

No Archive Warnings Apply

Noctis is alone, simple as that. No one to turn to. No one to call a friend. High school has been rough for him already, and most days he wishes he could just disappear off the face of the planet.

But when a new student joins Noctis's class, he manages to change Noctis's life around completely. All Noctis has to do is give him a chance.

[hectabdr]

Dragon Raja IV - Chapters 9 & 10 (Abridged)

Hi everyone, in today's update we start learning a little more about Johann's father and that vision that Luminous experienced.

Previous Chapters

Chapter 9

Luminous woke up in a white room. In front of him there was an old man in a white doctor's coat. He explained that once Luminous left the library, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, so his friends brought him to a hospital to check if he had a concussion. Behind the mirror, however, they were being watched by two psychiatrists, next to them, Nono and Finger observed as well. Luminous had to answer many questions, he answered as logically as he could. According to the lead doctor, this wasn't a good sign, a person who knows that they're suffering from some sort of mental disease will always make an extra effort to demonstrate their sanity and Luminous was definitely going the extra mile.

They actually brought him there after Finger threw a rock at his friend's head and knocked him out. Truth be told, they already suspected the doctor's diagnostic, their friend was schizophrenic. Luminous's tantrum didn't help his case either. The young S-Rank was yelling, then threatened the personnel to let him go and almost flipped the table. Minutes later, he was already constricted by a straitjacket, resting on a small hospital bed.

Trying to ignore the other patients with whom he shared a room, he slowly vanished under the effects of a sedative injection. As soon as his eyes closed, his body felt the cold sensation of heavy rain. He was in the number 0 highway all over again, trapped in that same vision, the one where Nono would die in minutes, yet the shadowy creatures were not trying to eat them alive, but frozen like statues, while a small figure walked among them. Carrying an oversized umbrella, the little devil greeted his brother and made an interesting contribution.

The dream that Luminous experienced was not simply a prediction, but a simulation of it, and as such, it could be experienced all over again. In fact, he could repeat the same scenario as many times as he needed to find the one where Nono would survive. It was like the "save" feature in a video game and there was no need to exchange a quarter of his life for this service.

-Odin, what is he?

-You could understand him as a dead soul, trapped in this Nibelungen. He possesses infinite power, yet for some reason, he couldn't leave this place for many years, until now.

Odin's restriction was about to end, after all, he managed to lock Nono with the Gungir lance and it was a matter of time before he could leave the Nibelungen to reach her. Once you're locked by the lance, you're doomed to die, however, it cannot be locked on the same target twice, since theoretically said target should be dead already. Therefore, the solution was simple, if Luminous managed to prevent the lance from hitting Nono, Odin wouldn't be able to try for a second time. According to Ming·Z, someone in the past already escaped the Gungir lance, he just didn't know how. Luminous would have multiple chances to find a way, with a clear objective in mind, he started the second round.

The scenario resumed and the creatures started moving towards them. The pair once again fought for their lives, with a big difference: Luminous performed exceptionally well. Being able to remember the behavior of the servitors allowed him to know exactly how and where to shoot them, leaving Nono speechless. She was particularly surprised when he blew up her car, since he forgot the part where they agreed to escape in the Maybach. Wasting time to explain his course of action, a servitor took advantage of their distraction and cut through Nono's neck with its hands, killing her in an instant.

He woke up in his hospital bed, extremely frustrated. Ming·Z·Lu left a phone in his bed with a message that invited him to try again. The only problem was that he couldn't fall asleep. Luminous threw tantrum after tantrum until the nurse came in and he requested another sedative injection, which surprised her. According to the doctors, these sedatives weren't addictive, so Luminous had little to no reason to want another one. He had to lie about his condition, saying that there were voices in his head yelling to one another. The nurse injected him again and he fell asleep, ready for his third attempt.

In the middle of the battle, he noticed that one of the servitors had a little number next to it, just like the stats in an RPG, and the creature was a "level 600 enemy". According to Ming·Z, a very strong regular human should have a combat level of 100, so this thing had six times the strength of a tai chi master. Enemies that strong should be avoided in close combat and shot from a distance instead. Odin's power level and other stats were displayed as a bunch of question marks. It was a sign of their abysmal difference in strength. When Luminous tried to analyze Ming·Z·Lu, his stats were hidden by question marks as well.

Chapter 10

Days later, Finger and Nono were drinking in Luminous's old bedroom, trying to figure out what to do next. They believed they understood the situation, their friend was mentally ill. He knew about this boy called Lu Mang, who died in an accident and he created an imaginary version of him. He projected most of his own accomplishments into this made up president of the Lionheart club and got two of his former classmates involved in his delusional quest.

Finger suggested giving Luminous back to the college, despite of the risk that it might represent to his safety. If they apologized for their actions and brought back the number one target of the secret party, they might have been able to get pardoned. Maybe Caesar could ensure his well being. Nono still insisted in analyzing the inconsistencies on everyone else's perspective on Luminous and Finger suggested that she just couldn't accept the truth of her sidekick's mental condition.

Finger's suggestion was tearing her apart on the inside, because she knew that she was supposed to be the one who suggested they give up on Luminous, then Finger would be offended and start defending his old roommate, this didn't make much sense, why was she the one who was hesitating? She expressed her disgust at his proposal and left Luminous's old house.

-Even if he's the disoriented puppy that you say he is, it's still mine! I'm the one who picked him up from the women's bathroom!

Meanwhile, Luminous just lost his 46th attempt at saving his former senior. After all of those attempts, he suffered 22 serious injuries, including 12 fractures, 7 deep wounds and 1 broken finger. His previous attempt was devastating, he managed to get in the car with Nono, but the death servitors lifted the car up in the air and they couldn't accelerate anymore. Nono was visibly terrified, while the creatures destroyed the vehicle, they sat down, waiting for their end to come.

Ming·Z tried to dissuade Luminous from pursuing Nono, or even saving her, but his brother refused. The little devil was confused about his brother's feelings and revealed that he had been writing a small webnovel inspired by the real life relationship between Luminous and Nono. His readers weren't particularly happy with her character and wanted her to be more clear about her intentions.

-I learned more about humans to understand the feelings that you have for your senior sister.

-Did you find your answer?

-Yes, your feelings are in all the wrong places.

-Nonsense!

Perhaps there was something he could do. Ming·Z couldn't stop the Gungir lance, but he would be able to kill Odin if Luminous was willing to trade his last quarter of life. As expected, Luminous refused, so he gave him another gift: he would provide him with any weapon he could ask for on his next attempts. Luminous asked for an apache helicopter but Ming·Z forced him to settle for something smaller, a bazooka.

The next round started and Nono freaked out when she saw Luminous's new rocket launcher, where did he get it from?

Back in the real world, Nono arrived at an abandoned building that belonged to the Media Asia Group. The boss of the Black Prince Group was an old acquaintance of hers, a devoted one at that, the same young man who lend her the red Ferrari: the young master Shao. His business card was enough to allow Nono to request information about an old employee: a man whose last name was Chu.

The middle aged man that guarded the old building was curious about this girl and her credentials. She went straight to the point and asked for the long deceased man, Mr. Chu. The guard recognized the surname immediately, his full name was Chu Tianjiao. Long ago they used to be colleagues and drank together from time to time.

Tianjiao was married to a dancer and had a young son, he wanted to earn more money, so he quit his job working as a driver for members of the taxation bureau and became the personal driver of a wealthy man, who owned the Maybach that Tianjiao drove every day.

Nono kept asking for more information, but there wasn't much to say, he loved spicy chicken wings and braised pork belly, he barely spoke unless it was to brag about simple things. But there was something more, Tianjiao lived in the factory, so she asked the man to take her to Tianjiao's room. In her way, she noticed a reflection in the window, powerful flames, but it only lasted a second.

Tianjiao's bedroom hadn't been opened for many years, but the air inside was surprisingly clean, just a little dusty. The furniture was simple, a double bed, a bedside table, a writing desk, a chair and a mini-refrigerator. Some strings in the corner of the room were used to dry his clothes and a jacket was hanged in them. This was everything that Chu Tianjiao had. Nono stepped in, asking to be left alone and she closed the door to allow her profiling ability to fill the missing details. She analyzed every aspect of the small place and came across a photograph. A family of three, a boy who was five at most, a woman with a bright smile and a man in a white shirt and woolen pants combing his hair, hugging his wife proudly. Was the boy Johann Chu? She couldn't recognize his face.

Nono sat down on the bed, closed her eyes and allowed her ability to put her in that man's shoes. She saw him, a man with no name arriving at the town for the first time, carrying nothing but a suitcase. He sat down at a food stand and ordered braised pork belly, but the vision was interrupted by the pain of heavy mental exhaustion. 

Her skills were demanding and she found herself trapped in that state, feeling like the was sinking in deep water as she desperately tried to escape. The experience sent her back to the Three Gorges Dam, where she almost died, a monster came to her aid and yelled "Don't die! don't die! don't die!"

She wasn't completely sure about how she survived on that mission. Caesar and Luminous put a story together, in which Norton approached the diving bell and attacked her, the dragon then attacked the Monach, where Caesar skillfully slayed the monster. Luminous brought her back to the boat, where she woke up in her boyfriend's arms.

But there was more to it, a monster, one that ordered her not to die and saved her with powers that broke the rules of the world she knew. Was that an illusion?

Nono felt the whole place trembling and got out of the room, outside, the rainfall had flooded the building and the whole structure was sinking in the muddy ground in which it was built. Nono tried to make her way out, she was trained for this, swimming as fast as she could, she got trapped by the tons of stored garbage and slowly passed out from suffocation until someone finally grabbed her wrist.

She woke up in an ambulance, where she discovered the identity of her savior: the boring middle-aged man that guided her to Tianjiao's room was in fact an olympic swimmer who almost joined the national team! He even had an 8-pack and all, Nono wondered, when did that old man become so interesting?

Anyway, while everyone clapped and celebrated the local hero, she contemplated the ruins of the sinking building. Her last connection to Chu Tianjiao was now lost.

In a simulated combat situation, inside of his dreams, Luminous was now on his 62nd attempt to save Nono. His routine was well practiced, not a single bullet was wasted. He pushed Nono back into the Maybach and prepared to fire the Bazooka at the death servitors, but the projectile exploded inside of the cannon, killing them both in the resulting explosion. Ming·Z excused himself for the defective product, after all, Luminous already used dozens of them so at least one could be expected to have some sort of flaw.

77th load, by this point he already managed to make it out oof the servitor battle and they drive deep into the highway. He tried to pass through the toll booths but accidentally hit a concrete isolation block.

He woke up again at the hospital and asked the nurse for another sedative. He had been sleeping for five or six consecutive days with the help of those injections, only waking up to eat and occasionally chat with his fellow patients. The nurse was growing suspicious of him but he faked a mental episode and the nurse ran away to ask for the doctor's instructions.

Finger showed up to visit him and brought some apples, he also reassured him about Nono's trust in him, informing Luminous of Chen's quest to find more clues about Johann's dad. They also found more about Chu's mother, who probably developed her psychological pregnancy after the death of her real son.

To lighten up the mood after the arrival of the nurses, Finger turned the TV on and they watched the news together. Apparently the airport was closed due to the incessant rains, and they were showing the departure of the last plane right before the lockdown, but something startled Luminous.

Odin's flames were reflecting in the water, the god swung his lance and the wind and water were quickly turned into a blade that cut through the airplane like butter. The airport was covered in flames and some of the passengers were injured.

Luminous tried to warn everyone in the hospital and begged them to call the police, but his apparent prediction meant nothing to them, after all, the footage shown in the news was a repetition from days before. They pushed him back into his bed and sedated him immediately.

Odin was indeed too much for regular humans, and he was about to start tormenting the city, just waiting to get out.

[mst3kproject]

Light Blast

What’s this?  A death ray movie in which we actually see stuff get death rayed?  Aw, man, that might disqualify it for MST3K right there!  Fortunately for us, however, Light Blast was directed by Enzo Castellari, who brought us Escape 2000, and it stars Erik Estrada. Estrada was never on MST3K but he was on pretty much all the 70’s cop shows they kept referencing, including Mannix and Police Woman, and Mike and the bots would never have let him forget it.

So what do we want out of a death ray movie?  I dunno, some faces melting like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark would be cool, and Light Blast apparently read my mind on that count because we get the first melting face action before the ten minute mark! A couple of young people go to have sex in a boxcar (this scene includes a real classy upskirt shot, just three minutes in) while the bad guy tests his death ray, and in the fine tradition of kids just trying to bone at the beginning of movies, they get zapped.  Meanwhile, somewhere else, Erik Estrada in a speedo takes down a couple of bank robbers by hiding a gun inside a roast turkey.

This is gonna be a weird movie, isn’t it?

Sadly, Light Blast never again rises to that height of absurdity.  Evil Professor Yuri Svoboda has a death ray, and has decided to hold the city of San Francisco hostage for the princely sum of:

Was that even a lot of money in 1985?  According to dollartimes the conversion rate is about 2.5, so that would be $12.5 million today... still seems a little low for a major city.  Anyway.

To show he means business, Svoboda death rays the announcer’s box at a demolition derby.  Thence ensues a series of extremely uninspired car chases and a scene in which Estrada is repeatedly kicked in the avocados by a woman dressed as a nurse (I liked that bit).  Eventually he puts the pieces of the puzzle together, and never even bothers to tell us what the finished picture looks like before running off to what looks like it’ll be the final Power Plant Confrontation.  No such luck.  Svoboda escapes again, and Estrada has to chase him down to the final final confrontation.

There are two things here Castellari seems to really like. One is digital clocks, which are frequently the focus of the death ray for some reason.  The other is men staggering around on fire, filmed in the type of loving slow motion that turns this agonizing death into a moment of over-dramatic hilarity.  Remember in the Making Of Documentary for Return of the King, when Peter Jackson acknowledges that Denethor falling off the top of Minas Tirith while on fire is ridiculous?  Enzo Castellari is definitely not that self-aware.

He is also fond of car chases.  There are three or four of them in Light Blast and they’re competent, I guess.  They’re definitely better than the budget version you sometimes see in really cheap movies, in which the camera turns to watch one vehicle pass by, then repeats the shot with another.  There was probably a storyboard and so forth.  But they’re still pretty monotonous and mostly just look like people driving around with no sense of a destination or a narrative.  Instead, the movie tries to add interest by giving them ‘gimmicks’.

In one of the chases, Estrada doesn’t want the villain to know he’s being followed, so rather than using his own vehicle, he just hops into random people’s cars and makes them do the following.  In one he shows his badge and tells the driver he’s a cop. In another he tells the woman driving that he’s playing a practical joke on a friend from college.  Astonishingly, he never gets slapped or shot.

In another, he steals a race car in order to chase down Svoboda, who is fleeing to a boat from which he plans to death ray the entire city or something.  This chase includes two separate shots in which Estrada jumps the race car over some obstacle in his way, again filmed in slow motion.  In neither was there any sort of ramp to get the car off the ground. It’s like that scene in Speed where the fucking bus somehow jumps over a gap in the highway except they did it twice and slowly to give the audience time to think about how stupid it is. Then Estrada jumps the car again onto Svoboda’s boat, which has already left the dock, and somehow manages to stop on a dime rather than falling into the water.

I recognize that movies are not bound by the laws of physics, but those that get away with breaking them do so by walking a fine line. Things have to look possible. People running away from explosions looks like it should work, and very few of us have ever been in a position to find out what it’s actually like first-hand (partly because those of us who have probably didn’t live to tell about it).  The car jumps?  Nah.

Wikipedia includes a couple of reviews of this film that have been translated, not very well, from Italian.  They’re kind of hard to understand but they do seem to fixate on the preponderance of car chases.  They also reference another staple of 80’s action movies, which is excessive police brutality.  Estrada shoots a whole bunch of people, breaks into a power plant and a funeral home, steals cars, causes a dozen accidents and untold property damage, and bullies his girlfriend into risking her job in order to get him the information he needs.  Our hero, ladies and gentlemen.

Other clichés drift by.  The villain gives a pretty classic monologue all about how he Showed Those Fools At The Academy and how his death ray will make him supreme ruler of the world and he’ll bring about a new age of peace.  There’s a bit where Estrada and his partner, the Tall Guy (these characters do have names, I just don’t care) sit down at the kitchen table and put together what they’ve learned… but instead of some exposition to tell us, the audience, what that is, we get a Ryan And Shane Look For Forrest Fenn’s Treasure montage but without the irony.  We can just barely hear fragments of voices through this, as the characters talk about it… enough to tease us with what they know and we don’t.

I dunno, it’s possible the audience is supposed to have already figured this stuff out and I just wasn’t paying attention.  I was pretty bored during most of this movie.

During the montage, the bad guys sneak up outside Estrada’s house (which is on a boat?  I think?) and open fire, basically shooting everybody but Estrada himself, who escapes completely unharmed.  His personality-deficient girlfriend isn’t so lucky… but she was only in this movie so it would have a part for Estrada’s real-life girlfriend Peggy Rowe. This bit is right up there with The Phantom Creeps as a perfect example of why Women In Fridges is screenwriting for hacks.  Estrada is already determined to get these guys.  He already cares about the people they’ve killed in the past and the ones they plan to kill in the future!  He is already frustrated by his failures to catch them!  ‘Making it personal’ is completely unnecessary!  Did the writers really think her death would add anything, or were they just trying to fill up their Action Movie Cliché Bingo card?

In the villain’s evil monologue, Svoboda reveals that apparently Estrada killed his wife?  I guess she was the mortician?  This doesn’t help, because I don’t think Svoboda actually knows that Estrada’s girlfriend is dead and even if he does, she wasn’t his target. His henchmen were after Estrada and Tall Guy.

Then there’s the ending, which is in no way a ‘climax’ and barely even counts as an ‘end’.  Remember I said Estrada jumps his racecar onto Svoboda’s boat?  This knocks the death ray over and it melts Svoboda himself.  Estrada watches this, then basically just shrugs and walks the fuck away.  So… that was it?  No confrontation?  No fight? Just a failure to properly secure the superweapon?

Isn’t the rest of the boat gonna melt now, too?  In previous uses the death ray seemed to melt things over a fairly wide area.  Isn’t anyone worried about that?  No, we’re just rolling the credits?  Okay, fine. At least the movie’s over.

Is there anything nice I can say about Light Blast? Well… I guess it passes the Bechdel Test.  There’s a bit, completely irrelevant to the plot, where two women who work at the police station discuss perfume.  It’s as if one of the writers had read about the Bechdel Test and shoved that in there just to pass it, without bothering to think about what the point of the ‘test’ is.

For all I’ve bitched about it, Light Blast isn’t a full on disaster.  It’s merely a mediocre 80’s action movie.  What makes it so damn disappointing is the wackiness of that early scene with Estrada in his underwear and the gun in the turkey.  That bit has the same effect as naming your movie Hercules Against the Moon Men – it gives the audience the impression that you have a sense of humour, and then the rest of the film can be nothing but the slow downward spiral of realizing that you were, in fact, serious.  Even then, it still could have been fun if the writers and director had kept up that kind of cheese throughout but no… Light Blast couldn’t even be bad enough to be good.

If any of you MSTies reading this are aspiring film-makers, let this be the lesson for you: the introduction of your main character sets the tone.  Do that wrong, or in a way that doesn’t match the rest of your movie, and you’re sunk. And if you only have one interesting or funny idea, for love of Apearlo put that at the end of the movie, not the beginning!

[prince-everhard]

Prince’s Whumptober 2020 masterpost

Gonna have links, titles, summaries, and all that jazz under a readmore because i decided to really push myself and do all 31 prompts separately. Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged my work; your support means the world to me and makes me want to keep writing! 

multiparters here have been listed in chronological order rather than posting order for ease of reading. 

FAHC

No 1. LET’S HANG OUT SOMETIME Waking Up Restrained | Shackled | Hanging

Title: another duck joins the flock Fandom: FAHC Character(s): Geoff, Michael Rating: T Warning(s): blood, handcuffs Wordcount: 728 Summary: Or how the Fakes gained their most famous muscle. [tidied up/expanded this never-to-be-posted fahc wip for whumptober]

Naruto

No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY “Pick Who Dies” | Collars | Kidnapped

Title: and the worst part of waiting is the anticipation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Team 7 Rating: T Warning(s): blood, vomit Wordcount: 951 Summary: Team Seven gets captured. [part of the whumptober au]

No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY Manhandled | Forced to their Knees | Held at Gunpoint

Title: A Teaching Moment Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura, Kabuto Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 498 Summary: Kabuto makes her an offer she can’t refuse. [part of the whumptober au]

No 29. I THINK I NEED A DOCTOR Intubation | Emergency Room | Reluctant Bedrest

Title: Graduation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura, Kabuto, Rating: T+? Warning(s): blood Wordcount: 835 Summary: Kabuto has one more test before Sakura can be considered a true medic-nin. [part of the whumptober au]

No 15. INTO THE UNKNOWN Possession | Magical Healing | Science Gone Wrong

Title: Arboreal Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Sakura Rating: T Warning(s): needles Wordcount: 803 Summary: It was only a matter of time before Sakura found something that could help her escape. [part of the whumptober au]

No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD “Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice

Title: no good deed goes unpunished Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Naruto, Teuchi, Kyuubi Rating: T Warning(s): violence against children Wordcount: 972 Summary: Something goes wrong on his seventh birthday. Naruto might never be the same again.

No 26. IF YOU THOUGHT THE HEAD TRAUMA WAS BAD… Migraine | Concussion | Blindness

Title: Degradation Fandom: Naruto Character(s): Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto Rating: T Warning(s): dismemberment ment Wordcount: 187 Summary: Kakashi knows that power comes with a price.

Dragon Age

No 6. PLEASE…. “Get it Out” | No More | “Stop, please”

Title: Like Dogs Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Tabris, Shianni, Soris, Nelaros Rating: M Warning(s): implied/offscreen rape, violence against women, blood Wordcount: 1640 Summary: It was supposed to be a good thing, getting married. It wasn’t. [this is really just a love letter to the origin that fucking shooketh me]

No 19. BROKEN HEARTS Grief | Mourning Loved One | Survivor’s Guilt

Title: all’s fair but war is not without casualties Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s)/Pairing(s): Female Cousland, Alistair; ex-Alistair/Warden Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 695 Summary: Ten years after the Blight ends, Elissa Cousland runs into someone she never thought she’d see again. It, uh, doesn’t go quite as planned. [mostly canon compliant; Loghain is spared and becomes a warden]

No 11. PSYCH 101 Defiance | Struggling | Crying

Title: Duty Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Cousland, Eleanor, Bryce Rating: T Warning(s): blood, betrayal, last stand Wordcount: 633 Summary: Even without interference, history marches on. A what-if scenario if Duncan wasn’t there to recruit the Cousland. [part of iron & ash]

No 23. WHAT’S A WHUMPEE GOTTA DO TO GET SOME SLEEP AROUND HERE? Exhaustion | Narcolepsy | Sleep Deprivation

Title: To Ostagar Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Cousland Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 545 Summary: Jasmine is determined to get vengeance for her family. [part of iron & ash]

No 14. IS SOMETHING BURNING? Branding | Heat Exhaustion | Fire

Title: Consequences Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Surana Rating: T Warning(s): none Wordcount: 368 Summary: Surana helps her best friend escape the Circle, and the consequences are more than she bargained for.

No 21. I DON’T FEEL SO WELL Chronic Pain | Hypothermia | Infection

Title: Corrupted Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Mahariel, Duncan Rating: Gen Warning(s): none Wordcount: 192 Summary: It’s a long journey from the Brecilian Forest to Ostagar for someone with blight sickness.

No 31. TODAY’S SPECIAL: TORTURE Experiment | Whipped | Left for Dead

Title: Big Sister Instinct Fandom: Dragon Age Character(s): Female Hawke, Unnamed Templars Rating: T Warning(s): torture, violence against women Wordcount: 325 Summary: Marian Hawke would rather die than betray her family. She might even just get the chance to do it.

Mass Effect

No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME Caged | Buried Alive | Collapsed Building

Title: never forget to bury your regret (before it buries you) Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Male Shepard, Human OC Rating: T Warning(s): cave-in, blood, character death Wordcount: 450 Summary: Survival training goes south in the ICT.

No 7. I’VE GOT YOU Support | Carrying | Enemy to Caretaker

Title: First Contact Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Turian OC, Human OC Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, broken bones, vomit, vehicular crash Wordcount: 1150 Summary: Decimus isn’t ready to die, but he’s especially not ready to die on a stupid scouting mission to a stupid alien colony. [set during the First Contact War; probably not canon-compliant but idgaf]

No 18. PANIC! AT THE DISCO Panic Attacks | Phobias | Paranoia

Title: what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger (and what does makes you scarred forever) Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Edi, Tali’Zorah, Garrus Vakarian Rating: T Warning(s): panic attack, open space Wordcount: 662 Summary: Shepard isn’t afraid of getting spaced. No, really. [a closer look at the geth dreadnought mission]

No 28. SUCH WOW. MANY NORMAL. VERY OOPS. Accidents | Hunting Season | Mugged

Title: Torfan Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Major Kyle Rating: T Warning(s): blood, guns, drugging Wordcount: 589 Summary: How the Butcher came to be.

No 25. I THINK I’LL JUST COLLAPSE RIGHT HERE, THANKS Disorientation | Blurred Vision | Ringing Ears

Title: Rest Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s)/Pairing(s): Female Shepard, Anderson; referenced Shepard/Vega Rating: T Warning(s): blood, character death Wordcount: 1018 Summary: A father-daughter moment after they open the arms of the Citadel. [part of Alder]

No 5. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING? On the Run | Failed Escape | Rescue

Title: they found you on the floor Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): alcohol, vomit, underage drinking Wordcount: 348 Summary: Like mother like daughter; Shepard deals with her trauma after Mindoir. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 22. DO THESE TACOS TASTE FUNNY TO YOU? Poisoned | Drugged | Withdrawal

Title: there’s easier ways to die Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Ashley Williams Rating: T Warning(s): DTs, vomit mention Wordcount: 368 Summary: Shepard takes a stand against her own demons. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 17. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING Blackmail | Dirty Secret | Wrongfully Accused

Title: you crawled up on your cross Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Jacob Taylor Rating: T Warning(s): alcohol Wordcount: 645 Summary: Shepard gets a morale boost from a crewmate. [part of Gloria Shepard]

No 16. A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY Forced to Beg | Hallucinations | Shoot the Hostage

Title: Cornered Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Garrus, Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): broken bones Wordcount: 1281 Summary: Garrus gets into some trouble. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 20. TOTO, I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE Lost | Field Medicine | Medieval

Title: Ancient History Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Female Shepard, Garrus Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, death, self-destructive/suicidal actions Wordcount: 1223 Summary: Jane is an enigma and Garrus just wants to figure her out. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 8. WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO? “Don’t Say Goodbye” | Abandoned | Isolation

Title: After Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s): Garrus, Female Shepard Rating: T Warning(s): injuries, death Wordcount: 440 Summary: Jane comes for Garrus after the gangs’ assault. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

No 30. NOW WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? Wound Reveal | Ignoring an Injury | Internal Organ Injury

Title: Debt Fandom: Mass Effect Character(s)/Pairing(s): Garrus, Female Shepard, Mordin; mutual pining Shakarian Rating: T Warning(s): painkillers Wordcount: 590 Summary: After the gangs’ assault, Garrus overhears something. [part of the omega non-reaper au]

Undertale

No 13. BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask

Title: Drowning Fandom: Undertale Character(s): Toriel, Asgore Rating: T Warning(s): character death, child death Wordcount: 156 Summary: Asriel brought Chara home one last time.

[replacing no. 27] Alt 7. Found Family

Title: The Door Fandom: Undertale Character(s): Frisk, Papyrus, Sans Rating: Gen Warning(s): none Wordcount: 357 Summary: Just a little look at what could be a meeting with Gaster

Red vs Blue

No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust

Title: Being a twin is a Hard Thing Fandom: Red vs Blue Character(s): South Dakota Rating: T Warning(s): psychological trauma Wordcount: 281 Summary: In the days before Wash finds them, South gets… introspective. [canon compliant? taken from a wip I was never going to finish so I fleshed it out for whumptober instead]

Original Fiction

No 10. THEY LOOK SO PRETTY WHEN THEY BLEED Blood Loss | Internal Bleeding | Trail of Blood

Title: please leave a message Rating: T Warning(s): blood Wordcount: 537 Summary: A detective’s work is never done. Antonia deals with the news that her most famous case’s subject is on the run again. [original fiction]

No 24. YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE Forced Mutism | Blindfolded | Sensory Deprivation

Title: Secondary Location Rating: Gen? Warning(s): kidnapping Wordcount: 143 Summary: Antonia wakes up on the wrong side of the city. [original fiction]

[eirian-houpe]

Disparate Pathways - Chapter 10

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold

Characters: Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Belle (Once Upon a Time), Maurice | Moe French, Gaston (Once Upon a Time), Spinster(s) (Once Upon a Time: Think Lovely Thoughts), Mad Hatter | Jefferson, Blue Fairy | Mother Superior, Black Fairy (Once Upon a Time), Baelfire | Neal Cassidy, Emma Swan, Prince Charming | David Nolan, Colette (Once Upon a Time), Red Riding Hood | Ruby, Widow Lucas | Granny, Dove (Once Upon a Time), Captain Hook | Killian Jones, Wicked Witch of the West | Zelena

Additional Tags: Abusive Parents, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Violence, Gun Violence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Dubious Consent, Eventual Smut, UST, First Time, Drama & Romance, Kidnapping, Extortion

Summary: Gold has a past, a past that he has rejected, but it seems one that will not let him go.  Belle, daughter of Governor Maurice French has been kidnapped, along with her mother, and just as the authorities raid the organization that is holding her hostage, decides to make her own bid for freedom, unknowingly derailing an undercover sting, and Agent Milnor has not choice but to take her into 'protective custody,' but is he all that he seems?  As the threads of the story grow more tangled and the threat to Belle, and to Gold, her appointed protector, grow ever more real, a growing, mutual attraction makes everything far more desperate and far too personal for Gold to ignore what he knows to be the truth.

Read previous chapters on AO3

Chapter 10 - Mutual Ambiguity

For Belle, sitting in the Lee of the wall where Jefferson, if that was truly his name, had told her to wait, time passed with all the speed of a snail, and every sound made her more and more tense. She could hear the altercation from outside of the gate, and told herself she didn’t want to know what was going on, but there were just as many sounds coming from her side of the gate, and they were sounds that made her jump at every turn. Each gust of wind that stirred the leaves of the trees sounded like a hand pushing aside vegetation to reach her; every rustle of an animal in the undergrowth was a footstep coming nearer.

As painful as it was, her hands still held tightly to the gun, still trembled around the grip,so much that she almost daren’t rest her finger against the trigger for fear of setting it off by accident.

She heard the sounds from outside of the gate and didn’t really want to imagine what they were, beyond the murmur of voices, the sudden crack and following thud; the sounds of a scuffle then nothing for a long held breath. The silence became a sussurating hiss, and then footsteps, and Belle held her breath so much that her chest hurt with the effort of it. If she didn’t breathe, she wouldn’t be heard, and then the gate opened, and all the breath burst from her with almost a popping sound as she could make out Jefferson slipping through the gate.

“Jefferson…” she managed.

“We’re good. It’s all good,” he said. “I’m fine, but we gotta go. We gotta go now.”

As he spoke he reached out to carefully close his large hand over the top of the gun and lift it from her hands. She heard a soft click from the weapon before he slipped it into his pocket and then reached out his hand again, this time to grasp her elbow and help her to her feet.

Without another word he ushered her through the gate and out into the street, and then she caught sight of the two FBI agents that were sitting, slumped against each other with their hands behind their backs. She took in a gasping breath and tried to pull away from Jefferson, but his grasp on her arm was too strong.

“What did you—” she began, but he interrupted her, stopping and turning to face her, grasping her by both arms and leaning down to look her in the eyes.

“Look,” he began urgently, “It was either me or them. I promise you there’s no lasting damage. They’ll both be fine.”

He let go with one hand and ran it through his hair. She couldn’t quite read his expression, it was something between frustration and contrition. It made her want to listen when he spoke again.

“You probably won’t get this, but those two men are not my people,” he said. “So, until I know whose side they’re on, this is the best I can do.” He nodded his head toward the two men to illustrate what he meant. “If I was wrong, I’ll apologize later, but right now. Right. Now. We have to leave. Get as far away from here as we can as quickly as we can. Okay?”

That was something that Belle could definitely get behind. She wanted to be anywhere but there, and for now, even though she still wasn’t sure of Jefferson, of his intent, she would go along with him. Perhaps more would become clearer later, and he certainly hadn’t done her any harm so far.

She nodded, but didn’t speak. Her gaze lingered on the two men on the ground as Jefferson led her across to the car, and helped her to get strapped in on the passenger side of the vehicle.

“You’re… stealing this car, aren’t you?” Belle accused as he slipped into the driver’s side, then watched his face as he contemplated the answer, as though he were trying to formulate an answer.

“That depends,” he said, and she could tell that it was an answer that he’d had to settle on, not necessarily the one he wanted to give.

“Oh?” hanging on to what little scraps of sanity and adrenaline she could muster, she injected a dash of sarcasm just as though she were mixing some kind of exotic cocktail. “Go on.  This should be good.”

“Well it all hinges on whether you believe those two men there truly are agents with the FBI. The car is is a Taurus, it’s clearly well maintained, and—”

“What the hell does the make of car have to do with it?” Belle snapped, finding mixology, and her skills at said art were not all they were cracked up to be.

“Well, if this is a Taurus, and they really are with the FBI—”

She cut him off again. He was going around in circles. “Is this. Their car?” she demanded, gesturing out of the window to where the two men were still in a heap on the ground, one of them, she noticed, had a slight scrap of lining peeking out of his pants pocket.

Jefferson looked at the men, and then back at Belle, and then at the men again with the same expression he’d had on his face when she first asked him. He pouted slightly, tipped his head to the side, and then looked down at the key fob in his hand.

“Don’t think it matters at this point,” he told her, pushing the key home into the ignition, shifting the car to reverse, and then half turning with his arm along the back of her seat as he set the car in motion, began driving it backwards at speeds she didn’t think were at all appropriate for the less than roomy width of the street, all but singing as he did, “This is a Taurus, they claim to be Feds, and I need a vehicle, so… No.  Not theirs. Mine.”

Clearly it bothered him, though, as he reached the end of the narrow road and swung the car out onto one of Boston’s lesser known side roads he huffed as he shifted the car into drive. Belle left him to his thoughts for a while until they had mingled into the anonymity of the heavier traffic around the center of the town, and then asked, “Where are we going anyway?”

“Somewhere safe,” he said, his eyes ever moving, checking traffic to their left and right, and watching for longer periods of time in the rear-view mirror. “North,” he added at last, turning right, and following a sign that promised Interstate 95.

They drove in silence for many miles, Belle contemplating everything that had happened, feeling her weariness and the pain of her injuries sharper now that she had time to stop and sit in relative safety. She thought about Jefferson too. His actions, his words, his unspoken sense of… she shrugged mentally, unable for the longest time, to find an appropriate word to describe what Jefferson was. He certainly seemed to mean her no harm; claimed to be taking her to safety, and yet he had been there, in the house, with those horrible men and women who did unspeakable things. True, she’d never actually seen him participate in those things, but…  by association, surely he was guilty. She supposed it fair to say that she’d had very little to do with him. He had never been assigned to oversee any aspect of her captivity, and she’d only ever seen him in hallways, or in passing - until today. In fact, she thought, he seemed to hold himself back, refuse to truly embrace the moral turpitude the others displayed. The more she thought about that; about the way he’d behaved since their escape, and about his clear discomfort after their earlier conversation, about the car, the more he seemed to her to be… well… ambiguous.

That was the word she had been looking for all along. He was ambiguous. His entire being was ambiguity incarnate, and while being with him now was a whole bucket load better than being a captive, it didn’t necessarily mean that she was any safer with him than she had been before, and as crazy as the thought sounded, as she spotted a sign announcing that a rest stop would soon be coming up, she decided she might be better trying to go it alone.

“There’s a rest stop ahead,” she told him softly, and raised an eyebrow when he glanced over at her. Then shrugged at him. “I couldn’t really use… well… little girls room, you know?”

He glanced at her again, then back at the highway and she watched as little furrows of thought creased his brow, and shifted the expressions on his mobile face, even into his hair. Then, as they sped past the one mile warning, he let out a soft sigh, and said, more gently than she expected, “Fine, but we’ll have to make it a quick stop for now. There’s no guarantee that someone won’t come looking for us, and I’d rather put a few more miles between us and Boston before we start to let our guard down.”

By the time he’d finished his explanation, the off ramp that led into the rest area was immediately on their right, and he pulled onto the roadway, the rumble of the tires a different cadence and inertia tugging her back from the seat as he applied the brakes. A moment or two later they pulled into the parking space out front of the building that housed the facilities.

She tried to unclip the seatbelt and get out of the car before he could do the same, but the stiffening of her injured hands prevented it, and he had opened the passenger door, and was reaching in to help her, then to take her by the elbow and tug her out of the vehicle, keeping a hold of her in what felt as though it was meant to be a supportive manner, and after closing the door behind her, led her into the building, and almost into the ladies’ room itself.

“Um…” she reminded him softly, nodding her head toward the sign beside the opening.

“Right,” he muttered, and then cleared his throat, but sounded uncomfortable still as he said, “Sorry.”  He let her go then, and she faltered slightly, before she began to walk into the designated rest room.  She hadn’t counted on him being quite so attentive, and cursed herself under her breath, trying to think of a way to get him to be anywhere but hovering outside waiting for her return.

“You… you think this place has any kind of… vending or something?” she asked, turning back to him, where he was waiting, leaning with his arms crossed over his chest, his shoulder against the tiles, feet crossed at the ankles.

“I’m sure it does,” he answered. “Why?”

“Feel like I need something sugary… you know?” she answered, trying not to blush or give anything away as he gave her a long, steady look.  Finally he nodded, and it was all she could do not to let out a huge sigh or relief.

“Five minutes,” he told her. “Meet back at the car.”

“Five minutes,” she agreed, and suddenly she felt guilty for the way she intended to betray his trust as soon as he was out of sight.

[softestvirgil]

Let The Flames Begin

Chapter Six

Summary:

The gang head out on a road trip

Genre: Alternate Universe

Rating: PG

Pairing(s): Side Logicality, Implied Prinxiety

Word count: 1685

Warnings: Cursing, Injury mentions, Car accident

Let me know if there’s any more I should add!

Saturday was finally here and the boys were on their way to the Prince family cottage.

The drive was only about an hour, and the weather was really nice today. It was warm and sunny but with a nice cool breeze that made everything feel cozy. The trees were all turning orange and the fields were full of foods to harvest. It was beautiful.

Virgil had his head out the window, and with his eyes closed, he just let the air hit his face and took in some soft breaths. He hadn’t felt this at peace in a long time. It was at times like this that he would start to feel an impending sense of doom.

He was sat in the backseat today with Patton, because Logan insisted on being the one using the map, and you can’t guide the driver very well from the backseat, but neither Patton nor Virgil minded. Roman, however…

“Ugh, what’s my next turn, nerd-brain?” Roman grumbled. He would have much rather had Virgil sitting beside him but he lost this round and was being a brat about it.

Logan sighed. “Turn left at the fork and then go straight,” He sounded like a GPS and every time he gave directions it caused Virgil and Patton to quietly snicker at him from the back

“Thank you, Siri,” Roman told him.

“Haha. Very funny,” Logan replied, using the same monotone voice as before.

“Logan, I am genuinely starting to think you are a robot and have just hidden it from us this whole time…” Virgil commented with a smirk.

“Well, sorry to disappoint you but I am not a robot,” Logan stated.

Virgil went on. “What if, you just don’t know you’re a robot…”

Logan was getting annoyed. “That’s absurd,”  

“How so?” Roman wondered, joining in on the teasing.

“Because… because!” Logan exclaimed. “Robots cannot be gay! Aha! I have foiled your joke!”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure C3PO was gay,” Roman replied, taking one hand off the wheel to take a sip of his drink.

“Hey, be careful! Both hands on the wheel, mister!” Patton yelled, startling everyone and causing Roman to drop his drink, and spill it all over Logan in the process.

“Fuck!” Logan screamed.

“Oh, shit! Oh shit!” Roman was too distracted. He needed to pay attention to the road. His eyes were away from it for too long. Virgil was getting nervous. He could feel his hand starting to heat up. It burnt his palms.

“Ouch,” He murmured, trying to put the fire out. Usually, it went out a lot easier than this, but right now he was struggling.

Roman caught a glimpse into the back and noticed this. "You good, Virge?"

"Yeah, I-"

“Eyes on the road!” Patton yelled again.

Roman turned to look at Patton. “It’s fine there’s no one out h-”

Then out of nowhere, they swerved into the next lane and had a collision with another car. It crashed into the side.

Roman’s side.

They rolled into the ditch and the other car took off. It was a hit and run.

Everyone was out but Virgil.

His hearing was gone. It was just a loud ringing, and his head was pounding from hitting it off the window when they crashed.

Blood was dripping down his head, and despite his tolerance for pain, he was feeling some of this, but he didn’t care. He had to make sure his friends were alive.

Looking around him was like a horror movie. There was blood everywhere, everyone but him was out and they all were horribly injured.

“Patton?!” He yelled. Patton’s eyes were shut, and he seemed to be breathing, but the window on his side had broken from the impact and cut his face. Virgil tried shaking him but he wouldn’t wake up, and it was probably for the best since he was probably in a lot of pain.

“Roman?!” Virgil screamed, climbing into the front of the car. Roman was the most beat up. Other than the other car nearly crushing him, his car was totaled and he had been impaled by some of the metal.

“Fuck,” Virgil whispered, looking at Roman. He wasn't doing well. His skin was sickly pale and he was losing a lot of blood. Virgil hadn’t noticed it but he was crying heavily.

Then, Logan woke up.

“Wh-” He tried to speak but was shocked by the scene that was laid out before him. His best friend was either dead or dying, his other friend was sobbing, covered in blood and screaming and his boyfriend was out cold with glass sticking out of his face.

His nose was broken and bleeding from the impact of the airbag but he hadn’t noticed that.

“Logan…” Virgil said, with tears steadily streaming down his face from before.

Logan wiped his nose and his hand was covered in blood. “Oh my. You should uh… use the phone...”

“Phone,” Virgil repeated and climbed back into his seat to retrieve his phone.

“911, what’s your emergency,” The female operator said.

“Hi, uh… I was just involved in a car accident,” Virgil replied sounding frantic.

“Can you give me your location, sir?” The operator asked calmly.

“N- no we uh, we were headed toward- toward…” Virgil kept trailing off. He was in shock.

“Sir, please stay on the line,” The lady said, tracing the call and trying to pinpoint their location.

“We are on our way,” she said.

“Hello, sir? Please stay on the-” He hung up on her because he barely took in anything she said.

“Virgil, are they coming?” Logan asked, holding a hand over his nose.

He was staring into the distance. His eyes were all glossy.

“Virgil!” Logan screamed.

“Yeah… yeah…” Virgil was losing it.

“We need you, stay with us,” Logan said calmly. “I need you to take the glass out of Patton’s face and cauterize the wound.

“H-how?!” Virgil’s hands were shaking, and little sparks were dancing off his fingertips.

Logan took a deep breath. “Just gently pull the glass out and try to control your powers for a second… can you do that?”

“I… I can try,” Virgil replied. He turned to Patton. The glass was in his cheek, but it looked quite deep.

He took the glass in his fingertips and started pulling, it slowly. It slid out but now the wound was gushing blood.

He was trying to get the fire to work but he was too stressed out to control it and he was worried he would burn Patton’s face. “Shit. Logan I can’t…”

“Virgil…”

“No! I can’t! I’ll hurt him!” He screamed.

“Just calm down,” Logan pleaded.

“No!” Virgil yelled and his eyes turned orange. His powers were out of control and if he wasn’t careful he would kill himself and everyone in the car.

Logan never cried. He didn’t even cry the day his Grandmother died. He was sad, but he just wasn’t outwardly emotional, but right now his eyes were full of tears.

“I’m gonna kill you guys if I don’t get out of here,” Virgil whispered.

“No, it’s alright,” Logan replied.

“No… I have to get out… I have to leave... I can’t-”

“Shut up, you big babies!” Roman woke up and screamed at them.

“Oh my god… you... shouldn’t be awake,” Logan blinked.

“Why-” He said and then looked down. “Oh, that’s… oh that uh, cool,”

“Are you feeling any pain?” Logan asked.

Roman was trying to hold it together but he was also going into shock. “N-nope, maybe that’s uh, worse…”  His voice was full of gravel.

“Fuck, Virgil please just…” Logan began and then looked into the back. Virgil was gone.

“Virgil?!” They both yelled.

Virgil had climbed out of the car and was now running down the side of the highway. He had to get away from them. He had to. He wasn’t in control and he was terrified of killing them as he had done to his parents.

He clearly wasn’t in his right mind because he was just running, with no destination. Well, trying to run. He was really injured and climbing out of a totaled car when he could barely feel any pain didn’t help.

He was using every last bit of power he had to keep moving but he was getting weaker by the second.

After running for about ten minutes he stopped and collapsed to his knees, fire somehow still surging through his palms.

"Why…" Was all he could manage to say. Something wasn't right. He was extremely distressed, but he should not have been able to still use his powers now, hell, he shouldn't even have been conscious. He was weaker than he had ever been, weaker than he was in the woods. Something was very wrong here.

Virgil just stared into the distance again, and his mind went blank. He stayed this way for what seemed like hours until the ambulance, police cars and fire department caught up to him.

They lifted him and put him in the back of the ambulance with his friends. Logan was still conscious but Roman had passed out again and Patton was still out cold.

"Don't you dare pull something like that again," Logan scolded and gave Virgil the biggest hug he had received in years.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry," Virgil cried into Logan's shirt.

"It's okay… it's alright," Logan comforted. "They said that Patton only needs stitches, but he has to stay for a few days because he lost a lot of blood. Roman needs surgery, and they are hoping they can stabilize him,"

Virgil sniffled. "So, they're gonna be okay?"

Logan kept the hug going, not really wanting to let go yet. "I don't know. One can only hope so..." He was scared but he knew he had to hold it together, for both of them. There was no use scaring Virgil again, and there was no use in him freaking out either. That didn't help anyone.

They stayed in each other's embrace for the rest of the ride there, and neither of them would tell another soul about it, but they both knew they would be much closer friends after this.

[thewisekenisme]

the tale of two brother

Summary:  Twin brothers Logan and Roman have been inseparable since they were born, but they were horribly separated at the age ten taken away from each other mysteriously in the night to never see each other again, until now when attending their grandmothers funeral both boys found out that they would be going to the same high school while staying with their  Uncle and cousin in Florida, now reunited how will the brothers act? will they be able to put their different life styles aside to be brothers once again?  or will they find their life styles are so different that their relationship was never suppose to be?

ships: brotherly logince

warnings: fighting, parents divorce , crying

word count:14,743

I dedicate this fic to my tumblr mom  @figurative-falsehood   your the best tumblr mom ever! I hope you enjoy your fic love you!  

"Logan, Logan are you awake?"  called a small voice from 

Logan squeezed his eye's tight trying to block out the voice that was suddenly calling him, when the voices didn't stop calling his name he let out a tired groan turning on his side to face the voice. slowly opening his eye's he saw the blurry face of his Twin brother Roman inches away from his face. "Roman? what are you doing here ?  your suppose to be in bed?" he whispered slowly reaching over placing his glasses back on.

Roman stood up straighter shuffling his feet side from side refusing to move his eye's where they were glued to the floor. he was wearing red shorts with a white shirt that had a gold crown on the front of it. far different from Logan's black short and chemistry shirt that said 'my chemistry puns barely get a reaction.' he found it both annoying that people thought he liked puns but also amusing because it was about chemistry.

Huffing In a slight annoyance Roman shrugged  "I just needed to make sure your okay, as a prince it is my Job to make sure my nerd of a twin brother is safe from evil." he said slowly looking up from the floor giving Logan a annoyed look. he puffed out his chest to make himself look bigger then he was.

as Logan got a better look at his brother he noticed how tense his shoulders was, and how he had small wet lines going alone his freckled cheeks as if he had been crying. "I'm okay Ro, are you okay?" he asked quietly moving slightly closer to the wall just incase Roman decided to jump into his bed. "you look as if you were crying so there is no lying to me saying your okay when you obviously are not." he crossed his arms in a way to show Roman they he was serious.

Romans shoulder's sank hearing Logan catch him in his act to be brave. "Mom and dad are fighting again, can I sleep in here with you? to you know protect you from their shouts?" he asked winching slightly when he heard their father scream at his wife.

as much as he didn't want to admit it did feel frightened when their  parents bickering became full on shouting matches that would  last for hours into the nights  sometimes until early mornings. the only comfort he found during these times would be the fact that his twin brother was tucked into bed with him. that way he knew he was close and safe away from their parents. "Of course come on. "he replied moving the blankets aside.

Romans face lit up, he rushed onto his brothers bed  carefully laying next to his brother , careful not to take to much of the pillow so they could share. "Thanks Lo " he whispered with a small smile .

Logan carefully laid next to Roman making sure the blanket was tucked neatly around the both of them before settling into the mattress. He opened his mouth to say something when the loud noise of glass shattering down the hall caused both boys to just shrinking into each other. He turned his head hiding into his face into the pillow shaking a bit.

Roman quickly grabbed a hold of Logan's hand holding it tightly making the other look up at him. "don't worry lo."  he whispered carefully squeezing their hands "As long as we're together nothing's going to get us."

Logan knew it was illogical that something could get them even if they were together, but the feeling of hope he got when his twin whispered that simple sentence " Ro, promise me we will never fight like mom and dad." He whispered feeling a little embarrassed that he was scared of losing his brother.

Roman grinned lifting his hand to his heart making a X over it. "I cross my heart , your my twin we may not like everything each other do and argue but I'll never not want you to be my brother! "he smiled widely before a yawn took over. He rubbed his eyes before moving closer carefully wrapping Logan into a hug holding him protectively.

Logan snuggled closer hugging his brother tightly not really liking the physical contact but was happy for it. He relaxed into his arms letting a small yawn out. "Your my best friend Ro. " he whispered back.

Slowly Roman let his eyes fall close letting the warmth of the blanket and the weight of his brothers arms help him drift off to sleep. "Nigh Lo Lo, I love you. Promise we will never be separated "He whispered letting darkness take him into a peaceful sleep.

"I love you too Ro. I promise, we will never be apart. "He yawned moving his head so both of their forehead were touching before letting his eyes fall close. "I will fight for us" he finally spoke before falling into a deep sleep The two brothers slept with one another wrapped tightly around the other the fight of their parents long forgotten, and was replaced with the love and bond of two brothers who dreamed of never being separated. 

"Logan, Sweetheart are you Alright?" came a familiar voice beside him.

Blinking Logan looked around to take in his surrounding. He was in his old bedroom with his twin anymore , he was currently in the back seat of a rental car with his mother Valerie , while his step father Melvin sat in the front seat checking his phone, outside they were parked in front of what seemed like a funeral home, oh that's right they were in Georgia for his grandmothers(on his moms side) funeral, she had passed away peacefully during her sleep her hand wrapped tightly around her husbands. they had to fly all the way from London to help his grandfather with the funeral arrangements and be there for moral support , which Logan was perfectly content to do that from afar. 

 they all were dress in black, his mother in a black blouse and sunhat with a matching black pencil skirt and heels, her dark hair was pulled back in a low bun hidden by the back of her sunhat. His step father was wearing black dress pants and shoes with a white button up with his sleeves rolled up slightly reviling his bicep, his hair was combed back slightly.

Logan was sporting a black suit and red tie, carefully polished shoe's with shoe strings that were tied and carefully tucked into his shoes so he would not step or ruin them, his hair was carefully brushed to the side away from his eyes. Carefully adjusting his glasses he looked back to his mother nodding. "Certainty, I was just lost in thought my apologies, could you repeat what you were saying?" He asked politely before adjusting his tie nervously.

His mother gave him a soft smile gently placing her hand over his moving it away from his tie placing them onto his lap "I asked if you were excited about moving in with your uncle this school year? I know your not to fund of the idea of going to a public school this year and being away from us." she said giving his hand a gentle pat with a reassuring smile before she continued. "remember we talked about this?" 

he sighed turning his gaze down to his lap remembering the talk far to well, He had just gotten picked up from boarding school for the summer. he was  feeling sad because he had to leave for a break, but was also relived because he wouldn't have to listen to kids calling him unoriginal names all day everyday or resort into physical confutation for unknown reasons. as they were pulling out onto the highway his mother and step father had informed him he was moving to Florida with his uncle for the school year to get better at socialization and to help his uncle out who had recently lost his wife in a accident. to say he was happy or excited was a understatement, he had spent weeks trying to convince them he didn't need to go to Florida that he was perfectly fine and didn't need  to socialize. that all lead to a argument that made his mother break down and caused him to agree to move.

"Yes I remember, I am not trilled per say , but I suppose it would be nice to see him. and see if I could work at his bakery to earn a little extra money." he replied looking up again facing his mother showing as little emotion as he could. he gave her a small smile "maybe he would like to earn about the constellations during the lunar eclipse next week." trying not to sound excited but he couldn't help but beam with excitement talking about his favorite subject.

she smiled softly placing a hand on his cheek gently stoking it with her thumb. "That's my smart boy, now we should head inside, your grandfather will need us to be his emotional support today alright? I know you do not like emotions or physical contact but he needs us, it's going to be a long day." she said sweetly.

Logan nodded "I understand I shall try best." he replied slowly moving away from her hand. following their lead he stepped out of the car carefully smoothing out any wrinkles he found on his trousers before he closed the door. he watched his step Father and mother hold hands giving each other a peck on the  lips before walking towards the door hand in hand. He let out a satisfied sigh before following inside the building.  

upon walking into the build it seemed to be surprisingly empty, there were only a few people standing near the casket that laid his grandmother. A elderly man holding said woman hand while a man who seemed to be wearing a blue polo, tan pants and cardigan. Which didn't seem appropriate attar to wear to a funeral but he wasn't going to judge, was talking to his grandfather in a hush whisper he seemed familiar but he couldn't quiet place who he was.

He looked around the room to see a few adults talking to each other scattered around the room, towards the back of the room sat two teens. The younger one who looked to be around the age of 12 was wearing  a purple jacket over a black shirt and black skinny jeans. His hair was purple on top and brown on the side's , he seemed to have dark eye shadow under his eyes. He seemed to be listening to music ignoring the other teen who seemed to be talking to him.

The other teen who seemed to be about the same age as Logan 18 was wearing a suit much like himself , his hair was like the younger teens but was styled slightly . The more he looked at the teen the more he felt he knew him, the teen looked up at him stopping his conversation with the younger eyes widen slightly.

He knew that guy, his shock slowly turned into annoyance as he realized who he was. "What is he doing here?" He asked looking towards his mother.

Before she could answer the other teen stood up with a dramatic gasp causing everyone expect the younger who was to engrossed in their music. The other marched over angrily "What are you doing here !" He said a little to loudly.

Logan rolled his eyes crossing his arms letting out a annoyed with. "Obviously I am here to support my grandfather in his time of need, now why may I ask are you here Roman?" He asked standing straight.

Roman stood a few inches taller then Logan the closer he got. Soon they were face to face, Roman standing approximately six inches taller then Logan which made his annoyance go up a couple notches, but he dared not show it keeping his calm and collected attitude. 

"Well their my grandparents as well, Unlike you I visited them all the time! unlike you Mr. oh lets leave my family behind and go live a new life away from them!" he shouted angrily making Logan clench his first . anyone in a hundred yard radius could tell that the argument would get out of hand if someone didn't get to back away and take a deep breath.

"Logan!"

"Roman!" 

the two teens huffed before turning away from each other to see who was yelling their names. there beside their mother was their step father and the man who was standing near their grandfather. now that Logan got a good look at the man he realized he was his Uncle Patton, the same uncle he was staying with. 

"Boys please I know you two have bad blood but please , we are here for your grandfather. please don't fight right now" their mother pleaded looking at them both worriedly. "Logan, Romans darling's please for me?" she was able to keep in contact with Roman all these years and had tried on multiple occasions to get Logan to try and talk to his brother but he had refuse to knowledge his and their fathers existence believing it was their fault for the divorce.

Roman crossed his arms before wrinkling his nose turning his head away "Alright a noble prince is suppose to protect during a fight not cause one, for you mom I shall but not for him." he sneered glaring holes into Logan.

rolling his eye's Logan couldn't help but snort at his actions. he looked towards his mother nodding slightly. "Yes of course I will try to reframe from making anymore comments towards Roman's idiotic behavior." he replied calmly readjusting his tie.

Roman gasped dramatically about to say something before he could say anything their uncle Patton quickly place a hand over his mouth standing between both boys, Logan's step dad stood behind Logan putting a hand on his shoulder  giving him a pointed look, a look he knew far to well.

"Boy's I am so disappointed in both of you." Valerie said giving them a sad look. "We are here to be a family and support one another during a time we are hurting not to fight  do both of you understand?" she asked sternly putting her hands on her hips making her point be known by both even the two grown men shifted uncomfortably knowing how serious she was. Both boys looked away from her nodding muttering a 'yes ma'am' showing her that they both understood her.

she nodded letting out a frustrated sigh "thank you." looking at the other two adults with pleading eyes, they seemed to understand what her eye's were saying so they both went into action.

"Let's go take a breather kiddo, go get Virgil and we will go outside for a couple minutes." Patton said with a soft smile . Once Roman nodded he slowly removed his hand placing it on his shoulder giving it a gently squeeze.

"Yeah I guess your right, I'm sorry for my outbreak" he sighed softly walking towards the younger teen who must of been Virgil, he carefully took his football Jacket before talking quietly to the younger telling him they needed to go outside, together they walked outside  keeping their heads low.

meanwhile Melvin kept his hands on Logan's shoulders. "I think you and I need to have a talk as well what do you think?" he asked gently giving his shoulders a squeeze. when Logan sighed giving up to defeat he nodded in agreement. Melvin looked towards Valerie giving her a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Don't fret love he just needs to let off some steam." he spoke softly to her before taking Logan towards the back of the Funeral home to the last rows of chairs so they could talk leaving Valerie and Patton to talk.

Logan looked behind his shoulder back to his mom he couldn't help but feel dread when he saw the look of worry his mother had watching them. sighing softly he looked forwards holding his head high trying to hid all his emotions to show how serious he was even if he was regretting making his mom feel the way she was. he got ready for the talk he was about to have with his step father.

Patton sighed softly watching the boys walk in different directions of each other to go cool off and regather themselves, he had no idea what had brought up the argument in the first place but he knew they needed to walk away before things got a lot more stressful for everyone. He looked to Valerie giving her a small smile gently placing his hand into hers giving it a gentle squeeze. "You okay there hon?" He asked softly

she sighed holding his hand "No I'm worried Pat, what if Logan moving in with you was a mistake? you saw how he was towards Roman What if he acts that way towards Virgil?" she asked looking at him worriedly "I love him with all my heart and I know he wouldn't act cold towards him but I'm worried Patton." she whispered .

He gave her a small reassuring smile "Val he's going to be fine, You can call or text me day and night I'll be there to answer and tell you whatever you want to know." He promised carefully hugging her which she returned quickly. "Just like I promised for Roman." 

she nodded hugging him tightly "Thanks Pat your the best." she whispered , slowly she let him go returning his hand looking to the back of the room seeing Melvin and Logan deep into conversation both had a small smile as they talked, she caught a few weird they were saying like 'Gem' and 'Ruby'. they seemed to be playing a word association which usually calmed Logan down after he became stressed out. smiling softly she turned to face the front doors of the funeral home seeing Roman pace in front of Virgil who seemed annoyed by the other teens Action's. "Pat?"

"Yeah Val?" he asked looking in the direction she was, he couldn't help but smile soft at the two outside remembering a time when they both couldn't stand each other.

"How are you doing after the, you know" she hesitated to ask, looking away from the boy's she faced her friend who seemed to hold a sad smile on his face, she saw a glint of pain In his eye's when she turned to him.

"We're okay better then what Emile thought we would be, Virgil doesn't talk much since the accident last year, when he does it's only few words he tells Emile during therapy, but he's sleeping a lot better then he has been so that's exciting! Yes he refuses to sleep alone just incase he has a nightmare but yeah I'm not complaining that just means he get all the snuggles he wants" he looked at her giving his best cheery look  but she could tell he wasn't telling her the truth. 

"How's Emile after the divorce?" She quietly gently wrapping her arms around herself.

" he's doing alot better actually, after the two of you had that talk explained both of your sides of the story I think it helped both of you alot." He smiled softly

"Thats good im glad we were able to talk about it" she sighed softly before giving Patton her serious look "how are you holding up?" She asked worriedly.

he stayed quiet looking back to the front sighing softly he shrugged "I'll be okay, for right now my kiddo needs me to be Strong Val, I'm going to go check on the boys ill see you soon." he replied leaving before she could even reply to his statement.

Upon walking outside he could finally let out the breath he didn't relies he was holding , he looked up just in time to see Roman finally stop pacing and take a seat next to Virgil on the bench just right outside of the door. he gave them a small smile walking over to them "feeling any better kiddo?" he asked softly sitting on the other side of Virgil.

Roman shrugged looking at his shoes he had a deep scowl on his face "I guess, it's just he sighed shaking his head not daring to continue.

Patton frowned softly, reaching over the youngest he took a hold of Roman's hand gently squeezing it. "You don't have to tell me what's on your mind right now, but I would like to know what your about to say." He said softly.

He nodded softly holding his hand tightly. "After all these years why now is he here? I mean i know for grandpa but he doesn't need to be that mean." he grumbled looking towards the road watching people pull into the parking lot. "Do you think he knows about you know what?" He asked quietly.

He sighed softly "I don't know Ro, but right now is not the time to bring it up. We will talk to him about it later on okay?" He asked softly "but I need you to be the Prince I know you are, I have a quest for you." He smiled.

Slowly Roman's smile returned he sat up straight readjusting his suit jacket giving Patton a award winning grin "What can I do for you my good sir?" He asked

He chuckled softly "I want to know if you can keep my dear precious Virgil company. See I'm going to be helping my dear friend and my son here is a little anxious wizard and needs someone to protect him from those anxious feelings." he smiled putting a hand on Virgil's shoulder gently not fazed when his son flinched slightly.

Virgil looked up from his phone slowly taking out a ear bud listening to them, he gave them a curious look.

Roman was basically vibrating in his seat, he quickly stood up placing a hand over his heart kneeling in front of them both "weary traveler I shall take your quest to protect this wizard to heart. I Prince Roman shall keep you safe my friend." he smiled holding his hand out to Virgil winking at him.

The 12 year old snorted amused before letting Roman take his hand "Dork" He mutter as he stood up smiling softly holding his hand with a small smile on his lips.

Roman stood up keeping his hand over Virgil's gently giving his hand a gently squeeze. "now that's hurtful but I will put that aside! "He smiled softly before looking towards Patton. "Come on Verge I heard the owner of this place tell Grandpa there's some chocolate muffins in the back room. And when I found them they had our names on them." He said waiting for Patton's permission.

Patton smiled softly nodding " Yeah go on kiddo's, just don’t eat to much okay? And if  Logan goes back there make sure you both be nice to him understand?" He asked giving them both a pointed look. "I'm looking at you Roman."

Roman groaned dramatically pulling Virgil onto a hug leaning some of his weight onto him making Virgil giggle slightly. "Fine, we will try but I'm not promising anything right Virgil?" he asked swaying side to side.

Virgil looked down towards the ground letting his hair fall in front of his eyes so they couldn't see his face. "I'm always nice." He replied looking at Roman with a fake annoyed look.

He chuckled standing up putting a hand on his hips "alright alright , now come on you two let's get in there and show everyone what noble Prince you are , and what a mighty Wizard Virgil is." he smiled booping them both on the nose.

Both boys smiled widely nodding. Together Roman and Virgil walked hand in hand back into the building leaving Patton to go back into the man room to be with Valerie and the family while they are some cookies and muffins. 

The Funral it went off without any fighting, Logan sat with his mom and stepdad who sat with her father, while Roman Virgil and Patron say in the Row behind them. They kept their peace during the service and baryrel service. Their was alot of crying and akward emotions and hugs from people the boys had no idea who they were, a couple times after the services Roman had to take Virgil outside to take a break from the people crowding around them and people trying to get him to talk or hug them ignoring both Patron and Romans warnings. Thankfully they didn't cause a anxiety attack. It was now Ten at night they were outside of their Grandpa's house getting ready to leave, it was time for Logan to say goodbye to his parents and go with Patton to Florida to start a new school year.

Logan stood next to Melvin, he was now changed into his black polo shirt, light blue tie and jeans. He sighed softly carefully taking his suitcase from Melvin giving him a slightly annoyed look. "You are 100% sure you do not wish for me to return home with you and mom?" He asked showing he was hopeful that he would say yes.

"Logan we talked about this , it's only for the school year. We all want you to make friends and be more comfortable around people so you can be yourself." Melvin replied closing the trunk giving him a small smile. "Besides this will give you a chance to get to know your cousin Virgil more."

He huffed crossing his arms. "I know plenty about him, also I am perfectly capable of enjoying my highschool career without any friends." He replied looking away from Melvin.

He sighed softly shaking his head. "Lo look at me please." He said softly gently placing his hand onto his shoulder waiting for Logan to look up. "Me and your mom love you so much , we would do anything for you, but right now we think this is best. One day you will thank us for doing this."

"I highly doubt that but I will no longer put up a argument. It seems you both had made up your minds."he replied standing straight showimg that he was being serious with his 'I don't care' additude. "But i will still have contact with the both of you correct?" He asked adjusting his glasses nervously habit he picked up during his time at boarding school.

Laughing slightly Melvin pulled him into a tight hug "of course we will, we wouldn't dream of not talking to you, Lo you and your mom are my world and if one piece is missing we wouldn't be able to survive." He said carefully holding him in his arms, making sure he knew he wasn't going to let him go.

Logan surprisingly hugged him back closing his eyes "that is satisfactory " he whispered leaning into the hug. He wasn't much for physical contact but the hug he was getting at that exact moment made him wish it would never end.

Sadly not long after the hug did end. Melvin pulled away smiling softly at the teen. "Now how about we bring your things to Patton's van and you can tell your mom goodbye." He suggested placing his hands on Logan's shoulders.

Nodding Logan reluntically agreed following him to Patton's car were Valerie stood with Patton. They seemed to be deep in conversation by the time they got their .

Patton was the first to notice them. He turned to face them smiling widely "hey kiddo all set? we have a four hour drive back to my house so I hope we don't forget anything" He smiled clapping his hands together.

"I believe so, I have double checked and triple checked my lougage to make sure I have not forgotten anything."he replied stopping infront of the two. He frowned Noticing Virgil wasn't with them. "If I may ask, where is Virgil? We have a schedule we need to keep."

Patton frowned and looked around he suddenly relized where his son was. "Oh yeah, Roman took him inside for a bit, today's been a bit to much for him." He replied with a sad smile.

Logan frowned when he heard Roman was still here, why hadn't their father picked him up? Why was he still here? "Why is he still here ?" He asked before he relized he was asking it was to late, it was already out and in the open.

"You didn't tell him?" Patton frowned looking at Valerie who gave him a apologetic look.

"Tell me what?" Logan frowned not liking the look his mom gave his uncle.

"I've been meaning too, but everytime I try we get distracted and it slips my mind."she said rubbing the back of her neck. she looked towards Logan giving him a sad smile "Logan sweetheart there's something I've been meaning to tell both you and Roman." she said softly gently taking his hand into hers.

Before he could say anything Roman came out of the building with Virgil, Roman dressed in jeans and a white shirt, he was carrying a Virgil's jacket in a plastic bag . Virgil seemed to be wearing purple fuzzy pajama pant's, with a black shirt, he was wearing Roman's football jacket the sleeves seemed to go over his hands. He was holding Roman's hand tightly looking sad.

"Sorry for taking so long that beast Grandpa calls a dog snuck up behind up and got into Virgil's over night bag snatching his jacket while he was changing. I chased that dreaded beast to the bathroom but sadly by the time I was able to catch him he had disposed of Virgil's jacket into the toilet." He sighed stopping in front of Patton giving him the bag. "Wait why is he still here?" He asked noticing Logan.

"awe kiddo" he frowned taking the bag into his hands "Let's get this into the back, I think Aunt Val needs to talk to Ro and Lo okay?" he asked with a soft smile holding his hand out waiting patiently.

Virgil carefully went over to Patton taking his hand. He sighed sadly looking at his jacket in the bag "okay" he whispered

Patton smiled holding his hand happily walking to the van giving them privacy to have their conversation.

Logan and Roman gave each other curious glances before looking towards their mother giving her matching frowns.

Valerie sighed softly looking from them to Melvin. "Boys there's something I need to tell you but I forgot to." She sighed softly

"Wait your pregnant!" Roman gasped looking at her shocked making Logan face palm.

"No, no I'm not pregnant."she said quickly. She let go of Melvins hand and took both of the boys instead. "Roman you know how you and your dad moved in with your uncle Patton last year?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, because we didn't want them to be alone." He replied holding her hand frowning.

"Right , well Logan is going to be living with you guys this school year. " She said softly watching both of them waiting for them to react.

Logan's eyes widen slightly, He looked from his mom to Roman. He had refused to talk to either of them since the divorce how could he live with them when he didn't want to speak to them. He opened his mouth to say something but Roman was quick to speak.

"What! I can not live with this nerd! I have a certent life style I must live ! He will only cramp it with his nerdy ways !" Roman cried dramatically pointing to Logan letting go of of his mother's hand "he will ruin it with his lectures about proper eating and sleeping schedules or whatever like a elderly man!" He stomped his foot like he was throwing a tantrum while crossing his arms.

"Roman please stop being so dramatic, I would only do that if you were living a unhealthy life style." Logan replied rolling his eyes slightly annoyed

"Dramatic! I'm not dramatic ,  you want dramatic go to the aquarium and stress out a squid , then you will  see who's more dramatic, they eat themselves might I add! I for onw do not eat myself"

Logan face palmed shaking his head before looking at his brother not believing his ears. "you mean octopus? They are the ones who eat themselves Roman , not squids."He sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose under his glasses.

"What ever nerd, point is I am not dramatic and will not be living by your nerdy life style." He replied guving Logan a pointed look.

"Fine by me , I will not be living by your unrealistic life style as well. I shall maintain my cultured living while you live like the barbarian you are ."he shot back.

Both Brothers growled while giving each other nasty looks to each other , they only stopped when Melvin stepped between them making them take a step back.

"Okay you don't have to stay live like each other , all I ask is that you " she said pointing to Roman " try and be sensitive to how your brother feels about the move Okay? , and you " she said pointing to Logan " please try not to go overboard with your schedules and planning." She said softly .

They both stayed quiet for a minute thinking over their motherd request. Sighing they both nodded mumbling a 'Yes ma'am'

"Good, now come give me a hug okay ?" She asked  holding her arms out.

Roman was the first one to give her a hug, he carefully bent his knees slightly so he was able to rest his head on her shoulder.

Melvin looked to Logan expecting him to only want to hug his mom, but to his suprise he felt arms wrap around him tightly.  He smiled softly hugging the brainy Teen. "Have some fun Lo, just think in two days the lunar eclipse will come and teach everyone about it."he smiled.

Logan closed his eyes hiding his face in his shoulder care not to break his glasses "thank you for being my dad. Please take care of my mom while i am away." He whispered so only he could hear.

"Of course, I'll protect her don't worry, the year will go by fast.  And you never know you might havw alot of fun with your dad and brother?" He whispered softly holding onto him.

Roman held onto his mom sighing softly "he's not going to like living with us mom, he's to uptight not likw when we were younger."  He whispered to her.

Valerie held him in her arms , she smiled softly at him. "He just needs to know you still need him. And he needs to remeber he needs you his brave Prince brother . It's going to be okay I already talked to your dad about this and he agrees that it's time for this. Not just for him but for all three of you." She whispered kissing his cheek gently before giving him one last squeeze before letting him go.

"Love you mom, I hope you guys can come visit us soon"he smiled before heading to Melvin who had let Logan go.

She smiled with a "of course." Bwfore she hugged Logan who didn't have to bend to hug his mom. She held him in her arms "Logan promise me you will try and have fun? not just for me but for your brother and dad." She whisper gently stroking his cheek.

Logan was trying hard not to show emotion, he tried to keep his voice even but he couldn't stop quiver of his lips as he spoke. " I just want to stay with you. I do not wish to leave you and dad." He whispered it was the first time he had called Melvin dad . He and Valerie had been together ever since Logan was twelve, now eighteen he was finally comfortable calling him dad.

"I know sweetie , I know but it will be good for all of you , it will help heal your heart Logan. I'm only a text and phone call away , day or night we will awnser Okay?  No hesitation."She promised kissing his forehead .  She stood up straight placing her hands on his cheeks gently wiping a tear he had let fall. "You will have fun I promise just don't build a wall over your heart okay?"

He nodded slightly placing his hand over hers "I'll try."He whispered hugging her again. Reluctantly letting her go.

Patton came back to the group with Virgil, He smiled softly watching them "awe no one told me we were missing out on a group hug." He fake pouted.

Valerie laughed wiping her own tears away "Sorry Pat we got caught up in the moment." She smiled going over to give her friend a hug. "Please take care of my boys." She whispered.

He smiled hugging her back "of course Val, I'll keep both eyes on them."He promised .

She smiled letting him go "Virgil it was so good seeing you hon, you've gotten so big, is it okay if i give you a hug?" She smiled waiting for permission.

Virgil blushed slightly looking down towards the ground nodding.  Once she hugged him he quickly gave her a hug before nodding behind Patton.

Patton chuckled softly "alright kiddos let's get this show on the road , we have a long car ride back to the house!" he smiled letting go of Virgil's hand.

Roman grinned when Virgil replaced Pattons hand for Roman. "Of course we don't want to be on the road all night! Let us go my Friendly Wizard, the back seat has out name on it if I have power to my tablet maybe we can watch the nightmare before Christmas." He winked walking towards the car.

Logan watched them go towards the car , he stood up straight taking a deep breath , he slowly let it out taking the handle of his suit case walking towards the car to dispose of his things into the trunk.

Patton gave Valerie one last hug promising he would call her once Logan was settled in before he walked  towards the car making sure Logan's things were safely in the trunk and Roman and Virgil had a blanket to keep them warm.

Once everyone was in their seats Patton gave them a smile "you guys ready? we have a four to five hours till we get home so get comfortable Okay? And remeber if anyone needs to stop for anything please let me know. Ro, Verge do you need any medicine to help if you feel nausus?" He asked digging through the middle counsel for some the medication he mentions.

"I think thay will be best Uncle Pat thank you."Roman smiled taking the medicine from his uncle carefully handing Virgil the tablet to get their movie set up while he got medicine.

He smiled looking to Logan " Lo would you like some , it's suppose to help you sleep and settle your stomach if you get car sick." He said buckling up.

"Thank you but I do not believe I require any medication , but thank you." He replied giving his own small smile of his own.

"Okay just let me know alright." He smiled starting the car pulling out of the driveway onto the main road.

Logan looked out his window watching Valerie and Melvin waving at him as they pulled away from the house . He lifted his left hand up before waving back. 'This is it, I am completely alone now.' He thought to himself as he turned into his seat facing forward trying to calculate how long it would be till he was able to see his parents again. 

The drive home had been surprisingly quiet, Patton had figured the boys would get into it when Logan asked if he could put in a autobook about Pluto. But surprisingly Virgil and Roman had turned off their movie to listen it. Virgil even asked Logan why Pluto wasn't seen as a planet anymore, Logan's eye's lit up while he explained why scientist have deemed Pluto no longer apart of the planet family, Even Roman put aside his stubborn attitude towards his brother and started asking him questions, Patton couldn't have been more proud.

Once the Clock read 2:30 they were only thrity minutes away from home which Patton was greayful for and so was his back , he carefully looked into the rear view mirror making sure Roman and Virgil were doing okay in the back seat. They had been quiet for the past fifteen minutes which was odd for Roman.

Roman was sitting straight in his seat , head leaning back while his mouth opened slightly as he breathed evenly a slight snore was heard. Virgil was curled up on his side head rested on Roman's lap , headphones gently placed over his ears and blanket comfortably draped over his body.

Smiling softly he put his eyes back onto the road before looking to his right seeing, Logan resting his head against the window, his glasses threaten to fall into his lap the way his head hung a bit, his well kept hair was now hanging over his face.

chuckling softly Patton reached over to his phone which was in the cupholder in the middle console, carefully going through his contacts keeping his eye's on the road he finally found the number he was looking for placing it to his ear. 

after a couple seconds of ringing he was finally greeted with a tired "Hello?" from the other end of the phone.

"Hey Em! I'm about twenty minutes away from the house I'm going to stop and get some gas before I come home, I'm going to need your help we got a car full of sleeping kiddo's and I'm going to need your help carrying them in." He chuckled softly carefully pulling off the highway to the nearest gas stations.

"Yeah of course just text me when you get here." Emile yawned carefully sitting up on the couch "Pat, did you pick up Logan?" he asked softly 

Turning off the car Patton set out carefully closing the door before getting ready to pump the gas "i got him, He's so big Em I mean Roman's got him beat on hight but still." He smiled softly "and smart we just talked for two hours about space , even Virgil asked a couple questions."

"Thats great! But Pat I'm so nervous about this , last time I talked to Valerie she told me he blamed me and Roman for everything, he refuses to listen to her about our talk we had. What if this is a mistake? What if this is just a dream that isnt ment to come true?" He asked sounding worried.

"Emile your worrying for nothing. It will be rough at first but with time it will get better."He replied leaning on the back of the car "you know what good ol' uncle iroh would say."

"Life happens wherever you are , whether you want it or not?" He asked tilting his head slightly grabbing his shoes and jacket.

"No although that would go great in this situation, no I was thinking more of when he said ' you must never give into dispair. Allow yourself to slip down the road and you surrender to your lowest instincts. In the darkest times, hope is something you give yourself. That is the meaning of inner strength.' " he replied using his best Uncle iroh impression.

Emile stayed quiet for a few moments thinking about what Patton had told him before sighing "I  guess your right Pat, I should have known  you would use cartoon quotes on me, have you "

Patton chuckled paying for the gas before getting back into his car "I learned from the best " he smiled starting the car "Okay I'm heading to the house now, give me 15 minutes." He smiled making sure the boys were still okay before he began to drive.

"Okay Patton just make sure your careful Okay? I'll keep a eye out for you "he promised stepping into the kitchen. And Patron, thank you for everything."

Smiling softly he keeping his eyes on the road " hey don't mention it ,  your my family and so are tour boys, don't hesitate to ask for help okay?"

He chuckled softly shaking his head again"Okay I won't,  love you pat." He smiled

Patton smiled softly "love you to Em." He replied before hanging up his phone placing it back into the cup holder, He couldn't help his smile grow wider as he thought back to a few months ago when his brother and Roman moved in with him and Virgil, before the plan of Logan moving in with him for the school year.

Finally the long Car ride had came to a end as Patton pulled into his driveway in front of his house around three in the morning. he let out a long sigh as he turned off the car leaning back into his seat taking a moment to just close his eye's before he had to wake up the oldest of the boys. Taking a deep breath he slowly opened his eye's Looking towards the front door just in time to see his brother Emile walking out of the house towards them.

he carefully unbuckled his seat before gently placing his hand on Logan's shoulder gently shaking him. "Logan we're here, let's wake up a little okay?" he spoke softly careful not to spook him awake.

Slowly Logan opened his eye's, the sudden contact waking him up slightly enough to make him aware what the other was saying but not enough for him to respond to him with full sentences. he lifted his hand to rub his eyes behind his glasses as he sat up. "hm?"he hummed looking towards Patton .

He gave the teen a soft smile "I'm going to take you up to your room so you can go back to sleep okay?" He asked softly "I'm going to wake Ro so he and your dad can get the bag's while I get  Virgil to bed. but I'll make sure your luggage is in your room, so when you wake up you can change and get ready for the day" he said cheerfully 

Logan blinked slowly taking in the new information he was given, he yawned slightly nodding showing he understood what Patton had told him. "Okay." He replied slowly unbuckling his seat belt before he opened the door waiting to get out.

Patton smiled softly before he turned to face the back seat carefully shaking Roman's leg. "Roman, Roman wake up."he called softly careful not to wake his dark strange son.

Roman startled awake with a snort, holding his fist up ready to fight "I'm the Prince I didn't take anything!" He called out looking around frantically looking for his attacker.

"Shh Ro, your okay it's me, Uncle Patton." He held his hands in front of him showing he meant no harm.  He glanced towards Virgil hoping he hadn't been woken up. Thankfully Virgil only curled up tighter against Roman's lap, pulling the blanket tighter around himself.

"Uncle Pat?" Asked the sleepy prince as he yawned, stretched his arms above his head as far as they would go before sleepily looking towards Patton. "I almost hit you sorry about that." he smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

he chuckled softly giving him a warm smile "It's fine Ro, we're back home so I need your help getting Logan and Virgil's bags into the dinning room with your dad okay?" He told him Just as Emile got to the back of the car opening up the trunk to grad the luggage 

"Okay I can do that, but I'm kind of trapped by Verge at the moment." he smiled unbuckling his seat belt trying not to disturb Virgil. He carefully picked up the tablet placing it back into Virgil's backpack. "do you want me to try and put his headphones in his backpack ?"he asked looking up towards Patton.

"No it's okay I'll take care of it once we are inside." He whispered carefully putting his hand under Virgil's head carefully lifting his head so Roman was able to slip his leg away carefully. "There you go I'll get them inside." he smiled softly carefully lowering Virgil's head back onto the seat.

Roman smiled opening his door taking Virgil's backpack into his hands, he carefully go out closing the door quietly as he walked to his dad, leaving Patton with the task of getting the other two into the house. the only thing Patton heard from Roman before disappearing to the back was. "Awe is that the king of this beautiful kingdom!"

he chuckled softly getting out of the car pocketing his phone before he carefully opening up Virgil's door. kneeling down he gently placed a hand on his leg gently rubbing it easing him out of his sleep slow and carefully so he doesn't scare him. slowly Virgil's head moved out of the blanket so Patton could see his eye's blink sleepily at him.

carefully removing the headphones from Virgil's head Patton gave him a soft smile. "Hey there kiddo sorry to wake you but we're home. let's get you into bed okay?" he asked holding his hand out for his son to take it.

Virgil slowly blinked reaching out both hands opening and closing them making a grabbing gesture, he let out a quiet grunt slowly sitting up to make it easier for Patton to pick him up. He gave him a slight pout in hopes Patton would understand what he wanted in that moment.

Patton cooed happily picking up his kiddo holding him close, chuckling softly  he stood up as Virgil snuggled closer to him going back into a deep sleep , carefully closing the car door. He made his way to Logan who was now standing by the front door waiting for him. "Alrighty let's get you to your room lo."

Logan nodded as he followed Patton towards his new room, he was much to tired to really have a good look around but he did notice a couple family photo's. He even had a photo of his mom and Melvin wedding photos. He was sure he hadn't attended the wedding.

Further down the hallway Patton stopped in front of a room that had the a couple signs on the door. One of the signs had the saying 'Virgil's room Stay out!' In purple marker, the words were in Cursive handwriting the best Logan has seen next to his. Under the writing in red print was the words ' and Roman's room'. the other sign looked to be made by a child which was strange, as far as he knew the only children in the house would be him, Roman, and Virgil. shaking off the feeling he read the sign with a slight frown 'Logan, Roman, and Virgil's room enter  only if you know the secret code!'

"Here's your room kiddo, I hope your okay sharing with Roman and Virgil, We only have three rooms and your dad has the other spare by my room. but it will mostly be you and Ro , Virgil hasn't been able to sleep in his bed alone so he's usually in my room with me."

Logan looked to Patton frowning a bit wondering why Virgil stayed with Patton, but he held his question deciding it was better to wait till they all were more awake and willing to talk about it. " I appreciate it thank you for allowing me to come into your home and stay." he yawned Adjusting his tie so it was easier to take off when he was ready for bed.

Patton smiled carefully placing a hand on his shoulder "No problem kiddo if you need anything tonight me and your dad are just down the hall, don't hesitate to come get us, we will be happier if you woke us up then having you sit and suffer alone." he said in a serious tone.

nodding Logan reached to open the bedroom door, once he was able to look into the room he could tell that this room was meant to be the master bedroom due to how much space there was, in the room there was a full over full bunkbed on the left side of the room. the top bed had a red comforter with four large gold colored pillows, the bed also had a stitch doll resting on the pillows. the bottom bed only had one pillow with a purple comforter, the bed looked as if it hasn't been slept in a while. On the pillow laid a old looking stuff black cat that had a purple ribbon around it's throat. the only light in the room was a small desk lamp on the dresser next to a fish tank that had a couple neon fish swimming carefree through the aquarium.

the room had one big dresser in between two desks, one held a couple sport trophies, ribbons , as well as a couple certificates for athletic abilities. And a picture frame of  younger versions of Roman in the arms of their father who seemed to be wearing a cap and gown graduating from college. the other desk was littered with different colored pencils, markers and crayons, there was a couple crumbled pieces of paper scattered on the desk surface. In the middle of the room was a air mattress that had a dark blue blanket draped across it with a couple of pillow's. laying on the pillow was a small black leather notebook

"we'll go to the store later this week to get you a bed, dresser and a desk so you feel more at home." Patton chuckled softly following Logan into the room. He walked over towards the bed with the Purple comforter carefully picking up the black cat, he held it in his hands being very diligently likw he was afraid he he held it for two long it would turn to dust in his hands.  "I'll let you get settled see you when everyone wakes up Lo."He smiled softly walking towards the door holding the stuff cat and Virgil close.

Logan nodded walking towards the air Matress carefully picking up the black notebook, he looked back to Patton giving him a questionable look. "Um, Uncle Patton? Why is there a notebook here on the pillow?" He asked frowning

Patton looked back and smiled " Oh the notebook! We all have one, it's a idea your dad started after his first couple therapy session! He had the idea that through out the week we write down how our day is going, or we can sketch in it, anything! And on Friday night before our movie night we all have a family meeting and share one or more things in our journals, but we have the option of not to we dont want to be push and respect each others personal space, but we do want everyone to join and share if their comfortable. and I think it would be a great idea to start because you boy's are starting school Monday" He replied trying to keep his cheerful attitude in check careful not to make his sleeping son.

He looked from Patton to the notebook frowning softly, that sounded like a lot of emotions he wasn't willing to deal with , but writing down his frustrations did seem logical. "Thank you I will take what you said into consideration." He replied nodding slightly Giving Patton a small smile. "Thank you uncle Patton, now if you may I would like to return to sleep so I may try and fix what's left of my sleep schedule." he replied gently placing the notebook down next to the pillow along with his phone to tired to answer any messages he may have gotten.

he smiled softly holding the door handle stepping out of the room. he smiled softly "Night lo, get some rest." he smiled before closing the door leaving him to get more rest, he walked towards his bedroom frowning as he noticed his bedroom was opened. carefully he peeked his head in making sure everything was in order.

Sitting there on his side of the king size bed was his brother Emile, sighing softly Patton walked into the room going towards the other side of the bed carefully pulling the covers back he gently placed Virgil down under the covers carefully not to jostle him to much as he pulled the covers over him placing the stuff kitten next to his head. Virgil snuggled closer to the mattress carefully moving his arm around the stuff kitten bringing it closer to his chest as he let out a content sigh holding a soft smile on his lips, bangs falling over his face as he carefully nuzzled his face into the pillow.

Patton smiled softly carefully brushing his bangs away from his face, he looked up to see Emile watching hi. "Where's Ro? I would of thought he would be in your room telling you all about the 'dreadful day' his words not mine." he chuckled softly walking over to his brother carefully taking a seat next to him finally removing his shoe's for the first time that day.

Emile chuckled softly rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh trust me he gave me some details, but you know how he can get when he's tired. So once I got him laid down on my bed to continue talking he made the mistake of asking me what I thought, within five minutes he was out like a light." he sighed softly looking at his hands before sitting up straight  "thank you for picking him up Pat, I wont lie when I say I'm excited for what the future holds but also nervous." 

he smiled putting a hand on his brothers shoulder "I'm excited too, I cant wait to see what's going to happen! hopefully your able to talk to them both. "he smiled before yawning slightly, he smiled sheepishly "sorry Em I'm kind of tried, it's been a long day, if you still need to talk I'm here." he replied

"It's okay Pat, I'm thinking about heading to bed if Roman hasn't taken up the whole bed, for a king size bed It sure doesn't hold a six in a half foot tall teen who still finds comfort in being close to their dad." he chuckled standing up heading towards the door. "Night Pat love you." he didn't wait for a reply as he walked towards his bedroom closing Patton's door before he left.

Patton smiled softly laying back onto his pillow's letting his body melt into the mattress not bothering to change into his pajama's he placed his glasses on the nightstand next to the bed before settling in for the rest of the night, he closed his eye's listening to the steady sound of Virgil's even breathing he slowly drifted off to sleep, the last thing one his mind was simply he hoped his brother was able to reconnect with both of his sons, and that Logan was about to let his father and brother back into his heart.

To say this week went off without any problems would be a understatement, it started out well Emile and Patton took the boys to the store Sunday around noon to help get Logan's bedroom things, a couple new outfit's as well as school supplies for the next day. Emile and Logan exchanged a few words through out the day but not enough to start a full conversation. that night they were able to watch a couple Disney movies before heading off to bed which caused a little spat between both Roman and Logan because Logan didn't find it logical that Roman had to sing alone to every sing, which caused Roman to yell that 'his face was illogical.'  but was quickly solved by Emile offering  they watch a space documentary the next night, which Logan quickly agreed to.

the following morning had been a struggle trying to keep up with the first day of school jitters, Logan was up and dressed a hour before he had to leave to catch the bus with Roman, he even had a healthy breakfast of eggs and toast with crofters. Emile had a struggle trying to get Roman out of bed to even get dressed after almost forty minutes Roman was out of bed dressed and dragging his feet  to get out the door, which made Logan really annoyed. As the day went by the mood got worse after finding out they shared half of their classes together, some of the football and drama club asked Roman why there was a guy who looked like him sitting near him on the bus, roman replied with, 'Just my lame twin brother, don't worry about him he's like a robot doing the same thing over and over.'. Yes Logan didn't like his brother much , and yes he's heard those words over and over at boarding school but he didn't expect it hurt as much as it did.

the first week of school was absolutely horrible for Logan, but he kept his face serious and kept his emotions in check , he didn't even tell his mom how he was feeling about school, or about the kids who decided he was a easy target and took it out on him physically and mentally. instead he took advantage of the notebook he was given the first night he arrived. his notebook had eight pages already filled with his 'feelings' of the week.

By the time Friday night had arrived Roman and Logan were already at each others throats shouting at each other about the importance's of keeping their bedroom clean and their personal belongings up off the floor. Emile sat in the living room sighed glancing over to Patton watching him look frantically looking for Vigil's sound proof headphones to  help block out the sound of the boys arguing.

"Roman! Logan! please sit down ! we are having a family meeting now! " Emile called suddenly making Roman, Logan, Virgil and Patton jump at the sudden loud noise coming from the normally calm guy. The twins gave each other annoyed looks before sitting on opposite sides of the room holding their notebooks in their hands.

Patton sighed sitting next to Emile handing Virgil his head phones "Okay how about we start this meeting off by reading something we wrote in our notebook's? how about me and Em stat okay?" he asked waiting for the boys to nod in agreement, once they all nodded Patton opened his notebook and began to read his passage for the day.

' Dear Journal, Today is Tuesday August 20th, today I picked up my dark strange son from school and together we went out for some ice cream to spend some father son time. We talked about everything and anything today, we talked about how he was liking school , to thinking about getting a cat, which turned to Virgil telling me he doesn't want to get a kitten no matter how much he wants one he wouldn't want to spend that time worrying whether I can breath or not. I hope that we can have more time like this I think it would be a great way to bond. until tomorrow yours truly Patton.'

Roman smirked gently bumping shoulders with Virgil who looked down blushing slightly "Whoa Virgil when did you get so chatty? I guess we will have to except some chats soon and I'm looking forward to it my favorite wizard." he smiled softly putting his arm on the back of the couch.

Emile smiled softly watching as both boys slowly started to relax going back to their normal relaxed selves as the meeting continued, now all they needed to do was show Logan that it was okay to relax and have fun every once and a while. "Okay my turn 

'Dear journal today is Wednesday and let me just say it was the best day ever, I started my day with a amazing conversation with my youngest son Logan, we had our first full conversation in years, it lasted almost two hours! we talked about space, cartoons gems! I even got to play 'word association game' , the last time I played that with him was when he was 10, he had the chicken pox and couldn't go to school. I missed having these conversation with him, I miss when we were close. I hope this is the start of the new chapter in our life.'

 Logan looked to his lap shifting awkwardly looking down to his notebook, he didn't say anything just listened to everyone talk trying to think of what he could say instead of reading what he wrote in the notebook.

Patton smiled "Very good Em! Virgil would you like to go next? remember you don't have to tell us what you write In your notebook, you can tell us anything! Like something you learned at school today." He encouraged giving his son a warm smile hoping that he could feel comfortable opening up.

Virgil nodded slowly looking at his purple notebook before looking up again , he carefully tucked his notebook under his leg before playing with his hoody strings. "I have a new friend, his name is Remy, he always wears sunglasses inside and sneaks Starbucks into school . He said his older brother Thomas is in the high school drama club with Ro. But he graduated last year" He said quietly saying more in front of people then he has in a long while.

Roman gasped looking at Virgil shocked "No way! Your friends with Thomas Sanders brother? thee Thomas Sanders who was the lead of last year's musical, the one who offered to give me tips when I couldn't get my solo quiet right?" He asked a little loudly

Virgil winced slightly at the sudden outburst "yeah." He replied wondering if it was bad they were friends.

"That's amazing !"he replied softly , Virgil looked up at him shocked " I hope this Remy is as kind as his older brother." He smiled softly giving Virgil a thumbs up like he approved of his friend choice.

Virgil blushed looking away shrugging softly with a small smile that he his behind his hoody covered hand.

Roman grinned before he stood up quickly placing a hand over his heart "I shall go next! My entry is a glorious description about how crummy no good week!" He sighed picking up his notebook before giving a glare to Roman,  he cleared his throat before he began.

"Dear journal! This week has been nothing but garbage! First it all started when my annoying brother came to move in with us. He's Ruining everything with his schedules and his 'we gave to be on time' act , I don't believe he is actually concerned about us being on time , I think he just wants to his the fact that he's a robot who wants to take over the world! How i am related to something like that is unknown'

He read nodding his head like he had just solved the world's hardest case, a case not even Sherlock could solve.

"Roman! I am very disappointed in you! Apologize to your brother right now!" Emile said sternly giving Roman a disappointed look. He was outraged that Roman would be so to read something so hurtful to his brother infront of his face.

Logan carefully ripped out a page in his notebook before he stood up keeping his head hung low, he pushed his glasses up "No it's okay I can tell i am not wanted here , if you would please excuse me I wish to retire for the night. Thank you for letting me into your home and I apologize for ruining your week."He said walking towards his new room leaving his notebook behind, before he went into his room he three the page away.

When Emile heard the door close he gave Roman a upset look. "Roman go into my room and think about what you have done, I would like you to write a apology to Logan while you are in there. I am very disappointed in you and how you are treating your little brother." He said pointing to the hall way.

Roman did as he was told without another word, he grabbed his notebook walking towards his dad's room, the closer he got to the room the more he started to regret what he had actually said to his brother.

Patton frowned worriedly he looked towards Virgil giving him a small smile "Hey Virgil I just remembered I forgot to pick something up from the store how about you go get shoes on and just you and me can head out okay?" He asked figuring Emile needed time alone with both boys.

Virgil nodded before getting up his notebook held close to his chest as he walked towards Patton's room to get his shoes so he could leave with his dad.

Emile looked at Patton shaking his head "i don't know what to do Patton, I'm trying so hard to do the right thing here but I feel like every time we take a step forward we take ten back." He sighed putting his head in his hands.

Patton frowned softly he carefully wrapped his arms around his brother holding him tight trying to think of ways to help his brother. His eyes suddenly light up as a idea hit him. "Em you trust me right?" he asked trying to hid his smile.

He looked up frowning tilting hid head confused "of course I do Pat, why would you even ask me that?" He asked worried that the boys fighting was starting to effect his brother in different ways then one. Suddenly Patton stood up grabbing Emile's hand dragging him to Roman and Logan's room. He placed him in front of the door before retreating to the room were Roman was.  He sighed leaning against the wall wondering what Patton was planning he listened to see if he could hear any noises from the bedroom, his eye's widen slightly when he heard sniffling.

Patton soon returned dragging a confused looking Roman, he smiled opening the door gently shoving Roman in before turning to Emile giving him a small smile, he closed the door locking it from the outside "I wont unlock this door until you talk, we cant have you two at each other's throat's all the time, so talk and clear the air. " he called smiling softly looking towards Emile "Now I'm heading to the store with Virgil you listen in and give your opinion when they get out of hand, like what mom and dad did for us." he winked before walking to his bedroom to see if Virgil needed help with finding his shoes, leaving a stunned Emile to listen in to the conversation happening behind the door.

Roman was confused when Patton had suddenly came into  his dads room and grabbed his hand without saying a word, he was even more confused when he was dragged to his bedroom and shoved in. hearing Patton tell them they had to talk it didn't rub Roman the right way, their argument was still fresh in his mind as well as what he had told Logan he wasn't sure how this conversation was going to go.

huffing Roman looked towards Logan's side of the room freezing slightly noticing Logan sat hunched over facing the wall, his shoulders were shaking slightly. 'you messed up big time' he thought to himself as he walked slowly towards his desk puling out his desk chair "Logan? I know this may seem stupid but are you okay?" he asked slowly sitting in the desk chair looking towards his brother.

Logan turned his head to face the other way carefully removing his glasses placing them next to him were his phone and notebook sat. "Roman, I would appreciate some time alone, I do not wish to speak to you at this very moment. besides I thought you said I was ruining your week?" He replied his normal calm cool and collected voice cracked as if he was crying. when Roman heard a sniffle it was like he was punched in the gut.

"well I mean you kind of are. but I wanted to apologize for hurting your feelings, if there is anything I could do to make you feel better I will do it." he promised leaning forward tp place a hand on Logan's shoulder.

he moved away quickly, he turned his head to look at Roman eye red and puffy they were full of tear's, cheeks were damp because of the tears that had already fallen, Roman recognized the look quickly, he hadn't seen his brother that distressed since they both found out their parents were getting divorced and Logan was leaving with their mom. "You are not sorry in the slightest! besides I thought you said I didn't have emotions, that I was some kind of 'emotionless Robot.'" he said looking away again.

He needed to think fast looking around the room he remembered his dairy he kept under his pillow. carefully standing up he walked over towards the bunk bed standing on top of Virgil's bed reaching under the bars grabbing the red leather book that was under one of his Pillow's . carefully he sat down where he was standing opening up to the newest page he had written, he sighed softly before he began to read.

'Dear dairy today I feel really strange, You see my twin brother Logan just moved in with us so he could get closer to our dad and I, but it seems like he rather stay closed up and ignore our exitance then try to get closer to us. But that's not why I feel strange, I feel strange because I would of thought I would be angry at him for not having contact with us for eight years, but instead I'm feeling more relived then anything, I am so relieved we got this chance to be together again, not only relived I'm excited more excited then when I was able to go see heathers live with my mom when she visited last summer! I cant wait till we are able to be as close as we were when we were little, I know it's going to take a while before we both can be that close again but I believe my little brother and I will be like that soon. Today I said something I shouldn't have at school today to some of my friends, I told them some hurtful things about Logan I probably shouldn't have, I wish I could take it back now but I don't know how. He found out about what I said and now we have been fighting non stop for the past couple days Dad has asked me to try not to fight with him but I don't know what we are even fighting about half the time, but I will try to make a conscious effort to not fight with him for now on, with help from dad I believe we all three can be close again that thought in it's self is exciting in itself.  yours truly Prince Roman.'

 Roman set his diary down on his lap looking towards Logan, he could see he slowly turned towards Roman putting his glasses on he carefully wipes his eye's with the back of his hand sniffling softly. Roman moved towards Logan's bed sitting next to him looking down at his hands "Lo, I didn't mean what I said out there, I was still mad about our argument though I cant remember what we were even fighting about." he admitted rubbing the back of his neck.

"The importance of keeping a bedroom that is shared by three other people clean." Logan reminded slowly sitting next to Roman. he sighed softly looking at him adjusting his tie nervously. "I accept your apology, however I would also like to apologies that I have not gotten in contact with you sooner, I had believed for years that the reason Mom had moved to London was because of you and dad, now looking back on it I now know that the idea was illogical to believe in such a lie but I couldn't help it." He sighed softly looking towards the ground, he suddenly flinched when he felt Roman put his hand into his own holding it tight.

"I understand I blamed mom every time I found dad crying in his room. but I think we should put all of this in the past and focus on moving forward." He said squeezing their hands softly Looking him face to face "Lo your my baby brother and I will always forgive and protect you, even if we aggravate each other. it's my Job to keep you safe"

Logan snorted softly shaking his head as more tears fell. "Roman you are only older by forty-five minutes, I do appreciate what you are saying but wouldn't you rather have Virgil as a younger brother?" he asked not meaning to sound bitter but he wasn't going to control his emotions anymore in that moment he was already crying why not add rage as well.

"What? no our my brother , Virgil is just our little cousin, what do you think I would want him as a brother instead of you?" he asked frowning confused then it hit him. "Wait lo are you jealous because of how I act towards Virgil?"

he huffed looking away from his brother trying to get his hand back, when he tried he failed because roman had a strong grip on his hand. he sighed softly nodding. "I believe I am, I have never felt jealous before, not even when mom and Melvin started dating." he sighed looking towards Roman again "I'm jealous of Virgil and you, I don't know why I'm Jealous of Virgil he has done nothing wrong but you, I'm jealous because of the relationship you and dad have." he sighed hanging his head 

he carefully wrapped his arms around his brother frowning. "But I only have that relationship with him because I really don't like to leave his side, the funeral was the first time I've been away from him for a excessive amount of time, heck even when mom visited last year I almost had a break down because dad wanted it to just be the two of us, he said I may have developed a sort of separation anxiety or something like that" he admitted sheepishly "as for Virgil well he's been through a lot and Uncle Patton asked if I could treat him as if I was a older sibling to him, which I request you do as well. it helps with his anxiety and I imagine our bickering isn't helping it much." he sighed resting his head on the others  "But it's amazing treating him as such , he is as annoying as you if not more."

Logan leaned his head on Roman's feeling a sudden warmth go through him, he wiped the remainder of his tears away before looking to Roman. "I will try my best, but I don't know if my relationship with you and dad will ever be the same. I have been treating the both of you horribly, while you say you forgive me I am not sure dad would." he sighed again.

"Now why would you say that?" a sudden voice made both boys jump and look towards the entrance of the room. 

standing there in front of the now open door was Emile, he had a small smile as he walked over to his sons taking the abandoned desk chair, he moved the chair in front of them sitting down giving them a small smile "Now Logan what makes you think I was even upset with you for how you were acting?" he asked giving him a serious look.

Logan let go of Roman giving Emile his full attention. "I haven't spoken to you in eight years, I tried to ignore you all week but no matter what I did you never failed to show me your kindness, I do not deserve it. I treated you both horrible for something that I have been holding in my heart." he looked down to his hand still in Roman's. "It's understandable that you would hold Roman closer then me, I understand if you do not wish to have a relationship with me."

Emile gently tucked his fingers under Logan's chin carefully lifting his head so they could meet each others eye's. "Logan you are my son as much as Roman is, I don't have favorites and I never will, it would be like trying to pick my favorite cartoon and I cant do that." He said gently moving his hand away from Logan's face to place it on top of their hands

"But what I've done." He was quickly hushed by Emile as he shook his head.

"what you have done is in the past, As the great wise Rafiki has said 'The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it.' now I believe we all can learn from the past don't you?" he asked sitting up straight.

"I guess your right, even if you did quote a Disney movie in the middle of a serious conversation." he replied rubbing his eyes with his free hand "I will try to keep that in mind the next time those feelings come back." he smiled a bit 

Roman laughed bumping Logan's shoulder "Are you kidding? Dad's best advice comes from Cartoon's, trust me your going to be hearing a lot from him. besides if you feel that way you should tell us it might help ease those feelings, Plus I'm a prince they will leave if I demand them to" he smiled widely.

"Yes you will, It will help to talk about it Lo trust me. And Roman we are not done we will still be having a conversation about what you did say to your friends later , but for now how about we get some hot chocolate and watch a movie that Logan want's to watch how does that sound?" he asked both of them with a soft smile.

"I like the hot chocolate and movie deal, but I am not to keen on the whole discussion thing." Roman grumbled standing up carefully pulling Logan next up next to him. "But I guess it's okay let's go Logan!" he smiled slowly letting go of his hand going over to his bed putting his diary back under his pillow.

Emile smiled softly as he stood up putting the desk chair back, he turned back to face the boys but had to quickly gain his balance as he was suddenly hugged. he looked to see Logan hugging him as tightly as he could. he wrapped his arms around his youngest smiling softly. "I love you so much Lo, never ever forget that please." he whispered kissing the top of his head.

Logan nodded against his shoulder , he closed his eye's staying in the warmth of his father's arms. he smiled softly "May I do something out of character?" he asked waiting for Emile's permission. once he had it he hugged him tighter before he spoke 'Dear notebook, Today I am really happy to be back with my father and brother, this week has been hard I am feeling new emotions I am not sure how to express them so I took out my frustrations out onto my family, I am nervous that due to my lack of communication as well as emotion may ruin any chance of having a relationship, I am jealous that Virgil has a better relationship with my brother then I do.  I now know that I was running from the past instead of learning from it, from now on I shall learn from the past with help of my dad and brother I will try my best to be a better me. I hope soon our relationship maybe like it was before, I also hope to make Virgil feel less anxious. I hope that together I am able to express more emotions then I am able to on my own, sincerely Logan Picani  son of Emile and brother to Roman Picani.'

Emile chuckled softly holding onto Logan tightly he couldn't help but feel pride in his heart for his son. He wiped away his happy tears before carefully pulling Logan away holding him at arms leigh away. he smiled softly "That was amazing lo, I'm glad you were able to learn from our talk." he smiled gently took his hand leading him towards the door taking Roman's in the other hand. taking his boys to the living room. he wasn't able to see the slight blush on both kids faces as they tightened their rip on their dad's hand, all he knew was he was so happy to have both of his sons back, and nothing could take that feeling away from him.

While Emile was with Logan and Roman watching movies, Patton was at the pet store with Virgil in the fish isle looking at decorations for their fish tank. It had taken Patton some convincing to get Virgil to get out of the car to come into the store, he had finally came out when Patton told him if he wasn't with him he might of been tempted to get a kitten. so now he was there holding his son's hand while they were trying to find their fishes a new castle for their tank. Patton frowned feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket, carefully pulling the phone out his pocket he was bale to see Emile sent him a picture along with a message.

the Photo was of Logan and Roman both fast asleep on his lap, Logan curled up on his left side head resting on his lap, glasses off and hair brushed back, Roman was in the same position except he was facing Emile hair over his eye's. Both boy's looked happy there with their dad, the photo made Patton's heart melt at how cute they were.

EMILIO!-' Emotions can be exhausting sometimes, Thanks for letting us have some time alone Pat I couldn't have asked for a better little brother a guy could ask for.' 

Patton smiled softly putting his phone away in his pocket before looking  back to Virgil who seemed to be staring at him while holding a jar of fish treats. "What do you got there kiddo?" he asked smiling softly 

Virgil handed him the Jar "Did they make up?" he whispered picking his hoody sleeves waiting for Patton to reply to his question.

Patton smiled softly "Yeah they did, I think that for now on they will be trying to get along with each other and Uncle Em, how does that sound?" he asked softly. he chuckled when Virgil gave him a quiet 'good' before he went back to looking. he could tell his was relieved that his older cousins were now going to try and get alone with each other and that his uncle would be more happy. he tucked the jar under his arm following Virgil around the store wondering how Emile got both teens to fall asleep before nine thirty, he was going to have to ask him so he could try and help Virgil to sleep more, but for right now he was just going to enjoy the peace knowing that their family was starting to heal, now if only he and his son could feel the same sort of healing.

(( the longest fic I have ever written holy moly! okay question. what did you think? should I make this a blog series? if you would like a platonic fic of your own send me a ask or dm with a idea of the fic you want and characters and ill see what I can do! ))

TAG LIST

@figurative-falsehood @today-only-happens-once @chanderefk 

[tlparadigm]

Stygian Paradigm

Stygian Paradigm

By tlparadigm, for Kindred Spirits it pertains to

-Prologue-

The end of the western world began Saturday, December 31st, 2011. Yellowstone Caldera last erupted 630,000 years ago. More recently, Mount St. Helens erupted March 20, 1980, and it killed 57 people. But in the final days of December 2011, Yellowstone became active and destructive once more, the governments of the world rushed to evacuate the citizens of North America and prepare themselves for the worst. An idea was born. A special type of geomagnetic device would be constructed to contain the blast like a vacuum, a bio-weapon. The device was supposed to compress the tonnes of ash bursting from the volcano; They failed.

December 2011 - South Dakota

Yellowstone Caldera exploded. The North American continent is in chaos, people are rushing to escape to the other side of the world, or accepting death and staying where they are. Thirty-three of us trekked east to Prince George, British Columbia to a large cave where we could hopefully survive for a few years. All vehicles had stopped working from the failure of the device so we would be walking all the way. We would arrive by early February, after a 2,430 km walk from South Dakota, where most of us had lived. What the governments did not expect, was that a backup geo-magnetic pulse from the device was so powerful that it caused ruptures in the ground which ultimately caused an eruption at Mount St. Helens as well. With ash coming from the volcanoes, chemically charged by the device, mutation soon followed in the animal kingdom and pure insane chaos in the modern world.

January 17th, 2012 - Medicine Hat, AB

After weeks, our group of 33 was whittled down to 17. We had all watched as packs of wolves and other beasts tore our comrades to shreds. We breathed ash as we walked through the streets of Medicine Hat. Our lungs slowly deteriorated. On one of the finals days a huge male cougar attacked our camp, it mangled 8 of our comrades. Their deaths were gruesome. 6 of us now remained, soon only 4 including myself. As I left my fallen comrades to nature’s merciless rage, I pondered the events of the past month, as soon as the new year hit everything had gone to hell. I was then reminded of the Mayan calendar myth, the calendar had gone for roughly 5,125 years but ended on December 21rst 2012, but it was only January. Why had both Volcanoes erupted, even though they were over 1,380 kilometers away from each other, could it have been a coincidence or some sort of accident? I doubted I’d ever find out the whole truth.

January 24th, 2012 - Jasper, AB

The four of us were anxious about going into Jasper National Park but so far the view was spectacular so we put up with the seemingly endless amount of walking. We occasionally passed trailers and cottages, if we were up to it we’d snoop around in and hope to find other survivors but everywhere we looked it was like we were in a ghost town, just without the town, only the highway which we traveled on and the forests around us, we would stay on the highway even when we passed various towns, since we no longer had the heart to search them. We had stopped just outside of Jasper, Alberta when we heard gunfire coming from the south where we’d soon be passing the town. The four of us grabbed our gear and started quickly moving towards the shots which were still sounding as we neared closer. Two of my three companions were a young couple named Ben and Samantha who had lost their house in the initial chaos of early January, they had nervous looks on their faces and I could tell that they were running through the possibilities of why someone was firing a weapon. The other was my good friend Daniel who I’d known since high school, we had survived in the wilderness before but that was for fun and we had more resources at our disposal but this was far different, this was life or death.

The man who had been firing the weapon seemed to be in his late 50s, with a messy grey-white beard and electric blue eyes with red lines around the edges which suggested lack of sleep or maybe some sort of drug use. He almost shot us as we approached but as the four of us looked around to figure out why he was firing we saw no obvious reasons. A creepy sparkle came to his eyes as he lowered his weapon, the woman of the couple asked the old man if he was ok but he seemed to ignore her question and instead exclaimed

“Welcome to Jasper! Now, where do fish keep their money, my friends?” We looked at each other confused and Sam slowly said “Uh hi, and is it the riverbank?” A wickedly crooked and chaotic smile came onto the man’s face and after a few seconds he finally said, “Ah you are a smart girl, the name is Lucien, this town is my town, I am its sole inhabitant.” A shocked look came to Daniel’s face, “It’s sole inhabitant? Jasper had around 5000 people living in it, they couldn't have all left!” he said, raising his tone a bit as he talked. “Take a look for yourself young man, but you’ll only find clues of the past.” We set up camp in Jasper and talked with the man, who seemed to be going senile which was surprising considering he only looked to be in his late 50s maybe early 60s. I didn't know why he had asked us that odd riddle but he was just weird. Ever since we had arrived in Jasper the man had been giving me a look, a sneer was always on his face when he looked my way, he gave me chills.

January 25th, 2012 - Jasper, AB

The next day, I found myself in an argument with Lucien, I’d caught him checking out our bags and holding our ammunition in his hands. He pleaded that he was innocent and he was only making sure we hadn't left our equipment somewhere that bears could access, but, I knew he was lying through his teeth. He was still arguing with me when suddenly stopped and went still, he started off at something behind us, we all looked but there was nothing, then there was a gunshot from beside us. Lucien had drawn a sidearm from beneath his long gray tattered trench coat and had fired at us but had missed very poorly even though we were only a couple of meters away from him. Reflexively Daniel grabbed his rifle from beside him and aimed at Lucien, seeing this, Lucien spat at Daniel for pointing a gun at an old man then he pointed an obscene hand gesture at him. So Daniel shot him in the right foot and returned the hand gesture. Swearing and screaming, Lucien limped off into town. Later that day we heard another gunshot coming from the part of town that Lucien hung around the most, we all went towards the noise to see what was going on. What we found we had not expected, but there, in a parking lot, in the western area of the town, lay the body of Lucien, a gunshot wound in the side of his head. I thought it to be an odd place and time to commit suicide. Especially when you have a whole town to yourself, but the man had been a psychopath, and it would be best not to question his final intentions.

January 26th, 2012 - Yellowhead Hwy, AB

Sam and Ben had stayed in Jasper so they could attempt to gather more materials and see if they could get a vehicle working again so they could meet Daniel and me later on. Later still, Daniel and I discovered that an aggressive, scruffy and scarred grizzly bear had been stalking us since we left Jasper. We were almost out of bullets and we were weak from days of walking. I watched as my close friend I’d known for 16 years was brought down by the 300 kg bear who had ambushed us that afternoon, I gazed at his face as his insides being torn open and as he drew his final breath, the bear looked at me. Its eyes glowed red, it growled, an unearthly growl. Then it charged at me but went off course and kept running past me further into the forest. In seconds, after horrible screaming and agony, Daniel, the guy I’d known for so long and became so close with, was gone and so was the bear; I was alone, and the nature of Jasper National Park was my only company.

January 29th, 2012 - Portal Lake, BC

I managed to find a rest area today, but also a final news report from earlier in the month which I’d never heard; the government's device and the double volcanoes had caused fractures in the earth's crust and were cracking the tectonic plates apart. More volcanoes were brewing just like here, earthquakes were destroying whole countries, hurricanes obliterated whole cities and the death toll was catastrophic. I came across a small aging wooden cabin in the woods, I found exactly what I needed, a better hunting rifle then what I’d taken from one of my comrades, along with ammunition and multiple food rations. Around 300 km until I reached safety, at least with this better gun I could avenge my fallen friends and comrades.

February 2012 - Moose Lake, BC

I was into British Columbia now, almost at Red Pass. I’d stopped to rest at the easternmost point of moose lake when I saw some sort of building across the Fraser River from where I sat on Yellowhead Hwy, I managed to half swim half trudge my way towards the building which I now saw used to be a lighthouse. The only thing was that the lighthouse had been destroyed somehow and only the bottom half was still standing, even in ruins. I stayed there for two days than in the night I was awoken by a spine-chilling howl. A wolf pack had arrived.

I could hear them outside, snarls and growling filled the gloomy night air. I didn't sleep again for the remainder of the night. Hours later, the howling had stopped. It was strange, they had me trapped but I could now see them retreating back into the surrounding forest. I slowly stepped out of the ruins to investigate, I had a bad feeling about this. Of course, the old bear eventually arrived to finish me off. With the rifle in my hands, I prepared for the worst. I had run out of rations, I was starving and that bear would be pretty dang good for cooking. I went to the top of the ruins to see if I could get a better shot but the stairway where the ruins ended were too narrow to get a good shot, so I went back down the winding stone stairs and crouched down at the door to ready myself. I waited for a while, then the massive bear charged towards my shelter. I fired two rounds at the beast, it didn't slow. I dove back into the ruins and the bear tore into the building. Moments later I was on the ground, punching at the bear’s mangled ugly face. I could feel sections of my torso being torn to shreds, I reached for my knife as the bear slashed at my blocking arm.

I drove the knife into its jaw, the creature roared in pain and trudged out of the broken lighthouse, but I knew it would soon be back. I was quickly losing blood, I crawled towards my backpack and the rifle which had been tossed beside it. I grasped for the painkillers even though I knew they wouldn't heal injuries of this magnitude, then I reached for the rifle and slowly stood up one last time to face the beast before me. There would be no survivors in this eternal fight between mankind and nature, and it seems, there weren’t, not really. Nature always wins, we can’t control nature forever. We just have to learn from our faults and remember our sins. I guess life as we knew it found a way to survive, and we didn't. Perhaps one-day mankind will go among the stars, and nature will lie in the soil, the air and the seas. But perhaps mankind won’t make it that far, maybe it will be nature taking back what’s rightfully it's own.

The End. “Welcome to the Quiet Apocalypse” - The Long Dark, Hinterland Games

[pointlesspoetryy-blog]

Driving Lessons (fiction)

A fictional story about a teenage girl’s final process of moving on from a tragic event. I wanted to capture the feeling or idea of “driving” away from something, a traumatic event, something you haven’t let go of. 2693 words. It’s a long one. 

Driving Lessons

”My mum and little sister died when I was eleven and I killed... no… I did… please...don’t give me excuses”.

And that’s all I remember from my session today. In fact, that’s all I remember saying all day. I remember Dad taking me to the cafe across the street from the therapist’s and eating a sandwich that was far too chewy to be worth its twelve dollar price tag. Then I remember taking the train home with him and going to my room and staring at my math homework. I think I cried because of the 2010 family picture on my wall, but that could have been yesterday.

I haven’t been in a car since the accident. I’ve been told it was an accident but I still don’t think it was. That’s why I had therapy today. I’ve been fighting with my Dad because I don’t want some idiot with a degree telling me why I killed half my family. He broke down and said he’s so sorry he didn’t help me sooner, for not being there for me. I eventually agreed in the heat of the moment.

Most people think it’s weird that I haven’t been in a car for five years, but it’s not all that hard. If I do something on the weekend it has to be by the train, but usually, I’m just in my room. My room is where it’s safe and I feel safe and I can’t hurt anyone. I’ve been told I have some sort of complex, but then again not many people have caused what I’ve caused. A month ago, I took and passed the computerised driving test, for the hell of it and to make Dad happy. My L plates now sit in my drawer, untouched and hated. Now, all of my friends are starting to drive, being sixteen and all, but I know I could never set foot on a brake, turn a key, start an engine; roll down the windows, blast music, drive my friends home from a party; sing along to a song while I drive, the way my mother would always do, her sweet voice in tune with a cassette tape. When I was six and she’d take me home from dance lessons, she would put in a nursery rhymes CD and we’d yell the lyrics to Humpty Dumpty on the Princes Highway, windows down and wind in my face.

I remember the song that was playing right before the accident. Sometimes I lie awake in the dead of night and the music will crawl into my brain from some deep dark corner and my chest seizes up and I can’t breathe. I hear cars zooming down my neighbourhood from outside my window and I want to stand up and yell at them to stop, to please save themselves, but I am frozen and sweating under my covers. I flashback to the moment, the suspension of air and time and then the crushing sensation of the ground. All I can hear is the CD player scratching and the lyrics breaking over and over and over again as I lie there and eventually the disc machine gives up and the scratchy song stops; and then, silence. The song is so ironic that many times in these panic attacks I’ll burst out laughing- God really does have a sense of humour. “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees.

I got given pills at thirteen, some chemical compacted into a tablet that was supposed to make me forget. I tried to take them but they made me numb, oblivious to the world with a layer of rose glass glazed over everything. It was as if you took your depression and put a barbie bandaid on it. I started flushing the stupid things down the toilet, and the panic attacks came back. It was better than forgetting my mum and little sister ever existed.

It’s Sunday and I wake up at 5 am. This is normal for me, don’t worry. I check my phone and drink some water, and do my usual routine of lying awake for two hours, mind blank. Early morning is the only time I feel okay; I can picture my little sister snoring in the room next to me in her tiny pink barbie bed. I used to jump into it every morning, waking her up and blowing raspberries on her face. She would cling to me as I piggybacked her to the kitchen and made us Weetbix for breakfast. Mum would pad down the stairs in her dressing gown and make tea- she wouldn’t drink coffee because of the baby- and my Dad would follow, letting the dogs in and making everyone pancakes on the days he wasn’t working. Mum would hug us goodbye and take Milly to kindergarten as I walked to the bus stop. Now, my Dad will wake up early and come into my room, every day, probably to check that I’m still alive.

I startle as he knocks on my door at 7 am. My body is tired, a familiar throb that wakes up with me. I pretend to be asleep as Dad sits at the foot of my bed. “B?”. He uses the same tone every morning when he says my nickname, apprehensive and tense. I breathe loudly and can instantly sense his relief. He pats my shoulder.

“I have to tell you something sweetheart”, he says, and I can tell from his voice that it’s not going to be okay.

“Promise me you’ll be okay with this”

“What is it, Dad”

“I… I booked you a driving lesson for this afternoon”

And my whole world goes black.

I wake up again around 9 am and at first, I can’t remember what’s wrong. I climb out of bed and sweep my hair off my forehead, realising I’ve been sweating. I find myself going to my sisters' room; it’s been untouched for five years, a thin layer of grime covering her Barbie dolls and toys. I sit on her bed and it creaks. I often do this, lying under her pink covers and crying. “I miss you, Mills. I’m so sorry. You would have been ten today, baby”.

I pace into the kitchen and sit at the table with my Dad, a full cup of coffee at my seat. Dad looks empty. “It’s…”

“Yeah, it’s Mill’s birthday” I interject. There’s no reason to beat around the bush. I rarely reveal my emotions to people, no-one needs to know how I sit in my sisters' room and cry, or talk to my mum in my sleep. “I thought this would be a good day to move on, Brea. For you to learn how to drive”. There’s a long pause. Dad’s tone is slow and tired. I am silent, but not by choice, but because instead of words I have tears bubbling up. “We just. Need to move on. You have to move on B, this isn’t healthy” he’s saying, but all I am hearing is “forget about their suffering and drive without them”.

“Dad, I can’t. You know that” I choke out. “What if I’m responsible for someone else’s death again? There’s just too much to handle”. Dad lowers his head to the table. His tone is gruff.  “It wasn’t your fault Brea, Jesus Christ. Your lesson is at four o'clock this afternoon, understand? Don’t you see how I suffer too, watching you waste your life and blame yourself for this bloody mess? You were eleven years old, Breanna. It was dumb bad luck”. I am silent.

10 am fades into the afternoon, which melts into 3 pm. I’ve switched between lying in my bed, staring at my math homework, ignoring my friend’s messages. Dad appears at my door. “Breanna, it’s time. Get dressed”. I feel pretty numb, along with knowing there’s no way I’m getting in the instructors' car. “How are we getting there?”, “we’re driving” Dad responds in a muted tone. “Nuh-uh. No way.” I try, tears prickling. “You can sit in the back. It’s happening, Brea” is the response I get, no sympathy, no recognition of my fear. I swallow and sidle into the back seat. Dad’s face softens and his tone changes. “I’ll drive real slowly, the place is only six kilometres away”. I curl up inside my seatbelt, trying to cure the unfamiliar feeling.

My eyes remain shut the entire long trip, although only long because Dad drives slowly. Still, every speed bump, jolt and close-passing car makes me panic. At some point, I press my hand up to the window, a light rain misting the view. I didn’t want to look outside anyway.

All of a sudden I am standing outside the instructors' car, his face frowning back at me. Rain tickles my scalp, and I can’t tell if the wetness on my cheeks is rain or tears.

“I’ll be in the back seat, B. You got this” I hear Dad say, distantly. The instructor stands in front of me. “As this is your first time driving, we will only be driving around one street. However, I will first teach you the basics of the clutch and wheel etc…”

His voice fades into the air for me. I want to run away, but there are cars that will chase me: in other words, I’m trapped.

It’s time for me to enter the car. I’m almost dissociating from reality but there is nothing I can do. The instructor shows me how to use the clutch and pedal, but his words are bullshit to me. He places a key in my trembling hands, expecting me to know what to do with it. “Is she okay?” the guy is asking my Dad, his words sounding distant and echoey in my drumming brain. “She’s fine… just experiencing some drivers anxiety…” I bite my lip so hard that I feel the capillaries burst; I can hear them pop… not normal… focus. I turn the key and the engine starts, abruptly. And I am plunged into somewhere else.

It is February 2013, a warm day in Sydney. My little sister and I play fight and wrestle as we make our way through the parking lot. Mum tells us to cut it out, and cut it out quick! But she is laughing. Sugar from my popsicle lingers on my lips, sticky in the sun. Milly has her arms wrapped around my waist and I’m forced to drag her, groaning and panting, I lock my fingers into hers and twist them back. “OWWWW” she exclaims and starts to cry. “No! SHH, Mills! No crying allowed on your birthday!” I yell-whisper, cautious of  Mum in the near distance, knowing I’ll get in trouble for making Milly cry. I pick her up and carry her as I walk. “Stupid face!” I grin, and she grins back. Sugar has gotten to her head and she wriggles out of my arms and runs across the parking lot. “Mills, come back!” I yell at her, knowing I’m partly responsible for her safety. Mum gets her. I smile. Luna Park was just what Milly needs on her fifth birthday, and it was kinda fun too, even when I’m as old as eleven.

“Push over, loser” I playfully shove Mills off my favourite back seat. “Honey, you sit in the front today” My mum smiles behind her Ray Bans. Her lipstick is cherry coloured and teeth straight and white, eyes so kind as they peer over the top of her glasses. I scowl as I climb into the front, wondering why I didn’t get the good genes. Milly has the same kind eyes; I know she’ll be beautiful by my age. Oh! “Milllllls, it’s time for your birthday present!” I grin and look behind me at her excitement. I throw back my handmade paper card with a stick figure drawing and a stuffed animal full of candy. Mum scowls lightly and starts the car, the sudden sound of the engine abrupt. We roll out of the parking lot into Sydney traffic. Mum lets me choose the CD for the car trip, Mills doesn’t seem too fussed, even though I know she’d like some Britney Spears; I hate Britney Spears. I choose an Old Hits CD and ignore Milly’s protests.

It’s been about half an hour and we’re on a busy-looking highway. Mum’s letting me go on her phone and Milly’s fast asleep in the back, sugar crash no doubt. “I can’t wait ‘til Mill is older and I’m super old like twenty-three and we can be adults together” I happily tell Mum as she pretends to listen; I notice but I keep rambling anyway. “Will we still go to Luna Park when we’re older? Mums?”

“Sorry, darling, I’m a bit tired… love, just let me focus”. I always forget that Mum’s pregnant, because her bump is still small, but she somehow already knows it’s gonna be a boy. Science is cool. I heard Mum and Dad talking about names just last night, it’s gonna be Jamie or Sam or most likely Tye. I think Tye sounds stupid, like the hair tie on my wrist.

My favourite song from the CD comes on- “Stayin Alive” by the Bee Gees. Anticipation lulls away and I rest my head on the windowsill.

I hear Milly wake up before I see her because she stops her annoying snoring, finally. “Where’s my stuffy!” she whines, rubbing her eyes.

“Are we nearly there, Mummy?”

“Not yet baby”

“Where’s my stuffy? I want candy” “I don’t know love, go back to sleep”

Out the corner of my eye, I see Milly reach for my present, having rolled to the opposite side of the back seat, under Mum’s. “Can’t… reach..” she mutters; I’m singing along to the chorus of Stayin Alive. Mum quietly curses at a car as it overtakes her. “Reckless people” she mutters. “Mum, you okay,” I ask. “Yes darling, can you check on your sister?”

The barely audible click of a seatbelt unfastening reaches my ears. “Mills… Mills! Get back!” I whisper.

“My stuffyyyy”, Milly is crawling to the other side of the backseat. Mum sees her in the rearview mirror. “Milly...Camilla!”

Mills has gotten herself wedged in between the back seat and the front seat, reaching for her stuffed toy. I roll my eyes. “You’re gonna get in trou-ble” I tease. “Don’t you unclip your belt, Brea”, Mum warns me sternly. “Milly darling please, get back to your seat, I can’t pull over here”, a worried expression on Mum’s face, hand on her bumpy stomach. Milly rustles her stuffed animal free from under the front seat and prepares to climb back up. I lay my head back on the windowsill. I hear a scream.

“SPIDER!”

Mum jerks her head around to the back in a startle. She knocks the steering wheel with her left elbow as I watch in confusement. In the lane beside us, approaches a truck.

It only takes a split second.

Passengers in the backseat are 46 percent more likely to die in a car crash than front seat passengers and drivers.

For some reason, this processed Wikipedia sentence repeats over and over in my head as I sit at the driver’s seat, fingers on the turned, rumbling engine, standstill; back to reality. Two pairs of eyes watch me in concernment as I shake, breathing, in, out, in.

“Um.. so… you have to push your foot on the pedal and…” The instructor.

I’m not listening.

I’m crying, and I look to Dad for comfort, but he’s not there. Instead, it’s young Mills and Mum and her baby bump. “Hey guys” I smile. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I gave Milly her present in the car… I should have waited like you told me too, Mum”. I silently cry, hoping the instructor can’t see. “I should have let us have the life you deserve, with me and Mill and Tye”; Mum and Mill smile sadly at me. “Happy birthday Milly baby” I whisper. “What do you want for your birthday? You can have anything”.

“I want you to drive me home, big sis”.

So I do.

[onesmallspark]

Welcome to my new fic - For You

I still haven't decided if this will be a T’Challa fic or an Erik “Killmonger” Stevens fic, but it is slightly AU. It is my first Marvel Universe fic, so please be gentle. This will get smutty af. Let me know if you enjoy!

Chapter 1

Ava Yates was in over her head. This isn’t at all where she saw an internship taking her and she was without a doubt, 100 percent in over her head. 

Ava had spent the past year - and the last year of her graduate assistant internship - working at the newly established Wakandan Outreach Center in Oakland. There, she was on staff as a photographer, hired by the Wakandan council to document the progress the outreach center was making in its first year of service to the surrounding community.

Images she captured lined the walls of the three initial buildings, were used in promotional news material and lived on social media sites that were run by other graduate assistants to show what incredible work the Wakandan agency was doing.

In her time, she had taken a particular shining to Shuri, another girl she met during her internship. It was months before Ava realized just how instrumental the young girl was to the entire operation – nevermind the fact that she was a Princess. It was actually one of the things that Shuri loved most about Ava, she treated her just like anyone else.

That, and Shuri had plans for her friend Ava who she had come to love dearly. Big, important plans.

- - -

 Parking her little Volkswagen Jetta, Ava slung her camera bag over her shoulder and pulled the sunglasses from her face as she walked toward the entrance to the main campus building of the Wakandan Outreach Center. Looking up, she saw a large group of kids and adults playing basketball on the refurbished court just to the right of the entryway. Shuri was standing off to the side watching, occasionally filming with her kimoyo bead.

“Watch this?” Ava asked, dropping her purse at Shuri’s feet before pulling her camera out and hopping into action. Some of the kids she recognized, they were regulars at the center and came for after school activities and on the weekends. She assumed that they didn’t have much to go home to – if anything at all.

She didn’t, however, recognize any of the adults at first. Risking life and limb, at least in her mind, she posted up under the basket, kneeled on the sidelines and got just close enough to capture some great content 

“Can you tell me who everyone is?” She asked, pulling out her phone. Shuri was always a help to identify any visitors to the center for captions. Shuri listed off names, left and right for Ava, watching as she typed them into what she insisted was her primitive iPhone. Ava just loved remembering the day that Shuri had to get an iPhone in order to best communicate with the rest of the staff.

“Erik, E-R-I-K,” Ava looked up to see one of the players standing incredibly close, watching as she typed the names into her phone.

“And last name?” She asked. Erik glanced to his cousin, who harbored a smug smile. 

“Stevens… with a ‘v,’” he added.

“Got it, thanks!” She said, picking up her bag at Shuri’s feet, her camera with attached lens still hanging around her neck and hoofing it back to the building. The sooner she could get these uploaded the better – she always liked her photos to be timely and that way, the social media staff could put them up as soon as possible, too.

Uploading and labeling the photos didn’t take long, but she took a moment to edit them for best possible light exposure and shadows.

Growing up, Ava wanted to be a journalist – breaking news and sharing information with the world and doing good. Then, as she got older, and her mother gifted her with her first Polaroid camera, she learned that she could do a lot of good through the medium of photographs. She liked to take pictures of her brother’s baseball games, her father hard at work as an architect, and her mother, who ran a small daycare out of their home.  She was a mother to many children in their neighborhood.

She now clung to some of those photos as a lifeline, they were the closest things she had to her family after a car crash on Pacific Coast Highway claimed the lives of the nearly all of the Yates family.

Ava missed the accident, staying at home to sleep off a cold while her family traveled out of town for one of her big brother’s baseball games.

She hoped after undergrad at Berkley to get an internship in a newsroom or with a paper, taking photos. When she delayed joining what her friends teased as the “real world,” by pursuing her master’s degree, she was required to take a practicum and somehow, through a photo essay and presentation, secured her internship at the WKOC.

Ava knew she was lucky – beyond lucky – to end up where she did, but now, after finally finishing the last credits of her Master’s, her internship was coming to an end and she was officially job hunting.

Twenty minutes after sending the photos from today’s pickup game to social, she began archiving, selecting a few that she thought would look good projected on the walls of the center’s indoor gym.

“Are you done yet?” Shuri asked, sitting on the side of Ava’s small desk, nearly knocking a picture frame off of the structure.

“I just got here,” Ava laughed at her young friend. Some days it was easy to forget that Shuri was only seventeen – nearly eighteen. Other days, it was glaringly obvious.

“But I don’t want to work today,” Shuri whined, “I want to go shopping, my Mother is visiting next week and she’s going to kill me if I don’t wear something a little more… well, less this,” she motioned down to her distressed Metallica band t-shirt she had dressed up with some silver jewelry.

“You have more clothes than anyone knows what to do with,” Ava said, not tearing her eyes off her screen. “Plus, I’ve got to run and meet with an advisor to sign up for health insurance at two,” she sighed. “Don’t grow up, it’s a trap.”

“I don’t understand why Americans have to pay for health care,” Shuri sighed, “no one benefits from that,” she pointed out.

“Sure they do, babe, just not us peons,” Ava winked. Shuri rolled her eyes.

“My brothers are going to take us to lunch today,” She said casually. Ava paused her scroll through her inbox.

“I can’t, I’ve got lunch plans,” Ava replied, picking up her phone.

“Yeah, with me,” Shuri insisted.

“I swear, I had something else…” Ava scrolled through her phone.

“I told you to mark off a meeting weeks ago, it’s for me,” Shuri grinned. “And do you think we can do something with this before then?” She asked, fluffing up a bit of Ava’s brunette hair over her shoulder.

“Why would I need to do that?” Ava asked, eyeing up her little companion.

“We have a surprise for you,” Shuri said excitedly. 

“Oh no,” Ava frowned. Shuri could be incredibly generous and incredibly giving – to the point of discomfort, but Ava couldn’t dampen her spirit.

“It’s a very good surprise, I promise,” Shuri tugged a little bit on Ava’s hair.

“Okay, let me get some work done and I’ll be ready for lunch,” Ava insisted. Shuri rolled her eyes dramatically, but agreed to it nonetheless.

Ava had never met King T’Challa, and she didn’t know that Shuri even had another brother… but she was never one to meddle in royal business. Except, that is, to stay up late into the night and watch Prince William and Kate’s wedding.

Sure, she had seen photos of King T’Challa, his mother and other members of the Royal Guard from their portraits, but that covered the extent of her exposure. Though the family had made visits to the WKOC, she wasn’t there all the time thanks to the last few classes she had taken this semester. Soon, she wasn’t going to be there at all, which made her heart heavy.

Over the past year, she had come to think of the WKOC as a second home – somewhere she often spent more time than her actual home. To be able to be a part of the organization in it’s first year of operation made her feel like part of something great and wonderful. Walking away next month after graduation was going to be incredibly hard. Well, that and not having a job yet.

The first three hours of the day went by quickly. On Thursdays, Ava got to spend the entire day at the WKOC thanks to most of her classes being Monday through Wednesday and a morning class on Friday.

Thursdays were also a big catch-up day and she often found herself working over the weekend to make it a little less overwhelming. Soon, Shuri was back at her desk, a wide smile on her face as her feet swung over the floor.

“Hello, are you hungry?” Shuri asked.

“Starved,” Ava replied honestly. “Let me run to the bathroom quick and then I’ll be ready to go,” she said, hopping up form her seat.

“I’ll be out front,” Shuri called as Ava stepped toward the restroom. Quickly relieving herself and washing her hands, she grabbed brush out of her purse and ran it through her hair, fixing her side part. Sure, her hair was a little limp, but it had certainly been worse. She grabbed her trusty drugstore lipstick from her purse, touching up the deep red before checking her teeth. She was always finding little lipstick spots on her pearly-whites that drove her nuts.

Glancing over her outfit, she knew she was a hopeless case for lunch with royalty.  Skinny blue denim and a white v-neck under a pink button-down wasn’t the worst she’d ever thrown together for work, but it certainly wasn’t the best. At least Shuri wasn’t too dressed up or she’d really feel like a shlub.

“As good as it gets,” She sighed, popping in a breath mint.

With no sign of Shuri at her desk, she turned back toward the entrance, spotting Shuri and two other forms on the other side of the glass doors.

“Here she is,” Shuri smiled. Ava always found Shuri’s smile reassuring.

“I’m here,” Ava grinned.

“Brother, this is Ava, my favorite person in all of Oakland,” Shuri introduced. Ava turned to face King T’Challa.

“It’s very nice to meet you, your Highness,” Ava smiled connecting her hand with hi own.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he greeted, “please, call me T’Challa,” he insisted. “Shuri never stops talking about you,” he added, making Ava laugh.

“Ava, this is my other brother, but you’ve met,” Shuri teased, introducing the man she somewhat met earlier at the basketball court.

“Erik,” the man in question reminded as he noticed her drawing a blank.

“Nice to meet you, Erik,” Ava greeted.

“Okay, okay, let’s go I am going to whither away I am so hungry,” Shuri insisted dramatically. As soon as she finished her statement, a slick black town car rolled to a stop in front of them.

“I’ll meet you there,” Erik called, walking over to a vintage Indian motorcycle parked near the side of the second building.

“Ladies, please,” T’Challa opened the back door for the two women.

Shuri crawled into the car first, leaving the next seat for Ava as T’Challa sat up front.

The ride to Wood Tavern wasn’t long and unbeknownst to Ava, the King in the front seat found his eyes drifting to her in the rearview mirror as she spoke gently with Shuri. It was incredibly obvious to T’Challa that his baby sister thought the world of this woman. He could admit that he, too, was rather curious about her. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but a few of the things Shuri had mentioned had him curious as well. It seemed she had no family, was just finishing school and was living just outside of Oakland near Berkley.

He trusted Shuri more than anything else and knew that he was going to be making the right choice today.

That, and he wondered what those red lips would look like mussed from his kiss.

Arriving at Wood Tavern just behind the town car, they heard the Indian motorcycle come to a stop beside the town car.

“Ah, ah,” Erik said, opening the door to the restaurant, “ladies don’t touch doorknobs,” he winked, pulling it open for Ava. She smiled softly and filed in, the staff immediately taking note of the patrons and ushering them quickly to a private room.

Squared away at a grandiose table already lined with charcuterie and wine glasses, the foursome took their seats.

“I told my brothers this is your favorite restaurant,” Shuri smiled. She had an overeager puppy quality to hear that Ava always found endearing.

“They have the best pork chops,” Ava grinned. They fell into a comfortable conversation, mostly led by Shuri, who seemed at peace between her two brothers. Ava noted the differences between T’Challa and Erik. They could be related, she figured, but they didn’t share many of the same features. T’Challa spoke with a thick, regal accent and Erik sounded like any other guy she’d meet in Oakland. There was certainly a story to the family. She was glad to have a big plate of food set in front of her not too long after placing their orders.

“Ava, my baby sister tells me you’re graduating from Berkley in a month’s time,” T’Challa called to her attention as their meals wound down.

“That’s right, I’ll finish with my Master’s in fine arts with a concentration in photography communication and archival,” she nodded.

“Photography communication,” Erik parroted, taking a drink of his gin and tonic.

“Yes,” Ava nodded, “using photography as a mode for storytelling and the capture of transient information,” she suggested. “I think in the same way that early man painted on walls, we can communicate information from generation to generation through photography,” she explained. “It’s actually a minor part of my thesis,” she offered.

“I’d take a look at that,” Erik said, studying the exact shape of her bowed lips as they pursed around the rim of her water glass.

“And the end of the month signals the end of your time at our outreach center,” T’Challa commanded her attention once again, though, T’Challa’s presence always commanded an awareness.

“Yes, that’s correct,” Ava agreed again. “I’m so sad to finish, I love working here so much,” she said with utmost sincerity, “I feel so lucky to be able to tell the story of the people who benefit from your presence in our country – and more specifically, in Oakland.” Erik eyed her carefully. “Though I was fortunate enough to live in a safe, well-maintained neighborhood as a child, not all of my friends did. I know I was much more fortunate than others, but Oakland is my home,” she continued. “To see the strides that have been made in this community in just one short year have been… refreshing. I know that Oakland is better off now than it was a year ago thanks to Wakanda.” She expressed.

“Shuri has shared with us many of your images,” T’Challa began, “some of which hang in the halls of the Wakandan capitol.” That was news to Ava, and momentarily, took her breath away.

“I-in Wakanda?” She asked, eyes as wide as saucers.

“You know what you’re doing,” Erik complimented.

“Wow, I never… I didn’t realize that my photos would be in – would be there,” she nearly lost her composure entirely.

“As we bring more and more people into our country and become a larger part of the world around us… we need someone to help tell our story – in Wakanda,” T’Challa explained, to which Ava nodded, taking another sip of her water.

“We are hoping that it is an undertaking you are willing to attempt,” he added. Ava nodded again setting her water down. A beat passed as Shuri nudged her friend with her foot under the table. Ava jumped a foot in her seat.

“Wait, I’m so sorry, I just – what?” She gasped, “You want me to stay?” She asked.

“No, Ava!” Shuri laughed.

“We want you in Wakanda,” Erik’s deep voice interjected. “Telling the story of our people,” he explained. She looked over at Erik, who was cool and collected in his seat, leaning back as he examined her. T’Challa was alert, and while still cool and collected, more engaged physically in the conversation.

“You want me to come to Wakanda?” She asked, completely gob smacked.

“Your role would be official staff photographer of the Royal family,” T’Challa explained. Ava was still speechless.

“Move to Wakanda?” She resembled a baby owl, her innocent face and big eyes unblinking.

“Yes!” Shuri exclaimed, “We want you to come to Wakanda and work with us! Are you going to do it or not?” She asked impatiently 

“Shuri,” T’Challa scolded.

“I, wow, this is…” She didn’t think she’d completed an entire sentence since they sat down. Even just being here at lunch with the King of Wakanda and his siblings was hard enough to wrap her head around, but now, a job offer. Could she move to Wakanda? She wouldn’t know a soul there… where would she live? Would she be paid a fair wage? How secure was the need for the role? Would she just be looking for a job again in a year?

It was the opportunity of a lifetime… and she’d be crazy to turn it down.

“I’ll do it.”

[joylessholland]

Princess In Me (Part One)

TOMHOLLANDXREADER (ROYAL)

(1,362 words)

Warnings: I don’t think there are any

A/N: Yes this is basically the movie Princess Diaries but with Tom, we all know we want this so just read it. No, in all seriousness I LOVE the movies to death and I decided to make a little royal romance story like them. We all know the queen is Julie Andrews and we all know the country is Genovia. I even bolded movie quotes!

Masterlist  Request  Christmas Prompts (i haven't gotten any asks for this so I might not do it lol)  BIG thanks to moodboard queen @kingquackdaddy !

Swirling your tea in the mugs you stare out the window of the loft. The day was damp and dreary as rain pattered against the roof. Breathing on the glass it fogs, drawing a smile on the glass you here the front door slam closed “Pizza” your mother yells from downstairs. Jumping from the window sill you land with a boom, peeling on a pair of paint-splattered overalls you skip downstairs.

In the kitchen soaking wet was your mother holding a large box in her hands “Hungry” she asked flipping her wet hair. “Starved” you huff opening the box, sausage and pineapple your favorite, kissing your cheek she places two plates down in front of you “How was your day dear,” she asks biting the tip of her first slice “Test in English, aced it. My gym teacher won’t get off my ass though” you snicker plopping down on the couch “How about you?” you ask running your hand through the couch cushions looking for the remote, when you find it you raise it to the TV your mother snatches it from your grasp “I have something to tell you, so just hear me out” sitting up your eyes go wide “Did you crash my… the car?” she smiles “No the car is fine, you’re still getting it when you turn eighteen and you can buy it.” She emphasized the last part “One more week and three hundred more bucks. Baby” you smile. Shaking her head, she pats your leg “Ok serious faces.” Dropping your smile, you make a very serious face “I got a call today and…your cousin was in an accident.” She smiles sadly

 “Kenny? Mary? Blake?” saying no to each she puts her finger to your lips “Other side of the family.” She smiles “I don’t…Greyson?” you scrunch your face as she nods slowly “He passed last night” sighing you shake your head “So what do we have to fly to London for the funeral?” you ask biting your pizza “Your cousin Greyson was the only child of your father’s sister. The last heir to the throne [N/O/C].” swallowing your half-chewed pizza you hang your mouth open “This…I. We don’t. What does this mean?” you ask after a long silence “If he was the heir that means…” She starts “I’m really the last heir” your breath quickens and your heart races. Running your hands through your hair you hyperventilate. “I can’t be a princess, you know I, like most kids wanted a car for my birthday, not a COUNTRY” you shout storming to your room.

Could you really be a princess? No, don’t be silly. You could barely keep a job at Walmart, you could never run a whole country. If they thought that you would participate in this little, act. They were crazy. A faint knock on your door ripped you from your thoughts, “What” you murmur from your spot perched on a high window sill. “Someone wants to talk to you,” your mother said holding up her tablet.

“Charlette how do I? oh there you are. Hello [Y/N] darling.” A cheery female voice chimes as your grandmother’s face flashes on screen “Grandma, I suppose you’re going to try to talk me into becoming a princess?” you mumble “Look [Y/N] I know you didn’t want this life, trust me your parents and I never wanted this for you. But with your father and your cousin now going. If you don’t do this [N/O/C] may cease to exist as we know it” “Look” you jump down into a crouched position before standing earning a sigh from you’re the Queen “I’m late for my beauty sleep.” You stare at the screen “I’m late for a meeting with Spain and Portugal” she scoffs “Well, let’s say this [Y/N] and I will fly out to [N/O/C] in two days and we will talk in person, we best not keep Spain and Portugal waiting. Does that work for you all” you mother chimes in. Giving a shrug, you nod slowly, over the screen Queen Clarisse agrees before saying goodbye.” Kissing your cheek your mother leaves the room, flopping onto the bed you groan into the pillow.

As the plane touched down it all felt so real for the first time, what would happen in the next few hours would change your entire life! It was your first time on a private jet and you were fascinated by all the little buttons and knobs. The bodyguard you were assigned hated you by the end of the six-hour flight, it gave you a small once of joy knowing that he was miserable because so were you. A black stretch limo was parked right on the runway, stepping from the plane you are greeted by a man in a black suit “My name is Joseph, I’ll be taking you to the palace.” He says opening the door for you he nods “Princess” as you step in. As the long car barrels down the highway, the partition opens “Her Majesty has requested you wear that to your meeting.” Groaning your mother looks at you from the front seat “Honey please, joe is just trying to do his job” sighing you close the partition and unzip the dress bag.

Grabbing Joe’s gloved hand, you step from the car, your freshly brushed curls blow in the wind, sweeping it out of your face you look down at yourself. The blue dress was beautiful and fit you like a glove, the heels were way too much but made you feel pretty, you weren’t the girl to wear stuff like this but when it came to it you could. The dress, the heels, the limo, and jet were clearly your grandmother trying to impress you. You hated yourself for it but it was kind of working. Stepping through the front doors of the palace made your heart soar, you’d been there once before when you were very young but the memories were just as strong. You remembered running through the gardens with your mother and father, you remembered trying on your grandmother’s clothes in her master closet, you thought back to the time you played hide and seek with the maids in the kitchen. Light graceful heel clicks pull you from your bliss as you meet the kind eyes of your grandmother, “[Y/N] you look, stunning” she says hugging you. “Thanks, grandma” turning to your mother she grabs her hand hugging her tight. “Tea is served” a woman in a purple skirt suit chimed.

“You don’t have to push anymore, I’ve made my decision.” Placing her tea back on the sauces Queens Clarisse grins brightly. The doors swinging open interrupts your reply “I am so sorry, your majesty” a male voice sings from the doorway “Oh, Tom please come here” she says waving the man over, “I want you to meet my granddaughter, [Y/N]” looking up from your tea you lock eyes with a gorgeous young man wearing black trousers and a light blue shirt, fumbling with his words he finally sticks out his hand. “I’m Thomas, prince… of somewhere” he laughs getting lost in your eyes. Standing you carefully grab his hand “[Y/N] princess of [N/O/C]” you coo staring at his sharp jaw, deep chocolate eyes, and thin pink lips. “Does that mean I have an answer” Queen Clarisse chimes pressing her hands together snapping you out of your trance “Yes, I accept your offer” Tom watches as you talk smiling at your words.

As Tom leaves the room you steal one last glance at the same time he looks back at you. Blushing you pick up your tea not noticing the look Your mother and grandma exchange at your actions. “I have one condition.” You say your voice strong “Yes, we can bring the car” you mother laughs making you squeal in joy “Ok so where do we start” “Two days, at a very important dinner party, I’m very glad I can introduce you as the next princess of [N/O/C]” she smiles. Thinking f Tom your heart soars, most girls dreamed of meeting a prince just a minute ago you were face to face with one.

Here are some beautiful KITTENS: @midtownvaledictorian@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked@tiemeupspidey @captain-katie-xx@panicatttckiss@champagneholland@seilamigliorcosacheabbiamaivisto@mendes-holland @maggie-starz @natalie-kn@vaeyron@wonderyoung @ging3r-fall@louisnholland@little-weirdo-13@calumminter@sunshiineandmoonliight@tomhstories@rosieeemma @societalreject @bibs-fortuna@antisocialoutcast12@jadabelle @las-civus@oceantostars@tiemeupspidey @dr-tardis-who@hazelgracewatersaugustus@jessica-moon9@sophietanda @yasstoeverygirloutthere@beccaaahh5711@emptyy-skyy@parkeretmj@clairesrainbow@fangirltopic@marveltomjunkie  @kingquackdaddy

[mabonmoons]

MEMORIES OF HEAVEN

From afar, his love could never reach her.

A beautiful angel could never belong to a serpentine man like himself. Her smile alone vanished all traces of his darkness, able to merely erase so many years he'd spent miserable when he was young, embellished by nothing but poverty.

Clearly, he was far from being prince charming. Her real prince was a playboy CEO who lost his way the day the accident happened. The day his sister raced to him, blood all over the expensive fabric of her exquisite clothing, her pearl necklace bloodied with the vermillion essence of the one thing that'd kept him sane throughout this entire time. That was the day that her real happiness was taken from her, and she didn't even realize it because those memories had been taken away in the accident.

That was the day, alongside his selfish sister and mother, that he wanted nothing more than to make the poor girl who'd been tormented by her stepsister and stepmother happy. But happiness he wanted to give her himself. To make her smile day in and day out because he did something to place the jewel of happiness inside of her gentle heart. But she wasn't the only one who was suffering without realizing it, so was the man she was really meant for.

He never considered that she could wake up from the depths of amnesia and begin to remember everything he prayed she never would. He knew from the very start that she did not belong to him, but was it truly a sin to long for something so sweet? For someone who entered his life unexpectedly, showing him the first symptom of what affection was, and making him fall sick with the illness that was loving someone.

Loving someone came in so many forms, it was described as beautiful, sometimes it was even likened to falling ─ but in reality, it was just like a sickness when you were in love with someone who just didn't belong to you. These feelings no matter how many times he scrubbed his skin with hot water and soap in the shower, never left him, instead, they engraved even deeper for her.

But he longed for her happiness and nothing but that. Enough to let her go despite it feeling like he was ripping away his own heart to give it to the other man who was the one her own heart truly belonged to.

"If she needs an eye donor, that's not a problem─"

"Yes, but you see," the doctor hesitantly began, "the donor . . . or rather, the eyes must be from someone who is deceased."

"Today," he exhaled as he walked down the street, speaking to no one but himself. "Today, the sky is so clear." He whispered, gazing into the beautiful blue of the sky that loomed over him. Not a single cloud was in sight. From the highest building, this would have been a sight to see. "You'll be able to see it soon." He smiled ruefully as he stopped just outside of the mall, gazing toward the mall where he knew the woman he loved was.

"And I'll become a blue sky and watch over you."

Just one last time, he promised himself he would see her from afar. He had already returned her to the place where she genuinely belonged, returning her both the glass slipper and her true prince. The day she'd married was a bittersweet day where the forthcoming warnings he'd given his sister to return everything to the woman he loved, had toppled over her head, crashing down around her, and pooling on the floor like blood around her feet.

At last, the coworkers of the shopping mall had realized that the fiance that was to marry the CEO wasn't really the woman they thought they knew. The elegant, well-spoken, and highly intelligent woman of society who was up to par with her actress mother was all just a facade, something that layered so smoothly over their own hideous faces that it was hard to even tell apart which face was their real one.

Their actions were almost enough to fully erase the beautiful bride who was getting married, however, the woman he loved shone like an angel from the heavens. With a thin tiara made of silver flowers upon her ebony hair that was tied back into a bun, her head and shoulders framed by the white veil, and a dress so ethereal that it made her glow, he envied the groom. Wishing nothing more that he could be in his shoes, marrying a literal beam of light on this earth.

But he had done his job, and now, he was finally closing a chapter. As he watched her from afar, although she could not see him because she had lost most of her vision, she was stunning. With a smile on her lips, he knew that this was the right choice. This was the final thing he could do for her. He shifted his gaze over to the post-office that was down the street, inside the building, among many envelopes and boxes, was his letter, a false story inside, claiming his time in France was a beautiful one, and that he wasn't sure if he could write anymore as he was busy living a wonderful life alongside a faux lover.

His mind was made up.

When evening fell over the Seoul skyline, the black vehicle that held so many memories inside, memories of her smile, the way her eyes curved like little crescent moons, or how hearty her laugh sounded when they were successful in the small business they owned, all of them ghosted around him. Times from their youth, the night she made him seaweed soup for his birthday, a day that no one had ever before cared about.

All the times he courted her, asking her if she liked him or if she didn't, her shy gazes uncertain of whether she wanted to truly break away from her first real love to be involved with a man who wasn't as dazzling as the one whose love had garnered over time. With one hand on the steering wheel, the other holding on tightly to the first gift she ever made him with her loving, soft hands ─ the nightly, highway blurred before him as his foot pressed even harder on the gas.

This was the final thing he would ever do for her, for the sake of her happiness.

And in a way, it helped him. She was always so far away, no matter if they were sitting side by side, he could never truly reach her because he knew she simply didn't belong to him. It was wrong, he'd always known it was wrong ─ but all he had ever wanted to be was by her side.

She was like heaven to him, making him happy. A miserable man like himself for once in his life was no longer lonely because of her, her undefeatable light resonated into his darkness. But she, that beautiful woman, was just a sad dream he knew he would never wake up from.

"This is it, Jungsuh," he whispered, placing the entire weight of his foot on the gas, and letting the steering wheel go so that he could protect the eyes, the ones he had that she would need.

"Be happy."

[cyber-d0g]

Why are we so shit at risk management?

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 160,909 deaths in Australia in 2017. Of these, 18,590 deaths resulted from Ischaemic heart disease, 1,318  were caused by land transport accidents; only 3 deaths were due to terrorism. So why the hell are we more willing to devote our resources towards preventing low probability events such as terrorist attacks, compared to events that are significantly more likely to occur?

Richard made quite a good comment about humans being generally bad at assessing the dangers of low probability risks. He’s pretty spot on. Unfortunately there exists a zero-risk bias - the tendency to try and completely eliminate one specific risk despite there being more beneficial alternative risk management options. In other words, we prefer a complete reduction in the risk of dying in a terrorist attack rather than a partial reduction in something more probable (e.g. a car accident).

I myself am guilty of sharing this biased mindset; if I were given the option yesterday to lessen the risk of a possible terrorist attack occurring versus lessening the risk of a car accident occurring on Princes Highway near where I live, I would truthfully lean towards the first option (although traffic on the way to uni would be a bitch). It can be agreed upon that the media does play a significant role in shaping our perceptions of risks. Due to the extreme and widescale global disruption caused by high-impact low-probability events (HILP), the extensive coverage by the media as well as the public pressure on government and political institutions to take action, instil a sense of urgency within communities to sacrifice extensive aid and resources towards the prevention of similar events from occurring in the future.

The aftermath of the recent Notre-Dame fire saw donations of over €1 billion being raised for the Cathedral's restoration project (a heckin large amount of money, oh boy), sparking global outrage due to the immensity of resources being invested in this one project. Now this may not be an example of trying to prevent a high-impact risk, but it demonstrates societal tendency to invest excessive time and effort towards one particular event/risk if it poses a risk to our values or sentiments. But this isn’t what we should be doing.

Humans do anything they can to prevent one event that poses a threat of wiping out a significant number of us, rather than working to prevent multiple more probable events that will only effect smaller groups of people (which in the long run will still add up to the deaths of a significant number of us). Sure there is always the global catastrophic risk of an event occurring that may possibly lead to our extinction, but how likely is it that an asteroid will hit the earth and wipe us out tomorrow? I think Richard's lecture today really put my mind into perspective and made me see just how shit we are at allocating resources to manage risks.