#seriously it's funny how I hit my mid 20s and my body started to complain

[inverse-problem]

physiotherapy stretches are taking up so much of my day rn I hope this shit is worth it

[lockdownuk]

Lockdown Diary Part 3

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 61: Writing this in the afternoon on day 62. An exercise driven day. Two walks and stair climb as usual plus I popped round Jeff’s early evening. First time I’ve been to his house, 1 Garden Row, Elmington. It’s further than I thought so, with walking there an back, I managed a daily total of 14km. It was good to see him and have a social (but social-distanced) beer. When I got home, @9:45pm, I made thai green chicken curry, watch The Report (a great, if worrying film) and then TikTok-ed until gone 5am!

Day 62: Typing this on day 64! Beer round Karen’s. Missed Sam’s quiz.

Day 63: Typing this on day 64! Beer round Karen’s. Again! Well, it is bank holiday Monday! Had dirty pizza for tea and watched The Heat. Again! It is the most piss funny film.

Day 64: Well, I have been feeling guilty about treatung the bank holiday w/e l;ike a bank holiday w/e. It’s dawned on me that that guilt is way too self-disiciplned. I got up about midday, usual two walks and stair climb but that’s it. I need to clean the house from top to bottom, get on top of my online courses, get the garden done, get the car fixed, go shopping…fucking hell - if only I had the time…

Day 65: Today I swapped Amazon prime free trial for about the 5th time in my life. Same card and address - will they get wind of my skullduggery. This is all so I can finish watching Hunters and catch Homecoming S2. I went shopping at Asda near Raunds. I wish I hadn’t, it’s no good for a comprehensive shop. Received an email from RCI inviting me to a Zoom meeting with Pal Mulcahy for a business update. I fear the worst. And it’s at 10:00am, FFS!

Day 66: Logged in an attended zoom forum with Paul Mulcahy and over 250 RCI staff this morning. The message was that there is going to be redundancies. I expected this and expected to fall victim. All staff that are going to be put through cionsultation would be contacted today. I however wasn’t! Very, very surpised. meanwhile, Nick Reilly asked to connect via LinkedIn (including become a LinkedIn staff team member -  that’s new to me so I’ll see what it is but I accepted the invitation) Later, I WhatsApp-ed him and asked who has been affected from IT. All he could tell me was no one on Jon Rodger’s team is under threat. Also, Mark C emailed - I’ll respond tomorrow. I got up at 09:00ish and had my mornming walk before the 10:00am meeting. I am now, at 09:30pm, fucking knackered. Dinner and then bed, methinks but not before one more episdoe of Hunters!

Day 67: Typing on Day 68. Got pretty drunk last night. I’ve got blisters from walking (new boots) so I don’t think I’ll walk tomorrow (well, today!).

Day 68: I did fuck all today. Got up after 1pm, no walking. I did manage to clean the bathroom (and smash my little mirror) and do my 26 stair climb. I am typing at 9pm and I feel whacked!

Day 69: I have an abscess. It’s not too painful (today) but I am going to call the dentist tomorrow (Monday). I think antibiotics are in order. I watched a film, which I actually started yesterday, called The Voices starring Ryan Reynolds, Gemma Arteton and Anna Kendrick. Fuuuuuuuuuuuucking weird. The closing credits are the most bizarre, in context, I’ve ever seen. But, in general, a very good film. Back to normal exercise regime today plus hovered the hall and stairs. Get me. It’ll be interetingh to see my Google Fit figures for May tomorrow.

Day 70: Contacted the dentist who advised salt water rinsing and ibuprofen. But, tbf, it’s a lot better today and the swelling has gone right down. The dentist I called was the Oundle House (Rodericks) one. I was not hopeful since last time I saw them they referred me to their Northampton clinic for root canal work which was quoted at over £600. However, the dentist was very nice, had my x-ray to hand from that last visit and seemed more interested in making sure I’m OK than gaining a paying customer. He still wants to see me when possible though! I must mention the weather. It has been glorious weather nearly every day throughout May (it’s June 1st today). Seriously sunny and like a holiday every day. The news mentioned it today - the level of sunshine throughout the transition from spring to summer is unprecedented, apparently. My T shirt tan is, quite frankly, ridiculous!

Day 71: Today’s ‘must mention’ is what’s going on in the US and it’s not particularly related to Trump. There was a black man killed while under arrest. George Floyd died Monday 25th May (8 days ago) A policeman, who knelt on his neck for minutes while he complained of not being able to breathe, has been charged with murder. Now there are riots and curfews and military intervention all over the country. It’s similar to the English riots of 2011. It’s worrying, sad, scary and not what the fight against the pandemic needs. Most of all, it’s racism rearing its ugly head yet again. I’ve had a normal-ish day. received an email from Jim checking in, talked to a recruiter about a promising job lead (although the hours are 8-5 which I am not happy about), talked to Barry across the road and sent Barzzy a WhatsApp. And I logged in Shaw Academy and started lesson one of module 2 of web Design. It’s been a while, so long overdue, but I only did about 15 minutes. Must try harder / do better! As I type, late (10:10pm) I have dinner cooking and a strange pain in my left side and am in the middle of No Country for Old Men. Don’t think I’ve seen it since the cinema (13 years!)

Day 72: As soon as (well, within a couple of days) I mention the weather, it turns. It’s rained a little and is a lot cooler (15° rather than mid-20s). Much better for walking, I have to say. I finished Hunters today (Amazon Prime series). While I enjoyed it, it got too surreal at the end. It is loosely based on the real story of Nazi hunters in the US in 1977 but the straying from loosely based to down-right ridiculous fiction annoyed me. If it goes to S2, I will watch it, however. Received some of my rental deposit back today (the law changed so that only 5 weeks rent can be demanded as deposit). Over £600. Nice.

Day 73: I made a short video for Marc and Clare’s 26th wedding anniversary. I ‘dressed up’ for it. I enjoyed doing it and I think it was appreciated.

Day 74: Typing on Day 75 for no other reason than I couldn’t be bothered on day 74! I received a letter either today or the day before (well, yesterday or the previous day!) from Mr Minos at the eye clinic informing me that, while there is some stuff going on in both eyes (garnered from the photo scans done at the last hospital appointment), he wants to see me in three months. Always a refief when that happens. Been getting into two series on Amazon: Alex Rider and Modern Love. One is a male Hanna, the other is soppy affairs of the heart based on real life stories (from essays written in the NY Times). Both enjoyable for totally different reasons.

Day 75: Lazyish day. Well, not really, just that I only went for one walk, alebit 6km andI got pissed on. Wehn the rain hit, it was also fucking freezing! Some of the clouds were stunning today, made for great photos. As I type, it’s 21:12, I’m listening the wonderful Phoebe Bridgiers. Now, I’m gonna make some tea and sup a few ales, I reckon.

Day 76: Done lots of walking today (over 13,000 steps) I made sausage casserole with too much chilli (scotch bonnet and birdeye). I had an online (fb) debate with Sam over whether the George Floyd murder was a racial.

Day 77: Received a new (used) wing mirror for the car. £18 with delivery, I reckon that’s a bargain. I cashed in £20 from Prolific as well, so I’m satisfied at the financial full-circle. Dropped the car off at Barnwell (Nene Valley Body Shop) and walked back - 7km. Just about to dive into tea - finishing the blazing hot sausage casserole from yesterday. Then I’m going to do some more Rubik’s cube practice with my recently acquired GoCube.

Day 78: Lots of daily walking, 26 stair climb, press-up and late nights watching TikTok (gone 3am this morning) are making for a constantly knackered Tim Stubbs. Today I made veg soup and cooked up some meatballs. Both are delish. How did I ever to learn how to conjure up such stuff? The Rubik’s cube learning is coming along except that I need good daylight to distinguish between the yellow and white faces on the flipping thing!

Day 79: Listening to Radio 6 most the day and the news is making for dire listening. Forecast of severe recession, especially if there is a second peak of the virus, which I think there will be. Plus, an offshoot of the George Floyd murder and the #BlackLivesMatter movement, institutions and town councils are being lobbied by campaigners to remove statues of anyone associated with things like slavery (one was toppled in Bristol at the w/e) and rename buildings etc. that were named after historical characters with any links to something that now is deemed wrong or offensive. I agree with it but it’s not pleasant to hear amongst other bleak news. Walked to Barnwell to collect my car - front trim reseated and new wing mirror fitted, £20 - bargain (I source the replacement wing mirror). But, also, forked out £165 on car tax! Cleaned the lounge from top to bottom. Knackering!

Day 80: Chatted with Dad and Rita - he’s pissed off with the slavery backlash but otherwise they are both OK. I saw Baz in the Tesco queue where I mentioned my disgust at the Thursday market being allowed (I found I could not maintain 2m at all times just walking to Tesco’s!) and that I really don’t want to catch Covid19 as I will probably die. Maybe a bit dramatic but he messaged me later today to say he’d been thinking on what I said and offered to shop for me. I replied that I am OK to shop but am scared at how people are taking things so much less seriously than when lockdown started yet the virus is still out there just as it was then! I am very touched at his massage. I thoroughly cleaned the bedroom and changed the bedclothes today. House work really knackers me out!

Day 81: Spare room cleaned today. Not much else to type about. It’s Friday, I making curried mince and I don’t feel like a beer. How I’ve changed!

Day 82: I did have beers last night. Ended up going to bed with daylight and dawn chorus for company. Today, when I woke, gone 1pm, I have been greeted by what can only be described as thoroughly depressing news from every quarter. This includes violence in the capital, further virus outbreak in Beijing. Fog’s political posts on FB make for depressing (but vaild) reading. I’m feeling thoroughly fed up today. Not even music can lift my mood…

…but, I am currently listening to Craig Charles on BBCR6 and, I have to say, he’s putting in quite an exceptional effort - there may be hope that my mood might lift, even at gone 8pm! I might have a beer or two and grab something postivity and enjoyment from the day after all.

Day 83: Another late one last night but up before noon today. Started watching something called Condor on Sky One. It’s OK - there’s stuff I wanna waytch on Amazon Prime but, more often than not, it keeps telling me there’s ‘a problem’ when I try to play anything. Pissing me off. I just checked and I have two weeks of the initial 12 of furlough to go. I shall started asking the questions about what might happen on the Connections website.

Day 84: Typing this on Day 85. On the way back from dropping off some shoes for Sean Davies at his brother’s (martin) I met Karen and she said why not pop round for a beer so I did. Certainly not used to a drink on a Monday so that, and the genral upheaval to my evening, while good fun and a nice change, put pay to my usual diary entry! I sorted Amazon Prime out by leaving the TV turned off for over an hour. Day 85: Tim did the garden today and it looks great. The pipes in the bathroom have been knocking loudly, on and off, for a couple of weeks now. Last night, they were so loud that today I took it upon myself to resolve it or ring Woodfords. So, having turned off the water, run the taps dry to get rid of any trapped air and then turned the water back on slowly, I discoved it’s the cistern and its pipes. Woodfords are arranging Corvee to visit. Meanwhile, leaving the water turned off at least stops the noise which is, otherwise, costant and unbearable! I emailed HR a couple of days ago about what’s happening in a couple of weeks time in terms of furlough when the 12 weeks will be up. Sue Cockimngs got back to me attaching an email Deryn sent on 15th May which I never received. Basically, they’ll extend furlough if need be and an update should be forthcoming late May/early June. Well, that time has passed, so who knows what is going to happen. The furlough scheme (CJRS) has been changed by the govenment, I’ve read, and it looks like any new people would have to have been furloughed by June 10th (it’s the 16th today) so no furlough rotation, which is annoying. The CJRS ends 1st October with employer contributions required from 1st August - that’s D-Day as far as I am concerned….so job hunting will have to step up a notch! Day 86: Pete’s birthday and he bought himself the same speaker as me. When I asked if it lived up to his expectations he mentioned it’s better through WiFi than Bluetooth. That confused me as I haven’t got WiFi available on mine…..long story short, I bought the wrong fucking speaker. I got a AudioPro AddOn T10 instead of C10. To say I am fucked off is an understatement. To think I was so pleased at the cheap price I paid. Now I feel like I have wasted  €200. Bollocks.

Day 87: Finished Alex Rider last night. Another series that started off so well and ended a litte weak but, overall, not bad. I’ve started keeping strange meal times…lunch very late (4pm) and dinner really late (11pm). I need to sort it ‘cos it’s playing havoc with my sugar levels. I had a huge hypo while having my second walk today, second day on the trot that’s happened. My late dinner was Chinese chicked curry with a quarter of a scotch bonnet and two birdeye chillies. Delish.

Day 88: I have managed to be bitten yesterday or the day before on one of my walks. There are strange, itchy lumps on my right inner forearm. And I do mean itchy. I trimmed my sideburns today, I was very pissed off with them. My hair looks just a little less shit. I did a shop at Tesco in Corby today. Mainly booze as follows: 20 cans Sam Miguel £18 18 cans Stella £15 20 bottles Bud £10 8 cans Tyskie £9 3 lrg bottles Warsteiner £5 £57 Bargain.

Day 89: Lazy day. One short walk and usual stair climb. Howard and Sue popped round to give me a pressie - bottle of Monkey Shoulder. I’m building up quite a collection of whisky!

Day 90: Dad called and we chatted for an hour or so. I had to apologise for not sending a father’s day card! Dan messaged me and offered to pay for a pizza delivery which I declined.

Football has started again this past week…Prem and Championship only. L1 and L2 season was cut short and Posh missed out on the play-offs by one place. As I type, Everton v Liverpool is on Sky Sports on a Sunday evening - it’s very strange with no crowd. There’s crowd noise being played thorugh the tannoy.

[bloodandfire-kennyhickeyfanfic]

Chapter 12 - Welcome To The Machine

Arizona State, October 16 1994

"No, you've got to be fucking kidding me!" Kenny exclaims as we stand outside the tour bus on a long stretch of Highway, somewhere between Phoenix and Tuscon Arizona. It was mid afternoon and the bright Arizona sun was beating down as the tour bus driver - Mike - attempts to flag someone down for some help. The bus of course decided to breakdown, the ball bearings of the front tires apparently seized causing the bus to lock up completely on the highway. We were all just perfectly fine drinking and hanging out when there was this huge thrust forward and the driver had to steer us off to the side of the highway. I fucking thought we like hit someone or something but no, it's just the stupid bus. Fuck sakes!

"Ok, look guys... I'm just gonna head back and see if there is a gas station or something. I'm gonna have to call someone for help, so Andi, here... take the bus keys and I'll be back," Mike says pulling out the keys from his pocket. He was incredibly tall and really built, I almost didn't picture him as a bus driver at all.

"Wait...what do you want me to do with the keys?" I ask taking the keys from him and flipping my curls out of my face.

"Just keep 'em for now, but I'll be back guys, I swear," Mike says and turns off to walk down the highway. I stood there in the hot Arizona sun looking down at the keys in my hand and turn around to see Kenny, and Johnny leaning against the bus having a smoke, Peter turning around and heading back up into the bus and Josh was still up in his bunk on the bus sleeping off his hangover.

"What the fuck are we gonna do now?" Johnny asks taking a drag of his smoke.

"I uh, guess we just wait," I say as I walk up to Kenny and Johnny and I glance back at Mike as he walks farther away from us.

"Fuck... it's always something," Kenny says as he takes a drag of his cigarette and looks down at himself, his jet black curls gently blowing in the breeze.

"We just better not miss the show man. All our gear shows up and we're nowhere to be found... how the hell would we explain that?" Johnny says, his tone slightly frustrated.

"Don't worry, we'll make it..." I say trying to sound hopeful as Kenny glances at me exhaling a cloud of smoke.

*6 Hours Later*

"I thought you said we would make it," Kenny smirks at me with a sarcastic tone as we sit up on the bus waiting for Mike. It was now dark out and here we are still sitting on the side of the highway with a broken down bus and 4 guys who are all annoyed at me somehow because I apparently was the one who broke the bus.

"It's not my fault Mike hasn't come back yet," I say in a flatly as I sit across from Kenny on the couch.

"No but it is your fault for letting him go with the fucking change because now we have no way to call anyone for help," Kenny says angered.

"How the fuck was I supposed to know he had all the change? I've never had to carry change on me because usually we have a fucking working bus, it's not my fault,"

"Oh so you're going to bring up how it was soooo much better working for Soundgarden cause they had better working equipment,"

"Excuse me?! When did I ever bring up Soundgarden... all I said was that I've never had to deal with a broken down bus before!" I shoot back at Kenny, my anger clearly revealed at this point.

"First fucking time for everything right?!"

"Ok, look yelling at me is not going to get us there any faster alright, just fucking chill," I say as I loosen the laces to my Doc Martens and avoiding his eyes altogether. I'm really not in the mood to

"Chill? Really? Just fucking chill she says," Kenny chuckles sarcastically and I look over at him completely pissed with him.

"Well what the fuck am I supposed to do? Get out underneath the bus and fix it myself?!" I yell back at him.

Now, I'm really pissed.

"Hey guys, stop ok... look we're all a little tired and hungry lets just relax ok," Johnny says as he walks up from the back lounge area of the bus. Suddenly there were some bright flashing lights that could be seen out of the windshield up at the front and get up off the couch quickly to run out and see Mike in the passenger side of the large tow truck pulling up in front of the bus.

"Oh my god, what the fuck took so long?" I ask as Mike steps out of the passenger side of the tow truck.

"It took forever to find a gas station and then when I finally was able to get a hold of a tow truck, it was already dark. I'm sorry guys, we got help but you missed your set though," Mike says.

"Yea no shit," Kenny says as the tow truck guys get to working on the front of the bus.

"I uh, got a hold of Jerry and he's sending the equipment bus to pick you all up so it might be a little longer of a wait but at least you'll be able to make it to Tuscon and get to a hotel," Mike explains.

"Ok... thank you Mike," I say relieved at the fact that we don't have to sleep on the bus on the side of the highway.

*****

Not long after, we were finally picked up by the equipment bus and stuffed all our luggage as best we could into the bus, then made our way into Tuscon and checked into a hotel. Since there were only two rooms available, Peter, Josh and Johnny decided to all share one which left Kenny and I with the other. Once we reached our room and we set our bags down by the door, I threw my leather jacket on the chair and immediately began to peel off my Dead Kennedy's tank top, tossing it on to the floor and then sit myself down on the bed to unlace my Doc Marten's.

Kenny and I haven't said one word to each other since we were yelling at each other back on the broken down bus and I wasn't in the mood to argue anymore. I just wanted this day to be over. As I set my boots aside, Kenny sets his leather jacket on the chair and watches me as I unbuckle my belt and peel off my ripped jeans.

"I'm going in for a quick shower," I say quietly as I step out of my jeans. Kenny still says nothing though I can feel his eyes follow me as I make my way into the small hotel bathroom in just my black thong panties and lacy black bra. I close the door and start up the shower as I examine myself in the mirror while I wait for the water to warm up.

I hate fighting. We don't fight all the time, actually really hardly ever at all, but when we do... fuck I wish it just wouldn't happen at all. I know it's just because we're all so exhausted and cranky and sleeping on a bus with 4 boys all the fucking time is starting to drive me insane. But this is what I signed up for. This is what I do. I could handle it when I was on the road with Soundgarden so I sure as hell can handle it with Type O and Pantera.

I step into the shower stall and let the warm water run over my body. Damn this feels amazing. After a couple of minutes I hear the bathroom door open.

"Can I come in?" Kenny asks.

"Yea," I say quietly as I close my eyes to let the water run over my head. I hear him open the shower curtain and he quickly closes it as I wipe the water from my face to open my eyes to look at him. He glances over my body and then back up to my eyes and I could just tell that he was sorry for yelling at me. I offer a half smile and he gives me a cute little smirk and touches his forehead to mine, the water now washing over him, soaking his dark curls that splayed across his chest.

"Well that was... fun," He says and I smirk.

"Yea I love it when the bus breaks down and shit gets all fucked up, and we end up fighting. I don't know about you but I'm ready to do that all over again," I joke and Kenny starts laughing.

"I'm sorry baby," He says sweetly.

"Me too," I say.

"You know what the best part about fighting is?" He says low and raspy as he glances at me under his brow.

"What?" I ask with his hands moving to my hips and around to my lower back. My hands rest on his biceps, feeling him flex a little as he presses my body to his, letting the water wash over us.

"Making up," He says and presses his lips to mine and I couldn't help but melt in his arms as his tongue swipes across my bottom lip. His tongue begins to play with mine as I reach up and lace my fingers through his wet curls, pressing my chest to his as he wraps his arms around me.

Arlington Texas,  October 31 1994

"What the.... seriously Peter...?" Kenny exclaims as he picks his guitar from the guitar rack backstage. Peter decided to have some drunken fun and spray painted Kenny's Gibson SG completely black.

"What?" Peter says flatly as he walks over to him.

"We go on in like fucking 15 minutes and you spray my guitar with black spray paint?! It's all over the strings, the pickups... Peter what the fuck?!" Kenny exclaims sounding incredibly mad as I try desperately to not laugh as Peter looks at him taking a swig of his bottle of wine.

"It'll sound better that way, I promise," Peter jokes. They are constantly pulling pranks on each other and this is probably the best prank Peter has pulled on Kenny. Little does Peter know, Kenny fucked around with his bass earlier so really Kenny shouldn't be the one complaining. Peter just doesn't even know it yet.

"It's not even fucking dry yet," Kenny says as he takes his guitar and sets it down on the back bench that's behind the stage and starts to re-string his guitar.

"Baby, do you need - "

"Nope I don't need any help, just leave me... fuck," Kenny cuts me off still clearly annoyed but I couldn't help giggling because it was just so funny. Kenny shoots me a look and I just throw up my hands and try not to let him see me laugh as I walk away.

*20 Minutes later*

Once everyone was on stage and just as soon as Peter goes to pluck the first chord of Black No 1, it was the worst sound I had ever heard come out of a bass. I wish I could describe it. The only way I could think to describe it is like a huge fart or something, I don't know but it was fucking hilarious. As I stand off stage by Kenny's Mesa Boogie amp stack, Kenny, who was covered in black spray paint still, his forearms and hands still black from his guitar, shoots me a glance like he knew that would happen and starts laughing as I shake my head at him.

"Well since my bass is fucked I'm just going to stand here until someone can give me a proper working bass," Peter's voice booms into the mic and the crowd starts to go crazy, some laughing but mostly 'booing'.

"John, can you get him his bass?" I ask as I run back behind Johnny's drum kit where Peter's bass tech guy which is really Kenny's guitar tech guy as well stood behind, trying to string up another bass.

"I'm working on it," John says as he quickly threads the strings passed the pick ups and through the bridge of Peter's back up bass. Once John finishes stringing the bass and with the crowd's 'booing' becoming even louder, he runs out on stage and hands Peter a new bass and the crowd starts to cheer. I take my place back by Kenny's amps and take a long sip of my Jack and Coke.

Oh my God these boys are a handful.

Las Vegas Nevada, December 4  1994

"Kenny, no seriously... what are you doing!?" I ask half laughing as I stand back stage at the Thomas and Mack Center. It was the last show of the tour and the crowd was going insane as different members of the road crew were whizzing by me trying to understand just what was happening.

"Ooooh baby, I'm gettin' 'em I swear," Kenny laughs maniacally as he grabs a bottle of mustard from the buffet table and steps back up to the stage grabbing me by my hip and pulling me into him and pressing his lips to mine. It caught me off guard at fist and I giggle against his lips but then he begins to move his lips with mine and I reach up and lace my fingers through his messy dark curls that flowed passed his shoulders and suck his beautiful bottom lip.

He then pulls away from me just as fast as he pulled me into him, then laughs as he runs out on to the stage with the bottle of mustard while Peter and Josh throw more toilet paper rolls out into the crowd. Dime and Phil who were also on stage, Dime still trying to play a few riffs from his guitar, become covered in toilet paper while the crowed continues to go insane.

I have never see so much toilet paper being thrown and as I stand there watching the spectacle, more members of Type O's crew whir passed me to try to stop them. It was pure craziness, seeing Kenny squirt the bottle of mustard all over Dime with Dime laughing like a crazy man with his guitar, picking a bottle of ketchup that somehow got on stage and squirting it right back at Kenny.

"Andi!!!" I hear Johnny scream my name from somewhere behind me and as I turn around, he squirts me with a bottle of ketchup all over my chest and laughs.

"The Fuck?!" I exclaim completely surprised and look down to see my Black Sabbath shirt covered in the red sticky, vinegary sauce.

"Oh shit!" Johnny laughs as I immediately run at him and try to get the ketchup bottle from him. This is insane. Completely utterly fucking insane but so much fucking fun at the same time. Johnny manages to get away from me as he is pretty fucking quick and I run over to the buffet table looking for another bottle of ketchup or mustard, really anything just to get him back. Once I grab the bottle and run back to the steps of the stage, Johnny was already out on stage fucking around with everyone else.

The chaos ensued and I could see the whole stage covered in toilet paper, food, spit, various alcoholic substances as everyone just lets their aggression out. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, let alone be a part of. It was fucking amazing!

[swiftlythebest]

hi! i’m new to the tumblr world of schmico! just wanted to say first that i love your writing! also, idk if you’re taking prompts but i would love to see a prompt of nico and levi going on a roadtrip and just funny, coupley bickering on the way to their destination.

Welcome to the fandom! This is a bit old so you’ve been in the fandom a bit, but still, welcome! I am somehow always roped into driving for road trips, so most of my road trip memories are of trying not to kill my friends. But I hope this is a good representation of a road trip. It’s a short trip, so I hope that’s okay. Ironically, it’s a longer ficlet, so a lot is under a cut. I hope you enjoy!

The alarm blared as Nico Kim groaned and rolled over to hit snooze, only for his hand to be swatted away by Levi Schmitt. “We gotta get up. No snoozing.” Despite his words, Levi gave a large yawn.

“But why? It’s so early!” Nico knew he was whining, but he had had a long shift the day before and felt like he had just closed his eyes.

“Because we have to be on the road in half an hour and we’re already cutting it close. You know you want to have time to get your coffee and style your hair.” Levi shoved Nico towards the edge of the bed.

“Fine, fine.” Nico stood up, naked, and began to walk towards the bathroom, pausing to turn back to Levi. “You coming, love?”

“Mmm, yeah. Just enjoying the view.” Levi smirked.

Nico walked with exaggerated hip movements, eliciting a bout of laughter from Levi, who threw off the covers and ran towards Nico, hugging him from behind. Even though he now had a person attached to him, Nico kept walking forward, albeit a bit more awkwardly. Levi nuzzled into his back and they made it into the bathroom. Levi detached and they went about their morning routines.

20 minutes later, hair coiffed and contacts in, they emerged into the kitchen to make some coffee and get a quick breakfast. They were set to take a three hour road trip down to Portland, OR for the wedding of two of Levi’s three high school friends, Hayley Vasquez and Jason Willows. Levi was a groomsman and Nico was his plus one. Both were excited for the festivities but a bit weary of the way they would be getting there. Levi loved roadtrips, but he wasn’t sure about spending that much time in an enclosed space with Nico. Sure, they had been together for about 10 months at this point, but they’d never made a car trip longer than the 40 minutes it takes to get to the Thai place they both love.

“So I made a playlist for the drive. It’s all of our favorite songs to dance around to, so I think it should be good.” Levi was hesitant, not knowing if Nico wanted to listen to the radio or just talk the whole time.

“Is there any Taylor Swift? Or Disney? Or both?” Nico asked excitedly before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Of course. It’s a lot of Disney. And I knew you’d complain with no Taylor Swift.” Levi smiled, relieved. “I also put on some Hamilton.”

Nico groaned, but smiled. “So I have to listen to you rap for three hours?”

“Hush, you love my rapping. And it’s only a few songs. You get Taylor Swift!” Nico kissed Levi’s cheek and smiled. “It’ll be fun.”

“I have snacks! I got some bananas, granola bars, and nut mix.” Levi scrunched up his nose. “What?”

“It’s a road trip! We’re supposed to have chips and candy! Not your healthy crap!” Levi crossed his arms, adamant about the food requirements.

“But I don’t eat that. You want this body?” Levi nodded vigorously. “This is what I eat. This keeps me looking this way.”

“It’s three hours.”

“That’s what Gilligan thought.” Nico smirked, earning him a smack from Levi. “Fine. We’ll bring the bananas because they have a short shelf life. And I know you have a package of Twizzlers stashed away. And take the tortilla chips.” Levi beamed and grabbed the snacks.

They settled into Nico’s sedan, Levi hit shuffle on the playlist, and they were off.

About an hour in, they were jamming out to “Alexander Hamilton -” or at least Levi was - when the check engine light came on.

“Oh, babe, pull over.” Levi stopped mid-verse to urge Nico.

“What? Nah, we’re good. It’s nothing.” Nico went back to bobbing to the music.

“The check engine light is on! That means we need to check the engine!” Levi exclaimed.

“Would you even know how to check the engine?” Nico turned very briefly so Levi could see his raised eyebrow.

“Well, no. But we shouldn’t just ignore it!” Levi was getting a bit heated.

“Levi, I love you, I really, really do, but you need to calm down. I’ve had this car a while and it just does this at times. I promise.”

“Please pull over. For me?” Because Nico was focused on the highway, he could not feel the full force of Levi’s puppy dog eyes. Despite not being able to be manipulated by his boyfriends inhumanly adorable eyes, he sighed and pulled into the shoulder anyway.

Levi beamed and hopped out of the car, followed closely by Nico, who popped the hood and leaned down to inspect the contents. Levi peered over his shoulder, trying to see if anything looked out of place, even though he had no idea what to look for.

“All good under the hood.” Nico laughed quietly at his joke. He then walked over towards the gas cap, pulled it open, and tightened the cap. Levi just stared, utterly confused. They climbed back into the car and Nico started the engine again, prompting Levi to lean over to see if the light was still on.

“It turned off!” He almost shouted in his excitement.

“I told you, it happens. It’s the gas cap, usually.” Nico shrugged and merged back onto the highway.

Levi gaped at him before lightly smacking his shoulder. “You could have told me that!”

“It’s fun to watch you squirm.” Nico briefly stuck his tongue out in a teasing manner. “But seriously, you need to know that I would never do anything to put you in harm’s way. You mean everything to me and if I thought there was a chance it could have been something real, I’d have stopped immediately.”

“You’re sweet. You get a Twizzler.” Levi held out a Twizzler in front of Nico’s mouth and he grabbed it with his teeth, nodding his thanks.

The rest of the trip went by without any more car issues, although there was a 20 minute period during which Levi had to pee badly and there were no exits with rest stops for far too long. “Nico, I honestly may pee my pants. I may pee my pants and you will still love me! You will still look at me with your smoldering heart eyes and touch me with your remarkable hands and kiss me with your perfect lips even though we will both have experienced me peeing in your car.” Once Levi had finished his speech, a sign appeared advertising a rest stop in 3 miles.

“Can you hold it for three more miles? Because I’m still going to be ridiculously attracted to you even if you pee in my car, I just don’t want to deal with the clean-up.”

“Yes, but you better drive the fastest you possibly can without getting pulled over!” Levi started to bounce in his seat.

A bathroom break and 45 minutes later, they pulled up to the hotel where wedding party was staying. Nico shut off the engine and ran over to open the door for Levi, offering him a hand as he helped him out.

“You’re such a dumb gentleman.” Levi gave Nico a small kiss.

“I can’t wait to spend another three hours all alone with you in a car in 4 days.” Nico and Levi laughed, both knowing there was some definite truth to that statement.

[mybleachedsoul]

ichiruki month. day 20. eye contact (also kind of an au)

contains mature language only

                                       Eye contact - 20/08

 The first time he ever laid eyes on her she was just sitting down, concentrated on a piece of literature that, based on the pink tip of her tongue sticking out in between her upper and lower canine teeth, seemed to be very captivating. She was like a blue rose plucked out of a meadow of dandelions, melancholic and fascinating. Her hair was short and darker than a midnight sky. It’s funny, he always thought he was a long-hair kinda guy.

But what struck him the most were her eyes when she looked up at him. Sharp and violet in a jungle of tedious brown irises. It was as if he was pulled into some kind of other dimension, yet there was no reason to fight it. In fact it was already a place that he felt could be called home.

And he fucking kid you not, she just stayed there and stared back at him.

As if she’d just said, “Welcome home, what the hell took you so long?”

                                                          *

As expected from their first meeting, being with her was comfortable, far too comfortable. He didn’t need to censor everything he said before speaking out loud, and neither did she. There was no place or need for bullshit in their friendship.

It was refreshing, and different than anything he’d ever had before.

Like that day in his apartment. The one where he ate cold ramen while keeping an eye on the TV, as Rukia tried on countless different outfits for upcoming interviews. She came up to him for his opinion, wearing a straight black dress and high heels.

“What about this one?”

Ichigo’s eyes moved away from the screen for five seconds, scanning her up and down. He shrugged and swallowed his mouthful of curly noodles.

“Dunno, Rukia. You still look like a fifteen year-old trying to play the uptight business woman.”

Rukia rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue in frustration. “Fantastic. How come other women look natural in these? I look ridiculous even with a smidge of makeup on,” she complained out loud before kicking off her heels and walking into his bedroom to change. Ichigo watched a man catch a ten feet long eel on TV, then Rukia came out again, wearing an oversized turtleneck with her hair tied up in a I’ve-given-up-on-making-money kind of bun.

“Maybe ‘cause they need that shit to look good. And you don’t.”

He knew she hadn’t expected that to sound like such a sappy compliment when she turned her head to meet his eyes. Hell, he probably hadn’t expected so himself. But he’d said it and well shit, it was still the truth, he wasn’t about to fucking take it back. So he looked back at her in silence, violet piercing through him with curiosity, and maybe also silently asking for a bite or two of that ramen. He handed her the bowl and she started eating, both of them turning their attentions to that oddly interesting fishing documentary. 

                                                             *

“That cloud on the far left kinda looks like a dick on acid,” she said in a monotone voice.

Ichigo squinted his eyes at the sky, trying to figure out exactly how any of those fluffy white puffs  could look like a male’s genitalia. He scoffed after a good ten second of silent investigation.

“I don’t see a single trace of dick in that sky. I usually like my skies dick-less, thank you very much.”

Rukia nudged him in the rib. “Did you actually just say the word dick-less?” A bee flew around his ear for a moment before moving over to another patch of green grass. “You’re such a weirdo,” she finished with a sigh.

“I’m a weirdo?” Ichigo spat back. “You’re the one imagining penises flying above your freaking head.”

“I’m not imagining anything!” Rukia exclaimed, lifting an arm to point somewhere high up. “See? Right there. There’s the two balls, then the sh-“

“Rukia, I beg you to not finish that sentence.” He interrupted her and by some miracle it worked because Rukia’s arm fell down and she stopped talking. She stood silent for a moment before he heard her laugh, almost like a giggle. She then turned around on her stomach and looked at him with a smile, her eyes looking ten times more piercing than they usually did with that ray of sunlight coming in from above and illuminating her face. It was like admiring the moon itself in all its glory.

That’s when Ichigo realized she was probably the most beautiful woman alive.

Yep, right after they’d spent five fucking minutes discussing dicks.

Maybe he was a weirdo after all.

                                                            *

Ichigo realized he was in love with Kuchiki Rukia on a Sunday.

It was on that super hot morning, where the sun was hitting so hard it was enough to boil skin. He knocked on her apartment door ten times in a row before she finally answered, wearing that dress shirt she had apparently decided to steal from him ever since he forgot it at her place. It looked so incredibly large on her, sleeves dangling past her hands and hem falling near her knees, but after bugging her a million times about giving it back to him, he couldn’t bring himself to take it back. Especially not after actually seeing her in it.

Rukia’s hair was a bird nest, and she yawned as soon as she opened the door. “Ichigo, the hell are you doing here. It’s 8 a.m. on a Sunday,” she frowned mid-way through her yawn.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and scoffed as he walked past her and into her living room. “We had plans to go to the beach with the guys today, remember?” he said, thinking about Ishida, Abarai, Inoue and Tatsuki, probably all already on their way to the beach house they had rented for a night.

Rukia groaned lazily as her body went limp and fell on top of the couch. “Fuuuuuck, I completely forgot about that,” she whined loudly. “I had to stay up last night to finish that report for work, you know.”

Ichigo took his phone out of his pants pocket and wiggled it in her face. “Yeah, I do know. You texted me at 3 a.m., and I quote: if I don’t wake up ever again, please water my plants twice a week for me.”

Rukia blinked, silent as she scratched her head. “That’s weird, I don’t remember texting you.”

“Well hurry and get dressed,” he added quickly before she could close her eyes again. “The others probably already left in Renji’s car.”

Rukia, already flopped down on a corner of her couch, groaned and mumbled something incoherent. Ichigo frowned, sighing.  “What the hell was that?”

“I said,” Rukia said louder, lifting up her head once more. “Do we really have to go?”

Ichigo opened his mouth, then closed it. “Wait, you don’t wanna go?”

Rukia shrugged, hands playing with a wild strand of hair. “I just…I dunno, kinda feel like staying in. Plus, this is the type of thing you do if you’re a social butterfly on the inside, and I’m just not sure we are.”

Ichigo remained speechless for a good moment, before finally letting a scoff escape his throat. He dropped his improvised suitcase on the floor with a thud.

“Thank god, I wanted to go almost as much as I wanted to pour boiling water down my back,” he said with a laidback smile, making Rukia look up at him in surprise. “Tell you what,” he said as he started making his way to the kitchen, Rukia still curiously eyeing him. “I’ll make you a cup of coffee and we’ll just stay in and watch horror movies all day. You can even take naps if you want.”

He heard a couple little steps follow him into the kitchen. He smirked. He knew how appealing the word ‘coffee’ was to her, especially before 11 a.m. “Oh my god, I love you,” Rukia exclaimed in all her lazy gratitude. “I could almost kiss you right now.”

Ichigo chuckled at her words as he mindlessly dug into the kitchen cabinet for roasted coffee grains. “Love you too.”

He froze in his track, spoon in one hand, coffee grains in the other. There was a chance Rukia hadn’t heard that at all. But based on the way she had also stopped all movements, he couldn’t count on it.

“Uh…?” Rukia breathed out in a low voice.

Yep, couldn’t count on it indeed.

And so, Ichigo had no choice but to turn around and make eye contact. As if looking into those violet eyes of hers would help his case.

“I- uh… I- meant that in a non-serious way, you know, a joke, a ha-ha kinda thing,” he scratched the back of his head. “Was following your lead, you know, ah…yeah.”

Rukia blinked once, then nodded. “Right.”

Well done Ichigo.

Well done.

                                                              *

He kissed her a week later.

Honestly now rethinking about it, he doesn’t even blame himself, he blames the whole setting. Seriously, standing on a rooftop at sunset drinking sake straight out of the bottle? Who does that?  

And he blames her eyes. Her goddamn eyes.

“Ichigo,” she murmured, eyes set on the orange sky.

“Hmm?” he mumbled, taking a sip of his drink.

“Why do you think people think we’re a couple?” she asked, in the most casual way.

Ichigo froze and scowled, bottle tipping midway on his lips. “People? Who’s people?”

“Our friends, your family, my brother,” she answered with a light frown and scoffed. “Pretty much everyone I guess.”

Ichigo stayed silent for a while. Eventually he sighed and took another sip. “I dunno, probably cause we’re always together.” He looked over at Rukia, who was now looking down at her bottle of sake. “But who gives a flying fuck what people think,” he added, for his benefit or for hers, he isn’t sure. “I sure as hell don’t.”

The sky had faded from orange to yellow, to pale lilac. “Ichigo, we’re friends, right?”

Her voice was low, and almost sounded different. He finished his drink in one last sip and placed the empty bottle on the ground next to him. He turned back to see that Rukia was now looking at him, eyes expressing something near despair, as if all she needed was for him to confirm they were indeed, friends.

He looked into her eyes for a few more seconds, then smiled sincerely without breaking eye contact. “Yeah, we are.”

Rukia’s expression softened, and she smiled back, and it was one of those smiles that could bring a dead man back to life. Ichigo bent forward, cupped the side of her face with one hand, and kissed her without another word.

He felt her eyelashes moving fast on his skin, and nearly tickling him. After two or three seconds she stopped, her felt her eyes close and felt her lips kissing him back. He doesn’t know how much time it was before they pulled away, but he remembers her cheeks being pink, almost as much as her lips.

Seeing how she wasn’t opening her eyes, Ichigo rested his forehead on hers and closed his eyes once more. They stood there for god knows how long. Just breathing.

“Ichigo?” her voice whispered into the silence.

“Hm?”

A second of silence. “You taste like alcohol. It’s gross.”

He twitched, and smiled. “Yeah? So do you.”

He felt Rukia’s forehead pulling away and opened his eyes to see her mouth break into a large smile as soon as their eyes met. She laughed and next thing he knew, she was grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him down, her lips on his once again. 

@ichirukimonth

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

I’m still so exhausted from this kids show rehearsal yesterday I gotta type it out to deal omfg

- The guy in charge of sound and lighting used to do shows in this company with me so I’ve known him for like 7 years??? When I got there and said hi he immediately launched into this weird super-commanding tone and started very quickly explaining how to work the lights to me (like so fast I couldn’t keep up), before abruptly breaking off mid-sentence and saying in a quiet, high pitched voice, “Also hi I haven’t seen you in forever...” like Tom bud I know

- I was there in like the back of the theater for maybe 15 minutes before the director, across the entire room and on stage, spotted me and screamed “THERE SHE IS” loud enough that all the little kids jumped in fear. Before I could even contemplate trying to hide she’s yelling “THERE’S MY MOLLY GIRL” so loud she could have awoken the ancient and buried gods of old, and running off the stage towards me. Immediately after hugging me she was clearly trying to asses and judge all of my life choices, as if I wasn’t the only person helping out out of kindness that’s not getting paid. omfg

- One of the kids mom’s kept running around demanding to know where Horton was. I desperately tried to explain to her I didn’t know any Horton’s. She grew angrier with me every time I saw her.

- We eventually figured out she was looking for Steven, who played Horton the Elephant in Seussical, like, 4 years ago

-Also, Steven was wearing a dark red ‘vans’ shirt, red and black flannel pajama pants, and completely bright red shoes that looked like plastic. I supported him.

- Alarming number of 10-12 year old boys trying to flirt with me. Guess I can’t wear V-necks for the rest of the week

- One of the Older Teen Interns(tm) who I vaguely knew when he was like nine pulled a cane out of his ass and kept spinning it around to look cool while flirting with the Older Teen Intern Girls(tm) instead of, like, doing his job

- Fuck there were so many moms there and they kept glaring at me when I was trying to put mics on kids??? Lady listen I’m not feeling up your leprechaun spawn he didn’t know how to hide the mic pack jfc

- Back in my day(tm) I had to run offstage yelling “SOMEONE STRIP ME” while three different older people of varying genders ripped clothes and mic packs off my body. You can handle me telling your kid to take his jacket off while I try to clip something to his pants oh my GOD

- The kid playing Gaston is the best one in the show but he’s a TWIG and it’s hilarious. He’s got a really strong commanding voice for an 11 year old but every time he talks about how hot he is or strikes a muscle man pose Tom and I were fucking dying in the back

- I went and taped up the lists of mic switches and stuff in the dressing rooms and I thought everything was fine until like 40 minutes later when I was like “they’re like fourth graders they probably can’t see that high” omfg and I spent the rest of the day waiting for someone to complain about it so I could Die

- Holy shit one of the ensemble kids was this real sarcastic shit with long hair and he was lowkey trying to hard to be funny and I know it sounds mean but he was def the type of kid you look at and you’re like ‘you’re gonna become a stoner or a shooter there’s no in between’ omfg

- THE MICS WERE A P R O B L E M

- And I know shit always happens the first rehearsal and blah blah blah but this was RIDICULOUS I literally thought Tom was going to burst into flames

- And some point he just yelled “SCREW IT” and raced out of the room and came back a few minutes later and made everyone try the mics again. They were still a bit of a problem but working a lot better so I was like “what did you do?” and he went on this whole explanation about how he bypassed the theaters sound system and I’ll admit I don’t understand much of the technical stuff but his attitude and tone of voice seemed to imply he probably wasn’t allowed to do whatever he did lmao

- Seriously I swear one of those little shit head kids found out about the ‘M-word’ superstition and yelled it back stage. That’s the only explanation I can think of for why everything was fucked up

- Also I’m sorry but the kids...are terrible

- I really don’t wanna be mean like they’re kids I wanna give them the benefit of the doubt but even at one point Tom was like “...were we ever this bad?” and I had to be like “Tom we have video evidence proving we were never this bad? Save for Fame”

- Just...imagine 60 some little kids screeching an off tune version of the opening number for 3 hours. Imagine it. I lived it.

- Gaston, Potts and one other girl (forget who she’s playing) all have decent voices but the girls were SO QUIET SWEETHEARTS YOU GOTTA PROJECT

-IM THE SHIEST PERSON I KNOW BUT I STEP ON A STAGE AND YOU CAN DAMN WELL BE SURE PEOPLE ARE HEARING ME IN THE BACK ROW WHETHER IVE GOT A MIC OR NOT. P R O J E C T

- There were so many times when a song got really out of tune or messed up so I was like “That was a note...” and the poor music major Tom sitting next to me almost having to choke out “No it wasn’t” lol

- The set makes very little sense

- “Where’s their tony nom?”

- Oh gosh during the great Mic Death at some point this REALLY WEIRD SOUND got picked up it sounded like aliens were fucking aobut to blow us up everyone was freaking out because mics shouldn’t make that sound??? Like 10 minutes into this we realized it was the directors husband playing something on his phone o h m y G o d my dude did you not hear us yelling

- SPEAKING OF HIM I couldn’t actually do anything with the lights during rehearsal bc they weren’t locked in place yet??? So he drops off two wrenches at one point and is like “I’ll be back at five when this is done and then we can fix the lights” which is reasonable, right?

- Five o’clock. Five oh five. Five ten. Five twenty. Where’s Jimmy? Jimmy. We can’t do this without Jimmy. Where’s Jimmy? Why can’t you do the lights without him? Because that latter is 20 feet in the air and I’d rather risk your husbands life than my own. Jimmy, pick up your phone. Five thirty. Where’s Jimmy? Has anyone seen Jimmy? Is Jimmy even real any more? Did Jimmy ever exist? Did we all just hallucinate an old man who almost exclusively wears bike shorts? Jimmy, where are you. The lights Jimmy, you promised. This is just what Jimmy does, he just does this. Where’s Jimmy? Who’s Jimmy? Where’s Ji-

- That question is etched into my soul now

- He finally gets there and that was just. A whole production in itself. “DUDE you can’t hit the lights with the latter you’re messing up the light’s you just set. Jimmy. the LIGHTS. AIM IT TO YOUR LEFT. WE CANT MOVE THE LATTER LIKE THAT.” oh my God

- The kids didn’t even get through the first act of the show. Which I normally wouldn’t judge because LORD KNOWS, but like...this is the Junior version. There’s only like 5 or six scenes in each act and they’re all fairly short. omfg

- “Lights, hey, why isn’t Maurice’s sphere lighting up?” “That’s literally not our job? It’s a prop?”

- Oh my God so when the lighting board was explained to me at noon I understood abso-fucking-lutely NONE of it, I was so fucking confused, I was certain I was going to let the production down.

- We get to like 5:50 when we finally start working the lights and with no further explanation or reminder I KNEW. I WAS ONE WITH THE BOARD. I WAS IN CONTROL. I BECAME A GODDESS OF LIGHT.

-I also hadn’t slept or eaten all day so I was a little loopy at that point

- An adorable tiny girl ran back at one point and started gushing over how cool the light and sound jobs were and kept pressing buttons we were gonna CRY she was precious

- 7 years later, I’m still the ONLY person who doesn’t get cell reception in the theater. My phone became possessed before my very eyes and called like 3 people on it’s own accord.

- A mom was really mad everyone else had tickets already and she didn’t. “Ma’am, you didn’t buy any tickets.” “Well, I wanna buy some now.” “This isn’t the box office.” “Everyone else has tickets!” “Yes, because they bought them on ticket day or called the box office.” “So why can’t I get tickets now?” “THIS ISNT THE BOX OFFICE.” And then we found out the show is sold out. Oh boy.

I don’t predict surviving the week.

[deliciousnai-blog]

Chapter 1 Part 1

“Like, I, saiiiiiid!”

Can you not give Samantha some strange idea? You might change this little angel into some rotten devil, you know?

“Hahaha! I’m just kidding. But now I see that your works indeed pretty hard. Is there anybody that you can ask for help?”

“No… they have expectations. And that expectations kill me”

“Did you try to explain?”

“Yeah… I’ve tried but never works. Maybe they didn’t understand what I meant”

If everything can be solved by talks, I would never think to change my past.

“I can’t help but imagine how hard your life will be after being promoted, must be very very hard to the point your face would be grimmer than your now”

“Hahaha, so funny” She just says it out loud what I thought when Marianne and George told about my promotion.

“What should I do now? Set aside the upcoming works because I believe I can get over it in a blink of eyes, my happy daily life is going to be gone! Definitely!!! Marry won’t be there to entertain me, even worse I can’t meet you guys anymore!”

While I’m not aware of it, Maurie and Samantha think same but differently;

Maurie: what a snob, can get over in a blink of eyes, huh? But I take it you can’t live without us, huh? I want to pat his head

Samantha: who’s Marry? Some woman I don’t know? But you can’t live without me? Oh, I want to hug you!!!

“I believe sooner or later you can meet someone who can entertain you” Maurie pats my head.

“You can remember me, no, I’ll come for you if you want some entertainment!” Sammy looks like want to hug me, but she holds back. Her hands hanging in the air like someone trying to catch a bug.

“But I’m not sure if you can come, I’ll work in Rav”

“Rav!!!” The two surprise, well I can’t help it.

“It’s too far, near to capital but it’s very far from here!”

“Nooo don’t leave us!!” Sammy crying a river of tears.

The two hugs me, the three of us crying out loud to the point no more tears come down. I bet everyone in the bar show us as three sisters crying for their dead father. Yeah, sisters, I’m included.

After some chats, I take my leave and says goodbye to everyone in the bar. I really took my time in the bar, I should’ve come to another store to see my old friends… I’ve met Rick, James, and Bart at bar, but I didn’t go to see everyone from church and people in Maja Confetti. Maybe I’ll take some vacation before my promotion, I’ll convince George somehow…

It was before I mount to Janne that I met the person who’ll change my life, for worse or better.

»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»

“And now, the world record of not being late as a model student has broken! Our idiotic genius first rank student just come late to school, moreover, skip a lesson! Lolololol”

“Shut up you running freak!”

“I am freak, but you are more freak than I am. Lolololol”

I want to hit her!!!! Geez, this is the reason I don’t want to come late: Luna will roast me, definitely!

“All this time I really want to see the teachers to scold you, since you’re such a good student, those teachers never scold you” She continued.

“Nobody’s good these days, I may look like one but I don’t believe perfect model student exists”

“I know, I know you’re pretty bad inside–like many other students, but it’s not fair you’re the only one who’s getting safe”

It’s just as she said, I may look like a model student in teachers’ eyes. But actually, I’m just good at listening and understanding problems… well it’s limited to study though, outside studying I'm just a normal high school student. Except if we’re talking about human interaction: I am very bad at it. It’s not like I can’t read the mood nor like to hit some nerve, I simply have no interest in trends and fashion. My real interest is fantasy stories and high school girls not really talks about fantasy nowadays, as the results: I don’t have many friends. Well, my classmates come to me to ask about lessons and that’s all, nothing else.

Luna was the only person who’s much closer than others, well, she’s easy going and everyone (excepting Dany) likes her. But hey, didn’t I say I don’t believe in perfection? Such a girl won’t talk to me every day without any intention behind it. You may realize it, she uses me as teacher substitute, but there’s something more about Luna that you’ll be surprised. I’ll leave that story for later.

Now, let’s go back to the reason for my lateness.

“Your suggestions really sucks!” I complain.

“I didn’t guarantee it’ll work, that’s what suggestions meant” Wow, this girl has potential to be a lawyer.

“Maybe you start walking my way: The Road of Lazy Bums. I welcome thee, wanderer!”

“My mum will kill me before I take a step on it”

“I can imagine it…” her complexion turns a bit pale.

That’s why I desperately want to solve my problem.

“Well, as your one and only good friend, let this Princess Luna helps you out!”

“I’m not listening”

“This time I guarantee you”

“Once trust is broken, you can’t fix it the way they were before”

“…if I fail, I’ll give you my allowance for a week”

“A month. No less”

“Fine, but if it’s work you must give me the same amount”

“Deals based on money can always be trusted” in money I trust.

“One more thing, the method maybe unbelievable but the person doing it is very professional, you knew about my secret right?”

“Oh, I surprise that you realize that I knew your secret! Is that why you tried to get close to me?”

“Right, keep your voice down or FBI WILL REALIZE IT, OH MY GOD I’M TOO LOUD”

This is one of our lame jokes, don’t take it seriously.

“Okay, let’s meet up after school, tomorrow is Saturday so you’ll be fine to hang out tonight right?”

“You know me so well, babe”

“Of course, honey!”

###

“Where we’re going?”

“To the psychiatrist near my house”

After all that deal it’s a freakin’ psychiatrist?! What’s more, a psychiatrist not a psychologist?!! “Damn you! Deal’s off!”

“Didn’t I say the person is professional? Take a look first, after that, you can cut the deal or whatsoever”

“… you better hold your pocket, I’ll make it empty”

We get into the psychiatrist’s house. It looks like a normal house, in fact, I feel more at home than my own house. I always thought psychiatrist works at some hospital or mental intuitions, but this is clearly different from what I had in mind.

“His name is Panda, he only received 3 clients per day, at most 12 per week. He’s in debt with me so even if he doesn’t want to, he must help me”

Panda… I wonder if his eye bags are thick or maybe his body looks like a panda? But what the heck was that debt? I begin to reconsider accepting Luna’s help.

Come to think of it, we just pass the receptionist and we didn’t register first. Is Luna a regular in this place?

Luna opens the door like a bang. She then shouts “Heyyaaa we got problematic patient here!”

What the… I’ll definitely throw her from a tall building after this.

“L-l-lluna?? Why do you come without notifications?”

I see a man resting on his bed, he immediately wakes up and covers his naked upper body with a blanket. He looks in his mid 20’s with average height and a bit slender body built. He’s pretty attractive with k-pop like face and hairstyle, his complexion isn’t very good but… why his name is ‘Panda’? He’s nothing like a panda! And what’s with that bulk on his bed…?

A hand comes out and a woman raises her head a bit. I thought I saw a ghost but turns out it’s much worse.

“You son of a bitch, you slept with your client again? Are you not a psychiatrist but a pimp instead? I bet your sister won’t let this slide…” Luna picks up her phone.

“No! Not my sister!!!”

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Tbh, I want to continue the story in English from this point, but it’s just too long and the Bahasa version still unfinished. So I cut this part and maybe I’ll continue it on February 14th.

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