#she wants to have her own enclosure and wants the tour guide to point at her to a fascinated crowd

[ntls-24722]

What if Jurassic Park was Music Man park

~@monty-glasses-roxy

jurassic park if it was actually Worth A Damn

(/J. /J. /J . DONT FUCKING KILL ME CULTURED PEOPLE)

all the music man aus i have appear in the jurassic world movies as the hybrids/bioengineered dinos. indominous rex is just comet valero

[doobnnoob-tf2]

Mercs at the zoo, what they doin'?

Scout: the moment everyone’s through the gates, he takes off.  no one sees him for the longest time and they all assume he’ll be kicked out first due to trying to hit on people.  instead he’s later seen running back and forth in front of the cheetah exhibit, racing one of them.  once they’re all packed up in the truck, he falls asleep in the back seat after tiring himself out

Soldier: the moment he sees the tour tram, he hops on it and stays on it for the duration of their stay.  he stands at the front and starts coming up with all of these stories of animals wars and how all the animals here are actually war criminals.  security asks the driver if they want him removed but they decline, he’s not hurting anyone and the other guests love him

Pyro: two words: gift shop.  after they’ve cleared out everything they want, they take one of the strollers to push around their hoard of souvenirs to go check out all of the animals

Demoman: he gets himself a beer to walk around with and just has a grand time.  at every enclosure where there’s a feeding station, he goes over and pays to do it.  his favorite are the giraffes.  that is until he steps into the reptile house and sees the enormous komodo dragon.  plans change and he spends the rest of the day in there checking out all of the strange animals he can find in there

Heavy: he casually walks in and gets a map to look over.  he plans out the path to see everything in a timely manner and starts walking.  he mostly sticks with a group consisting of himself, Medic, Engineer, and Demoman.  they take things easy and at their own pace to try and enjoy everything

Engineer: he almost gets lost to the petting zoo.  he goes in because it’d been so long since he’s been around farm animals.  he makes very good friends with a pregnant goat after she decides she likes how he gives belly rubs.  so good of friends, she decides to go into labor on him and he helps staff usher her back and then delivers the kid

Medic: no one leaves him alone, not even for a second.  none of his teammates trust not to try and smuggle animals out to harvest them for their organs.  he swears up and down they’re all just overreacting, and then Heavy translates a comment he makes under his breath while observing a group of monkeys.  later as a reward for not trying to turn animals into science experiments, he’s taken into the Lorikeet enclosure where he may feed them and sit with them to his heart’s content

Sniper: no one is sure when, how, or even why it happened but he somehow turns into a tour guide for various groups of guests.  the staff at the front keep hearing about the “very nice Australian tour guide” and have NO idea what’s going on but no one’s complaining so no one bothers to go check.. that is until someone mentions at one point he’s been climbing into enclosures to pet the animals

Spy: he doesn’t stray far from a smoking area and more of less watches his coworkers rather than the animals themselves.  he finds them more entertaining to observe.  he does have to step in and shoo Scout away from getting a little too flirty with people who are just trying to enjoy their day.  he keeps having to explain to him that people are here to look at animals.. not him

[futurebicon]

Carolina

Marine Biologist AU that no one asked for but I wrote because I miss my second home. Probably two parts.

Very brief mention of a family members death

"Hi welcome to-" Leo stopped his normal speech when he was met with the two most gorgeous men he had ever laid eyes on. "Welcome to the Fort Fisher aquarium. I'm your tour guide Leo and this is Regulus." He somehow managed to snap out of his shock even though the greeting was all muscle memory.

“Two guides. Must be special." The red haired one laughed a laugh that made doves fly. "I'm Finn." He shook their hands.

"That and both of us wanted a break from sticky children trying to swim with the sharks and gators." Reg smiled.

"Sharks? Like ocean sharks? And ocean alligators?" The shorter one asked in shock and a lot more than a sprinkle of fear.

'Fuck he's adorable' Leo swore internally. "Alligators are typically fresh water reptiles but if you are asking if they are real sharks and alligators, than no. They're they’re hyperealalistic mechanical sculptures." He kept a straight face.

"Cute and funny." Finn flashed him a smile after another angelic laugh.

Leo had to remind himself to not die right then and there.

“Don't worry, Logan" Finn told the other one. "I'll protect you from the scary teeth, baby."

Now Leo was sad.

“Oh yeah, right after you stop ogling over our hot tour guide."

Now Leo was slightly less sad and confused.

“Actually." Regulus pulled out his phone. "Our manager just texted and said he needs someone in the gift shop. Have fun." He left with a pat on Leos back.

Leo glared as he walked away, they didn't get texts from anyone for any assignment. Hence the walkie talkies on their belt loops.

“So, follow me and we can start the tour." +++

“This is our 235,000 gallon tank." Leo stood over top of the two story tall tank. In here we have our eagle rays, round stingrays, whiptail stingrays, hammerhead sharks, sandbar sharks, sand tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks. We also have two moray eels and an abundance of fish including shanks and groupers. And a personal favorite, Sheldon the green sea turtle.” Leo stood on the rusted grate with ease as if he didn’t care about the hammerhead only a few feet away from his toes.

“Um, this is great and all but can we not stand on the edge without a railing?” Logan stayed as far away as he could an the 2 feet wide walkway.

“You’re completely safe don’t worry.” Leo flashed a reassuring smile.

“Okay yeah but-”

“Stop being a baby, Lo.” Finn poked his side.

“I’m sorry I’m scared of falling into a 23 foot deep death cylinder filled with sharks.” Logan defended himself.

“Alright we can go officially start the tour.” Leo laughed. “But we do have to walk across the tank.”

“We what?” Logan asked.

“It’s okay. Just don’t look down.” He decided to risk a wink.

“Listen to the hot guide, babe.” Finn kissed Logan’s cheek. “I’ll hold your hand.”

“I love you, Harzy. But I do not trust you enough to not try and scare me.”

“I promi- no I don’t. Fine.” Finn whined when his plans were spoiled.

“Alright, let’s go.” Leo laughed.

They got across the walkway with only a few exaggerated wobbles to scare Logan. And a very grumpy Logan when Leo told him there was another way around the tank.

+++

“So here we have our bald eagle Maverick.” Leo walked up to the opened enclosure. “He’s five years old and has been here since he was two. He was found on the side of the road nearly starved after being hit by a car. If you look at his left wing you can see it juts out a little. That is due to the bones fusing together incorrectly and it makes him unable to ever fly again.” He recited the well known script.

“Poor baby” Finn stuck his bottom lip out.

Leo blinked away the urge to kiss the sad look off his face.

“If we walk up here you can see the aquariums prized possession.” Leo smiled. “Luna the albino Alligator.”

“Oh my god.” Finn hurried over to the glass.

“She looks like you, lover. Pale as fuck.” Logan teased.

“Luna is one of just 100 recorded albino alligators world wide.”

“World wide?” Logan asked in shock.

“Yeah. It’s an extremely rare genetic mutation and due to the inability to hide from predators they’re numbers are next to zero. Very soon they’ll be no more albino gators.”

“What happened to that alligators toes?” Logan pointed at the dark green alligator.

“That’s Gantur. He still hasn’t learn that Luna’s the leader.”

“She bit them off?” Logan’s eyes went wide.

“Don’t underestimate her. Ready to continue?”

+++

“This is my favorite exhibit.” Leo’s face lit up as they walked up to the touch pool.

“Touch anything as long as you use two fingers and don’t pick anything up.”

“Are those stingrays?” Finn pointed towards the end of the touch pool.

“Yeah. They’re still babies and their stingers have been trimmed. Their barbs are like thumbnails and can be clipped monthly without any harm.”

“What are those?”

Leo’s face lit up impossibly more.

“These are horseshoe crabs.” He held onto one of the dark greenish brown banjo shaped creature.

“They are also called living fossils due to the fact that they haven’t evolved at all since the dinosaurs, around 450 million years. It’s mostly due to the fact that they didn’t need anything added or taken away for survival. They were made perfectly. Now their tails.” He pointed to the long stick like end as it moved around with the help of what looked like scaley gills. “Most people look at it and think it will hurt. But it won’t hurt at all. They are extremely, extremely clumsy and use the long tail to flip themselves back over.”

“Sounds like you.” Finn kissed Logan.

“Rude.” Logan scoffed.

“Horseshoe crabs aren’t actually crabs at all. They’re actually more closely related to scorpions and spiders. Watch.” Leo smirked and flipped it over.

There were five pairs of claws moving around as the gills moved up and down like abs, causing the tail to move with it.

“Here-” Leo grabbed Logan’s hand, he tried hard to ignore the way his skin burned. “Touch it.”

“Oh no I’m okay to just look.”

“Come on, just touch it.” Leo begged. “Please just touch it.” He pouted.

“Oh my fuck you’re adorable.” Logan voiced Leo’s exact same thoughts from before.

“Here” he blushed and bit his lib to contain the smile. “Touch it.” He guided Logan’s hand down to the center of the legs, desperately trying to not think about how close they were. Logan’s t-shirt touching his blue polo shirt with his name stitched in the side. The way he could feel Logan’s breathing against his side, the way his leg was pressed between Logans le- stop it.

“Eww that feels weird” Logan’s laughed raised goosebumps on his arm.

“You’re touch his mouth.”

“Ew ew ew ew” Logan pulled his hand away quickly as Finn cackled.

“You asshole” Logan laughed as he pushed Leo lightly.

“Sorry, but it’s funny.” Leo laughed.

“You are now my second favorite person on earth.” Finn put a hand on Leo’s shoulder. “Oh my god I’m crying.” He wiped his eyes.

“Wouldn’t mind if he stayed our favorite.” Logan smiled.

Leo blushed and moved onto the regular view of the huge tank.

+++

“So how’d you get a job here?” Logan asked Leo as they walked around.

“I’ve lived on the island my whole life and started volunteering here when I was 13.” He explained. “I’m going to UNCW for marine biology. Are you two just here for vacation? Even though it’s April.”

“No. We’re actually moving down here. My grandparents owned the arcade on the boardwalk and left it to me once they passed.” Finn told him.

“Oh. I’m sorry about their passing.”

“It’s okay. Didn’t really know them at all.”

“Well I’ll hopefully see you around.”

“Maybe you don’t have to hope.”

Leo tilted his head in confusion.

“We were just wondering if you would want to show us around the island.” Logan told him. “We’ve only been here for a few days and this is the first place we’ve been to. Not even the beach.”

“Oh that’s nearly a sin.” Leo teased. “I’d love to show you guys around. I get off in an hour.”

“Perfect.” Finn said happily. “Do you want to drive over to our house and then switch cars or do you need to change?”

“That’ll work. There’s a locker room and since there’s next to no one here considering the time of year Evan will probably let me leave early.” Leo couldn’t hide his smile as they walked into the brightly lit gift shop.

Logan let out a loud gasp and ran over to the 6 foot long jellyfish stuffie. “I want it.”

“It’s tentacles are going to strangle you, love.” Finn shook his head.

“Kinky” Logan wiggled his eyebrows.

Finn scoffed as three other people in the quiet store laughed.

“Oh hi again Regulus.” Logan smiled at the black haired man who was sitting on the countertop beside the register tossing a brightly colored foam ball with turtles on it between his hands.

“Hey” He smiled back.

“What’d they need help with down here?” Finn looked around the empty room cluelessly.

“He didn’t help me?” The girl beside him raised an eyebrow. “Hi, Rue by the way.” She waved before going back to glaring at Regulus. “Did Evan tell you to help me?”

“No.” Reg smirked. “Just wanted to leave Leo alone with his crushes.”

“Reg” Leo pushed him.

“It’s mutual.” Finn said and Logan nodded.

“Okay. I’m gonna go ask Evan if I can get off early so I can show you a tour of the island and then get changed and I’ll be back down.” Leo changed the subject quickly.

“They’ll show you a tour of their bedroom and then get you off early.” Rue said quietly but not quiet enough. Leo shoved her hard as Logan, Finn, and Reg cackled.

+++

“So are we ready?” Leo walked back down in shorts and a UNCW t-shirt.

A cropped UNCW t-shirt.

“Uh- yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah.” Finn stuttered failing to make it look like he wasn’t staring at Leo’s tan abs.

Finn on the other hand had no shame. His eyes raked his entire body as his mouth went dry.

“Alright. I’ll follow you guys?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Logan nodded.

“Get it Knut.” Reg cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted as they left the gift shop and headed outside to the 100 degree weather.

@lumosinlove

[ghostiewriter]

prologue | tale of a slightly unstable teen hero

Summary: JJ’s life is thrown upside down after a school trip. Now he just decide what to do about his newly found powers and discover just how much his life has changed.

Warnings: contains strong language, a teeny sliver of sexual references, just the three boys being dumbasses? a small smidge of angst (it barely counts) and some fighting, kinda amateur but he’ll learn eventually

Word Count: 8.2K (I’m so sorry)

A/N: ahhh so here’s the prologue! Hope you guys enjoy, it’s a bit of a mess and it wasn’t meant to be this long but oh well! This is just to kinda set up the world, I promise the chapters won’t be this messy! There will be way more Kiara in the next chapter as well, don’t worry! Like I said, this is just a filler chapter! Also this is unedited and I am kinda unwell so lets hope this makes sense :) feel free to leave any feedback!! 

masterlist // taglist // ao3

JJ prided himself in always loving an adventure. A random trip at 3am when one of his buds felt down? Hell yeah! An exploration through the streets of New York when he decided to ditch his Spanish final? Let’s go, dude! A spontaneous road trip with his boys during summer? JJ was down! But this? This just felt like some sick joke.

Admittedly, JJ wasn’t listening in class when the trip was announced. And as Pope liked to remind him every couple of minutes, this whole situation could have been avoided if he had listened in class. But can you blame the guy? A whole day off school to visit some big corporation uptown where he was getting a free lunch—JJ would be stupid to reject that. Yet, JJ should’ve known there would’ve been some catch, some flaw in this trip. And that flaw was that he had to spend the day walking around Cameron Industries, the biggest nerd fest on the East coast.

JJ was bored out of his mind.

Pope was ecstatic beyond belief.

John B was ready to punch JJ in the face if opened his mouth to complain one more time.

“Why call it a trip when all we do is listen to these dudes in lab coats droning on about some weird gene thing? Like c’mon! A trip is meant for relaxing. Where the fuck am I gonna relax around here, huh? The fucking gift shop—“

“Shut up,” John B hissed at the blonde, smacking JJ’s arm for good measure, to which the blond dramatically whined at. “Just please…shut up. You’ve got one more hour until lunch, alright? Don’t ruin this for him.”

JJ huffed as he glanced over at Pope, who was eagerly questioning every scientist they came across. As much as it pained him to agree with John B, he did have a point. There weren’t enough fingers in the world to count the amount of times JJ had dragged Pope into some anxiety-provoking, impulsive situation. The least he could do is suck it up a little and mope silently as they walk through countless fancy labs that probably each cost more than his apartment complex altogether.

“I don’t know why you’re acting so chuff,” JJ huffed, his fingers twisting the rings that adorned his hands—a force of habit when he was uncomfortable and bored. “You usually back me up on this kinda stuff—“ But JJ didn’t need to finish his question. Oh no, because the answer was right there.

JJ smirked as he turned to John B, one eyebrow raised in question. However, his friend seemed much more content staring at Sarah Cameron from where she stood near the front of the group, smiling towards the tour guide like they were close friends. Which they probably were considering they were standing in the building her father owned.

Ward Cameron. Renowned scientist, billionaire and founder of Cameron Industries. A true inspiration. What started as a hopeless experiment in his high school chemistry lab ended up forging Ward Cameron’s path to success in the biggest multibillion-dollar multinational corporation that held the future for chemical engineering. JJ just thought he was some lucky rich kid that had daddy’s money to support his dream.

And it was for that reason that JJ rolled his eyes, nudging his friend out of his daze. “You do know you don’t stand a chance, right?” JJ commented.

Harsh but true. JJ and the rest of the kids that attended this trip went to Midtown High School. True to its name, it was smack bang in the middle of two very different livelihoods. Uptown Queens: home to the kids who live of old money, designer clothes and trust funds. And Downtown Queens: home to working-middle class who would spend the rest of their lives making a sliver of the uptown folks’ wages.

Take a wild guess which area JJ is from.

However, some old dude in the 60s decided to try and bridge the gap between the classes and thus, the school was born. All it did was let each know how much they resented the other. Yet, John B had fallen into the alluded mind-set of that old geezer and set his eyes on Sarah Cameron, the most uptown chick you’ll get. And of course, JJ was there to remind him of that very fact and push him off that imaginary bridge. It was a fool’s hope to combine the uptown and downtown folk; it was a fool’s hope to try and make them get along. It won’t happen now nor ever.

John B flipped him off. JJ only grinned in response.

Nonetheless, that ended up being the most exciting part of the hour. JJ shuffled along at the back of the group, his eyes constantly wandering around the labs. Did he have any clue what any of it was? Hell no, but he was naturally curious and couldn’t help his hands from wandering. Sue him, he was a teenage boy with ADHD and a knack for getting into trouble—he was bound to do something stupid.

His interest in science perked up a bit when he noticed a small enclosure of what looked like completely normal spiders, yet as their tour guide spoke, they were anything but normal.

“Our team have been working on taking the genetic code of three separate species of arachnids and combining them to form a super-spider. One which can survive and reproduce and live as any other would. It is the first step in the future of genetic engineering and modification. With this technology, we could find cures to diseases that were deemed impossible to cure. We could form a stronger, better human race—“

“Isn’t that unethical?” A voice interrupted. Everyone’s head snapped towards the curly-haired girl that stood by Sarah Cameron’s side. JJ knew very little about her—considering this was honestly the first time he had seen her—and he wasn’t complaining…nor was he actually listening to what she was saying. “I mean, won’t this just introduce a future of designer babies and a superiority of the genetically modified over the natural?”

“I understand your concerns,” The tour guide—a young redhead who honestly didn’t look a day over twenty-two but then again, JJ guessed everyone around here was some sort of genius. “But I can assure you there are a number of protocols behind this research that would prevent such a thing from happening.”

“Can you really stop the rich from getting what they want?” Ironic considering she was a rich, uptown chick.

An awkward silence washed over the group before the teacher quickly cleared their throat and directed the tour guide to continue.

JJ—being the foolishly bored teenager he was—made his way over to the unknown girl, standing next to her as they looked at the spiders in the enclosure.

“Poor things.” She sighed sadly. JJ only raised an eyebrow but didn’t question it.

“You know,” He began, his voice smooth and suave—the usual JJ charm he used on girls. “I totally agree with you on all those…ethic…things…” He trailed off, risking a glance towards the girl who only narrowed her eyes at him.

“Really?” She questioned, nodding her head for him to continue.

“Yeah, I mean, save the animals, am I right?” He grinned, nervously scratching the nape of his neck. The girl seemed unamused.

“Uh huh, sure thing, buddy.” She stated before turning to catch up with the group. But JJ’s voice stopped her once again.

“How about I take you out some time? And then you can tell me all about all this ethic stuff.” He proposed, his usual charming smirk on his lips. He was a lady’s man, he knew he was gorgeous and JJ would be a fool if he didn’t use it to his advantage. One small date to charm her before JJ wiggled his way into her bed, then boom—they never have to speak to each other again. Plus, this girl may be one of Sarah Cameron’s wee minions, but JJ didn’t let class get in the way of his ‘love’ life. He just resents the lot of those uptown kids in every other aspect of his life. No harm in fraternizing with the enemy, right? What other people didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. It’s just a little bit of fun.

“Do you even know my name?” She asked him, her arms crossed over her chest. It took a lot of self-control for JJ not to follow the movement. He cleared his throat, leaning one hand against the enclosure.

“Uh…Samantha?”

“Nice try, asshole.” And with that, she turned around to join the group.

JJ stood there, a little dumbfounded by the encounter. He was taken aback not only by the fact she had just rejected him, but with the sass in which she did so. He would be lying if he didn’t say it was a little hot, but he expected it. Uptown kids always thought there were better, superior to the downtown kids.

But JJ didn’t wallow in his rejection for long when he felt a sharp, stinging pain on his hand. He glanced down, seeing a spider on the back of his hand and his instant reaction was to shake it off. “Little shit!” He hissed, looking down at the small bite mark on his skin.

“Hey, dude, you comin’?” He heard John B call out. He glanced around, unable to spot the spider. He shrugged, JJ has had worse than a small spider bite. He’ll survive.

“Yeah, I’m starving, let’s go!”

Little did JJ know that was his last day as a normal, hyperactive teen.

**********

“I’m telling you something is fucking wrong with me!”

Both boys looked at their blond friend with sceptic looks. It was Saturday morning and far too early to deal with JJ nonsense. Especially when they could barely understand what he was going on about. It was around 6am when John B and Pope received a very distressed call from JJ. Neither one was very sure for what reason, all they heard was ‘freaky’ and ‘fuck’ multiple times during the call. But he sounded like he was really going through something so they eventually went over—arriving at JJ’s place at 7:30am. JJ was too on edge to even try and call them out on it.

“Dude, breathe,” Pope muttered, watching JJ run holes in his carpet from how much he was pacing. “Calm down a little—“

“I can’t calm down, Pope!” JJ snapped, looking at his friends who seemed far too calm. “Like I don’t know if I am freaked out or pumped but just—“ He paused, seeing the look of confusion on his friends’ faces. He huffed and pulled his shirt off, looking at them expectedly. They didn’t react.

“JJ, did you really call us down here on SATURDAY MORNING because you have another birthmark that looks like George Clooney because I will literally murder you—“

“No, no!” JJ hissed before pointing down to his abs, and then his arms. Then he began flexing, yet he was met with blank expressions again.

“Dude, as much as I love staring at your abs, what the fuck are we meant to be looking at?” Pope asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“They are different!”

“They are?”

“They are!”

“Uh…how?”

JJ scoffed, as if it were obvious. “They are more defined!”

“…more defined?”

“Clearly!”

John B let out an unattractive snort, pushing his hair back as he leaned back against the wall, all his worry for his friend now gone. He was honestly concerned it was something important. “What’s next? Is your hair too perfect, J? Need a bag to cover how gorgeous you are?” Pope snickered along with him.

“I mean, I am having a good hair day…” JJ trailed off before shaking his head and turning to the two of them again. “But that isn’t all, okay? It gets freakier!”

Both boys looked at JJ with amusement from their spots on his bed.

JJ rolled his eyes before he stretched his hand out, his palm facing the ceiling with his two middle fingers pressed into his palm. Not even seconds later, a THWAP echoed through the now-silent bedroom.

Both teenagers looked down at the string of substance that just existed their friend’s wrist, completely shell-shocked. It was John B who spoke first, looking away from the white substance on JJ’s bed.

“Is that like…the same as…did you just—“ John B points down to his groin area, only for JJ to grimace.

“Dude, no! EW! I didn’t just jizz from my wrist!”

“It looks like you just did.”

Pope quickly kneeled down next to the bed, hesitantly reaching to touch the stuff, ignoring John B’s comments on how disgusting it was. “It feels like…silk,” He murmured in confusion before pulling his hand away, noticing how it stuck to his skin. “And it’s sticky.”

John B gagged in the back, but JJ ignored him. “It’s like glue, a really strong glue! And then after like twenty minutes, it disappears!” He told Pope as he reached for the scissors to help his sticky situation.

“How did you do that though?” Pope’s mind was reeling with the possibilities, the science behind the completely inhumane thing JJ had just done and he had witnessed with his very own eyes.

“I don’t fucking know!”

“Does it have anything to do with that weird-ass bump on your hand?” John B perked up, nodding towards JJ. All three boys’ gazes shifted to his left hand, where in fact there was a small red bump, no bigger than a grape at most.

“Nah, dude, that’s just from the spider bite yesterday.” JJ answered with a shrug. Pope chocked on the air, looking at JJ like he had three heads.

“I—you mean the fucking GENETICALLY MODIFIED SPIDERS FROM THE LAB?!” JJ winced, trying to shush Pope but there was no avail, this boy was going off on a rant. “Are you stupid? Why didn’t you tell anyone yesterday? JJ, those could’ve been poisonous or had long term effects or—“

“Made you some weird mutant with cool powers.” John B added. He quickly shut up when he received the ‘look’ from Pope.

“We have to tell someone at Cameron Industries.” Pope concluded. JJ was quick to pipe up, taking a few steps away from Pope on instinct.

“What, no way! They are gonna stick me under some fancy microscope or inject me with needles full of…stuff! I’m not going back into that geek galore!” JJ stated. Pope looked like he was ready to open his mouth, and start spouting out arguments as to why JJ should head over to the professional scientists over his weird, overnight mutation. But it was actually John B who came to a more mutual conclusion.

“Or we just do our own tests,” John B shrugged, both boys turning to look at him with fairly discombobulated expressions. “C’mon, Pope is basically a scientist and he is smart enough to figure out whatever the hell is going on with you!”

“I don’t have half the equipment they would have—“ Pope tried to argue.

“Look, we aren’t going to find out anything through a microscope. The best way is just go out there and test what he can do. How hard can it be?” John B grinned.

Pope wanted to argue that it was very hard. Though he had read countless papers on the genetically modified spiders, even he didn’t know enough to do a full conclusive examination on JJ and his new state. He didn’t have half the things he needed, but when he looked over at JJ and saw a much more relaxed—and hopeful—expression on his face from when he had suggested returning to the lab, Pope sighed and shook his head a little.

“Just so you both know, I am going to say, ‘I told you so’ when this goes downhill.”

**********

That is how JJ, Pope and John B found themselves standing on the roof of JJ’s apartment complex, the busy streets of New York oblivious to the scientific discovery that is happening above them. JJ couldn’t tear his eyes off the skyline, finding something about it much more relaxing that the potential of just what his new body could do. He was scared—no, scratch that—he was nervous, anxious if you will. JJ couldn’t lie that a part of him was excited. It felt surreal, like something out of one of those comics he used to nick from the uptown kids. Then again, JJ wasn’t very fond of the idea of being some new scientific discovery. It made him feel like he would end up like one of those poor frogs they had to dissect in biology—poor fuckers.

“Okay, so the spiders were made from three separate species to optimize their physical properties—being able to adapt to new environments, heightened senses to avoid predators, enhanced strength and speed, stronger material to create webs for larger prey—all that jazz. No research has been done on the psychological properties though.” Pope rambled, his hands moving wildly whilst both boys stared at him with clueless expressions.

“Which means?”

“JJ could have some really cool powers but could also be going totally insane,” Pope said with a sheepish shrug. “Like I’m talking full Tasmanian devil mode here—“

“Very reassuring, dude.” JJ stated bluntly. He took it all back, he wasn’t excited. He was terrified now. He glanced down at the small bite on his hand, which was slowly deflating as time passed. JJ wasn’t sure if he was relieved or worried that the second the bite disappeared, it could mean something really bad—like him turning into some massive humanoid arachnid that attacks the city. He shivered at the thought. “Right, let’s just get on with this.”

John B clapped a hand on his back, a small smile on his lips. “You’ll be fine, dude, alright? You’re in good hands.” He tried to reassure JJ. And JJ knew that everything Pope was saying was just to help him understand what was going on too, but he couldn’t help but think there was a small part of Pope that enjoyed using JJ as a lab rat. He was a scientist, could you really blame him?

“Yeah, I know.” He said with a curt nod.

“Let’s try the web again, see how far you can shoot it.” Pope piped up, moving to stand on the other side of JJ. “The average spider can shoot a web to about four feet, but these spiders have the DNA of the Darwin Bark Spiders which can shoot webs up to eighty-two feet. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you could reach the same, maybe more.” He then gestured for JJ to try it out, pointing towards the building opposite then, which was only around eight feet away, at most.

JJ took a deep breath before extending his hand out, the THWAP sounding clear despite the ongoing traffic down below. Yet, the web barely shot out a couple of inches before landing on the edge of the roof with a disappointing splat.

“Well then…” John B trailed off, all three boys staring at the failed web shot.

“You clearly weren’t trying, just concentrate!” Pope said with a clap of his hands. He only received a blank stare from JJ.

“I was trying, dumbass! It’s harder than it looks. It…feels weird, man. Like a sneeze…from my wrist!” He huffed, but Pope only nudged his shoulder to try again.

JJ sighed and turned to face the opposite building again. He raised his arm, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to imagine the web shooting out and reaching the opposing roof. He tried to imagine more web fluid being shot out his wrist, he tried to imagine like he actually knew what he was doing. Not even a second later, the THWAP sound was heard and suddenly there was a white rope of silk extending from JJ’s hand onto the next roof over.

“Holy shit!”

JJ grabbed the web, giving the web a light tug. He was expecting for the web to break, for his hand to be covered in web fluid. But instead the web remained, strong and sturdy as though it was bolted onto the roof.

“This is crazy, dude.”

He snapped his hand back, watching the web breakaway from his palm and flop, hanging from the brick wall like a pathetic piece of string. “That was cool as fuck,” He murmured as he glanced down at his wrists in shock. He gently ran his thumb over his wrist, a delightful shiver running down his back. It caused him to smile a little, thinking about just how far he could shoot these webs.

“Dude, you could swing around like Tarzan now.” John B snickered. JJ gave him a deadpan look but he couldn’t help himself from glancing down at his wrists again.

“You think?”

“Only one way to find out.” John B grinned.

Pope’s eyes widened slightly as he quickly began to shake his head. “You don’t know if the web is strong enough to hold his weight, he could hurt himself or—“

“You calling me fat?” JJ gasped with a pout, a hand placed over his heart. “You offend me, Pope. Thought you were better than this.”

“If calling you fat will stop you from swinging off a building like an idiot then yes, I am calling you fat.” He hissed.

JJ grinned, his eyes quickly searching around before he noticed a large satellite pole sticking out from one of the nearby buildings. It was a bit further away, but JJ let the pride of his last success get to his head. “I can do it, bud, don’t worry about it.”

“That’s my boy!”

“Don’t encourage him!”

“He can do it!”

“How the fuck do you know that!?”

“Sixth sense, my dude.”

JJ blocked out the bickering, taking a couple of steps back from the edge of the roof. A running start never hurt anyone, right? He rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck from left to right. Never once did he let his gaze shift away from the satellite pole. He crouched down a little, already feeling the adrenaline build up in him. “Diver down, boys.” He grinned before he began sprinting to the edge of the building. As he reached the edge, he pushed himself off and extended his arm out, imagining the web wrapping around the pole and seconds later it did. He held the web tightly in his grip as he felt himself swinging towards the building. Whoops and cheers could be heard, though JJ wasn’t sure if they were coming from him or the boys back on the roof.

“JJ, THE WALL! LOOK OUT!”

But JJ was a little too pumped up to even comprehend what Pope was screaming until he noticed the brick wall getting closer. ‘Shit, shit, shit.’ The words echoed in his head and he tried to think of a way to slow himself down. But it was useless as he found himself colliding with the wall, his eyes clenched shut on impact.

“Oh, fuck.” He groaned, his limbs sprawled out like a starfish. A part of him thought he was dead, that maybe he hit the wall way too hard, he had a lot of momentum after all. But the muffled screams coming from his friends was enough to tell him that he was very much alive. “I’m alive!” He yelled out, slowly beginning to blink his eyes open, finding himself face to face with a brick wall. “What the…” He trailed off when he glanced at his hands, finding them attached to the brick wall.

His heart was pounding when he looked down, seeing that he was attached to the wall, very far up from the ground, with nothing suspending him. His mind was reeling, almost as though he was waiting for himself to fall and his body to meet the ground. But it never happened.

“You’re like an actual fucking spider, dude!” He heard John B yell, as though he was right beside him, which caused him to wince a little. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing them still very far away on that roof.

JJ shook his head and glanced up, seeing the edge of the roof a couple of feet from where he was stuck on the wall. He took a deep breath before slowly removing one hand, and when he was sure he wasn’t going to fall, he moved it up higher. Slowly, JJ found himself scaling the side of the building, his heart beating wildly even as he pulled himself over the edge, both feet finding the solid ground of the roof. He turned back to look at his friends, both of whom looked shocked beyond belief.

“What the hell…” He could hear Pope whisper, which only caused JJ’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

“This is a lot more complicated than I thought.” He muttered to himself, only now realising that the bite mark on his hand was long gone.

**********

JJ winced a little as he heard the bell ring, indicating the end of this period and the start of lunch—his favourite subject. Yet, JJ wasn’t exactly jumping out of his seat as usual. It was now Monday and everyone was back at school. JJ, Pope and John B had spent the better use of the whole weekend to run around, using JJ like some lab rat and seeing just what he could and couldn’t do. And JJ was fucking exhausted. The amount of times he had face-planted into a wall was beyond funny and he had learnt the hard way that the more on edge he was, the more sensitive he was…well, to everything. The sound of the chairs screeching against the floor made him cringe, the bright LED lights made him want to cry and the feeling of his sweater against his skin was scratchy and uncomfortable. JJ sure as hell wasn’t hyped for his newly found powers if this is what the rest of his life is going to be like.

The blond sighed to himself as he shoved his stuff into his backpack, swinging it over his shoulder and heading towards the cafeteria once he left the class. He kept his head down, finding the small shuffles of his vans against the floor were helping him from cussing out every single student that bumped into him, making him honestly want to scream and stay six feet away from everyone. He tried to reassure himself that he was half way through the day, that he only had a couple of hours left and then he could preferably go hide in a hole somewhere for the rest of his life. Okay, that is a little dramatic but a dark hole sounded great to JJ right now.

But here’s the thing, JJ is a Maybank. He has the good ol’ Maybank luck, which means even when he feels shit, the universe is out to make his life worse. And the universe sent that in the form of Rafe Cameron and his loyal little minions, Topper Thornton and Kelce Smith. Midtown High’s own version of the Plastics, some may say.

By some, I mean JJ. But hey, don’t judge. He was forced into watch Mean Girls by one of his flings awhile back and he won’t lie, the movie slaps. But that is besides the point.

“Oi, Maybank!”

JJ inwardly groaned at the sound of Rafe’s voice. He would much rather hear nails on a chalkboard than whatever Rafe had to say. JJ wouldn’t consider them bullies, they were simply the top tier of the uptown kids who had some sort of superiority complex. And JJ had no issue on challenging them, it was far too easy to wind up a bunch of rich kids who weren’t used to being called out on their bullshit. And it just stuck. They would say something stupid to try and provoke him, and most of the time JJ’s words were enough for them to leave him alone. He had the satisfaction of punching Rafe in the face a few times, but usually Pope and John B were quick to hold him back. After all, it would backfire on JJ if he got into trouble with an uptown kid.

“What do you want?” JJ huffed out, glancing up at the trio. The sight of the three of them almost brought a smile to his lips. Uptown kids and their need to follow trends, they wore the same outfit in different variations and it honestly made JJ want to laugh. The classic preppy look with their pastel sweaters and tennis shoes, it made JJ want to gag. But he contained his vomit as Rafe spoke up.

“Aw, c’mon, Maybank. That all you got today? A bit pathetic.” Rafe snickered, the other two laughing along with their leader. JJ rolled his eyes. The funniest thing about them was their outfits.

“As much as I’d love to talk to you little pastel powerpuff girls, I have much better things to do in my life,” JJ said with a sarcastic smile on his lips as he side-stepped the trio, attempting to make his way past them. He really didn’t have the patience to deal with them today. He had happily planned to steal food from Pope and take a nap for the hour. But the second he felt Rafe’s hand on his shoulder, he knew that wasn’t going to be happening.

“Watch your mouth, Maybank.” Rafe spat, his hand tightening on JJ’s shoulder. The act made him want to cringe away and rip off his skin. The feeling of his hand on his shoulder, his thumb brushing that little bit of skin near the neckline of his sweater, it made JJ want to gag. It felt horrible. He wanted that feeling gone.

“Piss off, Cameron.” He scoffed, harshly jerking his shoulder so Rafe’s hand would lose its grip but it only tightened. In an act of desperation, JJ did the only thing that seemed reasonable. He shoved Rafe away. Now normally, it would be enough to have Rafe stumble a few steps so JJ can make a quick exit. But JJ just so happened to have forgotten that this wasn’t like every other normal time. He wasn’t normal anymore. So, his shove was much more than a wee push, it was more like completely winding Rafe. JJ couldn’t help but cringe when he heard the sound of Rafe’s body colliding with the lockers before he slumped to the ground, a dent now evident in the lockers from the collision. Topper and Kelce looked at JJ with mixed looks of confusion and fear before rushing to their friend’s aid.

“Oh my god, Rafe!”

JJ’s head snapped to the end of the hallway where he could see Sarah Cameron, but she wasn’t alone. Beside her was the curly haired girl from the trip. His eyes widened a little when his gaze met hers, but he was only met with a glare from the mysterious beauty.

“What’s your problem?” She hissed at JJ as the two girls got closer, now seeing the full effect of what JJ had done. JJ gulped a little, his fingers tapping the side of his legs as he tried to think this through. What could he say, ‘oh sorry, kinda lost control of my new powers, I’ll be a little more careful next time’. Yeah, that wasn’t going to work.

“He started it!” JJ blurted out, only to mentally smack himself at how childish he sounded. “I barely touched him, he was being dramatic!” He added but the looks of uncertainty didn’t reassure him that they bought it. He was in the lion’s den here, a downtown kid surrounded by the privileged. He was never going to win. So, he did the only sane thing any downtown kid would do. He got out of there as quick as he could.

“He could be concussed!” Sarah Cameron spoke up for the first time, a frown on her face as she met JJ’s gaze. He could almost feel the judgement oozing from her.

“Maybe he will finally have some brain cells knocked into him!” And with that, JJ ran out of that hallway and didn’t stop running until he was far away from the school.

**********

“I’m sorry what?”

Following the fiasco on Monday, JJ’s week hadn’t been much better. Most of it was spent avoiding the uptown crew whilst simultaneously keeping a low profile, which is very hard for someone like JJ. He was used to being the class clown, milking any attention he got. Now he felt like he was under house arrest or something, trapped to keep to himself and work out what the hell was happening to him. But true to their commitment of being his best friends, John B and Pope were right there beside him. It had been a long and stressful week but they made it through. It was a little exhausting on them but they had each other to lean on. JJ was just glad he wasn’t alone.

But now, sat in Pope’s bedroom on the Saturday night, looking between the two boys with a very concerned look, JJ wasn’t sure his weekend was going to be any more relaxing. He knew the three of them combined weren’t the best combinations. They probably shared a brain cell between them and even then, it mostly resided with Pope and his weird, random facts. They had come up with some really strange, out-there ideas before—like the time they tried to give John B a perm with household products or when they convinced themselves they could do a road trip in John B’s crappy van. But this was the icing on the cake. This was enough for JJ to confirm that his friends had completely lost their mind.

“Think about it!” John B continued, practically rolling on the balls of his feet in excitement. JJ raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt him. To be honest, JJ wasn’t even sure where to start with how bad of an idea this was. “You have these super cool powers that are totally useless to everyday life, so why not put them to use? You could be like—the next Batman or something!”

“Batman was a rich dude who made gadgets. He doesn’t even have any powers. How the hell would I be like Batman?”

“Okay, bad example,” Pope piped up. “But just think about it. You could make a difference, be a hero!”

“A really badass superhero!” John B added.

JJ looked at them with a frown on his face. This now just seemed like a deranged joke. He was waiting for them to laugh, to say it was just a silly joke and move on with their usual weekend plans. But they didn’t. They continued.

“I mean, we could be a team! The three of us! You’ll go out and do all the crime fighting, Pope can make crazy gadgets and do all the…tech stuff and I can be your guy in the chair, you know?”

“My guy in the chair?”

“Yeah, you know, the guy in the headset…surrounded by screens…telling you where to go when you need extra help and stuff.”

“What?”

“Like Pope would set it up, but I would be the mastermind behind it! Like you’re stuck in a building and can’t find a way out, I would help you find a route. Your guy in the chair!”

JJ only shook his head, pressing his fingers to his temples to try and not completely lose his temper.

“And like every superhero ever, you’ll need a suit. So, I went looking through some stuff and I found my mum’s sewing machine,” Pope fumbled around in his pocket before he pulled out a small bunch of red fabric. He threw it to JJ, which he easily caught. JJ then realised it was like a ski mask, with two small holes for his eyes. “It’s not much but we can work on it, keep your identity secret and everything.”

“Oh, and you’ll need a badass name! I was thinking like Night Monkey, or—“

“—Spiderling!” Pope interrupted with a grin, clearly proud of it. But JJ had enough.

“Can the both of you just shut up!” He snapped, both boys instantly quieting down, looking at JJ with concerned looks. “Okay, are you out of your mind? Me? A superhero? Hate to fucking break it to you but I am not the superhero type guy, alright? I’m not your friendly neighbourhood nice guy helping old ladies cross the street or getting cats out of the tree! I could give zero fucks about the law cause all its there for is rich idiots to manipulate and use to ruin lives of people like us!” JJ cried out to them, letting go of any hope he had on trying to keep his cool.

“People like us don’t become heroes, alright? We are usually the ones that get locked up. And knowing my luck, I will be thrown straight into some loony house, in a straitjacket because of these powers! You guys have to be absolute fools if you think any of this would work.” JJ huffed as he stood up, shoving the mask into his pocket before making his way to the door. “I don’t care about other people, alright? I care about you guys, my mum and most importantly, myself. Why the hell should I risk my life for a world that won’t appreciate it anyways.” Both boys stood there stunned, looking at JJ with wide eyes and parted lips.

“JJ—“

“No, okay? Superheroes are meant for comic books and movies, not real life, alright? Grow up.” And with that, JJ slammed the door as he left the apartment.

JJ scoffed, muttering to himself as he walked through the dark streets of New York, deciding to take the longer route back home. He needed the time to clear his head, grasp his thoughts. He didn’t know what the boys were thinking, he was definitely not fit to be a hero. Were they out of their minds? Give a guy some abnormal powers and suddenly he should be putting on a cape and preaching morals. That wasn’t JJ, that would never be JJ. He was selfish, arrogant at times and beyond prideful. But he was aware. He knew what he was and he knew he didn’t have what it took to be a hero. Pope and John B needed to stop being ignorant and see that.

He rolled his eyes at the thought and continued his way back to his building complex, hands shoved in his pockets with his right-hand clenching around the fabric of the mask. Small puffs escaped his lips as JJ started regretting taking the long way home. It was October and winter was promising to come early, JJ could tell that much by the stinging cold against his cheeks. The cold was just the cherry on top of his bitter mood.

Yet, as JJ continued to make his way home, he could hear the sound of people talking, causing a frown to form on his face. JJ had walked this way many times, especially during the night, and the chance of passing someone down these streets were fairly rare. Maybe the odd one here or there, but a group of people? Definitely not common.

At first, he ignored it. He had gotten used to the heightened senses over the week, being able to hear things from a distance even when he didn’t try. For all he knew, he could be hearing the muttering of some people a few blocks over. So, he ignored it and carried on walking. But then it started getting louder and clearer. JJ felt his whole body go on alert, the hair on his arm standing up, like his body knew something was off. He could feel it in his gut, a horrible realisation that this wasn’t going to be his usual walk home.

It wasn’t until when JJ turned the corner that he realised just what he had walked into. There stood around five men, all wearing masks that covered the lower half of their faces. They were dressed in all black, probably to draw less attention to themselves, but JJ could see the glint of guns in the light of the lampposts shining down on the street. They stood outside a building, three of them seeming to try and block the view of the other two. It was then when JJ’s brain actually caught up with what he was seeing and realised what the building was. A bank. These guys were trying to rob a bank.

Well shit.

The way JJ saw it, he had two options here. He could turn around, pretend he didn’t see anything and let them get on with what they were doing. Chances were they would either get caught by the police or he would see that the bank had been successfully robbed tomorrow morning on the news. Or JJ could do something about it. He quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket, only to see that it was dead. Of course, it was the good ol’ Maybank luck. He shoved it back into his pocket and looked towards the five men.

Then an idea popped into his head. A stupid, insane idea that was nothing short of self-deprecating and downright dumb. It was short of one of the worst ideas he had ever had. JJ had done a lot of weird stuff in his life but this definitely tops it all. And the worst part was that he was going through with it, because as much as he hated it, it was his only choice right now.

“I’m gonna regret this.” JJ huffed to himself as he snatched the mask out of his pocket and pulled it down over his face, adjusting it so he could see through the small holes Pope had made. He let out a breath, shaking his shoulders a little as he tried to pump himself up, get his adrenaline going.

“You got this, it’s not like they have guns or anything,” JJ muttered to himself as he placed his hands on the wall of the building across from the bank, the one he was currently hiding around so the bank robbers wouldn’t see him, before he began to scale the building. I mean, who would expect the enemy coming from above, right?

He stopped around half way up the building, thanks to the heightened senses he was able to still see the criminals clearly. He watched them closely, seeing only the three men that were on lookout where the one with guns. “Oh, let’s hope this works.” He whispered to himself before extending his arm out.

“What the fuck!” One of them called out as his gun was snatched from his hands in the blink of an eye, his two friends following a similar reaction. JJ wasn’t even thinking about where he was throwing the guns, just as long as they were nowhere near these dudes when he confronted them.

He watched them freak out, yelling at each other as they looked around for the culprit to their missing guns. He heard the half-ass threats they used and tried not to snort before he shot a web to one of the lampposts nearby and swung down, landing gracefully at the top of the lamppost.

“Guys, I hate to break it to you but someone lied, bank doesn’t open until tomorrow morning.” JJ called out to them, giving a small shrug. All five heads snapped up to look at him, and the glares he was receiving was enough to tell him that these guys weren’t big jokesters.

“Piss off, kid, this is none of your business.” One of them replied in a blunt, scruffy voice. It honestly made JJ cringe a little.

“You see,” JJ sighed. “I’ve made it my business so…” He trailed off before snapping his wrist, a web shooting out to stick to the head of the closest criminal and with a firm tug, his head hit the pole before he slumped to the ground.

One of the men growled at JJ, clearly not happy about some weird kid interrupting their wee heist. “You had your warning, kid. Come down and play with the adults.” He taunted before JJ noticed the glimmer of something in the light. A knife. Of-fucking-course the gun wasn’t the only weapon they had on them.

“That’s a bit unfair, isn’t it?” He commented, shooting a web to wrap around the criminal’s wrist, prepared to pull it out of his grasp, only for the robber to tug the web instead, sending JJ flying off the lamppost and falling on his ass to the ground. “Fuck!” He hissed as he quickly jumped to his feet.

“Life is unfair,” The criminal muttered before reaching to punch JJ but he easily dodged it. The speed and agility with which he moved with clearly distracting the criminal long enough for JJ to kick him hard enough that sent him stumbling back into the wall. JJ barely had time to process it before he snapped his hand to the left, stopping a fist that was inches away from his face.

“Nice try, asshole.” He huffed before twisting the criminal’s arm before sending a swift punch to his jaw. There was a satisfying pop sound that told JJ he would be preoccupied for at least a couple of minutes.

He then noticed two of the criminals trying to corner him, and he couldn’t help but smirk a little under the mask at just how cliché it seemed. In seconds, JJ has webs shooting out each wrist, attaching to the chests of each men, before yanking the two towards each other. Groans echoed through the empty street as both men collided with each other.

JJ’s head snapped to the side when he heard an angry battle call as he saw the man with the now dislocated jaw running towards him. JJ crouched down a little before he began running towards the criminal, his arms hooking around his knees. He kept running forwards until JJ felt glass smash around him and the two of them fell through. He quickly got up, wincing at the window he had just broken before turning to the criminal and giving him a good smack in the face—he definitely wasn’t holding back with his strength on that one.

JJ began to work fast, not knowing how long each of the criminals would stay dazed and unconscious for. In no time, he had them piled together, a healthy amount of web fluid keeping them tied together. They wouldn’t be going anywhere—at least for twenty minutes. But it was just JJ’s luck that he didn’t have to worry about that time limit because not even seconds after he finished, he heard the sirens and saw the blue lights flashing down the streets.

Police cars began to surround the bank, creating a semi-circle to prevent any possible escape. Officers began to exit their vehicles, guns set and loaded and now aimed towards JJ. “This is NYPD, keep your hands where we can see them!” One officer called out.

“Shit,” JJ muttered to himself as he raised his hands in the air, watching as officers slowly approached the crime scene.

He watched as a look of confusion washed over their faces as they took in the scene: the smashed window, the five tied up men, the weird silky rope that was binding them together and of course, JJ in his crappy mask.

He watched as they evaluated the situation. Watched as they tried to piece it all together before one officer—the badge telling JJ her name was Captain Peterkin—stopped in front of JJ with raised eyebrows. “Did you do this?”

“Sure did, ma’am.”

“Why?” Another officer perked up, JJ could see his badge said Officer Shoupe.

“They were robbing a bank, what did you want me to do? Sit around making daisy chains until you showed up?” JJ immediately defended, glaring as best as he could with the mask on his face.

Peterkin smiled a little before she cleared her throat, JJ’s attention shifting to her. “Then I guess we owe you a great deal of thanks for your work.”

“All in a day’s work, can I leave now? I’m sure the security cameras will give you all the answers you need.” JJ stated as he already began to take a few steps away from the crime scene, walking backwards.

“Can we at least know your name?” Peterkin asked.

JJ looked down at his wrists before he snapped them up, watching as the web attached to nearby building. He looked at Peterkin and couldn’t help grin under his mask as he answered her question before tugging on the web and swinging away into the night.

“Call me Spider-Man.”

Taglist: @alphinias @popcornhook @loveyatopluto @teamnick @peanutbelley @iccyyyybitch @jiara-maybank @donkey-is-my-spirit-animal @carissarose16 @unspokenfaith @largedenominationsplease @jiaaras @homebody-nobody @smileymikey @hvitstark @shaymq7 @hmspogue @falseungodlyhours @aarchiess @rcsales @raeoffuckingsunshine @jjskiaras @parker-holland-osterfield @thesadprose

[thorne93]

Long Lost Love (Part 7)

Prompt: Clint just lost everything. He turns to you – an old friend and an old flame – for comfort. Can you keep your old feelings at bay? Can he?

Word Count: 2532

Warnings: The Snap, grief, loss, mentions of abuse throughout series, angst will be the best friend in this fic

Note: This was written after IW, but before Endgame - so I have my own take on how certain things happened. Couldn’t have done this without @arrow-guy @carryonmyswansong @like-a-bag-of-potatoes (my amazing betttaa!) @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo

Aesthetic by @dontshootmespence​

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After some time, you two decided to go to the city for a break from the farm life. Things were pretty stable on the farm and you could afford one or two days in the city. You fed the animals a little bit earlier than normal, then drove into Manhattan. You took him to some old haunts you’d mentioned and got food at joints that were still open. 

At one point, you took him to the Central Park Zoo. It was open, but only half the animals were there and it didn’t have any of the flair it usually did. They weren’t running any shows or specials or anything spectacular. It was mainly a self-guided tour to any animal enclosure that wasn’t roped off. 

You stopped at one point outside the lion exhibit and as you were watching the animals lie there, you were reminded of your time as a lion tamer.

“I used to come here to remind me of you, us, in the circus,” you stated casually.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Really? It seems like it’d be something you’d want to forget, considering we were treated so shittily.” He muttered the last part with disdain. 

You shrugged in response. “What can I say? I’m sentimental. I was grasping at anything to tie me back to you.” You turned towards him, hoping he’d get the message.

He reached up to your face, his hand resting on the side of your cheek. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“I should show you my whole circus collection,” you said suddenly, thinking he’d like it.

“Circus collection? What’s that?” he asked, chuckling, amused. 

“It’s all the little mementos and keepsakes I kept over the years. I didn’t want to forget about our time together. I know those years were probably the worst of our lives, and I’d never want to go back to them, but they were also the best years. Just you and me against the world.” 

He nodded. “Yeah, they were some of the best years,” he agreed with a smile. Before you knew it, he leaned down and began kissing you softly, tenderly, but swiftly enough to not draw attention to yourselves. You sighed with happiness when the kiss ended, even though you could kiss him for hours and not get tired of it. He hooked his arm around your waist and you rested your head on his shoulder while you two enjoyed the lions some more. 

---------------------------

 It was the middle of the night one night when you were awakened by the sound of loud yelling, and moaning. The sound was that of wailing, the only sound one hears when someone’s being hurt.

You barely had your eyes open as you slipped on your house shoes and ran to the source of the noise - Clint’s bedroom. 

“No, no… Don’t take them. No!” he shouted. There were tears on cheeks. You kneeled on the bed and started to shake him awake.

“Clint, Clint!” 

He didn’t stir at first. He just kept thrashing from side to side, saying no, shaking his head. You decided to shake a bit harder, calling his name a little louder. 

Finally, he opened his eyes and looked at you.

“Y/N?” he said.

“Yeah, it’s me. I’m here. You’re having a nightmare,” you informed softly. You lowered yourself to sit down beside him while he laid there. 

He opened his eyes wide before rubbing his knuckles into them, trying to wipe the tears and sleep from them. “Jesus,” he said, shaking his head.

“That bad?” you asked gently. 

“Yeah… It was about the kids…” He shook his head, trying to get through the statement without crying. “I had a nightmare that Thanos took them.” 

All you could do was nod before sinking down to lie beside him on top of the covers. 

“I’m so sorry,” was all you could offer him. 

“Not your fault,” he said easily. 

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep again,” you suggested. 

He was silent, and you took it as a quiet agreement at your offer. The two of you lied there, staring at the ceiling, it was illuminated by the overly bright full moon. All you could hear was nature, the sound of the A/C every now and then, and each other’s breathing. 

Thoughts began to spin in your head, thoughts that often crossed your mind through the day. The thoughts and questions that scared you. The questions you weren’t sure you wanted an answer to. The thoughts that you were terrified to say aloud. 

You didn’t want to… but you had to. You had to know. This… whatever this was, you had to know it was real, that it meant something to him, that you weren’t just a stand in for his vanished wife and kids. That you weren’t just a bandaid on a gunshot wound. 

After a long time in the silence, you finally opened your mouth to speak. “So, uh, not that I’m complaining but… what… is this? Where is it going?” you asked. Your mouth was dry as your heart hammered nearly out of your chest. Just by asking this, you could very well be putting everything on the line that you'd ever wanted, ever hoped and dreamed and prayed for. But you had to know. You couldn't just blindly be with this man, no matter how deeply or how long you’d loved him. 

It didn’t take him too long to respond when he finally answered, ““It’s going where I wanted it to go years ago.”

“Which is?” you pressed. You needed verbal confirmation on all of this. 

“Permanently. I want us together. I mean, I can’t speak for you, but I’m pretty happy with calling you mine, calling ‘us’ a thing. How about you?” 

“Well… I want to be sure that I’m not just… that I’m not a stand in for the real thing,” you said, toying with your fingers, your voice getting shaky as you got more nervous. 

He could see and sense your jitters. He reached over, not looking at you as he put his hand on yours hands, a comforting motion to you. “You’re not. That’s the last thing you are.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to wake up one day and regret this or grow out of it or realize it’s not  what you wanted. I just don’t want to be some sort of distraction.”

“That’s not what this is at all. You make me happy. I want you here. I want to be with you.” 

“Really?” 

“Really. Y/N…” He rolled over to face you and you turned your head on the pillow to face him. “I love you. You know that, right? That I’ve loved you since we were kids,” he emphatically said. 

You smiled at him, happy tears forming. “I thought you’d let me go. I thought you’d moved on. I thought you didn’t want me anymore.”

He shook his head. “No, things just got… complicated, but no, I have always wanted you, don’t ever confuse that. You are no one’s stand in. You are you and I love you.” He cupped your neck before stretching forward to plant a firm kiss to your lips, assuaging your fears. 

You smiled at him, feeling that familiar warmth fill you up again. “Okay. I trust you.” 

“Good. Then it’s settled,” he said emphatically. ”We’re back together.”

Those three words sent your soul soaring. You never knew you’d feel such happiness in your life, and while you were feeling guilty for being thrilled in a man’s bed who had a vanished family, you’d put your whole romantic life on hold for this moment. It wasn’t ideal or anywhere near perfect, but you loved this man. If this was how it had to happen, then, this was how it had to happen.  

“Officially,” you confirmed with an affectionate smile.

He got a giddy grin on his face suddenly. “Shit, does this mean I’ll have to remember this date for anniversaries?” he asked and you took a pillow and hit his stomach hard while laughing. He laughed in response and also curled up in pain before turning to you and kissing you tenderly. 

The two of you embraced for a long time before you two broke apart and he requested, “Stay the night with me? In here?”

You nodded and got up to get under the covers, taking your shoes off. You slipped into bed with him and the two of you held each other all night long, basking in the loving glow of each other. 

-----------------------------

Three more years passed blissfully between you two. The same routine carried on as you two worked the farm and you spent three days in the city at your practice. You eventually sold your apartment though and only rented a hotel when you went into the city or just slept on the cot in your office. 

Clint and you got closer as time went on and before you knew it, you were like a real, normal couple. You made breakfast for each other, met for dinner, went on dates. He missed his family and you were sure to respect any time he brought any of them up and you never took down any of their photos. It wasn’t your place and you weren’t trying to erase their presence or memories, you were just trying to build your own. 

The two of you spent nights on the couch watching TV, or picnics in the fields, or board game nights when you had the time. Clint even taught you archery and while you weren’t anywhere skilled as him, you were pretty good. You tried to get the Avengers together a few times every year, and sometimes it worked out, other times it didn’t. But it was still nice when they did.

You and Nat became best friends quickly and she never held it against you for anything between you and Clint. After explaining your side of things one night, she fully understood the situation from both sides and appreciated it. She loved that you two had made it back to each other. She could easily see why you two wanted to be together and how much you loved and cared for each other. 

It was everything you’d ever wanted. You had a family. You had Clint. You had your career. You were helping society while having your own slice of heaven. 

Everything was perfect. 

Until Nat showed up one day unannounced with a troubled look on her face. She looked as though she had horrible news for you, but there was something else there, an undercurrent of… light in her expression.

You immediately knew why she looked torn.

“Hey, Y/N,” she greeted with a smile as she walked up and hugged you. 

“Hey, what are you doing here?” you questioned, even though you knew the answer.

“Uh, is Clint around?” she wondered, side-stepping your inquiry.  

“Yeah, he should be out back. Come on inside, I’ll go get him,” you said. You opened the screen door to let her in. She stood in the living room before you jogged out back to grab him. He smiled hearing his friend was here and followed you back inside. The two hugged before you all sat down. You offered her something to drink but she declined.

“So… uh, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it,” she said, smiling with that familiar twinkle in her eye. “We might have a way to get everyone back.” 

Clint stilled at your side on the couch. He seemed to be in shock, so you spoke for him.

“Everyone? Like everyone, everyone?” you clarified.

“Yep. Long story short, Scott Lang, a guy we fought with in Germany, may have an obscure way to travel through time. Steve and Bruce are already working on the kinks but… it’s looking really promising. But we need everyone if this is going to work.” 

You looked to Clint. This was good. It was complicated for sure, but it was good. He regretted not helping so much before, you figured he’d jump at this chance.

“Can you give us a sec, Nat?” he requested. 

“Sure thing.” Nat looked between you two before standing. “I’ll be right outside.” 

Both of you nodded and she excused herself. Clint stood up and ran his hands through his hair.

“Holy shit. A shot to get everyone back, a chance....” He started walking, pacing, his nervous habit. 

You stood too. 

“It’s all you need, right?” you said, trying to be supportive. 

“Yeah. It’s a hell of a lot more than what we had,” he agreed. 

“Then you have to do it,” you urged, stepping forward and putting your hands on his plaid covered chest. 

He put his hands on your back, staring into your eyes. “Yeah, I do.” 

“I know that,” you said, giving him a soft smile. “Go. Go save the world.” 

He smiled at you, holding back some sweet tears. Both of you knew what this meant if he succeeded, but right now, that didn’t matter. You would have to put aside your selfish needs and wants for the greater good. Everything else would have to wait. 

He kissed you earnestly before saying, “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay? We’ll sort everything out later.” 

You nodded. He slowly let go of you and looked at you one last time before joining Nat. She gave you a nod and a sympathetic smile before they took off and you were all alone on the porch. 

------------------------

Clint had been gone four days now, and you hadn’t heard anything from anyone. You were worried, of course, you had no idea what any of this time travel entailed. You didn't know where Clint would be going or what he’d be doing, how long he would be there. 

So, in order to keep your spirits up and your mind off the worst possible scenarios, you kept up with your routine. You had a small breakfast each morning, and then did the solo work on the farm that you could do. 

You were working in the barn with the radio going, playing music as you worked. You sang along when you knew the words until suddenly, there was a commotion on the radio. You frowned and stood up, listening to the broadcast intensely.

“People are reappearing everywhere. It’s beautiful and chaotic,” the voice said in somewhat of a panic. 

Your eyes grew wide as a torrent of emotion washed over you. Joy, worry, excitement, hope, sadness slammed into you, leaving you breathless. Your heart began hammering in your chest and as you looked around, you saw it. Cows were suddenly in the field that had been nearly bare. More chickens began clucking, more horses appeared. Your heart felt full and bright and warm, and then suddenly you remembered -- Laura, the kids.

You dropped your tools and took off running towards the house. You ran up the porch, wrenching open the screen door and there stood a brunette woman with her back to you. She turned around and you recognized the face from all the many photos around the house. 

Laura.

She was back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forever Tag: 

@essie1876

@magpiegirl80

@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked

@marvel-imagines-yes-please

@missinstantgratification

@thejemersoninferno

@rda1989

@munlis

@thefridgeismybestie

@bubblyanarocks3

@igiveupicantthinkofausername

@kaliforniacoastalteens

@feelmyroarrrr

@kaeling

@friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo 

@damalseer

@heyitscam99

@yknott81

@sorryimacrapwriter

@glitterquadricorn

@bittersweetunicorm

@alyssaj23 

@sea040561

@princess76179

@thisismysecrethappyplace

@sarahp879

@malfoysqueen14

@ellallheart

@breezy1415

@marvelmayo

@lyniboy

@paintballkid711

@pandacookieowo

[dreamlover31]

Love Will Find a Way: Chapter 20

Early the next day, Alexa and Rafael hitched a ride with his friend the realtor to explore the various properties that she had open listings for, their tour lead them through the various neighborhoods of upper and lower Manhattan; while the locations were in suitable surroundings as far as safety and space were concerned, Alexa felt that each of them didn’t live up to her standards.

In some instances, Alexa picked up some bad vibes from the neighbors next door, a few of them stared at her and Rafael as if they were outsiders honing in on their territory; the typical upper class morality in which if they weren’t in the same social circle then they were outcasts. Also, there were a few places where she found more than a few cracks in the drywall and minor structural damage.

Rafael tried his best to be patient with her, however, when they careened through the last couple of houses, he felt that they were more than satisfactory. After they scouted a four-bedroom townhouse, the trio made their way to the last spot on the realtor’s list. The car pulled up to a building that from Rafael’s viewpoint looked promising, as they piled out of the vehicle, Alexa scanned the exterior; small rectangular windows covered the front while frosted glass encased the panes of the double-sided wooded doors.

Her eyes fell downward to the cement staircase and its iron railing, the surface of the building was coated with the mixture of beige and a brown that vaguely resembled the color of chocolate, the overall texture of the building took on a faded and aged appearance, almost as if it was built sometime in the 1940s. Upon further examination of the building, Alexa concluded that it was a brownstone, as she continued to photographically memorized every feature, her eyebrows furrowed, something about its architecture caused a spark in her memory. It was at that moment that she voiced her inferences.

“Is it just me, or does this brownstone kind of looks like the one Langston Hughes used to live in when he was living in Harlem”

The realtor, dressed up in a pinstriped skirt with a blazer to match and her red hair propped up in bun, looked over at Alexa and confirmed her assumptions, she went on to explain that the previous owner was such a huge fan of his work that he wanted his home to have similar characteristics to Langston’s. Alexa turned to Rafael who shared her look of amazement at the interesting turn of events, the realtor gestured her arm forward to signal that they should make their way inside.

From there, they trekked up the stairs and entered through one of the doors into the vestibule where they glanced around the interior of first floor, at that point, the realtor guided them to the room on the left side of the dwelling. The young red haired woman stood back while Rafael and Alexa explored what was noted as the kitchen/dining area, the room itself was spacious enough to cater to a large gathering and the kitchen was practically bathed in silver and granite, from the refrigerator to the dishwasher and the countertops.

Apart from the cabinets, which were painted an off-white color, Alexa smiled softly as she combed through the various drawers and grazed her fingertips along the door of the refrigerator, a warm feeling spread throughout her body; it was as if something was telling her that this was the one. After they finished in the kitchen/dining room, the trio entered the room to the right where it was established as the living area, aside from the hardwood flooring that covered both rooms, it was an exceptionally medium sized room that would fit most of their furniture, and a prime location for any future family bonding activities.

The realtor lead them up the wooden staircase to the second floor where she pointed out two adjoining bedrooms and articulated that the hallway and master bedroom had their own bathrooms, Rafael’s eyes peeked inside the bedroom through the opened doorway, then shifted his focus over to Alexa and gave her a quirk of his eyebrow and a flirtatious smile; she blushed as a small smile crept along her face.

Suddenly, the sound of a phone ringing echoed in the middle of the hallway, Rafael and Alexa checked their pockets but the sound wasn’t coming from theirs. The realtor scoffed as she rolled her eyes at the realization that it was her cell phone, she reached into her blazer and pulled it from her inner pocket.

She briefly viewed the name on her lock screen and retorted, “Sorry guys, I have to take this but feel free to look around”

Rafael and Alexa nodded, she made her way downstairs to answer the call, in the meantime, the couple walked through the open doorway of the bedroom. Rafael stepped over to window while Alexa peeked inside the bathroom, the setup resembled the one she had at her apartment; simple shower/tub combination with the standard toilet and sink plus the cabinet underneath.

Her gaze shifted towards another set of double wooded doors that were next to it, she reached for the brass handles and pulled them outward, after she flipped on the light switch, her face lit up at the size of the walk-in closet. Alexa placed herself in the middle of the closet, her mind took in the layout of the enclosure, in that instant, a pair of arms looped around her waist. Rafael came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her shoulder, at the same time, he slowly swayed her body.

“Mmm…what do you think you’re doing mister?”

“I heard its good luck to christen every room of a new house”

“And you thought we would start with the closet?”

“Well…it’s the only bit of privacy we have now, might as well make the best of it”

Alexa giggled and the faced Rafael, he closed the doors behind them as their lips began a slow and sensuous dance, each of them left a trail from the neck to the collarbone; at one point, Alexa pecked his cheek and nipped at his earlobe. One of his hands perched itself on her hip at the same time the other slipped under her shirt, Alexa shuddered as he stroked her stomach then let out a small gasp when he firmly cupped her clothed breast.

Both sighed and moaned softly while their lips met once more, simultaneously, Alexa unbuttoned Rafael’s jeans and pulled down his fly but just as she was about to dip her hand inside, both the closet doors flung open. The two of them jumped back from each other and Alexa quickly straightened her ruffled clothing as Rafael zipped up his pants, the young woman smirked at them with her arms crossed.

“Was I interrupting something?”

“No,” they said in unison.

“Well, the brownstone is yours if you want it…unless you need more time”

“We’re just going to look around some more and we’ll let you know”

“Do I have to chaperone you guys?”

Alexa nervously laughed, but she reiterated that they would be on their best behavior, they exited the closet and took one final look before they headed into the next room. Alexa stood in the spot where they would set up their bed when her attention drifted upward to a small opening in the ceiling.

“Rafi, look there’s a skylight in here”

Rafael joined Alexa by her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, his eyes looked upward at the glass opening.

“Wow”

“I know, but it’s perfect…we can see the stars at night or listen to the pitter patter of raindrops”

“Sounds romantic”

It was then that the realtor cleared her throat and made the gesture towards the door that they should proceed onward, the room next to theirs was equally spacious, Alexa walked over to the window where her eyes looked at the scenery.

The large oak tree in her peripheral view, whose leaves were coated in a beautiful shade of orange and yellow grabbed her attention, suddenly, an image of her rocking back and forth in a chair as she cradled her child while the tree was in her rearview flashed in her mind; Alexa smiled to herself at the thought. Across the street from the brownstone, there was a park, Alexa smiled cheekily at the sound of children playing and laughing, in that instant, she spotted a few climbing the monkey bars or running along the jungle gym.

It was then that she caught a glimpse of something at the corner of her eye, her attention was now focused on a young couple pushing a stroller down the sidewalk; once again Rafael stood at her side with an arm draped around her. Their eyes were trained on them as they walked hand in hand, Rafael leaned his head against Alexa’s and said:

“That’s going to be us soon”

Alexa reached over and put her hand on top of the one that was placed on her shoulder.

“I know”

“So, what do you think? I mean I like it…”

“I do too, and I already decided that this room is going to be the nursery”

Rafael nodded, the couple turned around to where the realtor stood, they verbally relayed to her that they were going to be its new occupants.

“Great, I’ll draw up the papers and as soon as I get the go ahead from the bank, you guys can move in. Oh, before I forget, there are two more rooms on the floor above us, and I know Rafael here is always burning the midnight oil, so you can use one of them as your private office and the other can be a guest room”

“Sounds good to me, thank you for everything Denise”

“No problem, I’m always happy to help out a friend”

For the next few days, everyone from the squad and a few people from the shelter helped with the move, it took two moving trucks to pack up both Rafael’s and Alexa’s belongings.

When they arrived at the brownstone, it was an assembly line of people coming in and out with boxes, inside, Alexa was directing them where to put the them; when it came time for the heavy furniture to be unloaded, Sonny and Fin lifted the couch from the truck and brought it into the living room. The guys from the shelter picked up the mattress, that was the only piece of furniture left and escorted it to the bedroom, when both trucks were emptied, Alexa applauded them for all their hard work and that they were relieved of their duties as movers.

With a collective laugh from everyone, they made their rounds and patted one another on the back and before they left, they each gave Rafael and Alexa hugs. Later that evening, Alexa lit some candles around the house as Rafael unpacked a few essential things from the boxes, he had already placed pillows and a blanket on top of the bare mattress in the bedroom; now he was looking for where he put his phone charger. Alexa chuckled lightly at the sight of him fumbling around the cardboard box in front of him, he turned around and smirked at her.

“Do you know where my phone charger is?”

“Yeah, it’s in my purse”

“Oh…”

Alexa sauntered towards him and pulled him into her embrace, their foreheads touched as she swayed his body a little.

She let out a disappointed sigh and then said, “Well…this isn’t exactly how I wanted to spend Thanksgiving”

“I know…instead of having turkey, we’re going to have to order take-out”

“We’ll make up for it at Christmas”

Rafael lifted his head and gave a small peck on her forehead, then she walked over to where her purse sat on top of another box, she pulled out Rafael’s charger and handed it to him. When she was about to reach for her own, there was a knock at the door, she glanced over to Rafael who shared her look of confusion, as she opened the door, she was welcomed by a semi large crowd of people.

“Oh, my god…Sonny?”

“Hey Lex, happy Thanksgiving,” Carisi hugged Alexa as he balanced a large Tupperware container, she stepped aside to let him in when he was followed by Olivia and Amanda, who were also carrying containers that appeared to have small quantities of food inside them. Fin and a few more people made their way inside, Rafael came out from the dining room and was in awe at the amount of people that corralled in the entryway.

“I don’t understand…”

“Well, we couldn’t let you guys go hungry on your first night in your new home, so we each brought you guys some leftovers from our family dinners”

“But half of our things haven’t been put away yet”

“It’s ok, we’ll make room in the dining room, Fin brought a couple card tables and folding chairs and Amanda has some plastic plates and silverware, and of course Liv brought wine for Barba and Sparkling Cider for you”

Alexa became overwhelmed by the outpour of love and support coming from everyone, in that moment, tears began to well up in her eyes; she leapt forward and hugged Carisi.

“Thank you all so much, you guys are the most wonderful group of friends anyone could ask for…and that’s not the hormones talking”

Everyone burst out laughing, as soon as it quieted down, Fin and a friend of his grabbed the items from the SUV parked out front and set them up in the dining room after Rafael and Alexa shuffled some boxes around to make room, Olivia set the table as Amanda placed the folding chairs in their appropriate positions.

After everything was in place, they all sat at the table, at that same time, Alexa opened the containers and passed around pieces of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and string bean casserole. Rafael was in the kitchen unpacking the glassware from the box that sat on top of the counter, he brought glasses back to the table two by two, once each plate had a glass, he poured the wine. Alexa poured herself the Sparkling Cider and took her place at the table, throughout the rest of the evening, everyone dined on their meal as they laughed and talked about the current events in their lives.

Alexa watched silently as they continued their parade of laughter and overall enjoyment, her heart swelled with pride at how lucky she was to be surrounded by a group of people who fought for justice but who also took the time to enact the simplest acts of human kindness, in addition, she thought of how much her life changed and will continue to now that she was carrying the love of her life’s child inside her.

At one point, Rafael raised his glass and proposed a toast, to his everlasting friendship with everyone at the table, to his wonderful and adoring girlfriend and to impending fatherhood; with that, everyone else raised their glasses and voiced their agreement at his words. This would certainly be one of many cherished memories to come for Alexa and Rafael.

Tagging: @madpanda75 @madamsnape921 @teamsladsandgents @itsjustmyfantasyroom @thatesqcrush @laceybellerain @southern-magnolia @tropes-and-tales @beccabarba @glimmerglittergirl @karens-imagined-world

[sw124]

[Lamia-Bitty Daily life!11]

Hello my Lamia lovers how are all of you, good I hope. I’m doing good an so are my boys. I got nothing much to report on, new guy moved in down the street, haven’t had time to go introduce myself, Chip is laying on me while Dante is napping on his own chair across the room.

.....

Now Chip is moving over to Dante’s chair and curling up with him, probably for warmth purposes. Today is just our lazy day, we’re chilling out watching cooking shows, anime, listening to comedians and just having a wonderful time doing absolutely nothing.

Well accept doing some laundry but thats my chore not the boys, these are days where you just wanna laze around doing at least just one chore an for me thats laundry. For my boys its just a nice day to do nothing, they help out but they don’t have to.

So yeah today is just pure lazy, we may go out for a bite but right now a nice long nap watching some shows is just what we need today.

But now I’m feeling cooped up, so we’re gonna go on a nice little stroll through the neighborhood an even though the park.

..............

So yeah while going through the park the three of us encountered a young lady passing out flyers. We were curious so we went up to see what it was, turns out she was handing out information on Aviary Bitties, she got me intrigued. I asked her for more information and she happily explained.

She then offered to take me to the center where these lovely Bitties are raised, though shy about it at first; Chip and Dante encouraged me to go. Before long we were teleported to a beautiful building. Glass walls with verdant plants everywhere, mossy rocks, large palm trees, lots of tree’s inside actually.

The buildings front read: The Coalition Aviary of City Park

She handed me a book, a guid to the Bird Bitties inside. She takes us inside and we sit in the cafeteria, there are so many beautiful birds here I can’t decide....but at the same time which ones will be compatible with my boys.

Our conversation was nice and informative, her name is Fic, she’s so nice. She introduced me to a Nightwing she has. Oh he’s cute but since I got Chip it might be a little....overwhelming for me. But again he’s nice, I read over the book with Chip and Dante, so far I’m seeing so many pretty birds.

Dawnwings had my attention at first but I tend to use curses from time to time so thats out. Smoke and Mirrors were next up but I’m kinda sensitive and I’m already on edge with Chip’s pranks, not just that I don’t think I can handle things going missing in my home. Vogue and Cosmos are next, I have issues with vain people at times so Vogues are out, Cosmos....I’ll get back to them.

.......

I’m taking a break from the book, Fic offered me a tour through the facility which I accepted. Chip and Dante followed, well Chip took his place over my shoulders while Dante slithered close beside me, holding my hand.

[such a sweetie!]

So we enter the aviary and as we walked at one point...I’m swarmed by a species called Elvis. They literally dive bombed me and I was covered in a cuddle pile, as lovely as it was...being dive-bombed all the time doesn’t seem like me. Though a Sinatra did take a fancy to me and persisted on staying with us while we continued the tour. The next was a enclosure full of...

“PENGUINS!”

I couldn’t stop myself, it was a room full of penguins! Instantly a flock of them had surrounded my ankles and were hugging me, now this was a pile I was more then happy to be at the bottom of. Chip started talking with one who had taken my lap as his seat, Dante too. So I’ve found a Sinatra and a...Mr. Bow Tie.

[Thats the name of the species OH MY GOSH SO FREAKING CUTE! I swear Fic took a picture of me getting mobbed by these little guys....I’ll ask for a copy.]

I wasn’t quite satisfied, I felt like one more would round us all out. So we all walked around the Aviary again, we sat down to have a little rest. I was turning over in my head what bird I want for my third pick.....it was then the little Sinatra on my head motioned me to follow it, I asked Fic to watch the others as I followed him. We went to a little remote part of the Aviary, there sitting on a low branch was a Cosmos....

He seemed....really sad, some of his feathers were on the ground, I thought he was molting but then I saw him pull a feather from his wings off. I may not know birds but I know the difference between preening and pulling. The Sinatra flew up and stopped him, there was a little squawking between the two before the Sinatra calmed the Cosmos down.

.....I think I got the picture, the Sinatra won’t leave the Cosmos alone, poor thing must have had a rough time. Well its settled, I walked up and smiled offering it a home with me and the Sinatra. It hesitated but......accepted, especially if this particular Sinatra was coming with.

So now my Lamia friends I have now adopted three birds, a Sinatra, a Mr. Bow tie and a Cosmos. Their names are as follows: [in order] Mozart, Tundra and Nebula.

[Update! After two months]

Sooooo here we are my big family, things have been very nice since the three new additions. Right now I’m laying n my bathroom floor, my feet propped over the side of the tub soaking in warm water, Chip, Tundra and Mozart are enjoying the water while Dante is my pillow and Nebula is sitting on the plush toilet cover.

(Don’t worry the seat is down so he’s not gonna fall in)

Nebula has taken to his new life here rather quickly, Fic did tell me he was a rescue from a rather....unsavory owner and Mozart was sorta a comfort friend. Though I figure the two are more then friends, I did tell my feathery boys that any nest they build must be well hidden, it has to be in a place where I would NEVER expect to look. I’m taking this ‘nest’ thing seriously.

Tundra understands I don’t wanna know where their nests are so he’s taken it upon himself to help Nebula and Mozart find a place for their nest. I’ve also told them of my weird habits, though Dante and Chip are well aware of my habits these three are not.

But artists, writers and many people have weird habits, I tend to talk out scenes in stories I’m writing or act out scenes of situations that never happen to get excess energy out of me. They’ve seen me do this a few times, walking around and such but at this point they know its not a bad thing or anything to be concerned with. Though at times when I hear a angsty story I tend to get more aggressive in my talking even slapping my own hand, but again Chip and Dante are aware I do this and have shown the others what to do when I get like this.

Basically leave the room and wait till I’m burnt out, Nebula has caught on to this already.

All in all...I’ve got a huge family now and I’ve never felt more content.

[For Lamia adoptions speak to @vex-bittys for Bird Bitties visit @coalition-aviary-bitty-adoption they will supply you the information on all the different bird bitties including the babies I have Fic however is @addicted-to-the-fic who was my lovely guidee]

[queenkaywinchester]

Your Biggest Fan (Part 3)

|| Jensen Ackles x Reader ||

Word Count: 1,484

Warnings: none.

A Note from the Queen: Sorry it’s been soooo long since the last update. Life hit me like a speeding train, and things got ugly. But, since everything is slowly getting back to normal, here I am. Thanks for reading, and for understanding. This series tag list is open.

Your Biggest Fan Master List

Fish weren’t something you ever thought you’d find exciting. But, there you were, standing beside Jensen freaking Ackles staring into the dome of various fish that surrounded you. There were parrot fish, small species of sharks, and some type of eel thing you couldn’t pronounce the name of. Jensen, your personal tour guide, walked up to each plaque and read about each species aloud to you. And, quite honestly, you listened to every fucking word.

It helped that his voice was absolutely delicious.

You followed close behind him, occasionally bumping gently into his side. He didn’t seem to mind that you were standing a little closer than the average person would stand beside someone they barely knew. But, again, it was Jensen Ackles.

“Ooo, jellyfish,” you whispered as the two of you walked into a dimly lit room. You were the only people in the room other than a mother and her son on the other side of the large cylinder of dancing jellyfish.

“I never realized they’re so huge,” Jensen whispered back to you. You stiffened as his breath skated over your ear. You flicked your gaze over to him, catching his emerald eyes as he stared up at the creatures. He followed them as they slowly flowed up the massive enclosure.

“Yeah, I never really thought about it,” you admitted softly. Your eyes ghosted over the pastel pinks and purples of the lights that illuminated the creatures.

After a few minutes, Jensen gently tugged on your arm and lead you into another room. This room was very well lit and was filled with several large, open pools. You studied the bright surroundings and noticed that there were several children and adults at each of the pools, with their arms in the water.Your eyes widened.

“Oh! This is the tactile room! I almost forgot there was one. It’s been a while since I was last here. I think it was for one of Jared��s son’s birthdays.” He slowly approached the closest pool. “We can touch the critters in here.” He pointed to the plaque beside him. “This one is, uh, nurse sharks.”

You stared at him for a moment, feeling a little uncomfortable about putting your hands into water with living creatures swimming around. And sharks? No thanks.

But, the smile on Jensen’s face was convincing enough to make you approach the shallow pool. You turned to him, raising an eyebrow as he rolled up the sleeve of his jacket. He grinned widely at you.

“They aren’t going to bite you. Jared and Gen let the kids stick their hands in here like it was nothing. They love coming here when they visit. Plus, they wouldn’t put something out if it was dangerous for anyone.” He tilted his head a little in a silent invitation to stand beside him. You approached tentatively, peering into the rippling water. Yep, those were sharks. Tiny little sharks. They were actually kind of cute.

“You first. No offense, but my fingers are worth more than yours,” you teased, gesturing towards the water. Jensen chuckled, then nodded before slipping his hand slowly into the water. His grin widened as one of the tiny sharks brushed passed his fingers.

“Oh wow, I forgot how slimy they are,” he chuckled as he cringed. You laughed as his face contorted slightly.

“That’s gross.” He shook his head.

“Not really, just weird.” He pulled his hand from the water and shook it off. “C’mon, give it a try. I promise, if one of them bites a finger off, you can have one of mine,” he joked. But, it wasn’t funny. You werenot about to stick your hand into a pool full of mini sharks.

“I’ll take your word for it,” you muttered, taking a step back. Jensen sighed, extending his hand.

“Come on, Y/N. Just try it out. They are actually super cute.” He wiggled his fingers. “We’ll do it together.” His eyes locked on yours as he pouted slightly, making your heart race for just a second. What the hell was that about? Your heart didn’t do that, not when you were talking to a practical stranger.

And, that’s then it hit you. Jensen Ackles was asking for your hand. Sure, it was only to practically force you to pet some really tiny sharks, which was kind of a weird situation altogether. But, he was still asking for it with a smile.

“Fine,” you mumbled as you hesitantly dropped your hand into his. He pulled you a little closer, so you were standing practically flush with him, and very slowly dipped your hands into the water. He laced his fingers loosely with yours and hovered them just below the surface. You reached over with your other hand and pulled up your sleeve, waiting anxiously for the feeling of teeth on your flush.

Instead, there was a smooth, slick fin that bumped against your middle finger. You instantly squeaked and pulled against Jensen’s grasp. But, he held you steady.

“Oh my god, I just touched a baby shark,” You gasped just as another one bumped into your fingertips. “Ah!” You finally pulled away, making Jensen giggle.

“Are all of your fingers still intact?” he asked, stepping back with you. You glared at him, then laughed.

“Yep, all there.”

Jensen nodded. “Great. Sounds like there’s a chance will be another addition to your series then?” You glared over at him.

“Very funny,” you deadpanned. “That’s up to the fans,” you teased, then turned towards the next pool.

Jensen fumbled with his chopsticks, making you laugh. Honestly, it had been a while since you had used a pair too, which is why you ditched your pride and asked for a fork. But, Jensen was just too determined, and stubborn, to give up.

“How the hell do so many people use these on a regular basis?” he grumbled as they scissored in his hand. “I thought I finally got the hang of it last time.”

“Apparently not,” you chuckled as you swirled a bit of chow mein around your fork. “I have another fork here for when you decide to actually start eating, Jensen.” You waved the fork at your side. “By the time you pick up another bite, I’ll be halfway to Seattle.” He rolled his eyes.

“Fine, hand it over.” You slip him the fork, then took a bit. He fiddled with the food in front of him, before shoveling a huge bite into his mouth, followed by a happy grin. “So, when is your flight tomorrow?”

“We’re driving, my agent and I. We leave unreasonably early tomorrow morning.” You twirled your fork, then took another bite. “I have a book signing at one at some cute little family-owned bookshop. It was supposed to be today, but I postponed it.”

“For me?” he asked, pretending to look shocked. You nodded.

“I thought I could use a personal day. I haven’t gotten to many of those lately.” He nodded.

“I get the feeling. I’m back on set tomorrow.” Jensen lowered his glance to his food. “But, I love what I do. And the show, well, everyone on set is like a huge family.” You nodded.

“Yeah. I meet quite a few interesting people at signings and stuff. My agent Marcus, who acts a little more like an assistant and personal therapist, is one of the only people I see regularly though. But, he’s a great support.” You rested your fork down and sighed. “I know a few bookstore owners by now, and several people who work with my publisher. My editor is nice, once she’s had her coffee.” You both laughed.

“What about family? Do you have anyone in L.A.?” You shook your head.

“Mom and Dad are in Vermont, and I see them for big holidays. My sister in a vet in Portland. And, that’s basically it.” You leaned back a little in your chair. “I have several friends from college in L.A., but that’s really it.”

Jensen smiled. “Well, now you have a friend in Vancouver.” You mirrored his expression.

“Thanks, Jensen. It was super sweet of you to give me a tour of the place. I don’t want to say I didn’t expect to have as much fun. But, well, I didn’t expect to have such a personalized tour.” You chuckled. “I never thought petting fish was on my bucket list. And that harbor was spectacular!”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” His cheeks reddened, catching your attention. “You’re welcome to visit anytime you’d like. Like, after your book tour, when you had a little more free time.” He lowered his fork too and wiped his face with his napkin. “I’d love to give you a tour of the set.”

Your eyes widened. The set? The set of Supernatural?

“I’d love that Jensen,” you whispered, letting the events of the last eight hours set in. “That would be awesome.

Queen Kay’s Loyal Followers (Forever Tags):

@waywardmoeyy @fandoms4everyone @sophiebobzz @idk-life01 @spnbaby-67 @cocklesbelli @musiclovinchic93

Your Biggest Fan Series Tags:

@mrsdeanfuckingwinchester @cherrycokegirls1 @smoothdogsgirl @tardis-is-mine @just-another-winchester @cocoatales @sev3nruby @sterekloveaffairs @ariethegreat98 @secretsandlove81199 @maddieburcham1 @niamandthings @typicalweirdbookworm @diariesofthebeautyobsessed @viviandarkbloom06 @winchesterprincessbride @redeyedvixen @soobi89 @ericaprice2008 @faegal04 @swanwinchester @somilotopia

[antiquechampagne]

Beastly Kingdom - Chapter 11 - Splish Splash

Liz felt the strain and pressure of the last few weeks of preparation lift, if only for a moment. It was replaced with the fact that she now had to bend and shape her raiders into not only a powerful fighting force, but also a manufacturing powerhouse, almost overnight.

After some negotiation, Nate sent a few low-level commanders from the Minutemen to work on organizing and training the Pack. Luckily, he took her suggestion to send them in civilian clothes to keep the Brotherhood from getting any ideas of their true mission. Liz had the old Disciples headquarters cleaned out under Fizztop Grille, moving Big Mama into a proper home. Not only did this mean Liz now had a wonderfully powerful guard dog to protect her front door, it also gave the Pack more room to expand their operation.

A number of the freed traders fled Nuka-World as soon as their collars were removed. More than she had expected stayed, taking up residence in Bradberton. This included their de facto mayor, the good Doctor Mackenzie. A few of the more dedicated traders even negotiated the use of a few apartments close to the market to be closer to their stalls.

It took longer than she expected to establish their new trade routes. Shank, ever the logistics wrangler, found the transition from organizing raids into the Commonwealth to master supply chain manager an easy change. Soon enough, more goods were flowing through the market and into the Operator’s kitchens, which had expanded into the buildings surrounding The Parlor. Their first priority was to stockpile enough food, chems and munitions to fully supply both Nuka-World’s forces and augment the Minutemen for the upcoming offensive.

Today, though… today, Liz was doing her best to keep her best armorer from being eaten by one very annoyed deathclaw.

“You need to hold still, Mama…” Liz scratched in between a few blue glowing belly scales with one hand, the other gently moving the giant head to look in her direction. Today was Mama’s helmet fitting, something they were both dreading. Mama wasn’t fond of the constricting armor that was already created, but this was another level of torture she was not ready to endure.

Bort was the artisan tasked with molding the various bits of high-grade ceramic infused steel from scrapped Galaxy Zone robots to cover all of Mama’s vital bits. He stood off to the side of Mama’s luxurious enclosure, trying his best not to drench the leather and scrap prototype with copious amounts of sweat. It took Liz a few tries, but she finally got Mama calm enough to relax and close her eyes. Cooing calmly to distract the beast, Liz motioned for Bort to get closer.

Working together, they slowly eased the prototype over Mama’s two giant curved horns, securing it under her chin. As Boris tried to tighten the buckle, Mama shook her head, trying to throw the offensive headgear off. She succeeded in cold-cocking Boris in the temple with a horn, knocking him out flat.

Liz smiled wryly and nodded her head. “Come on, Mama. Look what you’ve done!” Mama bent down, sniffing at Boris. She started to open her jaws, but Liz chided her gently. “You just had lunch, leave him alone.” Liz pulled the deathclaw’s giant muzzle to her chest, resting its chin on her sternum as she reached over and finished tightening the leather strap.

“There! Stand up and let me get a good look at you!” Mama stood back on her rear legs, her head nearly 11 feet above the ground. Liz smiled. “Now, move around a bit. Let’s see how it fits.” Mama paced the giant room, jumping and galloping around the internal concrete structures of Fizztop. The tremors of Mama’s weight on the floor woke Boris from his daze. Liz noticed Mama picking at the back of the helmet with her giant claws where it dug in.

Liz motioned for her to come close. She got out a pen. Again, she gently guided Mama’s head to her chest, marking areas to be altered.

After sending Boris away to work on fabricating the last piece of Mama’s armor, she turned to her monstrous charge. “You’ve been cooped up all day, haven’t you?” She scratched behind her horns. “Wanna go play in the pool? Cool off?” A giant stubby blue long tongue lolled out of her maw as she danced from foot to foot.

Liz opened the giant red door and Mama shot, bounding across the courtyard into the giant reflecting pool, rolling and dipping her huge body in as much of the water as she could. Liz laughed. Mama looked like a giant scaly puppy playing with pure joyful abandon. Quickly, many of the nearby people found better places to be than within striking distance of the deadly animal. A slow unlucky Pack member caught Liz’s attention.

“Hey!” She called to the woman in striped leggings and a pig mask. Reluctantly, the Pack member slinked up to the Overboss. Liz slipped her a handful of caps, ordering her to return with a leg of something from the market as quick as she could. Soon Liz was playing ‘keep away’ in ankle-deep murky water with half a brahmiluff leg. Liz weaved around Mama, teasing her with the meat. She waved it in the air inches from her nose before darting away, leaving Mama to slash and bite at nothing but air.

Liz held the leg in her teeth, swinging it back and forth across the pool from Mama, who's tail lashed side to side before bolting straight for her prize. Out of the corner of her eye, Liz caught a glimpse of some bright yellow armor off to her left. The distraction was only a few milliseconds long, but that momentary distraction slowed her down just enough that she could no longer avoid one of Mama's incoming claws. Mama's playful swipe caught her across her jaw, throwing her down into the fetid water. The meat went flying in the other direction, Mama in hot pursuit.

"BOSS!"

Liz got to her feet, wiping the greasy water from her face and eyes. The large gash on face burned and stung; blood running in a sheet down her neck. Feeling around, she found the sizable wound wasn't particularly deep.

"Boss?"

Gage was to her from the edge of the pool. He had stepped into the water, but was reluctant to get any closer, eyeing Mama with his hand on his weapon.

Liz waved him down. "It's fine. Just another scar to add to the rest of 'em." She turned to Mama, who was turned away from her, happily crunching away.

"Mama." She said the name with commanding authority. The deathclaw glanced up. "Drop it. Come here." Slowly Mama did as she was told. As she got closer to Liz, she started to sniff the air. Liz stood stock still, Mama inching nearer to her freely bleeding face. Liz stared into Mama's glowing blue eyes, her gaze never wavering. She could see the moment when the creature realized why her once happy playmate was now staring her down with a stern disappointed look. Mama shuffled back a few steps and bowed her head ever so slightly in apology. Liz extended her hand, rubbing Mama's own jaw slowly. Her firm expression softened into a weak smile.

"Be more careful next time, Mama. I don't have scales like you." Mama leaned into her hand. "Let's go get cleaned up. Back to your room." Slowly, the reptile began to slink back to her lair.

Turning, she saw Gage. He stood in awe, still barely a foot away from the water's edge. As she passed him, she called out. "Would you mind calling Dr. Mackenzie? I'm gonna need some stitches for this."

She shooed at Mama to speed her up as she sat on the edge of the pool, draining the water out of her boots. Looking down, she saw her shirt was ripped in several places. Guess I'm pretty lucky she only clipped my face! she thought to herself.

She heard Gage's footsteps in the water behind her as he splashed around.

"Boss, I think you dropped this..." he held out her hollow claw talisman, now cracked and missing pieces. The lanyard was tangled with dripping wet weeds.

"Well, fuck..." Liz took the broken necklace and inspected it before dropping it back in the water. "Guess I won't be wearing that anymore."

Mackenzie was nearly finished with her row of stitches when she got word that Nate had entered the park. Liz pushed the doctor to finish faster. Over the objections, Liz got her to skip the last couple stitches in favor of slapping a bandage on the oozing wound and calling it good.

Liz found Nate in the bustling marketplace, chatting to a pair of merchants. Traders from around the Commonwealth and beyond had started to investigate the new market, ever ready to make a fistful of caps if the opportunity present itself.

"Good evening, General. To what do I owe your visit?"

"I just wanted to see how things were progressing. I had several positive reports from my people. I wanted to see for myself." He pointed to her face. "Is everything alright?"

"Just a little training accident, nothing to worry about. Would you like a tour of the new-improved Nuka-World?"

"No thanks. I feel like wandering around a bit... kicking the tires, if you like."

"Of course. General. I might suggest leaving Fizztop Mountain and Kiddie Kingdom off your itinerary for today... unless you want to test Mama's hospitality or to your radiation resistance."

Nate nodded. "Excellent points. Well, I am sure you are very busy with all the preparation. I'll leave you to them." He turned to go. "I'll make sure to touch base with you before I leave if I have any questions."

Liz wasn't particularly happy with such a cool reception in her own territory, but she knew well enough to leave it alone. He was transparent enough with his intention to see if she was keeping up her end of the bargain. She respected that.

Not that she was going to just let him skulk around unsupervised. A quick visit to Mason made sure he was tailed discretely as he wandered the parks but a few of the Pack's most promising infiltration units. If nothing else, this would give them good practice for future operations.

Liz spent the rest of the day getting reports of the General's movements while pretending to supervise weapon allocations around Nuka-Town and the surrounding parks. It appeared that not only was Nate checking on their progress but try to gauge both her troops and residents opinions of Nuka-World's new mission. From what her men could discern, the General liked what he heard.

Around dusk, Liz saw Nate walking towards her as she sat talking with Mags outside the Parlor. Dr. Mackenzie strolled by his side, chatting lightly. He nodded, taking his leave from the former slave and headed her way.

As he approached, Liz motioned for Mags to head inside, leaving the rusty patio chair open for the General. "So, did you find everything up to snuff, General?" She motioned for him to sit.

He remained standing. "I am quite impressed what you have managed to do here in such a short period of time. I could have done without the babysitters, though."

Liz waved the accusation way. "It's a good test for'em... from what I hear, your feats of sneakiness are quite impressive. Is it true you took out all those raiders in Quincy and they never even got a shot off at you?" Liz wasn't sure, but she though she saw a faintest hint of a blush.

"Maybe." He quickly recovered. "Enough about that. I thought we might start talking strategy, privately, for the assault on the Boston airport. If you have the time, of course..."

The Overboss rose from her chair. "My office should do. Not a soul would dare to bother us up there. I've been wanting to show you all the nasty little tricks I've been thinking up."

[susannaprouse]

Forty Eight - Iquitos

I woke up to an extremely loud noise. I had my ear plugs in and still jolted awake. It must have been an earthquake and so I shook Mike awake confused and panicked. As Mike blinked slowly at me I realised I could hear rushing water and it dawned on me the crash was thunder, the loudest and most terrifying thunder I'd ever heard. With the brightest lightening I'd ever seen. It was like a bright torch was being shone into our room. Our first Amazon storm had hit. It was amazing but after getting back into bed I could swear I could feel a tiny splatter of water on my foot, it was so tiny it could have been my imagination. I got up feeling around the bed until I found a large wet patch at the end of the bed: we had a leaking ceiling. Mike woke up and we quickly moved all our things from the wet floor to the other side of the room, trying to dry things with a towel as we went. Exhausted we went back to sleep realising there was nothing more we could do at 3 in the morning.

On waking we spoke with the hostel lady and moved our stuff to the much bigger and nicer room next door. Free upgrade! The rain was still heavy so we donned our boots, coats and umbrellas and went out into the cooler city.

We had yet another mission. I had my heart set on going to Isla de Los Monos, a rescue and rehabilitation centre for primates but getting there seemed difficult and confusing. To try and work this out we had decided to head to their office in Iquitos.

As soon as we got there we saw the door was firmly closed but pinned to it were hand written instructions telling us to head through a market, down to the docks and then board a boat. We would then need to call a guy called Hugo for another boat to pick us up. Despite trying to call we didn't get a reply and getting hangry we went for breakfast to get some WiFi and email.

Breakfast was a 'breakfast for big boys' according to Mike, a huge plate of eggs, bread, potatoes, tomators and onion as well as coffee and juice - delicious! Unfortunately we still couldn't get through to Hugo so walked down to the docks with the hopes it would make more sense.

The market and docks were insane, planks of rickety wood balanced on the watery passageways. Hairless dogs competed for scraps and kids carrying huge crates of bananas weaved through like it was nothing. It was dirty and noisy and everyone was looking at us. It was overwhelming but I loved seeing a little more of what life was like in Iquitos.

After navigating our way through the maze and asking an old woman with silver teeth we eventually found a few boats. The men there clearly knew where we wanted to go shouting Monkey Island. We dithered, desperately wanting to get on the boat but also knowing we still hadn't got through to Hugo so may end up being stranded on the other side.

Feeling a little annoyed we left the docks making the decision to go to the Butterfly Farm instead and wait for a reply from Hugo via email. We could then go there once we were back from our trip to the Amazon. We got a mototaxi to another section of dock and quickly found a boat that would take us to Padre Cocha, a village just around the river bend (I have had Pocahontas stuck in my head for the last week). We got in and had our first taste of the Amazon river. This section, near the city, was dirty and full of huge boats used to import things to the city without roads in and out.

It was strange to feel we were immediately surrounded by the rainforest and it made us excited for the trip we would be starting the following day. After disembarking we walked the fifteen minutes through the small village to the Butterfly Farm. By the time we got there we were soaked with sweat, the cool air the storm had created had definitely gone by this point. We met a French volunteer that would guide us round the site and were quickly joined by a German couple.

The tour took us around the huge butterfly enclosure with 17 types of colourful butterflies fluttering around (mum, you would have been screaming!). The coolest was the Owl Butterfly whose defence mechanism means it can close its upper wings together to show what looks to be an owls face. Our guide managed to catch one to show this before letting it go unharmed.

After the butterflies we walked around the rescue and rehabilitation section. The Austrian woman that ran the Butterfly Farm was quickly made aware of lots of animals seized by the authorities from stupid people housing them in their restaurants, homes or trying to sell them on the pet trade. As they knew she had space they convinced her to house them as most couldn't be released to the wild due to their interactions with humans.

Walking this section was bitter sweet. The animals were clearly well looked after but their stories were heart breaking and it was sad they had to remain in captivity. As soon as we started walking we saw, for me, the most amazing thing. A red bald headed Uakari and a Wooly Monkey sat together grooming each other! Obviously with my work on Primates I knew the Uakari is one of the rarest primates, it's red face making it an easy target. To see two different breeds together and so close was amazing. Apparently they'd both been rescued from the pet trade and were now best mates.

We continued walking and saw pygmy marmosets, the smallest primate, that had been found in the airport being smuggled out. Then came the capuchin monkeys, the most intelligent monkey, one if which had been taught by street gangs to pick pockets. Upon arrival to the rescue centre, it quickly taught the other monkey its tricks.

Onwards to the three-fingered sloth that was so close to us and was awake, watching us with curiosity. Next, the ocelots. I hadn't seen one since Costa Rica and I'd forgotten how beautiful they are. There was a male and a female, both had been rescued from the pet trade. The centre tried to put them together but the male kept attacking the female. It seemed he'd been so habituated from birth he didn't even recognise his own species.

On we walked to the adolescent tapir who ate a banana. He was being bred by a restaurant to eat before he was rescued. Behind his enclosure we saw a huge lake they were making safe so he could swim in something bigger than the pool he currently had.

Finally we saw the first animal the authorities had needed somewhere for: the jaguar. Our guide grabbed a hunk of meat and hung it on the edge of a cage. From the shadows the jaguar emerged, hissing a warning before grabbing the meat. It was sad to see it in an enclosure but it couldn't be released as it had become dependant on humans. Even though it was smaller than the average jaguar it was still huge and scary.

The tour came to an end and we made the walk back to the dock in the hot sun. When we arrived there was a boat full of people ready to leave so we quickly got in and started chatting with an older Western woman. It turned out she was Australian, born in Austria, now living in Peru. I asked her why she made the move to Peru and got the response that 'it was more of a calling, the South American spirits were calling me'. I could physically feel Mike next to me tense up and mentally remove himself from the conversation.

I, on the other hand, was fascinated. It turned out she'd heard the calling and so had left her husband and children to move to the Amazon. She now ran an airbnb specialising in tarot card readings and Ayahuasca experiences (the hallucinogenic drug traditionally used in ceremonies but now sought after by tourists). She was clearly a weirdo but the conversation was good.

After a quick ice cream (chocolate for me, coffee for Mike) we got a mototaxi back to the hostel where we relaxed for a while before heading out for dinner. Dinner that night was burritos filled with Amazonian flavours, such as dried chicken and spicy local peppers. Mike went for grande which was absolutely massive while I went for Junior. Safe to say Mike felt as stuffed as the burrito when he left.

[mizu-writes-kumo]

Because I can, and it was something of a short and sweet little idea before getting ready for bed.

Based off this!

----

“Excuse me, you’re interrupting!” Shiro heard Lance declare loudly over the a constant sound of lion hums, puffs, and content little sounds.

Years of working with a collection of big cats, and at the Voltron Lion Sanctuary, Shiro has long gotten use to the sounds.  When he is not guiding a tour he returns the sounds with his own, usually mimicking them with a smile and giving the cats the attention they want.  However, he had also long since learned to tune them out on guided tours of his sanctuary.  Even how to direct attention away from the chattering big cat, and to whatever he is talking about.

However they were by Nyeusi’s and Blue’s enclosure.

And Blue had clearly spotted Lance.

Which meant, she wasn’t going to stop until Lance gave her ample attention and affections.  And she had taken to full on roaring once before because Lance walked past her and didn’t acknowledge her like she wished.  Nyeusi did nothing to calm her by giving Blue any of his attentions.  Roars are a lot harder to talk over.

So Shiro wasn’t surprised when he turned to the sound of his husband’s voice to find him staring Blue down.  Arms crossed and learning down so he was slightly eye level with her.  A stern rigidness to his body language, like he was scoldeding the lioness thoroughly on her behavior.  As any parent would do as they discipline a child for misbehaving rudely to someone talking.

Blue doesn’t care though.

The large lioness continued to hum and puff at Lance.  Rubbing her face and body along the fence contently.  Knowing she had Lance’s full attention.  And it was only a matter of time before he melted into giving her affections.

“No, you have to be quieter, Beautiful.”  Lance stated.  “Shiro is doing a tour, none of this huffing and puffing okay?  You have to wait your turn.”

Blue stopped to look at him, her eyes completely fixed on Lance.  Which meant he was probably pointing at her and she was curiously watching his finger.  She hummed up at Lance almost like she was complaining with him.

Lance, like a mature adult, mimicked it right back at her.

It earned him a huff.

But Blue quieted herself into more gentler rumbles.  Still brushing up against the fences happily as Lance moved into a squat in front of her.  He gave her soft praises for listening to him, and complimenting her beautifully slightly grayish-blue colored pelt.  Pressing his hands against the fence.

Shiro can’t stop the smile the crossed his face at the sight.

Mostly because Lance had made a post on his instagram about when Blue was a little cub.  

A sort of throwback Thursday picture, Lance passed out on the old intern bunk he use to sleep in, with little club Blue wrapped in a baby’s blanket asleep on his chest.  Grouped with a dorky photo of him curled up against Blue’s much larger, full-grown body on a vet’s table from her check up earlier that week.  A simple blurb about how far his ‘Little Girl Blue’ had come, and how he misses cuddles with her.

Something Shiro had left the comment of: What?! I cuddle with you all the time!  Are my hubby cuddles not good enough now?  

Only for Lance to quickly shoot back: Hubby cuddles > lion cuddles...most days.

And that was something Shiro couldn’t really argue with.

Clearing his throat, Shiro pulled the attention of his little group back to him. Continuing exactly where he left off before they were interrupted.  Gesturing to the three tigers that had collected and were cuffing at him in greeting.

----

AN:  I did some Shance Big Cat Sanctuary AU, because I wanted it so bad.  And this was just a fun little blurb because I was in the mood to write, but not something every long.

Hit me up if curious for more...or don’t whatever...

[chocolatequeennk]

Forever and Never Apart, 29/42

Summary: After taking a year to recover from the Master, the Doctor and Rose are ready to travel again. But Time keeps pushing them forward, and instead of going back to their old life, they slowly realise that they’re stepping into a new life. Friends new and old are meeting on the TARDIS, and when the stars start going out, the Doctor and Rose face the biggest change of all: the return of Bad Wolf.

Series 4 with Rose, part 7 of Being to Timelessness; sequel to Taking Time (AO3 | FF.NET | TSP)

Betaed by @lastbluetardis, @rudennotgingr, @jabber-who-key, and @pellaaearien. Thank you so much!

AO3 | FF.NET | TSP

Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch 10| Ch 11 | Ch 12 | Ch 13 | Ch 14 | Ch 15 | Ch 16 | Ch 17 | Ch 18| Ch 19 | Ch 20 | Ch 21 | Ch 22 | Ch 23 | Ch 24 | Ch 25 | Ch 26 | Ch 27 | Ch 28

Chapter Twenty-nine: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

A month later, they were back to their old life, travelling in the TARDIS. Donna had spent a week with her grandfather, taking him on a surprise trip to Italy when her mother had gotten back from her weekend away.

The TARDIS was still scanning the fifty-first century, looking for Lee. The Doctor checked the results every morning, and after a few days, Donna had stopped asking if he’d found anything. He’d tell her when he did.

Today, they were taking a day off from the travelling. Rose had holed herself up in the library to read while the Doctor tinkered and Jenny and Donna relaxed in the pool.

“Mum?”

Rose looked up from her book when Jenny called her name. The title still felt new and a bit weird, but she liked it.

“What did you need, Jenny?” Rose’s back twinged, and she realised she’d been sitting in the same position for too long. She winced, then stretched out while Jenny sat down in the other armchair flanking the fireplace.

“Donna was telling me about an Earth custom… a spa day?”

Rose chuckled. “I bet she was. Did you want to experience one for yourself, see what it’s like?”

Jenny nodded eagerly. “She said it’s something girlfriends and mums and daughters do together. Maybe we could find something for Dad to do, and we could have a spa day?”

“Oh, that sounds amazing,” Rose sighed. “I haven’t had a proper girls’ day in… oh, years.” She set her book down on the table with a bookmark holding her place, then stood up and smiled at Jenny. “Come on, let’s go read through the TARDIS’ travel guides and see if we can find a planet with something suitably exciting for the Doctor, and a spa for us.”

The Doctor was thrilled when the three women presented him with the request to go to Midnight. Rose had remembered the name when they came across it and knew he’d been wanting to go on the tour of the diamond planet for years.

He was less thrilled when he realised they intended to pack him off on the tour alone while they enjoyed the other amenities of the leisure palace. “But it’s no fun if I go alone,” he protested. “Come on, it’s just four hours—then you can have your spa day in the afternoon.”

Donna snorted. “No, that’s four hours there and four hours back. That’s like a school trip. I’d rather go sunbathing.”

The Doctor shook his head. “And that’s another thing—Midnight’s sun is Xtonic. Is it even safe to sunbathe?”

Jenny patted his shoulder. “It’s fine, Dad. It says in the guide book that the glass enclosure over the leisure palace is fifteen feet thick.”

He bounced on his toes and Rose held up a hand before he could say anything more. “And don’t try luring us in with the sapphire waterfall and the Cliffs of Oblivion. We read all about it, and we still want to have our spa day.”

His shoulders slumped and he sighed in defeat. “All right, I give up. Next stop, Midnight: the Planet of Diamonds. Also home to one of the best spa resorts in the galaxy, if you go for that kind of thing.” He twirled his finger in their direction. “You’d better pack your bags, ladies.”

Rose pointed to the door, where three suitcases were waiting. “Oh, we’re ready,” she assured him.

Thirty minutes later, they were checked in to rooms in the resort and Rose was walking the Doctor to the embarkation area for the tour busses. The long hallway was made almost entirely of glass, giving passengers a view of craggy spires sparkling in the sunlight.

“Better not tell Mum about this,” Rose muttered. “A planet made of diamonds? She wouldn’t care if they were poisoned.”

“Do you remember Scotland and the werewolf?” the Doctor asked.

Rose laughed. “And how we joked that Mum would fight the werewolf for the diamond?” Another memory came fast on the heels of that one. “That was when we first started to realise Bad Wolf had permanently changed me,” she added.

The Doctor hummed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Best news I’ve ever gotten.”

Rose snorted. “You practically had a panic attack when I asked you what the werewolf meant.”

“Well…” He tugged on his ear. “I didn’t realise it was good news at the time.”

They finally reached the gate printed on the Doctor’s ticket and stopped a few feet from the ticket counter. He pointed at the gate agent, looking bored as he stared at the computer in front of him.

“You’re sure I can’t talk you into coming with me?” The Doctor squeezed her hand. “It could be fun, just the two of us.”

Rose shook her head. “Jenny asked for this, love. Donna told her that spa days are something mums and daughters do together.”

Warm affection immediately replaced his slightly petulant attitude. “Ah. Well, that’s a different story then.”

“Yeah. Plus, I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t had a girls’ day in forever—not a proper, Earth-like girls’ day, with all the pampering and fruity drinks and giggling over the funny stories we’ve shared.” Rose stretched up to peck the Doctor on the cheek. “So you have fun on your tour, and when you get back, we’ll try that anti-gravity restaurant—just the two of us.”

The Doctor grinned. “The one with bibs?”

Rose straightened his tie. “Yep!”

“That’s a date, Rose Tyler.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged her close, then bent down and kissed her quickly before pulling back. “You ladies have a fun time, telling all your jokes at my expense.” Rose feigned shock, and he shook his head. “Oh, I know exactly what kinds of funny stories you’ll pull out.”

Rose gave him his favourite teasing smile, and he shook his head and kissed her again, lingering a bit longer this time. In fact, it was the last call for boarding that finally reminded them both that he had somewhere to be, and he reluctantly let go of her.

“Have fun, Doctor,” Rose said as she stepped away from him. “And be careful.”

He winked. “Nah. Taking a big space truck with a bunch of strangers across a diamond planet called Midnight? What could possibly go wrong?”

oOoOoOoOo

The Doctor waved jauntily the other passengers on the mostly-full bus as he walked on. The couple near the door rolled their eyes, and the woman muttered something that sounded like, “Finally.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and made his way forward, sitting in front of a young woman who was the only person to wave back at him.

A woman at the back of the bus caught his eye, and her sky blue Oxford shirt and the company badge stitched to her blazer told him she was the Hostess. She hustled forward with the refreshments trolley and started handing him things, one after the other.

“That’s the headphones for channels one to thirty-six. Modem link for 3D vidgames. Complimentary earplugs. Complimentary slippers.” His lap was almost full, and she moved on to the snack items. “Complimentary juice pack and complimentary peanuts. I must warn you some products may contain nuts.”

“That’ll be the peanuts,” the Doctor said, unable to resist.

The customer service smile disappeared from her face, her lips pressed into a thin line instead. “Enjoy your trip.”

“Oh, I can’t wait. Allons-y,” the Doctor chirped as she started to push the trolley away.

She sighed and turned back to him. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s French, for let’s go,” he explained, a little less vibrancy in his voice.

“Fascinating,” she said through clenched teeth.

The Doctor grimaced when she walked away. He’d certainly managed to make a poor impression right off the bat. Hoping to smooth over some ruffled feathers, he looked at the blonde woman sitting on the other side of the aisle, reading a book.

“I cut it a bit fine, I know,” he said, and she looked up at him. “Just lost track of time, saying goodbye to my wife. You know how it is.”

Her already cold expression turned frosty. “I’m afraid I don’t, since I’ve found myself single rather recently, not by choice.”

“Ah.” The Doctor tugged on his ear. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he offered, and she nodded once. “What happened?”

The woman shrugged, but it was a brittle motion, meant to convey nonchalance she did not feel. “Oh, the usual. She needed her own space, as they say. A different galaxy, in fact. I reckon that’s enough space, don’t you?”

The Doctor nodded, but he really didn’t know what else to say to that. The woman nodded again, sharply, and went back to her book.

Feeling truly awkward for once in his life, the Doctor sat quietly for a moment. But he couldn’t remain still for long, and only a few seconds passed before he was turning his head, taking in the interior of the bus.

The tiny windows in the hull captured his attention right away, and the Doctor perked up. He hadn’t imagined they’d be able to look outside while they drove across Midnight. He glanced back at the Hostess, parking the trolley in the back of the bus, but before he could ask her about the windows, the man sitting behind him leaned forward and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes.” He held his hand out, and the Doctor shook it.

“I’m the Doctor,” he said, aware that a relieved smile had stretched across his face. At least someone will talk to me. “Hello.”

“It’s my fourteenth time,” Professor Hobbes said, rather self-importantly.

The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Oh. My first.” This will be new, not being the most experienced person in the group.

The young woman who’d smiled at the Doctor when he’d gotten on the bus stood up and offered him her hand. “And I’m Dee Dee, Dee Dee Blasco.”

“Don’t bother the man,” Professor Hobbes chided. “Where’s my water bottle?”

The Doctor winked at Dee Dee as she assured the professor that they had all the necessary supplies, and she shrugged, as if to say, “That’s just what he’s like.”

The remaining passenger was a teenage boy dressed in all black. Judging by the way the lad was pointedly ignoring the couple by the door, the Doctor guessed they were his parents.

His attention was pulled back to the Hostess as she strode up the aisle from the rear of the vehicle. “Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader Fifty.” At the cabin door, she turned around to face them, that professional smile back in place. “If you would fasten your seat belts, we’ll be leaving any moment.”

She smirked at them while they all fumbled with the seat belts. Once they were properly buckled in, she checked her watch, then nodded. “Doors.”

The doors closed, shutting them off from the hangar bay they were parked in.

“Shields down,” she continued, motioning with her hands.  

Shielded visors lowered over the windows, dashing the Doctor’s hopes of watching the landscape of Midnight as they travelled. He sighed, but supposed he should have guessed—the bus certainly didn’t have fifteen feet of glass protecting them from the poisonous rays.

“I’m afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace,” the Hostess explained. “Also, a reminder. Midnight has no air, so please don’t touch the exterior door seals,” she cautioned, pointing to seals. “Fire exit at the rear, and should we need to use it, you first.”

The Doctor stifled a laugh. If Midnight had no air and the sunlight was toxic, using the fire exit would be the equivalent of leaping from the fire into the frying pan.

After giggling at her own joke, she said, “Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe.”

“Driver Joe at the wheel,” spoke a voice over the intercom.

A topographical map of Midnight appeared on the screen on the wall, and the Doctor put on his glasses to bring it into focus.

“There’s been a diamond fall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we’ll be taking a slight detour, as you’ll see on the map.” The typical route was highlighted in orange, while their detour was done in blue. “The journey covers five hundred kliks to the Multifaceted Coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll.”

There was a bit of turbulence as they left the dock, and the Doctor shifted in his seat, excited to finally be on the way.

The Hostess smiled and lifted her chin, drawing their attention back to her. “For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth classics.”

She pressed a button on the remote in her hand, and a set of screens popped down from the ceiling, showing a music video from the 1980s.

“Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein.”

She pressed another button, and they were immersed in a holographic art display. The Doctor would have found it interesting—and Rose would have loved it—but it was impossible to focus on the art when the video was playing at the same time.

“Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat. The Animation Archives.” A large screen dropped down in front of the cabin door, and a Betty Boop cartoon started playing.

Any one of the three forms of entertainment might have been interesting, but together, they were nothing but noise.  The Hostess didn’t seem to think so. “Four hours of fun time. Enjoy,” she said unironically, then disappeared to the back of the bus.

The Doctor looked at the three different displays, utterly unenthused. It’s tempting… He glanced around at his fellow passengers, seeing if anyone else was interested in the entertainment. The blonde woman looked up from her book and heaved a sigh, then rolled her eyes when she caught him looking at her.

That was all the encouragement he needed. Especially given his blunder with her earlier, he was happy to do what he could to make her trip just a little bit nicer. He pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, and five seconds later, the screens went dark and returned to their docks.

“Well, that’s a mercy,” Professor Hobbes said.

“Ah, I do apologise, ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon,” the Hostess said as she walked forward, frantically hitting the buttons on her remote.

The Doctor ducked his head so she wouldn’t see his smile; her remote wouldn’t do a bit of good. He’d disabled the entertainment system permanently, at least until they did a hard reboot of the software.

The Hostess didn’t know that though, and she frowned in vexation when the remote didn’t work. “We seem to have had a failure of the entertainment system.”

“Oh,” the Doctor said, feigning dismay. The woman across the aisle looked at him knowingly, and he thought he saw a hint of gratitude in her eyes.

“But what do we do?” the woman by the door asked.

“We’ve got four hours of this?” her husband added. “Four hours of just sitting here?”

“Tell you what.” The Doctor turned around and kneeled on his seat. “We’ll have to talk to each other instead.”

The blonde woman shook her head and bent closer to her book. None of the other passengers were enthused by the idea either, but the Doctor didn’t let their obvious dismay deter him.

“Let’s start with names, shall we? I’m the Doctor.”

oOoOoOoOo

Fifteen minutes after leaving the Doctor at the shuttle bay, Rose used the keycard she’d been given to slip into her room at the resort. She, Jenny, and Donna had taken a quick look at the options on offer, and the vote had been unanimous—swimming and sunbathing first, followed by massages and then lunch. And that meant the very first thing to do was change into her swimming costume.

The Doctor seemed happy, and she reached out to him as she opened up the suitcase. Having a good time, love? Are you impressing all the other passengers?

To her surprise, he turned a little sheepish. It was a bit of a rough start, but I think we’re getting along well now. I might have turned off the onboard entertainment so we’d be forced to actually talk.

Rose pulled out her bikini and wrap, shaking her head at him. That sounded like him, but she was familiar enough with this century’s ideas of entertainment—a constant bombardment of noise—to guess that most people were actually grateful.

What are you up to? he asked.

A sly smile crossed Rose’s face. She quickly changed into the suit and pulled her hair up in a messy bun, then looked at herself in the mirror and nodded. Just getting ready to go swimming with the girls, she told him casually. A second later, she let him see exactly what she looked like, in her skimpy red bikini with tendrils of hair framing her face.

Oh… that’s not fair, he groaned.

Rose closed her eyes and focused on the bond, and a moment later, she was standing in front of the Doctor. She pressed a finger to her collarbone and traced a line down to the deep V of her bikini top, and his eyes tracked her movements hungrily.

Just a tease, since you can’t be here to enjoy it in person, she told him.

The Doctor reached for her, and the feeling of his cool hand on her bare skin sent a shiver down Rose’s back. He leaned down and nipped at her earlobe, then whispered, You know I love it when you tease me, Rose, but you also know that I return your teasing, with interest.

Rose drew in a shuddering breath when the Doctor brushed his nose along her jawline, his lips close enough that she could feel his breath. He finally pressed a lingering kiss to the corner of her mouth before lifting his head to give her a knowing smile.

I’ll see you tonight.

The bond faded back into the background, and Rose sighed. Time to get this girls’ day started, she told herself, wrapping a black sarong around her waist.

Jenny and Donna were already lounging by the pool when she arrived. “There you are,” Donna said, saluting with a hand holding a cocktail. “Oh, the Doctor is going to be disappointed he missed seeing that bikini.”

Rose smiled as she reclined in the third lounge chair. “He might have already gotten a glimpse,” she drawled. Jenny and Donna frowned blankly at her, and she tapped her temple. “What’s the point of sharing a telepathic bond with your husband if you don’t tease him with it sometimes?” Donna threw her head back and laughed, and Rose picked up the fruity cocktail waiting for her to accept her friend’s toast.

“I don’t know how you can handle drinking something that sweet,” Donna said, gesturing to Rose’s mai tai. “Can you even taste the alcohol under all that sugar?”

Rose took a sip and hummed—the resort had used her favourite Maldorian rum. “Not tasting the alcohol is the point, Donna,” she replied. “I like things a little sweet.” She thought of the Doctor pouring sugar into his tea and wrinkled her nose. “Not as sweet as the Doctor does…”

Jenny giggled. “No one likes things as sweet as Dad does.”

A hazy memory came back to Rose, and she focused on it for a minute before she started laughing. She’d only been teasing the Doctor when she’d mentioned telling funny stories at his expense, but this one was too good not to tell.

“You know how much he loves to eat jam, yeah?”

Donna snorted. “That’s hard to miss. At least he uses a spoon, I suppose.”

“Oh, but he hasn’t always,” Rose countered. She set her drink down and turned slightly in her chair to look at her audience. “I remember a time when he would just grab any jar of jam he saw and stick his fingers right in it, without even thinking.”

“Ewww!” Donna wrinkled her nose.

Rose smirked. “I haven’t even mentioned the best part, Donna. We weren’t at home when he did this.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Donna said. “He just took a stranger’s jam jar and stuck his dirty fingers into it?”

Rose nodded. “The look I gave him…” She laughed. “Let’s just say he put the jar back, sharpish.”

oOoOoOoOo

After Rose’s teasing, it had taken a few minutes for the Doctor to settle back into reality on the bus. Honestly, when given a choice between spending the morning with his gorgeous wife in a bikini and spending that time getting to know a group of strangers, there was no contest.

But he hadn’t been given a choice. Rose had asked for a girls’ day, so here he was, on a bus with seven perfect strangers, listening to a recording of Jethro’s band.

The song faded into silence, and the young guitarist hit the stop button on his music player. The genuine applause he got brought a flush to his pale cheeks, and he actually managed a smile.

When the praise died down, the Hostess clapped twice. “May I have your attention please, ladies, gentlemen, and variations thereupon? At this time, there are refreshments available in the galley at the back of the vehicle. I would typically serve you myself, of course, but since we seem to be in a more casual mood today than usual, this seemed appropriate.”

The Doctor grinned and jumped to his feet. “Thank you—hang on, what’s your name?” he asked, realising suddenly that she’d never introduced herself when everyone else had. Even Sky Silvestry had given her name before promptly returning to her book.

The Hostess blinked twice, and the Doctor wondered how many of these tours she led without anyone asking her such a simple, humanising question. He tugged on his ear; he probably wouldn’t have thought of it, if it weren’t for Rose’s influence.

“Anniqua,” she said finally.

“Nice to meet you, Anniqua.” The Doctor held his hand out, and after a moment of hesitation, the Hostess shook it. “What part of the galaxy do you hail from?”

Some of the woman’s stiffness melted away as he kept talking to her like a person, instead of an employee. “I’m from Sto.”

The Doctor brightened. “Oh, I have a friend from Sto!” He remembered as soon as he said it that Astrid had lived close to a thousand years in the past, and he quickly added, “But of course I doubt you know her. Big planet, after all.”

“Yes…” A confused wrinkle appeared on her forehead, then she shook her head and straightened her skirt. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Doctor, I must get back to work.”

The Doctor watched her go, then meandered towards the galley, where Dee Dee was already pouring the first of two cups of coffee. “I’d ask if you were going to down your coffee double-fisted,” he said, “but I think I know who the other cup is for.”

Dee Dee shrugged as she set one mug down and picked the empty one up. “It’s why I’m here.”

He tilted his head. “Tell me about yourself, Dee Dee. How did you end up on this trip with the professor in the first place? If he’s been here fourteen times, I doubt there’s much he’s going to see that he hasn’t seen before.”

“I’m just a second-year student,” she explained, “but I wrote a paper on the Lost Moon of Poosh. Professor Hobbes read it, liked it, took me on as researcher, just for the holidays. Well, I say researcher.” She laughed self-deprecatingly as she turned around. “Most of the time he’s got me fetching and carrying,” she admitted. “But it’s all good experience.”

The Doctor sighed internally; humans never tired of peddling that lie when they wanted others to work for free. He quickly dismissed the topic of Professor Hobbes and focused on the one that intrigued him a great deal more.

When Dee Dee shifted a few steps to the right, the Doctor stepped up to the counter to pour a coffee for himself. “And did they ever find it?” he asked.

Dee Dee shook her head and frowned. “Find what?”

“The Lost Moon of Poosh,” the Doctor asked. A whole moon, lost! Now that was a subject worth discussing.  

Dee Dee laughed. “Oh, no. Not yet.”

“Well,” the Doctor drawled, looking up at the ceiling. “Maybe that’ll be your great discovery, one day. Here’s to Poosh.”

The look in Dee Dee’s eyes was quietly pleased, like no one had ever suggested that she might make a discovery herself, rather than merely assisting the discoveries of others.

“Poosh,” she said, tapping her cup against the Doctor’s.

oOoOoOoOo

After half an hour by the pool, Donna claimed the filtered sunlight was burning her fair skin. Resort staff helped them pull over a few large umbrellas for shade, and they’d continued to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.

Even without direct sunlight, the comfortable warmth of the Midnight sun almost lulled Rose to sleep. In her relaxed state, her telepathic awareness sharpened.

Jenny was right next to her, and she felt her daughter return her warm greeting. The Doctor gave her the equivalent of a quick hug, along with a glimpse of the group on the tour bus.

Something else teased the edges of her senses, though—an unfamiliar presence. Rose shifted on the chaise lounge, trying to figure out where the unknown telepath was coming from, but she was almost immediately shut out by barriers stronger than anything she’d encountered before. Whoever it was, they were not interested in saying hello.

Rose’s eyes fluttered open, and she knew immediately she would not be able to relax again. They so rarely ran into other telepaths, and the way this person had managed to slam a door in her face, almost without trying, made her uneasy.

She focused on the time and breathed a sigh of relief when she realised she had a good excuse to leave the poolside.

“Come on, you two. It’s almost time for our massages.”

Rose swung her legs out of the chaise lounge and grabbed her bag while Donna and Jenny both yawned and blinked a few times. They put on normal clothes in the changing room, then Rose pulled a map of the resort out of her bag and led them to the massage salon.

As they walked, she casually reached out for the Doctor, eavesdropping a bit on his conversation and paying attention to his mood. By the time she was on the table, the Doctor’s obvious enjoyment of his trip eased most of her anxiety.

He’s on a tour bus, she reminded herself. The passengers all seem normal, and no one else can get in. What could be safer?

oOoOoOoOo

After another forty-five minutes and a meal that was either chicken or beef, or maybe both, the Doctor looked around at his fellow travellers. “Well, does anyone else have an idea of how to pass the time?”

Professor Hobbes half-raised his hand. “I could tell you more about the planet, if you’re interested.”

Biff and Val both rolled their eyes, and Jethro, eager to spite his parents by any means possible, immediately leaned forward and rested his chin on the seat in front of him. “Go on, Professor,” he said, his eyes glittering.

The Doctor covered his mouth to hide his smile, but when the professor looked his direction, he nodded quickly. “Oh, absolutely,” he enthused. “I’d love to hear the things about Midnight that you wouldn’t find in a guidebook.”

Sky shook her head slightly and turned the page of her book. She hadn’t joined in any of the conversation, even though he’d tried to get her talking during lunch. The Doctor sighed; from her vague reference to her recent breakup, he could understand why she wanted to be left alone, but it was still too bad that she was holding herself back from everyone.

The professor and Dee Dee bustled around for a few minutes, getting a slide projector out of their bags and setting it up with Anniqua’s help. “You’ll learn things hardly anyone knows,” Professor Hobbes promised them as they set up. “Midnight proves the point that the more beautiful nature is, the deadlier it is.”

Val raised an eyebrow and leaned forward slightly. The professor didn’t notice her increased interest as he fumbled with getting the slides in the projector, but Biff did. He scowled slightly, but straightened in his seat as well, catching Val’s attention.

The slide carrel clicked into place and the professor walked up to the front of the bus as Dee Dee took his place at the projector. “We’ve sent exploratory robots onto the surface of Midnight.”

A picture of the blue diamond spires of Midnight filled the screen, and Val sucked in a breath. The Doctor pressed his lips together to hide his smile as she stood up, matched almost immediately by her husband.

“The diamonds are genuine, unlike the so-called Sapphire Waterfall,” he explained. “Made of pure carbon, they would be worth a fortune on the market… if it were possible to mine and sell them. Of course, that is not a possibility, because…”

He nodded at Dee Dee, who advanced to the next slide, a diagram showing Midnight orbiting the Xtonic sun. Professor Hobbes pointed at the planet at the centre of the slide. “So, this is Midnight, do you see, bombarded by the sun. Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation.”

His pronunciation was solemn, and everyone sat up slightly, paying a bit more attention. Even the Doctor, knowing all of this already, felt a little thrill at the reminder of the danger.

“Dee Dee, next slide.” His research assistant nodded quickly and hit the advance slide button.

“It’s my pet project,” the professor said, rather unnecessarily the Doctor thought, as Hobbes bounced lightly on his toes, an excited smile on his face. “Actually, I’m the first person to research this.” He smiled proudly and gestured with his pen. “Because, you see”—Hobbes sat down in the front row and looked back at them—“the history is fascinating.”

He studied them with wide eyes as he continued to speak in an almost conspiratorial voice. The Doctor got Rose’s attention and showed her what the professor looked like now. Is this what I look like when I start lecturing?

Bit more sexy, she teased. But yeah. That same contagious enthusiasm.

He nodded, understanding better why she found it so appealing, then focused back on the professor.

“There’s no life in this entire system,” Professor Hobbes said, his voice getting louder and faster with every word. “There couldn’t be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no one had come here in all eternity. No living thing,” he whispered, emphasising his word with his hands.

The bus was silent for a moment as that thought sank in. The Doctor smiled as he watched everyone but Sky look around, getting caught up in the fascination the professor was encouraging.

Everyone, that was, but Jethro. “But how do you know?” he asked, his chin raised in challenge.

The Doctor nodded approvingly; that was an excellent question.

A smirk played with the corners of Jethro’s mouth when he affected a shrug. “I mean, if no one can go outside.”

Val rolled her eyes. “Oh, his imagination. Here we go.”

“He’s got a point, though,” the Doctor countered, and Jethro straightened up slightly at the praise.  

Professor Hobbes’ head bobbed a few times and he waved his pen at Jethro. “Exactly! We look upon this world through glass, safe inside our metal box.” He stood up, his eyes wide behind his glasses. “Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit,” he said, gesturing as he did so. “And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it.”

Before anyone could comment on that statement, the tour bus stopped, with an ominous grinding noise.

“We’ve stopped,” Val said, then shook her head. “Have we stopped?”

Biff glanced at his watch and the closed door. “Are we there?”

Dee Dee shook her head. “We can’t be. It’s too soon.”

“Th-they don’t stop,” the professor insisted. “Crusader vehicles never stop.”

Anniqua walked slowly to the front of the bus, an uncertain smile pasted on her face. “If you could just return to your seats. It’s just a small delay.” Then she spun around and walked quickly to the back of the vehicle, where she picked up the intercom handset to talk privately to the captain.

The passengers exchanged uneasy glances, but did as she said and sat back down.

“Maybe just a pit stop,” Biff suggested.

That idea would have made people feel better, except Professor Hobbes quickly jumped in to deny the possibility. “There’s no pit to stop in. I’ve been on this expedition fourteen times. They never stop.”

The Doctor had been watching Sky from the moment the bus had ground to a halt. As soon as the noise shattered the stillness of the trip, she’d dropped her book and sat ramrod straight, with her hands clutched around the arms of her seat. Her knuckles had gotten whiter with every suggestion and question posited by the travellers, and he could see her shoulders heaving with unsteady breaths.

But the professor’s tenacious insistence on denying the obvious broke through what little calm she had. She rounded on him with a snarl. “Well, evidently we have stopped, so there’s no point in denying it.”

Professor Hobbes slunk away until he was standing in front of his seat, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Sky with wounded pride.

Jethro laughed. “We’ve broken down.”

“Thanks, Jethro,” his mum said sarcastically.  

Getting under her skin was all the motivation Jethro needed to continue. “In the middle of nowhere.”

“That’s enough. Now stop it,” Biff ordered.

Anniqua walked down the middle aisle, interrupting the family argument before it could get worse. “Ladies and gentlemen, and variations thereupon. We’re just experiencing a short delay.”  

The Doctor’s eyes narrowed as he took in the nervous energy vibrating off her. The screen that had been lowered earlier to play the cartoon was still down, and she reached for it and pulled until it retracted into the ceiling. Then she straightened her blazer, still trying to find an outlet for her obvious anxiety.

She smiled at them, but her dilated pupils made it obvious how upset she was. The driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It’s perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats.”

The Doctor frowned; the tour vehicle ran on micropetrol engines, and micropetrol didn’t need to be stabilised. He felt Rose’s attention sharpen as his mood turned serious, and he walked to the cabin door, intent on asking the drivers for the real story.

“No, I’m sorry, sir,” Anniqua said, trying to stop him.  

The Doctor ignored the rest of her sputtering and held up the psychic paper. “There you go. Engine expert. Two ticks.” He pushed the button that opened the door and stepped inside the cockpit, while Anniqua continued trying to call him back to his seat.

There were two seats, and the Doctor placed his elbows on their backs and leaned forward. An older white man looked back at him while a young black man kept fiddling with the controls, trying to get the vehicle to move again.

“Sorry,” said the man who’d turned around, and the Doctor recognised the voice of Driver Joe. “If you could return to your seat, sir.”

The Doctor held up the psychic paper again while he examined the engine readouts. “Company insurance. Let’s see if we can get an early assessment.” He slid the wallet back into his pocket and looked down at the driver. “So, what’s the problem, Driver Joe?”

“We’re stabilising the engine feeds,” Joe lied. “Won’t take long.”

“Um, no,” the Doctor contradicted, “because that’s the engine feed, that line there,” he said, pointing at the screen, “and it’s fine. And it’s a micropetrol engine, so stabilising doesn’t really make sense, does it?” Joe grimaced up at him, and the Doctor shrugged. “Sorry. I happen to know a lot about engines. I’m the Doctor, by the way.” He held out his hand, and Joe shook it reluctantly. “So, what’s actually wrong?”

Joe hesitated, but his counterpart did not. “We just stopped.” The younger man gestured at the instrument readouts around them. “Look, all systems fine, everything’s working, but we’re not moving.”

The Doctor frowned and pulled out the sonic screwdriver, but a quick scan confirmed what the young man had told him. “Yeah, you’re right. No faults. And who are you?”

“Claude. I’m the mechanic. Trainee,” he added quickly, probably before Joe could humiliate him by correcting him.  

“Nice to meet you,” the Doctor said as he put the sonic back in his pocket.  

Joe pointed to a flashing light on the control panel. “I’ve sent a distress signal. They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed.”

The Doctor sighed; there went his tour, but there was nothing for it, really. “How long till they get here?”

“About an hour.”

“Well, since we’re waiting, shall we take a look outside?” Joe’s jaw dropped, and the Doctor nodded at the screen blocking their view of the planet’s surface. “Just lift the screens a bit?”  

Joe breathed hard, the fear pouring off him. “It’s a hundred percent Xtonic out there. We’d be vaporised.”

“Nah,” the Doctor said dismissively. “Those windows are Finitoglass—they’d give you a couple of minutes.” Joe glanced at the screen, then back at him, and the Doctor grinned. “Go on, live a little.”

Joe shook his head and laughed once, like he couldn’t believe what he was about to do. “Well.” Then he hit a button, and the screen went up quickly.

Bright white light filled the cockpit. “Wow,” Joe breathed.

The Doctor drank in the sight of a new planet. The thrill that coursed through him at the sight of the crystalline spires was even stronger than it usually was. This was a sight no living creature had ever seen.

“Oh, that is beautiful,” he murmured. The spires here were taller and more elaborate than the ones near the leisure palace. The formation directly in front of them reminded him of Lincoln Cathedral, with two towers rising high above a shorter structure.

“Look at all those diamonds,” Claude said, pointing to where the sunlight glinted off the surface. “Poisoned by the sun. No one can ever touch them.”

“Joe, you said we took a detour?” the Doctor asked, without looking away from the view.

“Just about forty kliks to the west.”

“Is that a recognised path?”

“No, it’s a new one,” Joe replied. “The computer worked it out on automatic.”

“So we’re the first,” the Doctor whispered. It felt like a sacred moment, too important for normal voices. “This piece of ground. No one’s ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history.”

The moment was broken when Claude moved quickly, pointing out at the planet. “Did you just?” He shook his head. “No, sorry, it’s nothing.”

But the Doctor wouldn’t let him second-guess himself. “What did you see?”

Claude pointed at the closest spire. “Just there. That ridge,” he said, wiggling his finger so the Doctor would look at the second level of the formation. “Like, like a shadow. Just, just for a second.”

“What sort of shadow?” Maybe Jethro was right!

An alarm started beeping before Claude could answer. “Xtonic rising.” Joe pressed a button, and the shield started coming down. “Shields down.”

“Look, look.” Claude pointed frantically at the sliver of landscape still visible. “There it is, there it is. Look, there.”

“Where?” The shield closed completely, and the Doctor looked at Claude. “What was it?”

Claude’s pupils were blown and he was breathing heavily. “Like just something shifting.” He finally looked away from the screen. “Something sort of dark, like it was running.”

“Running which way?” the Doctor pressed.

Claude swallowed hard. “Towards us.”

A frisson of excitement and fear went down the Doctor’s back.

“Right, Doctor, back to your seat,” Joe snapped. “And, er, not a word. Rescue’s on its way. If you could close the door. Thank you.”

The Doctor straightened up and left the cockpit. My tour isn’t exactly going as planned, he told Rose. In fact, they’ve sent a rescue vehicle and we’ll be back at the resort in… oh, three hours?

Well, you broke your cardinal rule just before boarding, she pointed out, a hint of cheek in her voice. You asked what could possibly go wrong.

[pepperminthotchocolate]

Voice Like An Echo: Chapter 3

Of all the things that had kept her awake last night, Naiya never expected the car ride home to be what drove her anxiety over the edge. She assumed it would’ve been leaving the shelter, or at least when she first saw the temporary cage that she was going to be transported in.

But she had been on this side of the Plexiglass before. It had been a few years ago when she was an East-Ender, but she should know what to expect.

The more she thought about it, though, the more it made sense. Now that the rushing around had finally stopped and the adoption preparations were done, she only had time to think, which was a dangerous area for her under normal circumstances. She knew her thoughts were going to be flying like this for a few more days at least.

Unlike her first adoption, now she had ties to where she had come from.  Before this, she was too young to build up any meaningful relationships before she was off to her new owners. She didn’t have the red-headed, self-proclaimed scourge of the West End looking out for her then. She didn’t have a routine established in the way that an eight year stay in the same place would. She’d lost her best friend, her home, and gained a new problem to deal with all in the same hour.

At least it was quiet. She had wedged herself into the farthest corner of the carrying container, as far as she could get from her new owner. They’d only left the shelter about fifteen minutes ago. She could hear the roar of the engine beneath her and the muffled, hypnotic sound of a human male’s voice droning on and on through the radio. She could catch snippets through the thick plastic every now and again; something about independence protests happening in another country.

She hadn’t taken her eyes off of the human since they had left together. He seemed alright now. Kind, even, as he had taken his time with moving her cage and asking if she was ready to go before he picked it up.

The problem was he was just so BIG. Of course all of the handlers at the shelter had been human, but to be honest she was used to the older, retired ladies who volunteered their time or younger college students on summer vacation. Certainly nothing like the thickset giant of a man that loomed before her. Even if the entire image – damn dad jeans and button up shirt and everything - was supposed to be non-threatening, she couldn’t get past his size.

In turn, David was at a loss for what to do. Her staring didn’t do anything to put him at ease. It seemed like every time he looked down at her, she would be staring right back up at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. He supposed that it was to be expected, given her history. At least she hadn’t tried to attack him or escape during transport. That being said, the quiet, still glance that she was giving him was almost worse. He wouldn’t be able to predict how she would react when they arrived home.

Whatever the answer, ignoring each other surely wasn’t it. He cleared his throat. “You really are the strong, silent type, huh?”

Tanaiya quickly turned her gaze away at the sudden address. Would it be rude not to answer him? Probably. She thought that he knew her history. At least, the shelter was SUPPOSED to disclose what had happened before the adoption. Who knew what really went on behind closed doors? Her eyes flickered back up to him for a brief moment before giving the smallest head shake she could possibly manage. She was worried he hadn’t seen it at all until he gave her a gentle smile.

David pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose and looked back up to the road. “We’ll be home soon. I know that you’re probably…worried or scared about having to go somewhere new with someone you don’t know.” He reassured her, his grip tightening a bit on the steering wheel. “I only moved to Greensboro a few months ago, and it was scary enough on my own.”

He glanced down again. Had she even blinked? She hadn’t moved, that was for sure. He tilted his head forward a bit as he drove, as if to emphasize his speech. “Point being…I know you’re going to be quiet for a while and that it’s going to be tough for you to acclimate. I’m going to do my best not to push your boundaries and give you space. Sound like a plan?”

The tiny girl sitting beside him gave another almost imperceivable nod before pulling the grey hood of her sweatshirt further over her head. She still warily peeked out at him with dark, glittering eyes. He smiled and gave the space on the seat next to her enclosure a reassuring pat before returning both hands to the wheel. He didn’t notice that Naiya had driven herself even deeper into the corner at the sudden movement.

In no time at all the car had pulled up to a small parking lot situated next to a lake. As the human came around the side of the car and opened her door, she couldn’t help but be reminded of the few trips she had taken with the shelter staff. She tried to keep herself steady as his hands scooped up her cage and brought it close to his chest.

At the Whitsett-Sedalia shelter, there were mandated bi-weekly excursions into the community for each group that were voted upon by each of the residents. For the West-End, these were mostly limited to local music festivals and trips to the cinema to see popular upcoming movies. There were times when she regretted not taking advantage of these guided trips, but she had found herself becoming detached from the thrill after so many years of residing there. There was never anything she wanted to do, and she would almost always opt to spend her time hanging out in the communal living space alone or with Libby.

Still, there was only so much she could see from beyond the glass door entrance of the shelter. As a matter of fact, she loved this time of year. As she gazed around, she breathed in the cool autumn air trickling in through the vents in her enclosure.

The two seemed to be walking some sort of dirt path leading to the towering apartment complexes. Gnarled, wooden bridges hanging over the water lead the way to an enclosed picnic area adorned with metal tables and benches and even a fire pit. The golden amber and burnt orange trees contrasted strikingly against the bright blue calm of the late-afternoon sky, all of which reflected in the mirror-like surface of the water.

The view was just enough to distract Naiya until she realized they were in front of a large glass door. The giant shifted her cage so that it was seated in the crook of his arm, and he waved a card in front of the scanner above the handle. A button somewhere within the mechanism clicked, and he pulled open the door.

She tried to focus on anything that would disperse the cloud of anxious thoughts in her head. The heavy clunk, clunk, clunk of his footsteps echoed in the enclosed space as they walked up the first flight of stairs and stopped at the door on the right. She could smell someone was cooking something behind one of the other doors, and bass-heavy music was trickling down the staircase from one of the rooms above them.

David shouldered the heavy wooden door open. He tried his best to keep the enclosure steady so as not to jostle his new guest, but she ended up with her hands planted against either side of the corner anyway. “Alright! Welcome home!” He announced, shifting the plastic bag on his wrist down to his elbow and pulling the enclosure into both of his hands. He peeked into the cage and found her looking…well, a little more than worse for the wear.

Naiya blinked hard, trying to center herself from within the little ball she had curled up in. Something about the view from all sides of the see-through cage, not to mention being able to see the massive hands easy cradling the entire room pressed up against the surface just underneath her feet, and vertigo from the sudden, rapid movement was making her sick. She didn’t know if she could do this.

“Huh. We can forgo the tour for now. Or at least, here...” The massive voice rumbled from behind her. Her head fell back against the plastic wall in response, and she closed her eyes as the enclosure was gently lowered to the floor. Or what she thought to be the floor. Her eyes fluttered open and she came face to face with the seat of a rustic-looking, umber colored pull-out sofa. The knotty floor beneath her was a stained dark brown, which turned out to not be the floor at all, but a round, expansive coffee table edged with wrought iron and studs.

She exhaled out slowly and got to her feet just as the human was coming around the other side of the table. He sat himself, thankfully, on the left cushion of the couch instead of directly behind where Tanaiya’s enclosure was. “This is the living room. You can see to the right there’s the patio. Nice little view of the lake out there.”

He pointed over her enclosure to the immense sliding glass door fixed in the side of the living room wall. Past the patio door was a set of two matching easy chairs in front of a cheery, white stone fireplace which housed a large flat-screen television above the mantel. To the left of that was a welcome sight; a walnut bookcase that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and was filled with books of every kind. Naiya smiled a bit at the familiarity, but then turned her attention back to the man.

David pointed down the hall separating the living room from a walled-off room. “Down this hallway are the bedrooms; my room, and my son Nick’s room when he’s here. I guess that’ll be your room for now, if you’re comfortable with that. We’ll have to make other arrangements when he comes.” He laughed a bit. “Or you can tell him to just sleep on the sofa bed out here, if you want to call the room now.”

She gave an uneasy smile, still reeling from the movement but also amused at the thought of her addressing anyone like that, let alone telling a human to find somewhere else to go. “First door on the left is the bathroom, and over here is the kitchen and dining room. We hardly ever use the dining room, though.” She could spot a large, square dining table the same color as the coffee table with a set of four, stark-white padded chairs surrounding it from behind the corner of the half wall.

Tanaiya nodded quietly, trying to remember where everything was. Overall, she would describe the space as polished and put together. The walls were a bit bare aside from the clock hanging in the living room and the painting along the side of the dining room. However, it wasn’t cold, and the patio doors offered a warm light to encompass the accompanying rooms.  

Nothing too fancy or overbearing, just a simple apartment for one. Or two, it would seem. She wondered where this son of his was, and whether or not she could just avoid him altogether. Both of them, preferably. She didn’t want to be rude or God forbid do anything to have her owner act irrationally, but she just needed some time to collect herself.

Her heart jumped into her throat as a sudden shadow came over her. “Guess I should’ve done this first, huh?” The giant behind her muttered, placing his palm over the top of the enclosure. Whoever designed these spaces for safe and easy transport certainly didn’t have the Tiny’s point of view in mind. She couldn’t escape from the image of a hand almost the size of the room bearing down on her, just a few inches from the top of her head.

David snatched his hand away as if he’d been burned. The tiny girl had immediately fallen to her knees and covered her head just at that simple movement. Was she crying? “Oh wait, easy. Calm down. Just trying to get you out of there.” This wasn’t what he’d wanted at all. To his relief, no, there were no tears, but she did turn her eyes sharply up to him as if her fate depended on his next actions.

Of course he’d have to be more delicate about his approach. Why he didn’t realize that with the silent car ride home, he had no idea. He ran a hand over his bearded face. “Tanaiya?” He asked quietly. He debated whether or not he should get down closer so as not to loom over her versus him being so close freaking her out more. By the time he had situated himself kneeling on the floor she was looking up at him again with those wide, soulful eyes. She had no reason to trust him, he knew that. That would be up to him to get started. “That was my fault. I’m sorry, I should’ve told you what I was doing. Can we try that again?”

Naiya’s adrenaline had spiked so hard she wasn’t sure what was real at the time. It was one of those moments where your actions play out in front of you and they involve you, but you aren’t present in your mind to experience them wholly. She was a ghost, watching her shaking hands and shifting feet, standing before a giant of a man who she could tell was trying his best, but dammit if he wasn’t intimidating.  

“We’re going to go nice and slow. I need to take the top of the container off. Ready?”  

She nodded slowly, casting her gaze onto the ground and trying to ignore the ominous shadow that overtook her. A popping sound above her head let her know that was done, and suddenly the barrier between them was gone. He smiled lightly. “See? Not so bad.”

Maybe from his angle. This was the first time she’d truly processed her new owner’s face. The lack of a wall between them really made the difference. His eyes were still as kind as they were through the plastic; deep brown and crinkling in the corners with a smile. Knowledgeable, with a certain depth hidden behind his thick-framed glasses. He was a wide and stoop-shouldered man, visibly tired from the bags under his eyes and the few straggling gray hairs in his unkempt beard and wild mess of curls tucked behind his ears.

And yet, still completely overpowering. It was difficult to see anyone outside of the shelter as a welcoming presence, let alone the person who had taken her from there. She followed his instructions as he gently tipped over the cage onto its side, and soon enough the space where the ceiling was had become the exit in front of her.

He settled back onto the couch, trying to give her some space. She still hadn’t moved. “You can come out, I’ll back off.” No response, although her eyes darted back and forth between him and the spot just outside of the enclosure. The realization dawned on him.

“Do you want to stay in there for a little while?” She looked up at him tentatively, but he could see relief in her eyes. He clapped his hands on his knees and slowly stood. “Take your time. You can come out whenever you’re ready.” He could barely make out the faint nod she gave him.

Poor little thing. David hadn’t wanted to leave her alone, but that was probably the thing she needed right now. She looked as if she were ready to bolt as soon as his back was turned. He couldn’t help but peek at her one last time as he moved over to the kitchen to get dinner started.

  August 17th,

My worst fears have been confirmed. The tolerance for Tiny relationships seems to only extend to what they can make up in profit. He’ll be leaving tomorrow, and the little one and I the next day. We don’t know where we’ll be going, or if there will be any hope of contacting one another again. What kind of monsters would allow a family to bloom before tearing it apart?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally getting to the interesting part of the story! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 2: http://pepperminthotchocolate.tumblr.com/post/163719760508/voice-like-an-echo-chapter-2

Chapter 4: http://pepperminthotchocolate.tumblr.com/post/166695955113/voice-like-an-echo-chapter-4

[poutypanic]

The First Date

You, Jesse and Hanzo go on your first date! Fic is PG-13. 

Link for AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10464945/chapters/23570373

Hanzo and Jesse have left it up to you to decide where you’d be going on your first date. Being a person who is no good at making decisions, this was more pressure than actually being asked out on the date itself. You are currently sitting at home in your own apartment watching your phone as the notifications go off one after the other. Being in a group chat with the two of them is a trip:

———————————-

Jesse: where

Jesse: do

Jesse: u

Jesse: wnana

Jesse: go!

Hanzo: Stop spamming.

Hanzo: Let her think, smh.

Jesse: im right here if u wanna fight me

You: IDK

You: I’m really down for whatever!

Hanzo: Where do you like to go during your free time?

You: My room?

Hanzo: -_-

Jesse: im calling u

————————————–

And he does, less than a couple of seconds after you had received that text. You stare at the screen with a shit-eating grin while it’s ringing, and let it go to voice mail.

—————————————

Jesse: answer ya damn phone plz

Hanzo: Don’t cuss at her.

Jesse: answer ya darn* phone plz

Jesse: also fuck u han

Hanzo: Hmmm. Interesting for a person who just asked me to make dinner.

You: Somebodys bout to starve!

You: Also sorry! I had lost my phone very suddenly :/  

——————————————

Your phone starts to ring again, and you wait until the last possible moment to answer it. You don’t even have to say a thing; Jesse just starts going off in your ear, “Hey, now listen! I’ma count teh’ three, and when I count teh’ three your’ gonna say the first place that comes to mind alright?”

You let out a long, dramatic, heavy sigh, making sure to blow air into the phone as much as possible.  

Jesse laughs, “Alright here we go! One! Two! Three-“

“Zoo.”

“Ah shit, Han! We goin’ to the zoo!”

“No, no, no wait! Let’s try that again!”

Jesse hangs up the phone.

———————————-

Jesse: no take backs  

Hanzo: I am excited! I’ve never been to the zoo!

You: We shouldn’t go to the zoo that was stupid

Jesse: nu uh! we going!

Hanzo: Why is it stupid? Now I really want to go!

Jesse: pick u up on friday!!! wear zoo clothes!!!!

You: WTF are zoo clothes

Hanzo: What she said.

Jesse: clothes u wear to the zoo???

Hanzo: Hmmm true.

You: Whatever! Fine! I guess we’re going to the zoo

Jesse: u bet ur ass

Jesse: shit

Jesse: butt*  

Hanzo: We’ll pick you up around 9am. Is that okay with you?

You: Pfff yeah.

Jesse: see ya friday!

—————  

Friday rolls around, and you guys go to the zoo. It’s the perfect day for it; the sun is out, and it’s partially cloudy. There’s a light cool breeze that feels amazing on the skin. After thinking about it, you’ve actually come around to the spontaneous idea that Jesse had to coax out of you. You guys take your time at each exhibit. The zoo isn’t very crowded at all, and nobody cares that you guys take nearly thirty minutes at each. Hanzo does dramatic readings of the facts on each of the placards, putting on what he likes to call his “tour guide voice”.

When you guys get to the Red Fox enclosure you and Jesse listen while Hanzo reads. At the end, Jesse raises his hand, “Um excuse me, Mr. Shimada? May I ask a question.”

“All questions are welcome, Mr. McCree.”

Jesse points to the cage, “Why are they called Red Foxes?”

You can see Hanzo try and suppress a laugh, and you try to suppress yours as well. Feigning like you, too, would like to know why Red Foxes are named Red Foxes. Hanzo is trying to remain in character, “Mr. McCree, if you can do me a favor and look at the animal?”

“Mhmm, yes.”  

“The fox has red fur.”

Jesse places his hand on his chin and nods his head up and down, “Uh huh.”

“So it is called the Red Fox because well; it has red fur.”

You can’t keep up the act anymore. Hanzo says that last line with such conviction and a matter of fact tone that you are doubled over, and clutching your stomach laughing. Jesse refuses to give up the act. He looks down at you, his cowboy hat casting a shadow over his face.

“Darlin’, what’s so funny? I don’t understand.”

Hanzo keeps it up as well, “Sir? The Red fox. Red is a color. The color of the foxes fur is red. Therefore, Red Fox.”  

You’re still doubled over wheezing. A small crowd has actually started to stare, thinking that Hanzo is an actual expert and tour guide. They believe that Hanzo, a man who is wearing unbelievably tight joggers and a navy blue tee shirt that says, “Choose Cremation. You Urned it,” is a god damn professional, articulately explaining to a cowboy why a Red Fox is called a Red fox. Jesse sees the curious onlookers and decides that maybe it’s time to end the charade, “Ah, I get it now, and ya’ know what? That’s a pretty dumb fuckin’ fact.”

Jesse throws an arm around your still shaking shoulders, tosses his other one around Hanzo’s, and you guys all walk away from the confused onlookers. Eventually, after marveling at the big cats for nearly an hour, you guys make it into the reptile house. Here is where you figure out that Jesse really doesn’t like spiders and that Hanzo couldn’t care less. You do care a little bit, but the thick plexiglass between you and the arachnids is enough to keep you from being irrational like Jesse is being.

“Can y’all stop puttin’ your faces so damn close to the glass?”

You smile coyly and rest your cheek against the glass, Hanzo follows suit and places his cheek against the glass as well, “Take a picture, Jesse.”

Jesse crosses his arms and pouts, “Y’all think your’ funny huh?”

You grab your phone out of your pocket and turn on the camera, “Guess we’ll just have to take a selfie.”

The spider that is in the little glass case is clinging to the other side, showing off its belly and legs. Perfect for the photo op. You and Hanzo point to it and smile nice and big for the camera, while you hold your phone in your other and snap a photo.

Hanzo says, “Make sure to send that to me in the group chat.”

Jesse is glaring at Hanzo, when you notice one of the workers is trying to get any of the customer to listen to what she has to say about whatever it is she is presenting, but she’s getting no takers. You walk towards her and look into the large, deep, open plexiglass tub that she is standing next to. Your eyes widen and you start to cackle. Oh, this is gonna be good!

“Hey Han! Jesse! Come here!”

You watch closely has they look into the glass enclosure. Hanzo now has the biggest smile, and Jesse takes one glance and literally runs off about twelve feet.

The workers face lights up, “Hello! Would you guys like to hear about this tarantula?”

The look that Hanzo gives her almost looks like he might abandon the two of you and take her out on a date; he is so happy.  

“I would absolutely love to hear about this tarantula!”

The woman practically dances, because she is delighted to finally have people who want to listen to her. She clasps her hands together and starts to spew off all of the knowledge she’s got on the spider. Hanzo listens and has questions for her, and she is able to answer everything. Meanwhile, Jesse is in the background huffing and making off-handed comments like, “Interesting” and “Wow, real fascinatin’.” When the spider starts to stretch its legs and move around, you lean in farther to get a better look.

“Hey! Sugar? Maybe don’t do that! That thing is gonna get your face.”

The tarantula handler finally turns her attention to Jesse, “Oh no! Honduran Curly Hairs are docile tarantulas. Also! Tarantulas can’t jump that far. A fall from where her face is at to the bottom would actually seriously hurt the curly.”

Jesse does his best at being polite, “Thanks for the knowledge ma’am.”

At this point, Hanzo is practically inside of the enclosure, and you’ve reached your limit. Any closer, and you’d be pushing your comfort zone. The woman clasps her hands together, “I am so sorry! I haven’t asked for your names yet!”

You both introduce yourselves and take turns shaking her hand, “Hanzo! Seeing as you seem to be the most interested, would you like to hold her?”  

Jesse claps his hands together, “Han! You put that spider in your hands, and we are breakin’ up!”  

Hanzo puts his hands together, palms up and lowers them into the enclosure; “It’s been nice knowing you, Jesse.”

Jesse is still squirming, but it seems this is something he just has to see. He gets just close enough to be able to look in. He’s standing right behind you, looking over your shoulder, and he’s got two nervous handfuls of the back of your shirt. You reach back and pat his thigh, “There, there. It’ll be alright!”

The woman first coaxes the tarantula into her open palm using what looks to be a soft bristled paint brush. It’s funny watching her gently nudge the brush against the creatures big furry butt. It slowly crawls into her hand, and you can physically feel Jesse tremble. You look back at him, “Jesse, just one of your hands are at least two times bigger than this tarantula is. This tarantula can’t do shit to you.”

“Darlin, I ain’t tryna say you’re not right, but that doesn’t keep the little critter from being real creepy.”

Hanzo isn’t paying any attention to the two of you. He is concentrating on the spider that is now crawling into his welcoming hands. It stays there, cradled, its two front legs feeling along the tips of his fingers. Hanzo is still smiling, “Thank you for letting me hold her.”

The woman continues to light up, “Are you kidding me? You are very welcome. I’m so happy you guys took time out of your day to hang out with me and listen to me ramble about this. Tarantulas are my passion.”

After a couple more tarantula facts, Hanzo places the creature back down into its habitat, and you guys make Jesse very happy by deciding it’s time to move on. The three of you continue to stay close to each other as you visit the rest of the exhibits. When you’ve officially seen them all, you guys go back to gawk at each of your favorites. When hunger strikes, you guys stop at a little cart that specializes in soft tacos. You watch in amazement as Hanzo orders six and downs them all. You guys don’t leave the zoo until you are forced to, because it’s closing time. The three of you leave feeling the good kind of tired, all having found a new favorite place to be.

[biofunmy]

A Nile Journey Into the Past

Huddled on a chaise on the upper deck of the Orient, the dahabiya that I had chosen for a cruise down the Nile, I sipped hibiscus tea to ward off the chill. Late in February, it was just 52 degrees in Aswan, where I had boarded the sailboat, but the scenery slipping past was everything the guidebooks had promised: tall sandbanks, curved palms and the mutable, gray-green river, the spine of Egypt and the throughline in its history.

I’d been obsessed with Egypt since childhood, but it took a cadre of female adventurers to get me there. Reading “Women Travelers on the Nile,” a 2016 anthology edited by Deborah Manley, I’d found kindred spirits in the women who chronicled their expeditions to Egypt in the 19th century, and spurred on by them, I’d planned my trip.

Beside my chair were collections of letters and memoirs written by intrepid female journalists, intellectuals and novelists, all British or European. Relentlessly entertaining, the women’s stories reflected the Egyptomania that flourished after Napoleon invaded North Africa in 1798. The country had become a focal point for artists, architects and newly minted photographers — and a fresh challenge for affluent adventurers.

Their dispatches captured Egypt’s exotica — vessels “laden with elephant’s teeth, ostrich feathers, gold dust and parrots,” in the words of Wolfradine von Minutoli, whose travelogue was published in 1826. And they shared the thrill of discovery: Harriet Martineau, a groundbreaking British journalist, feminist and social theorist, described the pyramids edging into view from the bow of a boat. “I felt I had never seen anything so new as those clear and vivid masses, with their sharp blue shadows,” she wrote in her 1848 memoir, “Eastern Life, Present and Past.” The moment never left her. “I cannot think of it without emotion,” she wrote.

Their lyricism was tempered by adventure: In “A Thousand Miles Up the Nile,” Amelia Edwards, one of the century’s most accomplished journalists, described a startling discovery near Abu Simbel: After a friend noticed an odd cleft in the ground, she and her fellow travelers conscripted their crew to help tunnel into the sand. “Heedless of possible sunstroke, unconscious of fatigue,” she wrote, the party toiled “as for bare life.” With the help of more than 100 laborers, supplied by the local sheikh, they eventually descended into a chapel ornamented with dazzling friezes and bas reliefs.

Though some later took the Victorians to task for exoticizing the East, these travelers were a daring lot: They faced down heat, dust, floods and (occasionally) mutinous crews to commune with Egypt’s past. Liberated from domestic life, they could go to ground as men did.

Wolfradine von Minutoli wrote of camping out under the stars by the pyramids. Florence Nightingale, then 29 and struggling to gain independence from her parents, recalled crawling into tombs illuminated by smoking torches. Nightingale, among others, was struck by the otherworldliness of it all. Moved by the fragmented splendor of Karnak, the sacred complex in Luxor, she wrote to her family, “You feel like spirits revisiting your former world, strange and fallen to ruins.”

Taken with their sense of adventure, I wanted to know whether the Nile journey had retained its mystique. Would I feel the presence of these women along the way? And could modern Egypt rival the country that they encountered?

As in the Victorian era, there would be unknowns: Political upheavals and terrorist activity are realities in Egypt. The country’s tourist industry reached a nadir after the 2015 attack on a flight from the seaside resort of Sharm el Sheikh; more than 200 people perished.

Violence has continued to flare: In December, a bomb destroyed a tour bus near the pyramids in Giza, killing four people. A second bus bombing in May injured at least 14.

But risk, I decided, is relative. The State Department’s advisory places Egypt at Level 2 out of 4 (“exercise caution”), along with China, Italy and France. And though still fragile, the country’s travel industry (which recorded 11 million visitors last year, up from 5.4 million in 2017) is rebounding.

Aboard the Orient

Dozens of double-masted dahabiyas and river cruisers now ply the Nile, but I was drawn to the low-key Orient — a charming wooden sailboat, it has a capacity of 10 people but I was joined by only four. Instead of a cinema and floor shows, we had backgammon and intermittent Wi-Fi. (The cost of the three-day cruise, including my single supplement, was $964.) On the upper deck, I could lounge on oversize cushions and watch storks skim the river. In the salon, a low sofa and carved armchairs were perfect for dipping into vintage National Geographics.

My cabin was compact, with twin brass beds and floral wallpaper. The river was close; I could have pulled aside the screens and trailed my fingers through the current. (Not that I did; early travelers praised the “sweetness” of Nile water, but trash bobs on its shores and bilharzia, a parasitic disease that attacks the kidneys, liver and digestive system, is a risk.)

Before 1870, when the entrepreneur Thomas Cook introduced steamers (and declassé package tours), a cruise on the world’s longest river was a marathon. Journeys lasted two or three months and typically extended from Cairo to Nubia and back.

Just getting on the river was a trial: After renting a vessel, travelers were obliged to have it submerged to kill vermin. The boats were then painted, decorated and stocked with enough goods to see a pharaoh through eternity.

Published in 1847, the “Hand-book for Travellers in Egypt” advised passengers to bring iron bedsteads, carpets, rat-traps, washing tubs, guns and staples such as tea and “English cheese.” Pianos were popular additions; so were chickens, turkeys, sheep and mules. M.L.M. Carey, a correspondent in “Women Travelers on the Nile,” recommended packing “a few common dresses for the river,” along with veils, gloves and umbrellas to guard against the sun.

With my fellow passengers, I spent the first afternoon at a temple near the town of Kom Ombo. The structure rose in the Ptolemaic period and was in ruins for millenniums. Mamdouh Yousif, our guide, talked us through it all. A native of Luxor, he used a laser pointer to pick out significant details and served up far more history than I could absorb.

Celebrated for its majestic setting above a river bend, the temple was nearly empty. Reggae music drifted from a cafe and shrieks rose from a neighborhood playground.

Dedicated to Horus, the falcon god, and Sobek, the crocodile god, Kom Ombo has a separate entrance, court and sanctuary for each deity. Inside are two hypostyle halls, in which massive columns support the roof. Each hall was paved with stunning reliefs: Here was a Ptolemaic king receiving a sword; there, a second being crowned. A mutable figure who was both aggressor and protector, Sobek was worshipped, in part, to appease the crocodiles that swarmed the Nile. Next to the temple, 40 mummified specimens — from hulking monsters to teacup versions — are enshrined in a dim museum, along with their croc-shaped coffins.

Defaced by early Coptic Christians, damaged by earthquakes and even mined for building materials, Kom Ombo was in disrepair until 1893, when it was cleared by the French archaeologist Jean-Jacques de Morgan. Now, it’s inundated in the late afternoon, when cruise-boat crowds arrive. As we were leaving, folks in shorts and sunhats just kept coming, fanning out until the complex became a multilingual hive.

Back on the Orient, my cabin grew chilly and I wished, briefly, that I had made the journey in the scorching summer. An early supper improved my mood, as did the winter sun setting behind silvery-gray clouds. Since I’d brought a flashlight, I was only mildly annoyed when we learned that our generator would stop at 10 p.m. The darkness was nearly complete, but silence never set in: Creaks, thumps and splashes resounded through the night.

In the morning, we headed north to the sandstone quarry and cult center of Gebel Silsila. With their rock faces still scored with tool marks, the cliffs have an odd immediacy — as if armies of stonecutters could reappear at any moment.

The compelling part of the site is a hive of rock-cut chapels and shrines. Dedicated to Nile gods and commissioned by wealthy citizens, they are set above a shore lined with bulrushes. Eroded but evocative, some retain images of patrons and traces of paintings.

In Edfu, an ode to power in stone

After lunch, we traveled downriver to Edfu, to Egypt’s best-preserved temple. Tourism has made its mark in the agricultural town: Cruise boats line the quay, and the drivers of the horse-drawn carriages known as calèches stampede all comers. Begun in 237 B.C. and dedicated to Horus, the temple was partially obscured by silt when Harriet Martineau visited in 1846. “Mud hovels are stuck all over the roofs,” she wrote, and “the temple chambers can be reached only by going down a hole like the entrance to a coal-cellar, and crawling about like crocodiles.” She could see sculptures in the inner chambers, but “having to carry lights, under the penalty of one’s own extinction in the noisome air and darkness much complicate the difficulty,” she wrote.

Excavated in 1859 by the French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, the temple is an ode to power: A 118-foot pylon leads to a courtyard where worshippers once heaped offerings, and a statue of Horus guards hypostyle halls whose yellow sandstone columns look richly gilded.

Feeling infinitesimal, I focused on details: a carving of a royal bee, an image of the goddess Hathor, a painting of the sky goddess Nut.

Mr. Yousif kept us moving through the shadowy chambers — highlighting one enclosure where priests’ robes were kept and another that housed sacred texts. Later I thought of something Martineau had written: “Egypt is not the country to go to for the recreation of travel,” she said. “One’s powers of observation sink under the perpetual exercise of thought.” Even a casual voyager, she wrote, “comes back an antique, a citizen of the world of six thousand years ago.”

Our dinner that night was festive: When someone asked for music, our purser, Mostafa Elbeary, returned with the entire crew. Retrieving drums from an inlaid cabinet, they launched into 20 exuberant minutes of song.

The night quickly deteriorated, however. Gripped by an intestinal upheaval, I bumped my way back and forth to the bathroom. In the morning, I was too ill to visit more tombs and temples. The chef sent me soupy rice, and Mr. Elbeary kept me supplied with Coke.

Watching the river in bed, I realized what was missing: While 19th-century voyagers rode camels into the desert and ventured into villagers’ homes, we had seen little of local life. Before the cruise, I had sampled the chaos in Egypt’s capital. With a guide from the agency Real Egypt, I spent an afternoon exploring the neighborhood known as Islamic Cairo. Heading down a street lined with spice stalls and perfume shops, we had passed Japanese children with sparkly backpacks, Arab women chatting into cellphones tucked into their hijabs and old men arguing in cafes. We stopped to watch Egyptian girls draping themselves in rented Scheherazade costumes; after snapping selfies, they happily vamped for me.

A trip to Giza was nearly as diverting. Though I didn’t find the monuments inspiring — the Pyramids looked like stage flats against the searing-blue sky — others did. I was standing by the Sphinx when I overheard a man angling his phone toward its ravaged face. “You see me?” he asked, ducking in front of the camera. “That’s the Sphinx. It’s one of the most famous monuments in the world.”

Roman emperors and Egyptian gods

The next day I roused myself for our final outing. We had docked at the town of Esna, and from my window I watched an ATV driven by a boy who looked to be about 7 just miss a herd of goats.

The others were waiting, so I followed Mr. Yousif through the streets at warp speed. Built during the reign of Ptolemy V and dedicated to a river god, Esna’s temple was conscripted by the Romans and then abandoned. Only its portico had been excavated when Nightingale visited. In a letter to her family, she said, ”I never saw anything so Stygian.”

Now partly reclaimed, the temple is 30 feet below street level. Beyond the portico is a hypostyle hall whose columns are inscribed with sacred texts and hymns. Still traced with color, they blossom into floral capitals. On the walls are images of Roman emperors presenting offerings to Egyptian gods.

On our way back to the boat, Mr. Yousif led us through narrow streets where children were racing about. Two little girls, one in a bedraggled party dress, followed us, whispering. A succession of boys darted into our paths to say, “Welcome, hello, hello.” From a closet-size barber stall, three men called out; a merchant in another stall held up his tortoiseshell cat.

Exploring Luxor’s riches

After a celebratory breakfast the next day — crepes, strawberry juice, Turkish coffee — our cruise ended. A driver from the dahabiya company was waiting to take us to Luxor, about an hour away.

Though it was little more than an expanse of fields dotted with mud huts, in the early 19th century, dahabiyas made lengthy stops in Luxor. Near the town is one of the world’s largest sacred monuments and across the Nile is the Valley of the Kings.

In the afternoon, I set out for Karnak. Founded chiefly by Amenhotep III and originally dedicated to Amon-Re, the complex was modified and enlarged by rulers, including Ramses II.

In the 19th century, its pylons, halls and courts were still mired in detritus: Nightingale was unsettled by the temple’s “dim unearthly colonnades” when she visited on New Year’s Eve in 1849. “No one could trust themselves with their imagination alone there,” she wrote. With enormous shadows looming, said Nightingale, “you feel as terror stricken to be there as if you had awakened the angel of the Last Day.”

Though it’s now besieged by tourists, the complex is still haunting. An avenue of ram-headed sphinxes leads to an imposing first pylon; beyond is a hypostyle hall where 138 pillars soar into empty space.

Wandering without a guide, I lingered over details: the play of light on a broken column; the base of a shattered statue that had left its feet behind. On the way to the necropolis across the river, I thought about the desecration described by Victorian travelers. Jewelry, cartouches and body parts were all on the market, and Amelia Edwards, author of “1,000 Miles Up the Nile,” was among those who were offered a mummy.

After casually expressing an interest in an ancient papyrus, wrote Edwards, she and a companion had been “beguiled into one den after another” and “shown all the stolen goods in Thebes.” Inevitably, they found themselves underground with a crumbling object in “gaudy cerements.” (She rejected it.)

Sheltered by limestone cliffs and set off by a limitless sky, the Valley of the Kings has been brought to order: Vendors now sell their wares in a visitors’ center, and tourists can hop an electric train to the burial grounds.

One of the most spectacular tombs in the royal warren belonged to Seti I; it was known to Victorians as “Belzoni’s tomb.” The entrance was breached in 1817 by the Italian adventurer Giovanni Belzoni who removed the sarcophagus of Seti I and sold it to a collector. In 1846, Martineau visited the chamber that had held the sarcophagus and reported, “We enjoyed seeing the whole lighted up by a fire of straw.” With its brilliant paintings set off by the flames, she said, “it was like nothing on the earth.”

It still is: The deepest and longest tomb in the necropolis, the resting place of Seti I is adorned with astonishing reliefs. Scenes from texts, including the Book of the Dead, lead from one spectacular enclave to another. On the day I visited, the crowds were elsewhere and the silence was profound.

The pharaoh who eluded the Victorians, of course, was Tutankhamun. Cloaked in obscurity for 3,000 years, his tomb was unsealed by Howard Carter at a time when the valley was believed to hold no surprises. In January, conservators completed nine years of restoration that revived the intimate enclosure.

Though most of Tutankhamun’s treasures are in the Egyptian Museum, his outer sarcophagus is still in the burial chamber. Stripped of its bandages, his corpse, blanketed in linen, now lies in a glass box — a desiccated figure blanketed in linen. Only his blackened head and feet are exposed, but he looks exquisitely vulnerable.

Surrounding the remains of the boy king are murals depicting him as a divinity; he enters the afterlife in the company of Anubis and Osiris and Nut. Set against a gold background, the images temper the pathos of his remains.

In the end, the tomb lost for so long is a reminder that in Egypt, the past continues to evolve. Perspectives can shift; voices can change. And something astonishing may be just around the corner.

Michelle Green has written for The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Review of Books and other publications. She is the author of “The Dream at the End of the World: Paul Bowles and the Literary Renegades in Tangier.”

Sahred From Source link Travel

from WordPress http://bit.ly/33D3P3R via IFTTT

[dreamlover31]

Love Will Find a Way: Chapter 26

The warm, sweet taste of caramel trickled down her throat from the Styrofoam mug locked between her lips; the ever-present odor of coffee grounds and the chatter of local patrons filtered throughout the small enclosure.

The flaky croissant laid aimlessly on top of the plate; her fingers picking at it like you would a scab that was trying to heal, she sat at a table that was parked towards the back; her eyes surveyed the surroundings and slowly made their way back to the window, where she watched bystanders pass her by without a second glance.

At that moment, she spotted an all too familiar face, the tall medium build man who attended her baby shower extended a small wave; to which she reciprocated. Her dark brown iris’ traced his movements, from when he entered the establishment to the point where he stood in front of her, after an exchange of nervous smiles, Sean pulled out the chair and sat down.

“Hey”

“Hey”

“Hope you didn’t wait too long”

“No…thanks”

“Listen, I’m glad you called…for a minute there I was worried that you’d written me off completely”

“No…I’ve been meaning to call, it’s just that…well things have been a little hectic lately”

“Hey, I get it. So, is Rafael going to be joining us?”

“Sorry, but he’s working on a pretty big case now…it takes up a lot of his time…” Alexa’s face saddened as she lost eye contact with Sean, the change in her demeanor caused a look of concern on Sean’s face; his hand slid across the table and landed on top of hers in a comforting gesture. Immediately, their eyes regained contact.

“Is everything ok? I mean, I know it’s none of my business but…”

“No, it’s ok…I can’t keep things bottled up, can I?”

Sean folded his arms on top of the table as he gave Alexa a reassuring nod, she took a moment to collect her thoughts, from there; the buildup of loneliness and frustration faltered with her telling’s of how Rafael seemed to focus on his job more than the responsibilities at home. The continuation of her account of events caused a few tears to form, at one point, she turned away from Sean and blinked to stop them from streaming down her cheeks; the same hand that held hers earlier made a place on Alexa’s shoulder in another gesture of comfort and sympathy.

“Hey…hey, it’s going to be ok”

“I mean, I know I should be more patient with him. His job asks a lot of him, but at the same time…I feel like I’m going through this pregnancy by myself”

Even though she wasn’t a part of his life anymore, there was something inside Sean that still cared for her, and it pained him dearly to see this strong, courageous woman reduced to a weeping mess. Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, an idea formed in his head.

“You know, Central Park’s not too far from here…maybe we could go for a walk, a little fresh air might do you some good”

Alexa nodded in agreement at his suggestion, one of the baristas walked by their table just as they were getting ready to leave, Sean signaled to the young woman and asked if she could fix a to go bag for the tea and croissant that Alexa had yet to finish.

The woman informed him that she’d be back with his request shortly, as soon as it was recieved, the contents of her meal were placed inside. Outside of the coffee shop, Sean whistled for a cab and instantly one drove up in front of them, upon entering the vehicle, instructions were given to the cabbie to deliver them to Central Park, a good 20 minutes passed just as they reached one of its prominent entrances.

Once he received his tip, Sean headed out first, then went around to the other passenger side door where he carefully lifted Alexa from the cab; the yellow vehicle drove off the moment they reached the sidewalk. During their stroll through the vast landscape with its picturesque scenery, a newfound sense of calmness and wellbeing overtook Alexa, then as if a spark had been lit; she began to converse with Sean about his new life, as well as his relationship with Sonny’s cousin.

Essentially, he became an open book with her, as he shared stories of the intimate and special occasions they’ve enjoyed as a couple; Alexa was reminiscent of the many times that Rafael treated her to romantic dinners or displayed small tokens of affection.

Their light-hearted laughs echoed along the trail, for the first time in a while, she felt the blissful tenderness associated with having someone to share her innermost thoughts and provide comfort/ reassurance. As the hours ticked away, daylight began to fade against the Manhattan skyline, Alexa noticed the dwindling sunlight and quickly glanced down at her watch, then gasped at the lateness of the hour.

“Oh, my god, I better get going, Rafael could be home any minute”

“Alright, I get you a cab”

The two of them returned to the entrance where they originally entered, Sean waved down an oncoming cab, after she was seated; Alexa relayed to the cabbie her intended destination. Before it could depart, Sean looked over at her, he expressed how much he enjoyed their time together and reiterated that he was always willing to lend a sympathetic ear; a smile of appreciation graced her face, then she offered that they should set up another time to meet.

“Yeah, that sounds great”

“Alright, I’ll call you with the details”

The cab drove away from the curb as Alexa and Sean waved good bye to each other, from that day forward, the former lovers became practically joined at the hip. Whenever Rafael worked late, Alexa invited Sean for days where they could sample some of the exotic cuisines at the numerous restaurants in Manhattan, enjoy the various theatrical productions on Broadway or gaze at the collection of art at one of the museums.

On one of the nights that she was left in the solitude of the brownstone, Alexa took it upon herself to allow Sean to come over, when he arrived; she smiled gleefully then gestured him inside. He scanned over the layout of the two adjoining rooms and became in awe at the overall design, and placement of every piece of furniture.

“Wow, this place is amazing, did you hire an interior decorator?”

Alexa laughed, “No, we did this all ourselves”

“Still, it’s pretty good”

“Wait until you see the upstairs”

Acting like an impromptu tour guide, she leads Sean up the stairs, the bathrooms and master bedroom were up to par in the sense that they were styled in a normal fashion, but as Alexa put it, the true masterpiece was the nursery.

The light switch flipped on to showcase the oak finished dresser that sat next to the doorway, the changing table planted at the far corner, the antique rocking chair that stood by the window and the crib; with the same oak finish as the dresser, propped up against the wall on the right side of the room. The walls were covered in a coat of light purple and soft blue palettes, Alexa sauntered over to the crib where her fingers grazed along its wooden texture, a soft smile stretched across her face while memories of the day that she and Rafael built the frame of the bed that their daughter would lay came into fruition.

A small toolbox sat beside him as they held up one of the bars, with a small screwdriver in hand, every piece was inserted and screwed into the right slot; while at the same time, his body shifted from one position to another; his posterior became an immediate source of attention to the mother to be, Alexa ogled at him like a horny teenager.

The event that followed the completion of their daughter’s crib involved a lot of tender kisses and the sensuous, passionate exploration of their bodies. Gradually, her mind made it back to the present, she finished showing Sean around before they retired to the living room; they sat on opposite ends of the couch but remained at a close distance.

“I got to tell Lex, you have a good thing going here”

“I know…hey, listen…I want to thank you for everything, I’ve really enjoyed spending time with you and I appreciate you letting me bitch about my problems”

Sean chuckled, “It’s no trouble believe me, I know this isn’t easy for you…but I’m always here if you need me”

“You know it’s funny, I can’t even remember the last time Rafael and I sat down and talked about anything…or even the last time we held each other, every time he comes home…he just passes out on the bed”

The look of sadness that haunted her that day at the coffee shop returned, but Sean moved in and cupped his finger under her chin, he tilted Alexa’s head so that it was facing his.

“Things are going to get better, I promise”

The kindness and sincerity of his words allowed a bright smile to form on Alexa’s face, then as if her body had a mind of its own, her arms wrapped around Sean in a hug. The warmth of another person’s body caused a sensation of closeness and security, as they slowly released from their embrace, Alexa met Sean eyes.

The energy that was coming from his dark blue orbs pulled her into a deep trance, all that she felt was the attentiveness and warm hearted tenderness that had long been forgotten, suddenly, her lips ghosted his. In a split second, Alexa pressed her soft, gentle lips on to Sean’s; an image of Rafael flashed through her closed eyelids and at that moment, Alexa pushed herself away from him.

“Oh, my god, what am I doing?”

“I’m sorry…I should have…”

“No, I’m the one that needs to apologize…you’ve been really nice to me and I’m feeling very vulnerable right now…her voice trailed off, but right then, an overwhelming sense of dread washed over her as a small shiver ran down her spine; Alexa felt like she was being watched. She turned to face the entryway of the living room where a tall figure wearing a three-piece suit and carrying a briefcase stood, the expression on her face was one of pure horror when it became apparent that it was Rafael. The look in his eyes culminated into one of pain and murderous rage.

“Rafi!”

“What the hell is this?!”

Alexa and Sean leapt from the couch in a manner that two teenagers would if their parents walked in on them making out, she held up her hands to convey to him that he needed to calm down, meanwhile, Sean positioned himself behind Rafael while Alexa kept the focus of his rage on her.

“I know this looks bad, but right now I need you to take a breath and not do anything stupid”

“Why the hell is Carisi’s cousin’s boyfriend in my living room kissing my pregnant girlfriend?!”

Alexa’s eyes welled up, she struggled to explain to him that this minor discretion was the result of her being overwhelmed with loneliness and despair and that Sean was blameless in all of it, but then he intervened.

“Look, this isn’t her fault…I took advantage of a vulnerable, young pregnant woman…right at that moment, Rafael’s fist connected with Sean’s face, as he fell to the ground; Alexa screamed. In a daze, Sean tried to regain his footing while he was nursing his throbbing jaw, meanwhile, Rafael reestablished eye contact with Alexa, his face contorted into one of pain and hurt.

“How long has this been going on?”

“Nothing has been going on…we’ve just been hanging out…and he was there for me when you couldn’t be. Rafi…please believe me when I tell you that I love you and only you” she cradled his face in her hands, eyes pleading with him to listen and believe her words; but alas, Rafael took his hands into hers and pushed them away. In that same instant, he stormed upstairs and into their bedroom, but not before he slammed the door; tears began to stream down Alexa’s face just as Sean was about to approach her.

“Don’t…just don’t”

It was then that Rafael reappeared with a suitcase in his hand, without so much as a cursory glance, his hand grabbed the doorknob; he was halfway out the door when Alexa begged:

“Please don’t leave, I’m sorry…I’m really sorry”

He said nothing.

“Rafi, please say something…just talk to me”

“I’m sorry…I can’t even look at you…I…I have to go”

The door closed behind him, Alexa broke down and started sobbing, Sean attempted to offer to go after Rafael, but was shut down. He insisted that she shouldn’t be left alone but once again, Alexa didn’t waiver; after Sean’s departure, she crept upstairs and curled up on the bed. Throughout the rest of the night, Alexa cried harder than she ever had in her entire life; her pillow drenched in tears…what have I done?

Tagging: @madpanda75 @laceybellerain @southern-magnolia @tropes-and-tales @itsjustmyfantasyroom @karens-imagined-world @beccabarba @thatesqcrush @madamsnape921 @skittle479