#should've stayed home

[rickybowensfever]

28. “I should have stayed home”

@sicktember - Day 28

28. “I should have stayed home”

NEW CHARACTERS!!

I'm introducing my new characters in this fic. Meet Jessie and Luke!

Jessica “Jessie” Rose Baker (She/her): Fat; curly long blonde hair; Southern Belle from Alabama currently living in Maryland, bisexual; dental hygienist. She is fresh out of college. Age: 23

Luke Olsen (He/him): Trans guy; light brown hair and green eyes; slender; from Maryland; 2nd grade teacher at a public school. Age: 22

Bio: Jessie and Luke met at John Hopkin’s University in Maryland. They live together in a small apartment complex and have been together for three years. They met during their junior year of college.

OCTOBER 5, 2023

Sitting at their table in the dim light of the venue, Luke could feel his head pounding as the DJ announced Jessie’s sister and her brother-in-law.

“Everybody give it up for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds!”, the room erupted with applause and cheering as the newlyweds made their grand entrance to the dance floor.

Meanwhile, Luke lay his head on the table dressed in a white tablecloth, covering his ears trying to drown out the sound.

What feels like twenty minutes later but is only a few minutes, he feels Jessie’s hand on his back. Her long blonde curls hitting his shoulder and the smell of her rose perfume was strong.

“You okay?” she whispered into his ear. Throughout the last two weeks, Luke had felt something coming on. With the seasons changing and a month into the school year, it was inevitable. Only two years into teaching and his immune system had yet to catch up with his germ-infested students. But he held out hope that the beginning of school sickness would hold out until after the wedding.  

He was very, very wrong.

“I should’ve stayed home” his voice muffled as he kept his head on the table. Jessie sighed at her boyfriend and immediately grabbed her purse from the chair beside him. She sat down and rummaged through it until she found her emergency pack of pain relievers.

Luke knew what Jessie was thinking since they had just had this conversation yesterday. Luke was feeling run down from a long week of rowdy (and snotty) second graders that he skipped the rehearsal dinner that night to rest on the couch and watch [redacted show because the SAG-AFTRA & WGA are on strike!]  for the fifth time.  

Jessie told him repeatedly he didn’t have to go to the wedding sick. But Luke was as stubborn as they came, and he wanted to support her. But now he wanted to kick Past Luke for not listening to her.  

Jessie nudged Luke’s arm trying to get his attention, holding onto the sleeve of his suit jacket. He slowly pulled his head off of the table and looked at her with his big glassy, green eyes. She pouted her lip; she wore rose red lipstick to match her maroon-colored dress.

As the DJ called everyone to watch the father-daughter dance, Jessie handed him the small white container shaped as a cylinder and directed him to take the medication. Luke shook out two pink tablets onto his palm and chase them down with the complementary glass of water he was given when they walked into the reception.

“Why don’t I give you the key to the hotel and you can go lie down?” she suggested, looking at him and back up at the dance floor.

Luke knew she was right. At his job, he was constantly solving childish problems that his seven and eight-year-old students thought were the end of the world so why was it so hard to let someone else solve his easy problems for once?

“I think I’ll be okay” he lied as his head continued to pound to the rhythm of the music.

Jessie had been looking forward to being a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding since the engagement back in Fall of 2019 which happened to be the same time she and Luke met at college. He wanted to be there for her to witness her brother’s big day.

Jessie smiled a thin-lipped smile and put a hand on his back. “If you start feeling bad, let me know and a car can drive you over to the hotel. Seriously,” she said looking into his eyes sternly.

Luke nodded his head in agreement. He would wait at least until dinner and head back to the hotel. He had at least attended the wedding, he told himself trying to convince his anxious thoughts he was doing good by her.

[somereaderinblue]

Okay so maybe this is a little weird but when Telemachus gets older does he start to pick up on how messed up the situation his father is stuck in obviously being a child somethings go over his head but he's not completely oblivious to what is happening

If I took a shot everytime older!Telemachus looks back on certain childhood memories only to crash out as the full extent of the horrors hit him, my liver would be done for. It's mortifying being the one who remembers & if there's one memory that haunts Telemachus, it's this.

CW/TW: SA & non-con

Telemachus winced as Zeus Chrysaor's lightning crackled across the sky, accompanied by the roar of thunder. The weather has been horrible for three days straight, so bad that a truce had been struck so both sides could focus on surviving nature's forces instead of spears and arrows. Hestia Polýolvos received many prayers and libations as hearths were perpetually stoked. Charis had made sure to tuck Telemachus in a thicker blanket tonight.

Yet, the blanket could not ward off the slither of fear worming its way into Telemachus' stomach, tying itself into knots to further torment him.

'I'm a brave little wolf.' like his atta would call him, like the heroes from epic tales and songs.

'A brave little wolf.' He hugged Argos closer, hoping they could be brave little wolves together.

Another roar threatened to shake the aegean. He peeked out of the blanket and his eyes widened as for a fraction of a second, the lightning struck, spawning terrifying shadows throughout his room. Telemachus could still see them even after darkness reclaimed the entirety of this space. He wonders if they saw him too, wonders if they wanted him to see them.

.

.

.

Him and Argos can be brave little wolves with atta.

"Full speed ahead, Argos." Telemachus whispered to his companion before nudging the door open.

Sneaking to the room atta shared with Pari was a familiar game and Telemachus was a very good player. In no time, he reached his destination but much to his confusion, the doors weren't closed properly. Odd, they were always shut.

Moving closer, Telemachus peeked through the gap and-

(Pandora opened the box. Out came misery, out came sadness, out came suffering, out came all the terrible evils of the world.)

There was no lightning to paint the room in vivid detail this time, only the glow of candlelight. It softened the edges to an almost dreamlike quality. Telemachus felt like he was underwater, except this time, he didn't feel safe or calm at all.

Atta was standing in the room. Naked. The beautiful silks sliding down his calves to pool around his ankles. The pearls around his neck and shoulders look heavy. Telemachus wishes he took those off instead of his clothes. Why isn't he wearing his clothes? It's not bath time right now. It's so cold, his atta should be wrapped in a blanket, like him. Isn't he cold?

Pari is lounging on a kline, fully clothed, nursing a chalice of wine between his ringed fingers. There's a bowl of pomegranates beside him, the spilled seeds remind Telemachus of scraped knees. He's smiling as if he's watching something nice, like a dance. Or maybe it's his atta. Pari always finds him very nice and very pretty, he loves him after all.

Atta loves Telemachus too.

But Atta's love doesn't make Telemachus feel like this. Like he's-

Like he's doing something he shouldn't, like he shouldn't here, like this is wrong, like he wants this to not happen and never exist-

Goosebumps prickle across Telemachus' skin. He's cold. He's so, so cold. So cold it burns, so cold he wants to throw himself into fire to get rid of it.

Gripping Argos tight, he hurries back to his room, no longer a wolf stalking through the night but a scared little boy running from something he just knew to be wrong. He slips into his room and wraps the blanket around himself as tight as possible, trying to smother the goosebumps.

'I'm sorry.' he doesn't know who he's apologizing to or what he's apologizing for. But he says it again. 'I'm sorry.'

Outside, the storm rages on. Inside, the shadows appear time and again, always there, always watching Telemachus. Telemachus stares back.

He's not afraid of them anymore.

They weren't half as scary as what he just saw.

He doesn't know why that scared him. There had been no one else in that room, no monsters or animals or intruders. Just his atta and Pari, who've been together since he was born. Why did that scare him?

He didn't know why. Not knowing was the scariest part of all.

.

.

.

The next morning, atta hugged Telemachus and he hugged him back, relieved that his body was clothed and warm. They ate breakfast and Pari smiled at Telemachus, offering him a pomegranate.

Telemachus flinched. No, he said. I never want to see that fruit ever again, he thought.

Telemachus pressed his face into atta's clothed chest and prayed that his heart would never know what Telemachus saw last night.

[defira85]

Called in sick today because my pain is off the charts only to find out the receptionist called in sick last night

So guess who's at work anyway, running reception

I'm wearing ugg boots under the desk because I couldn't manage to put my shoes on

[skibasyndrome]

.

[wisteria-whump]

whumpee feeling a bit under the weather but thinking they're fine until they go to work/school and realize they are very much not fine but still forcing themselves to power through the day

[bookwyrminspiration]

NO FR it makes me so ascared when characters in books are skipping and not doing homework… like i fear i am too much of a nerd for this. what do you mean you skipped every latin class so far. what do you mean you didnt do any homework. I Would Die.

literally!! I understand it is entirely a me thing I'm projecting onto the characters, but I have dedicated about 99% of my life to academics! A significant chunk of my reputation is being an academic freak of nature.

Every time a character skips class, or can't remember a lecture, or just doodles on their homework/tests my heart stops for a moment. And I have to force myself past it reminding myself my experiences are not universal and they can do what they want

same irl sometimes, actually. sometimes my friends will be like yeah i didn't want to go to my morning class so I didn't. and i'm just like. you are free to live your life however you want but i think i'd rather impale myself bodily; i'm too anxious to skip class--every second i'm not there i'm just like. i'm supposed to be there i'm supposed to be in class there's class right now im missing things my routine

anyway. Neil is not gonna become an academic and i'm fine with that however. i cannot stop my little subconscious visceral reactions

[nenoname]

wait did people actually interpret the stan o war ending as them not going back to gravity falls for a few months every year and instead as them only ever staying on the boat?? i thought that them staying for summers or just regular breaks + them constantly having video chats with family and friends was something everyone just assumed lol

(people tend to forget their motto of 'growing old doesn't mean growing up' too huh)

[kameyyy]

oh those aren't very nice news to wake up to

[lelekasalreadyexist]

At this point if you still trying to find a reason to justify Eurylochus hate I'm coming after you because imagine growing up struggling just to struggle AGAIN and die in struggle of Eurylochus you're so much stronger than me

[storybookhawke]

the tea shop i write in is playing country and i just didn't sign up for this

[paaelle]

I made the horrible decision of coming to school today

[weidli]

oh, berlin, nobody knows where you've been

[yeehawitsjakee]

Started off doodling Gorion's ward and Imoen as kids in Candlekeep with Gorion (BABY BHAALSPAWNS!!!)

Ended up sketching a sad comic cuz I'm still not over baldur's gate 2 :')

Idk if I'll ever actually do anything with these sketches but I needed to show it to someone ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[yyshcul]

my body be like APRIL FOOLS ❗❗❗[gets a virus that makes you projectile vomit for 6 hours straight]

[theworstofallpossibleworlds]

The lads go surfing on a soundwave and swing through the stars as they tag along on the increasingly alarming field trips of Ms. Frizzle in the landmark children’s franchise: The Magic School Bus. Full episode available on our Patreon at Patreon dot com slash worstofall!

[rottedbrainz]

Yay! Finished my water color portraits of the Fam doing beach things! ⛱️ ☀️🕶

I used my regular water color markers but I used an actual brush to paint this time, sooo the just know the mixture of colors was an artistic choice.