#so pissed off they gave me a prep when were fucking down a teacher

[dadzxwa]

Just got my rosters and it is going to be one hell of a school year

[the-headbop-wraith]

3 _ 43 _ Rekindling

  As ever when all was well and right the garage was a cacophony of sounds, from hydraulics humming off the rotary lifts and power drills, to the squeal of impact wrenches. Each car port had one vehicle tended to, with a technician toiling away with the task of repairing or renovating an assigned vehicle. Outside, the carport had more automobiles parked up with numbers slipped onto dashboards.

 On the work floor, Uncle Lance was lending an extra pair of arms to the diagnostic work of a utility van, a lot more teched out than his usual forte of labor. However, a tech savvy guy was left to the task of breezing through the more specialized work of the Bluetooth incorporated hardware. This was not the issue it was brought in for, but double-checking the software was procedural. The undercarriage of the vehicle needed a total overhaul and realignment, a time-consuming task.

  Familiar barking rang through the garage.

“Gimmie a moment,” he grunted, to the operator in the passenger seat. He moved back from the open driver side of the van and cast his view across the open floor of the garage. There he was, a black and white streak trotting around supply carts, head held high like he carried an important purpose. In tow was Vivi, momentarily preoccupied by the phone in her hand, and some sort of satchel was draped over her shoulder.

 “A bit early, are yu?” he posed. Lance took the end of the rag pinned to his pro-wrestler belt and rubbed some of the grim off his fingers.

 “Work rooms locked,” Vivi replied. “Is he in today?”

 “Course.” Lance nodded toward the direction of his office. “Shouldn’t be too long, ‘e’s meetin’ with a ‘‘client’’.” He did air quotes.

 “Ooh,” Vivi groaned. They moved off the work field and relocated to the wall, beside where empty boxes from parts were stacked. “How do they keep finding him?”

 Uncle Lance shrugged. “People post them pics to ‘em nosey sites, and they git the info where’n he works. Ye’know, that societal medium thing.”

 “Social media?”

 Mystery yipped, frowning behind his spectacles. This was very tiresome, tedious, and tumdum.

 “Whatever ya call it. Nuisance, they are – dragging him off work.” Lance grumbled under his breath some phrase, which might’ve been a curse or a Curse. “Think they’re them first to come by, offerin’ this biggest, best deal. Arthur could git ah’lot done with them gadgets, but I understand his privacy is important.”

 Vivi set the satchel down on one of the boxes, and looked the way to the doors to Uncle Lance’s office. “It’s not so much the anonymity he wants, but the builds and designs… they’re not, how do I say? General public applicable.”

 “Applicable-micable,” Lance mumbled.

 “Even the housing for the collar to shoulder hookup is specialized.” Vivi leaned over and rubbed Mystery’s head. “Eventually, he might try for a patent, but the models… even the college is thirsting over the incorporation. Anyway, it’s his business.”

 Lance took a deep breath and sighed. “Yer right. Pisses me off still, need tu get a sign out there. Pisses me off, ‘ee’s too nice.”

 Vivi leaned up rummaged through the satchel, revealing bags with containers. She selected a small box and handed it over. “You seem more, um… gruff than usual. Everything okay?”

 Lance popped the lid and examined the small treat within. “We’re backlogged fer parts, work is comin’ through, and I got fancy suits in mah office tryin’ be clever. An’ I gotta get through the client list, before thay start callin’ me.” When Arthur strolled over, he raised up the little food box. An unspoken gesture fortifying break.

 “I can work some over time,” Arthur began. His arm was not attached. “An hour or something, just to get some of these vehicles prepped for the morning shift.” Lance whipped around to face him fully and squared up his shoulders.

 “Arthur. When five o’clock rolls around, the doors close and the shift winds down.” He waved the food box like a school teacher threatening their student with the ruler, and probably a firm algebra lesson. “No one, and no one ever built a better car while exhausted.”

 Arthur rolled his eyes, “But—”

 “I dun car with how enthused yu are, there’s a chasm in the ground to distinguish between work and recharge time. Your brains a battery, and batteries need recharge – or they get replaced. Aw’right?” Lance jabbed at Arthur’s chest, getting the point across the way Lance did when he was cross. “Down time is still werk, yu werk hard restin’. It’s important.”

 Arthur droned out, “Yus, Uncle Lance.”

 Vivi swooped in and threw an arm around Arthur’s shoulders. “And that’s why we’re gatherin’ at my place. Nothing but ‘no doing’ going on there. No cars, or parts, or pieces to tinker with.” Arthur nearly tumbled but Vivi kept him upright. “Complete bores-ville.”

 A thin smile tugged at Arthur’s cheeks. “Whatever you say.”

 Lance nodded, as if he won an argument – which he probably did. “Yu see to that.” He was about to move away, but leaned back toward the two. “Ah, and no work on the van, either.” Then, he took his leave.

 Arthur stuttered and quivered as his Uncle left. “But… the tools need to be reconditioned, or they might turn against it!” Vivi pulled him by the collar, hauling him off. On the way, she grabbed the satchel off the boxes.

 “You can still look at it. They did a fine job, you’ll never know it was crushed once they get the paint redone—”

 A distant roar bellowed out from the owner’s office, “WHAT?!”

 “Exaggeration!” Vivi hooted back. “C’mon Art, nourishment awaits!”

 Arthur hadn’t gotten his feet squared off or organized, he skipped on his heel as she dragged him across the work room. “Whoa, hold up! Vi! Mercy! Mercy!”

 The Mystery Skulls van sat at the back of Kingsman Mechanics, the location used primarily by delivery and staff parking. In the lead paced Mystery, with Vivi and the screaming Arthur trailing. Once Arthur spied the vehicle with its refurbished side, he magically regained his balance and began leading Vivi by her sweater. He had stars in his eyes, for once.

 “Oh wow, you can hardly tell it was crushed.” Arthur’s phone chimed, and when he stopped dragging the blue girl to fish the device from his vest pocket to check the screen. The message read:

 “WHAT?!??!?!?!?!?!?”

 Arthur coughed and texted back.

 Beside the van, Vivi raised the hand holding the packages. “I dunno, it might be more seamless when we get the new paint done.” She posed beside the side, arms flung high. “I can’t wait to see the design.”

 Arthur cringed down, with a grin. He slipped the phone back into its pocket. “Yeah, can’t wait to show off the new colors. Hmm.” He looked aside.

 Off and away from the two, Mystery was sniffing around the parking lot. Once he gave the clear, he barked and rejoined his colleagues.

 “And look, we got windows in the back now.” Vivi escorted Arthur to the aforementioned updates, showing the windows. “Surprise!”

 Arthur gaped. “Oh, awesome. Now we can witness the angry mob chasing us out of town.”

 Vivi waved a finger. “Don’t forget, the creepy monsters we can’t deal with. Won’t that be fun?”

 “Ooh-dles.” The back doors swept open, and Arthur retreated back five steps.

 Lewis leaned out. “You guys are really loud.”

 Arthur shuffled over to the doors and examined the fitted panel. “One way?”

 “And reinforced,” Vivi chimed. She handed off the satchel to Lewis. “Is it okay?”

 Arthur shrugged. “I’m not opposed to it. Hey Lew.”

 “Sup.”

 Inside the van and along both walls laid long, flat boxes. The label read industrial shelving, and one was already opened. Metal bars and packing sheets littered the floor. On the end of one box, Lewis set out the food cartons from the package.

 “I’m gunna miss the cuvees,” Arthur mentioned. Vivi was busy wiping his hand off with a rag and some ninety-nine, even though he didn’t work on the floor since his meeting.

 “Yeah,” she hummed. “But we lost inventory, and stuff would get crammed in the back and forgotten. We never cleaned them.”

 He toed one of the boxes with his sneaker. “I’ll modify these, so nothing goes flying off while you’re driving.” Lewis had relocated to the front seat and snorted, a little flame curled off his shoulder. “Someone did bring in catering today. You didn’t have to come abduct me.”

 Vivi was already digging in, eating some chicken with sauce. “I wanted to show off the van. And we had to dump it off anyway, so you can load up supplies.” She pulled over the portable ice chest and popped the lid. “You gunna be able to do that on your own?”

 There was no sound, but Arthur did catch the faint movement of Lewis as he glanced over the bench seat. “Yeah, I’ll be good. I didn’t feel like wearing it today.” He leaned over and snagged a drink from the cooler, the ice was melting and the canister damp. “I was replacing a servo and Gally, bless his hamster instincts, decided to gnaw through the circuit board.”

 Vivi nearly choked. “He what?! Is he okay?” Mystery had curled up beside her, and raised his head, horrified. “He’s usually such a good helper.”

 “Yeah. I must’ve fucked up the current or something. He hates that.”

 Mystery rested his chin back onto his paws. Yeah, that sucks. Arthur made that mistake once before, and it turned Galahad into a round fluff.

 While they ate, Vivi pulled out a notepad and wrote out what equipment they could use tonight. Their meetup wasn’t directly off the work lane, there would be movies and not much else going on but ignoring the movies – or complaining how unrealistic the movies were. For the most part, she wanted to discuss more work centered stuff, and perhaps do something about the cluttered closet that held predominately junk stuff. She insisted on using the words ‘stuff’ and ‘things’ without remorse.

 There was likewise a separate list for movies they could stream or buy, or pirate.

 “You can put more down,” Arthur mentioned, as he tried to work through the veggies someone insisted he have. “Uncle’ll help me. He’ll be working late tonight.”

 “Lemme get this straight,” Lewis spoke, “he won’t let you work overtime, but he will.”

 “It’s his business. He can do whatever he wants,” Arthur retorted. “And people had better not start seeing your spooky shadow ‘round. We get enough problems with jackasses showing up trying to get copycrap over my spec designs, I don’t want Spectral Seekers showin’ up, harassing Uncle Lance for a crummy show.”

 Lewis leaned back over the bench seat. “I was bored, okay?”

 “Bored?!” Arthur spat. “Was that today, or when—”

 Mystery barked.

 “Art! It’ll be fine,” Vivi proclaimed. “That was one time, we figured it out. After this, we’re goin’ straight back to my place to set up. Cool?”

 Arthur made a face and deflated. He poked at his food and sipped his drink, but just a bit. He avoided raising his eyes or checking the front of the van. “Hmm. Yeah. We’ll just… the guys need to stay focused.”

 Lewis hunched down in his seat. “I wasn’t tryin’ to be a ‘presence’, it’s hard being all cooped up.”

 Arthur fixed his legs, readjusting them along with his hunched posture. “Sure. I get that.”

 Once everyone got settled, or stewing, Vivi relaxed and resumed poking at a salad. That wasn’t too bad, but she wondered if it was always like this, or when this all started. They were talking again, the progress was slow but any amount she appreciated. Then again, maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe it was… her.

 Before the break could be called a success, Vivi helped Arthur bring down one of the boxes packed with equipment and stowed it in the van. The spare bike was stashed in the van, and Lewis helped Vivi pull her eco-friendly, short distance transport out before he evaporated in a plume of flames. Likely, to attach himself to the flashlight stored in the side pocket of her backpack. She clicked on the light to confirm for Arthur, Lewis wasn’t hanging around.

 “Let me know if you’re running late or anything comes up,” she stated, while Arthur double checked that the van was secure and latched tight.

 “I’ll remember,” Arthur replied. They said farewells, and he returned to the garage of Kingsman Mechanics, with Mystery by his side.

 The remainder of Arthur’s shift whirred by in a steady momentum, cranking out the vehicles on his roaster. It was a little before closing when he scrawled out the end time of his last assignment, on the task chalkboard on the work floor wall. He might actually make it to Vivi’s before she began with the texting. It’d be fun to wait outside and just hang out, until the first one chimed off.

 Following one brief shower, Arthur got busy in his work room packing some fresh clothing for the next day. A separate bag sat reserved for parts, if he got around to the easier aspects to his arm and trying out the new cooling system – it was rather clunky and added weight – though, keeping the circuits at a controlled temperature kept rotors from overheating. A vent would be a nice benefit, but he needed a sealed compartment; a difficult feat in a multisegmented apparatus.

 While Arthur went around the work room browsing for items he needed, Mystery was satisfied with dozing on the couch. It was only when Arthur hauled out the travel cage for Galahad, that spurred interest from Mystery. Arthur went to the hamster terrarium and located his caramel colored companion in his nest.

 “Well get this stuff downstairs and get that flatcart,” Arthur explained.

 Mystery was already nosing the door to the room open. He glanced back at Arthur, ear twitching. You got that okay?

 “Lead the way.” He claimed the terrarium under his one arm and went with Mystery, to the ground floor.

 The lights around the corner blazed bright, but the sounds from the work floor approached subdued. By now it was well past five, and shutters barred out noises from the open road across from the carport. He hardly saw anyone as he went for a flat cart parked by supplies. Mystery hopped onto the panel and rode it, while Arthur guided it back to the corridor. Loading up his gear was a piece of cake, and he was making good time. He’d park the flatbed cart by the employee access and bring the van around, and leave the cart in parts for whoever needed it next.

 Only a last cluster of technicians remained in the garage, upon his departure. A few closing out some diagnostics or working with one of the trainees. Arthur exited through the back and locked the employee access. The last order of business was a quick text to Uncle, reminding him to lock the deadbolt.

 Score! No messages from Vivi, yet.

 __

 It was almost a shock for Arthur when he arrived at the door to the apartment, and it opened to reveal Vivi. He shouldn’t really be surprised, why would someone not ‘living’ in her apartment answer the door. The fragrance of sugar and popcorn swept out.

 “Holy cakes, I was about to start texting,” she cheered. “Did Uncle Lance kick you out?”

 “Naw,” Arthur grinned. Mystery nudged the back of his legs. “Did you need any help setting up?” He and Vivi had to give space for Mystery, the dog shoved his way on through and went straight for the kitchen. “More important, do you ever feed him?”

 Vivi sighed. She was already gathering up Arthur’s bags. “He had a whole chicken today.”

 Arthur grabbed the terrarium and stood, the cage nestled under his arm. The Plexiglas box wasn’t heavy nor cumbersome, even so, he lingered at the threshold watching as Vivi retreated within. He glanced away and toed at the edge of the door jam. When he raised his gaze, Vivi was still there and quiet, a patient smile tugging the edge of her lips. She nodded toward the living room.

 His feet shuffled across the entry. Noises came from within, the sort you’d expect to curl forth from a kitchen. “A whole chicken? Wow. Isn’t that something.” The sounds didn’t pause or hush a bit, as he scooted through the corridor.

 Finally, he poked his head into the kitchen. “Are you doing spicey stuff?”

 As expected, Lewis was at the stove with a pot and spatula looking guilty. “No?”

 “I’m gunna start sneezing.”

 Lewis shrugged. “It’ll clear up your allergies.”

 “I don’t have allergies.”

 Vivi relocated to the living area to deposit Arthur’s gear, and swung back. She was dressed casually, not her typical skirt or sweater, but her clothing was certainly on the poofy side, and clearly comfy. “Are you gonna start arguing again?”

 Woof?

 “We’re not arguing,” Lewis defended, swinging the spatula.

 “This is a conversation,” Arthur affirmed. He went ahead and followed Vivi. He set Galahad’s terrarium under the end table in the corner of the room and popped the lid.

 “Whatever you call it, I’m not refereeing.”

 Lewis cackled. “Purge initiated.”

 Off center of Vivi’s living area, the other end table was situated with a television on top, with wires hooked from it to the laptop sitting on the floor. In the corridor to the bedroom, the closet door was open and some of the boxes within left on the floor. The door was pulled back fully, permitting Arthur to view some of the items left out of containment, wedged on the shelves within. He shuddered.

 A cacophony of popping erupted from within the kitchen, and Lewis swished around the large pot upon the burner. “Wanna get a movie going, and we can start looking through the stuff?” he proposed. “I did some homemade candy.”

 “Mmm!” Vivi hummed. “These gummies are really ugly, but they’re tasty.”

 “That’s what happens when you don’t use molds.” Lewis brought up a plate with wax paper, and little colorful globs topped. They were ugly as heck, Arthur noted. In a large bowl, Lewis poured out a whole kettle of corn from the pot he was using. The fluffy kernels were still glistening with melted sugar, steam shimmered across the lumpy peak.

 Likewise on the counter, there sat two fire extinguishers. Arthur supposed they could pack one or both in the van. He wondered if she bought both, or if one came with the apartment.

 “Arthur.” He shook his head and looked to Vivi. “Can you get a movie going? I gotta boot up my laptop.”

 The couch was already dressed with blankets and extra pillows. It kind of reminded him of the old times, like nothing changed. He took his seat beside the chair arm, near where he put Galahad’s travel cage. He took the ball of fluff from his little nest and set him up on the back of the couch. Mystery thundered onto the couch and gave the hamster a close look over.

 Opening credits ended for the introduction, and the movie began. Vivi planted herself beside Mystery, and Lewis was last to join with the bowl of popcorn and plate of gooies. Vivi took a handful of popcorn and started eating, along with one of those gooey treats from the plate now set on the back of the couch. Galahad was wheeling his way over, but Mystery lay his head in the way.

 “I was thinking,” she said, and swallowed. Lewis left the popcorn in her care and revisited the kitchen. “We’ll be off on another assignment, and doing whatever cases we want on the way. But we have all this stuff, and it’s kind of starting to pile up.”

 “Right,” Arthur muttered. “You could just dump it off on Duet.” He took the bowl she passed and tried the popcorn. It was good, salty and sweet. Lewis came back over and handed off some drinks to him and Vivi. “Uh, thanks.”

 “Don’t you think I tried?” Vivi licked her fingers and went to typing on the laptop. “We get duplicates and we got fake crap, some of it is legit. Yeah Lew?”

 He nodded. “Some of it gives me the heebie-jeebies. Don’t like that.”

 “I’ve been checking some blogs and people,” Vivi went on, tucking the unopened bottle beside her hip. “I have harmless crud, that’d make for good props for research. That stuff can go to whoever, but Duet doesn’t want duplicates or reproductions.”

 Arthur popped the cap to his beverage and took a sip. “I’ll leave that to you bunch then. I didn’t want much to do with it then, and not really much now.”

 “That’s cool,” Vivi assured, with a smile. “You had some heavy run-ins with some of this crap, and I don’t blame you.” She plopped the laptop onto Arthur’s lap and got off the couch.

 A timer went off, and Lewis made his way over to the kitchen. “Should be good to say farewell, though? Eh, Art?”

 “Yeah.” He reached over to the popcorn bowl and grabbed a kernel, which he delivered to the hamster sitting on Mystery’s head. “No goo junk,” he commanded. “We don’t want to give Mystery a haircut, ‘cuz of some gummy stuff.” Mystery delivered and expression of utter petrification.

 Then it hit Arthur, while Vivi was pulling out a plastic crate from within the closet. “Shit. I forgot the equipment.”

 “Que s’eso?”

 “The equipment.” Arthur took the plate of small, browned marshmallow meringues Lewis handed over. “Um, I was supposed to finalize it. Make sure I’ve got it all stabilized and tuned.” He and Lewis held a painfully long stare. “I wasn’t planning on testing that crap on you. Though, it’d certify if my handywork was thorough.”

 “No.”

 Vivi set the crate down on the floor and browsed through a few clay figures, among them bundled tissue paper and bubble wrap. “That’s fine, we’ll get to that another day.”

 Arthur sucked in some air beside his teeth. “Meh. It was my thing to do, while you guys did yours. Fuck.” He sat a moment, debating if there was something else he could do if he wasn’t preoccupied with his go to task. There was the tinkering work on his arm, but he recalled some of the tools for that was left in the boxes he meant to pack. Aside from eating, which he now was not in the mood for, he didn’t have much else to do but watch bad movies.

 “It’s not late, I can swing over and grab ‘em.”

 “Or you could just let it go, and have a weekend to relax,” Vivi indicated. She leaned on the couch beside his legs. “I wasn’t serious with getting a head start on this, so that stuff can wait. Right?”

 Lewis took the plate of gummies off the couch back, before Galahad could crawl into them. “Is this gunna be a bother for you all evening?”

 Arthur sighed. “Yeah. Threw off my groove and everything.” He pouted. “It won’t take any time at all. Zoom over and back. It’s not a lot to gather up either, I don’t wanna put it off though.”

 Vivi stood up. “Fine. I’m not like, your other boss or anything.” She tried the meringue thing. “Are these burnt?”

 “They fucking are,” Lewis rasped.

 “But they’re good anyway. I love burnt marshmallows.”

 “Not helping.” Lewis pointed down at Arthur. “I’m going with.”

 “Why?” both Arthur and Vivi exclaimed. Mystery woofed. Lewis looked from Vivi to Arthur.

 “To… help? Is there… a reason why I shouldn’t?”

 Vivi stuttered, “No – not… it’s up to Arthur.”

 All up to him. Yay. Arthur set the laptop aside and got off the couch. “Sure, fine, it’s cool. Let’s go so we can get back.” He went to the entry way, twirling intermittently through his strides to call, “Keep an eye on Gally, huh? I want him eating normal hamster things.” Lewis nearly ran into him on their way down the corridor.

 They were already headed out the door, when Vivi answered, “He’ll be good— Gally! Mystery! Not the gummies! No!”

  __

 By all appearances, the garage was vacant of life and sat with impenetrable silence, scarcely an aura of habitation. Vehicles huddled abandoned, the tools cold and still at long last following a brutal and arduous workday. Upon one soldering table stood a partially drained Styrofoam cup, a stray draft teased a greasy rag hung over the handlebar of a flat cart. Light flickered over the listless machinery, in the deepest reaches of the shop strange shadows carved burrows into deserted spaces. Aside from those minute scraps of animation, nothing stirred within Kingsman Mechanics. However, appearances are deceitful.

 The small access doorway for shipments betrayed the established stillness. The knob twisted one way slowly, then the other gradually, a faint tick-tick twittered from the key chamber. Tick-tick… tick! The dead bolt swept sideways with genuine dedication, and the latch barked loose.

 A brief reprieve followed, insisting that nothing was amiss and all was complacent, ordinary, and drab. Then, the faithful metal panel eased an inch, enough to allow a swollen lump to squeeze through. The squishy bulb observed the blanket of unremarkable matter. Off from the doorway, the blocky stacks of supplies and barren pallets, a tarp and some other obscure items, industrial shelving and other blocky shapes.

 Through the doorway extended a small cylinder, and with a click the glaring slate of light glittered through the interior room, skewering the gloom and incriminating the present occupants. Hubcaps, a flatbed cart, opened boxes and packing materials strewn on the floor. Cold metal sleeping in the dark, oblivious boxes, and not a conscious soul in sight.

 The vague shape eased through the slither of doorway and let the panel whisper shut at their back. Once within fully, they doused the light and let their eyes adjust to the swollen murk. With practiced grace they moved from delivery, and inched onto the work floor. Some dull glow did enter through the front windows of Kingsman Mechanics, illuminating the barest of outlines upon workstations and patient vehicles. They moved through the garage meticulously, pausing only to listen and grasp their environment through hearing, and their intuition. It hadn’t failed them yet.

 Parts and easily mobile machinery were everywhere, some adding up into the thousands if packed carefully into the duffle bag slung over their arm. None of it had substantial value, only a temporary check to drop in the bucket. They followed the wall, clicking on the flashlight and capping the front to stifle the blast of light. There was no rush, if they couldn’t find it tonight, there was always next week. It would mean stake out and observe for changes, but a task amended without issue or too much delay. Better safe than sorry. Maybe the gear wasn’t here at all, and this was a waste of time. They wouldn’t know until a thorough search was launched. But all night lay ahead.

[werezmastarbucks]

Whitmore Guy: scheming

whitmore guy masterlist

word count: 1986

music: lana del rey - salvatore, twenty one pilots - anathema

He was still giggling minutes after they left.

“Why the long face?” he asked, as they were walking up the stairs. “Still upset about that necklace?”

“FBI’s not good news, Mal”, she said and scratched her nose.

“Because of all the vampires in the town?”

“Exactly”.

“Well, then, it’s not good news for them”, Mal shrugged, “don’t you guys, like, hide the bodies very well?”

“Didn’t they seem a bit off to you?”

“There we go”, he chanted apologetically, “you’re paranoid. They gave me an impression of very unprofessional guys who need more sleep. What did you read in their faces?”

“You yourself acknowledged that their question about odd weather was ridiculous”.

“And that’s what it was”, Mal stood at her door, holding onto it, his other hand resting on his hip. Y/N just noticed that he was wearing a t-shirt with a Xenomorph and a Predator stylized as Beavis and Butthead. Mal could be many things at the end of the day, but there was no arguing that this t-shirt was one of the coolest Y/N’s ever seen in her life.

  ____________________________

Y/N rarely needed someone, but when she did, Mystic Falls folk was always there. That was one thing Mal didn’t understand about them, being here for not too long, and not getting into the depth of what living in the most cursed town in the country was like. Damon might be a jerk; he’s cold, brusque and condescending, but he also saved her life not less than thirteen times. Getting a bit angry was his way of caring. That is, it of course didn’t mean they didn’t try to change him.

The warmest of them was Elena Gilbert. Who didn’t know her? She didn’t even visit Whitmore because she was always busy at the hospital, but Mal managed to hear everything about her. That she’s stunningly beautiful, that she’s got the most tremendous hair and a face like a doll, that she’s a very promising young nurse and that she’s engaged to Stefan Salvatore, the marble boy, as Mal called him.

There were unbreakable ties. And they always found a way to ring when bothered. And they always vibrated when an emergency council was needed.

Everybody had a specific place in the Salvatore living room: Caroline always sat in the middle of the big couch. Elena usually was prepped to her thigh. Alaric preferred the little armchair turned against the window, so that he doesn’t have to touch knees with anybody. Stefan always stood at the fireplace, like being a little away helped him concentrate better. Damon sat on the armrest of the big couch, or shuffled around with bottles at his alcohol table. Bonnie walked to a fro, annoying him beyond belief. Y/N liked to take any free space and stretch out her legs, but it had the be the spot from which she could see Damon’s sanctuary and wink at him when she needed a drink. He was always happy to contribute to somebody’s alcoholism. He liked drinking buddies.

“Okay, we have two things to discuss”, Caroline said in her general of army voice, and Y/N almost expected her to pull a huge notebook and a pen out of her bra.

“First: the weird FBI guys who pissed Damon off”.

“I said, nosy FBI guys, not weird”.

“Whatever. And the dinner party that Y/N’s organizing this weekend. I suggest we start with the important stuff”, Caroline’s cat-like eyes pierced her with attention.

“How many people are we talking? What music will you have? What is the theme? Any team games in plans? What’s the menu?”

Y/N smiled as Bonnie rolled her eyes, and nodded to Damon. The vampire moved to his special table without any hurry.

“I also have a question about it”, Ric raised his hand, “can I skip?”

“No”.

Y/N’s been thinking about the ways she could grab Mal by the ass. Except literally wanting to do it, maybe, one day in the future; against all her instincts warning her, she meant to expose him and his lies. And she needed everybody to be there. To hang out with him in an enclosed space. She imagined this going all the unexpected ways: Elena sniffs something out on him, or Caroline notices that he takes the fork in the wrong hand; Bonnie brushes elbows with him and gets a vision which will tell them everything. Wise old Stefan asks him a cunning question and he pops. Something like this.

“Mal Osbourne’s just lost a woman he loved very much, and he feels alienated and sad”, Y/N accepted the glass from Damon and looked in his frowning face.

“Didn’t look alienated to me yesterday”, Alaric demurred, “he was jumping all round the teachers’ room, happy as ever. I actually found it very strange, given his reaction when Damon… killed her”.

“You think it’s a good idea to put Damon and him in the same room?” the younger Salvatore inquired.

She nodded. Damon shrugged. He didn’t really care for the disgruntled relatives or boyfriends of those he killed. If he did, life would be a nightmare.

She wasn’t sure about it at all but decided to go with her bullshit as far as she could. She needed to clash him with the real life. See what colors come out.

“How is he holding up?” Elena asked.

“Seems fine. Acts fine. I’m sure he holds it all inside”.

Nobody thought to contradict.

“Can we talk about how he knows that we’re vampires?” Caroline narrowed her eyes and crossed her legs.

“He figured it on his own. Said you guys were very obvious”.

She felt a pair of green eyes watching her closely. Bonnie rested her elbows against the sofa’s back and gave out a little satisfied smile.

“Are you into him?”

“Come on. Everybody knows I’m still desperately in love with Damon”.

Bonnie was left content still. Salvatore collapsed on the couch opposite her and rolled his eyes.

“It’s going to be a little party, only us and him. Mal cooks, so all the food will be on him”.

“Does he know Damon will be coming?” Stefan wouldn’t let go. Y/N sighed and put her hand in her pocket, feeling for her phone. She called him right away, put the call on the speakers, while everyone else was watching her curiously. Mal picked up after the fourth ring. There was music on the background that he didn’t bother to turn a bit down.

“Sup, monster fucker”.

She could see Elena’s eyebrows go all the way up.

“Mal, I’m having a dinner party at the weekend at my place”.

“AWESOME!”

“You’re cooking”.

“You bet! What do you want?”

“Something for four vampires, a witch, Ric and us two”.

He was silent for a second.

“Oh. Is the moron Dummy coming, too?”

Damon’s face was full of painful indignation.

“Yes”.

“For fuck’s sake”.

“Can you make it?”

“Yeah”.

“Will you try to kill him?”

“I don’t know…” Mal’s voice had suggestive uncertain undertones.

“Please don’t”.

“Ok-kay…”

“Cool. See you at work”.

“Wait. Does he have any allergies? Can vampires have allergies?”

“Bye, Mal”.

Bonnie was perplexed. She exchanged looks with Elena. Ric looked properly miserable. She imagined pairing them two while playing Alias. She would have so much fun.

“That’s done”.

“He doesn’t sound sad at all”, Caroline confirmed.

“And you start noticing there are things off about him only now. While I told you that like a month ago”.

Everybody shifted dismissively.

“Whatever it is, I will deal with it myself. You guys concentrate on the FBI douches”.

“Did they bother you much?” Stefan asked.

“No, but they seemed so… not FBI-like”.

“Have you met a lot of FBI agents?” Bonnie asked, visibly amused.

Y/N shrugged, getting up from the couch.

“I’ve seen enough movies. I’ll go get some air”.

She passed the long hall and went out to the yard of the huge mansion. Night was very gentle. Bright marbles of stars shone in the perfect black matter, distant and therefore harmless. She knew well pretty things could hurt. Every time she raised her eyes to the sky now, something poked her in the lung, like a rib that was crooked. The pain was phantom but strong nonetheless.

Sometimes she wished she smoked. She walked over to the nearest trees to listen to them and not the voices from the house. One caught up with her anyway.

“Don’t wander too far off, or you’ll stay in the forest forever”.

Y/N turned to the voice and let her eyes get used to the darkness. Wide branches of the apple tree hid the lights from the windows. Stars faded away from the sky.

Damon touched her elbow lightly and led her to the bleak golden puddles of light on the grass.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you”, he said, and paused, making her wonder if he finished the sentence in his mind but failed to utter.

“Yes?”

“This Mal guy, did he ever tell you where he came from?”

“He says he’s from Ohio”.

“Hmm”.

“Notoriously known as the state that produces weirdos… I guess?”

“You still think he’s pretending to be somebody else?”

“I don’t know. I take it easy”.

Damon nodded, his eyes flickering with silver stars in the pale light.

“I wanted to ask you something, too. For some time now, actually”.

He looked at her attentively.

“Last November, do you remember?”

Salvatore cocked his head and said slowly,

“Uh-huh, there was a November”.

“We were in Georgia after Matt died, looking for his killer. And I got really sick so I stayed behind in the motel”.

He nodded again. His face expressed nothing.

“What did you do there? What happened there? Why did everyone return so distressed?”

She inhaled, and her voice quivered a bit.

“And why do I feel so bad ever since?”

Damon frowned.

“You never said it, little one. Bad – how?”

“Don’t- not you. Don’t pretend I’m the one who’s going nuts. What happened, Damon? We went to that pit, that place which takes away memories, and ever since then I’ve been completely restless”.

She couldn’t grab the idea. Every time she tried to think about it, her mind came undone in a thousand pieces, and she felt like she was old, and forgetful, and drunk. There was that little thing that stung her brain, making it numb, there was something that made her want to cry – and yet, she couldn’t catch it like she was blindfolded.

“Y/N”, he took her shoulders with warm palms. Damon’s intense stare was intoxicating. Even though it didn’t really make her knees weak anymore; she couldn’t look away. “I would never – ever – do anything to hurt you. You know that. You see that tree over there?”

They both looked back to the house at the slender, tall, unusually golden and fruitless apple tree reaching up and up, for seven years now. Sure she remembered. The day when Katherine tried to bury her alive, and she cried. And shivered. And suffocated. She went through such terror she thought she would never emit a sound again. Until Damon came, breaking the earth and the casket, and reaching for her. And then, he planted that damn seed on that very place, to remind her about that fucking day. He admired that golden tree, so sophisticated, full of unexpected magic, seemingly out of nowhere, glistening even in the night.

She sighed.

Maybe it’s easy. Maybe it’s right under her nose, and she’ll be very angry when it uncovers itself. And she’ll say, I should’ve known.

She looked in Damon’s concerned eyes.

“You gotta promise you’ll be nice to Mal no matter what he does or how he acts”.

“That’s a lot to ask. The kid’s annoying as he-” Damon cut himself and raised a finger. “Wait a sec”.

He disappeared in the dark of the yard, without a sound.

Of course, it didn’t take a sec. Damon was gone for full ten minutes, and Y/N went back into the house, preparing herself for the FBI talk.

[thebisexualdogdad]

May I start off bi saying you are doin the lords work writing male readers 🙌 anyway you can write a Kevin Keller imagine where reader is a serpent and a super intimidating one at that but completely melts for Kevin who is super oblivious?

Co written with @inhumanshadows

· You were the only serpent people at your school were more afraid of than Sweet Pea

· Kevin couldn't even look you in the eyes when you were partnered together for a project

·  He barely spoke a word as you worked on the project, doing preliminary research. “I’m Y/N by the way, Kev.”

· "I know who you are, Fangs told me" 

· "You're friends with Fangs?" 

· "No" 

· "So you're not dating then?"

· "Of course not"

· “Noted...”

· “What does that mean?”

· “Nothing...”

· Kevin refused to go to your trailer to work on the project so you had to go to his hair 

· "You like dungeon and dragons?" You say poking around his things 

· "If you're just gonna make fun of me-" 

· "I like it too"

· “Say what?”

· “I like dnd too. What? You figure big bad serpent only likes fist fights?”

· “No just taken by surprise.”

· “Well you’ll learn I’m full of surprises.”

· You ended up going to Kevin's house everyday afterschool for three weeks. 

· "You know we're done with the project right?" 

· "Maybe i just like hanging out with you"

· “Oh... well I like it too.”

· “So... got a dice hoard?”

· Kevin proceeds to pull out a huge dice bag. 

· “It’s not much.”

· You guys hung out again and again to the point that one time, you were in Kevin’s room and his dad called him downstairs. You could hear them.

· “So... Y/N’s been around a lot...”

· “Where are you going with this dad?”

· "I'm just saying... If he was your boyfriend you can tell me" 

· "Dad! Y/N is not my boyfriend!" 

· "Whatever you say son... Is he staying for dinner again?" 

· "... Yes"

· I feel like when Jughead is being. Well jughead you call Kevin and are like “I’m outside.”

· Kevin is who you rant to whenever Jughead is getting on your nerves

· First night you did that he didn’t answer so you scaled the wall.

· “What the fuck!?”

· “Shh! You’re dad’s a cop. The only time I wanna be in handcuffs is on my own terms!”

· Fangs and Toni could tell you were crushing on Kevin, Sweet Pea couldn't care less and they always make fun of you for it 

· One day they saw you carrying Kevin's textbooks for him between classes 

· "Who knew you had a soft side Y/L/N"

· “I’ll punch your lights out Pea. And I’m soft? Need I remind you of your little escapades with Fangs?”

· “You said you wouldn’t tell!!”

· “I won’t. Just let loose a little Pea.”

· And then there was the night you were hanging out at Pop's and Kevin was cold so you gave him your jacket

· And you conveniently “forgot” after you took him home.

· But you did nab a hoodie

· the first time you kiss you're hanging out with Fangs, Sweet Pea, Toni Cheryl 

· while playing truth or dare it's your turn and Sweet Pea dares you to kiss Kevin

· And you’re like *shoulder shrug* “okay” and boom. Kev’s eyes bug out and his hand goes to the back of your head.

·And you end up making out until Cheryl tells you to stop

· “You can make out later!” And you totally don’t sit next to Kevin for the rest of the gam

· When the night is over you drive him home and just sit in your car 

· "So that kiss earlier" 

· "Yeah It was nice" 

· "Would you like to do it again?"

· “God so much!”

· And you guys are making out for like an hour and a half. Then sheriff keller knocks on the window.

· "Dad!" 

· "Did you ever plan on coming inside Kevin or just stay lip locked with your boyfriend all night?"

· You let Kevin out and drive back home mortified.

· I feel like the first time you see Kevin naked or close too it was after he joined the wrestling team

· You tried so hard not to stare but Kevin went out of his way to make sure you noticed how low his towel was hanging around his waist

· You had seen everyone leave the gym but no Kevin and saw his bag purposely left on the bleachers (not that you knew that) and so you decided to check the locker room.

·“Kev? You in here?” And your mouth goes dry

· He gets right up next to you, his biceps still straining from practice

You can't stop yourself from pushing him against the lockers and kissing him

· He’s still a little wet from a shower too.

· “Hi...”

· “Hi Kevin... your uh bag was- was outside... wowzers...”

· "Maybe you should take the towel off..." 

· "Are you sure? We haven't gone this far yet" 

· "Take it off."

· Kevin drops the towel and you feel yourself get hard fast.

· “Like what you see?”

· “Yes I do.”

· Which begins your tradition of locker room bjs and or shared showers.

· your first time together fully having sex you start out real gentle to not hurt him which surprises Kevin because he expected you to be rough and Kevin has to tell you to go harder

· You guys both fuck like rabbits and that first time Kev is covered in cum. Which you lick off and that turns Kev on more. You’re so exhausted you nab a pair of his underwear and crash at his place.

· And his dad has just stopped asking questions whenever you stay over (mostly because he knows your home life has only gotten worse since the serpents were kicked out of the southside) and makes you pancakes in the morning

·  The first time he did that you walked down in Kevin’s clothes and were genuinely confused. You’ve made it up by prepping breakfast for them on a weekend.

·  After Fangs gets kicked out of the serpents, Kevin asks you to move in and you say yes. Cause you guys lost the southside and you weren’t ever going to say Jughead was the King.

·  You and Kevin share his bed while Fangs stays in the guest room

· Fangs has been roped into playing dnd now so many times he actually starting to enjoy it

· The three of you stay up on the weekends planning campaigns and designing characters and building dungeons. You even rope sweets into a few games

· Kevin's kinks are getting spanked and getting praised

· The spanking you figured out quickly because Kevin always squeaked a little whenever you smacked him on the ass 

· For the praise kink you picked up on it when you jokingly called him a good boy in some non sexual situation and his cheeks got red so you decided to test it out in the bedroom

· Kevin has never cum harder than when his dad and Fangs were out for the weekend and you had been edging him for most of the night and called him a good boy for holding on and then said he could cum

·  And after he came he actually passed out from how much energy he had drained

· You cleaned him off and laid on his chest, passing out not long after

· You guys often go for runs out in fox forest, only half the time you finish you runs and the other half turns into making out against a tree

· Or a bj. You guys have done everything but fuck against a tree out there

·  You did try it once but Kevin got a splinter in his ass and that was not fun having to explain to his dad

· It’s not news that the serpents drink. But you got a bit too drunk and went shopping online... the box came in a few days and it turns out you go Kev a “special wrestling outfit

· Along with a few toys for good measure

· "Y/N! What if my dad opened this box!"

· “I’d be honest and say I ordered it. I was gonna anyway.”

· “What?!”

· “Well yeah... you’re ass is grass and I wanna mow it while you’re in that.”

· You've gotten scolded by teachers many times for making out in the hallways

· Kevin has walked around in your jacket. You swear Fangs almost had a heart attack

· And Kevin's dad was so pissed when he found out you guys got detention for "inappropriate displays of affection"

·  “I promise it won’t happen again.” And it doesn’t

[epochofbelief]

“You’ve got to calm down before I can fix you up. Okay?” for ~Rowaelin~

——this was fun to write; enjoy;)——

Aelin was pissed that she had been partnered with Chaol for biology. Sure, it had been a year since they’d broken up. Sure, she’d been dating Rowan for a good three months now. But gods was he as surly and morally upright as ever.

Aelin admired him for his character, sure, but would it kill him to relax a little every once in a while?

“Aelin--stop. Stop, what are you doing?”

She rolled her eyes. 

“I’m trying to dip this thing into this thing to see if it changes color to match this thing.”

He looked at her. “You have no idea what we’re doing.”

Aelin paused, the test strip dripping liquid onto the counter as she made eye contact with him. “Not so.”

“You didn’t read the Prep assignment, did you?”

Aelin went back to her task. “Do you think I took thirty minutes of my time last night to read the Prep assignment?”

Chaol sighed. “I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“Just leave me alone.”

“I’m trying to pass this class, not fail it.” He lunged for the test strip and beaker that she was holding but Aelin jerked away. 

“Get away from me! I was almost done! Oh, shit. Look what you made me do!” She had slogged the liquid they’d been testing all over the front of her shirt, and his shoes. “You’re lucky this liquid isn’t, like, acidic or something.” 

Another frustrated sigh. “I’m sorry, okay?” 

The teacher, Dr. Bruno, walked by then. “Aelin, Chaol. How about you head to the bathrooms to get cleaned up.”

Aelin smiled winningly at him. “Of course. Sorry about the mess. Chaol here got a little clumsy.”

Chaol shot her a glare, but her smile only grew sweeter. “We’ll be back in a flash,” she told Bruno.

Chaol stalked after her as she flounced out into the hallway. As soon as the door shut, she turned on him. “You’re buying me a new shirt. I just bought this last weekend.” 

“Like hell am I buying you a new shirt.”

Her mouth popped open. “Chaol Westfall, so help me…” 

A door creaked open from the other end of the hallway. Aelin ignored it as she took a step closer to Chaol. 

“I want a new shirt. You’re the one who infringed upon my workspace.”

He stepped back, knowing all too well that Aelin, with her fiery temperament, could get pretty intense when she wanted something. “You’re the one who had no idea what the workspace was for. How about you try studying a little harder next time instead of shopping with your friends every night using your daddy’s credit cards?” 

“Why you--” It was Aelin’s turn to lunge for Chaol, aiming her fist for her nose, but she stopped in mid-air.

“What the hell?” She turned and found herself face to face with Rowan, who was looking at her exasperatedly. 

“What are the chances that I’d happen to be coming in late from lunch at exactly the time when my lovely girlfriend decided to attack someone in the halls?” Rowan smirked and placed his girlfriend in front of him. 

Aelin didn’t turn, but she saw Rowan nod at Chaol over her head. The sounds of Chaol’s receding footsteps followed.

“I can fight my own battles.” She crossed her arms, staring up at Rowan. That gods-damned smirk he was wearing at catching her was really getting on her nerves.

“I know you can fight your own battles. But you definitely struggle with picking which battles to fight. And I have a feeling that battle had something to do with that disgusting green liquid covering you.”

Aelin looked down. “Fuck!” She screeched, unconcerned by the fact that they were in the middle of their high school hallway, the surrounding classrooms filled with people. 

Rowan seized her hand and dragged her into the girls’ bathroom after determining that it was empty. 

“Sit.” He said, gently but firmly pushing her toward the counter.

Too angry to argue, Aelin climbed up and crossed her arms over her chest. Rowan crossed the tile floor and started pulling a bunch of paper towels out of the dispenser.

“That bastard wasn’t letting me finish the lab. And our bastard of a teacher is the one who stupidly paired us together! That’s my gods-damned ex boyfriend! I don’t want to work with him! And he’s one to tell me to do my homework. I have straight A’s, thank you very much, except for a couple of B’s in math, but that doesn’t matter. But Mr. Perfect thinks I’m stupid, and you know what?”

Rowan was wetting down the paper towels, only half-listening. Aelin stared at him. “What?” He muttered grudgingly.

“He said I spend all my time shopping! That’s bullshit. What I do with my limited free time is none of his business, not since he was an asshole a year ago and we ended things! So he can just--”

With her arms gesturing violently as she ranted, Rowan couldn’t find a way to start wiping all the green shit off her shirt. 

“Aelin. You’ve got to calm down if I’m going to fix you up, okay?” 

She glared at him, but something in his eternally calm-demeanor allowed her to lower her hands and stare at him. 

“Do you want to do this, or should I?” Rowan asked. Most of the green was splattered across the fabric covering her breasts.

“You said you were going to fix me up,” Aelin said, all memory of Chaol fading quickly. “So fix me.”

Rowan smirked and started wiping the green away as Aelin leaned back and closed her eyes. 

“You’re very confident, you know that?” Rowan breathed, perhaps spending a little too much time wiping down her chest.

“Of course I do.”

He looked at her.

“Oh, to hell with this,” she said, and ripped off her shirt, tossing it in the trash can. She was left sitting on the counter in her extremely thin cami. Rowan disposed of the paper towels and pulled her closer. But just as their lips met, the door banged open. 

“OH. Shit, I’m sorry, I’ll just… Are you two serious?” Lysandra rolled her eyes and turned around. “Stop making out in the women’s bathroom!” The door banged shut behind her. 

Rowan, his hands braced on the counter on either side of Aelin’s hips, exhaled a small laugh. “Dammit.” 

Aelin gave him a quick peck on the cheek and hopped off the counter. “Thanks for cleaning me up and preventing me from socking my ex-boyfriend in the face. Even though he deserved it.”

“Anytime, Fireheart.”

[prorevenge]

My homophobic English teacher...

I saw a post on here recently about someone's horrible English teacher, and it reminded me of my own experience. TL;DR at the bottom. Doing this requires a quick lesson on the Australian high school system (I'll keep it short, don't worry). Basically, there are 6 years of Australian high school, from grades 7 through to 12. 7-10 are prep years where your grades don't carry over, then grades 11 and 12 are your big bad years with huge exams similar to the American system. When entering grade 11, you get to choose whether you want to pursue a path to university- doing this requires you to do ATAR subjects, which are the hardest subjects available. Your final grade in your last year is what universities use to decide if you get in. Basically, you have one year to really make it count. Grade 12 is the year to finally show off everything you've learned after your whole life at school. It's basically do or die, the hardest year of your life.

So, to begin this story, let me explain that I am good at English. Like, really good at English. I won awards and got accepted into state recognised programs for how good I am at English. It was the one subject I could guarantee to get an A in. So, naturally, I chose ATAR level English- I'd always wanted to get into some kind of English based university course. When I entered my grade 12 class I was greeted by my teacher, who we can call Mrs Slug, since she looked like a fat slimy slug. This was the kind of teacher that just handed out worksheets and sat behind her desk for the class and didn't actually teach. It was frustrating since this was my final year and I wanted my grades to be as good as possible, but I was confident in my ability to just pick it up on my own, so I didn't complain about it.

Then it came time for the first assessment. It was a creative writing piece, and short stories are my shit, so I wrote a short story. I followed the marking key carefully while also adding my own flare to the story to make it really entertaining and thought-provoking. The story was basically a dark romance told in first person, where the gender of the perspective character wasn't revealed until right at the end, thus revealing the couple to be gay. I specifically kept the main character's gender ambiguous until that point, since I wanted the reader to assume it was a girl then have a shock at the reveal. I contacted some of my friends from my high-level English programs and they all loved it. So I happily submitted it. I didn't think too much of it- I was interested to see how my ability held up in the highest level of school, but I wasn't expecting anything below a B. Then I got my result back.

Failed.

I couldn't believe it. I was genuinely confused. There were absolutely no marks on my paper, no red pen, no details as to why I failed, just a big fat 8/20 on the back of my paper. I was really upset, obviously, since I'd worked hard on it and it was the first time I'd failed an English assignment ever. I went to Mrs Slug and asked her what was wrong with it. She fluffed around and gave me an answer that essentially boiled down to, "I didn't like it." That was it. She had no reason to fail the story, she just didn't like it. News flash, that's not how marking creative writing works. If it'd been any other year, maybe I would've just blown it off and moved on, but this was grade 12. This failure could be the difference between getting into university and getting rejected.

So I went to the head of the English department at my school and requested a regrading. I didn't tell him that I'd failed it, just that I wanted more feedback. He gave it back to me as an 18/20. I then slammed my failing grade onto the desk and asked him to explain. Clearly, Mrs Slug stood by her grade, because instead of just changing my mark, they sent my writing to the top school in the state to get remarked again. It came back 19/20. Needless to say, my mark was changed to an A.

The next few assignments went relatively the same. Even when she passed me, I asked to be reassessed and my mark was always made higher than what she'd given me. Eventually, I complained enough times that they started rotating which teacher marked my work so no one could sabotage it. Even still, I always knew when Mrs Slug had been the one to mark it, because there was never any feedback on it, just a barely above average mark that eventually was changed to an A. I didn't get below 80% on any assignments for the entire year, and bare in mind, she hadn't taught anything in her class. I basically taught everyone myself and did the work at home so my peers also wanting to get into university had a shot (most of them did get in, can I add). I didn't understand why Mrs Slug didn't like my story (or me) until one day a discussion on politics came up in my class.

She's very, very right wing. A Donald Trump supporter. In Australia, that's super rare, since most of us think he's a dickhead. It suddenly hit me then. She didn't like my story because I'd done exactly what I'd wanted. She'd assumed the main character was a girl, then when it was revealed he was a guy and it was a gay relationship, she suddenly realised she'd happily been reading and enjoying a story about a gay couple. That must've infuriated her. She failed it for no reason other than her homophobia. After I realised that, I started to mess with her.

My first project was to test Donald Trump's persuasion tactics on her. My next oral presentation, I specifically used Donald Trump's speech style- the way he repeats words, over exaggerates, dehumanises, etc. I know she was the one who marked it (again, no feedback), but this time it was a 19/20. That was the highest mark she gave me all year. I couldn't believe it. The Donald had been right.

Next, I wrote a strongly worded, very opinionated article on how I was bisexual. This was the first time I'd touched LGBT topics since that first story, and I knew it would infuriate her. But she couldn't fail me at this point. It would look way too suspicious if a student who got 80%+ on assignments suddenly got less than 50%. I don't think I ever got the article back (I have a feeling it got passed around the English office so many times they just forgot) but I didn't care that much. I saw on my final report card it'd been 18/20. It must've made her angry, I hope, that she'd read my article and no doubt tried to fail it, but at this point, everyone was aware of her bullshit and prevented her from doing it. I got some dirty looks for the next few classes.

But there was one final straw that made me snap. See, my state holds a huge writing competition for high-schoolers every year. It's a massive deal, and people who win this competition often get sponsored or get scholarships based on it. Tens of thousands of entries get submitted. Obviously, I wanted to win it. Even getting shortlisted would do wonders for my uni application. Part of the school writing program meant that any short stories submitted over the year would automatically get entered in this competition, but I knew Mrs Slug would try and do me dirty. So I went to her directly, requesting to put in another version of the story I'd made with the feedback I'd gotten from the remarking. She told me, to my face, that she'd already submitted my story, so I couldn't change it. Fine. As long as it was submitted, I was happy.

I didn't get shortlisted. That hurt, a lot, since I'd really wanted it. But I figured the competition had been really good, so it was only fair. My little brother, however, got shortlisted for his year (he came in second), so I went to the awards ceremony with him.

Mrs Slug was there.

She looked shocked to see me. A little panicked, even. I was curious as to why she was there, but the answer revealed itself pretty quickly. One of the girls from my class had been shortlisted. Now listen, I'm not a bitter person. If someone genuinely writes better than me, I'm more than happy to accept that. But what I found awfully suspicious was that this particular girl had been given the highest mark in my class before I got reassessed. In other words, she had been Mrs Slug's favourite story. And her story had gotten 15/20. I know grades don't count for everything, and maybe my story had in fact been worse, but I was beginning to get a hunch as to what had happened.

As I said, I'm state recognised for my English ability, so I was able to get into contact with one of the people who had marked the competition. I asked, ever so innocently, if she'd read my story. She replied that she hadn't. I asked if she could check to see if any of the other markers had read it since it was a pretty distinctive story. The answer came back as I had feared. No one had read it.

Mrs Slug had lied through her teeth to my face. She hadn't submitted the story at all. She'd deliberately pulled it out of the submission pile because she was salty. This competition was a /huge/ deal to me- like I said, it would've been a massive part of my uni application. And she'd sabotaged it. She wanted me to fail.

I was fucking fuming at this point. Even today, I get angry thinking about it. I couldn't let this rest any longer. I was beyond pettiness. This was time for real revenge.

My parents both work in education, and my mum, in particular, was pretty high up in my area. She's also a bit of a tiger mum. When I told her what Mrs Slug had done, she was pissed. Like, so pissed. The idea that her kid might not go to uni because of a prejudiced teacher does not sit well with tiger mothers. She marched straight to the principal's office, and since he knew her, we were heard out almost immediately. I explained what happened, how I'd consistently been marked too lowly and my competition application had been removed without my knowledge. My mum was able to kick up a pretty big stink about it, ranting about how Mrs Slug shouldn't even be qualified to teach at all, let alone grade 12 ATAR English, and she needed to be removed immediately. The principal copped an earful, then the head of English did too. Both of them cowered in fear before the rage of my mother. There was nothing they could use to defend her, either- I had proof of the undermarking and the removal of my story application. Statements from my classmates confirmed she hadn't taught anything all year. It wasn't looking good for Mrs Slug.

She continued to sag behind her desk like a festering cancer for the last few weeks of the year, giving me stinky looks. I just quietly did my work, helping other people study for the final exam. I knew I'd done enough. In Australia, you can't just fire government workers, but you can move them. Sure enough, at the end of the year, she was relocated to the middle of fucking nowhere, to a school of fewer than 100 kids, where I hope she rots to this day. It's the closest you can get to being fired.

I got into university, by the way, and I'm now studying my English course. I should also mention that I got into the most competitive university in Australia, and I still get 80% and above in my short stories. That 40% she gave me was total bullshit, and I'm glad I made her suffer for it. No teacher should be able to get away with sabotaging their students like that, especially when it's their future on the line. I can only hope that the few students she teaches now don't have to experience the same thing.

TL;DR: my homophobic English teacher tried to fail me on my assignments, then sabotaged my chances in an important competition, so I got her essentially fired.

(source) story by (/u/millochi)

[memarrymilf]

FUCK IT:

 

The alarm makes Regina very aware of the pain in her lower ribs. She has learned to deal with the pain though because after daddy died she only has herself and her older sister Zelena(17) and younger sister Isabella(15). They are both stuck with their abusive, alcoholic mother. When their father died their mother started drinking and her abuse just got worse. They have had to fight their entire lives and Regina now at age 16 has been broken beyond compare and her new step-father really didn’t help at all he just does the same if not worse than mother. She was never one to talk to someone but, being locked away in the house when she got back from school was not her favourite part of the day.

 

She got up and went for a long shower, this was her favourite part of the day. After her shower she got dressed and did her hair as well as the make-up she uses to cover the bruises left by her parents.

 

 

She moved down the hall to her sister’s room before her parents awoke, she did not need him beating on her before she even had her breakfast. She slipped into the room and saw her sisters were already awake and dressed too. “You guys ready to go?” she asked in a hushed whisper. When Zelena nodded she turned around and snuck out of her sister’s room. She was just about to go down the stairs when someone grabbed her from behind. She turned around to be faced with a very pissed looking Leopold Mills, AKA her new stepfather.

She tried to move out of his grip but, he dragged her to her room locking the door behind himself.

 

“Thought you could leave without me seeing did you? Well you were wrong.” He sat on the edge of the bed and patted his lap. “Lay on my lap Regina.” He said giving her one of her twisted smirks. She slowly moved and lied down on her stomach on his lap. She could feel his erection pressing against her legs and it made her want to throw up.

She closed her eyes when he started lifting her skirt. She felt him pull down her underwear and rub over her bare bottom with his rough and hard hands.

 

She tried not to move, she didn’t need him thinking of anything else. She just wanted to get this over with. She didn’t want to be late again.

 

He started hitting her until she lost count of how many blows were dealt to her soft sensitive bottom. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out.

 

When he was done he turned her around and rubbed over her most private are. She whimpered and he smiled evilly.

 

He wanted her to want him but, that would never happen. Regina was one of the most beautiful girl one could encounter. Her dark chocolate hair and eyes, her beautiful tanned skin and her perfect smile made it hard not to love her.

 

After he finished using her for his pleasure he left leaving the door wide open behind her. She scampered off the bed and fixed her clothes rushing down the stairs seeing her sisters waiting in her car. She slipped into the passenger seat and wordlessly her sister began to drive.

 

When they stopped in front of the school the three sisters made their way into the school. All eyes turned to them. They were beautiful with Zelena’s fiery red hair and crystal blue eyes, Regina’s chocolate locks and cocoa eyes and Isabella’s dirty blond hair with blue-green eyes that bored into the soul.

 

Zelena was a science major, Regina a biology major and Isabella a technology and literacy major. Zelena was a popular girl that the school worshiped and Regina and Isabella total nerds. 

 

They had to be especially careful at school because Leopold was the school’s principal. They all made their way to their lockers that were lined up next to each other.

 

“So are we going to the library or Ms. Blanchard’s classroom?” Zelena asked looking at her sisters. Isabella looked around before answering in a quite voice, “I think Ms. Blanchard. I could use one off her hugs this morning. And besides it’s the first day of school so she will be early.” Regina slipped her hand into Isabella’s for support. Isabella always got the brunt of her parents’ anger no matter how hard she tried she always does something wrong in their eyes.

 

“Ms. Blanchard sounds great I think it would cheer her up too, after her divorce this holiday. Even though she doesn’t say it we are her favourites. I mean look how much she risked last time she saw one of our injuries, she could have lost everything and it’s not her fault that law enforcement didn’t want to see the evidence.” Regina said moving in the direction of the classroom.

 

Isabella took a step forward and hesitantly knocked on the door of the classroom. They heard a cheery “come in”. They opened the door expecting the teacher to be sitting at her desk prepping for her first lesson but, instead found her speaking with another blonde women that also looked like a teacher.

 

The pixie haired teacher turned and her smile instantly grew double in size at seeing the three girls in the doorway. “Good morning girls.” She said stepping closer. There was a brief silence before Isabella spoke in a hushed tone. “We can leave if we are interrupting something Ms. Blanchard.” She always sounded so quite because the hearing aids that she had to wear made her self-conscious. When she was a baby she got very sick and lost 63% of her hearing, but with the help of the hearing aids she regained 14%.

 

The kids always teased her about it and made it impossible for her grow any confidence in herself. “You are not interrupting I always have time for my girls. I was just telling our new teacher MS. Swan about the literacy program but, now that Isabella is here she can tell her more about seeing to it that she is the best in the program. Could you do that Isabella? Do you feel comfortable enough?” Ms. Blanchard asked crouching down to little Isabella’s height.

 

Isabella shook her head vigorously and tears gathered in her eyes. She turned and rushed out of the room. “It’s been a bad morning. She barley spoke in the car and there was an incident with our stepfather this morning. I think she just needs some space she’ll come back when she feels better again. Don’t even worry about it Ms. B. Gina can you just go check on her and I’ll tell Ms. Swan about the program?” Zelena said moving forward giving Ms. Blanchard a small smile.

 

Regina smiled at both of the women a smile before looking at her sister and saying in a monotone voice, “Of course but, we will be talking later.” She gave her sister a pointed look before turning around and leaving to find her other sister. She walked through the halls to where she knew her sister would be hiding.

 

She made her way to the technology department and stopped in front of Ms. Lucas’ classroom. She knocked and the brunette teacher open the door and gave the girl a knowing smile before slipping out the door as she stood in front of the other girl.

 

“Why is my pup upset this morning? She came in without a word and started working on her robot again and she only does that when she is upset. Then you can explain the black bruise I saw on her stomach when her shirt rode up.” She looked at her sternly leaving no room for argument.

 

“Ms. Lucas I don’t think this is the place to discuss it, they have ears everywhere.” She says looking up and down the empty hallway. She nods in understanding before leading her into her classroom supply closet.

 

“Now start talking and I might let whatever upset your sister slide.” She looked kind of scary with that stern look on her face, she is always the happy and cool teacher. She moved closer leveling her gaze with Regina.

 

Regina took a deep breath and started, “You might have heard that last year Ms. Blanchard launched an investigation looking into our living situation at home. The evidence needed to get us out of the home was there but, law enforcement chose to ignore it and that is why Isabella has a bruise. As for why she is upset, well this morning Ms. Blanchard tried to get her to speak with the new teacher but, she freaked out and ran. She gets very self-conscious about her hearing aids and she tries to keep speaking in front of people to a minimum and that is why she speaks so softly.” she look down to keep the tears at bay.

[themusingsofjericho-blog]

Façade (Flashback)

Flashback For:

@AFewSpills

@OhShesBossy

TW:

Mental/Physical Abuse

Attempted Rape

GW: 

Smut

Smudger hummed quietly to himself as he bustled around the kitchen, getting ready to cook up a delicious breakfast. He already had a nice, hot pot of coffee brewing behind him, and he was prepping the ingredients in order to make his famous chocolate chip pancakes, before moving on to the usual bacon and eggs. The sounds of David Draiman's voice serenaded him quietly in the background, since a certain guest was still fast asleep up in the guest bedroom...

Over the last three days, Smudger had been allowing a dear friend of his to stay with him until she could get back on her feet. She had shown up at his door, naked as the day she was born, with nothing but a thin sheet to protect herself from the cold. On top of that...her face was covered in dried blood and fresh bruises. Smudger didn't even hesitate when he saw her in the state that she was in. Using his best stern teacher voice, he told her to come inside and sit down. He loaned her a pair of his best pyjama pants and a t-shirt, before making her a hot cup of tea to help warm her up. And, judging by the looks of her injuries, he knew that he was in for a fucking horror story...

The young woman in question's name is Carla Swayze. Or, Nurse Swayze, to her colleagues and patients at Los Angeles General Hospital. The very same hospital where his best friend turned brother-in-law works as a doctor. The two had been introduced when his younger sister, Rebecca, had brought her over after school one day, because the two had a project that they were working on for their chemistry class. He was sitting in the living room when the two girls walked through the front door, and the second that his eyes had met Carla's...

He couldn't help but feel instantly smitten by her...

His first impression of Carla was that she was bright, beautiful, outgoing, asute, and very wise beyond her years. He also noticed that her sense of humour mirrored his own, due to how hysterically she laughed at some of his wise cracks and impressions. Hell. She nearly pissed herself when he did his dead on impressions of Austin Powers, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard, and Goldmember. It wasn't long before the two started to become extremely close, to the point that their friends and family started to wonder whether or not they were dating. They were asked about this, day in and day out, and the answer was always the same...

The answer was "No."

Smudger never told Carla that he had feelings for her, out of fear of being rejected. Nevertheless, he knew that she was The One for him, right from the very beginning. But, despite the fact that they weren't dating, there was one particular night that the two had given into their urges. And, this was a night that he never, ever forgot...

It was the night of Senior Prom. Smudger's parents had allowed him to throw an after party at the house, under the condition that he and Rebecca cleaned up whatever potential mess was made. Both siblings agreed, and they made sure to keep their word. Drinks were flowing. People were dancing and having the time of their lives. And, to no one's surprise, Carla ended up being Smudger's prom date. Hell...he didn't even need to ask her to go with him. She just approached him at his locker one day and told him straight up that she would be his date. Smudger knew better than to say no to her, given the fact that he was planning on asking her to go with him, anyways. Carla had gone upstairs to use the bathroom, and Smudger followed her to make sure that she was okay and that no one tried to do anything inappropriate. But, when Carla emerged, she had gone up to him and asked if she could talk to him about something in private. Of course, he was puzzled, but, he told her that she could and the two retreated to Smudger's room

He should have known that something was up when Carla locked the door behind her. He, at first, thought she locked it so that guests wouldn't drunkenly barge in and interrupt them. Pretty normal for someone to do, right? Well. Not in this case. Carla clearly had something planned, and it sure as shit wasn't a heart to heart between best friends. That became obvious when Smudger was suddenly pinned against the door, and Carla had kissed him before he could ask her what the fuck she was doing. The second her lips met his, it felt like time itself had stopped. Everything started spinning around him, and it was as if it was just the two of them in that big house. They ended up making love for the very first time, all while Take On Me by A-ha blasted from the stereo in the living room. They gave each other their virginity, and it was the most incredible experience of Smudger's young life...

But, little did he know, that his life would soon take an unexpected and tragic turn...

The two had lost touch after Smudger moved away to Scotland after his parents' deaths. He didn't even say goodbye to Carla. He knew that seeing Carla cry would be too much for him, and he needed to get out of Los Angeles for a while to grieve. Despite the distance, he never stopped thinking about her. And he regretted not telling her that he loved her...

Smudger had absolutely no idea about Hank until he moved back to Los Angeles. He had gone to Carla's apartment to go and visit her to catch up, and he will never forget how cold Hank's voice sounded when he asked Carla who was at the door. And his eyes...his eyes were filled with obvious jealousy and disgust. How dare Carla have male friends, right? Carla swore up and down that she was happy, and that Hank was just too protective for his own good sometimes. But, the look in her eyes stated otherwise. Smudger could see the pain and sorrow whenever she spoke, whether the conversation was about Hank or not. But, up until a few nights ago, Smudger had absolutely no idea about how much of a monster Hank truly was...

Carla broke down in tears as she finally confessed to him what truly went on behind closed doors. She had been introduced to Hank through her other best friend, Emily. Hank was a friend of George, Emily's husband, and she thought that the two of them would make a perfect couple due to their similar personalities. At first, Hank seemed like a perfect fit for Carla. He was sweet, charming, funny, kind, and - in Carla's words - absolutely fucking adorable. The two had decided to make things official after nine months of knowing each other, and...that's when everything started going downhill...

Carla had brushed off Hank's outbursts of jealousy at first, thinking that he was just being your average protective boyfriend. But, once he was comfortable enough, his harmless behaviour started to escalate. He put a GPS tracker in her car and phone, that way he could see where she was going and who she was with every time she left the apartment. He started showing up at the hospital whenever Carla was working, thinking that she was having an affair with Rusty, who worked there as a doctor. Hank knew that Rusty and Carla were close friends, and, in his delusional mind? He saw that as a threat. Though...any man who dared to breathe in his girlfriend's direction was a threat to him. And, of course, security was always called to escort him off the property. He was eventually banned from the hospital altogether, after he had assaulted Rusty for simply giving Carla a comforting hug, due to the fact she had an extremely frustrating shift

And, as if Smudger's blood wasn't already boiling as he listened to Carla's tearful confession...she told him that the blood and bruises were the result of Hank assaulting her...

The assault had taken place only an hour before Carla had shown up. She told Smudger that she was on her period, and Hank had demanded her to give him oral sex. Carla refused, due to the fact that she had just gotten home from work, and all she wanted to do was eat her sushi and relax. But, instead of being a rational human being and respecting her right to say "No" to him, Hank decided instead that it would be a good idea to grab Carla by the hair and throw her violently to the ground. He kicked her in the stomach to knock the wind out of her, and he had punched her so hard in the face, he ended up breaking her nose and both of her orbital bones. And she was told that if she told anyone about this, especially George (who works for the LAPD SVU), that he would kill her

Smudger had heard enough at that point, and he told her in that same stern teacher voice that she needed to go and talk to the police after she finished her tea. Carla protested at first, but, she eventually gave up after Smudger gave her a very stern lecture. He drove her to the station, and he will never forget how fucking white George went when he saw Carla's injuries. She was immediately brought into a room to speak to one of the female officers, and he watched as Carla broke down once again as she relayed the same story to her. She was instructed to file a police report, and she had gone the following day to James' law office to file a restraining order. George, Henry, and Gordon had escorted her back to the apartment to grab her belongings, and Hank had threatened her the entire time she was there. And, with George's suggestion, Carla had her phone secretly recording their interaction for the courts to hear, just in case she needed further proof. God Bless you, Georgie!

Smudger had just finished making the bacon and eggs when he heard footsteps coming from the staircase. He turns his head, a small smile forming on his lips as his eyes settle upon the still sleepy blonde who was now beginning to zombie shuffle towards the kitchen island. He warmly tells her good morning, only for her to grunt sleepily in response. He wanted to tell her how adorable she looked when she was sleepy, but, he figured it would be wiser to just chuckle and tell her that breakfast was ready. Carla flashes him a small smirk, before sitting down at the island and digging into the food that Smudger had placed down in front of her.

The entire time Carla was eating, Smudger couldn't help but look over at her. Even with her hair all in a mess, no trace of makeup on her face, and clad in a black, silk nightgown, she was still the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on. But, he was far too terrified to express to her how he truly felt...

He didn't want to make it seem like he was taking advantage of her, given the fact that she was dealing with an extremely messy situation with an extremely volatile man. Her injuries looked worse now than what they originally did, and, he knew it was going to take a while for them to heal. Seeing her in that state broke his heart, and he silently prayed that Hank would get a good, hard punch in the face by Karma for what he had done to this wonderful woman...

Carla had already finished eating, and Smudger had taken her plate away so that it could be washed. He could still see Carla out of the corner of his eye, and he could see that she was looking at him. He thought nothing of it, until he saw Carla get up out of her chair in a slow, almost hesitant way. Frowning now, he turns around so that he was facing her, before asking in a gentle tone...

"Carla? Honey? Is everything alright?"

Smudger had no idea what his words were about to cause, until Carla started speed walking towards him. She crossed the distance between them faster than she had ever moved in her life and crashed her lips against his before he could say another word, tears streaming down her cheeks as she did so. Smudger whimpered as Carla's mouth shaped itself to his. It felt just like it always had between the two of them. He forgot all about the situation with Hank as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Nothing else mattered except her. Just her. That was it.

Carla moaned as she felt Smudger's tongue plunging into her mouth, her mind going completely blank. At that moment, she couldn't think about anything except the man holding her and how much she had missed him. She had been so worried about him for so long. She couldn't hold her emotions back any longer. She pulled back slightly, resting her forehead against his and looking into his eyes.

"Let's go upstairs..." she whispered, "get you out of those clothes..."

Smudger whimpered again, unable to stop himself.

'God, I've missed hearing you say that..." he whispered back, a few tears of his own sliding down his cheeks. He buried his face in her neck, praying this wasn't all some cruel dream.

Carla laughed softly as she took Smudger's hand and led him upstairs. She pulled him into the guest bedroom, shoving him onto the bed and crawling on top of him.

"I've missed you so much, Smudger..." she whispered into his ear just before plunging her tongue into it. She rocked her hips against his, moaning as she felt his erection pressing against her. Her entire body was throbbing with a need that only he could fill.

"Take me, Smudger..." she pleaded, "I need you so much..."

Smudger let out a low moan of longing before he could stop it. He ran his hands along Carla's legs, slowly pushing the hem of her silk gown up over her stomach. He reached down and slid his thumb through the lace of her panties before sliding them down her legs and tossing them to the side. He tangled his fingers in her hair, kissing clumsily along her neck and shoulder as he moaned again and lifted his hips for her.

Carla moaned at the feel of Smudger's warm lips on her skin, the feeling of his strong hands on her body. She slowly ran her hands down his chest, over his stomach to the top of his pyjama pants. She slides his pants and boxers off his hips before reaching down to wrap her hand around his shaft. She began to stroke him, rocking her hips in time with the movement of her hand as she kissed along his chest. Her long hair created a curtain around them as she kissed her way up his neck.

"Oh, Smudger..." she moaned.

Smudger gripped Carla's hips, pulling her harder against him.

"Fuck, Carla..." he gasped, "it's been too damn long..."

He lifted her up, grinning when she did the same with him, and slid her down onto his shaft with a loud moan of longing. He didn't move for several moments, simply enjoying the feel of being inside of her again after so many years.

Carla gasped as she felt Smudger fill her completely. She slowly rolled her hips, moaning as she felt the head of his cock rub against her G-Spot. She leaned down, kissing along the side of his mouth as she rode him. Hank didn't matter to her at that moment. The only thing that mattered was Smudger. He needed her, and she realized that she needed him just as much. She didn't want to think about what would happen later. This was their time, and she was taking it.

Smudger whimpered as he felt Carla tighten around him. He grabbed her hips a little tighter, guiding her along his length as she rode him. He arched his back as a sudden wave of pleasure crashed over him, her warmth overwhelming him. She felt just as good as she always had. This was what he had been needing...this moment...this time with her. He moved his hands up her back, pulling her as close as possible as he started lifting his hips to meet her as she continued riding him.

Carla moaned, fresh tears falling down her cheeks as she felt Smudger's emotions. She held him as tight as she could, her body growing hotter as they continued to move faster. Their bodies easily fell into the same easy rhythm they had always had with each other. Her heart felt as if it would burst from her chest as she felt the familiar tightening in her stomach, knowing she was close, covering his mouth with her own and plunging her tongue inside.

Smudger whimpered as he felt Carla's tongue dancing with his. He dug his nails deeper into her skin, thrusting harder and harder. He knew that she was close, and he wanted her to let go and let it out.

Carla shuddered as she felt the pleasure in her body increase. She pulled back from the kiss, letting out a scream as she lost herself in orgasm.

Smudger growled as he felt Carla's body clench around his. He threw his head back, shouting her name as he felt his own release wash over him. It had been so long since an orgasm felt so good, and he didn't want to let her go. Not again...

[ferociousqueak]

Light in the Dark

Happy Harvest, @hydrospanners! I was your @masseffectholidaycheer gifter! I’m terribly sorry about this fic being so late, but I got really walloped by the flu just days before the deadline, and even in my feverish delirium I knew, “Don’t write with flu-brain. They deserve better.”

At any rate, I loved that you also love stories about families, even the imperfect ones, so please enjoy a bit about Vetra trying her best!

Rating: General Words: 2,143 Characters: Vetra Nyx, Sidera Nyx

Also on AO3!

A keen that could wake the dead jolted Vetra out of a deep sleep for what felt like the hundredth time. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised anymore, but it still took her a moment to compose herself. She looked at the clock and sighed. Only two more hours until she had to be up and headed back to the construction site. The mine would be ready for operations in only a few more weeks, so she had to get as many shifts in before she had to leave this asteroid and look for another one.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pushed herself up and out of bed.

“It’s okay, Sid,” she said as she turned on the lights to their lowest setting and shuffled across the room to her sister’s bed. “I’m here.”

Sid had curled up in a ball so tight, Vetra wondered if she’d ever unfurl again. She held her head between her knees, her hands clasped tightly over her crest. Vetra didn’t even have to be near her to notice how much she trembled.

She eased herself down next to Sid and slipped an arm around her. Sid clambered into Vetra’s lap and practically molded into her carapace.

“Same?” Vetra asked, hoping only the comforting notes were in her voice, not the exhausted ones.

Sid nodded against Vetra’s chest. “Same.”

Vetra rested her chin on Sid’s head and hummed a soothing tone. “We’re safe here. I worked out a deal with one of the other workers to get this place on the interior.” She didn’t think it was necessary to add that the “deal” included almost half again as much rent for the same-sized apartment nearer to the exterior. They really were safer, though. “Space is far away from where we are.”

“But how do you know?” Sid said, her voice high and tight as a wire. “Space sucks everything up! Can’t it still get us?”

Technically, yeah, Vetra thought but knew better than to say. “I won’t let anything happen to you,” she said. “This asteroid could crumble around us and I’d still keep you safe. I promise.”

Sid seemed to relax and the last of her high keen subsided. To Vetra’s surprise, it was actually possible for Sid to nestle closer, and she held her little sister tighter. She sighed, wondering if she’d said the right thing. What would Dad have said?

Sid started to grow heavy, and Vetra started counting back from twelve until she could tuck her in again. She’d done this enough times now that she’d gotten pretty good at moving her sister without waking her. This time, however, she only got as far as pulling the covers over Sid’s shoulders before a small voice floated up.

“You can’t swim in space,” Sid said with an earnestness that nearly made Vetra laugh. “Levicus said you could throw your arms and legs around all you want and you’ll never move. You’ll just spin in place and freeze and die.” Another keen started to rise in Sid’s throat. “And then you stay spinning forever as an ice cube and it’s just black and cold all around and no one will ever find you because space is so big!”

Vetra sighed and flicked her mandibles in annoyance. “Levicus is a jerk and he’s just trying to scare you.” Half a dozen ways to scare that little shit in Sid’s class sprang to mind, but now wasn’t the time to consider any of them. “You don’t have to worry about what happens in space. I’ll make sure you never have to worry about it. Okay?”

Sid sniffed and nodded, and the keen was gone again. Her eyes shifted quickly and her mandibles fluttered in a question Vetra knew she wasn’t going to ask.

“Come on,” she said. “You can sleep in my bed.”

Sid grabbed her plush hanar—looking rather more gray these days than the pink it had been when Vetra cuddled with it—and scrambled out of her bed and across the room before Vetra could even stand up. She chuckled and followed her little sister, turning the lights back down. Vetra would have to figure out something to do about these fits of fear and panic—her bed would soon be far too narrow for both of them if Sid kept growing the way she was—but tonight wasn’t the time for it.

Sid was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow and Vetra felt a twinge of jealousy. As she settled next to her little sister, her mind started to run through its to-do list just like it did every time she tried to go to sleep since Dad . . . well.

There was an innocence in Sid’s fear of space. For as real as it felt, it didn’t really stack up when there were only going to be a handful of credits left after this week’s pay went toward this week’s expenses. They’d been lucky so far that nothing had broken and neither of them had gotten sick or needed to replace any clothes in a few months . . . though that wouldn’t last long with the way Sid was eating and growing. Vetra wished she could only be afraid of the dark now.

Sid slept like a rock, but Vetra only drifted for the few hours she had left, never actually getting back to sleep. Her bones and muscles complained as she forced herself back to her feet to start her morning routine. When she was dressed, she shook Sid awake and guided her still-sleepy steps into the bathroom to brush her teeth and get ready for school. Not even the teachers would be there yet, but Vetra had worked out a deal with the school’s cafeteria manager: for twenty packs of instant coffee a week, the portly Matron would watch after Sid, letting her color quietly in an out-of-the-way corner of the kitchen while she started the day’s meal prep.

“See you later, short stuff,” Vetra said and rubbed Sid’s head until Sid batted her hand away in annoyance.

As Sid disappeared behind the large metal doors, Vetra looked at her omni-tool. Shit. She took off at a run. The foreman was going to be pissed.

“You’re late, Nyx,” Kaitus growled as she hurried through the door, out of breath. “Again. You need to be on time. Not twelve minutes late. Not five minutes late. Not fucking three minutes late. Get your shit together or go home.”

“Sorry, sir,” she said, biting her tongue as she approached the sign-in station. “Sid had nightmares ag—”

“Do I look like I give a krogan’s twisted testicle about whatever sob story you have again?” he snapped. He pushed her out of the way and canceled the sign-in procedure. “I get an hour of your time for free today. Maybe you’ll get here on time tomorrow.”

Vetra felt her neck turn hot. “Sir, I got here as soon as I—”

He turned back toward his desk and picked up his hard hat. “Work reception today. If you can’t be bothered to show up on time, I can’t be bothered to give you hazard pay.”

“Sir! Please! I need this—”

He slammed the door behind him, knocking something from a nearby shelf, and the office fell silent. Vetra had half a mind to run after him and make him give her her normal shift, but she knew that would be futile. So much for having only a handful of credits after this week’s pay.

Vetra felt the fury rise in her chest and one deep breath after another didn’t do anything to abate it. Tilius was late all the time. So was Tertius. But neither of them even got a sideways glance from Kaitus. Cato even missed three shifts in a row, saying “his bondmate was sick”—complete varren shit, considering how Vetra saw him with her own eyes staggering around several seedy bars in that time—and he still got paid for the time he hadn’t worked. Because he needed it.

She needed to break something. Now.

Without thinking, she picked up whatever it was that had fallen to the floor when Kaitus stormed out and very nearly threw it. The only thing that stopped her was the thought of how she was going to explain a hole in the wall. Don’t let them know you’re angry.

Instead, she turned the object over in her hands. A lamp, as it turned out. An asari with her tits and ass hanging out, holding a moon. Spirits, she hated this thing. It was made from cheap plastic and couldn’t even illuminate a whole room. At best, it gave off a low, blue light when it was turned on as if it were some kind of biotic . . .

An idea struck her and she didn’t need a second more to decide to do it. She shoved the lamp, cord and all, into her work bag and tossed it under the desk when she sat down. If she was giving that asshole a free hour, she was going to get something out of it. Fuck Kaitus.

Vetra sat behind the office desk, her leg bouncing impatiently for the end of her shift, for what seemed like days rather than just hours. When the numbers on the clock finally told her she could go home, she tore out of that office like a varren after wounded quarry.

As Vetra half walked and half ran across the walkway, Sid sat on the bench outside of her school, swinging her legs and playing a game on her omni-tool.

“I have something for you!” Vetra blurted when she was finally close enough. “Come on, short stuff. Let’s get home so I can show you!”

Sid jumped down from the bench, her mandibles flicking wide in curiosity and excitement. “What is it? Can I see it now? V, wait for me! You’re too fast!”

Vetra slowed her pace to let Sid catch up and then stuck out her hand to make sure she didn’t leave Sid behind in her excitement.

“What is it?” Sid asked, turning the lamp in her hands.

“It’s an asari,” Vetra explained as she tore an old work shirt into shreds to wrap around the figure’s exposed anatomy. “You know about asari, don’t you?”

Sid shrugged and shook her head. “Matron T’Liza carries a baby on her back when she’s cooking sometimes.”

Vetra tied the last of the fabric in a knot at the asari’s neck. “Well, for one thing, all asari are biotic. Do you know what that means?”

Sid scratched at her mandible and tilted her head. “It’s blue?”

Vetra smirked and set the lamp on the ground between her bed and Sid’s. “It means they can . . .” Vetra stumbled in her explanation. What were biotics, anyway? “I know this one asari at the construction site who lifts heavy support beams when the equipment fails.” She leaned in close and dropped her voice to a whisper for the drama. “And she does it with her mind.”

Sid’s eyes went wide and she gasped. “How?”

Vetra waved a hand dismissively. “Who knows? The point is, asari can do a lot if they put their minds to it. Some of them can even make barriers. Like this one.”

Sid tilted her head in the other direction, suspicious of Vetra’s claim. “Isn’t that a moon, though? It’s got craters and everything.”

It was Vetra’s turn to shrug. “Well, yeah. But that’s what barriers look like too. And this asari is very special.”

Vetra paused, again aiming to be dramatic. Sid couldn’t resist taking the bait. “Why is she special?”

Vetra flicked her mandibles wide in a smile. “Because when you turn this lamp on, this asari makes a barrier that not even the vacuum of space can break.”

Sid’s look of suspicion deepened. “Really?”

Vetra expected this resistance; Sid was starting to get older, after all. But she wasn’t deterred. “Absolutely. That asari at the construction site? You wouldn’t believe what she could do with her mind just because she believes she can.” Vetra rapped the blunt end of her talon gently against Sid’s nose plates. “Who’s to say you can’t too?”

She leaned up and turned out the lights in the room, then switched on the lamp before the darkness had a chance to set in. It took a moment for the soft blue light to grow brighter, before Vetra could see Sid’s eyes transfixed on the small figure, her small mandibles fluttering in a mix of fascination and expectation.

Vetra sat back, grinning at her own cleverness, without an ounce of regret over the theft. Sid crawled into her lap, never looking away from the lamp. Vetra nuzzled her forehead against the back of Sid’s head. She had a feeling they’d both sleep through the night tonight.

[idontshaveforsherlockholmes7]

You know what seriously pisses me off now a days.. THE NEW FUCKIN’ EXAM BOARD IN THE UK.

Now I’m in my second to last year of high school and for the past FOUR YEARS we’ve been learning exams a certain way, just to prep us for when the time comes.

AND TRUST OUR FUCKIN LUCK 

All that stuff happened with the EU and David Cameron leaving ( I mean, of course he would, he voted to stay in! One of those bitches that decides to leave when they don’t get what they want). 

So the government being the government, our exam board changed. 

Putting it simply, if you were in top set you’d sit the higher paper. However, now the higher paper is the fuckin’ regular paper. If you were to get an A with the old exam, that’d be a D now. 

BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT GOT TO ME!

What got to me is, our teachers can’t mark our tests or Mock Exams because they have no idea what the grading system is, it’s yet to be released. So teachers are marking tests based off what they think it may be. 

So I’m not the type of person to do well on tests and such, so I know straight away I’ll get a bad score because I flunked it. 

I sit at my desk the girls in front casually talking about how wasted their going to get this weekend when idefk ‘Jessica’ or some shit hosts her party. The teacher walks in he’s like ‘Okay, we all know we can’t accurately mark these, so we compared it to the higher papers from the old exam and saw what we could get from there.’ The look on his face gave everything away. WE ALL DID SHIT. 

I swear, not even that guy Charles who sits at the back and gets on with his work like his life depends on it because he knows what the fuck he wants to do when leaves, he didn’t even come close to getting a C-.

What fucks me off is, this is teachers guessing our grades! It’s probably close to what the new exam board has in store, but still! 

EVEN WITH THE TEACHERS GUESSING, NONE OF US ARE GETTING CLOSE TO PASSING! 

AND THE TEACHERS FUCKING SIT THERE ALL SERIOUSLY AND GO ‘Try harder.’ 

We get it, we might not be working our asses off, but it ain’t our fault the fuckin’ exam board changed! What do you want us to do? Get used to it just like that? We’ve been learning it a completely different way for four years, and now your giving us twelve months to adjust to a completely different exam board and grading system! 

Your making it out like we’re not trying, but honestly!!!! We are! We need time to adjust.

You can’t just pile this all on us thinking will be all chill about it.

That’s like someone showing up to my house and being like ‘Oh, Hello, I’m mike and I’ll be trading your family for a new one! Your trading with Susan down the road, is that okay?’

I’m not gonna sit there and go ‘Oh, yeah sure! I’ve known these guys all my life, but it’s totally chill!’

And then this Mike guy will be all like, ‘OooooOoOoOoOhh Yeah, we’re giving you two weeks to adjust!’

SHIT LIKE THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN!  I JUST WISH FUCKIN’ SCHOOLS GAVE CHILDREN A CHANCE!