#the dentist was so nice and worked quickly and without any pain

[rainbowcrowley]

i dodged a root canal today and had the best dentist experience ever, yay

at least some positive news, regarding all my ongoing health issues atm gjfkdgdkl

[tulipe-rose]

Skk shenanigans part three, could be taken as a fic prompt (I spiraled and now it's very long):

15!Skk get their wisdom tooth removed.

Yeah.

Chūya's fine with it, not excited, but mostly concerned that he hasn't grown much at all yet he's supposed to be 'wise' now. Dazai on the other hand...

Boy is terrified (he won't show it, Chūya's the only one that figured it out, and is worried annoyed) for some reason that is beyond Chūya's comprehension. The appointment got delayed twice, because Dazai attempted to drown himself the first time, and overdosed enough to pass out the second time. It won't kill him, but it would be enough to put him out of it for at least a few days, which brings Chūya to believe that this isn't one of his jokes, despite Dazai acting like his usual silly little self whenever he wakes up. Mori, and Chūya decide to put the appointment on hold for awhile.

What's wrong with the dentist?? Did that specific dentist do something?? Chūya is at a loss, but tries offering to go to another one just to check, but Dazai straight up refuses; he keeps rolling all over the place back and forth like some sort of rolling pin. Chūya tries suggesting that he goes alone without Dazai so Mori just lays off about it, but Mori says it won't be necessary; Dazai will come around eventually, but Chūya isn't seeing it.

Chūya finally caves since it seems like the only way, and gives Dazai an offer.

Chūya will help Dazai break into that one specifically annoying gang owned company, and pulling a very 'tiny' prank on them (aka messing with it's system files, and turning all of their confidential info into cat videos), after refusing multiple times before (he wanted to do it but wouldn't out of sheer spite. He was angry, and would've done it eventually, didn't plan for it to be too soon). Dazai has been dying to do this since their members were treading dangerously close to Mafia territory, to the point where Mori didn't mind Dazai's 'little' plan. They were being threats, and while the most rational thing would be to strike them down altogether, they were still needed, so messing with them from the inside would be a sufficient warning. (Man idk I've never written Mori)

Dazai begrudgingly agrees, but only for the prank, definitely not because Chūya was acting all nice, and worried that it was getting to hard for Dazai's brain to handle. He wanted normal Chūya, so he needed to get this over with, despite the terrible consequences of going.

They're at the underground clinic with Mori, they go in quickly before Dazai could change his mind. Until...

"Mr. Dazai is going to need braces, both his top, and bottom premolars are crooked..."

Mori massages his temple with a knowing, sad, smile, Chūya's jaw went slack, turning to see a Dazai who's practically melting into his seat.

"...and there's a cavity in there, it's good that you came before it could start growing further."

Dazai's eyes are devoid of emotion at this point. They wrestle him into the chair so he doesn't run away, he isn't resisting, but he's as stiff as a brick. He finally loosens up after being put under the anesthesia. Chūya tried to not feel bad about forcing this on Dazai, it was for his own good for God's sake, he wasn't in the wrong, and he'd rather not spend the next few weeks listening to sad whines of him complaining about the pain.

Dazai finishes up a decent while later, and it's finally Chūya's turn. Dazai doesn't look too happy, and is super sluggish.

Right. He's still under the anesthesia's effects.

Chūya goes in for his turn, and the doctor makes quick work of it. Mori's least favorite part of this whole thing has come, and the two drugged boys are united once Chūya is done. Chūya is unfiltered, and therefore bursts out laughing when he sees Dazai's braces. Dazai starts whining, and hitting Chūya, berating his height, and yelling at him for being a bad dog. Chūya doesn't even hear any of it, and starts floating as he laughs, they both walk out between wheezes and irritated retorts, and Mori just leaves them, he'll deal with the damage later.

They go running after a kitty that Dazai spots, and basically doing dumb shit they wouldn't do consciously until they find themselves near an amusement park. They spend the next forty-five minutes being madmen; Chūya is using gravity to ride the rollercoaster like a skateboard, making it go full speed, while Dazai went to the petting zoo side of the park, acquiring a little kitty on the way, and set free all of the animals. He eventually joins Chūya on the rollercoaster, and they both ride without the seatbelts because the employees are too scared to correct them. They both nearly die on there, Chūya accidentally makes the gravity decrease, so the cart nearly flies before Dazai flies out, and Chūya slows down when he doesn't see a mop of brown hair naxt to him. Dazai crash lands into a convenienly placed bushy tree, Chūya tries to fish him out while mid air, and they both plummet into the bushes underneath. They spend the rest of the time on the carousel before passing out on a unicorn. Mori sends Hirotsu to get them, and this isn't the worst he's seen of them, considering the fact that 'DOUBLE BLUC WAS HERE' was written in huge, absolutely horrendous handwriting, and wrong spelling with messy pink paint from the kids' zone on the ferris wheel (it was seconds away from being pulled off it's hinges. These two used it as a spinning wheel of sorts too, there were incomprehensible characters scattered on different carriages. (They're Ability users so their genes are a little different, therefore Chūya, and Dazai are practically drunk. Shhh it makes sense.)

Bonus: They do infiltrate the company, and they compromise that half could be cat videos, while the other half are dog videos.

[superblizzarddrift]

Teething Problems

This one kinda wrote itself so thanks for the awesome prompt choice @hermanncodednewtboy​! (AO3 version here)

Hermann had been in the waiting room for nearly an hour when Newt finally shuffled in, one hand clutching an icepack to his jaw and the other holding the nurse’s arm.

‘Oh, good.’ He hurried over, struggling to hide his worry. ‘Newton, how are you feeling?’

Newt stared back at him with a look of betrayal. ‘They took my teeth, dude,’ he slurred.

‘Not all of them,’ the nurse said kindly, ‘just the ones that were causing you trouble.’

Newt had been complaining about his wisdom teeth for as long as Hermann had known him. “I’ll get it fixed when the apocalypse is over,�� he’d insist whenever Hermann nagged him about it. Ten years later, the apocalypse was over and Newt was out of excuses.

‘Can we go home now?’ Newt let go of the nurse’s arm and latched onto Hermann like a dejected limpet. With a sigh, Hermann settled things with the nurse and listened to her instructions. It was a little hard to concentrate with Newt being so… affectionate. Judging by her smile, she noticed his blush.

It was dark outside. Mako waved from her car. ‘Did it go well?’ she asked as they clambered into the back.

‘No, it was bad,’ Newt muttered, clutching the icepack against his cheek. ‘Didn’t feel any of the teeth come out.’

‘That is a good thing, Newton.’ Hermann leaned over to buckle him in.

‘But I don’t know if they even did it!’

Mako laughed. ‘I’ll get you home.’

“Home” was still the Shatterdome for now, although clean-up had begun and pretty soon the K-Science division would be a thing of the past. Hermann never thought he’d miss that lab – or his annoying co-worker. As they turned a corner, Newt slumped against his shoulder. Hermann put an arm around him.

‘Had really cool dreams.’ Newt mumbled. ‘Each dentist was a different Kaiju…’

In the mirror, Mako’s eyes flicked up briefly before returning to the road. A Kaiju had taken her father, just as it had taken her family before it. He knew she was still grieving, in her own quiet way. ‘How many dentists were there?’ she asked, incredulously.

‘A family,’ Newt pronounced, eyes slipping closed. Without his glasses, he looked more vulnerable somehow. Hermann could see the line across his forehead where the stitches had recently healed, the yellow stain of a bruise on his cheekbone. He resisted the urge to comb his fingers through his messy hair.

Back at the Shatterdome, Mako helped Newt to walk up to his room. He wobbled along amiably enough, but when he started bumping into things Hermann quickly returned his glasses.

Outside his door, Newt fumbled through his pockets. ‘I… I can’t find my key. Maybe I left it inside…’

Hermann’s heart sank. Newt had changed his mind about going five times, until he’d had to almost drag him out the door. The key was probably inside his room.

Mako bit her lip. ‘You could borrow my room for the night? I’ve been sharing with Raleigh anyway.’ She blushed a little.

Hermann shook his head it. ‘Mako, you have done more than enough tonight. I’ll… I’ll take him to my quarters. It’s probably better if someone keeps an eye on him, anyway.’

Mako hesitated. 'Are you sure? I really don't mind...'

Newt looked to Hermann hopefully. 'Sleepover? Please?'

Oh, it was going to be a long night.

Mako followed them to Hermann's room then bid them goodnight.

'Take care, rock star,' she said fondly, with a wink at Newt.

'Mmm,' said Newt vaguely, eyes drifting closed.

Hermann ambled into his apartment, scanning for any litter or discarded underwear before remembering that he never left anything in his room out of place.

Newt sat down on Hermann's bed, groaned and promptly spat a mouthful of bloody gauze into his lap.

'Oh, for heaven's sake, Newton.' Hermann grabbed a handkerchief and cleaned up the mess.

'Hurts,' Newt said miserably, but held still as Hermann gently mopped the red saliva off his fingers and chin. 'Are you sure they took my teeth out?'

'I assure you that they took all four of your wisdom teeth, yes.'

'Where did they put them?' He stared at him tiredly, icepack pressed against his cheek again. 'They're my teeth. So I own them.'

'You can't keep them. If it's any consolation, you have plenty more.'

'But I had them for so long,' he whined, flopping down on Hermann's pillow. 'I saved the world with those teeth!'

With a sigh, Hermann patted his ankle. Sometimes he thought he could feel Newt’s emotions, like some residual effect of their Drift. Some mornings he woke up with a song in his head he'd never heard before. Like it or not, they were connected now.

Newt sighed softly as Hermann's hand found his shoulder. Hermann wasn't sure how it got there, but he couldn't bring himself to remove it. 'Get some rest,' he said finally. Newt did indeed seem to be dozing off, mumbling nonsense as Hermann relieved him of his glasses and shoes.

It would be hard to say goodbye to him, Hermann realised. At some point, their volatile relationship had morphed into something harder to define. He’d told himself it was merely co-dependency from working together for so long, but that didn’t account for their Drift. He’d been inside Newt’s head, and he knew that there was something there too.

Newt appeared to be asleep by the time Hermann draped the blanket over him, but then he stirred. 'I think I'm in love with you,' he said dreamily.

Hermann froze. 'It's only a blanket Newton, no need to be so dramatic.'

'You think I'm joking.' He looked so adorably sad, only his head visible above the blanket. 'You always think I'm joking when I say nice things. But I do love you.'

Hermann looked back at him, and for a moment they were standing together in the pouring rain, minds reeling from the Drift. ‘I – that’s very nice of you. Please try to get some sleep.’ He couldn’t tell him. Not now, when Newt probably wouldn’t remember it, and not when they’d most likely be on opposite sides of the world in a week or two. It was easier to remain detached. That was how he’d been able to do his work in the first place. No ties.

‘Where are you going?’ Newt asked in alarm as Hermann turned away. ‘Don’t go! I’m sorry!’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he said. ‘I’m going to sleep on the sofa.’ He barely used the battered old couch by the window, but it would suffice for tonight.

‘There’s enough room for two, you know.’ Newt patted the space beside him. ‘Your leg hurts, doesn’t it? I can feel it too.’

Indeed, Hermann’s leg had been throbbing for most of the walk back. He gaped at him. ‘You can?’

‘You’re so cute when you’re all uptight. Come on. Please?’

If they’d been in this situation a month ago, Hermann would have probably marched out and slept in Mako’s room. Perhaps a little bit of Newt had rubbed off on him in the Drift, because he found himself shrugging off his jacket, kicking off his shoes and climbing into bed beside him. He switched off the light. Now, only a faint glow came from under the door.

Newt curled up under the blanket, squishing his face into the pillow. ‘This is nice,’ he sighed.

Hermann dared to shuffle a little closer, not quite touching him but close enough to feel Newt’s warmth. ‘Yes, it is.’

There was an itch under his skin, a yearning. He didn’t want to say goodbye, not after all they’d been through. Would he still feel the effects of their Drift when they were far apart? What if Newt got into trouble somehow, would he feel his pain? His loneliness?

‘Newton,’ he said quietly, ‘I – I don’t want you to leave.’

Newt yawned. ‘I’m not leaving, I’m staying here.’

‘I don’t mean this room. I mean you. I don’t want to go back to sending letters.’

There was a silence so long that Hermann was sure Newt had gone to sleep. But then Newt shuffled over until his forehead rested on his shoulder. ‘I don’t want you to leave either.’

Relief flooded through him, so strong that he was sure Newt would feel it. ‘It’s settled, then,’ Hermann said calmly, though his heart was singing. ‘Wherever we go next, we shall go together.’

The bed rustled as Newt fidgeted, then there was a puff of air on his cheek as Newt sighed. ‘I can’t kiss you ‘cause my mouth hurts.’

‘You can’t kiss me because you are full of drugs, you silly man.’ But when Newt rested his head on his chest, he didn’t complain. The icepack dripped cold water onto Hermann’s shirt. ‘So, Doctor Geiszler.’ Fondly, he ran his fingers through Newt’s hair. ‘Was this experience better or worse than drifting with a Kaiju brain?'

‘Better, ‘cause I get cuddles. S’not as cool, though.’

Hermann smiled into the darkness. ‘Tell me about these Kaiju dreams you had?’

‘Well, one of them was Otachi, which was funny because she has wings so she couldn’t hold any of the tools…’ As Newt spoke, a warm contentedness seeped through the both of them. Hermann had no idea what was going to happen next, but all that mattered was they did it together.

He didn’t need the Drift to know that he loved Newt too.

[witchyfictional]

Week 8 (SPRING 8/13)

Professional Log of Harper Tobin, Journeyman Witch

Patient: Susan Chert returned this week, cough-free but oddly sheepish as she asked for a private meeting.

Ailment: Bard Boils [boils**] [pain*] (T4) Oh no. It’s getting around.

Recommend: Good old Shockfish soup, of course

Field Notes:

I have a Shockfish and Skullcaps in my storeroom already, but I have a hunch this may be turning into an epidemic, so I went hunting for more to stock up. On my search I spotted those odd footprints in the sand, but I knew better than to try and follow them this time - I was in a hurry. In my haste I tripped over beach debris again, but in time I managed to eventually retrieve two additional Shockfish for storage. While on the water, I ran into Mr. Gabbro as well, and although I couldn’t stay to talk long, he kindly pointed me toward where I could retrieve a clump of Mermaid’s Gift that had washed up on one of the rocks.

I was able to distill the soup for Susan in no time (see my earlier entry for instructions), and although I didn’t pry, I was hoping perhaps she might let slip any kind of hint of who could be spreading this infection so quickly. She did not.

Paid: 30 silver Later that night I once again found a pouch waiting alone on my doorstep, containing +20 silver and a lavish thank-you note from the anonymous culprit. It was irritating, but I suppose money is money.

Additional Notes:

I spent the rest of the week in Hero’s Hollow, determined to collect enough painkillers to concoct a remedy for Bàs Bàta’s shattered tooth. As much as I’m itching to go explore somewhere new, I feel I have a duty to prioritize the suffering creature, both for its own sake and for the sake of those it terrorizes in the Loch.

Near the entrance of the dungeon I had no luck (unsurprisingly), but I did find another outdated-looking map, hand-drawn and messy. It was useless, but it was dropped right in the middle of a patch of Coldrust that was eating away at a mostly-disintegrated breastplate, so I collected what I could on my way past. Not wanting to waste time, I went straight to the imprisoned demon Bap’s confinement chamber, as they have been very helpful on previous expeditions, and traded gossip for information on where the vampire nest had been moved that day.

Thanks to Bap’s advice I was able to extract three doses of Vampire Venom before I saw one of them stirring and had to beat a hasty retreat. Before I left the room, however, I spotted a young man in the corner, looking absolutely frozen with fear as he stared at the cluster of sleeping vampires hanging from the ceiling. I got his attention and was able to quietly lead him away from the chamber. He introduced himself as Tybalt Potter and begged me to lead him back to the exit; apparently he had gone in on a dare, to prove he was a brave enough adventurer to risk the Hollow by himself, and then got hopelessly lost. He was so pitiful I had to give in, which cost me a lot of time - but he did give me +10 silver in thanks when we finally came into the sun again.

When I returned to High Rannoc, I spent 150 silver on the construction of a raven loft for the cottage. Nana Dorea has been sending near-constnat telegrams with pleas for my return, claiming she’s overwhelmed on her own. Perhaps with this I can take on a few of her cases long-distance, so I can stay out here without her moaning about it. The postal coach is far too slow for such work, but a few trained ravens should do the job nicely.

OOC: Rep – 13 [Intermediate] Silver – 36 Tools – basics / coracle Familiar skill – Hunter (-3 Animal reagent rarity) Golem Helper – getting settled

Upgrades: – Garden plot (x1; Surgeon Sap) – Raven Loft (take 2 jobs; if both on time, x2 pay for second draw)

Surplus reagents: ** Surgeon Sap [wound] [burn] [+1s]  — (freely available) *** Amethyst Antlers [magic] [curse] [mood] — (x1) ~Candy Rock [+4s] — (x1) * Coldrust [hot] [magic] — (x1) * Deep Reed [ear] [blood] [stomach] — (x1) ** Dentist Crabs [teeth] [mouth] [lungs] [infection] — (x1) ** Foot Fungus [burn] [boils] [rash] [+2p] — (x1) *** Fossil Fish [time] [magic] — (x1) * Gas Weed [lungs] — (x1) *** Ghost Goo [spirit] [curse] — (x1) ** Glittersnow [curse] [magic] — (x1) * Hermit Snails [wound] [bones] — (x1) *** Innocent’s Suffering [pain] [sleep] [nerves] [wound] — (x1) ! *** Jumpkin [stomach] [cold] — (x1) ** Mermaid’s Gift [hair] [+1p] — (x1) ** Milkstone [teeth] [pain] — (x1) *** Moon Moss [blood] [curse] — (x1) ** Princess Toad [wart] [rash] [mood] — (x1) * Scramble Bramble [mood] [senses] [+1p] — (x1) ** Shockfish [nerves] [pain] [boils] — (x2) * Silverleaf [infection] [rash] — (x1) * Skullcap [poison] [pain] — (x1) ** Slime Shells [parasite] [infection] [blood] — (x10) *** Vampire Venom [curse] [pain] [mood] — (x4) *** Wigfish [mood] [sleep] [hair] — (x2)

[yesiamplease]

After the Dentist

Words: 1,698

Summary: Verin is the poor unfortunate soul that has to take Essek back home after a trip to the dentist that involved anesthesia. Essek can't stop thinking about the Mighty Nein.

“Forgive me, but considering I would have to travel to get there and leave my station, I don’t fully see why I should have to take care of him.“

“Because there’s no one else who will, and I’m telling you to do it.“

Verin knew that tone all too well, “Yes, mother.”

“All you have to do is get him back to his home and make sure he gets inside without incident. It will take less than an hour.“

"Yes, mother."

“He’ll be coming off of anesthesia, so make sure he doesn’t say anything he shouldn’t around others. And I trust you’ll be sure to tell me if he says anything that I should know.“

"Yes, mother."

Essek looked around groggily as a nurse led him to the waiting room. Verin came in a few minutes later, “How did it go?”

Essek was lost in thought, trying to figure out how the fish could fly and why they only stayed in one area of the room when there were so many other spots around them to explore. Verin nudged him, getting his attention. A muffled, “Huh?” was all that came out. 

“I guess you really are out of it,“ Verin grabbed his arm and started leading Essek out, “Come on, let’s get you into the carriage.“ 

"Stars!"

"Yes, just like all the time."

Essek fell asleep almost as soon as he sat down, much to Verin’s relief. ‘All I have to do is make sure he gets inside. That should be easy enough, assuming he doesn’t float away.’ Essek whined as he was woken up once they’d gotten outside of his towers. Verin grabbed him by the arm again and started leading him to the door, “I know, I know. You’ll be in bed soon enough.” 

Essek felt himself being pulled along. It was familiar. His mind flashed back to the party, him suddenly paralyzed and Jester pulling him out of the room. All the other things from that night came flooding back to him in that moment, their disappointment, their anger, the undeserved reassurance, their demeanor towards him the last time they spoke and how long it’s been since then. “It’s been so long...”

“Huh?“ Verin turned to look at Essek, shocked to see his older brother starting to breath unsteady with tears welling in his eyes.

“It’s been really long,“ Essek didn’t even realize he was crying, “I don’t know if something is wrong.“

“I-I, uh,“ Verin quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching, “let’s get you inside, okay?“ He quickly pulled Essek in and shut the door.

Essek looked around his sitting room, the room he had them over for breakfast in. He tried really hard to give them a nice breakfast. He tried so hard. They liked him back then. He didn’t deserve for them to like him. He didn’t deserve to have them as his friends, and now they know that, too. They still haven’t contacted him. They hate him.

“Okay, none of the doors open, I should’ve expected that.“ Verin went back down the stairs, “I can’t get you to your room, but I’m sure you’ll be fine on the...“ the sound of sobbing filled the air, “...couch.” Verin braced himself before asking, “What’s wrong? Look at me,“ he put his hands on Essek’s shoulders, getting his attention, “Why are you upset?“

"They hate me!"

"Who hates you?"

"My friends..." It felt wrong to still call them that.

Verin paused for a moment, his first thought being to question his brother having friends, but put that out of his mind. “Can you open the door to the kitchen? There’s water in there, do you want a glass of water?”

“Water tastes good,“ Essek said between sobs.

“Yes, water tastes very good, and if you open the kitchen I can get you some.”

"Okay."

Verin, successfully in the kitchen, sat Essek down at a table and got him some water as promised, along with a handkerchief. “Now, who are your friends and why do you think they hate you?”

A few seconds passed before Essek looked up from his drink, “Huh?”

Verin signed, "Who are your friends?"

“The...“ Essek tried to hold back another sob, “the Mighty Nein“

“Uh huh,“ thinking about it, he’s heard of them before, “and why do you think they hate you?“ Essek froze when the question hit his ears, then started sobbing again. Verin switched to a more gentle tone, “Hey, hey, calm down. I just want to know what’s making you upset. Can you tell me why you think your friends hate you?”

After a moment, practically in a whisper, “I’m a bad person...“ Verin couldn’t exactly say anything to contradict that, so stayed silent, but did put a reassuring hand on Essek’s shoulder. “I’m a bad person, and they know, and they’re so good. They haven’t contacted me in so long. They hate me.”

“If they’re your friends, then how can they hate you?“

"They do."

“Okay,“ Verin was starting to feel like a therapist at this point, “what are these friends of yours like? Tell me about them.“

Essek perked up a bit, “Well, there’s Jester,” Verin nodded, encouraging him to go on, “She’s really nice, and playful. She gave me presents...” Essek remembered the cupcake. He didn’t eat it, he doesn’t like sweets. Why didn’t he just eat it? She bought that and was kind enough to give it to him, he should’ve eaten it. Why didn’t he just eat it? 

The sinking feeling of guilt was clear on Essek’s face, which was very off putting for Verin to see. He didn’t think Essek could feel guilt. “And the others?”

“Oh...,“ Essek dwelled on his guilt for a few more seconds before he continued, “There’s Veth. She was a goblin, but now she’s not. She likes to joke around, but she’s really very intelligent. We worked on a spell together, me, her, and Caleb. I was happy that day.“ Essek hadn’t felt connected like that in a long time, or maybe that was the first time? So genuine, the energy, the way they all bounced off each other. It was incredible. He’ll never have that again. He’ll never see those smiles again. That feeling, it will never happen again. He felt sick.

"Who is Caleb? Tell me about them."

The tightness in his chest came back as he tried to speak, the tears welling up again. "H-he-he is..."

“It’s okay. Just take a deep breath. Everything is okay, you can take your time.“

The handkerchief was soaked at this point, but he still tried to use it. “He is a wizard. He’s brilliant. He’s kind, and compassionate. Sometimes he’s funny. He’s very sad...” Those sad, pain filled blue eyes of a several times over broken and pieced back together man. They’re beautiful. There’s so much hurt behind them, and Essek contributed to that. He put more pain in the eyes of someone who has felt more than enough for several lifetimes. That night on the ship, there was so much anger, too. How could he have been so foolish to think things could get better after that day?

Verin got him a dish rag instead, “Maybe that one wasn’t the best one to talk about...” After several minutes spent calming Essek back down, Verin was hesitant to ask, but hoped it couldn’t get worse, “Okay, that’s three out of nine, 6 more left to go.”

"Seven," Essek sniffed.

"What?"

"There are seven."

"Seven left...?"

"No, seven people in the Mighty Nein."

"Why would they call themselves the Mighty Nein if there are seven?"

Essek looked down at his lap, "I don't know..."

“Okay, four left then.” ‘Thank the light, it’s less.’ Essek looked tired, every time he stopped crying, he was practically falling  asleep sitting up. “How about we finish this conversation in your room?”

"My room?"

"So you can get in bed."

Essek sat quietly for a moment, "I'm tired."

“Then let’s get you to bed.“ Verin led Essek up the stairs and got him to open the door to his room, then helped him to take off his shoes and cloak. “Better?“

Essek stared up at nothing as he laid in bed. His eyelids felt heavy, but he still wanted to talk. “Yasha is sad. She had a lot of bad things happen to her. She asked me if I was lonely. I could tell that she was lonely, too.” Yasha wasn’t like the rest, she didn’t really feel like a friend yet. Now she never will. He doesn’t deserve it. At least he probably didn’t hurt her the way he hurt the others.

“Okay, and the other three?“ Verin pulled a chair over to the side of the bed.

“Beauregard is smart, too, and resourceful. She’s a member of the Cobalt Soul. She’s honest, she tells you what she thinks.“ And all she must think about him is that he’s a monster. A cold, heartless, scheming, power hungry monster that she needs to protect the world from. She probably wants him dead. That’s fair, how could any of them not?

Essek continued, “Fjord is funny. He had a...“ Essek yawned, “ different accent when I first met him from the one he has now. He’s very good at pretending.” The night he went to dinner, Fjord told him he was a rock for their group. What is he to them now? Would it be better to be something awful to them, or to be nothing at all? He might find out, eventually. Both hurt in their own ways.

And then there was Caduceus. He could make you feel safe or like he was staring into your soul. He called Essek a good man, but was that manipulation or was he trying to be kind? How could anyone look at the things he’s done and call him a good man? Essek wiped the hot tears away with his blanket, feeling his eyes refusing to stay open. “Caduceus is scary. He could read a locked book. He makes really good tea...”

Verin waited 10 or so minutes to be sure Essek was asleep before leaving. Thankfully, the doors let him out.

[hermionefae]

Dentist! - Dhawan!Master-Fem!Reader

Warnings: Swearing, smut 

It took all my strength to not stay in the warm bed. The man next to me turned over and muttered “are you gonna turn that alarm of love?” 

I groaned and whispered to my smart speaker to stop the morning tune it was playing to wake me up. “I suppose I should get up for work.” 

“Urgh, work is so boring.” He said in my ear. 

“Well, we can’t all be time travelling aliens and I need this job to keep me afloat when you leave me alone.” 

He said nothing in response so I rolled out of bed and turned on the light. 

I jumped in the shower and then returned back into my bedroom. I chose my underwear almost on auto-pilot and it was only when I looked at the Master’s smirking face did I look down at my selection - a black lacy bra and pants. It was one of his favourites. 

“You dick.” I joked “I’d thank you for not hypnotising me without me knowing.” I said whilst pulling on my work shirt. 

The Master smirked and pushed himself up on his elbows. His black hair was messed up from sleep and his eyes sparkled with early morning mischief. “Oh but you love it” He said darkly. I felt compelled to come closer to him and put my hands on either side of his face and kissed him deeply, his hands wrapped around my waist and brought me closer. 

“No, no I’ve got to go to work.” I mumbled into him and pulled away, he looked like a wounded puppy. 

I was now running late and leaving my flat in a rush. I had a job at a dental surgery on reception only a short drive away from home so I arrived with seconds to spare. The Practice Manager and the other receptionist were standing in the waiting room, clearly waiting for me. “Ahh, hello Y/N I just wanted to make a quick announcement. The new root canal specialist is starting today. He hasn’t got any treatments, just consultations for now but I’m sure he’ll find his feet quickly.” Announced my manager. 

I glanced at my colleague, this wasn’t something I was aware of. She read my expression and said “ we employed him when you were away.” 

I nodded and just at that moment the doorbell went “that must be him. I’ll go and let him in.” Said my manager. I busied myself behind my desk, not looking up until my manager said “ladies, this is Doctor Koschei.” 

I looked up with a pre-prepared smile on my face and almost gasped out loud. There stood the Master, my Master wearing his signature check trousers suit, blue shirt and purple coat. “Nice to see such good looking receptionists.” Said the Master cheekily, giving me a small wink that went unnoticed by my manager and colleague. 

“Oh you can stay.” Giggled my colleague, which was really unbecoming of the woman’s advanced age. I rolled my eyes at her comment. Without another word the Master left us. 

I looked at the diary, he didn’t have a patient until 9am. I made a plan to go and confront him once my morning tasks had been completed. 

Unfortunately I got bogged down with my jobs and it wasn’t until his first patient arrived did I remember that I was supposed to be seeing him. 

I excused myself from the desk and walked down the corridor towards the surgery, his fake name was already on the door. How long had he been planning this? 

I knocked on the door, praying that a nurse wasn’t in there with him. 

“Come in.” I heard him call out. I opened the door and there he was in black scrubs which was the  practice’s signature colour but he made it so much more stylish. I checked around the surgery and didn’t see a nurse so I locked the door and said “what the fuck are you doing here?” 

“Language Miss YL/N” said the Master with a mock serious expression. 

“No seriously, why are you here? You’re not a dentist.”

“I have had the training.” 

“Watching Little Shop of Horrors on repeat is not training.” 

The Master slunk towards me and I suddenly felt very turned on by his presence. “Admit it, you’re glad I’m here aren’t you?” 

He pulled my arms high above my head and kissed me fiercely. Desire pooled in between my legs as I kissed him back. 

“Jump” I heard in my head and I did as I was told, I held onto his shoulders and wrapped my legs around his waist. He held onto me whilst peppering hot kisses down my neck and turned around, almost throwing me onto the dental chair. His excitable hands cupped my breasts and then travelled down to my skirt where they delved underneath. I shuddered with anticipation as he made small circles around my clit. 

“Say my name.” He growled. 

“Master!” I said weakly, trying to not climax too early. I didn’t want this to end. 

“Such a good girl.” My flailed out trying to find something to grip onto and it hit the antiquated ipod player. 

“You'll be a dentist

(Be a dentist)

You have a talent for causing things pain” sang the ipod. 

We stopped for a second to laugh at the absurdity of the situation “at least it’s appropriate.” Muttered the Master as he picked up speed again. I climaxed at the end of the song. 

“I’m sure they heard” I breathed out, trying to stop panting. 

Sure enough we then heard a knock on the door “Dr Koschei, everything alright? Are you ready for your first patient?” Called out a nurse. 

We looked at each other “wanna have some more fun? Skip this joint and head out to the stars?” Asked the Master. 

“Always, but how?” 

The Master wiggled his eyebrows and led me to what I thought was a cupboard but once he opened the doors we were in his TARDIS. 

“Have I ever told you that those scrubs look really sexy on you?” I asked as I pulled the Master back to my lips.

[gio-is-writing]

Can I have a Kakyoin X Reader where the reader has to go to the dentist but she has dentophobia (fear of dentists, dental care) and her anxiety just goes over the roof and he calmes them down and comforts them? If you can't, that's fine. (It's totally not my biggest fear or anything) Thanks!!

REQUEST:  Can I have a Kakyoin X Reader where the reader has to go to the dentist but she has dentophobia (fear of dentists, dental care) and her anxiety just goes over the roof and he calmes them down and comforts them? If you can't, that's fine. (It's totally not my biggest fear or anything) Thanks!!

Hey Blaster!!💞 I haven’t been to a dentist in a hot minute😔 also i don’t know how insurance works so bare with me hehe, hope you enjoy it!!

Pairing: Kakyoin x fem! reader

Warnings: none

DENTAL CARE

“Ow…” (Y/N) whined as she took a bite of her lunch.

She was currently sitting on one of the school benches while Kakyoin and Jotaro talked about some upcoming sumo event. The red haired heard her whine and turned to her with a confused expression.

“Are you alright (Y/N)?”

She looked up to both their stares, Kakyoin looked slightly worried at her while Jotaro looked as stoic as ever but still waiting for an answer.

“Oh, it’s nothing!” she dismissed “Just some of my teeth are hurting”

“You should see a dentist then” Jotaro suggested as he smoked from his cigarette

“I’m sure is nothing…”

The girl gulped down at the thought of going to the dentist, just thinking about it made her skin crawl. She hated going to the dentist and she wished that this really was just a thing that would go away and kept her from going to that place. She drifted away in thought for a few seconds before Kakyoin spoke up again.

“Are you sure? It could be something serious”

“Or just whatever” she shrugged “It’ll pass in no time”

“If you say so…”

They continued with their conversation, (Y/N) rubbed her cheek where she felt the throbbing and sighed. It had been a few days since she felt the slight tingling in her molar and it had grown into the sharp pain that kept her from having a peaceful meal but she ignored it the best she could to avoid that dreaded place.

It was Friday when (Y/N) felt like she wanted to just rip the whole thing off, tears clouding her vision after everyone left the classroom. She knew Kakyoin and Jotaro were probably having lunch already but she couldn’t bring herself to join them, she silently sobbed into her hands as the throbbing on her jaw seemed to worsen by the second.

“There you are!”

Kakyoin walked into the room, he had been looking for her all over the school grounds when half of the lunch break passed and she was nowhere to be seen but his relieved smile turning into a concerned frown when she didn’t turn around to greet him and shaking shoulders

“(Y/N)?” Kakyoin walked slowly to where she sat slowly to not scare her if she hadn’t heard him coming in.

“I’m sorry Kak, I’m just not feeling well...”

Kakyoin sat beside her placing a hand on her shoulder and rubbing up and down her arms as she whimpered quietly

“What happend?” he asked but she kept silence “Are you hurt somewhere? did anyone said anything to you?”

She shook her head no but gave no further explanation, making him a little more worried since he didn’t know what was going on. She was fine during class, right? He didn’t see anyone causing her any trouble either but Jotaro did drag him out of the classroom as quickly as the bell rang. But as he noticed how she rubbed her cheek he knew in an instant.

“Is your teeth still hurting?” he asked and she sobbed again as she nodded “(Y/N) you really need to go to a dentist”

He heard as she mumbled something but he couldn’t figure what it was since it was muffled by her hands. He took hold of her wrist and pulled her hands away from her face having a clear view of her reddened cheeks and puffy eyes.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I don’t want to go to the dentist”

“But look at you, you can barely eat or do anything anymore!”

“Kakyoin...”

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t go, I’m sure they’ll get rid of it in no time...” she lowered her head as she mumbled something again “what was that?”

Her face got red as she looked up at him, she felt so embarrassed that he was witnessing how she fell apart because of a stupid tooth, she sighed.

“I’m scared of going to the dentist”

“You’re... scared?”

“I know it’s stupid”

“hey no no, it’s not!” he pulled at her wrist again “it’s completely valid to be scared! But you can’t go on like this, you have to go or it could be worse”

She didn’t respond and just lowered her head

“I can go with you if you want” he suggested

“Kak you don’t have to...”

“It’s fine, I know a really good dentist around here and we could walk together after school”

(Y/N) though for a moment, she was really scared of dentist but she couldn’t go another day with the throbbing pain in her jaw. She looked up at him and hesitated for a moment but closing her eyes she answered.

“Alright...”

“Good!” he smiled “Let me call to make an appointment”

He left the room to a close phone booth the school had in case of emergency, (Y/N) groaned resting her head on the school desk. There was no way she could scape visiting the doctor, much less when Kakyoin so kindly offered to call and walk her there when he didn’t have to. She tried to not thing too much about what could happen at the clinic, keeping her anxieties at bay as long as she could and as Kakyoin came back she was lost in thought

“Alright then, we’re going after school”

(Y/N) looked out the window before looking back at him nodding, Kakyoin gave her a bright smile and she tried to give one back as the bell rang once again and students started flooding in to attend the rest of the classes and Jotaro held the most confused expression noticing his two friends were already there after suddenly disappearing.

A few more classes passed by when the final bell rang, students rushed out in seconds eager to leave school grounds. (Y/N) stuffed all her things into her bag and headed for the door where Jotaro and Kakyoin were waiting. They walked to the main gate and a few blocks when Jotaro had to go his own way home as Kakyoin and (Y/N) changed directions to the dental clinic, they waved him goodbye and went on their way.

As they were walking Kakyoin noticed how she played around with her hands, a gesture that most times meant she was nervous and anxious and he knew it was because of the whole idea of visiting the dentist.

“You know...” he broke the silence “He is a really good dentist, highly recommended around the city!”

Her fumbling of fingers stopped as she looked up at him with big eyes, he nodded to confirm his statement.

“I’ve been with him a few times and he is always really gentle and careful, always doing the best job”

“T-that’s good to hear”

They arrived to the clinic where the dentist was located and walked in, just a few people in the waiting room with bored expressions. They walked to the front desk to let the secretary know of their arrival and basic information about (Y/N) and how the school insurance would cover her needs, after it was done they seated to wait.

(Y/N) kept bouncing her knee and once again her fingers fumbled as she bit her lip, Kakyoin wanted to giggle at how cute she looked but he knew she wouldn’t appreciate that so he placed a hand over hers and she stopped.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay”

Closing her eyes she let out a long sigh and a soft nod. She opened her mouth to speak when the door to the dentist office opened, gaining her attention. A kid ran out with a big smile giggling after the dentist gave him a little mint for him to chew on later, the mom thanked them with a bow and waved goodbye.

“(Y/N) (L/N)?” he asked looking at the list beside his door and then looking around the waiting room.

The girl gulped as she slowly stood up, Kakyoin gave her arm a little squeeze before whispering “I’ll be here if you need me”. The dentist smiled widely at her as they moved to let her in first into the office and shutting the door behind them with a “How are you (Y/N)? What can I do for you today?”

Kakyoin waited patiently as the dentist treated (Y/N)’s current predicament. He looked around the room and found some old magazines he could look through to pass the time. He almost didn’t noticed when the door opened again and (Y/N) walked out with a big smile just like the kid before her did, making Kakyoin relieved.

“Thank you so much” she bowed at the dentist as Kakyoin walked over, the dentist recognizing him.

“It’s my pleasure, it’s good to see I get recommended!”

They laughed before saying their goodbyes and leaving the office. Apparently the dentist treated her molar and gave her some medicine to help it get better.

“So, how was it?”

“It was better than what I expected” she smiled up at him “I feel much better now!”

“That’s great (Y/N)” he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked “I heard that eating ice cream helps after visiting the dentist”

“Oh, really?” she asked lifting a brow

“Yeah! come on, it’s on me”

(Y/N)’s cheeks turned a bright pink as she nodded eagerly leaning into him and relieved everything went well, she could finally enjoy a nice dessert without her trying to destroy all her teeth.

[just-a-8th-dreamer]

The girl next door | Yeji

Request : “hey, how are you? i would like to request a yeji scenario where she is in love with her neighbour (female reader) since they were kids, please? thank you, have a nice day 😊😊♡

Genre : fluff

You and Yeji had always been friends since childhood because when you moved out in her city, she was the only one kid who had been nice with you. And for a four years old child like you were, It had been important for you to have an ally, an associate, a parter in crime. Actually, you had met Yeji one day when you were playing in the same park and she shyly went to you, giving you a tiny flower she had just picked, her way to show you she wanted to be friend with you. Even If you were really young, you couldn’t resist her cat eyes and smile and you had felt confident right away with her. And you were not wrong because through the years, you always had been there for eachother. Yeji protecting you from other kids or mean girls at school because she didn’t like you staying quiet in front of them. You cheering her up when she felt bad, following her during the night when she needed to talk. Always bringing her favorite food to make her feel better. Or believing in her when she was chasing her dreams. You had done so many thing for eachother and Yeji was the one who had been touched about all those things you had done for her. In a different way from you but you never noticed. Well, Yeji couldn’t really keep how she felt for her anymore and when she had an idea in my, she wouldn’t throw it away. 

You were on your deck chair, enjoying the sunny day in your swimsuit, eyes closed, when you heard some footsteps getting closer to you. You could recognize this step between a thousand and without seeing her, you already knew your best friend were your garden yard. When you felt her presence next to you, you opened your eyes and were greeted by her legendary cat smile that melted your heart each time you could see it. As always, she was beautiful and you couldn’t really help but keeping your irises in her cat eyes that were always shining when she was in front of you. She had tied her hair in her usual ponytail and she was wearing your favorite outfit on her. A coral pink top with black washed denim shorts and the sneackers you bought her for her last birthday. She was wearing your favorite colar too. What was all of this for ? She was always dressed like this when she had something to ask you or to make you smile when you had some exams or medical appointment. Because Yeji was always accompagning you to the dentist, one of the medical appointment you hated the most. Your eyes fell on her wrist, where was shining the same bracelet you had on your own and you noticed what she was holding in her hand. Rollerblades. Oh dear god. You forgot about it.

“I haven’t forget about it, Y/n” she told you with a grin as if she could read in your mind. “You promised me I could teach you today”

You were used to no greetings but you were more used to Yeji pouting when you didn’t want to do something with her. Her chocolate eyes melted your heart and couldn’t say know to your pretty neighbor and best friend. You sighed and left your book on the deckchair.

“Fine” you replied. “Let me get dressed and I come with you for this horrible ride” 

Yeji’s eyes were like stars when she heard your words and you didn’t notice but her irises were analyzing how good you looked in that yellow swimsuit. She pinched her lips, blushing a little because of how beautiful you were and you were surprised finding her silent. 

“I swear you owe me some chocolate fudge ice cream after this” you let out while  you get dressed in the same outfit than her, except for your royal blue top. 

“Anything” she replied, quickly putting on her rollerblades.

“Then, maybe a car would be enough to thank me for what I’m going to do”

She rolled her eyes before coming closer to you helping you with yours when she saw you were struggling. She kneeled in front of you, gently holding your ankle and succeeded without any effort, making you pout because of your powerlessness. 

“You’re always so clumsy” she teased you with her feline smile. “I’m used to do everything for both of us” 

Because you were going to hit her shoulder, she quickly got up and ran away from your hand. You tried to follow her but your feet reminded you that you couldn’t really move unless if you wanted to fall. You didn’t know how to rollerskate and Yeji was enjoying your lack of practice, teasing you from where she was because you couldn’t catch her. 

“If you leave me here, it’s fine by me, I’ll enjoy the sun” you told her with a malicious smile, making her frown. 

She came closer, taking your hand and helped you to get on your feet. You weren’t confident at all, feeling the floor slippery because of wheels and you started to shake, searching for your balance. When you felt Yeji’s soft hand on your lower back, you instantly felt reassured, thanks to her you were stable. But you felt something else, a warm sensation on your skin and in your heart. Actually, you couldn’t deny the fact that you had a crush on your best friend for a while now but you always pushed the idea of confessing away because you thought she didn’t feel the same. However, you couldn’t fake what things she made you feel inside. 

“Trust me” she only said with a soft tone.

You nodded before trying to skate and both of went out of your garden yard. Yeji went slow, trying to make get used to the sentation. You were facing eachother, Yeji skating backwards, your hands in hers. Her gaze was amused because you were more walking akwardly than skating, still trying to figure out how all this worked. But when she made you understand to let her take the lead, you felt your body following her as she was going faster, making both of you feel like you were sliding. As always, she was keeping an eye on you, looking at your face with her sweet eyes, trying to know if you were feeling uncomfortable or enjoying the moment. When she saw your smile and heard your laugh, her lips turned into a wide smile because she could see how happy you were to feel this new sensation. The wind was making your hair fly and the sun were showing how good your skin tone was and Yeji couldn’t resist but feel her heart skip in her chest. 

It has been a while since she stopped seing you as a friend. Of course, she had never tried something but whenever she was with you, she was feeling different. Everytime she was lying on the couch while both of you were watching a movie, your face on her lap, she had to fight her need to stroke your hair. Everytime you were doing eachother make up, she wanted to kiss your lips instead of putting lipstick on them. Everytime you were going shopping together, trying clothes and asking her what she was thinking, she wanted to tell you how beautiful you were and would always be to her. But she couldn’t, because you were friends since childhood and she didn’t want to ruin that. On your side, you felt the same. When you were falling asleep on her lap, It was only to feel her closer and your fake sleepy mood was only here to help you touching her. When you were asking for her advice about outfits, It was only to know what she was thinking about you. Both of you were good actresses usually but sometimes the mask was falling. 

You were following Yeji on her side now, one hand still in hers because you weren’t confident enough to skate alone.

“Don’t let me go” you said loudly and you noticed there were two meanings for you. 

“I won’t” she replied softly with a smile as if she had read your thoughts.

Her smile was the prettiest in the world and you couldn’t take your eyes of her perfect face. She was so adorable... Laughing and enjoying the time she was spending with you. How could you keep how you felt for her silent ? Your irises were too stuck on her beauty, that's why you didn’t see the little rock in front of you, hitting It harshly with your foot and falling on the floor, bringing Yeji with you. 

Even if you were annoyed because of your fall, you couldn’t say you didn’t like how it turned. You were sit on the floor, Yeji half on your body, her face close to yours, her cheeks turning pink because of your proximity. You never found her so beautiful, your eyes checking every detail of her. Her straight brown hair tied in a ponytail, her kitten smile in front of you, her delicate red lips, her soft yet intense cat look. It was too much to handle at this moment, especially because she had one hand on your waist due to her will to protect you from being hurt when you fell, making you shiver. You bit your lower lip, blushing furiously because you were fighting against what you wanted to do and you felt your heart race. However, you didn’t move as if you were hypnotized by the girl in front of you and she didn’t move either, her eyes focused on your lips. 

“How can you be so clumsy” she whispered. “And so attractive at the same time” 

You widened your eyes, feeling a weird sensation in your stomach. You heart was beating so hard that you were sure Yeji could here it through her own chest, pressed against yours. You noticed a special glow in her eyes as if she wasn’t in the reality anymore. As if she was already gone. 

“Yeji ?” you called, your voice cracking because you were out of breath in front of the girl you secretly loved. 

She shook her head and before you could react, her lips met yours in a kiss filled of her feelings and your heart exploded into fireworks. Your mind was too confused and the only thing you could do was slipping your hand on her neck and kissed her back. You couldn’t think about anything about your lips on Yeji’s and you didn’t notice how hurt your ankle was. You only noticed how bad It was when Yeji leaned a little more on you to pull you closer and you hissed in pain. 

“What’s wrong ?” Yeji told you, nervous about the fact she might have hurt you.

“My ankle...” you could only answer, still dazed because of your best friend’s gesture. 

She instantly kneeled in front of you, gently putting her fingers on your ankle to check If something was broken. You clenched your jaw, growling because the pain was growning under.  When you saw her gaze, you didn’t need her words to know that you had broken your ankle like the clumsy girl you were. You closed your eyes, trying not to move, pinching your lips while Yeji was calling your parents to bring you to the hospital. You could hear your mother freaking out through Yeji’s phone and you sighed, opening your eyes. When you saw Yeji’s caring look on you, you could tell she was really worried and you never had seen her like that. When she hung up the phone, she gently took your hand and gave you a reassuring smile, her eyes shining. 

“It’s okay, I’m here” she whispered. “I’m going to take care of you, Y/n” 

________________________________________________________________

This rollerblading session had been certainly painful for you but It turned out in a better way you thought when you came back from the hospital in the evening. Here you were, lying on your couch, on Yeji’s lap, as always. Meanwhile your parents were having dinner at Yeji’s house because your best friend’s parents wanted to apologize for what had happened to you. Yeji had bought your favorite snacks to make you feel better and she made sure everything was comfortable for you. A movie was playing on your TV bu you weren’t really watching it. You had a lump in your throat because of what happened between you and Yeji and none of you had talked about it yet. Yeji, even if she had her usual smile was quiet and was playing with the laces of her moutarde sweater. Your heart was racing as fast as earlier and you were trying to say something about how you felt but everytime you were going to open your mouth, your courage was leaving you. Suddenly, you heard Yeji sigh and she gently took your hand in hers, stroking the back of it. 

“Y/n...” she murmured softly and you turned your face to look at her. “I have to tell you something”

She seemed so worried it almost broke your heart and you could see tears in her eyes. You felt her thigh tense because of her emotions and to make her feel reassured, you squeezed her hand. She closed her eyes, trying to keep a straight face but failed and you could see how she felt just by looking at her. 

“I don’t want to ruin our friendship but I can’t fake it anymore. What happened earlier... she paused and took a deep breath. “ I kissed you because I’m in love with you... It’s been a while and I don’t only want to be your best friend anymore”

She was afraid of her own words but she had to say it and you were admiring her for her capacity to say what you were unable to tell her. Your heart was pounding in your chest and you felt suddenly hot, your cheeks turning red. Yeji couldn’t see your reaction because of her closed eyes but if she could she would have understand everything.

“We can’t be friends anymore, Y/n, It’s too hard for me” she declared and you could see the pain on her face. “I’m sorry”

Your own feelings were burning in your chest and the lump in your throat disappeared, giving way to butterflies in your belly. You loved her more than a friend too and you were craving to tell her but you kept silent for a while. Your silence was unbearable for Yeji and you could see a tear rolling in her left cheek. She felt overwhelmed by her emotions and It was hard for her to control it. You instantly dried her tear with your thumb and kissed the back of her hand. You couldn’t believe she had never seen your feelings for her. For you, it felt so obvious but hearing her confessing first was a relief for you because you would have never told to the perfect girl she was that you were in love with her first, afraid of her reaction.

“What if....” you started. “What If I tell you that I don’t want you to be my friend anymore?”

She opened her eyes and looked at you with her intense feline gaze. 

“But my girlfriend ?” you shyly asked. 

She opened her mouth trying to answer but nothing came out. You could see her confusion on her face and she frowned.

“You never saw that I was in love with you too.” you said, blushing even more in front of her silence. “But if you don’t want to be my girlfriend It’s okay I...”

She gently put her index on your lips to stop your words and gave you the softest smile you’ve ever seen, her eyes shining with happiness.

“I would be glad to be your girlfriend, Y/n” she replied, her amused yet loving gaze in yours.

Your eyes widened and your heart skipped, fireworks exploding in all of your body. Yeji could see how she made you feel at this moment and she couldn’t resist to give you an other kiss, softer this time but still meaningful before moving and lying next to you to cuddle with you as the new girlfriends you were.

[youllneverknowrac]

Oscar Diaz-So High

Leave a request

Side note:This is how it goes down at my job and yes the dentist can tell! Only if it was done with force!

@slightlynumb

~

“Y/N Y/LN!” You hear your name being called as you sit in the small waiting room nervously, Oscar at your side holding your hand.

“Come on nena.” Oscar says softly and pulls you to stand up with him. You look at him with wide eyes and don’t reply as you follow the nurse to the pre-op area. They take your height, weight, and blood pressure and ask you one million questions, just like they did a week ago at your dental exam. The nurse pulls the curtain so she she can go put in all the information, letting you know that it won’t be too long before you’re getting your iv and heading to the OR.

The reason you were here was because you were absolutely terrified of going to the standard dentist, you could not sit still and let them remove all four wisdom teeth while being awake, so they referred you to this surgery center where they put you completely asleep for the procedure. The only problem being that your insurance didn’t want to cover it so Oscar had to pay 3 grand out of his own pocket. You wanted to tell him no and not come, but Oscar basically forced you to come to the exam after seeing how much pain you were in.

“I don’t want to Oscar.” You say as you sit in the chair next to him,”I’m fine really, please let’s just go home.” You plead, looking over to the hospital bed that was a few feet away from you.

“Y/N you can’t even eat bread.” Oscar sighs,”It’s a quick procedure mami, a hour tops. Don’t get yourself worked up. I’m going to be right there when you wake up.”

“If I wake up.” You groan and wipe your face tiredly.

“Don’t say that, you’re going to wake up.” Oscar reprimands,”This is going to make you feel better. You will be glad you did it.”

“You’ve never had to remove yours so I can’t really trust your advise, no offense.” You tell him and rest your head on his shoulder.

“It’s a fact that this will help you eat again without crying every two seconds.” He says and places a kiss to the top of your head,”Just be calm and have good thoughts mami.” Oscar soothes, the nurse opening up the curtain and asking you to sit on the bed so she can do your iv. You slowly pull away from your human comfort source and move to the bed. You hold your arm out and let the nurse tie the band around it, finding a vein with ease and grabbing the iv. You look away not wanting to see the rest, grimacing when you feel the needle go in.

“All done.” She says hooking all the tubing that would be needed to the actual iv. Watching as she hangs a fluid bag on your bed,”Let me go make sure they’re ready for you and then I’ll roll you back.” She smiles

“Okay.” You nod and take a deep breath, Oscar standing up and pushing some hair out of your face.

“You okay?” He asks, giving you another peck, this time on your forehead.

“Yeah, it. hurt a little, but it’s okay.” You tell him as you play with the hospital bracelet on your arm.

“Que chica tan fuerte.” (What a strong girl)Oscar pokes fun.

“You’re suppose to be nice to me today.” You pout

“You’re right, you’re right.” He chuckles and leans down to give you a quick kiss,”I’m sorry.” He mumbles against them before pulling away.

“It’s okay, you’re gonna be buying me all the ice cream I want later so it makes up for it.” You say with a small smile, leaning your head back and trying to relax.

“Yeah, I figured you were going to milk this shit out of this.”

“Hey you’re the one that forced me to come.” You tell him just as the nurse comes back and tells you it’s go time. She instructs Oscar to go wait in the waiting room again, letting him tell you bye before she’s pulling you down a hall and through these big double doors and into a room that’s reads OR 1. She connects three little patches on your chest, hooking that up to the machine, along with a blood pressure cuff on your arm and a pulse ox on your finger. Soon a few other workers join her-the anesthesiologist, the dentist, and a dental assistant.

“Big breaths.” The old man says after giving you a quick briefing of what he was going to do, and what would happen in the next thirty seconds or so. You do as he says, your eyes growing heavy as you breath in the gas. Surely enough your world becoming black as you get knocked out.

~

You feel someone messing with your arm and calling your name. But it’s like you couldn’t fully wake up yet. You try to pull away to stop whatever was going on but you had no force...and this strange urge to cough. Which is exactly what you felt your self doing before something is being pulled out of your mouth(oral airway). Your eyes flutter open and your instantly blinded by the light, also taking notice of the new location and nurse that was at your bedside. Everything just seemed so...slow. Like if you were high off your ass already and then decided to smoke three more joints.

“My throat hurts.” You say, craving some cold water. You’re mouth also feeling stuffed.

“It’s going to hurt baby, you had a long tube down it.” The older lady says as she grabs something near your head,”Let me clean your face off and try not to talk to much. You still have gauze in your mouth.” She instructs

“Sorry, oh my bad. Sorry.” You giggle, the nurse shaking her head but a smile still on her face as she uses a wipe on your face.

“No talking.” She says and waves a finger in front of your face playfully,”I’m going to take you iv out now. Then I’ll call for your family.”

You nod your head in understanding and hold your arm out like earlier. She does it quickly and bandages it up before walking away, the curtain slightly open so you could make out a few other workers. It doesn’t take long before Oscar is at your side and looking over you, the nurse as well.

“How you feel mamita?” Oscar asks.

“I can’t talk, so I can’t tell you that.” You say, your voice kind of muffled from how much gauze was in it. Oscar laughs and takes your hand as the nurse grabs his attention. She goes over a list of instructions and what to expect for the next few days, having Oscar sign your release forms and a bit of other medical stuff. Oscar takes the copy’s along with a prescription for pain medication and antibiotics. They help you in a wheel chair and bring you downstairs, your legs feeling funny as you try to get in the car.

“Woah, I feel like gelatin.” You laugh as Oscar reaches out to help you.

“I got her.” Oscar tells the lady as he places you into the car with ease.

“Gauze comes out when you get home! Call us if you have any more questions.” The nurse says as she pushes the wheel chair away.

“Wait! How long did y’all say this last again?” Oscar asks, slamming the car door shut.

“She should be back to her normal self in the next hour or two.” She answers quickly

“Fuck.” He mumbles to himself,”Thank you.” He says and walks around to get into the drivers seat.

“Blood is on my shirt.” You say as you look down at your clothes, a few drops of blood on your chest,”What.the.fuck. They got blood on my shirt papi.”

“Y/N, you can’t talk. That shits going to fall out of your mouth.” Oscar reminds as he starts the car up,”Also you had four teeth removed, there is going to be blood.”

“Right quiet. Shhhh.” You say and look over at him,”Are you forgetting something?”

“Quit talking!” He groans and looks over at you,”What am I forgetting?”

You give him a pointed look and pat your chest,”Um my seatbelt, do you want me to die. My arms are like not attached to me so I can’t do it.” You laugh and let your head roll back slowly.

Oscar takes a deep breath and reaches over to put on your seatbelt,”Not another word.” He says more sternly before beginning to drive. That only last about seven minutes before you remember something.

“Hey, give me my phone.” You say and hold your hand out.

“Shhh.” Oscar says and reaches into his pocket with his free hand and gives it to you. You try to unlock it but everything was blurry and the numbers didn’t look like numbers.

“I��m confused.” You say and toss it to the back seat in annoyance.

“The fuck, you’re going to break it.” Oscar says, not being able to hide his laugh,”You need to calm down mami.”

“No talking.” You say smartly, the gauze moving from the sides of your mouth and on to your tongue,”Ew!” You say and spit them out, letting the bloody covered squares fall into your lap,”Oscar get it off of me!” You say in disgust.

“My god.” He groans as he glances back and forth between you and the road. He reaches over and pulls out a few napkins from the glove compartment and picks the gauze out of your lap and tosses it all out the window,”I told you to stop talking.”

“I know you did not just litter.” You gasp and swat his arm,”Oscar we love the earth.”

“Okay well where the fuck else was that shit going to go?” He asks as he pulls into the drive through pharmacy to grab your items.

“I don’t know...but what I do know is that I want ice cream after this.”

“We’re getting ice cream after, but be quiet so I can talk to these people.” Oscar says as he pulls up to the window. You try to focus on the windshield and sitting still but you get bored a few minutes in.

“Hurry up.” You complain,”I want Ice cream now.”

“Nena, just a few more minutes.” Oscar says and takes your hand, placing a kiss on the back of it as the two of you wait for the pharmacist to return with your items.

“Thanks.” Oscar says as he takes the bag from them and places it in between the two of you before driving again.

You pull down the mirror wanting to look at yourself and your eyes go wide,”I look so ugly.” You cry, your eyes feeling up with tears,”My cheeks are so fat. Am I gonna look like this forever?”

“Your face is swollen nena. It’ll go down.” Oscar reassures.

“I look like a chipmunk.” You sob

“Nena you’re the cutest chipmunk around.” He laughs and shuts the mirror back up.

“You mean it?” You ask

“One hundred percent.”

“Well I guess that’s good.” You smile, your mood instantly changing. Oscar doesn’t reply as you turn the radio on, a old school rap playing,”Ice cream?”

“Yes, I’m going to get some right now.” He laughs.

“I want strawberry.” You say excitedly

“I knew that already. That’s all you ever get.”

“Cause it’s the best flavor.” You defend,”It’s like sweet but not to sweet and you can mix it with stuff if you want too. But you shouldn’t even want to because it’s so perfect on its own. Don’t you agree?”

“Nah we gonna disagree on that one.” Oscar shakes his head,”Cookie dough is where it’s at. No competition.”

“Wrong. So wrong.” You tell him

“Whatever you say.”

“Just drive Oscar. I can’t believe you could even say something so far from the truth. Strawberry will always be number one. I love it so much I should get it tattooed on me. Like on my neck...or maybe my forehead. Yes! That’s such a good idea.”

“I would love to see you do that.”

“Fine. I will. Call your homie up and have him come to the house.” You say nonchalantly

“I’ll call him later smart ass..” He laughs

“Better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass...I mean it though I’m going to do it. A big ol pink ice cream.”

“On some real shit, I need whatever the fuck they got you on.”

“Um general anesthesia? Did you not listen to them when they explained it?”

“Well I need some of that...you think there’s a market for that?”

“Um I don’t think so...it’s too medical and involves all this other shit.” You giggle

“Well shit. Just gotta stick to what I know.” Oscar smirks

“Duh.” You smile and tap your forehead knowingly,”Can I ask you a question?”

“Anything.”

“Do you think the dentist could tell that last night...I you know...” you say, pointing to his lower body and then to your mouth.

“Shit, I don’t know. You think he seen my dick print in the back of your throat?” Oscar laughs loudly

“Oh my god, probably. They’re all gonna talk about me. Or they were while I was knocked out.” You groan

“I don’t think they can really tell mami. I mean I wouldn’t think so and if they did who cares.” He shrugs

“I mean I care, kind of.”

“Not like your ever gonna see them again.” He says and pulls into the different drive through lane to buy you your treat,”You want all strawberry? Ima get a few cups to take home so you can eat later.”

“One vanilla mixed in with strawberry. I like to add a little razzle dazzle every now and then.”

“Of course you do.” Oscar says with a shake of his head pulling up to the voice box to order. Hoping this drug can wear off sooner rather than later.

~

“Cesar and his little crew are here!” You say excitedly as Oscar parks in the drive, a now empty ice cream cup in your hand. You toss it at him before trying to run out of the car, nearly tripling the whole way to the outside couch.

“Hi!” You squeal and wrap your arms around the younger Diaz brother tightly, making your way down the line. However when you get to Ruby he holds on for a little longer.

“Did you just sniff me?” You laugh, eyeing as Oscar grabs the stuff from the car and heads in, his clean white shirt now stained with droplets of pink ice cream.

“No!” The tiny boy says, his eyes going wide before he sits back down on the couch. The rest of the group laughing.

“Did I smell good?”

“Yes.” He mumbles quietly, keeping his head down.

“Good.” You say and wave at them before making your way inside, humming to yourself. The drug not as strong as it was earlier, but still feeling a little doozy.

“Ohhh, strip show.” You say as you find Oscar in the bedroom changing into a clean shirt.”

“It’s your fault. You threw that ice cream on me.” Oscar says giving you a glare.

“I was just excited to see Cesar.” You say and walk up to him, with puckered lips.

“Hell nah, get away from me with your bloody ass mouth.” Oscar says and gives your forehead a light push as he laughs.

“I thought you loved me.” You say in shock as you hurry to the attached bathroom to look inside your mouth,”Gross.” You say and lean down to cup some water in your hand. Sipping it into your mouth and gargling it.

“You’re never going to kiss me again?” You ask softly when you come back out, walking past him as you throw yourself down on the bed face first.

“I will. Tomorrow.” Oscar says and comes over to take your shoes off,”You need some sleep right now though. A long nap will do you good. Go get under the covers.”

You mutter something incoherent, scooting yourself up like a worm and bringing the blanket over your body,”Lay down with me.”

“I will, but let me go get your medicine so you can take it already.”

You sigh and wait for him to comeback, a small headache forming and the numbness from your mouth beginning to wear off. Oscar returns shortly with a glass of water and two pills,”Open.” He says as you sit up, sticking you tongue out as you do what he asks. He places the medicine on your tongue and holds the glass up to your mouth,”Drink.” You listen and let him hold the cup for you as you down more than half of it.

“Okay, sleep now.” You say after swallowing, patting the empty space next to you.

Oscar nod and sets water down on the night table, pulling off his belt and cargo shorts.

“Your socks are so high, leave them on. They make your thighs look amazing.” You joke, Oscar rolling his eyes as he tugs them down.

“Ima let you talk your shit for today...but tomorrow I’m coming full force mami.” He smirks before climbing in behind you.

“Shut up and hold me.” You say and snuggle into him,”Thank you for going with me today.” You add after a few moments

“I had no choice, I couldn’t let you go by yourself.” Oscar says as he wraps himself around you.

“Yeah but still, thanks. I couldn’t have done it with out you.”

“You’re welcome. Now shut those pretty little eyes of yours.” He says as he pushes some hair off of your face,”I’ll make you some soup later for when you wake up.”

“You’re the best.” You sigh and let your eyes close,”love you.”

“I love you too.” He says, the last thing you hear before your falling asleep for the second time that day.

[stonecoldjerseyfox]

Jersey on my mind (part 32)

From the front door of the building to the elevator there were fifteen steps. Fifteen steps that passed a counter and an orienteering board over the more than ten floor Brooklyn building. 

Just as every morning, Mila counted the steps. It had become a habit, just as she, before entering the elevator, began to unbutton her jacket. Inside the elevator she let out a lioness-que yawn as she parked herself against the back wall. Thankfully it had been a calm morning. Jim was already gone when her alarm yelled at her to ‘get her ass out of the bed’. Juri was already awake and parked in front of the tv, watching Clifford the Big Red Dog in his pajamas, which meant that Mila could take a shower before preparing his breakfast. While Juri ate his oatmeal with honey under a blanket on the couch, eyes glued to the tv screen and the happy, big red monster dog, Mila got dressed. Forty-five minutes later she dropped Juri at daycare, kissed him on the cheek and hurried off to work.  

The elevator stops with a soft thud and she steps out on the ninth floor and heads for the glass doors to the clinic. She’s let in by the receptionists and is welcomed by the constant scent of fresh cut flowers on the reception desk.

”Good morning, Saif. Morning Vanessa.” Mila greets the always happy receptionist couple, lovebirds in real life, behind the counter as she passes through the empty reception. 

The dressing room is empty when she enters. Mila removes her workwear, the slightly fancier than nurses-scrubs in a sophisticated shade of grey, from her locker. She leaves the white coat on its hook (it’s way too formal) and drops the bright pink Adidas trainers on the floor with a thud before starting to undress. They switch between the grey scrubs and plain white every other week; head dentist and dental practice owner Said Kadeem thought it would be a ‘edgy, yet fun way to brand themselves as a fun clinic’. In reality he just couldn’t decide which color he thought looked best. It’s the same with his morning-, lunch- and afternoon coffee; with or without milk? He can stand in front of the machine for hours it seems, with his forehead wrinkled together in concentration to make his mind up. 

I’d die for a cup of plain, as black as fucking possible-coffee right now, Mila thinks as she pulls the grey pants over her hot pink thongs, reminding herself to do the laundry when she gets home. Putting milk into a cup of coffee is a crime if anything. She steps into the trainers and pulls the top over her head. She gives herself a last look in the mirror and adjusts her ponytail, before leaving the changing room, entering the break room. It’s not a luxurious clinic; no celebrity clients wearing bigger than their face-sunglasses or heavy politicians with a tail of bodyguards, but it’s one of the best private dental clinics in the area, which makes the staff spaces and benefits really generous. 

Gotta get some luxury treatment for making it through university with a toddler at home, Mila thinks to herself and steers toward the coffee machine. She greets her colleagues, who are already parked at the table with coffee mugs in front of them, everybody except Lauryn, who’s entire face is hidden behind a huge Starbucks blonde vanilla latte with extra vanilla and coffee plus caramel.

”Rough night?” Mila asks. 

”Never turn thirty.” Lauryn Cassidy groans and puts down the ginormous drink on the table. The bags under her eyes scream ’we need to rest you fucker’. ”Why am I even here today?”

”You’re thirty and responsible.” Kristian Shaffer responds. ”I’m impressed.”

Lauryn groans again.

”I liked myself better two days ago, when I was twenty-nine and carefree.” 

”Remind me to take the day off after my thirtieth birthday then.” Sarah Preston says and pours a pack of raw brown sugar into her coffee mug. 

”Gosh, I’m glad I’ve been there, done that.” Riley Palmer sighs and leans back into his chair. He puts his hands behind his head and flexes his biceps. ”Trust me, thirty is the new twenty.”

”My god such bullcrap!” sterile nurse Ava Cooper rolls her eyes at Riley’s remark. ”It’s almost as bad as that ugly ’carpe diem’ tattoo.”

”What?” Riley looks at Ava, then at his biceps, where ’carpe diem’ is imprinted on his skin with black ink, in a barely readable font. ”What’s wrong with that? It’s inspiring. Like, a mental note that-”

”Ey, we know what it means.” Mila interrupts him. ”And it’s ugly.”

Riley doesn’t get a chance to reply. Kadeem enters the room and a glued-on, convivial atmosphere settles across the table in the blink of an eye. It’s for the best not to quarrel in front of the boss. 

”Preston-” Kadeem announces and points with his whole arm at Sarah. “Hallie Reynolds called and cancelled Phillips’ appointment this afternoon.” 

”Is Phillip the one with the ears?” Lauryn looks at Aaisha to get answers, but the angelic Aaisha only bursts into a muffled giggle.

”No, that’s Lennox. You know, Dumbo.”

”Christ sake, Riley, stop giving my patients names.” Sarah gives Riley the evil eye and slaps him on his upper arm.

”Sergeyevna, you’re on your own this morning, I need to borrow Aaisha for some drilling.”

Mila and Aaisha look at each other. Kadeem loves his job, but most of all he loves a good drilling. Well, there goes that calm morning; making eye contact over the patients, joking around, singing along to the radio and Aaisha’s regular 11 am stretch, combined with: ”I’m gonna go down to the juice bar, you want anything?”

”Fine.” Mila replies to her superior in white. 

”And please, tone down that bluntness today, will you?” Kadeem pleats. ”We can’t have more body builders leaving the clinic crying. Everyone is bad at dental health and everybody knows it, you don’t have to tell them.”

”I thought that was my job?” 

”Our job is to dig around their mouths, smile and tell them to floss properly. And charge for doing so.” Kadeem turns to the coffee machine, which is the start of his first, dreadful choice of the day; milk, or no milk. ”Frankly, I don’t know how you seem to get them to come back every 6 months.”

”Witchcraft.” 

”Really?” Kristian puts his head to his side and grins at her. ”Thought it was your radiant, bubbly personality?”

“Nope, that’s Cooper and Cassidy.” Kadeem says, without taking his eyes off the coffee machine. “Sergeyevna is like me. It’s in our culture.”

Yeah, the much well known, yet tremendously rare Moscow-Russian and Shiraz-Iranian-culture. Mila smiles a little. As soon as it became clear to Kadeem during her first interview that she was a relatively fresh immigrant, he became overjoyed and felt an almost unreasonable bond with her. Sure, they are both honest and forthright, but that’s more likely a personal trait. Otherwise they are like night and day. But she likes him, he’s a good boss. And his wife makes a hell of a baklava, not to speak of the kletcha.

As the clock strikes nine they simultaneously leave the break room and heads for their offices and treatment rooms. Mila turns on the lights, cranks up the radio and looks out of the window with her cup of coffee steadily in her hand. Another workday. She puts the mug down at the counter as she hears steps approaching. In the next moment, Vanessa appears in the door, followed by her first patient of the morning, Mr. Hardin.

“Mr. Hardin, nice to see you again.” Mila gives her patient a bright smile and takes his hand, gives it a firm shake. “How are you doing?” 

She makes a gesture to offer him to sit down in the actually quite comfy dentist chair. She has taken quite a few naps in them after her lunch break since she started working at the clinic.

“Same old, same old.” The man with thinning hair sits down and shrugs at her. “At least I got the health.”

“I’m glad to hear.” Mila replies. “How’s Irene? Must be busy times now?” 

“Yeah she’s got her ass full- sorry.”

“No worries. I bet.” Mila takes a seat in her rolling, saddle chair and rolls up to the computer, where she starts to fill in the patient file. ’Hardin, Mark. Regular checkup. Tartar removal’. Same old, same old. “So, just a checkup today.”

“Correct.” mr. Hardin says. ”How’s the kid? Juri, wasn’t it?”

“Yup, indeed.” Mila replies as she takes two pale blue rubber gloves from its box. “He’s doing well.”

“Is he walking yet?”

”More like running.” Mila focuses on the framed photography on the wall, picturing a tropical beach with clear blue turquoise water. Holy crap, he’s growing up so fast, she thinks as she pulls the gloves over her hands. “He’s been on the run for awhile now. Just as I was apparently.” 

“They grow fast.” Mr. Hardin shakes his head, as if he can’t believe the basic biology of humans, and leans back in the chair. “But you’re young and healthy. That’s good. This virus, huh?”

“Yeah it’s really strange- Scoot, please.” Mila instructs her patient before continuing to check the tray on her cart, making sure all of her tools are in place. “Great.”

“Both New York Presbyterian and Mount Sinai West are soon overrun. I mean, if that doesn’t sound serious I don’t know what does. Irene’s working double shifts at Langone here in Brooklyn and they still seem to get more and more deaths each day. I think the death toll was, about 70 yesterday, and that’s just Langone. Must be like, 300 in New York alone.”

“Mhm, it’s horrible.” Mila replies monotonously, while scrolling through the x-ray of Mr. Hardin’s lower row of teeth from his appointment the year prior. She’s been trying her best to live life as normal as possible despite the deadly virus. Life has to continue, somehow. “Do you have any issues with sensitivity? Pain?”

“No, just tartar. Like, a lot. Irene found these small pieces in the sink-“

“We’ll fix that today.” Mila says quickly and gives her patient a radiant smile. She doesn’t need, or want, to hear what poor Irene Hardin found in the sink. She’s got a pretty good clue. “You’ve quit smoking yet?”

She turns and looks at Mr. Hardin, who’s shoulder goes up to his ears. He transforms from his regular, very accountant-self (because that’s what he is) to an ashamed puppy in the clinical chair. Mila shakes her head at him, smacking with her tongue. Mila turns to the radio and increases the volume of Angus Young’s voice wailin “You’ve been thunderstruck” to the more than famous guitar tapping. 

”Ah. This is why I like going here.” Mr. Hardin says with a smile and points at the radio. ”I listen to NYC Rock in the car, every day.”

“Okay mr. Hardin, let’s rock and roll.” Mila pulls the sterile face mask over her nose. It smells clinical and plastic. She grabs the probe and the mirror and smiles with her eyes at mr. Hardin from underneath the mask. 

She starts to work. It’s a regular day. Not too hot, not too cold. The sun is shining into the office and Angus Young continues to blast out that they’ve been struck by thunder, about a billion times. The only thing that looks like its’ been struck by something is her patient's teeth. What on god’s earth is he doing during the nights? Chewing bricks?

”Mr. Hardin, are you tense?” Mila asks. 

”Howch do choo do chiiit?!” Mr. Hardin manages to utter, with both wide eyes and wide open mouth. ”Schee, chish isch wchy I gcho cher! Ycho are likche a cheraphchist-”

Mila sighs and removes the tools from his mouth. 

”No, Mr. Hardin. You grind your teeth, bad. They look awful. Stop it or you won’t have teeth left.”

”Oh.” He replies and swallows, then bursts into a smile again. ”But you see, this is why I go to you and not that crappy Family smile clinic down in Brownsville, that Irene goes to. Honesty, blunt honesty. I like that.”

”Good to know.” Mila says and signs at him to open his mouth again, to let her continue working on that tartar. ”Not everybody does. I once made one of those body builder’s cry because I scolded him for not brushing his teeth right.” 

Yeah she was pretty hard on that poor guy, but honestly, his gums looked like minced meat. Mr. Hardin smiles as best as he can with his mouth wide open.

The next song is by The Hellacopters, which makes her smile once again underneath the mask. She saw them perform, one of their last appearances, with Darya a couple of years ago. But suddenly, in the middle of ”-hey boy, you understand. Say your prayers, or you'll be damned-” the song’s interrupted by the breaking news-jingle. 

”We’re interrupting with some disturbing news from downtown Manhattan, where chaos has erupted outside Mount Sinai’s hospital.” 

Mila pauses in a movement and glances at the radio. 

”Police have been called to the morgue where the-”newscaster seems to be groping for words, as if he himself does not believe what to say. “The dead seem to have woken up.”

It is only thanks to the slightly sticky gloves, which hug around the tools, that Mila doesn’t drop them in Mr. Hardin's mouth, at that proclamation.

”Police began firing shots as the bodies- patients, began to attack civilians and medical staff.”

Mila returns to the tartar, but she can’t focus entirely on Mr. Hardin’s hardcore tartar infestation, even though it’s an astonishing collection; if Aaisha hadn’t been asked to help Kadeem out, she’d been sitting on the opposite side of Mila, and her big brown eyes would have been bigger than usual by excitement. It’s surely a dentist thing only, being excited by tartar. Mila tries her best to stay focused, but her mind drifts off to the radio and the rise of the living dead, where the ’on the spot’-broadcaster now interviews a doctor from Mount Sinai. 

“-at least ten former patients, declared dead during the week, escaped the morgue and attacked people on the street. Dr. Berkowitz, head of ICU, can you explain what just happened?” 

”I don’t know.”

“Were the patients in a coma?”

“No.”

��Dr. Berkowitz, did you or any of your staff, by any chance, make a mistake?”

”No, as I said, they were deceased. Dead.”

”You’re sure?”

”Yes, ofcourse.”

Mr. Hardin makes a gesture with his hand and Mila removes the tools from his mouth. 

”Turn up the volume.” He says and rises on his elbows. 

Mila obeys, reaches for the radio and turns the volume wheel up a notch. 

“How do you explain the situation, then?” the interviewer asks, now louder than before. He sounds more and more irritated, or afraid, Mila can’t really know the difference. “Dead patients suddenly... awakes?”

“I can’t.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Berkowitz, we have to- We get disturbing breaking news from Weill Cornell Medical Center that- what!?” The interviewer exclaims, as if he can’t comprehend what he’s hearing from the third party in his ear. ”Okay, ehrm- we get news that a similar incident occurs right now at Weill Cornell. I repeat, Weill Cornell. Police have been dispatched to the spot and civilians on the street have taken shelter in nearby shops and restaurants. It’s been confirmed that eight- no, nine, people have been injured and a woman has deceased, by severe blood loss. I repeat, one woman is dead and lying in the street. According to eyewitnesses- Neil, you sure about that?” The interviewer asks. “Sorry. Eye witnesses claim that the woman, and I’m sorry about this, is being eaten by the deceased. If you’re in the neighborhood, do not go outside, I repeat; do not-”

Both Mila and Mr. Hardin stare at the radio under complete dead silence. The tools are frozen in her hands and her heart beats hard inside the grey scrubs. 

“I gotta-” Mr. Hardin swallows. “I- I need to call Irene.”

“Yeah..” Mila replies. A rush of sickness runs over her. Is the room suddenly swaying, or is she just, overwhelmed? Is this real? She casts a glance at Mr. Hardin, who climbs out of the leaned back chair, still with the pale blue plastic sheet around his neck. “Yeah, go ahead.”

He leaves the room. Mila hears him talk on his phone outside the door. Should she call someone? Her mind wanders to Juri and mama first. With trembling hands Mila picks up the phone from her pocket, unlocks it and goes into the messages. She changes the alphabet to cyrillic starts dictating a text message to mama. In order not to worry her beloved mama more than necessary, she simply writes: ‘Good morning mamochka. How are you today? Love you.’ 

She presses ‘send’ and then finds her way to the contacts, where she quickly finds ‘Jim’. Signals are heard. She spins in her chair, faces the window. He picks up the phone at the fourth dial. 

“Cricket.” Jim greets her. His warm, amazing smile is felt through the phone and instantly calms her soul. 

“Thank goodness.” Mila sighs and massages her forehead. “Hi.”

Jim chuckles on the other end. She can see him clearly in front of her. Black suit and white shirt. He’s just had a haircut and said bye bye to the ponytail. Tall, handsome beyond comparison. Probably with his tenth cup of coffee of the day in his hand. It’s a miracle he can keep his cool with that much caffeine in his system. 

“Hi.” He replies softly. “What a pleasant surprise. Does milady want to hire a personal security guard?”

She can’t help but smile like an idiot. 

“I can offer a very favorable package price.” Jim continues. “Annually. How about ... ten years? Initially.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about it.”

Through the phone, she can really picture how one of Jim’s eyebrows starts to go up, towards his forehead. Usually she plays along with his shenanigans and jokes, but she can’t. Not now. 

“You’re on speaker or something?” He asks. 

“No. No, sorry. I’m not.” Mila replies and sighs. “Have you heard?”

“Nope. Or, depends on what I’ve missed. What's the talk of the town?”

“You’re nearby a tv or a computer?”

“I’m in the office. Hold on.” Jim starts tapping on the computer. Mila hears the rustle of the buttons in the background. “Oh. That’s-” Jim pauses and reads. “All of them died of the virus?”

“Apparently.” 

“I’d say it was a mistake by the hospital, if not- but...” he pauses. “‘New York Times reports that it’s more than twenty patients. Could be more.’ What the-”

“What’s happening?” Mila asks, can’t conceal her feel of discomfort. 

“Dunno.” Jim says. “Hey, I can get off work by-” he pauses, as to looking at his watch. “I’ll pick Juri up earlier, in about two hours. I’m sure he’s fine but, just in case. We’ll fix dinner.”

What have I done to deserve this guy, Mila thinks inside her head. 

“I love you.”

“You love me for my incredible mashed potatoes.” Jim grins through the phone. “Love you Cricket. It’s gonna be fine.”

.

.

Taglist: @lonewolf471 @twdeadfanfic

[princecupcakee]

Park Bench | Reddie

Read on AO3

Rating: E

Pairing: Richie Tozier/Eddie Kaspbrak

Word Count: 3,320

Chapter: 3/8

Past Chapters: Chapter 1 (AO3), Chapter 2 (AO3)

Next Chapters: Chapter 4 (AO3)

Summary: Recently divorced and ‘incapable of love’, Eddie Kaspbrak moves to Los Angeles for work and a small, small hope of a fresh start. Broken up and never dated again, Richie Tozier tries to get back into love with help from his love of music. Quickly meeting eyes and one concert later, they think that maybe love isn’t that bad. So they try it one more time.

Chapter 3: Richie Tozier At The Movies, Eddie Kaspbrak With His Thoughts & Richie Tozier With His Guitar

Tags/Warnings: Angst / Unhappy Ending / theres only one sex scene but this is explicit anyway / Bisexual Richie Tozier / Gay Eddie Kaspbrak / Post-Divorce / Implied/Referenced Cheating / Inspired By Remembering Sunday (All Time Low) / Inspired by The Book Ninja by Ali Berg / Implied/Referenced Child Abuse / Implied/Referenced Abuse / Implied/Referenced Manipulation

Tag-list: @richietoaster​ , @s-s-georgie​ , @mikeuris​ , @gazebobullshit​ , @that-weird-girls-blog​ , @tozierking​ , @thoughtfullyyoungduck​ , @s-onora​ , @bellarosewrites​ , @lermanslogan​ , @ambitiousskychild​ , @ghostnebula​ , @vanillaredvelvet​ ,

(Ask if you wanna be on the tag-list!!)

Chapter 3

Richie Tozier At The Movies

After bringing Eddie home that morning he set out for his next vinyl-date (the name was a work in progress) before going to his sister’s house. He tried to have his head in it, he did, but all throughout the car ride, he couldn’t think straight. He wondered how Eddie was, what he was doing on his day off. He couldn't think of anything even when he had already gotten there. He needed to focus, he wanted to, but he couldn’t stop his head from floating into the clouds.

So when he walked into the movie theatre, he knew he should’ve just stayed home. Alex looked amazing and Richie knew that, but that didn’t really help. They’d picked a new action movie that was heard to have a song from the record in its soundtrack. By that time, he had dropped over 30 records on the local subway, have gotten multiple emails from music lovers like himself, and gone on quite a few dates already. A few memorable ones were Will, a man from Hawkins getting over a lost love, had talked a little too much about said lost love. The two decided to stay as friends. After that was a date with Theo, a New Yorker in search of a painting and person. Similar to Will, in search of his lost love, they’ve decided to stay friends as well. Now, Alex, a writer from New York City who moved to LA two years ago in search of new love, had messaged him after he dropped, ‘Appetite For Destruction.’

“Hi! Richie, yeah?” Alex smiled at him, holding a bowl of popcorn and two drinks. Richie nodded as politely as he could as he thought, ‘why doesn’t Eddie have the same accent?’ “Cool,” Alex hummed, “lets go?” “Sure.”

Richie was glad they went to the movies. It was dark and loud, and your excuse to not pay attention to your date is staring intensely at the screen to look like your focused on it. So, for ninety long minutes, he plotted about the easiest ways to get out of this date. ‘I have a dentist’s appointment’ sounded a bit too rude and overdone to him, ‘I have to take care of my niece and nephew’ was true, but sounded pretty useless. From the 90 minutes, he was able to think up nothing. 

“That was a nice movie,” Alex began, smiling at Richie. “Yeah, it really was,” Richie smiled, “but, uh, see, I gotta run." “sure,” Alex waved, slightly annoyed. Richie turned around didn’t look back.

Richie sat in the backseat of his car, staring at its ceiling. He started this to find love, to move on from what happened with Connor, and breathe. But now its seems like a waste of time to him. He can’t even focus on a date without just leaving to sit around in his car. And for what reason? He didn’t even know. He’s getting all of the chances that he didn't get but he’s just throwing them away. He’s just leaving and wasting. Maybe he just doesn’t get that chance. Maybe he just shouldn’t.

He checks his phone for the time and squishes to the front of the car. He didn’t need the stereo, he needs something going for him, no matter how deafening. Drumming a steady beat on to the steering wheel, “Robert’s got a quick hand.” Finishing the first verse, he turns his keys and drives out of the space. “All the other kids with the pumped up kicks,” he swayed his head side to side slightly driving over to Annie’s house.

Eddie Kaspbrak With His Thoughts

Eddie laid down on his bed checking the large, fancy clock hanging above his head, 2:30 PM. After the magnificent sunrise he witnessed with one, handsome, charming, funny, surprisingly smart Richie Tozier, he went home. Richie winked and said ‘wait’ after he brought Eddie back, and of course, that sent the shorter of the two in a bit of a craze.

He’d never felt this. Honestly, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to. It was strong and wouldn’t let him breathe and made his heart explode. When he laughed, when he sang, when he smiled, Eddie couldn’t keep his mind off Richie. It wasn’t like this with Myra. How could it have been? She was there, to keep him alive, not let him live. ~ “Eddie-bear, have you taken your pills yet? You know, you’re mother called me last week, reminding me that you have a seafood allergy, why did you never tell me about that? I’m your wife, Eddie. I’m supposed to know these things about you! What if you ate something that made you sick? I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, Eddie! Do you want that? Do you want me to be in pain?” ~ But with Richie everything seemed, brighter. He never said anything Myra did, he never forced Eddie to do something he never wanted to do, he never put words into Eddie’s mouth. ‘It’s clearly too early though, I mean four days? Can you fall in love in four days?’ Eddie dropped his urge to Google that, not wanting to get up (or be disappointed if no, you couldn’t fall in love in four days.) He was never strong. Physically, emotionally, he had always lost. He was never brave. He was the one that sat on the sidelines, afraid to see what’ll happen. Afraid to listen to what he wants. Was that because of his mother, or Myra, or him? He never really wanted to find out.

Sonia was controlling, she watched Eddie’s every move, didn’t let him do anything. Sonia introduced the two, and Eddie thought he had to fall in love. When Eddie married Myra, he thought that maybe he would be slightly freer. He was very visibly wrong. She wasn’t any different from his mother. After 15 years of being married, he realized hoe abusive his mother was, how he didn’t want that marriage anymore, and how more appealing men are to women. He told Myra the night he filed their divorce, all she did was leave the room. She left the room to call his mother. ~ “Don’t you just love her, Eddie? She’s smart, she’s kind, she’s responsible, and she knows how to take care of you! You were such a mischievous child back then, when you played with that stuttering friend of yours, he was such a bad influence on you. Isn’t he… queer? I can’t even say the word. Disgusting. You shouldn’t have been friends with him, Eddie. Are you still friends with him? You must get him out of your life immediately, Eddie! I don’t want my Eddie-bear being like him.” ~ But what if he was in love? What if he was in love with a man? A man he’d only known for four days? Eddie sighed, fighting back tears. He didn’t need this. He shouldn’t be doing this.

He walked out of his room, feeling as if he can’t breathe there. But this is Los Angeles. This isn’t home. He walked down the long hallways heading down the stairs back to the library. Why had he come here? He didn’t know either or, he did, just didn’t want to say it. Eddie took a vinyl from the bottom of the shelf, ‘Never Trust A Happy Song’ in a small font above ‘Grouplove.’ He didn’t know any songs on it, but he figured anything would be better than being trapped in silence with his own memories.

He tried to mimic Richie’s moves from before, failing quite a few times. He winced at the loud sound of what seemed to be the end of a song. ‘Take me to your best friend's house, roll around this roundabout, oh yeah,’ played in the- Eddie really needed to Google what that thing was, ‘can you fall in love in four days?’ Rang in his head once again, forcing him to put his phone down and take a seat in the large chair before him.

He wondered what Richie was doing, why’d he had asked him to ‘wait’ and then leave. He wondered if maybe Richie had fallen in love before. If maybe Richie felt how he did. He wasn’t supposed to, that was sure, but he wanted to. He wanted to know the feeling of loving and being loved, maybe he had, maybe Myra was the feeling of loving and being loved. Or maybe it was Richie. Eddie wouldn’t know. He had hoped it would be Richie though. That made him smile, nothing like what he had gone through with Myra.

But it was also his fault. It may have done him good but it was still wrong. He may have needed it but that still wasn’t acceptable. He did do it. He wasn’t being responsible, he wasn’t being right. He did owe Myra something for what he did. He could’ve done it simpler, and not ruin his marriage in the most unnecessary way there was. He had to go to that bar, that night. ‘Somethings are too good to pass’ he tried to make a good excuse, but he knew it wouldn’t have worked. He was right.

But he didn’t owe Myra his life or his heart, he owed her an apology, a divorce, and something that would have been better for both of them. And what was better for both of them was leaving. It wasn’t exactly leaving New York, it was just leaving, no longer in each other’s lives and forget. Forgetting has always been much easier than actually facing your problems. Forgetting left things there, not having to see them anymore and not thinking. Forgetting meant, even for a little while, nothing can be any worse.

‘Don’t take me tongue tied, don’t wave no goodbye,’ He’d never heard this song before, but something about it made him feel like he did. Maybe, if he tried hard enough, something about it would make him feel like he knew himself, too.

Richie Tozier With His Guitar

He rang the doorbell, running to the side of the porch to not be seen. He crouched below the window and as if on cue, a little girl pushed the curtains away and looked out the window. “I know thats, you Richie!” A little girl said, opening her front door. “Aw, how’d you know that Maddie?” He said, ruffling her hair. “Mommy said you were coming,” she said putting her hands on her hips. “Just you and Walter today?” “Yup!” “Alright, go get your brother, I’ll be in the living room. Your mom’s gonna be calling any second now,” he said as he watched Maddison walk up the stairs and call her brother.

Richie walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch, moving the guitar from his back to the floor. Just as he predicted, his sister rang the phone, “I’m already here Annie. They’re getting their guitars, we’re playing stuff today.” “Thanks, Rich. I owe you,” she sighed gratefully over the phone. “No problem. I missed these goblins anyway.” “Okay, thank you so much, I have to go. Mom’s gonna be there soon. Oh and tell Walter to help Maddie with her painting, she gets really unhappy when he doesn’t and-“ “I know this already, go.” “Thank you, Richie.” “Your my sister, its my job,” Richie laughed and put the phone down.

“We’re here!” Maddison smiled, brother in tow. “Hi uncle Richie,” Walter said softly, sitting by Richie’s feet with knees against his chest.

He was two years older than Maddison, the same age gap him and Annica had. Maddie was five while Walter was seven. The two were fairly opposite, Walter preferring to keep to himself while Maddie was outgoing and social. Outside of her sister, he raised them. Annie was a good mother, but being a single one, she didn’t have it any easy either. Her husband died less than three years ago from an accident. Thats why he came over more and took care of her kids more. It didn’t help that the whole problem with Connor rose in the time of this and him having a responsibility to not fuck up kids left him out of it for a while. Until he was just angry, he never took it out on anyone, that he made sure of, but he was just angry at love. Maddie and Walter were a help though, it made him forget. Forgetting is much easier than confronting, its like painting over graffiti like it was never there.

“What are we playing today?” Maddie asked, leaning her head to the side exaggeratedly. “What’s a song you guys want?” Richie asked looking back and forth between the two. Walter stood up, walking to the small shelf that sat by the TV. He walked back with a cassette tape in hand. A paper was stuck on to the tape, and in small letters and font, ‘Tongue Tied - Grouplove’ written on it. Richie smiled kindly at him, “How do you know this song?” He simply shrugged and urged him to take the tape. “Lets play it then,” Richie nodded while picking up his guitar. Walter held breath to say something, Richie having to give him permission before he did. “I already know the beginning. C-could you teach me the middle?” “Which part?” “After the second chorus.” “Sure. Anyone wanna sing?” “Can I sing with you? Like, you're gonna sing and I’m gonna sing too, both of us sing!” Maddie said excitedly with big hand gestures (Richie wondered if part of that was his doing. He assumed that it probably was.) Richie nodded, “one two three four,” G. “Don’t take me tongue tied,” G. Then, C. “let’s stay up all night,” He sang with Maddie. “I'll get real high.” Richie sang as Maddie shook her head. Despite Richie’s smile, a dark room, broken glass, smoke, tears, screaming, flood his head. ‘Fuck! Can’t I do anything right?’ He cried that night. “Slumber party, pillow fight,” The two sung in harmony again, “My eyes and your eyes, Like Peter Pan up in the sky,” Maddie sang bringing her hand up above her head to mimic Peter Pan flying. Walter and Richie laughed. “My best friend's house tonight,” Richie sang. ‘Stan? You there? Look, I-I need a place to stay. I’ll tell you about it when I’m there. Yeah… yeah, Th-thanks.’ “Let's bump the beats till beddy-bye,” Richie smiled, despite fighting back tears. ‘Connor. Connor. Connor.’ He thought. “Don’t take me tongue tied,” Richie sang. ‘Eddie. Eddie. Eddie.’ He thought, the tears behind his eyes, drying away, “Don't wave no goodbye.”

By the time they had sung three songs, Maggie and Wentworth were already at the door. He said his goodbyes and walked back to his car. Hearing the first song back again in his head, his breathing sped. He threw his head back and whispered to himself, “Breathe, Richie. breathe.” He thought about how uncomfortable and disgusted Connor looked when he got down on one knee. He remembered how Connor screamed at him, how Connor mocked him for thinking that he actually loved Richie the way Richie did for him. ‘Please.’ ~ “What? What the fuck?” Richie thought he was just surprised. “Dude, gross. I wouldn’t marry a man. That’s fucking gross. Look, man. I have a girlfriend, we aren’t fucking together. Thats so fucking weird.” “but I- I thought-“ “Thought what? That we were together? Fucking gross. Get out.” ~ Richie turned on his stereo. Anything is better than this. He didn’t need to cry, he didn’t need to listen to whatever the fuck was going on in his head. He doesn’t need to stay, he can leave.’ Please, don't let me down,’ the radio played loudly. Richie thought it was weird, songs like these weren’t on the radio, but he sang along anyway. “Please, don't let me down, You better come around,” he softly sang against the loud radio. He never liked his voice much. He used it for comedy, for words he didn’t want to say. He didn’t know how to describe it, but he felt as if he just shouldn’t sing, he sounded better doing impressions anyway. Although some people like it, like Walter and Maddie, he wondered if Eddie liked it too. “You save yourself, I'll save myself each time around,” he sang louder, trying to catch what his voice sounded like. ~ “Stan? You there? Look, I-I need a place to stay. I’ll tell you about it when I’m there.” “You can always stay here Richie. Don’t worry,” Stan sounded like he already knew. Richie guessed everybody saw it coming. “Yeah… yeah, Th-thanks.’ Richie tried not to break into tears. ~ He was going to go drive to Eddie. He was horrified, but he was gonna go to Eddie. As much as he would hate to admit it, he needed him. Needing Eddie to love him, thats debatable but needing for Eddie to be around him, he knew he really did need it. He hoped maybe Eddie needed him too. “You save yourself, I'll save you too next time around,” he sang. When Eddie smiled up at him he didn’t know if he could breathe. It was never like this with Connor. With Connor he always wondered who the woman that left their apartment was, with Connor, he always got shouted at and argued with. With Eddie, he smiled, his heart raced, his stomach churned and it was never like it was with Connor. “I'm not around, I haven't been here for a while,” he sang, the electric feeling coursing through his veins.

“You know I'll never be back now,” He shouldn’t break his own heart. Connor’s gone. He’s not coming back, and Richie’s thankful for that. With Connor gone, maybe someone else will stay. Maybe Eddie will. Richie smiled at the thought of it.

He ignored the nagging feeling of possibly not being loved back— again.

[queermediastudies]

The Boys in the Band

The 2020 Netflix film, The Boys in the Band, is a film revival of gay media breakout play by the same name from 1968 where seven gay men gather for a birthday party for games and merriment that turns vaguely sour when each man is faced with buried feelings and painful truths.  This film features seven gay characters, played by actual gay men, as well as two black men by which the film dives into issues of intersectionality and colorism.  There are two people of color featured in this film with an on-screen cast of eight, meaning people of color comprise only 25% of the cast.  According to a study discussed by Alfred L. Martin, “LGBT characters of color make up...23% on streaming platform originals” (2018), which although contributes to representation, this limited scope serves to perpetuate stereotypes regarding LGBTQ+ people of color.  In short, the film opens up at one man's, Michael’s, apartment where he is chatting with his partner, Donald, and preparing for the birthday party in honor of their dear friend, Harold, when he receives a desperate and emotional call from a former college roommate, Alan.  Alan insists he needs to speak with Michael about something, and Michael extends a reluctant and brief invite to the beginning of the party; fearing the consequences of Alan learning that he and his friends are all gay men.  Over the course of the evening Michael’s friends begin to arrive at his home including Emory, Hank, Larry, and Bernard, followed closely by Alan, who minutes before he arrived called again to cancel.  When Alan arrives, he is ushered in by Hank, who is mistaken by Alan to be heterosexual, where he sees the other six men dancing on the porch to “Heat Wave,” realizing that the other men may be potentially queer and appearing clearly uncomfortable.  Alan begins to become agitated by Emory’s flamboyant and feminine behavior, to which Michael suggests they talk in the privacy of the bedroom but the conversation leads nowhere and it is clear that Alan is holding something back.  Following their chat, Alan and Michael return to the guests and Alan’s frustration with Emory peaks and Alan strikes Emory in the face multiple times and shouts gay slurs at him. Shortly following the physical altercation between the two men, the guest of honor, Harold arrives as well is his “gift” of a young gay boy dressed as a shirtless cowboy who sings a birthday song and gives him a kiss. Alan becomes sick to his stomach and Hank follows him to the restroom to make sure he is alright, and the other men begin chatting and taking digs at themselves and each other to pass the time.  Eventually, Hand and Alan return to the party, where a unique party game is proposed.  The game works like this: each person must make a phone call to the one person they thought they truly loved, making the call earns one base point, if the phone is picked up the caller earns a point, if the true love answered the phone that’s two points but if someone else answered it is one point, if the caller introduces themselves that’s another point, if the caller announces that they loved the person they were calling, they got a five point bonus.  Quickly, the tales of former lovers become emotional and deep, and several phone calls are made.  The phone calls begin with Bernard, who calls the son of his mother’s former employer with whom he had a brief relationship with as a teenager.  The son is not home, but is out on a date, which brings Bernard to tears and fills him with regret for calling.  The next call is placed by Emory, to a dentist he had been madly in love with as a teenager and his call is disconnected when the dentist hangs up on him.  Hank comes next, which is how his gay sexual orientation is revealed to Alan, he calls his own home that he shared with his partner, Larry, and leaves a message declaring his love. Larry does the same for Hank, in an intense romantic gesture.  At this phase in the night is when Michael turns the attention to Alan.  Michael declares it is Alan’s turn to make a call, and insists he calls another colleague from college, Justin.  Michael claims to know all about the affair Justin and Alan had in college, and how he knows Alan is in the closet, so to speak.  Alan makes a phone call, announces himself, declares his love, and Michael takes the phone only to realize it is Alan’s wife, whom he had left. This is when the party dissipates, as Bernard and Emory leave with deepened sadness, Larry and Hank go up to the bedroom, Harold takes his cowboy home, Alan heads to the airport to return to his wife, and Michael takes a walk while Donald reads on the couch. Unfortunately, no phone calls are made by Michael, Harold, or Bernard. Main topics and themes from this movie that relate back to course concepts include gender performativity, the hyper-sexualization of gay black men, and middle-class homonormativity.  Gender performativity carries weight in a few ways throughout this film, most notably perhaps, the depictions and behavior of Hank.  Hank is straight presenting and is mistaken as a heterosexual by Alan in the film due to the fact that he is drinking beer as opposed to wine, dressed smartly in a standard suit, and behaves stereotypically “masculine.”  On the flip side, Emory identifies himself as a queen and behaves in ways that are more stereotypically feminine with a higher pitched voice and tighter clothing. Emory’s depiction on screen is also greatly representative of the hyper-sexualization of black gay men.  Emory is flamboyant, feminine, and discusses his sexual encounters with frequency and detail.  Emory (second from the left) is the individual that begins the dancing on the porch, utilizes a snap fan for emphasis, and lip-sync’s along, emphasizing his sexuality.

 In terms of white middle-class homonormativity, each of the white gay men featured in the film lives in New York  in a nice apartment with a “typical” life of middle class white person.  Michael is the prime example of this concept as his apartment is lovely, his relationship with his partner is homonormative, and he struggles with regular white middle-class issues such as debt.  This film also actively strays away from these concepts in many ways, demonstrating the diversity of characters and noting intersectionality.  For example, Bernard, the other gay black man in the film has darker skin compared to Emory.  Bernard is not hyper-sexualized in the manner that Emory is, but issues relating to his darkened skin tone come into play.  A discussion featuring Bernard’s social struggle as not only gay, and not only black, but both and with a dark complexion, made him more oppressed and less desirable than Emory.  This discussion hints that Bernard must be more masculine presenting than Emory to maintain his status without falling further into social unacceptance.  Although this movie makes excellent strides by depicting gay characters through gay actors, diversifying the the cast, and demonstrating queerness in both stereotypical and non-mainstream storylines, pointing out societal biases, the film is not perfect.  This film perpetuates the narrative that gay men are highly promiscuous through the character development of Larry, who regularly cheats on his partner, Hank, through Hank admitting to an affair and leaving his wife for Larry, and particularly, nearly everyone in the film having had a sexual relationship with Bernard.  Further, this film also perpetuates the notion that gay men are dramatic and hurtful by depicting raw emotional digs between the friend group, a physical fight, and general hurtful comments and actions.  My own identity as a white, gay, middle class, college-educated woman impacts my viewing of this film in a number of ways.  I feel that being a member of the LGBT+ community I am more drawn to queer films than the heterosexual, cisgender counterparts and I am more easily connected to the implicit and illicit themes of the film.  Being gay I could relate deeply to being in love as a young person with someone who was potentially not queer and not being able to act on my feelings, ultimately experiencing a deep and unresolved heartache.  That being said, as a woman viewing this film, there is absolutely no representation which has the potential to alienate the female audience. Further, although there were themes of colorism and homophobia, this movie’s primary focus was still on a middle-class white man, making it more palatable for mainstream consumption.  However, the raw emotion and vivid intimate cut scenes featuring implicit sexual chemistry between the men and their past loves was touching, beautiful, and transformative.  Seeing queer love in mainstream media, especially in ways that does not suit the standard heteronormative relationship style, brings about a sense of connection, regardless of if the movie is perfectly representative.  Further, seeing gay characters portrayed by real gay actors is incredible as many gay actors and actresses are forced into secrecy regarding their sexuality.  Benshoff & Griffin said it best, “while there are ever increasing numbers of openly queer writers, directors, and producers in Hollywood today, many actors...still fear that the public with not accept an openly gay or lesbian actor,” and although this fear applies most standard to heterosexual roles, it is even deeper with queer representative roles which enforces the concept that homosexuality is wrongful (2004). Further, Benshoff and Griffin perfectly summarize the purpose of this review as a whole by stating, “although heterocentrist imperatives still dominate the mainstream, queer audiences don’t have to search as intensely as this once did to find evidence of themselves” (2004).  Being a queer person myself, seeing representation of any LGBTQ+ person makes me feel a greater sense of belonging, and my hope is that in the not so distant future, queer cast members that represent myself and others in my community will be part of the casting norm.

 References:

Benshoff, H., & Griffin, S. (2004). Queer Cinema, the Film Reader. In Focus.

Martin, A. L. (2018). Introduction: What Is Queer Production Studies/Why Is Queer Production Studies? Journal of Film and Video, 70(3-4), 3. doi:10.5406/jfilmvideo.70.3-4.0003

[thewalkingdeadimaginings]

The Extraction

Hi can you do an imagine were the reader has toothache and doesn't want to go to Dr.Carson for an extraction. She doesn't want that Negan hear something about but he will and tries to comfort her. (She is not one of Negans wives because she didn't want to)

Hi guys! I know it has been…an unacceptable amount of time haha! I’ve been away just dealing with some emotional stuff. I wasn’t feeling too motivated to write but I’m back! I was particularly inspired to write this one shot as I chipped my tooth…twice. My tooth chipped because it turns out that I clench my jaw/grind my teeth while I sleep! It was such a tiny chip that my dentist wouldn’t have even noticed it if I hadn’t said anything. For such a tiny chip, it sure did hurt like a bitch. So I spent $180 on a mouth guard and then a few weeks later, I was woken up by a crunching sound. That crunching sound was from my tooth chipping AGAIN. Now, the first time it hurt to chew for a day and then I could chew as normal. This time, the pain lasted for days and now drinking water and breathing in hurt. I got it smoothed down and it felt instantly better so I guess I just needed to smooth it down. If getting the tooth pulled and replaced with a fake tooth wasn’t thousands of dollars, I would’ve just done that because I am DONE with this tooth ahahah. I have also had a tooth pulled before so I feel like I have a bit of an advantage with this one shot 😉 And that is the epic saga with my teeth. Now on to what you came here for! THANKS AS ALWAYS FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND YOUR LOVE <3

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

You lived a privileged life in the sanctuary, probably more privileged than the life you lived before the world ended. Negan had noticed you right away and took you in. And despite rejecting a marriage proposal, he had always been kind to you.

“Y/N, you’ve been making that face all day,” Negan remarked when he saw you wince at the pain in your jaw. Your jaw had been killing you for days but you hadn’t said anything about it, hoping it would just go away on its own, “And you haven’t eaten anything. What’s botherin’ you?”

You shrugged as you continued hanging up the wet laundry on a clothesline, “I’m fine. Just not hungry today.”

“We both know you’re a terrible liar,” Negan retorted, a playful smile spreading on his lips. He approached you, pulling a shirt from your hands and dropping it back in the bucket, soapy water splashing back and hitting your legs.

Stepping away from the bucket, you sighed, “If I go see Dr. Carson, who will finish hanging up this laundry?”

“Me,” Negan said, “I’ll do it.”

“You?” you chuckled, crossing your arms, “You’re gonna hang up the laundry for me? You’re not really…hands on, Negan.”

“Hey now, I can be plenty hands on,” Negan said, “Now, you go on and get yourself checked out with Dr. Carson. And I wanna know everything he said, Y/N.”

Negan’s overprotective nature could be a pain sometimes but you definitely felt the love. But you were terrified of what Dr. Carson would say. The tooth causing you trouble now had always caused you trouble even before the world ended. And without proper dental care that was available before, extraction might be the only option now. Unfortunately, that meant there wasn’t anything available to numb the pain either.

You headed for Dr. Carson’s examination room. He was inside putting away supplies that had just been brought in from the last run a few days ago. The door opened with a light groan and you tapped on it, “Carson? Are you busy?”

“Not at all,” Dr. Carson replied, “Come on in, Y/N. What’s bothering you?”

Dr. Carson sat down in his chair, rolling from the counter to the exam table you were taking a seat on. You were tense, kicking your feet and resisting the urge to hold your aching face, “It’s um…well…this is outside your area of expertise but my tooth has been killing me. It’s always been a problem for me but it’s even worse now.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Dr. Carson said. You opened your mouth as wide as you could and Dr. Carson took a look in your mouth. His brows lowered, completely outside his realm but genuinely trying to come up with an answer. He turned your head to the side, shining a flashlight into your mouth. You knew exactly what he was going to say before he even said it but hearing it out loud still filled you with dread, “Y/N, I don’t really know much about dental work but I’m thinking that tooth’s gotta come out. Looks pretty bad. If you don’t, I’m concerned that it’ll affect the rest of your teeth.”

“That’s what I was afraid of,” you murmured.

“We should get started then,” Dr. Carson said, “Lie down for me.”

“Actually, I have a million things to do right now,” you said, hopping off the table, “Just some painkillers will do for now. Just so I can get through the day, yeah?”

“Y/N…” Dr. Carson said, “Didn’t you hear what I said? I said if you don’t get that tooth taken out, it’ll hurt the rest of your teeth. Then you’ll have to get multiple taken out.”

“I know, I know,” you grumbled. Somehow leaving the tooth alone and risking even more complications sounded much more appealing. Just the thought of having a tooth ripped out of your head made your heart race. You had to stop for a moment to calm your heartbeat and steady your breathing before you really started to freak out, “I just need a little something to get through the day. We can get rid of the tooth another day, okay? Can we do that?”

“I guess so,” Dr. Carson muttered. He rummaged through the cabinets until he found the painkillers. He handed it to you but grabbed you by the hand before you could walk away, “Don’t put this off, Y/N. You can’t rely on those forever.”

“I promise, just for tonight,” you mumbled as you quickly ran out of the exam room, clutching onto the bottle of pills you’d been given. Instead of going back outside to see Negan, you went into your bedroom to take your painkillers. For a brief moment, you contemplated just taking a handful of pills to ensure the pain would go away but you held back and took the correct dosage.

As you took a drink of water to swallow the painkillers, there was a knock at your door, with Negan’s voice coming from the other side, “Y/N? You in there?”

“Yeah,” you called back, “Come on in.”

Negan opened the door and stepped into the room, “Dwight said he saw you pass by from the infirmary. Was it bad news?”

“Of course not,” you said with a tight smile, “Why would you ask that?”

“I figured it was bad since you didn’t come back outside to tell me what happened,” Negan said, “But Dr. Carson checked you out? Nothing?”

“Nope, nothing,” you replied quickly, “Just a little soreness. He gave me something for the pain. I should just get back to work then, right?”

As you headed for the door, Negan stuck out his hand and pressed it against your shoulder to stop you from getting past him, “Y/N, you’re a terrible liar. You think I don’t notice the swelling in your face? Something’s wrong. Do you realize that or are you just ignoring it?”

You covered your swollen jaw. You knew it hurt but you didn’t know it had gotten so bad that it swelled up, “Well…Dr. Carson wants to pull my tooth out. I can’t do that, not without something to numb my gums. It’s gonna be agonizing and I…I’m freaked out, okay?”

Negan frowned, “Y/N, you have to get this taken care of.”

A combination of the pain in your jaw and the fear brought tears to your eyes as you hung your head, lightly pushing Negan away, “Please, don’t make me do it. I can’t do it. I’m too scared.”

“I can understand that,” Negan said, “I’ll be there with you the entire time. I’ll take care of you, Y/N. I think you know by now that all I wanna do is take care of you. Now come on, let’s get this done.”

Dr. Carson was relieved to see you back. He reassured you that everything would be fine although he couldn’t promise a painless procedure. You laid back in the chair, taking deep breaths while Dr. Carson got his tools ready, sanitizing them the best that he could. He was clearly as nervous as you were but he was handling it well, better than you.

“You’re doing great, Y/N,” Negan said, putting his hand on your shoulder. The warmth of his grip offered you comfort for a moment until Dr. Carson brought his tools back on a tray and set them down by the chair. Negan felt you tense in his hand and he gently squeezed, “Just breathe, Y/N. It’ll be over soon.”

You opened your mouth for Dr. Carson and he turned your head slightly to get a better look at the tooth. He put on some gloves, giving you a smile, “We’ll be out of here in no time, Y/N. Good on you for doing this by the way. I know it’s scary.”

“She’s a trooper, ain’t she?” Negan added.

“Let’s…” you paused to take a breath, your tight chest making even that a challenge, “Let’s just do this please.”

“I’ll try to make this quick,” Dr. Carson replied, “I don’t have an elevator to loosen the tooth unfortunately. Don’t think anyone ever thought we’d need dental equipment. But at least we have forceps.”

He picked up the forceps, his brow wrinkled in concentration as he clamped onto the tooth with them. He wiggled the tooth a little at first. The pain wasn’t bad yet but a tear still rolled down your cheek as he started tugging. You weren’t sure how an “elevator” (whatever that was) was supposed to help with the procedure but you still were wishing you had one right about now as he was pulling without any other assistance. Tensing up would make the pain worse but you couldn’t help yourself. Your entire body went stiff as Dr. Carson pulled harder.

Dr. Carson pulled away for a moment as you started to weep and you sat up, “I’m sorry, Y/N. But we’re making progress.”

The coppery taste of your blood hit your tongue and somehow, that was a relief. You nodded, laying your head back once more, “Come on. Finish it.”

“That’s my girl,” Negan said. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his skin, normally a nice tan from being out in the sun, had gone almost a ghostly white, “Takin’ this like a champ.”

You reached your Negan’s hand as Dr. Carson took the forceps to your tooth again. The tooth was feeling looser, the taste of copper getting a bit stronger. It wasn’t like the movies where your mouth filled with blood. But it definitely felt like there was. You were in absolute agony, squeezing your eyes shut and fighting back groans. There were only two other people in the room with you but it felt so chaotic in your head that it seemed like there were hundreds of people crowded around. Your eyes darted all around the room as the pressure increased, the tooth starting to wiggle even more. Your toes curled as you heard the sound of something tearing inside your head. That finally made a cry fall from your mouth as the tooth was finally ripped from your head. The pressure and pain were instantly relieved as you stared at your tooth in shock. Even Dr. Carson looked stunned holding your bloody tooth in the forceps.

“Holy shit on a shingle,” Negan whispered, “Ripped that right out of your fuckin’ head, Y/N! And you’re hardly breakin’ a sweat.”

You held your mouth open, almost afraid to close it even as blood mixed with spit was slipping down your chin. Dr. Carson set the tooth and forceps aside and hurriedly gathered up gauze and a bottle of water, “Here drink this.”

You took a few sips just to clean some of the blood from your mouth. The fresh wound was throbbing but the worst was now over and since the painkillers were already coursing through you, the pain was dull. Once your mouth was rinsed out, Dr. Carson carefully placed a clean gauze in the space. You were finally able to close your mouth after that.

“You can rest here if you want,” Dr. Carson remarked as he peeled his gloves off his hands. Watching Dr. Carson was almost amusing. It was like his chest was puffed out, proud of a job well done, “But your bed might be more comfortable.”

“I’ll take her back to her room,” Negan said, “Thanks, Carson.”

Negan and Dr. Carson helped you onto your feet even though you were perfectly fine to stand. Negan walked with you all the way back to your bedroom. He wasn’t normally this hands on but you weren’t going to fight it. You stood in the middle of the room as Negan gathered all your pillows and pulled back your blanket. You laid down on the bed and Negan covered your legs with the blanket, smoothing it down a bit, “Comfy?”

“Very,” you said, slightly muffled by the gauze in your mouth, “Thanks for staying with me.”

Negan laughed at the way your voice was coming out and he nodded, “Sorry for laughing. But you’re welcome, Y/N. You were really brave back there.”

“You think so?” you said.

“Total badass,” Negan said, “You know you don’t have to be afraid. Not with me around. I’m always gonna be there for you, do what I can to help you.”

“Not much help this time,” you replied, “Almost pathed out.”

“I know,” Negan said, his cheeks turning pink as he scratched his head, “Very out of character for me, right? I guess it was just because it was you. And…I dunno…you being in pain, vulnerable. Ya know?”

“I get it,” you said, “Feeling much better now. I think I’ll rest now.”

“You do that,” Negan said, “Carson says gargling salt water will help with healing. I’ll try to find you some salt. And get you something to eat a little later.”

“Thank you,” you murmured, feeling the need for sleep tugging at you, “You’re really special to me, Negan. Never met someone as sweet as you. Even though I’ve rejected you before.”

“Not so bad,” Negan said, “To be honest, my relationship with you…it’s more special than my wives. Don’t tell them that though.”

Negan winked and you couldn’t help but laugh. Negan really was wonderful. Your privileged life was all because of him. No one else would’ve done what Negan had just done for you. No one could’ve helped you through the fear like he could. Even just looking at him made your heart squeeze. Perhaps there was a chance for something more, “Your secret’s safe with me, Negan.”

~~~~~~~~

AHHHH DID I ACTUALLY FINISH A ONE SHOT?! IS THIS REAL LIFE?! Haha! Thanks for being so patient and so sweet with me, you guys. I can’t get over how nice you guys are. I was getting notifications from you guys liking old one shots from a while back. At least a year ago and I’m so glad that you’re still enjoying my writing all this time later.

I actually have had a tooth pulled before so I was trying to remember the procedure itself and how I felt during the entire thing. Granted, I got a needle to the gums so I was numb. Still hurt like a bitch. And also embarrassed myself by having a full blown panic attack when my dentist brought out the needle. So…love that for me. Anyways, for ME personally, it sounded like the tooth was tearing or ripping rather than cracking like you hear in movies. So, if that part sounds inaccurate, I was just basing it on what I remember it sounding like in my head.

ANYWAYS, I love you guys! Next up will be a Daryl one shot! Unless y’all want a chapter from one of my stories? 😉 No Regrets perhaps? Or should Don’t Look Back make its return? Or Beauty of a Secret? Hmmmm….

[myyszka]

Toothache

Summary: Penny Parker has a sore tooth and something should probably be done about it.

First time posting any irondad content and it’s basically me projecting my pain onto Penny because this is the only way I know how to deal with things other than crying. Go easy on me and please feel free to give me feedback!

Penny sighed as the pain in her mouth started back up. She tried to ignore it and focus on the coding she was supposed to be working on, but wow it was really hitting her hard this time around.

She poked around a little with her tongue, trying to find the offending tooth. She pressed against one of her adult ones at the back and the pain immediately spiked, making her wince quietly and screw her eyes shut as she waited for it to pass.

“Pen? You okay?” Mr. Stark asked from across the lab and she glanced up, seeing his slightly worried expression.

“Yeah! I’m fine, sorry,” she said quickly, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. He hesitated, eyeing her suspiciously for a moment before nodding and looking back down at his work. Penny sighed.

Her tooth had started hurting maybe a week ago, roughly. I mean it’s not like she documented this stuff. She’d tried all the painkillers she had available, but her fantastic spidey metabolism made it impossible for them to bring her any relief.

Talk about annoying.

She’d considered telling May and asking to go see a dentist, but she was sure it would pass and the cost of the appointment would probably be ridiculous…

Yeah.

That’s what bothered her.

Definitely not the general idea of a dentist.

She just isn’t a fan of someone poking around in her mouth, can you really blame her?

So now she was stuck with an aching tooth in Mr. Stark’s lab. It was especially annoying as Penny really treasured the time she spent here. She got to work on her own AI (!!!!) under Mr. Stark’s supervision, and she learned so much. Having something that made her essentially unable to do the work she wanted to do was horrible.

Nevertheless, she forced herself to try and ignore the pain and focus. If she ignored it, it would pass, right? That sounded about right.

Her plan failed maybe ten minutes into being executed, when she accidentally deleted an entire line of code. The bigger problem? She had no idea where the code had been deleted from.

She checked over everything, skimming the lines of code over and over again until she was getting sick of reading them. Maybe she would’ve found the mistake but her toothache had made her head ache so she was dealing with two very distracting, very annoying sources of pain.

Tears of frustration started welling up in her eyes, she very nearly deleted the entire code, but was stopped by a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“What’s happening here, Pen?” Mr. Stark asked, looking over her shoulder at the coding with a slight furrow in his brow. She shrugged helplessly,

“I think I deleted some of the code, by accident, of course! Now I can’t find where it happened,” she said, regretting the choice to open her mouth in the first place as the toothache seemed to get worse when the cool air of the lab made contact.

Mr. Stark nodded, reading over the coding and humming quietly. Penny sat there awkwardly for a few moments, just dwelling on the pain in her mouth until Mr. Stark tapped her shoulder lightly to get her attention.

“Right here, see?” He said, pointing. Penny looked at it, then nodded, forcing a smile on her face.

She typed the line back in with Mr. Stark double checking immediately.

“There you go! Crisis averted, we can all relax,” he said, grinning at her a little, then frowning.

Maybe her smile wasn’t as good as she hoped it was? Darn.

“You sure you’re okay Pen?” He asked, voice a little softer now. Penny hurried to reassure him, nodding her head.

“Yeah! Promise. Just tired, that’s all,” she said, diverting her gaze away from him and back down to her work.

“If you’re tired we can take a break,” Mr. Stark said, “Order in some pizza, maybe watch a movie?” He suggested, idly cleaning up the workbench beside Penny’s.

She couldn’t help but wince at the thought of food.

Did Mr. Stark notice?

Judging by the narrow-eyed look her was giving her…

Yes, he did.

“What? Is movie night really that bad, kiddo?” He asked, there was a slight joking tone hidden somewhere in his voice but Penny freaked out ever so slightly anyway.

“No! That’s not it-”

“Then what is it?” He asked.

Penny hesitated.

If she told him, he would tell May. Then May would take her to the dentist. Penny would have to sit through an appointment, Then, worst of all, Penny would have to watch May stress over the cost of the appointment. And that was a no-no.

“It’s nothing,” she said meekly, still trying to be somewhat convincing, but knowing she was failing. She heard Mr. Stark sigh deeply.

“Are you hurt? Is it school? Do you need help?” He had his arms crossed loosely against his chest and Penny was sure he was looking at her imploringly but she wouldn’t know for sure unless she glanced up at him but she really didn’t want to do that. “Talk to me, kid.”

Penny sighed after a moment, finally giving in. She fidgeted with her own hand slightly.

“Just got a bit of a toothache, that’s all,” she said quietly.

“If it was just a toothache, you wouldn’t be trying to keep it from me, Pen,” Mr. Stark said, putting his hand on her shoulder again. “How bad is it? Gimme a rating on a one to ten scale.”

Penny thought for a moment, poking around a little with her tongue.

“Uh.. a nine? Maybe… maybe eight?”

“So, a ten?” He pressed.

“Yeah…”

Mr. Stark sighed, “alright, how about this,” he started, but Penny already knew what was coming and she really didn’t want that so-

“No dentist!” She said hurriedly, finally looking up at him, “I’ll be fine without-”

“Pen we both know you won’t be.”

“But-”

“Are you scared of the dentist, kid?”

She hesitated, thinking about how to say this,

“I just… don’t like having someone poke around my mouth and stuff.”

He nodded, “That’s fair, but have you thought about the fact that if you let someone check in there for a few minutes, you mind get rid of the pain?”

“I can live with the pain,” she said stubbornly, making Mr. Stark laugh a little.

“No you can’t,” he said, “I know you’re strong, kid, but you don’t have to just deal with the pain.”

She sighed, thinking it all over for a second. And considering the throbbing pain in her mouth and temple was making it hard to do so, maybe a visit to the dentist was the right way to go.

“Yeah, okay,” she mumbled.

He smiled at her, ruffling her hair, “Good. I’ll go and get things set up for you.”

-

“Is it really so bad, Pen?” Mr. Stark asked as Penny curled up on the couch, facing away from him. Not deliberately, of course, but it just so happened that she couldn’t really lie down on her left side due to the fact she’d just had a tooth cruelly ripped from her.

“Yeth,” she nodded, “Yeth it is.”

Now she had a slight lisp too? Honestly, she felt like screaming.

The fact that they’d managed to numb her mouth so well amazed her. With Mr. Stark’s warning, the dentist had stabbed her with needles so many times she’d lost count and pumped her so full of the anaesthetic that the left side of her mouth was still dead, she couldn’t even feel it if she poked at it. It was the weirdest thing.

It also numbed the pain which was a huge bonus, but she was sure it would be wearing off in a matter of minutes and giving way to the full force of… ouch.

Mr. Stark sat down on the couch beside her, a grin on his face, “Well that’s not good,” he said, “how about you give me a smile, huh?”

He got a halfhearted glare instead. Penny was sure he knew full well how ridiculous she looked when she tried to smile, it was like the left side of her lips just decided to fall asleep and stay flopped whilst the other half curled up. It looked so weird. Penny hated it. Mr. Stark, on the other hand, did not, he’d pounced on the opportunity to tease her for it.

He laughed now, a nice hearty laugh, “Yeah okay, that’s fair,” he grinned, getting comfortable and tossing Penny an extra pillow which she gladly latched on to.

“What movie were you thinking?” He asked.

Instead of giving him a verbal response, she took the remote from him and set the movie up herself, not trusting her mouth anymore. It had betrayed her in the most awful way. Penny wasn’t sure if she would ever forgive it.

The movie started and both of them turned to watch. Penny’s assumptions had been right, only fifteen minutes later, she started regaining the feeling in her mouth again.

Twenty minutes later it started to hurt.

Half an hour into the movie she’d lost the ability to focus on what was happening on screen and just let her eyes squeeze shut as she did her best to fall asleep or something. Just anything to try and ignore the pain.

There was some shuffling on her right, and then a hand found its way into her hair, carding through it gently.

Penny didn’t even think about the fact that this was Mr. Stark, her… mentor, her idol. She was tired, pain is surprisingly exhausting, so she let her head drop gently onto his shoulder.

He seemed to tense up for a moment, his hand stopping. Then he relaxed again, shifting slightly to make Penny more comfortable. Something she was thankful for.

She kept her focus on the hand in her hair, letting herself slowly drift off to sleep as the movie continued in the background.

[obsidianarchives]

The Decision

Gregory and Caroline Granger were married thirteen years before finally welcoming their daughter Hermione into the family. They brought home their beautiful brown baby with curls that were already overtaking her face and noticed very quickly that she wasn’t like other children. While most of their friends with children complained of sleepless nights and constantly crying babies, Hermione was always quite content, sleeping through the night. Many days, she woke before her parents, and they would find her playing in her pram, babbling incessantly, the lights in her room on though neither knew how. As she got older, she began reading books from the highest shelf, those wildly out of reach. When asked how she was able to retrieve the book, her answers would border on flippant.

The many strange occurrences happened all throughout her youth until one cool summer’s morning they received a knock at their door. A stern-looking woman wearing robes of deep crimson had stood before them, introducing herself as Professor McGonagall. 

Hermione, she explained, was a witch and had been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. If they agreed, Hermione would be expected to arrive at King’s Cross Station on September 1st where she would take the Hogwarts Express for her first of seven years of schooling there. McGonagall spent hours with the Grangers, explaining to them about the book that had her name written down since birth, about Professor Dumbledore, the school’s headmaster, and about the Statute of Secrecy forbidding them from telling a soul the truth about their daughter’s abilities. The professor left that afternoon with a promise that she would be back the next day hoping for an answer. 

Needless to say Gregory and Caroline were shocked. They were dentists. They had never heard of this place called Hogwarts, had never believed that witches or wizards existed. Yet, Hermione was ecstatic and eager to learn all she could, not only about this school that she was destined to attend, but this new world of magic. Hermione spent the rest of the afternoon begging her parents to allow her to go. The family spent many hours debating the pros and cons of such a turn of events, eventually agreeing that this would be best for Hermione. Professor McGonagall returned the next day and was pleased with the news. 

“If you have any questions,” she said, handing over the envelope with her list of school books and materials, “just send a letter addressed to me at Hogwarts. It will get there.” She then went on to explain how to get to Diagon Alley and to Platform 9 ¾. 

“I’ll see you on September 1st,” she said kindly to Hermione. 

And so her schooling began. Hermione left in September, returning during Christmas break loaded with her school books and stories of her days within the castle. She had been writing consistently up until that point, but there was so little Gregory and Caroline could understand. They listened to her stories of watching Quidditch games while her best friend played Seeker, of learning how to brew potions and Transfigure ordinary objects, and were completely bewildered. Children flying fifty feet in the air on broomsticks! Potions to cure boils? Changing a match into a candlestick! How could any of this be real? 

It got harder and harder to hide their confusion as the years went on. After her second year, Hermione had changed. She wouldn’t talk as much about the events going on at school; even though she kept them abreast of her grades, there was very little else they knew about their only daughter. And now even in summer she was spending less and less time with them. They had met the Weasleys on more than one occasion and thought they were very nice people but were hoping Hermione would like to spend more than just part of a summer vacation at home with them. 

It became evident during Hermione’s visit during Christmas of her sixth year at Hogwarts just how much distance had grown between them. They had made a point to have meals together and Gregory and Caroline had even taken a few days off work to spend time with her. But oddly enough, while they were trying to learn more about Hermione’s schooling, she seemed more interested in asking them questions about themselves.

“How are the Roberts doing?”

“Do the Nolans still stop by for tea often?”

“How long have you owned the practice?”

“How many patients do you both see regularly?” 

“You can’t be dentists for the rest of your lives,” Hermione said one evening. “If you could go anywhere, where would it be?”

“Why so many questions all of a sudden?” Gregory asked, while straightening his glasses at the dinner table. 

“Just curious,” she had responded. 

In that moment Hermione wondered if she should have answered truthfully. But could she have told her parents she was afraid? That soon she may need to leave and they might not see her again. But she knew she wouldn’t be able to get them to understand, that now she was of age (at least in the wizarding world) she had to make decisions she knew would be best for all of them, no matter how painful they were. 

“Is everything okay?” Caroline asked, eyeing her daughter from across the table.  

“Everything is fine,” Hermione said. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. 

It didn’t settle in for her until months later, when she divulged her plan to Dean as they sat under the large beech tree by the lake. There was no way she could make plans to upend her parents entire lives and have hopes of them coming back to the life they had known. Not with patients and friends who would notice if they disappeared for who knows how long without any explanation. 

“You know this isn’t something you have to do?” Dean said. He was lying on his back in the grass, his arms folded behind his head. His face was turned to look at  Hermione as she leaned against the tree, watching the lake. It was the day after Dumbledore’s death. Wizards from all over the country were making their way to Hogwarts for his funeral. It was a beautiful summer day and yet the entire castle was somber. 

“It is,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. 

“Why?” he asked. 

“I thought you would understand,” she said, trying to stop the tears from falling. “You plan on running too.”

“But I’m not going to move my family away from everything they know when I go,” he said. “They’ll still be there. I’ll cast the charms we’ve been researching on the house. They’ll be fine.”

“It’s different,” she said. “We both have Muggle parents, but Voldemort doesn’t know who you are. His Death Eaters don’t know what you look like, or even your name. If my parents stay they’ll try and find them. They’ll be tortured. They could be killed, even though I’ve told them nothing about what’s been going on.” Her voice was shaking, her nerves thin. Tears still slowly sliding down her face. She was overwhelmed. This was too much and yet it was just the beginning. 

“You’re scared,” Dean said, reaching out to her and grabbing her hand. 

“Of course I’m scared. We should all be scared. Dumbledore is dead. We were attacked here. No place is safe. He has to be stopped. None of this will end until Voldemort is dead.”

“Is that what you’re going to do?” Dean asked, sitting himself up so she couldn’t look away from him. “Stop Voldemort?”

“I’m going with Harry,” she said, filling herself with resolve. “And that means leaving my parents.”

“And when you come back?” he asked quietly. Hermione could see the concern lining his face. There was no trace of the smile that had become a place of comfort. His dark brown eyes studied hers. She was the one to look away, eyes gazing towards the lake with the realization that her days at Hogwarts were numbered. 

She dried her face with the sleeve of her robe, and turned back to Dean with as much emotion removed from her face as possible. “I’ll have to come back first won’t I?”

...

Days after her conversation with Dean, Hermione began the process of changing her parents’ lives from that of Gregory and Caroline Granger to Wendell and Monica Wilkins. She had very little time to execute all that needed to be done before heading to the Burrow. Her parents’ transformation would require new birth certificates and passports, all which would need to be forged before she could depart. New bank accounts would need to be opened while the ones linked to her parents’ real identities were closed. Their dental practice would need to be sold. Too many questions would be raised around their disappearance. Better to make it seem like they had suddenly chosen to retire early and sell the business. She would need to meet with their lawyer to arrange the selling of both the business and, though it pained Hermione to dwell on it, the house as well. She had debated whether she should become Secret Keeper for their family’s home instead, but unaware of what would happen to the home if she were to die, decided against it. 

It unsettled Hermione that she hadn’t had second thoughts about her plan since leaving Hogwarts. Both she and Ron had told Harry after the funeral that they would be going with him. She assured herself that the only way to protect her family upon her departure was to hide them somewhere Voldemort and his Death Eaters would never think to look. To erase herself from their memory and allow them to live without ever knowing their child was in danger. 

The morning of July 23rd she watched as her parents, now known as Monica and Wendell Wilkins, took a taxi to the airport to begin their new lives. The traces of the life they knew would soon be removed from the house. Hermione had walked through the halls, looking at the family pictures. Many pictures of her in primary school were throughout the house, but there were few of her as a teenager. She could only find one from her time while at Hogwarts, the time they spent camping in the Forest of Dean. She had been standing in between her parents, all of them smiling at the camera. Hermione noticed for the first time that she was already close to her mother’s height in this photo, though her father towered over them both. They were all smiles in that moment. It was the happiest she had remembered being. Hermione stood there for quite some time, lost in the memory of that moment before finally placing the picture back on the mantle—it would be too dangerous if she was caught to bring it with her—and headed to the Burrow.

...  

It wasn’t until after the Battle of Hogwarts that Hermione began to struggle with her decision. She had spent the last year trying to survive and destroy Horcruxes. She was assured that her parents were safely hidden away and had not allowed herself time to dwell on them. But now the danger had passed, Voldemort was dead. She had seen his lifeless body in a chamber off the hall. 

She knew it would take time for the wizarding world to get back on its feet, knew that Hogwarts would one day reopen and that she would be there when it did. What she couldn’t seem to figure out was when she would ever get to Australia to find her parents and lift the enchantment she had placed on them almost a year ago. She couldn’t imagine doing it now. Not in the state she was currently in. The past year had left her exhausted and nightmares were a common occurrence. No not now, but soon, she promised herself. 

She thought of her parents again after taking her N.E.W.T.’s and relaxing near the lake outside of the repaired castle. The last letter she had received from Dean had asked about when she planning on going, and if she wanted him to come along with her for support. She hadn’t responded. She was about to be a fully qualified wizard, about to fully immerse herself in the wizarding world. Now would be a horrible time to go. She wouldn’t be able to dedicate the time necessary to build a relationship again. And how would she be able to explain the amount of time that had passed, where they were, the fact that they no longer had jobs or a home to call their own? 

“Soon,” she promised herself again. “Once I’ve figured this all out, I’ll go.” 

Another year would pass before Hermione found herself in Melbourne, Australia in a car outside of the home she’d arranged for her parents to move into. She had come alone after battling with herself for weeks. It was time. If she would ever have the strength to go and visit her parents it was now. The therapy had been working. Her nightmares, though they hadn’t ceased, had lessened over the last two years, and she was working through the trauma she had experienced. Now she needed to see them, to take this final step, to let them go. 

Hermione was curious to see how much they might have changed. Plants sat outside on their small porch, along with two chairs and a small table. She imagined them sitting outside in the mornings drinking coffee, or having a glass of wine outside after dinner, something she had never seen her parents do before. Different scenarios were playing her head when, minutes later, she saw her mother exit the house. Caroline’s hair, which she would usually wear straightened and pulled back in a bun, was now loose and curly, free flowing down her back. Her mother was holding a bulldog on a leash in her arms. Gregory came out to join her. The two began walking down the street together and Hermione, after waiting a few moments, followed. Her parents walked hand in hand, immersed in a conversation that Hermione was too far back to overhear. She watched the dog, lost in thought. Crookshanks had been the only pet the family had ever owned, and since he spent as much time at the house that she did, her parents had hardly had to bother with him. Now they had a pet of their own.

She continued to follow her parents from a distance as they walked down the street, until they finally turned off a little ways into a small cafe. Her father took the bulldog, referring to him as Frankie, and sat down in the outside seating area. She followed her mother inside. 

“Hello Joy,” Caroline said to the server as she stepped up to the counter. “We’ll have our usual.”

“Morning Monica,” Joy responded as she began placing their order. “I see you guys brought Frankie out with you today. It’s nice enough. We haven’t had a day this nice all winter.” 

“Oh, it’s great. We’re going to head out to the NGV later on today,” Caroline said. “Just to get out of the house for a little bit.”

“Well, that’ll be nice. You guys enjoy and have a good one,” Joy said, handing over the two drinks.

“Thanks Joy,” Caroline said, taking the food. 

Hermione moved to the side to let her mother pass. Caroline looked at her briefly and said good morning, which Hermione returned in kind. She watched as her mother walked outside and sat with her father, then turned to the server and placed her order. After receiving her coffee, she plucked up her courage and walked outside. She could see her parents were engaged in conversation, but it was now or never and she had come all this way to see them. 

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, “I couldn’t help but hear you saying that you were planning to head to the National Gallery. It’s my first time visiting Melbourne and I was just curious what you would recommend.”

“How much time do you have?” Gregory said laughing. “It’s a beautiful museum, and they’ve got a few exhibits right now, the Rover and Queenie for example, that are worth visiting.”

“We’ve gone quite a few times since moving here,” Caroline said. “The Australian and Asian art collections are very beautiful.” 

“We’ve been here for a few years and it’s definitely one of our favorites,” Gregory said. “You sound like you’re from our old parts. Berkshire?”

“Yes,” Hermione answered, amused that her father could so easily pick up on her accent and not the resemblance between her and her mother.

“On holiday?” Gregory asked. 

“In a way. Visiting some family I haven’t seen in a few years. Do you enjoy it here?”

“We do,” Caroline said. “We were both working so much before, it’s been a nice change of pace really.”

“We’ve made some great friends out here. Got little Frankie about a year ago.” 

“It’s still very nice meeting people from back home. We’re Monica and Wendell by the way,” Caroline said extending her hand. 

“Very nice to meet you both,” she said shaking Monica’s hand, then Wendell’s. “I’m Hermione.” 

“I love that name. I remember reading it years ago in a play, The Winter’s Tale it was, I think,” Monica said. 

“That’s where my mother got it,” Hermione said. She stood up and prepared to walk away. “You two have a great day.”

“You too Hermione,” Wendell called behind her. “Enjoy your time here visiting family.”

Instead of answering she turned around and waved goodbye, taking one last look at her mum and dad and the new life they created. She was going to head to the National Gallery like they had suggested, to see the world through their new eyes before heading back to the life she was creating for herself. She was surprised she hadn’t cried, though emotions were swirling inside her. As much she had loved them, they had drifted apart years ago and she was glad to remember them as they were now, enjoying their lives, happy in the new home and life she had given them. 

[izzy-b-hands]

Fictober 2019, Oct. 31st, “Scared, Me?”

Fanfiction

Fandom: Queen (band) 

Pairings: None

Rating: T or maybe M due to the threat of violence and general frightening nature of the situation in this fic??

Warnings: mentions of violent death, and general danger from an intruder. Some swearing, um.... think that’s the worst of it tbh. This one ended up a lot tamer than it could have been re: spooky scary stuff.

1,623 words

I’ve really wanted to write a fic about Duckingham Palace, but I wanted this one to be scary, since it is being posted on Halloween. This fic let me get both of those things in.

“Scared, me? Not at all!” his voice echoed through the dark and silent house.

“I think we should be, maybe,” Roger whispered from the nearby closet, where he was huddled with Brian and John. 

“All this supposed intruder has done so far is turned out the lights. We’ve navigated this house drunker than a skunk with the lights out. This isn’t an obstacle,” Freddie replied, picking up his coffee cup from the end table near the couch he was sat on. 

“Freddie, I’ve tried calling the security desk, and they aren’t answering. Please, get in here until I can get them to respond,” Brian added, the poof of his curls the only thing visible from where he was crouched at the back of the closet. 

“This is all very silly; we’re going to be fine. Come out of there!” Freddie scolded playfully. “Besides, you know what all of us in there at once means?” 

“That this closet is too small for all of us?” John asked, peeking out around Roger.

“That this supposed scary killer or whoever you’re all so terribly afraid of can easily kill all of us at once,” Freddie continued. “Apart, one of us might just survive to write an album about the experience.” 

“That isn’t funny,” Brian replied. “Get in here; I can hear footsteps!” 

“Poor thing, look what years of rock music have done to your ears. Hearing things now!” Freddie sighed.

Roger pushed the other two back further into the closet as he dove back in, while a dark figure crept into the room.

Freddie turned his head, eyes straining to see in the dark. “Oh, what is this shit?” 

The figure stopped creeping and stood up straight, turning it’s mask-covered face to look at Freddie. “Excuse me?” 

“You fucking heard me. With a black robe and the stalking about. What the fuck is that?” 

“I-I’m the terror...” 

“You’re shit,” Freddie scoffed. “Come on out and see what you’re all so afraid of! Say hello!” 

“No! Stay put! Fear me!” the figure commanded.

“...no, I don’t think we will,” Roger said, leading the way out of the closet. 

“Yeah. Nice try, but...well, seeing you in person...no,” John said, shaking his head as he joined Freddie on the couch. 

“I could kill you all!” the figure shouted as it pulled out a knife from some pocket of its robe. 

Freddie set down his cup, sighed, and walked up to the figure. “With just the one knife?” 

The figure looked down at the knife. “Y...yeah?”

Freddie smirked. “You’re killing Queen, or trying to, right? I should hope you’d know that we go out in style, not all with the same filthy knife.” 

The rest of the guys giggled as they settled into their chosen seats, any panic evaporated. Freddie was in full performance mode now, and the intruder hardly stood a chance if just this bit was shaking him.

“You...you can’t make demands when you’re about to be murdered!” the intruder stamped his foot. 

“Fuck off,” Freddie laughed and went back to the couch, dropping back beside John as if it were any other night in Duckingham Palace. 

The intruder stood, staring as they all got properly comfortable, as if nothing had happened, the lights were still on, and all was normal. 

“You may as well sit down and take off that mask. Make it easier for the guards when they get here,” Freddie said. “Brian, have they answered?” 

Brian was back at the nearest telephone, and dialed the number yet again, but shook his head after a moment. “Still not picking up.” 

“The line isn’t dead, they are,” the intruder spat. “How else do you think I got this far, this close to you? Don’t you get it yet, you spoiled fucking rock-”

The punch Freddie threw, up from the couch and in front of the intruder in the blink of an eye, in a boxing stance like it was second nature, laid the intruder out flat on the carpet. 

“Haven’t done that in awhile,” Freddie mused as he dropped back to the couch. “Brian, call the police, will you?” 

“Already done,” Brian replied, looking slightly pale at the sight of the splayed out intruder. “Should we check on him? Roger, you go do it.” 

“Why me? I’m not any better equipped to do that than you, you go do it!” Roger protested. 

“Well...you were going to be a dentist!” Brian protested right back. “That’s the closest to a doctor we’ve got right now!” 

“Ah yes, and we all recall the many dentists that populate and care for emergent patients in every emergency room around the world. No actual doctors, because ‘a dentist is close enough’!” 

“Stop arguing, and just look! I mean, I don’t exactly want him up and raring to kill us, but if he’s hurt-” Brian insisted.

“I’m just gonna go see about getting the lights back on,” John interjected quickly, moving from the couch and around the body in search of the circuit breaker panel.

“You are technically Dr. Brian May, or will be once you’ve got your studies done! You look at him!” Roger shouted. 

“I will be a doctor of space-related things, like space dust and cosmic bodies, not the human body!” Brian shouted right back. 

“You really ought to just get up,” Freddie said to the body, which had been occasionally twitching with the apparent effort of trying to pretend to be knocked out.

The intruder stayed silent, and kicked a leg out at him. 

“That’s just childish,” Freddie chided.

“This was my claim-” the intruder started.

“Claim to what?” Freddie interrupted. “Claim to sick and twisted fame? All you’ve done is hurt people, good people. How will the families of those guards feel, what horrible pain. All because of you.” 

“I-”

“How dare you even deign to try and be proud of or defend what you did and tried to do here. You deserve whatever pain comes your way as a result of your actions here,” Freddie said coldly. “And the universe will see to it, I’m sure. You disgust me.” 

Brian and Roger had stopped arguing, listening and watching as Freddie glared down at the intruder. 

“I...I’m so-” the intruder was difficult to hear, so quiet and broken his voice was now. 

“Don’t even dare. An apology does nothing, means nothing. Not to me, and not to our dead security guards and their families,” Freddie interrupted brusquely. “Better you had found that conscience and caring long before you killed anyone, but fat lot of good it does for anyone now.”

The intruder sat up and stared at the floor, his knife forgotten where it had fallen. “That punch hurt really badly, you know.” 

Brian and Roger shared a glance. Of all the stupid shit to say...

“I’m not a man for violence, but you say one more fucking word and I won’t hesitate to lay you out again. You think that first punch hurt? I wasn’t even putting any effort into it,” Freddie said, terrifyingly calm as he sipped at his cold coffee, staring the intruder down as if he might just use his gaze to destroy the man. 

The lights blinked back on, and John returned just as sirens started to near. 

It was all waiting and watching then as police and procedure took over. The intruder was silent the entire time, even as they gave their statements, only nodding or shaking his head in response to any questions from the officers. Finally, he was taken out of the house and away to a waiting police car. 

The officers assured them the house was clear and safe, and that a few officers would remain on watch on the property so they could go to sleep without worry. 

But none of them moved from the living room. 

“Thank god the family and friends hadn’t joined us out here yet,” John finally said, breaking the silence that had enveloped them once the police had all gone. 

Brian nodded. “Never been so glad the family is back at home.” 

“Still can’t believe you wanted me to check him over,” Roger scoffed softly, no venom or ill-intent in his voice. 

“You know I would have helped you,” Brian replied. “And we only would have had to check him if he wasn’t getting up, and in the moment it seemed Freddie had really done him in...” 

“I know,” Roger said, and the silence fell over them again.

“It’s funny, in a terrible way,” Freddie broke the silence softly. “Whole thing has me too damn nervous to sleep now.” 

The resulting gentle laughter was a relief to them all, as much as the pack of cigarettes that was opened and passed around with shaking hands from all.

“Only nervous now that the killer’s gone?” Roger smiled weakly. “Bloody hell, Freddie.” 

“That was a hell of a hit you gave him,” Brian laughed. “Dropped like a stone, my god.” 

“Stop,” Freddie shushed them with a wave of his hand. 

“No, it was amazing! I mean, you said you weren’t really thinking about it, weren’t putting effort into it, but he went down! I can’t imagine if you’d been really trying to put him down,” Brian said. “And even after, keeping him down with words!” 

Roger nodded. “Artfully done.” 

John sighed. “Suppose we may as well stay up a bit longer, out here together. I mean, if we can’t sleep, maybe we can work.”

No more was said of sleep after that, the adrenaline of the night’s events still lingering. It didn’t matter if any of the resulting songs from the late-night session would be good, or right for the album. It was simply enough to be awake and in the safety of one another’s company.