#the final straw was that it was all directed toward jimmy ;-;

[quaranmine]

Genuinely though if Jimmy looses that poll in the first round he is truly doomed by the narrative isn't he?

this is true....let this be a consolation if he loses. the REAL doomed by the narrative is if Jimmy never wins ANYTHING

[taintandviolent]

A Real Man ; Jimmy Darling x reader

summary: Reader is a married to a chump. A real chump who doesn't know what he's got and as far as Jimmy Darling is concerned, reader needs to be treated right for once.

word count & w a r n i n g s: 3.6k! | married female reader, infidelity, brief usage of Y/N, judgemental language, fingering, dry humping, arousal, kissing/making out, slight angst with the fact that Jimmy can't keep every woman he meets.

a/n: requested by @babygorewhore! this was supposed to be a drabble, but it turned into a 3K fic. sorry, sorry, sorry! as always, sorry if this is horrible!!!

full fic under cut! ↓ / ao3 link here! / I don’t have a taglist, but please turn on post notifications if you’d like to be notified of future fics!

Jimmy peeked through the gap in the curtain -- it was almost a full house. Good. Elsa would be pleased, and when she was pleased, she was less likely to nitpick; something that all of the troupe tried to avoid.

His dark eyes spotted you heading towards the front, a giddy skip in your step. Your beauty took his breath away; he was almost disappointed to see a man following close behind you as you searched for a place to sit. Judging by your body language, Jimmy could tell you were excited. A small smile crawled across his lips as he watched you. He loved when pretty girls were excited for the show – made his performance that much better. You briefly made eye contact, and a small, shy smile curved around your red lips. Jimmy looked to the front row, and you followed his gaze. Your eyes lit up and you turned to your husband, pointing in the direction of the front.

"Let's sit -- ow!"

Roger gripped your bicep, yanking you hard backwards, away from the decision you'd made. Jimmy furrowed his brow and squared his shoulders, ready to put a man in his place if he had to. His fists balled up into fleshy wads; he didn’t like what he was seeing. Ain’t no reason for a woman to be treated like that…  

"I don't want us sitting too close to them. Might catch something." he snarled, towing you towards some empty wooden chairs in the third row. A horrible sensation roiled in your stomach, making you nauseous. Suddenly ashamed to even be with a man with that kind of mindset, you couldn't help but scowl at your husband's sour opinion. Embarrassed, you kept your gaze away from the man behind the curtain, hoping he hadn't seen or heard any of that.

"Roger," you said softly, reprimanding him in the nicest way you could. "They aren't sick, they're just different."

A hush fell over the crowd as you settled into your seats and a bearded woman came out, welcoming everyone to the show. Much to your dismay, your husband was immediately disgusted and continued making snide comments under his breath.

Not brave enough to say it aloud , you thought. Coward.

As the show got started, it was easy to forget about Roger's little comments. You happily engulfed yourself in the wonderful acts that they put on, particularly delighted by all the musical performances. Not only were they putting their disabilities and differences on display for the world to see and judge – which was admirable in and of itself – but they were genuinely a very talented troupe.

After the show ended, Roger, who had scowled and crossed his arms the entire time, was the first to exit, shoving his way past people, muttering angrily as he did. Apologizing to the offended individuals he left in his wake, you ducked underneath the tent flap, heading after him.

"Makes me sick, that was a waste of time. Freaks like that oughta' be put outta' their misery."

You clenched your teeth, pressing your purse tightly to your abdomen as you walked. You'd just about had it with his disparaging commentary, and that comment was the final straw. Taking a deep breath, you dug your heels into the dirt, stopping yourself. "How DARE you!"

"Excuse me?!" Roger spun around, his expression a terrifying mixture of anger and surprise. He'd never heard you yell like that. It made him angrier than he was before, and he charged at you like an animal, ready to strike.

You righted yourself, standing your ground. In reality, there was nothing to be gained from defending these people, but something in your stomach told you that you had to. You narrowed your eyes as you continued, taking one step away from him.

"They're people too, just like you and me!" Your voice was shrill and determined.

"No! They ain't!" He stuck his finger in your face, nearly jabbing it into your nose. Roger's rebuttal was filled with so much venom, it made you reel back with a gasp. He'd always been an abrasive sort, but this wasn't the man you married.

Jimmy and Paul were helping move some of the set pieces off the stage when Del abruptly straightened up, cocking an ear towards the entrance. The hollering continued, and could be heard from inside the tent. “You hear that?” 

“Sure do,” Paul said. Jimmy nodded in agreement. A couple arguing was never a good sign, and usually something that needed to be dealt with quickly. Jimmy’s heart sank; he had a pretty good idea of who it was. They all hurried towards the entrance, and as soon as Jimmy lifted the flap of the tent, he spotted you.

You stamped your foot, causing a cloud of dust to float up around your heels. "That's a wretched thing to say, and you know it! You're being so hateful, Roger!"

He gestured to the men behind you as they approached. "Well, if you're so fond of 'em, maybe you oughta' run away and join 'em! Suits me just fine!"

And with that, he stomped off, headed towards the car. With anxiety bubbling up your throat, you ran after him, calling his name. He either didn't hear you or didn't care, because he didn't turn around. You suspected it was the latter.

As the car lurched forward onto the road, the engine revved and the tires spun, spitting gravel and dust back at you. For a moment, you ran down the dirt pathway, trying to catch up to him. It was futile, but the humiliation drove you forward. You couldn't even look back at the men, unsure if they had seen everything.

You'd made it out onto the main road, but Roger's car was out of view. Out of breath, you finally stopped, huffing a defeated breath. Tears welled in your eyes, blurring your vision. What were you to do? You looked down the road, there were some buildings up ahead. Surely, one of them had a phone. As much as it hurt your ego, you knew the only option was to walk and call Roger at home, and apologize for whatever you'd done.

Back at the field, Jimmy was fuming. He'd seen you take off, running after the car desperately, and watched as the distance between you two grew.

“I’ll get her,” he volunteered, already jogging off towards his bike. Del scoffed, unsurprised and rolled his eyes. Of course Jimmy would be the one to go find her.

As he headed for his trailer, Jimmy's temper flared. He resented the way that your boyfriend, husband, whoever he was, had shucked you off like you were nothing. Not to mention, the way he'd treated you in the show, right in front of everyone. That wasn’t right. And he wasn’t gonna’ stand for it. Part of him hoped that he'd get the chance to talk to this Roger fellow.

With tears streaming down your rouged cheeks, you ambled down the road, heading in the direction that he'd gone. Your husband had never done anything like that before, and you weren’t sure what to do next. He’d left you stranded. All because you’d opened your big, sympathetic mouth and tried to defend the freaks from his senseless hate. You'd only just gotten to the top of the hill when you heard the low rumble of an engine slowing behind you. Great. Just what you needed - someone to harass you further.

“Hey, sweetheart. You alright?” Jimmy raised his voice over the growl of his motorcycle. Despite that, there was genuine concern in his voice as he crept closer to you, approaching you apprehensively like he would a scared animal.  

Turning your head to meet the voice, you swallowed back a sob, and straightened up, wiping at your cheeks with the back of your hand. “Y-yes, I'm just fine, thank you.”

Jimmy was next to you now, and you got a good look at his face. It was the man from the show, the one that you'd seen peeking out from behind the curtains. The Lobster Boy. You stopped walking, and his bike rolled to a stop next to you.

"You sure about that?" He asked, leaning forward on the handlebars.

You looked over at him, your lower lip trembling like a child. He just had to show you some kindness, some warmth in that moment, and that, regrettably, brought the tears back. They spilled over your cheeks, flowing freely. Jimmy reached forward and swept his gloved thumb over your cheek, wicking away the tears that tumbled over. “Baby, baby… you’re too pretty to cry that way, you know that?” 

You sniffled pitifully. Bright, wet eyes lifted from the road to his suntanned face. He was so warm, so sweet… like some fresh cotton candy from the stand by the ferris wheel. The wind rustled through the bright, green leaves and you heaved a sigh.

“It’s just that my husband… he-he...” You sniffled loudly, and wiped another set of tears away.

“Hey-hey. Shh. It’s okay, dollface. I saw what happened back there. You don't gotta' relive it. Tell you what. Why don't you hop on?"

"Oh, no I couldn't... I... should get home."

Jimmy shook his head lightly, knowing that home was the last place you wanted to be.

"Sweetheart, what's your name?"

"Y/N..." you said quietly.

"Y/N, listen. It ain't right for a man to leave a woman like that..."

You knew it. Roger hadn't been right that entire afternoon, from the comments to him leaving you. He'd been out of line the entire time, and it infuriated you, doubled you up in anger, though you didn’t show. "Mr. Darling," You started, recalling his name from the show.

"Jimmy." He interjected.

"Jimmy," you started again, chewing on the corner of your lip. "I appreciate the offer, but I just... I can't..."

"Sure you can." His voice was low and sweet, like honey as it filled your ears. "Does he take care of you?"

Taken aback by the question, you furrowed your brows, silently asking what he meant. Jimmy cleared his throat and straightened up on his bike, casually brushing something from the thigh of his jeans.

"What I mean is, does he treat you right? Take care of your needs...?"

You swallowed hard, averting your gaze. That was all the confirmation he needed. Jimmy kicked down the stand of his bike, and got off of it, closing in the distance between the two of you.

“Babydoll,” Jimmy started, leaning closer to you. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed, his eyes sweeping over your face. You were unbelievable, one of the prettiest girls he’d ever seen – and he’d seen some. The closeness had his heart thumping and his groin flushed with heat. He hadn't intended for this, but something about the way you looked up at him with those big, ol' pretty eyes had his head spinning.

Jimmy lifted your chin with his knuckle. "Get on my bike, and lemme' show you how a real man treats a woman."

Oh, live a little, you thought. Your husband was nowhere to be found, and he was the one who had left you. Whatever repercussions occurred because of that were out of your control. It was decided. Adjusting your purse on your shoulder, you stepped to Jimmy's bike, and carefully got on. Jimmy joined you with a proud smile, and revved the engine.

Looking both ways, Jimmy made a wide turn, getting you both pointed back in the direction of the tents. The wind whistled through your hair, locks fluttering behind you. You squeezed Jimmy's torso tighter as he sped up, heading back down the road. He smelled like cotton, sweat and sun. You nuzzled your face into his back, living in the moment. Jimmy smiled, knowingly.

The ride was short, but exhilarating. You'd never ridden on a motorcycle, and the memory was something you'd cherish. You held onto his broad, toned shoulders, steadying yourself as he pulled into the field; the bumps of the dirt road jostling you about. He pulled up behind his caravan, killed the engine and hopped off. He grinned brightly at you, his large, gloved hands reaching for your waist. "C'mon, off you go." 

He lifted you carefully off the bike as you swung your leg over the seat. Your heel caught on the edge, sending you stumbling into his arms. The closeness was abrupt, but very welcome. Your breath hitched in your throat. 

"Easy - you alright?" 

"Just clumsy," you murmured, putting enough distance between your bodies to smooth out the skirt of your dress.

With one hand, Jimmy guided you up the small steps of his trailer, holding the door open for you.

A flash of worry crossed his face as he took off his gloves, setting them on the kitchen counter. He saw your eyes dart down to his hands, scanning over the fleshy, conjoined digits, but there was a hint of intrigue in your eyes - you weren't put off. That was enough for him to make a move.

"C'mere, baby. Let me take care of you."

Without another word, Jimmy wrapped his arms around your body, pulling you into his chest. His lips connected with yours in a warm kiss - warm like the summer sun. Everything about him was intoxicating and you were drunk on him, lust-blown and wanting more. Boldly, his fingers closed around the zipper pull of your dress and pulled it carefully down your back, pressing his lips against your shoulder as he slid the sleeve down. His fingertips trailed softly down your spine, sending a chill through your body. He guided the dress off your body, allowing it to fall to your feet. You stepped out of the circle of fabric, and wrapped your arms around his neck. With strong, passionate kisses, he walked you backwards through the trailer, carefully navigating you to the back portion where the bedroom was. You were thankful he was in control, because you felt yourself wobble, dizzy with lust. The back of your legs finally hit the edge of the mattress, and Jimmy guided you backwards, until you were laying flat. 

Perched at the end of his bed, he reached forward to touch you. You bit your lip, looking shy and unsure. You’d never been in your lingerie in front of any other man besides your husband, and your heart thudded against your ribcage at the thought of what you were about to experience.  Jimmy's large, warm hands explored your flesh, covering every exposed inch in gentle, persuasive touches. You'd already wordlessly agreed to whatever he was doing, but every touch pushed you further over that edge, turning you into putty in his hands. You exhaled a shaky breath, watching him as he worked. His fingers swept past your ankles, up your calves and finally over the curve of your knees, where he gently spread them apart.

"My husband never does this..." You cooed, nervously. You weren't sure how to act, but you hoped natural instinct would kick in soon.

"I know." was all Jimmy said before dipping his head between your legs. He pressed kisses along your inner thighs, nearing your aching center. The closer he got, the more you writhed in his grip. Pressing a single kiss against your stomach, his teeth grazed your tummy as he took the elastic waistband of your panties between his teeth, pulling them down. His fingers met halfway, and pulled them to your ankles, where he tenderly guided your feet out of the holes.

You were on full display now and your tummy clenched. Perhaps she clenched too, because Jimmy swallowed back a deep groan, his eyes rolling back slightly. The sight of a woman, wet and waiting for him, never got old. Ever. Jimmy crawled up onto the bed, positioning himself at your side. His cock ached desperately, twitching to life, but it wasn't about him. Your pleasure was the focus, and he could wait. With all his experience at Tupperware parties, he'd gotten real good at keeping his arousal at bay until he was alone.

Above you, Jimmy’s brown eyes searched your face, flashing you a bright smile."You alright, baby?"

You nodded, spreading your legs slightly. One of his hands trailed along your stomach, softly caressing the skin as he made his way down. Breath hitching in your throat again, you unintentionally arched your back up into his touch. His fingertips met your core, and his thumb swept over your folds, spreading them gently. He explored them sweetly, taking his time to play with the slickness that met him.

"You like that?" 

You mewled in response, eyes rolling back in your head. 

"C'mon, lemme hear you... nothin' to be embarrassed of here." 

No words came out, but a pleading, satisfied moan tumbled off your lips. You thought his act was singing and showing off his claws -- not reading minds. You were never loud with your husband; he found it obnoxious when women were too loud.

With that, Jimmy slipped into you slowly, taking his time to breach your entrance.You gasped, eyes wide and glued to the ceiling. You gripped his arms, steadying yourself as you adjusted, widening your legs a little more. The girth of his fingers stunned you, you'd never felt so full, even with your husband. They immediately curved up to hit the spongy, sensitive flesh, massaging it while his thumb circled your clit.

He may have conditioned himself into not pleasuring himself while he was giving his all to a woman, but your wanton moans and whimpers... hell... you were makin' it so hard . He clenched his jaw, watching you as your sweet, lush hips rolled back and forth to meet his fingers each time he withdrew them.

Each breath was a moan, and you couldn't stop them, the euphoria that you felt was too much. You were a perfect picture of arousal; cheeks flushed, hair mussed up and flayed out on his pillowcase, back arched, and hips undulating to meet his touch. Jimmy was used to women during pleasure, but something about the way you whimpered his name had gotten him worked up.

His cock was rock hard, tenting against his old, softened jeans. Jimmy ground his hips once against your hip, forcing friction and testing your reaction. The slick wet spot on his boxers shifted, and he let loose a throaty, low sound. He couldn't take it anymore.

Thankfully, you let out a pleased sound of surprise, and whispered: "Do that again..."

You begged him for more, your nails leaving crescent moon shaped indentations on his biceps. The way he touched you was unlike anything you'd ever felt before, and certainly nothing that your husband had ever done for you. Jimmy pushed his fingers deeper, thrusting them in and out and coating them with your slick.

Jimmy groaned, your candy-sweet voice filled his ears and his caravan. His hips rutted against you again, finding a pleasurable rhythm that stroked his shaft as he moved. He would've given anything to have been inside you. He fucked you faster, and your tight, warm cunt squeezed around his fingers. His hips jerked abruptly, pressing his cock hard into your side. The sensations were too much, you couldn’t hold back any longer. 

"Jimmy, I'm gonna'... I feel like I'm.... oh god."

Your legs tensed and then began quivering as your orgasm washed over you, your jaw dropping in a high-pitched moan. You pulsed around his fingers as you came, saying his name over and over again.

Jimmy felt the tightness of his own orgasm approaching, withdrew his fingers, and climbed on top of you, hurriedly. With one hand, he undid his jeans and pulled his throbbing cock free from his boxers. “Sorry, baby… I need to feel you.” The fat, scarlet tip leaked pre-cum onto you as he ground it against your cunt, slipping in between the warm folds. You dropped your head against the pillow again, whimpering at how sensitive you’d become – the friction of his cock on your clit was making you see stars. Jimmy’s hips lost their rhythm abruptly, stuttering as he emptied himself all over your stomach, white ropes of cum decorating the soft flesh.

After taking his undershirt off to clean up the mess he’d made, Jimmy laid with you, stroking your collarbone tenderly. You fell asleep on his small bed, wrapping yourself in the warm cotton sheets. As your lids drifted shut, you thought not of Roger, but of cotton candy, warm and melting on your tongue where the taste of Jimmy Darling still lingered.

~

The sun was setting when Jimmy finally emerged from his trailer, wearing a button down shirt and jeans. As he headed back towards the main tent, someone called his name.

"Jimmy," Eve sighed, leaning against the side of her caravan. "You can't keep breaking hearts like that."

Pausing, Jimmy shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged her statement off. "Who said I broke her heart? That girl needed to know what it felt like."

Eve knew what he meant and in a way, Jimmy was doing these women a service. He was treating them how they all ought to be treated, and she couldn't argue with that. She stepped down onto the grass, closing in the distance between them.

"We're leaving in a week, sweetheart. You know you're going to have to take her home tomorrow." Eve felt like a mother telling her kid that they couldn't keep an animal they'd found. She frowned slightly, reaching out to squeeze Jimmy's shoulder.

"Yeah... yeah, I know."

He chuckled, exhaling through his nose, his gaze falling. He liberated women. Sure, maybe a few tears were shed, a couple marriages shattered in the process, but you can't make an omelette without cracking a few eggs. Jimmy showed women how they were supposed to be treated, how they were supposed to feel every night and once they got the Lobster Boy special, they never settled again. He hoped you wouldn't, either.

You deserved that.

[megmachine]

Mistakes

A/N: this is the first section of my WIP star trek fic. See the tags before reading if your interested, and please let me know what you think! 

The last time Jim ever saw his aunt alive, she was crying. He was thirteen and being led onto a bus alongside his cousins and had glanced out the darkened window on a whim. She had been standing in the doorway to their farmhouse, clutching little Sarah’s favorite blanket, arguing with one of the large men dressed in black that had come to take them back. The man had laid his hand on his belt, saying something, and Aunt Josie had broken down crying. Through a cloud of red dust as they drove away, Jimmy saw her fall to her knees and sob. Tear tracks cut through the dirt on her face, leftovers from when they’d been playing in the garden earlier. They turned a corner and trees finally blocked his view, and he turned back to talk to his cousins.

He was only supposed to be on Tarsus IV for six months. Driving the car into the canyon had been the last straw, and even though they’d ‘worked things out’ with the cops, Jimmy knew he’d pushed too hard. Frank was fed up with him and he’d been suspended from school again and his mother was still out there, exploring space without him. Winona said she would be earthside ‘in just six months, Jimmy, it’s only six months,’ and that this was just a stopgap to get him away from his step-father.  What a load of bull that was, not that he’d say it to her face. Two months in, when he moved into boarding school full-time and wasn’t counting down the days till his shuttle home, Winona messaged him. She told him her ship, the U.S.S. Faragaut, would be delayed eight additional months and for the first time, he wasn’t heartbroken. Fourteen months in the colony, he could make it fourteen months. His aunt actually liked him, she never even hit him, and his cousins didn’t treat him like a burden the way Sam used to. Classes challenged him, for the most part, and he got to go back home every weekend to see his aunt and the farmhouse. Sure, meals weren’t that big, but Jimmy had never really gone hungry here, either. Tarsus was good. Life was good. 

This time, though, as the farmhouse faded from view, he could tell his Aunt knew something was different. Clouds of red dust obscured his view and it felt like he was losing something, somewhere he’d finally started to call home. It was silly to get so melancholy about a semester at boarding school, he’d thought. He’d thought a lot of things that ended up being wrong.

It was two Saturdays later when Jimmy and Will wondered if something was wrong. A full two weeks since they had seen the rest of their family. They were sitting on his cousin’s bed, each with a PADD in hand, working on their homework. Their teacher, Hoshi, had been grilling them on languages, and despite Jimmy’s efforts Will couldn’t grasp Vulcansu conjugations. 

“No, see, it’s a past tense irregular verb, and you forgot the hyphen-”

“Jimmy.” Will interrupted him, something he never did. His face, normally an open book, was drawn and stiff. Jimmy held his tongue and swallowed back his knee-jerk snarky response. His cousin took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and let it out in a huff.  

“I’m worried about my mom. She hasn’t been responding to my comms all week, and Mr. Davies told me we aren’t doing home visits next weekend, either. I just… I know you think it’s stupid to get all worked up over family, but this isn’t like her.”

Neither of them said anything for a minute, both brains running through the options. Finally, Jimmy sighed. He knew his cousin well enough to know where his mind had immediately gone, and had an idea of how to deal with it. 

“Look, Will, I do understand where you’re coming from. If you’re really that worried about Aunt Josie, how about we go see her? Will that make you feel better?” Jimmy tossed his PADD aside and stood up, stretching his arms over his head and groaning exaggeratedly. Honestly, he’d been wanting to stretch his legs too, but hadn’t had the right opportunity to sneak out until this moment. 

His cousin wasn’t convinced yet, though. “What do you mean? How are we supposed to get home if buses aren’t running to the farm?”

Jimmy smirked, tilting his head and glancing back. “Why, we’ll be breaking out, of course!”

That line sealed the deal. After all, Will was a bad boy at heart, too.

It was dark out by the time they could put their plan into motion. The double moons were rising in the west, casting everything outside the range of the street lamps in a faint, pale light. They took a walk in the botany gardens after dinner, a fairly inconspicuous thing to do. Subconsciously, Jimmy noted that a few of the plants seemed wilted, white flecks spotting a few lower leaves, but he wasn’t a botanist and so made no comment. Will kept an eye on the teachers that patrolled the area while Jimmy made his way to a shadowy corner, the one place he knew of that the cameras wouldn’t see him. From there, he accessed the security system from his PADD - he’d been teaching himself programming since he was five, sitting in the back of his kindergarten classroom, it was a breeze to hack these types of systems - and ran a loop of camera feed. From there the two made their way to the chain link fence that surrounded the school. 

The principal told them it was to keep wildlife out, since Tarsus had some rather nasty native predators. Of course, there was a hole in the fence that Jimmy had known about for a few weeks, and nothing had managed to get in, so he didn’t know the validity of that statement. The gap was barely big enough for him to squeeze through, scrawny as he was, but he’d kept it in the back of his mind in case he ever wanted to sneak out. There hadn’t been anything suspicious going on, at least as far as he was aware, so he’d had no reason to utilize it before this night. He was enjoying his classes, and had no reason to mess around. At, least, not until then.

Jimmy went through first. After making sure the coast was clear, Will forced his way out, too. The fencing groaned, and they both held their breath for a minute before determining no one else had heard. After that, it was smooth sailing for the rest of their ‘escape.’ The fence opened up into a thick forest, full of a mix of native and terran flora that formed a dense canopy and heavy shadows. They could still use the moonlight and their knowledge of direction to make their way towards the nearby town of New Franklin. The school they attended was fairly secluded, so their hike took nearly an hour. The principal and teachers, when asked, had said that the governor thought it important that students learn astronomy and botany and all types of things you couldn’t study well in the city, so their school was the only thing this far out. They were surrounded by forests on one side, and a massive plain on the other, and as far as one could see there was no other sign of civilization. When he first got there, Jimmy had thought all the greenery was wonderful. Now he was starting to hate it, as he was slapped in the face by yet another palm frond-looking thing.

Eventually, pushing through the thick greenery native to Tarsus, Jimmy thought he could hear the murmur of human life. It was about time - they still had to consider the hour-long drive to and from the farmhouse, and he wanted to get a little bit of sleep that night. Their plan was to either hitch a ride from a kind stranger, an idea Jimmy wasn’t a big fan of, or steal a vehicle, something Will didn’t like - even though Jimmy had argued that they wouldn’t really be stealing, they'd be borrowing with the intent to bring it back unscratched. That argument was part of why they’d gotten started so late, and now Tarsus’ first moon was more than halfway through the sky. Its blue face watched them as they foraged on through the woods, unwavering and unyielding in its faint light. 

They popped out on a paved road, the outlines of squat, wide-spread buildings against the tapestry of stars the only sign of civilization. There were next to no lights on, Jimmy noticed. No street lamps, or illuminated windows, or headlights. He’d have thought the town was dead, if not for the hum of generators he could still make out. A curfew, then? Why? Neither of them had any answers, but this did throw a wrench in both their transportation options. More so Will’s favored plan than his own, though his would be difficult to pull off too. 

Well, there was no way around it. The two boys exchanged glances - neither had said a word their whole adventure other than to warn the other of a hole or tree branch, too scared of being heard and caught - and advanced towards the dead town. Jimmy knew more than enough about hotwiring to be able to steal most civilian vehicles, and Will had been driving aunt Josie’s truck for the past year, so they were rather confident in their abilities. But that all depended on whether or not they would find something to steal. 

The first couple of buildings they approached were barren. Jimmy could make out the muffled sound of human voices and movement behind the walls, but there were no vehicles other than a couple of rusting bikes parked out front. The first hovercar they saw was all black and parked in the middle of town square. The engine was still running, but no one was sitting inside the car. Jimmy made a mental note of it and kept creeping along, hoping for a less suspicious get-away vehicle. The next one they saw was sitting in front of a small house. The car itself had four wheels and more than a little bit of rust, but it obviously hadn’t been used in the past few hours. The house it was parked near, similarly, didn’t show any signs of life. Neither Jimmy nor Will wanted to think very hard about that fact. Still, this was a better option, less likely to be noticed missing if they could get away quietly. Jimmy cracked his knuckles, gave his cousin a grin, and eased the driver’s door open.

Since he’d been old enough to start developing his fine motor skills, Jimmy had been playing with wires. Maybe not a sign of the safest childhood, but it certainly had its perks. For one, he could open a panel inside any car, four-wheeled or hovering, and get it running in under five minutes if it was a model from the past half-century. Thankfully, this one was. Another thing Jimmy was thankful for, he considered once the engine hummed to life, was that 23rd century cars were so much quieter than previous renditions. Not even the house a block over could hear it starting up. Will nudged his cousin over, crawling into the driver side and adjusting the seat to his liking. 

“I’m still sticking by my argument that I could drive this puppy just as well as you,” Jimmy grumbled from where he was buckling himself into the passenger seat. 

Will ignored him, throwing the car into gear and ever-so-slowly crawling out of the driveway and onto the road. “How the hell am I supposed to navigate all the way home if I can’t turn on the headlights?” he hissed, peering over the steering wheel in a way that didn’t really give Jimmy much confidence in his abilities. 

He sighed, hunching over the center console and pulling out more wires from Will didn’t even know where. In between stripping colorful rubber with his teeth, Jimmy explained himself. “Most modern cars actually have the ability to display an active infrared view through the windshield - night vision. It’s better than using the headlights, actually, but we humans are too attached to the way things have always been to use it. Manufacturers even got rid of the easy-access switch, but they never bothered to get rid of the tech itself. Lucky us.” He spared a second to glance up at his cousin, grinning wildly, before twisting two bare wires together and clipping them to a circuit board. Jimmy had no idea how like his mother he looked in that second, and the excited expression faded almost as suddenly as it had appeared. 

The windshield display flickered once, twice, before the pitch black landscape became visible in various shades of green and grey. The compass, temperature read out, and clock reappeared in their usual location (lining the top of the windshield, out of immediate eyeline), now a bright white against hunter green shadows. 

Jimmy almost whoop-ed, catching himself at the last second and instead silently punched the air. “What’re you waiting for, Willy?” He snickered, flopping back into his seat. Will grumbled something about ‘cocky little nerds’ and eased his way down the pavement, gradually making his way out the town as a pace that had both of them out of their minds with boredom before they’d even made it a mile. 

It took a little over ninety minutes to get to aunt Josie’s farmhouse. More often than either of them wanted to acknowledge, they’d pulled off the road and held their breaths, paranoid that they were being followed, only to laugh at themselves when no one showed up. Jimmy didn’t voice the alternative - that they were being stalked, toyed with. Will was on edge enough as it were. 

The lights were off when they pulled up. Neither were that worried - Aunt Josie had always been more of a morning person, after all. Her red pickup was still parked under the carport. As they walked up to the front door, Jimmy watched his cousin unwind, tension easing out of his muscles. Will pushed the door open - again, not worrying, they lived far enough in the country to not bother with locks - and stepped into the kitchen. The house was silent. Jimmy followed, hands in his pockets but eyes darting around the heavily shadowed room. 

Making their way deeper into the house, Will seemed to relax further and further while Jimmy felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Something felt off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what exactly was wrong. It was a somewhat similar feeling to what he would get when Frank was about to come home, full of cheap liquor and anger he’d take out on Jimmy and Sam. The air felt stale in his lungs. At the end of the hallway, the door to Aunt Josie’s bedroom was closed. 

Will was smiling as he nudged the door open. He took a deep breath, ready to call out to his mom, ready to be reassured of her health and safety. The next second he was hunched over, hands clasped over his mouth and stomach rolling. The smell of decay overwhelmed them, and Jimmy finally identified what, exactly, was wrong. 

Aunt Josie was laying on the ground near her bed, an archaic bullet hole through her chest. The light grey rug under her body was stained dark brown with old blood. While Will clung to the doorframe, trying desperately to keep his dinner down, Jimmy stumbled forward to her side. He’d always heard that people were peaceful in death, but Aunt Josie looked as distraught as she’d been when he last saw her, through a school bus window, two weeks ago. Her body was breaking down, past rigor mortis and well along in the bloating process. Deep tan skin was now motley green. The stink of rotting meat and excrement and who knew what else was thick in the air, having been trapped in the room with her. Dark liquid covered the wood floor, leaking out from her body, more fluid than one would expect from a corpse. If he looked closely, which he tried not to, he could see the small movement of maggots and cadaverous bugs within her small wound and under the skin. 

Saliva pooled in Jimmy’s mouth and he turned away, stumbling out of the room before collapsing to his knees and retching. Will staggered after him, pale and sweating. Neither of them said a word for the longest time. Will was barely breathing, not making a sound as tears pooled in his eyes and ran, silently, down his cheeks. 

“How long has she been dead?” he finally whispered, choking on the word.

Jimmy hated how his mind automatically went through the stages of decomposition, hated how for a split second he could objectively analyze how far along the body (his aunt, not the body, it was his aunt lying there) was. He was barely aware of his lips moving and the words coming out of his mouth. “It takes around eight days for discoloration to start. She’s probably been… for over a week.” 

“Fuck.”

It took another ten minutes for either of them to move. Jimmy pulled himself to his feet, dragged his cousin behind him, and made his way towards the front door. Will didn’t make a sound as he was led along, eyes unfocused and staring into the distance. It was past midnight at this point, and Jimmy knew they had to get going if they wanted to avoid being caught out. As he passed the kitchen table, a stack of mail caught his attention and he grabbed them, curious, glancing over the words. 

‘In response to your request… Cannot supply more rations… Distress signal…’

Jimmy swallowed and stuffed the papers in his coat pocket without a second thought. 

Will was still unresponsive when they reached the stolen car, and without a second thought Jimmy shoved him into the passenger seat before climbing behind the wheel. Driving this old thing couldn’t be more difficult than the corvette, and this time he wasn’t trying to run from Frank and the cops and Riverside. Jimmy didn’t spare a second to glance in the rearview mirror as he pulled away from the farmhouse. If he did, he wouldn’t have been able to leave. 

It was only when they got close to town that Jimmy noticed they were being tailed. At first he thought it was a figment of his paranoid imagination. It was barely there, in the corner of his eye, and his cousin was of no help in differentiating real from fabricated. Will hadn’t spoken a word since the farmhouse. Jimmy stepped on the gas a hair and fixed his eyes on the road in front of him, ignoring the tingling in the back of his mind. 

Jimmy pulled off on the side of the road and stared out the back window. He’d seen it again, bigger and more obvious. He was 85% sure there really was something out there, in the black of Tarsus night. Either way, he wasn’t too keen on getting caught, so they would be legging it through the woods the rest of the way back. He hopped out of the car and led Will behind him into the dense forest. He'd finally started responding when Jimmy asked him questions, and could see his surroundings well enough to avoid low hanging branches.

“Come on, we’ve got to go, they’re behind us Will, we’ve got to hide,” Jimmy panted in his cousin’s ear. They were making far too much noise, stepping on twigs and getting slapped by branches. He just hoped they could get far enough ahead of the people stalking them, out of hearing range and back to school before sunrise.

 Just as the thought crossed his mind, he heard boots stomping through the undergrowth after them. “Hey! Where’d you go? You know the punishment for breaking curfew, it’ll hurt less if you just stop running!” The overt threat of pain and punishment sent a chill down Jimmy’s spine and he couldn't let himself get lost in memories of Frank, he had to get his cousin back to safety. He grit his teeth and made a conscious effort to be quieter, shushed Will when he spat a curse at a vine that tangled around his leg but it was too late. Bright flashlight beams cut through the greenery and into Will’s face and shouts filled the air. 

Then they are running through the woods, abandoning all hope at subtlety and there are crashing footsteps behind them, the high pitched whine of phaser blasts and deep voices calling out promises of pain, and - 

Will trips over a branch, twists his ankle, and Jimmy hauls his cousin up and behind him. He’s limping and leaning heavily on the younger boy but Jimmy clings tight to him. He won’t lose more of his family, he won’t, not after Sam, he can help Will, it’s not too much further to the fence and if they can just lose these guards they’ll be fine.

Gunshots and phaser fire follow them, sinking into tree trunks in their wake, cutting through leaves and then they hit something definitively not wood and Will is screaming, crying, begging Jimmy to stop but he’s bleeding out all over Jimmy and it’s too much, too much, he can’t make it stop please make it stop! There’s a hole in his stomach, gaping in what little moonlight is filtering through the tree branches. Hot blood is burning his hands, his face, and he can’t put enough pressure on the wound while trying to run and he can’t stop running or they’re both dead. They’re both so, so dead.

Will is clawing at Jimmy’s hand and at first he grips it tight, trying to take some of the pain from his cousin, but he’s being slapped and Will is glaring at him with as much strength as he can muster, though it’s fading fast. Jimmy has never seen so much fire in those brown eyes until now. He’s wheezing, but he can force out a mouthful of words. “Leave me, Jimmy. You gotta get out of here.” The men are gaining on them and they don’t have much time left. Will lets himself go limp, still staring at Jimmy, shrugging out of his hold and collapsing onto the ground. He shoves him once, for good measure, when Jimmy stops moving. “Go!” Will shouts, the force of his words making blood spew from his paling lips.

 Jimmy runs. He runs, and doesn’t look back. 

[justice4harwin]

All Too Well- part 2

Summary: Johnny Lawrence was a troubled kid, then a troubled teen, and although he hid this from most, there were a few people he allowed to truly know them.

Series of one-shots telling his story with one of those people. 

Part 1

Part 2: Johnny and Noelia’s first meeting.

Late August, 1982

Noe held the toy gun with a firm grip and closed an eye as she pointed at her target. Around her, the loud voices of games and people having a good time seemed to fade away as she forced herself to focus on the game at hand. This was only a little bit better than just awkwardly wandering around on her own.

Firing in quick succession, she almost didn’t miss and smiled to herself, lowering the toy as the screen switched onto the next level. She noticed a girl standing nearby.

“Oh, sorry. Were you waiting to…?” she left the rest of the sentence hanging in the air and pointed at the screen.

The girl, who had been staring, shook her head, her pretty blond curls bouncing about.

“No! It’s fine, really. You were here first. I was just watching while I waited for my friends.” she took a tentative step forward, so they wouldn’t have to talk so loudly. “You’re really good.”

“Thanks.”She stepped aside and motioned for the girl to stand in her place. “You wanna keep going? I was getting bored anyway.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, shortening the distance further.

Noe smiled, handing her the gun. Her dad had talked her into going to that place to meet some people before classes started in september. This seemed like the perfect chance.

“I’m Ali.” the blond smiled in return, turning her eyes to the screen and shooting. She missed almost half of the targets.

“Noelia.”

“You new here?”

Noe nodded, but Ali probably couldn’t see it.

“Yeah. My family moved here from Winsconsin a few weeks ago.”

“Cool!” she gave her a swift look. “Must be a big change.”

“Yeah, but I think so far I like it.”

Ali kept on missing despite Noe’s gentle advice, and soon the game was over.

“Sorry I ruined it.” she said with a grimace, putting the gun down and moving aside to allow two boys no older than twelve to take her place.

Noe waved a hand.

“It’s just a game.”

“They’re right there! It’s not like real hunting, you know? They’re just a few feet away.”

The other girl shrugged, placing a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Maybe it’s the bright colors? I find them pretty distracting.”

Ali gave the screen a pitiful look.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Ali!” 

Both looked in the direction of the voice, finding a tall brunette waving next to a redhead. Ali turned to Noe.

“Hey, wanna join me and my friends? We were about to have a snack.”

“Are you sure they won’t mind?” It sounded good. Really good. Almost two weeks had passed since the move, and each day, Noe found herself lonelier than the last. Her parents had quickly settled into their new routines at their respectives jobs, and her little brother spent most of the day playing with the other kids from the complex. Noe had had so much free time in her hands that she had unpacked most of their stuff all on her own and even managed to fix a shelf in the kitchen without help.

“Yeah, c’mon! It’ll be fun!”

“Ok, but I’m getting some fries first.”

Ali motioned to her friends and guided Noe to the food stand, where she also ordered a slurpee. 

“So, which school are you going to?”

“West Valley. Sophomore year.”

Ali’s eyes widened.

“Me too! That’s so cool! Maybe we’ll share some classes.”

Great relief washed over Noe as she heard this. This girl seemed nice, plus It’d be great to know at least one person on her first day.

Hearing some commotion coming from the table Ali’s friends had sat at, both girls turned to look. The blonde groaned.

“Great.” her voice dripped sarcasm.

Noe looked on with curiosity as the table filled with a bunch of loud boys. 

“Friends of yours?”

“Friends of my friends, unfortunately.” the blue eyed girl answered.

One of the boys leaned closer to Ali’s friend and said something, to which the girl pointed in their direction and his head snapped up, zeroing in on them.

Caught, Noe hurried to look away and thanked the employee as he handed her the drink. Next to her, Ali’s mood had visibly damped. Of course, Noe wanted to ask, but she wasn’t too sure if it was the right moment for that. They had just met after all. Who knew the history there.

“Oh, great, now he’s coming over. Quick, pretend you’re with me.”

“I am with you.” Noe smiled, subtly raising her eyes to see the guy from before approaching. 

He was quite tall and seemed well built, his blond hair fell over his forehead, but they didn’t hide his blue eyes. Noe felt the straw falling back into the cup. He had to be pretty terrible, because otherwise she wouldn’t understand why Ali seemed to hate him so. He shouldn’t have a right to look so good.

He looked at her as he approached and crocked his head to the side, smirking. She looked away, embarrassed for getting caught.

Luckily, he walked past them, but she could feel his eyes on her, almost burning her. It was something she thought happened in her mom’s novels only.

Her new friend suddenly looked at her, seeming like she was trying to make a choice.

Noe was about to ask her when something collided with her back, sending her forward. Ali caught her by the arms, and Noe gasped as the icy contents of the cup spilled over her shirt, its cold contents against her hot skin causing a small shock.

“Seriously, Johnny?!”

“What?! It was an accident!” 

Ali looked as convinced of that as of the existence of Santa.

“Right. Just like you.”

Noe put the cup on the counter and looked down.

“Crap.” she muttered.

Ali was pushed back as another figure imposed itself into her line of vision.

“Hey, you okay there?” she looked up to find the blond guy again. His expression shone with excitement, which she found suspicious. “It really was an accident.”

“Yeah, don’t worry.” she waved him away, looking down again at her shirt. 

“Here, let me buy you another.” he offered quickly.

The blonde girl jumped back in and pushed the guy, Johnny, away with a hip thrust.

“You do that, jerk.”

“It was an accident!” he defended again, raising both hands.

She ignored him.

“C’mon. I’ll help you clean up.”

Noe let Ali take her hand and guide her to the bathroom without a word.

Looking back, she caught Johnny grinning from ear to ear at their retreating forms. He winked and she rolled her eyes half-heartedly.

Boys.

Johnny PoV

"Play nice." He had muttered to his boys under his breath and through clenched teeth as Ali Mills and her cute, new friend approached the group.

He stood up from his place at the edge of the table, his eyes never straying from the girl.

She was pretty. Petite, olive skin, rosy cheeks and eyes so dark they were almost black, except for those bright green flecks. Her curls hung loose down to her shoulders, which were exposed.

Maybe he could take a break from his attempts at wooing Ali, it wasn't really working anyways.

Ali stopped in front of them, but only addressed her friends.

"Girls, this is Noelia. Noelia, meet Barbara and Susan."

They both smiled and greeted the new girl, which she returned warmly as her eyes drifted to him and his friends.

Johnny took his chance, striding towards her. 

"Hey, I'm Johnny." He shook her hand, gazing into her eyes. He felt a rush, but quickly shook it off. "These are Jimmy, Bobby, Dutch and Tommy."

"Hi everyone." Her voice was soft, but easily heard, even with the commotion around them.  

"Look," he pulled her out of Ali's grip fairly easily and to the place he had saved for her next to Bobby. "I got your order for you, and another drink."

She smiled at him, like he was some sort of angel or something.

"That's very kind but you didn't have to."she reached for her pocket. "Please let me repay you for the drink."

"No, no I can't." He raised his hands, taking a step back. Jimmy and Dutch were laughing silently behind Noelia while Ali glared at them, arms crossed and looking like she had sucked on a lemon. She was the only one of the female group who seemed to see through their bullshit. "I spilled the drink on you-"

"It was an accident."she interrupted.

"And ruined your clothes-"

"On accident."

"It's just a drink, Noelia." He liked saying her name.

She stared at him for a few seconds, and Johnny felt like a small kid when they got praise. That unadulterated rush of pride and self-worth that boosted anyone's ego ran through him after so long as she finally nodded.

"Okay. Thanks." She sat at the table, and he was quick to follow up and take the space to her left. 

Ali sat on the opposite side next to Barb and gave him a warning glance.

Don't mess her up or else...

He chuckled internally and turned to listen as Noelia answered Susan's question.

She opened up slowly but steadily, and seemed to be hitting it off quite well.

"So, your parents moved here for work?" It was Bobby who asked, playing around with his straw. "What do they do?"

She swallowed her fry before replying:

"Mom's a dentist and dad's a surgical nurse."

Johnny snickered as Dutch, Tommy and Jimmy laughed. The girls and Bobby rolled their eyes.

"Your dad's a nurse?!" Dutch asked, almost in tears.

It was funny, but not that funny. Then again, Dutch could laugh at almost anything when he was as high as he was at the moment.

Noelia crossed her arms over her chest, her face going from angelic to malevolent as she glared at him.

"Yeah. Got a problem?"

Dutch ceased his laughter long enough to give her an obvious look as he gestured with his hands, like that would help get his point across.

"C'mon. That's a woman's job."

"So is being a hairdresser, which explains how you're so good at bleaching your hair." Ali spoke up without so much as a glance, finding her drink more interesting.

Johnny and the others outright laughed at this, including the girls. Noelia looked down as her shoulders shook, and then sent Ali a grateful look.

Johnny watched her for a moment and then at Dutch, his demeanor turning cold as he shook his head once in warning.

You're gonna ruin my chances.

Susan got up.

“I’m bored. I’ll go find a game.”

The other two got up, and after a discreet nod from the leader, so did the cobras. Ali turned back to Noe.

“Wanna come?”

The new girl checked her wrist watch and grimaced.

“I don’t think so. My dad’s picking me up soon.”

The blond’s face fell slightly.

“Oh, well, okay.” she perked up immediately after. “We’re throwing a party at the beach on saturday, to celebrate the end of the summer. You should come.”

“I think I can do that. Or I’ll see you at school.”

Ali nodded, and with quick words, they were all gone.

The girl turned and jumped, placing a hand to her chest. Johnny noticed her nails were painted black and slightly chipped.

“Sorry, I thought everyone left.”

He placed his elbow on the table and leaned against it.

“Thought I’d keep you company.” he smiled charmingly. It was the smile he used to suck up to the other parents in Encino.

“Are you sure you don’t wanna go with your friends? I won’t wait long or anything.”

Discreetly, he scooted closer to her. He mustn’t have done such a good job, since she narrowed her eyes at him.

“I’m perfect here, hot stuff.”

She snorted softly, and the blush that rose to her cheeks wasn’t as deep as he was used to getting from other girls.

“Do you come here often?” she asked him suddenly, turning all her attention to him. He was slightly caught off guard. After a moment, Johny started talking, and she listened. 

She asked. He answered.

She asked. He answered. She listened.

She turned on the bench to face him, one leg on each side of the metal seat as he spoke of some of his favourite spots around the place.

He found it strange, but she truly seemed to be paying attention to what he said. She didn’t seem bored as he spoke, nodding along and making comments or side questions here and there, her rapt eyes on him, like being worthy of such magnitude of attention made sense. Like it was no effort to her. 

He stared at her here and there. From the posture, to the way her long, flowy skirt framed her legs, to the hands which now laid on the bench right in front of her. Goosebumps seemed to be raising in her arms, so he did something odd, and instead of being cheeky and telling her to scoot over to him, he took off his red jacket and handed it to her.

Her hair flew with the breeze too, some of it getting to her face. She’d catch locks with those slender fingers and push them away to no avail, but it didn’t seem to annoy her in the least.

Eventually, the disconcert settled, then faded and he recovered his balls, finally asking about her too. It seemed only fair, and part of him was genuinely curious.

“So, you’ve been living here for long?”

“No, we just moved in some weeks ago.”

“And wha-”

“Noe!” a honk followed the yell, and she looked to her left as he looked to his right and caught a glimpse of a man waving from the inside of a car.

“That’s my dad. I gotta go.” she stood up and took off the jacket, handing it back to him. Up on her feet, the multicolored lights seemed to caress her, creating a kaleidoscopic halo around her silhouette. She grabbed her empty cup, cardboard plate and looked at him like they were old friends already. “Do you go to West Valley too?”

He nodded and she smiled brightly, like the news was delightful to her.

“That’s great! I’ll see you around, Johnny.”

Was that the first time she said his name out loud? It sounded nice.

“Yeah. See you.”

She departed then, walking with a sprint, stopping once to throw her trash in a can, then a second time before entering the car to turn and wave at him, and got in. He blinked, a group of nerds got in the way, and when they moved the car was long gone.

Some snickers bought him back to earth.

“What happened there, Johnny?” Dutch and Jimmy approached him, evil glints in their eyes. “Was it love at first sight? Are you gonna burst into song now?”

Johnny rolled his eyes and swiftly swept Dutch’s leg. He almost fell on his ass.

“Nah, man.” he shrugged. “She’s hot. I may ask her out once or twice, you know; get some experience before I ask Ali again.”

Jimmy nodded, like it made as much sense as their theory about the pyramids.

“She’s a Reseda girl, after all.”

“Mm.” He stood up from the bench and stretched before putting on his jacket again.

As he followed his friends back in, cracking jokes and laughing, he felt a peculiar scent.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but it reminded him of a bakery early in the morning, when everything is just out of the oven. It was nice.

His group got together again and he quickly jumped in, making sure to be the center of attention.

[haveyouseenmymind]

Welcome at Bad Habits

Here it is, my fic for the @thefanficfaerie‘s  a picture is worth a thousand words challenge! 

The moodboard I chose was Bartender, and to be honest, I’m a bit nervous about this, cause I’m not quite sure that I’ve done her beautiful moodboard justice.

But I hope you like the fic and that I’ve not been too mean to poor Jim. ;)

Fandom: Star Trek AOS

Pairing: Jim Kirk x Reader

Rating: T (for language)

Warnings: bit of crude language (there’s the D-word somewhere in there)

Words: 1816

During your shift your fellow bartender Jim needs a rescue from some pushy ladies, and you’re more than willing to help him out.

The day was slowly starting to fade out, as night was taking over and darkness fell over the city. People were either hurrying along the streets to get back home, or talking excitedly to their friends accompanying them on their search for the best place to spend a night full of fun.

Many of them would find their way to Bad Habits, the bar that you were working at, and where you just had started your shift.

So far business was going slowly, only a few people had already come in and ordered their drinks, so that you had enough time at your hands to clean some glasses, watching as a few more customers entered the bar, looking for booths to sit down. 

For now you were content with the silent and peaceful start of the night, but you knew that more people would come later, making you busy with mixing and serving drinks, getting them whatever they wanted.

You liked your job at Bad Habits, felt comfortable with working in the atmosphere of old wooden charm mixed with the excitement of the new and modern. Your favorite was the wall right behind the bar, which held a huge amount of liquors from all over the world, a collection put together by Christopher Pike, the owner of the bar. 

On some days, when he was working right beside you and the others, he would tell stories about each bottle, and how he came in their possession. Those days were well loved among the people, as Chris had quite some fantastic stories to tell, one of his bad habits, as he liked to joke.

Thanks to him, Bad Habits felt more like home than a simple workplace, felt more like working with family than some randomly put together strangers. 

He set great value on both his customers and even more so his employees having a place where they could feel like they belong. 

Truly, the man had spared no expenses to make this a place one wouldn’t be able to forget. And so it was no small wonder that the bar was one of the most popular spots in the city, and you were quite proud of that, as your skills as a bartender added to that.

But you were not the only one who could mix up a mean drink. Your colleagues were just as skilled as you, and everyone had their own speciality.

One of them was Jim Kirk, Mr. Charming himself, chatterbox extraordinaire and master of mixing fruity sins of alcohol.

With his sunny character and friendly attitude, the blond just fit into the role of a bartender as if it was made just for him. He was good at smalltalk, and always had an ear for anyone who needed it.

And he was easy to work with. The two of you had quite the chemistry going on, you worked well together and always found some time to joke with each other. He was a nice guy, genuinely interested in your life and always up for some fun.

At the moment, Jim was busy serving a group of women that had come into the bar a while ago, and it seemed like some of them were already a bit loaded, and now poor Jim had to deal with the consequences of it.

You were watching with a smirk how they were hitting on him, trying to get closer to him, while he was struggling between mixing drinks and politely declining their advances. At times he threw some desperate or annoyed glances at you, and you had to stop yourself from laughing about his misery.

Apparently, you weren’t the only one.

Leonard McCoy, another one of your colleagues and Jim’s best friend, stepped next to you and stared at the suffering blond with unhidden glee.

“So, poor Jimmy needs another rescue? Whose turn is it?”

You smiled at Len, amused at what turn the evening had taken, looking forward to how it would go on from there. 

“It’s mine. Remember last time?”

It wasn’t the first time that Jim had to deal with some persistent admirers. Most of them were harmless though, and so Leonard and you had started a little game. Every time Jim needed some “help”, either you or Len would get him out of the situation, while having some fun and messing around with the blond.

Last time, when it had been Leonard’s turn, he had walked up to to Jim, clasped him on the shoulder and congratulated him that the rash he had was nothing too serious and that his dick wouldn’t shrivel up and fall off.

You didn’t know what had been funnier, Jim turning beat red and sputtering, or the horrified face of the drunk dude that had been bugging Jim all evening.

Sure, it had been quite a bit mean, but Jim could give as good as he got. The next day Leonard had turned up at the bar with bright pink hair, grumbling and muttering curses, while Jim had looked like the cat who got the cream.

Back to presence though, Leonard looked at you disappointed, as this was clearly not what he had wanted to hear.

“Damn it, I had hoped that it was my turn. It’s time I get some revenge on Jim for always stealing my food. I regret the day I gave him my apartment key for emergencies.”

“You can still watch, maybe that’s some small comfort to you. Now what to do?”

You kept watching how Jim dealt with the pushy women, while, you were thinking of a unique story for today’s rescue.

Then, suddenly you had an idea and started to grin. Leonard, who had left you alone with your thoughts to take the order of a couple, just returned and noticed this.

“Looks like you got an idea. I hope it’s good.”

You scoffed at him, annoyed how he could question your brilliance. So far every one of your ideas for a rescue had been quite hilarious.

“Of course it is, just watch me.”

And with that you started to make your way over to Jim, trying to keep down your glee and concentrate on the excitement instead.

When you reached him, he seemed to be relieved as soon as he saw you, but that didn’t last very long, as it was replaced by fear soon after. Jim hadn’t forgotten the other times this had happened, and so he knew what was coming.

But you kept going with your plan, and simply hugged the blond who seemed to have accepted his fate for now.

“Jimmy, congrats old boy, I just heard the good news!”

You parted from him, and had to held back laughing when you saw his confusion. Then you turned towards the women, who didn’t seem too happy that you had interrupted them in their attempts to get into the pants of the good looking bartender.

“You know ladies, his wife just called. She gave birth to a beautiful baby boy today, so our dear Jimmy has something to celebrate today. Though his wife wasn’t too happy about him not being there.”

Then you turned back towards Jim and realized that he had started pouting.

“By the way, does that mean that you won’t elope with Leonard? Oh boy, I don’t want to be the one telling him that. Poor guy already got his things packed and your name tattooed on his ass.”

For more dramatic effect you turned back towards the women, who were eyeing Jim suspiciously now. You leaned in closer to the one sitting right across you, and whispered to her loud enough, so that all the others would be able to listen to it, too.

“Leonard really has it bad for this little heartbreaker. And so does his girlfriend. But oh! He’s not supposed to know this! He’d go mad if he knew! Hopefully he didn’t hear us...”

Not quite done with your act, you leaned back and let out a long sigh, ready for finalizing Jim’s rescue.

“Yeah, our Jimmy is quite busy, aren’t you? But don’t let me interrupt your evening any longer, I’m sure you’ll want to chink glasses with our new dad here.”

Finally done, you left Jim alone and went back to Leonard, who looked as if he would start howling with laughter any minute now.

“You liked that Len? How’s it looking for him now?”

The brunet tried his hardest to calm down, and glanced into the blond’s direction.

“That was brilliant! One of the more sober girls dragged the others away from the bar and over to a booth.”

“Oh good. You should totally go over and check if they need anything. I bet they’ll leave you a big tip just out of sympathy at the end of the night. That should make up for your food.”

“Thanks, I owe you one.”

And with that he left you alone and headed towards the woman. Meanwhile, Jim had left his spot and came over to you, still pouting and not looking too happy.

“You know Y/N, that was quite mean.”

“What, you didn’t want to be rescued?”

Jim sighed and ran a hand through his hair. You started feeling a bit bad for him. Maybe you had overdone it?

“No, I did. But fuck, did you have to be so convincing? Now I feel like a complete ass, and I didn’t even do anything. And I have the strong urge to apologize to Bones.”

He suddenly stopped in the middle of his ramblings, looking at you in horror.

“Oh god, please tell me that he didn’t really get my name tattooed.”

As this was the final straw, you couldn’t hold yourself back any longer and started laughing. Honestly, sometimes Jim was truly too adorable.

It took you a while to get yourself back under control, but in the end you stopped laughing when you saw Jim’s crestfallen face.

“Aww, Jim. I’m sorry. How can I make it up to you?”

He suddenly smirked at you, mischief twinkling in his eyes.

“How about you call my wife and tell her I’m sorry?”

You snorted, relieved that he wasn’t too angry about the prank and was willing to even go on with it.

“Ah, I don’t know Jim. Where do I get you a wife at this time of the day?Nevermind, how about I’ll invite you for dinner instead? Are you free tomorrow? We should both have the day off and I’m dying to go out and have some fun.”

Suddenly, Jim beamed at you, pure delight written all over his face.

“That sounds lovely. It’s a date!”

You were surprised that he had phrased it like that, but you smiled and nodded in agreement. Then you had to turn away, as someone stepped towards the bar to order a drink.

“Welcome at Bad Habits, what’s your poison?”

tags (Strikeouts I can’t tag): @thevalesofanduin @medicatemedrmccoy @toosouthernforspace @reading-in-moonlight @feelmyroarrrr @0dannyphantom0 @eyeofdionysus @bsotstory @neon-green-bra @loststarlight @imoutofmyvulcanmind @fireboltrose7559 @ree923 @str8-jack-it @flaminglupine

Star Trek: @theartofeheheh

If anybody else wants to be added to or removed from my tag list, or has special wishes for being tagged, just let me know. :)

[tjkiahgb]

Episode Recap: 3.05, “That Syncing Feeling”

Bex and Andi wait for Bowie at Red Rooster. They want to go see a movie. Bowie says there are a bunch of trailers before the movie, so chill, but Bex wants to see those trailers. (They’re all already online, Bex.)

Andi demands to be in charge of popcorn-related decisions this time. The big complaint is that Bowie puts too much butter on the popcorn, which is almost certainly not true. It’s not too much butter until the bag is dripping onto the floor. If you’re not creating a slipping hazard, you’re not sufficiently buttering your popcorn.

Bex says we’ll get chocolate and mix it in with the popcorn, but Andi’s a firm “no” on that. They decide they’ll all just get their own popcorn instead.

It’s fine they went this direction here and now, but they’d better figure out a cleaner way to deal with stuff like this once they start living together or they’ll find themselves eating meals from three separate restaurants every night. It’ll take hours to get anything done.

It’s about finding compromise. Being clever and resourceful. Like, for example, how about just lightly buttering the popcorn? Is that nuts? Am I talking crazy here? Maybe. But sometimes someone needs to say something truly crazy to really make improvements in this world, and if that man’s gotta be me, so be it.

The next day or whenever, Buffy and Walker skip rocks on the lake while Andi and Cyrus watch.

Good height. Great speed. That’s a damn fine rock skip.

Jonah shows up and is like, “Buffy and Walker, huh?” Wait, weren’t you at the Color Factory when they were on a date? What did you think that was? Maybe he’s just trying out new conversation starters.

Andi thinks those two really like each other, and that’s unfortunate. Cyrus tries to talk about Walker, but Andi’s like, let’s talk about something else so Cyrus tries to talk about something else (geese and their thoughts on schoolyard games) but Andi’s like, “Freakin’ Walker! Always showing up!”

You know what, I kinda love how outwardly hostile Andi is towards her friend’s relationship in front of her other friends at this point. She’s done with this, all of this, and doesn’t care who knows it.

Buffy shows up and shouts “Canoes!” and so they decide to canoe.

Two to a canoe, so Buffy and Walker go together in one canoe and Cyrus and Jonah get into another canoe. This leaves Andi with no one to canoe with. That’s just math, unfortunately. The cruelest of all school subjects.

Andi wanders off to build herself a crown of flowers. Her ability to do crafts anywhere is truly impressive.

Suddenly, Amber comes out the woods like some kind of forest monster.

Never sneak up on someone from the trees! Nothing good comes out of the trees!

Turns out, Amber’s here with her family. Well, she was with her family, but I guess she left them to go sneak around in the woods. Which is a thing she should absolutely not be doing.

Amber wants to know why Andi isn’t canoeing. Andi doesn’t have a reason other than her friends are all canoeing, and, again, math. Also, isn’t it weird how words start to sound strange after you say them a bunch of times, like canoe?

Anyway, she has an Amber as a plus one now, and one plus one is two, which is just the right amount for a canoe. I learned that in the Eagle Scouts.

So Andi and Amber get in a canoe. Turns out, Amber doesn’t like canoeing. I don’t know what kind of exhilaration she thought she was going to get from it, but, surprisingly, it turns out it’s just a bunch of putting your oar in the water and rowing.

Amber gets excited when she sees another canoe, though. Why? Because she would like to ram it and see what happens.

Dark thoughts Amber is back.

Andi’s like, that isn’t the point of canoeing, but Amber’s like, come on, how often do you get a chance to capsize a boat and potentially drown someone in a lake and get away with it?

Andi seems like she’s kind of giving in to the idea, but then sees it’s Buffy and Walker and doesn’t want to ruin their day. I mean, if it was just strangers in a canoe, sure, knock ‘em over and make them swim to shore. But not your friends, obviously.

Andi rows them aside and allows Buffy’s canoe safe passage.

Buffy’s confused to see Andi and Amber in a canoe. Walker doesn’t understand, so Buffy tries to explain why it’s weird by explaining what everyone’s relationship to Amber is, but it turns out there isn’t really a solid answer to what exactly Amber’s relationship is to everyone.

“Our mean waitress” is basically as close as Buffy can get.

Meanwhile, Jonah and Cyrus row their boat, until Cyrus just straight up drops his oar, which is inadvisable when you’re in the middle of a lake.

At Cloud 10, Bex bunches Bowie’s hair into puffs.

Bowie laments the fact he has another lesson with Shaun, who is bad. Bex rightly points out that the child is nine years old, but Bowie thinks he’s a failure of a teacher. Bex thinks it’s too early to give up, but Bowie thinks it’s too hard. He just wants to teach people who don’t need teaching. Getting paid to not really work? That’s the American Dream.

Back at the lake, after Andi has explained the entirety of the relationship drama from the start of season 2B until now, Amber tells her that Buffy’s at fault because “Girl Code.”

Andi’s like, what exactly are we talking about here, this “Girl Code” you speak of? Amber tells her that the first rule is you don’t date people who dated your best friend. Andi’s starts to say that she and Walker didn’t really blah blah blah... but Amber’s firm in her stance that Buffy is a “Girl Code” violator.

And Andi’s like, hmmm... your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

And at that moment, like a perfectly-timed sign sent from the Universe about the perils of listening too closely to Amber of all people, their canoe starts sinking.

Amber and Andi try to paddle to shore but Andi thinks they should abandon ship. I feel like it’s going to be a problem when they go to return the canoes and they don’t have a canoe. At least it’ll make Cyrus’s lost oar look not as bad by comparison. I’ll tell you this much, though: all these kids’ mugshots are going up on the “DO NOT RENT TO THESE PEOPLE” wall inside the canoe rental company’s office.

Amber stands up in the canoe, breaking the first rule of canoeing as laid out in the Ten Commandments of Canoeing. The second rule is “Don’t go out in a canoe your best friend has already gone out in.” The third rule is “Have fun!”

The two fall into the water and have to paddle to shore.

Amber and Andi realize that, despite sinking, they actually had fun out on that there lake and maybe, just maybe, they’re friends now?

That’s what they say about canoeing: it brings people together like nothing else.

At Red Rooster, Bowie gives Shaun an electric guitar to try and see if he can get through to him. Bowie tells him to say “Rock on!” and Shaun says “Rock on” in the least rockstar way possible. He says it like it’s the middle of the sentence, “Hey, there’s a rock on that table that needs geological analysis.”

Every interaction with Shaun is like another little needle stabbing Bowie in the soul.

Bowie tries to teach Shaun a power chord. Shaun strums off-key and that’s the last straw. Bowie gives up. It took one and a quarter lessons and Bowie is utterly defeated. He tells Shaun he can’t teach him, but Shaun’s ok with this because he doesn’t even want to play guitar. Victor wants Shaun to play guitar. Bowie is thrilled, but Shaun tells him he still needs to keep giving him guitar lessons because if he could tell his dad he didn’t want to play guitar, he wouldn’t be sitting in this room trying to play guitar.

Plus, let’s be honest, it seems like Victor really needs this in his life. He feels like the kind of guy who’s one more life disappointment away from building himself a crying shed in the backyard. Oh, you don’t know about crying sheds? It’s just a nice little place to go have your daily cry. 3:00, 3:30 in the afternoon maybe. “Shaun, I put a snack on the table. Don’t hurt yourself. Daddy needs an hour.” And then you just go out there and let loose. Get it all out. Feels good. Feels refreshing. Gives you enough fuel to juuuuust make it through to the next day. Nine years until Shaun’s out of the house. Counting down the days. Then you can finally buy that motorcycle you’ve always wanted. Travel the country like you’ve always wanted. Let the wind run through your hair. Maybe follow Jimmy Buffett around on tour. Anything to finally feel alive again, you know? Like you’re not just going through the motions but really living, dammit. Someday, Victor. Someday.

Anyway, Bowie tells Shaun they'll break the news to Victor together.

Celia shows up at Bex’s to try and get her to go eat wedding cake. Bex, unsurprisingly, is not interested. Andi is, though. She just needs to put on her cake pants.

I’m not a fan of cake pants. They don’t protect the torso. I’m more of a onesie guy myself. Put one on anytime I’m eating so I can just go to town. Do I get looks from the other people eating at Olive Garden? No. Because they’ve come to expect this behavior from me by now. I’ve broken their will. You can normalize anything with repetition.

Andi and Celia partake in a cake-eating montage. They really overdo it. It’s a cake tasting, but they ate like half or more of some of these cakes.

They find themselves miserable from overconsumption of cake, and worse, at odds over what the best cake option is. This could be the end of a peaceful Andi/Celia relationship.

The two return to Bex’s with their cake options, practically screaming at each other over them. They’re also hopped up on sugar. They’re a mess.

They want Bex to pick the cake but Bex doesn’t want to so she mixes up the boxes and blindly picks one. It’s like cake Russian Roulette in that it’s random, dangerous, and leaves everyone in the room feeling kind of bummed out afterwards.

Later that night, Bex returns to the cakes and tries them and it turns out one is actually very good. She hopes it’s the one she picked for her wedding, and, if not, well, she’s learned a valuable lesson about not eating free cake that’s put in front of you. Always take free cake.

At Red Rooster, Bowie sits Victor and Shaun down for a talk and lets Victor know Shaun doesn’t want to play guitar. Victor says that he does, but then Shaun comes out to Victor as someone who doesn’t want to learn guitar. It’s a touching moment between father and son.

Bowie asks Victor if he plays and Victor says yes, air guitar. And then he does air guitar with a sense of sadness far greater than even I expected.

You see, Victor only does air guitar because he wasn’t ever cool enough to play real guitar. I didn’t know they checked that sort of thing before allowing you to take lessons, but I guess that’s the case. Victor thinks it’s too late now, but Bowie tells him it’s never too late. He shows him a guitar chord and Victor plays it. Bowie feels like he can teach again and gets excited. They start playing together. Just a couple of dads rocking out.

Walker, Buffy, and Cyrus eat grilled cheesesus. (Grilled cheesesi?) Walker goes off to get Buffy extra napkins. Cyrus asks if they should invite Andi.

Buffy’s not sure she’d want to come. They decide to invite her next time but Andi just shows up out of the blue like some kind of Walker.

She’s very upbeat about the whole situation because she’s got a surprise of her own: Amber! Appearing from out of nowhere for the second time this episode. Her sneak skill is maxed out. She’s loaded all her skill points into it. She’s practically a ninja at this point. Andi and Amber basically skip off together to get lobster rolls.

And even though Andi wasn’t invited to their group hang in the first place, Buffy still feels ditched. There’s a lesson here, but I’m not sure what it is.

Don’t stand up in a canoe?

[floral-and-fine]

Luck be a Lady part 1

Clyde Logan x female! reader

Summary: At the request of Joe Bang, the Logan brothers try to enlist the help of a girl with curiously good fortune. 

A/n: sorry it’s been a while since I’ve posted a story. I am working on other stories too, just slowly :) Thank you, everyone, who bears with me and my lack of updates. Y’all are wonderful <3

Joe Bang sucked on his teeth staring at the two numbskulls.  He had heard about the Logans, and all about their family curse too. Turns out they had run into some bad fortune time and time again. 

He had also heard about how stupid they were. Joe had chalked it all up to just talk, small towns and small minded people had little else to do these days but talk. Everyone all the time had nothing better to do than talk about other people’s bullshit.

But due to the fact that both brothers were here now sitting across from him, talking about a heist while he was still incarcerated in this very goddamn penitentiary, only proved that perhaps it wasn’t all talk.

So how in the hell was he supposed to believe that they weren’t cursed with all the bad luck surrounding them?

“Well I don’t necessarily consider myself a superstitious man, but I don’t want to take my chances either,” Joe shook his head. “But all that talk about curses and your family has me worried.”

“We ain’t cursed,” Jimmy started, obviously frustrated by just the very mention of the curse. But the look on Clyde’s face said otherwise.

Joe leaned forward resting his elbows on the table, he pointed at Jimmy.

“So you’re saying your knee, his arm, what happened to your parents… ain’t bad luck?” Joe questioned, his eyebrows raised and his blue eyes staring back at them.

“Listen,” Jimmy said.  “This is has nothing to do with that.”

“Well you listen,” Joe spat. “I already have limited information on this plan because of my situation. Y’all need me, I’m gonna be a free man soon unless this plan of yours goes south, so I’m going to need more than just your word.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“My brothers for one,” Joe started,  “and I’ve heard talk about a girl, folks call her ‘Lucky’, rumor is she has uncanny good fortune.”

“How good?” Clyde asked, genuinely interested.  

“Supposedly, she’s luckier than the love child of a four leaf clover and a rabbit’s foot,” Joe explained.

“What’s your point?” Jimmy sighed.

“I want the two of you, to get her help.”

“You think she’ll want to help us, people she's never met?” Clyde asked.

Joe shrugged, peeling the rest of the shell off the egg, “That’s for the two of you to find out.”

Clyde looked at Jimmy, this plan of his was starting to turn into a disaster just waiting to happen.

Y/n was sitting on the counter of the convenience store, sipping on a cherry Slurpee and scratching $1 lottery tickets.

This was a known past time of hers. She had a strange love affair with convenience stores.They were an odd sort of mundane paradise, with all the things one needed for a good time. Smokes, liquor, lottery tickets, and all sorts of people coming and going.

Her fascination with them started when she was just a little girl, her grandparents owned a similar small store back home during her childhood. Just about every afternoon she’d sit by the cash register, and spoiled her appetite eating vanilla wafers and Oreo cookies with her granny.

“Another winner!” she cheered, waving the ticket in the air. It wasn’t for much, just 5 bucks, but that was enough for a refill on her drink, a couple of packs of Twinkies, and another scratcher.

Jack, the cashier, wasn’t at all surprised, this was the same story every afternoon- girly would buy a few scratchers and win every single time.

An irritated customer approached the cash register, “That damn machine is acting up again! Every time I come in here it’s either being repaired or on the fritz.”

The patron shook the large styrofoam cup in front of Jack’s face. He sighed, he didn’t get paid enough to deal with this kind of whiny bullshit. He opened his mouth, to tell her to fuck off. Y/n could tell just by the way his brows furrowed, and the scowl on his face.

Jack wasn’t exactly a people person, he preferred when people came, got whatever they needed, then got the fuck out.

Y/n was the exception. She never bitched about a thing and was content as she could be as long as there were sweet things to eat and drink and plenty of cheap lottos.

Quickly she hopped down off of the counter before Jack offended anyone. She nodded at the customer, “You just gotta have the right touch.”  

“Come on, I need a refill anyway,” y/n gestured for them to follow her.

Her eyes lit up as she saw the whirring machines, Coca-cola, blue raspberry, and cherry. Y/n hummed as the machine poured red icy goodness into her cup.

She extended her hand offering to take the customer’s cup. Begrudgingly, they handed it over to her. Y/n dumped out the watery ice mess.

“There we are,” she murmured filling the cup full.

She grinned, as she watched the customer slam a couple of dollars by the register and storm out.

Jack put the money in the drawer. “I’m gonna smoke for a bit,” he announced.

He took a pack from the glass case behind him and managed to already have a cigarette lit before he was even outside.

He inhaled deeply, his lungs filling with sweet nicotine. 

A beat up truck pulled up, parking right in front of the store. Two tall men got out and approached Jack. 

“We’re looking for a girl who goes by ‘Lucky’, you know her?” The one wearing a baseball cap asked.

“Yeah,” Jack muttered.

The Logans remained standing looking at the clerk expecting him to continue.

The older man to another puff before nodding his head toward the store.

They peered into the window. The clerk pointed out a pretty girl, who was currently browsing the shelves and swaying her hips back and forth to the rhythm of the music.

She had an enchanting aura about her. Her eyes twinkled, as she bounced around without a care in the world. Her lips wrapped around the straw of her drink, while grabbing a couple of snack cakes from the display.

Jimmy couldn’t help but notice how Clyde was more quiet and somber than usual. His dark eyes stared intensely at the young lady. She plopped the cakes on the counter, then plopped herself back on top of the counter. Like a child, she swung her legs up and down waiting for Jack to return.

Clyde could watch her all day, she was beautiful and appeared so sweet.

Jimmy nudged Clyde, “Come on.”

The bells on the door jingled as they entered.

The sound alerted y/n, she immediately turned her head in their direction.

“Hey there,” she greeted. “Welcome to The Get In Get Out.”***

Clyde felt his throat run dry and his body became stiff. She gazed back at him, a small friendly smile on her lips as she moved closer to him. Involuntarily, he gulped. He could smell her perfume hanging in the air.

“Are you the girl people call Lucky?” Jimmy asked pointedly, interrupting their longing gaze into each other’s eyes.

“Depends,” the girl muttered still staring at Clyde.

“What do you mean? ‘Cause, we were sent here to find that girl, and-” Jimmy went on.

“Well that is what people say about me,” y/n shrugged her shoulders finally turning her attention over to the other brother. “But I prefer it when they call me by my name. I’m Y/n L/n, and you are?”

“Jimmy Logan and this is my brother Clyde.”

“Nice to meet the both of you.”

“We need to talk to you but preferably somewhere more private,” Jimmy interjected.

Jack walked back into the store, his hands shoved into his pockets, still looking disgruntled. He took his place back behind the counter. “Are you two gonna buy anything?”

“We weren’t really-” 

“Then leave, ‘cause I’ve got other customers,” Jack cut off Jimmy before he could explain.

The brothers scanned the store, nobody was there except for themselves and y/n.

“Do you have to make such an ass of yourself all the time?” y/n asked Jack, putting her hands on her hips.

Jack scoffed.

“Why don’t you boys get yourselves a coffee or something, my treat, and then we’ll talk elsewhere.” y/n offered. 

“Listen we don’t need much of your time, we just want you to hear us out,” Jimmy began explaining.

Y/n rolled her eyes, “go get somethin’... I hate eating alone.”

She seemed pretty damn persistent about it, so the brothers didn’t bother arguing.

After the boys wandered off into the aisles, Y/n turned around and peered over the counter looking at the display of lottos. Her fingers drummed over the glass, which one should she get? 

“Can I get one of those crossword lottery tickets, please?” 

Jack nodded and passed it to her. 

Y/n reached into the back pocket of her jean shorts taking out a worn penny. She rubbed it between her index finger and thumb before taking her time she scratched the little boxes to see if she was a winner. 

Her smile got wider as she realized that she won again, this time it was $20.

She never won real big, but always enough to pay for whatever snacks and little things she wanted. 

The boys returned with a cup of coffee each.

“Were you lucky?” Clyde asked, his voice shaky, but finally built up the courage to speak.

“Always am, sugar,” y/n winked leaning against the counter.

So she really did have good fortune, Clyde thought to himself. He looked at the girl standing before him, she seemed too good to be true. Maybe her good luck would be enough to counter his family’s bad luck.

“So fellas, you said you wanted to talk?”

*** (lol I know this is from King of the Hill, so tough to name things)

tags: @skellingtonbatz @captainbvckfire @zuni21798 @starfirette @i-wished-upon-a-star-one-night

[winchester-wannabe99]

Fight me- Chapter 5

A/N: Hey guys! Surprise!!! Here’s another chapter! And it’s really long, too! I’m spoiling you guys. :D I’ve broken a rule of reader inserts in this chapter. I know, I’m disgraceful. But here’s my explanation: instead of using a Y/M/N (Your Mum’s Name) or Y/S/C/N (Your Second Cousin’s Name) thing for a particular character in this chapter, I have named them. I did this because this character is a terrible human being, and I think it’s distasteful to associate a person that you guys knows with them. There are quiet a few possible triggers in this chapter, so if you don’t want to read those bits, I’ll put a little summary at the bottom and little horizontal lines where the really bad bits start and finish. As always, I hope you enjoy and let me know if you want to be tagged! I take requests, so please, request away! Series summary: Dean is fighting for money and he meets someone interesting Word count: 1800 (I really am spoiling you!) Warnings: language, a lot more angst then usual, verbal abuse, brief mention of drug use, child abuse, a bit of violence, mention of sex work, I think I’ve covered everything. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Dean’s watching day time TV when Y/N woke up. She yawned, and stretched before sitting next to Dean on the couch. She sniffs herself, trying to be casual, then cringes. “Do you have any deodorant I can use?” Dean nods, going to his duffel and pulling out a spray. He chucks it to her and she quickly applies it under both arms, before chucking it back. He sits back down, and they continue watching for a while. Eventually, Dean breaks the silence and turns to face her, “So it’s Sam’s birthday tomorrow-“ “-and you want me to get lost?” She asks, still watching the screen. Dean sighs, “No, I was wondering if you’d come with me to buy his present? You’re welcome to stay for it. It would probably be more fun if you did.” She was quiet for a moment. “That sounds fun.” Was her soft reply. Dean smiled, “Good.” Y/N turned towards him, “But I’m gonna need some clothes. I can’t just wear your castoffs for the next week.”

He smiles at that visual, he actually kinda liked her wearing his clothes. “So how about I go home to pack a bag and then we meet at the shops?” Dean’s smile dropped, “I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.” Y/N rolled her eyes, “Dean. I need to get my shit. You’re being an idiot.” “Fine. But I’m coming with you.” She bit her lip and looked at her lap, “I’d rather you didn’t.” Dean gently held her face and made her look at him, biting his lip when she flinched, “You’re not going by yourself. Okay?” She moved her head backwards, and nodded slowly. “I’ll just have a quick shower.” She said before standing up and moving as quickly as her stitches would let her towards the bathroom. Dean sighed, and rubbed a hand down his face. He wasn’t looking forward to going to her house.

In about five minutes they were ready to leave. She was right, she needed her own clothes. His pants were way to long for her and she had to roll the cuffs up about six times. The same thing happened to the sleeves, and Dean had to laugh at her. “Shut up.” She said, blushing softly. “You ready to go?” Asked Dean, still smiling. Y/N nodded.

They walked out of the room, Dean locking the door behind them, and then to the car. “Y/N, meet Baby.” Y/n eyes were wide as she studied the Impala, “She’s beautiful.” “Damn straight.” Dean unlocked the doors, and they both got in, Y/N pausing to appreciate the purr of her engine when Dean started her up. They drove in silence for about fifteen minutes, each stuck in their own thoughts. Only speaking when directions were needed.

Dean noticed the surrounding houses getting progressively more ramshackle, more of their windows were smashed and tagging was everywhere. The motel they were in wasn’t in the best neighbourhood, but this seemed to be the worst the town had to offer. Most of the houses seemed to be abandoned or close to. Dean didn’t voice any of these thoughts, but Y/N was watching him closely and her scowl was deepening by the second.

“You know Sam and I have squatted before? When Dad’s taken longer than he was meant to and the motel kicks us out. That’s why I was fighting in the first place, we were nearly out of cash.” Dean knew what it was like to be the ‘poor kid’ and knew how people could be. He didn’t want Y/N to think he was another one of those judgemental dick heads.  She didn’t reply, just nodded slowly, but he thought she looked a little less unhappy.

Not long after, they came to a stop at a pretty derelict looking house. Two of the three windows were boarded up, and Dean could see evidence of the door being kicked in on multiple occasions. Dean parked a safe distance away, and they walked up to the door. Y/N bent down and pulled a key out from underneath a dead pot plant and quietly opened the door. “Wait out here?” she asked softly. Dean shook his head, and she sighed in response. “Fine, just be quiet.”

She practically tiptoed inside, avoiding piles of rubbish and creaky floorboards. Dean followed slowly, he was no were near as familiar with the house as she was, and he was determined to be quiet. They walked down a dark and dingy hallway, before entering what seemed to be a living room. There was a dirty looking couch that someone was asleep on. Dean glanced at Y/N, she continued to walk forward to the door on the opposite side of the room. Suddenly a gun clicked, and they both froze.

“Who’s there?” asked a gruff voice, and Y/N replied with “It’s just me, Dad.” The man on the couch sat up and scratched his balls, “Finally back are ya? And who’s this? Your new pimp?” He laughed gruffly, setting the gun down next to him. Dean bit down on his tongue, hard. He didn’t want to make this harder for Y/N, but her dad was a dick. “This is Dean.” “Ah, hey Deano. I’m Jimmy, the father of that bitch you’ve been fucking.”

Dean took a step forward, his fists clenched, but Y/N grabbed his arm. “Don’t talk about her like that.” Dean spat, ridged with anger. Jimmy laughed, “Why not, Deano? She’s my daughter, I can talk about her however I fucking want.” Jimmy scratched feverishly at his arm, and Dean could see sores all over him. “Do you have any shit on ya? I could sure use a hit.” That was directed at Y/N and she shook her head quickly, glancing at Dean, before shifting her gaze to her folded hands.

He stood from the couch, and cracked his back, “Why’d ya bring Deano over here? Did ya want him to meet the family? Or did ya just need to use the bed for some paid work?” Dean opened his mouth, but Y/N interrupted. “I’m just gonna grab my shit and leave. You’ve been telling me to fuck off for years, so you can’t complain.” “Don’t talk to me like that, you stupid bitch! You’re not going anyway unless I say so! Why would I let my best slut walk?”Y/N turned to look at her father for the first time since they’d got her, “No, Dad. I’m leaving.”

She turned to walk towards the door to her bedroom, when Jimmy through an empty bottle towards her. He completely missed and it smashed against the wall, but it was the last straw for Dean. With one solid punch to the temple, Jimmy was on the floor, and the only reason Dean didn’t keep punching was because Y/N had grabbed his arm. “C’mon, let’s just leave.” Dean shrugged out of her grip and walked outside to wait for her.

In about five minutes, she reappeared with a duffle and they began the walk back to the hotel. When Dean had calmed down enough to stop grinding his teeth, he turned to Y/N. “Do you want to stay with me and Sam?” She smiled at him, “I already am, Dean.” He shook his head, “No, I mean permanently. When we move, do you want to come with us?” She looked shocked, “Won’t your Dad mind?” “I don’t care, I’ll sort him out. You can’t go back to that- that monster.” She was said nothing for nearly five minutes, and Dean was worried she was going to say no, when she broke the silence. “Okay. I’ll stay with you if you’ll have me.” Dean smiled so hard he thought his lips would split and Y/N returned it. “Can I hug you?” he asked softly. She nodded. Dean gently wrapped his arms around her and he never wanted to let go.

It took about an hour for them to get to the shops, which left them with about an hour before Dean had to pick Sam up. It was a good thing Dean had been able to convince Y/N to take a couple of painkillers, or they’d never manage to get it done in time. “So what’s the budget?” Y/N asked, already looking around the small department store curiously. Dean frowned, “I think we can manage thirty dollars.”

Y/N whistled in reply, and Dean turned to look at her. She looked a lot better after a shower and in clothes that fit her. She was in some washed out jeans and a long sleeved top. She had one of Dean’s flannels tied around her waist, and Dean thought it had never looked better. “How about we split up? I’ve got a couple of bucks I can spend.” “You don’t have to use your money!” She smiled, “It’s alright, Dean. I want to. Plus you’ve been feeding me, so I kinda owe you.” Dean shakes his head, “You don’t owe me anything.” She rolls her eyes, “Whatever, Dean. I’m still getting Sam a present. How old is he gonna be?” “He’s turning fourteen.” “Really? He’s tall for his age.” Y/N looks impressed.

“I know, the bitch won’t stop growing. I’m NOT letting him get taller than me.” She laughs, “I don’t think you get much choice about it.” Dean crosses his arms, “He will not be taller than me. Even if I need to amputate his legs.” She laughs again, “I’m sure Sam will like that.” “Are we gonna split up or not? Because I’ll need to pick him up soon.” Dean said, grumpily. “Fine, fine. I’m going. Meet back here in half an hour?” Dean checked his watch, “Sure.”

When they met up again Dean had found the perfect pair of trainers for Sam. They were good quality, one size too big so he’d have room to grow, and he could afford them. Sam would love them. Y/N came towards him, carrying a wrapped package. From the shape of it, it was a sweater. Dean proudly showed her the trainers, and she was very impressed. They both agreed Sam would love them.

“What did you get?” Dean asked, poking at the package. She pulled it out of his reach, “It’s a surprise.” “C’mon, tell me.” Dean whined, Y/N laughed at his pouting face. “Nah, you’ll be annoyed at me.” She said mysteriously. “You didn’t buy him condoms did you?” Dean asked, eyebrows raised. Y/N snorted, “No! But that’s a good idea.” Dean shook his head, “I’d know if he was even remotely close to convincing a girl to have sex with him. There’s no point encouraging the fantasy.” She laughed again, “You’re a terrible big brother.” Dean nodded, “Totally.”

They walked through the mall to the carpark, getting into the Impala. Dean started the car and after ensuring Y/N was buckled up cried “To school!” like a knight entering battle, causing Y/n to roll her eyes in response.

Summary: I don’t know if anyone used this because I don’t think it’s that dark. But here ya go! :) Basically, the reader and Dean go to her house and walk inside. Her Dad’s asleep on the couch, they try to sneak past but he wakes up and cocks a gun at them. He’s a dick head to the reader and calls her several nasty names and implies she’s a prostitute, before asking her for drugs. Dean’s getting pissed at him and tells him to stop. He doesn’t. The reader says she’s leaving and he throws a bottle at her head. Dean decks him.

Tags: @ladyaragorn13 @winchesters-favorite-girl @spnfanficfavorites @nvmoake @extreme-supernatural-lover @fangirlinglikeamentalpatient

[wordsintimeandspace]

Who We Are (3/?)

Author: @wordsintimeandspace Pairing: fem!Ten/Rose (AU) Summary: When her 18th birthday and with that the appearance of her soulmark approaches, Rose is sure that it will only confirm Jimmy Stone as her soulmate. The realization that it’s not him turns her life upside down, especially when she meets Jane Smith, also known as the Doctor, only a few weeks later. Rating: Teen Words: ~3800 Notes: Thanks again to @asmilelikestarlight for reading this over for me!

Read this and previous chapters on AO3 or tumblr.

After Rose had met Jane, a few days passed without anything happening in her life. Still in shock after the events of that day, Rose dragged herself to work every morning, went through her routines as if she was running on autopilot and crashed at home in the evenings. It still took time to get used to that thought, that she really had met her soulmate. Her soulmate who wasn’t Jimmy, but… a girl. Of all the things that could have happened, Rose hadn’t expected that.

When Friday finally came and Rose finished her working week, she was worn out and exhausted. There was a text from Shareen on her phone, asking her to go out with them, but Rose couldn’t come up with the energy to reply. She didn’t want to see her friend, not really. If she did she would have to explain the mess that was her life, and confused as she was, Rose didn’t feel up to it. She didn’t have any answers for all the questions that would come up.

Instead, Rose curled up on the couch, avoiding friends and family for another night. She zapped through the TV programs, desperately looking for something to steer her mind away from the destructive thoughts that had haunted her all week. But no matter how hard she tried, nothing really caught her attention for long.

She still hadn’t told Jimmy. He didn’t know that she had met her soulmate, and the uncertainty of his reaction left her in a constant state of anxiety that she couldn’t switch off.

All week, she’d tried to talk to him, but there never was a right time. Although they lived together, Rose barely caught sight of him. He was out every night with his friends, telling her he was practising with the band to prepare for their next gig that Jimmy insisted was the final step towards their big breakthrough. But every night he came home smelling like booze and cigarettes, making Rose wonder what he was really up to. She tried to get the truth out of him, but each time he evaded her questions or snapped at her until she stopped asking. With Jimmy gone for most of the night and sleeping in late the next day, there hadn’t been any chance to talk. Rose certainly didn’t want to have any life-changing conversations about the fact that she’d met her soulmate in passing.

Rose startled out of her thoughts when she heard a key in the lock of the front door. She looked up in surprise to see Jimmy enter the flat a second later. Confused, Rose checked to the clock and frowned when she saw it was only eleven.

“You’re early,” she said as Jimmy threw his jacket in the corridor and plopped down on the couch next to her.

“Are you complaining?” he said, his voice cold although there was a smile on his lips.

Rose shook her head. “No, just surprised.”

Jimmy scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

“Just wanted to spend the night with my girl,” he said, nuzzling the top of her head.

Rose let out a shuddering breath, guilt tying her stomach into knots.

“Jimmy, there’s something-”, she started, but he tilted her head up and caught her lips with his before she could finish the sentence.

Rose gasped in surprise and Jimmy took the opportunity to deepen the kiss before her mind could catch up. For a moment she kissed back, too overwhelmed to do something else. But then he pulled her down until she was flat on her back and he was hovering above her, his lips still on hers. Rose gently pushed against his chest, trying to ease out of the kiss. Instead of moving away from her, Jimmy caught her wrist and guided her hand to the side, lowering himself on top of her. Rose was just about to try again with more force when Jimmy froze above her.

He tightened his grip on her wrist and sat up with a start. Rose looked up at him in confusion, but he didn’t meet her eyes. His gaze was fixed on her arm and with a pang of fear Rose realized what he must be looking at. Her soulmark.

“When did that happen?” Jimmy growled, his voice cold as ice.

“Jimmy-” Rose started quietly, trying to explain. Jimmy didn’t give her a chance.

“When?!”, he snapped, making Rose flinch.

“Last week,” she said, her voice small. She gulped, her heart racing in her chest. Hesitantly, she met Jimmy’s eyes and winced at the anger she saw there.

“And when did you want to tell me?” Jimmy spat out.

The tone in his voice, the pure hatred and rage he was directing at her, was the last straw. With a sudden wave of anger giving her the necessary strength, Rose pulled her wrist free of his grasp and shoved him away from her. Jimmy stumbled back, startled by her sudden outburst, and Rose took the chance to scramble to her feet. She clenched her hands into fists.

“You’re never home,” Rose said, her voice shaking. “I tried to tell you, I really did, but how was I supposed to do this? You’re out every night getting drunk with your mates while I work my ass off to support you, and the only thanks I get is that you completely avoid me. Having a conversation about these things isn’t exactly possible when you never spend time with me!”

Jimmy’s gaze darkened. “Oh, come off it,” he scoffed. “You would’ve found the time to tell me if you really wanted to.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re seeing him, right? Your soulmate?” Jimmy asked. “Who is he?”

His accusation caught Rose off guard. She blinked in confusion, hesitating as she tried to think of what to say. Her silence only infuriated Jimmy further.

“Fuck, Rose! How quickly did you forget what we were talking about?” he snarled. “We agreed that soulmarks don’t matter for us, and now this?”

“I’m not seeing my soulmate!” Rose protested. “Really, I’m not. Yes, we met. But I didn’t want it to happen. And that’s exactly what I told them.”

“Oh, did you? Then what’s that?”

His face screwed up in anger, Jimmy reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He slammed it down on the coffee table, making Rose jump. Stunned, Rose looked down at the messy handwriting, her stomach sinking as she realized what it was.

Jane’s phone number. By now, Rose was sure she would recognize these numbers anywhere. She had spend hours staring at it in the last week,  trying to figure out what to do with it. In the end, she couldn’t bring herself to throw it away. It felt like it was something valuable, something precious. Something that she had to keep at all costs, although she didn’t really understand why she felt this way.

“Where did you get that?” Rose asked, her voice suddenly cold.

“Doesn’t matter, does it? It’s here, that’s the only important thing.”

“You can’t just snoop around in my stuff!” Rose protested, barely aware how she raised her voice in anger. “I kept that in my handbag! It’s none of your business what I have in there!”

“I obviously had a good reason to go through your things!” Jimmy shouted. “That’s him, right? Your precious soulmate? And now you’re lying to me, telling me that you’re not seeing him? Why would you keep his number then?”

Rose opened her mouth to answer, but closed it again before a word could leave her lips. She didn’t have an answer to that, not even for herself.

“After all this time, you’re just gonna ruin our relationship like that?” Jimmy spat out.

“I didn’t do anything! I haven’t called the number, not once,” Rose countered, taking a deep breath. Her hands trembled as she uttered the next words. “I’m not the one ruining our relationship.”

A heavy silence fell between them. Jimmy stared at Rose in surprise and shock, but he quickly recovered.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that ever since my stupid soulmark appeared, you’ve been treating me like shit,” Rose said, her voice shaking with anger. “Actually, no. It started before that. You’re never home, you never tell me what you’re doing, you snap at me when I dare to ask. You waste your time hanging out with your band, spending all our money on beer and cigarettes, while you expect me to work and cook and clean. And I’ve had enough of that.”

“So what, you’re breaking up with me?” Jimmy snarled, taking a step closer to Rose. “What are you gonna do without me?”

“Whatever it is, it’s gonna be better without you,” Rose spat out. Fury crossed Jimmy’s features, more intense than Rose had ever seen it before. He took another step forward, cornering her against the wall. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, making her heart race in her chest. In that moment, all Rose wanted was to get away from him. She was too terrified to think of anything else.

Shoving hard against his chest, Rose created enough distance between them to slip past him. She dashed across the room, grabbed her phone from the couch and rushed out into the hallway. Footsteps sounded from behind her as Jimmy hurried to follow her. He grabbed her arm just before she could storm out of the flat.

He tightened his grip almost painfully as he pulled Rose back towards him. Heart pounding in her chest, Rose didn’t wait to see what he might have to say. He’d never been violent, not when she was present, but right in that moment she wasn’t sure what he might be capable of.

“Let me go!” she yelled, surprising both herself and Jimmy with the volume of her voice. It gave her enough time to pull free.

Without looking back, without saying another word, she fled from the flat and slammed the door shut behind her.

~~~

Rose hurried through the streets, not paying attention to where she was going. The only thought in her head was that she wanted to get as far away from Jimmy as possible. She broke into a run until her lungs were burning. Only then she finally slowed down, walking for a few more minutes until she eventually came to a stop. Apart from a few cars that occasionally passed by the night was quiet, leaving her alone with her whirling thoughts. Tears blurred her vision and Rose sniffled, running a hand over her face.

Jimmy’s words echoed in her head, cold and merciless: what was she gonna do now?

Shivering in the cool night air, Rose wrapped her arms around herself. In her haste to leave she hadn’t grabbed her jacket, and although it was late spring the nights were still chilly. Now that she’d stopped running, she noticed the cold biting her bare skin.

She needed a place to stay, Rose realized with a start. At least for the night, until she could decide what to do on the long term. There was no doubt that her mum or Shareen would welcome her with open arms, no matter how distant Rose had been lately. But it would need explaining; telling them what happened and why, letting them in on the real reason why she and Jimmy broke up. Telling them about her soulmark, and about Jane. Rose wasn’t sure if she had the energy to do that tonight. There was only one person in the whole of London who didn’t need any explaining. One person who already knew.

With shaking hands, Rose reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile, typing in the number she knew by heart before she could think of all the reasons why this was a bad idea.

The phone rang twice before Jane answered.

“Hello?” she asked, sounding confused and sleepy. Her voice alone calmed Rose instantly. Relief flooded her, giving her hope that she wouldn’t be left alone tonight. That there was still someone to help her. Before Rose could stop it, tears were streaming down her cheeks.

“Hi,” she said, her voice wavering as she stiffled a sob.

“Rose?” Jane asked, breathless and hopeful, as if she couldn’t believe her ears. It only made Rose cry harder. There was no way she could hide it from Jane any longer.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Are you okay?” The last trace of sleepiness in Jane’s voice was gone in an instant, replaced by alarm. “What’s going on?”

“I’m… I’m okay. It’s just-” Rose broke off, letting out a shuddering breath. “Shit, I shouldn’t have called. ‘M sorry. It’s the middle of the night.”

“I don’t mind,” Jane said quickly. “Really, I don’t. Don’t sleep much anyways. Rose, you don’t sound like you’re okay.”

“It’s just… I don’t know what to do. I left him and now I don’t know where to go and-”

“Where are you?” Jane interrupted, her voice sharp. “Are you outside? Now, in the middle of the night?”

“Uh… yeah,” Rose said hesitantly, biting her bottom lip.

“Tell me where you are and I’ll pick you up.”

“What? Jane, you don’t have to do that.”

“Nonsense,” Jane answered. The rustling of clothes sounded over the speaker. “Tell me where you are, please? You can’t expect me to do nothing when you’re calling in the middle of the night, crying with no place to stay.”

Rose gulped and wiped the tears from her face, looking around until she spotted a street sign. She gave the address to Jane who was already rushing out of the house. A door slammed shut and a minute later Rose heard the stuttering of a car engine in the background.

They eventually hung up, letting Jane focus on the traffic. Rose let out a long sigh when she did, sinking down on the nearest bench to wait for her.

This wasn’t how she had imagined this conversation. Jane had every reason to hate her after Rose had rejected her. Instead she was driving through London in the middle of the night to help her out of trouble. She certainly didn’t deserve that, Rose thought. Tears stung in her eyes and she buried her face in her hands, desperately trying to calm down.

It wasn’t long until an old, battered car pulled to a stop beside her. Rose startled in the first moment, her heart hammering in her chest, but she calmed down immediately when the engine turned off and Jane hopped out of the car.

Her hair was a mess, probably more than the last time they met, only confirming Rose’s suspicion that Jane had already been sleeping when she had called. But it was the pure concern in Jane’s features that overwhelmed her with guilt for a moment. There was no doubt that Jane genuinely cared about her, no matter how hurt she must’ve been after their first meeting.

“Hey,” Jane said, her tense shoulders relaxing as her gaze swept over Rose and found her unharmed. “You all right?”

Rose nodded and let out a long breath. “Yeah, I suppose,” she said, her voice still hoarse from crying. She wiped at her cheeks again, sure that she must look like a complete mess. But Jane only gave her a relieved smile.

“Hop in then! Blimey, it’s freezing outside. How long have you been sitting here?”

Before Rose could protest, Jane draped her suit jacket around her shoulders and ushered her into the car. With a lump in her throat Rose wrapped her arms around herself, still shivering, and inhaled Jane’s scent that was still lingering on the fabric.

“Thank you,” Rose said quietly as Jane started the engine and pulled away from the curb.

“Not a problem,” Jane said, her gaze fixed on the street in front of them. “I’m driving back to my flat, if that’s all right?” She shot Rose a quizzical look. “Unless I should drop you off somewhere else?”

“No, it’s… your place is fine,” Rose said. She felt guilty for asking this of Jane, but there was no other place she wanted to go now. And Jane didn’t seem to mind. She gave Rose a soft, genuine smile, before looking back towards the road.

It was only a short drive to Jane’s apartment. Inside, Jane ushered her towards the living room before rushing towards the kitchen with the promise to make tea. Rose let her gaze wander over the shelves of books that lined the walls of the small room. It was a bit of a mess, with books and papers stacked on every possible surface, some screws and bits of machinery scattered on the desk in front of the window, and a long colourful scarf draped over the back of the couch. But it was cosy and welcoming, and Rose immediately felt at home. She sank down on the couch, feeling the tension of the evening finally drain out of her, leaving her exhausted.

Jane came back only a few minutes later, two steaming mugs of tea in her hand. She pressed one into Rose’s hands before sitting down next to her.

“What happened tonight?” Jane asked quietly after Rose had taken a first sip of her tea.

Rose sighed, rubbing her fingers over her eyes.

“Jimmy and I got into a fight. First about my soulmark, then about all the crap he’s pulled lately.”

“Jimmy? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Yeah. Ex-boyfriend now, I suppose. Told him I was breaking up with him.”

Rose felt Jane’s gaze on her, but didn’t dare to meet her eyes.

“And you meant that?” Jane asked, obviously trying to keep her voice neutral, but Rose couldn’t miss the trace of hope that lingered there.

“I- I mean, I haven’t exactly planned this in advance. But… yes. I think it’s the right decision,” Rose said, letting out a long breath. There had been no time to contemplate all the consequences of her decision to leave Jimmy, but it felt right. Even after the emotional turmoil of the evening, it was like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

“I just couldn’t do this anymore,” Rose continued, her voice shaking. “He was such an arse. Especially in the last few weeks. I don’t really know why I stayed for that long.”

Unable to stop it, Rose started crying again. Tears streamed down her face as all the hurt and frustration that had accumulated inside her in the last weeks finally got out. Her breath hitched, but she tried to continue.

“God, he was so awful. I thought it was only because he was upset after I got my soulmark, that he would be back to normal soon, but it only got worse. He treated me like shit. But I still stayed. I’m so stupid.”

“No, you’re not. C’mere,” Jane said softly, wrapping an arm around Rose’s shoulders and pulling her close. Rose curled into her side, burying her face in Jane’s shoulder and crying in earnest now. Jane’s fingers rubbed circles on her back, soothing her.

“You’re not stupid, Rose. It takes a lot of courage to leave your life with people you were once close to behind. You can be proud of yourself.”

“I didn’t feel courageous, I was just scared. He was so angry tonight. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to leave.”

“You did the right thing,” Jane said. “I’m glad you left. He didn’t- he didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Rose shook her head, sniffling. “No. Wasn’t convinced that he wouldn’t though.”

Jane tightened her grip around her shoulders, sucking in a sharp breath. “More reasons to be glad that you’re here and not with him,” she said and Rose let out a breathy laugh.

“Yeah, I’m glad too.”

Rose wasn’t sure if she imagined it, but she could’ve sworn that for a second Jane pressed her lips against her forehead. She didn’t linger and pulled back instead, breaking the embrace. Rose immediately missed her arms around her.

“Feeling better?” Jane asked, giving Rose a soft smile.

“Yes. Thank you. For all of this. You didn’t have to do that, especially after...”

Rose trailed off, not able to bring the words over her lips. But she knew that Jane understood. Jane looked away from her and drew her eyebrows together, pressing her lips into a thin line.

“It’s all right,” she said with a nonchalance that Rose didn’t believe for one second.

“But it’s not,” Rose insisted. “It really isn’t. And I’m… I’m sorry. It wasn’t fair how I treated you when we first met. And I know you’re trying to hide it now, but it was obvious that I hurt you. I couldn’t stop thinking about it since then. What I did was selfish and I’m sorry.”

Jane sighed, raking her fingers through her hair. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it before a word left her lips. A few seconds passed in silence before she tried again.

“The problem with this whole soulmark thing is,” she started, sounding bitter, “that in a way, it does take away your free will, doesn’t it? It does make a choice for you, whether you like it or not. And it’s not fair, to expect that someone will drop their previous relationship and be with you. Just like that, without questioning things, just because these stupid numbers on your wrists tell you to, is it?”

“But you were hoping it would be like that,” Rose said quietly. “Didn’t you? You were so happy when you saw it.”

Jane let out a long breath. “Of course I was,” she said, her voice soft. “Doesn’t mean that it was right to expect the same thing from you.”

“I’m still sorry,” Rose insisted and Jane’s lips twitched.

“Stubborn, are we?” she said and Rose laughed.

“Yeah, better get used to it,” Rose smiled, but she quickly turned serious again. “The thing is though, that it would’ve been different if I had already broken up with Jimmy. If I had some more time to wrap my head around the fact that he’s an idiot and my soulmate is still out there. It’s just… oh, I don’t know. Everything is a bit of a mess, I suppose. I’m so confused right now.”

She ran a hand down her face, frustrated by her inability to make sense of her feelings. When she looked up again, Jane was watching her with a soft smile. Affection sparkled in her brown eyes, making Rose’s heart stumble in her chest. But before anything could happen, Jane tore her gaze away, breaking the moment between them.

“We should both get some sleep, don’t you think?” she asked, getting up. “It was a long day. I’ll get you a blanket and a shirt to wear.”

Rose sank back into the cushions and nodded. She closed her eyes, exhaustion making her limbs heavy. Jane was right. It really had been a long day.

[curiouskarenscapers2017]

Volume 7  February 2005

INDEX: Miaoli 2/6 ¡V 2/7 Chinese New Year 2/8 ¡V 2/9 Constantine 2/9 Traditional lunch 2/10 Taichung ¡V Chung Yo 2/12 Earthquake 2/19

And so the Chinese New Year sped towards us, the school slowed down and the holiday beckoned. Finally a few days without the kids and school! Whatever will we be doing?

Our plans still stood for getting on a train and going exploring towards the south of Taiwan. Melissa was to take new classes at the other school when the holiday was over so she was told to get driving lessons on the scooter with me as her teacher, let’s see how that goes. So Saturday dawned and we took the bike to the open parking lot where the night market usually gets set up. Melissa did great and looked like a pro. We went to the other schools where I gave her the tour as to what’s where and so on. We quickly went to Carrefour for some shopping and then went back to the apartment to drop the groceries off, and then the fun started! I told Melissa she could take the scooter back to the school and I will walk. It’s difficult to piggyback someone on a bike if you are not familiar with the bike in the first place. You have to do the one before the other. Get used to the balance and how the bike handles etc. So I followed her to where our parking garage exited into the road via a ramp. She revved the bike a few times, looked all professional and darted up the ramp! The red light came on warning of down coming traffic as she accelerated up the ramp. Just in time she saw the car as she rounded the first little bend in the ramp and applied the brakes. Sheeeeeew!! Good job!! Then as the car passed she revved the bike a tad too much and still had to turn the bike at a 90degree angle to round the corner, this was a tad too tricky for a beginner scooterist and she braked and accelerated at the same time and the bike didn’t turn at all!. I think one only realizes how fragile a scooter is when you try out a stunt like that! Melissa went north and the scooter went south. Thank goodness she had on her helmet because I heard it hit the wall from where I was. Full throttle into the pillar and wall! She was fine of course¡Kthinking her nose was broken initially and boy did that bruise a bit for the next two weeks! She was lucky it wasn’t broken! All in good spirits! I was wondering if the school would ever let us use the scooter again. I rode it back to the school….sideways as the suspension of the front tyre was a tad bent. We went on holiday that day so; we’ll see whether they’ll just fix it when we get back. Thanks hey! There you go! The basket was flat against the body, but I managed to pull it into somewhat of a square shape and put the front cover kinda back in to a presentable position. It looked fine man, no problem, just the sideways driving got me a bit, indicating this way and driving this way! Interesting, definitely tests the driving skills!!!!! Melissa was ok!

So that afternoon, which was Saturday 5th we were asked whether we wanted to go on holiday with total strangers! Of course we said yes and off we went at about 7:30 in the morning! We met up with Kim at her apartment with Alicia and met up with our first stranger Cynthia. A friend of Kim’s through her Salsa classes. We stopped at a McDonalds and waited for another pair called Edward and Iman, I named her, her Chinese name was similar and we thought she was very attractive so we named her after the super model, fair enough! Edward was cool and very funny; this was going to be cool. We also met up with another couple Jimmy and Mila, who was driving a black Solio (Suzuki) I want one!!!! So ugly but cute ugly! Bit bigger than a Smart car but a type of Smart van looking car! My mother would look good in one!! Maybe I can organize in my luggage somehow! I must say it was extremely big inside and looked smaller than it really was.

So off we went, where are we going? Oh, Miaoli, exactly like you would say it. I love these types of holiday’s they turn out to be the best, you expect nothing, no nobody and don’t know where you going! I was SOOOOO excited!!! My camera was fully charged and ready to go! Our first stop was in the misty mountains of Taiwan on our way in a Northerly direction, towards Taipei. It was stunning, everything was foggy or smoggy! Whatever, I thought of it as foggy! We went up winding little narrow roads until we reached a place called Lion¡¦ Head Mountain. Apparently it looks like a loin’s head from the one side and even has a tail obviously on the other side. What a cool place, all very eerie and misty and jungley. I loved it! I started clicking away immediately. I saw three old Chinese people sweeping the road on the way to the temple in traditional straw hats in the mist, you could just make them out, I took a stunning sepia coloured photo, it looked as if it was ancient times and I was swept away in my imagination into the days of Genghis Caan and whoever else terrorized the country side. I was all over the place while the group was deciding and waiting for people. We were on the back of the lion and started following a stairway down into the valley we couldn’t see because of the fog but I could “see” it! It was beautiful! Far off we could hear the forlorn sound of a flute playing and people’s voices.

We descended into the illusive valley feeling the air get damp and smelling the earthy vegetation.

The trees were entangled above us and the misty light filtering through them gave enough light to step onto the moss-covered stone steps. Slippery at times but manageable. Like a magical forest there appeared strange writings on the cliff walls, warning their travelers of dangers ahead or praying for their safe passage. Gray etched into cold hard gray.

The flute still beaconed and we were like adventurers in a lost land following the golden phoenix to some exotic mysterious destination that holds endless and priceless treasures and then it materializes through the mists of Miaoli. First the vague shape of a small Chinese temple roof top then the path connecting it to us and the smells of cooking. A small set up outside the main temple welcomed us and offered their wears that vary from traditional to plastic cell phones that play electronic tunes.

We entered the small gateway decorated in the traditional way. We were transported into another world of ancient traditions and beliefs with the flute as our guide.

The walkway lead us to our musician as he started another forlorn tune that brought memories of times past and lives lived. Surrounded by traditional instruments, maps and scrolls he smiled a toothless smile and offered us to try the flutes. I tentatively chose a large bamboo flute and tried to sound like him, but to no avail. It sounded like me blowing out my candles on my last birthday…scary! Anyway, where were we..?Oh yes, I wished him a Happy New Year in Chinese (shienien Kwai lur) and we disappeared into the mist.

As we left him and heard the flute again we rounded a corner and there the ancient temple emerged brightly decorated against the gray walls and floors. It looked like a sentry watching over mankind and the mountain staring out straight ahead into the mist.

The rooftops are ornately decorated with flying faans (like a peacock but an ancient bird that is always depicted fighting a dragon)

The roof tops slowly appeared out of the mist and the treasure was revealed! It looked like a mythical battle scene between animals time forgot.

It was a strange and beautiful sight. I turned around to find how best to describe what I felt at this stage and to truly capture the atmosphere that existed here. A feeling of spiritual awe combined with reverence and excitement of discovery. An amazing experience! I clicked away.

We went exploring further, every nook and cranny! No ornament was left unturned. They had a small cave carved out of the stone and molded to offer a cave like experience with a surprise at the end for the one who explores effectively.

Then our group had to turn back and continue our journey to our end destination of Miaoli. Our payment for being able to experience this amazing place and seeing the forbidden was 1115 steps back up the lions back! We gasped for air as we reached the top.

Thanks for that!!

We stopped off at a traditional restaurant that offered teas and cakes….with a difference.

You have to make it yourself! Interesting!

But it was the best fun. Our first task was to make Lai Tsa, which is a traditional tea that you make by grinding nuts and herbs into a pasty substance.

Jimmy and Bruce grinning on. The waitress then brings hot tea water and we mixed them together and stirred until the green thickish soup is ready for consumption!

Delightful taste with a nutty and often chewy texture to it! I had about 6 cups….They were small cups man! Then came the Chinese cake. Many cakes here in Taiwan are of a chewy substance or texture. More like a kind of dough not cooked. The traditional Chinese Cake we had comes in a plate with a white/cream sticky dough and surrounded by crushed peanuts. You pull the dough apart into manageable balls that stick to the chopsticks you have to use to the pulling apart and then you dunk it in the peanut powder. Lovely!! Good taste too, but not too much. I did however have the urge to do the usual van der Spuy mixing things together to see what it would taste like etc. and then added the peanut powder to my lai tsa….the best move ever, tasted even better!

Once again Jimmy and Bruce show us how it’s done!! Thanks boys!! I’ll look into getting them on a cooking show, maybe the Jimmy and Bruce Ready Steady Cook!! Or maybe the BJ Cook club….or not!

Anyway, that was our little “koek en tee” the Chinese way! On our way out we were hijacked into making somebody else’s Chinese cake…..

They asked for this, man!!! Enjoy guys! I hope that comes off our bill!! Kim got “stuck” into it as well…you go girl!

“Back on the road again”, Shrek 2 – Donkey’s holiday song in the coach! Cynthia’s driving was great as we hugged the mountains and veered to miss the race down hill! I’ll let her drive any day! We arrived shortly after, at a famous traditional Hakka restaurant….”what are we doing here?” I asked innocently, “we are having lunch” they said rubbing their hands together…”oh, again?�� I asked. Silly question. Needless to say I only had a bit but boy the bit I had was a stunning lamb stew pot while the others got stuck into all kinds of different foods. When I tasted the lamb, I was transported back home on a Sunday and having a lamb neck potjie………..aaaaahhh yes. It was soo rich compared to what we were getting used to here in Taiwan that a few cubes of meat later I was stuffed….I like Hakka food very much!!!

Hakka was and is the traditional people of Taiwan. Like our Zulus or Ndebele. Same types of clothing and art works. Very interesting how that happens continents away and millennia apart. Their clothes are very bright and colorful, lots of reds and blues. Stunning.

After that we found our accommodation and everyone was ready to pass out! The total trip was not even 2 hours driving from Changhua, where we live. We drove into the little country town bustling with people and scooters. We stayed at staff accommodation for a company called Changhwa Telecoms. Stunning way of doing it. The shop is on the road level and the rooms are above on the 4th floor.

We got given our options of rooms as we were the only people staying there for the night. We checked the room and it reminded me a lot of the usual Holiday inn rooms, maybe a tad smaller, Formula One, maybe. The we saw the VIP suite, never been used in mint condition with a widescreen TV…we’ll take it!!! SO the four foreign people take the VIP room and organize accordingly. There was a double bed and we added two mattresses we found in another room. Amazing little thin mattresses, very comfortable!

So we crashed for what was about 30min, when a knock at the door revealed Edward asking whether we wanted to go to the lake. Kim slept and Alicia, Melissa and I went. The “lake” turned out to be a bit of a pond really. Nice and all, in the forest and everything but a little pond. We also walked a trail around it, which was very interesting and I rescued two puppies in a drain pipe trying to get out, obviously exploring too far! They were fine! The mother followed us for a while…probably to say thank you or thanks for getting the kids out when I wanted them in there for some peace and quiet! Anytime!!!!

We got back, woke Kim with M&M’s and we slowly got ready. The bathing suits were on, the towels were ready and off we went to the hot springs! It wasn’t even 10min drive from us. The steam rose as we approached the front entrance. We paid 350 NT and got given a disk. We turned around to where the shoe exchange was and got some funky slops. We walked down a walkway to where the pools were under roof but outside, so inviting! We got to the counter where you could get changed in the change rooms or leave your belongings in a locker. As you use the locker you get a plastic bracelet with the key on. Cool!!! Sun City must get this!

We were ready! In about 5min we were in the pools. What a cool feeling, nearly like my swimming spa but the real thing! Then the adrenaline kicked in, I was allover the place. What’s there, oh, ice cold water and there? Oh boiling water….hmmmmm interesting…what if I run from here and jump in the boiling water, then go from there to the ice cold pool and then back into the warm pool, what will happen? Let’s!!! I nearly passed out that’s what happened, when I hit the ice cold pool after a circuit, my eyes gave me drunk vision, my skin glowed a stunning tomato red colour as the circulation tried to keep up and I couldn’t walk straight without crawling through the boulders to the warm pool…I stayed there while until my sight steadied….sheeeeewwww what a rush!!!! And so we cooked and steamed for about 3 hours. Then the photo’s started! Kay arrived and she started taking the photos. We got a stunning “Zoolander” pose in that will do the movie proud! Left – Melissa, back – Alicia, right – Kim and front and centre- Karen. Just incase you couldn’t see past the “blue steel” look!

The last photo is more the Gorillas in the Mist look, my personal opinion.

After, that we went for supper at a restaurant and had dumplings. Not our dough dumplings that we know but a pastry with a vegetable filling steamed or fried. Delicious!

In this little restaurant there were the owners two kids, a little boy and a girl. The boy probably around 5 and the girl about 6 or 7. They were clearing the tables and wiping it down. I want to see our kids do that at that age. The little boy sat behind the till like the manager afterwards just incase we needed something else. The little girl brought our serviettes and chopsticks. Too cute!

We arrived back at our room and got ready to relax when the knock at the door asked us to join them in the staff party room. No ways!!!! We fixed up a bit and sauntered down the corridor to the end where there was a glass door. We opened it and the music flowed forth! The karaoke was in full swing with the singers looking bopping away excitedly. I have gained a new respect fro KTV (Karaoke TV) it is an amazing bonding experience! We were such an amazing composition of people together that it was probably the most exciting holiday in Taiwan ever!!! We soon got hooked into singing a few songs, although the English selection was a bit on the golden oldie side with the latest thing, Lemon Tree that was in Chinese except for …..”Lemon Tree”! House of the rising sun was sung with great gusto on our part, with Let it be a close second!!! With cheers and clapping and singing going on there was no ways anybody was having a bad time!!! I made a video of the Chinese girls singing a stunning little pop song in a real girl band manner!

What a party! Jimmy mixed some Famous Grouse 12years old in a decanter and I had a strange mix of Smirnoff ice and whiskey…interesting! We eventually went to bed around 11ish. And had a very fitful sleep!!! What a day!

We woke up and were soon carted off to breakfast at another Hakka delicacy restaurant. In the early morning hours Kay’s brother, Cynthia’s boyfriend was collected at the airport for a surprise visit from the USA. Needless to say Cynthia was the happiest ever!! She doesn’t see him for about 6months at a time while he studies there. His name was Chris.

Not your usual bacon and eggs but boy do I love this Hakka food….did I say that? It is rich and oily, just like home! Not so bad, but when you get used to steamed rice, cooked chicken and veggies and soy sauce, this is rich and oily

We were preparing to leave to go and find some more hot springs in a place called Taian. But not before we have a little group shot of the travelers from all over the globe who can get along like they were best friends for years!!!!

And off we went! Next!!!!

This time Chris was driving, there was definitely a difference…we were the ones racing down the mountain. Luckily we stopped at a temple in the mountains with a great view over a valley. The mists had subsided a bit and we had a clear day.

Enlarge the bottom right photo for a history on this temple, very interesting.

A bit of a subdued trip today as everybody was recovering and probably because we were going home at the end of it. But the warm breeze kept breezing, the sun kept shining and we were soon off again.

We finally arrived at Taian where a lot of construction was happening in the river bed. Their river’s here is not like ours where you have mainly sand and silt. Here it’s all volcanic because of the origins of the land, so the river bed is a river of gravel and boulders. Did I mention the river?…..what river? In a broad river bed of about 500m or more across, I’d say the river measured about 3ft across. They had built a road in the riverbed…my only concern was, if they are doing that and spending money on putting a road there, does the river EVER get any bigger say in the rainy season?….obviously not!! But it is a weird feeling driving on a tarred road in a riverbed! Images of the Mummy Returns keep popping up in my mind where the towering wall of water chases them through the canyons! Hey, I’m just visiting!

And guess what else they do here that we also do in good old SA….strawberry picking! What a treat, I have to come to Taiwan to do what my brother has done ages go in SA. Go figure! They organized a basket and we were allocated and area. We didn’t do serious picking, just enough for the group! They were huge!!! Not the big red one on the photo, that’s a balloon, the others.

Come and get your farm fresh strawberries from us, where you pick the strawberries and we smile!!

And off we went again! We arrived at a hot spring spa called Sunrise. Quite impressive but we ended up not swimming while the others did and had a coffee instead.

I went exploring for old times sake before we went home and waved good buy to a memorable holiday! I couldn’t believe it when they sorted out the bill for the weekend and we had to pay NT 500 each, this included all the lunches etc. R100 or less. Our accommodation we paid as we arrived and that was another R100 for the VIP suite and we paid NT350=R70 for the hot springs. They didn’t want to know about us paying for petrol! It was truly the best and cheapest holiday in a very long time!!! When are we going again??? Hey hey hey! We exchanged email addresses and said our sad good byes!

And so the Chinese New Year began. It was Monday and Tuesday on their new year’s eve we were invited to go to Monica’s family get together. What an experience that will be to have a family dinner as we do over Christmas, very much the same feeling as our Christmas, where family come together from all over. Apparently the greatest movement of people on earth over this time period. Mainland China and Taiwan exchange millions as people go home!

So we got picked up by Monica and off we went. Not to far outside Chunghua and not too far from Lukang, just on the outskirts between the two cities, where rice paddies greet the eye and open areas are being cultivated.

We arrived and were warmly greeted and made comfortable while we started watching “Meet the Fockers”. Here one realizes that humour is definitely a universal language although many nuances are lost, the main ideas are understood and found funny. Finally we were ushered outside to an open area surrounded by three buildings, a horseshoe shaped building with three separate parts. The building on the left was the house of the oldest son whose responsibility it is to look after the mother and father and who lives with them on the property. The centre building is reserved for their temple or rather shrine. This has a certain format and is the same where ever you go in Taiwan. It consists of two huge tables. One the height of about 5ft and about 7ft across in length. On this are placed the deities. Here were three. The god of the mental, old wise looking guy with a long white beard and white clothes, much like Gandalf in Lord of the rings without the hat. On the right a red faced god with black beard which is the god of the physical (Kung Fu) and in the centre a woman. Also on this level they placed insence and tangerines which is the fruit of New Year and good fortune. The second table is the same as the first but just smaller and fits in under the bigger one, usually drawn out in a step formation with incense and a few other items on it. All red lighting and coverings. Very interesting. The right building is also for family to stay in. In the little courtyard, about 5 round tables were placed with about 5 bowls of food on each. You get handed your little bowl, they fill it with rice or noodles (like spaghetti) and you add your meats and veggies on top and eat them together. Very festive! People chatting, family greeting, each uncle and aunt did their rounds to the various tables to wish each a happy New Year and good fortune. We toasted every time they came around, good wine!!

Even the dog has to use chopsticks to eat! Impressive!!! After the dinner we were invited to the uncles’ house for Oolong tea. We all sat there and drank our tea and eventually we left.

Monica took us to Puck’s place, her boyfriend, an artist who writes the most amazing Chinese scrolls. I’ll have to organise. We were under the impression that they do a count down like we do and braced our selves for the blast and thunder of crackers after twelve. But as we count down nothing happened. They have a temple ceremony at each temple and televised the main ones in Taipei and Lukang and other major centres. People were waiting outside the temples for the gates to be opened. Their custom is to place incense sticks in a sand filled earn and make their wishes. So the idea is that as the doors open whoever places their sticks in the earn first will have good luck for the year. So around 20 past midnight after they were waiting for a ceremony inside to be completed the door opened and people dashed for the earns….scary, few people got trampled etc. but in the end the sticks were placed en though it sometimes got thrown in from a distance, as long as it stays. Was very different to watch. No crackers were heard in the streets on our way back home. In fact more crackers were lit days after as businesses reopened and lit firecrackers at the entrance to ward of the ninien monsters. The beliefs are, much like Christian belief in Egypt when goats blood was placed on the door frames to ward of the evil spirit of death, they place red banners on the door frames with well wishes to ward off the ninien monsters of ancient times that killed and were evil. The crackers were originally gunpowder in bamboo roots, an ancestor found that this works well to scare the monsters and the tradition was started that any new venture or if things were not going well or there was a new beginning, crackers were to be lit together with a little table outside with offering to the gods. But later on that….

So we were invited back on Thursday for the 2nd round of the New Year Celebrations when the daughters returned from their new families. Cool tradition, we should do that over Christmas, will solve all the family issues when Christmas lunches and dinners are held. So after a day of rest the Wednesday we decided to go and watch Constantine with Keanu Reeves, the battle between Good and Evil continues, extremely well done!

We arrived on Thursday, for lunch this time, and the same set up was organized. This time just a younger crowd with many kids.

Monica and her sister. They bring all the soups and stews in bags and decant it into the bowls on the tables. We were given a doggy bag to take home with crab meat, prawns, mud prawns, fish and calamari or squid…delicious. Interesting foods as well, like shark fin soup, nice taste though, a pork and veggie soup which was quite rich and lots of vegetables and battered mud prawns that look like huge termites! Yummy!!! The shark fin soup bugged me because there was such uproar when that syndicate in Cape Town was caught out to have killed thousands of sharks just for their fins. They believe it’s good for your skin.

SO after yet another meal and interesting wheat drink we were ushered into the living room and KTV was waiting for us! The uncles and the smallest boy I have ever seen singing like a professional! Holding the microphone and making sure the wire isn’t trapped or stuck somewhere while his singing and bouncing up and down. If there was something wrong with a microphone he’d come over and hand you another one after telling you there’s something wrong with yours, even though you were too happy not to be heard properly!! We eventually got sung out, although we were trying hard to keep a low profile at this stage, went home to sleep!

Had a very good night’s rest after that! A whole week without school, weird!!! Saturday we decided to go to Taichung a bit and walk around, find the Jade market and go looking for Chung Yo one of the biggest shopping centres in Taiwan. So off we went to the train station. On the train at about 9:30 10:00 and arrived around 11:00am. We hit the streets with Lonely Planet at our side telling us where what was. We found the Jade market near the station and what a treasure chest this was. I was in awe of the craftsmanship and prices, so cheap for quality amulets and bracelets and pendants etc. My mom would have a field day here with all these beads!!!

It was a maze of little turns and alleys under roof. We ended up an hour or so later emerging into the sunlight and facing a stunning park. We went walking around it a bit after a drink and snack from the 711. The park had a pond where people were rowing and walking around. A fate or market of some sort was at the far end and we ended up walking through the whole park to check everything. They had the most stunning little gazebo in a Japanese style garden around it.

As we climbed the little hill and arrived at the top, a huge weird statue surprised us. I later, on closer inspection, saw that it was a base station (I think), made by Changhwa Telecoms, these people are everywhere!

After the park we walked up the street and found what we have been looking for….the mother of all malls!

This is the bridge that connects each building with the other. Three buildings with over 10 floors.

This was the best mall ever!!! The others we have been to like Mitsukoshi or Sogo are very up market malls where you do not get any cheaper normal people type stores, everything is Loui Vuitton and Gucci and Benetton, Diesel etc. This one has those as well on the lower level and the cheaper things further up. Where our malls work the opposite way, mostly. By this time I suddenly realized we have been walking since 11am, it was around 5pm when we decided to stop to eat something. Take that Lyndon, it must be some kind of a new shopping record! We went to TGIF – Fridays, had a hamburger and fries and had to ask for white vinegar…they actually had salt on the table…it was heavenly!! I had a glass of wine that actually tasted like our normal box wine we get when asking for a glass….stunning! We made our way back to the station, got lost in a flea market first and left around 9pm. We arrived at Changhua around 10pm and walked home slowly as my legs started cramping and I felt like I was back at having growing pains again!!! I collapsed on my bed around 11pm with my legs elevated to get some of the blood back to my brain!

On Saturday morning at about 4:20am I was shaken awake by some illusive force! When I surfaced I realized after a few seconds that the building was being shaken by an earthquake a tad bigger than the usual. How do I know this? I was sleeping! To wake me up you need to be pretty imaginative and or very loud!!! I would have loved to know how much that was on the Richter’s scale. Felt as bad as one of our first one’s. One of those was 7. something off the coast of Ilan, There is a fault there and that’s where most of the quakes originate. About 150km off the north-eastern coast. Lovely! I think if I had a choice I would prefer earthquakes in the evening when I’m a sleep. My motto “Ignorance is Bliss!!!

Sunday sailed past slowly, we had a braai and relaxed for a change. And Monday the school started again, on Valentines Day! Sad!

But we have another holiday coming up on the 2/28. It was a political massacre in Taiwan’s early years and Green Island was then the Robben Island of SA. Ryno went to Green Island with Andrew for initially 3 nights and four days and eventually ended up staying and extra two nights as the party was way too cool to come back, many South Africans, mostly teachers from Taipei. Next holiday!! Blade 3 is also planned for our Feb entertainment! Then I think we’re broke…again! All worth it!

Just to end off our month with a bang we had a school dinner at a department store called IDEE. A stunning 12 floor shopping centre with the top two floor restaurants. We visited a buffet styled restaurant with food in various nooks and crannies. Beautifully designed as most of their restaurants. Most of their restaurants are designed in a very up market dark wood and glass setting. Although the prices are very reasonable. This one was NT500 per person = R100 eat as much as you want with drinks included. Definitely worth it although the school paid, so it was even better!!! The boys went for the meet and the girls went for the Hagen Daasz stand for dessert! Obviously!! Delicious!

So another month has come to an end and February as short, wet and cold as it was has passed! 5 months to go girls and boys! Enjoy your week!

    Taiwan Times Vol 7 Volume 7  February 2005 INDEX: Miaoli 2/6 ¡V 2/7 Chinese New Year 2/8 ¡V 2/9 Constantine 2/9…

[forbidden-creepypasta]

NoLove Archive

I’m making this post only because  I want to have NoLove’s stories saved somewhere after Terrortortellini’s demise. Without a further ado, behold the work of the greatest creepypasta writer ever. All credit to NoLove, of course.

Me and Angie had been best friends for as long as I can remember. That all changed one day. Everyone always thought we were lovers, but it really wasn't the case. I guess it only added fuel to the fire when we decided to go travelling to Africa together for four months. She'd spent some time there when she was young, and I wanted to see more of the world, so it made sense. The first three months went great. We spent every day helping the local kids. The other English guys over there loved us both. The kids thought we were great, Angie especially. First morning into the fourth month, I woke up to the most horrifying sight I'd ever seen. Dead kids, broken bones, blood everywhere. Trampled to death. 'Angie, I don't believe this.' I said. 'HAROOOOOOOMPPPPHHHH,' said Angie.

 As you dedicated a forum to me, I thought I would pay you back by giving you the other stories that you missed. It includes the rare 'return of Angie' story. It's up to Vaughn what is done with them...I guess they might be deleted, or added to the Classics...but I hope you enjoy. Don't Lie The last two humans on Earth sat eating by a faintly flickering fire, its crackles and their chewing the only things breaking the silence. The man gave his young son a smile. 'It's Friday today Danny! You know what that means...' The boy nodded. 'Chocolate day.' The man patted his son on the head, and went to fetch the last remaining chocolate bar. 'Danny!' 'Yes Dad?' 'Did you eat that chocolate? It's gone!' The father stormed into view of his son, who looked terrified. 'N-no! I swear!' 'You had better not be lying to me!' 'I'm not!' 'I'm serious, Danny! It's just us! Bad things will happen if we can't trust each other!' 'I promise!' The man looked at his son, and believed him. 'OK...OK, I'm sorry, Dan. Look, I'm going to look for some more supplies. I'll be back in an hour or so.' The young boy nodded. As his father left, he uncomfortably shifted around, and removed a chocolate wrapper from his pocket, and scrambled around to bury it in the ground. Panic over. Then, Danny heard the most terrifying sound he had ever heard. 'I thought your father told you not to tell lies?' BananaCorn Goes To Jail They led the no-good tryhard towards his cell. 'Please!' he whimpered. 'Give me one more chance!' The jury looked at him with pity. But it was for the best. The guard led Bananacorn down a staircase, his face stony; a direct contrast with Bananacorn's sweating features. Finally, they reached the cell. 'We don't have no specific cells for tryhards here, so you'll be sharing with a murderer,' said the guard. 'W-what?!'  'Meet your new cellmate!' Bananacorn stared at the other occupant in the cell with a look of absolute horror. 'HAROOOOOOMPH!' said Angie. The Stupidest Town In The World Year 2014. The idiots were slobbering around as usual, playing with each other beautifully, some people would think it was adorable; others thought it was just plain retarded. 'Sarah, Sarah, let's play with this toy!' said the man happily. 'No, no!' said Sarah. 'That toy is dangerous!!' 'No it's not! Look, watch!' 'No! Let me do it!' Sarah laughed. She grabbed it from him, and pressed the button with a grin on her face. In Moscow, 5000 miles away, the first bomb fell. The Man In Red...aka The Devil Here is a riddle which may creep you out a bit. The Man in Red ate his dinner...with a fork. The Man in Red killed a man. The Man in Red made a deal with a bad human. The Man in Red is a fallen angel. The Man in Red is God's enemy. The Man in Red is inside each and every one of us. Can you guess who I'm referring to? The Disco Of Death 'Woooo!' screamed Rosie. She was having fun, this had been the most fun disco she had been to in a long time. 'Wahhhh!' shouted Henry. He was also having fun. The DJ looked down at Rosie and Henry having fun and dancing with jealousy. He had a girlfriend once. He shrugged his shoulders, and lined up the next song. 'OK everyone, let's get dancing for this one! And it's time to get close with your nearest and dearest, this is a slow one! Let's dim the lights...' The lights went so dim that Rosie and Henry could hardly see each other. The slow music kept playing, and the room went darker and darker. 'Wahhhh!' Rosie and Henry never had fun again. The music continued to play, as the DJ slinked out of the venue without a trace. The bloody knife in his hand glistened in the moonlight. The Party Near An Electric Chair This is based on a dream I had. I am well aware that the story makes no sense, but I wanted to share it with you guys in it's purest format. I couldnt remember the name of the main guy in the dream so I made one up. Everyone had turned up to Hoffham MacRedpoor's 19th birthday. Jimmy was there, Sally was late, but that didn't matter, Julie and Gerald had both arrived on time. 'Thanks for all coming. As you know, my Dad works for the prisons and he got me something pretty cool for my birthday!' said Hoffham to his friends. 'What is it?' asked Julie. 'An electric chair!' 'Wow!' said Jimmy. Hoffham got all of his friends to sit on the chair. 'Here, I'll take a picture of you all!' said Hoffham. They all smiled. For the last time. Hoffham dropped the camera, and quickly pulled a lever, electrocuting his friends. They died instantly. 'That'll teach you guys to bully me at school.' There was a knock at the door. It was Sally. He let her in, but she had an odd look on her face. 'What's wrong Sally?' Hoffham asked. 'This is for killing my friends,' she said, and she shot him dead. Sally clambered into the chair alongside her friends, and pulled the lever. The Slug Who Lost His Mind The slug squished along the ground, slowly, pointlessly. He eyed the snail across the street jealously. If only he'd had a shell like that to protect him, when the demons had came a-knocking. Unfortunately, he didn't have a shell. And now he was haunted day by day. The ghost of his stupid slug mother, too dumb to get a job in the slime industry. His dead slug dad, killed by some kid with salt. But the most haunting image was the one of his own corpse. It seemed oddly unsluglike. Meanwhile in reality, the child's fever was not getting any better. He would not wake up as his concerned parents looked on. His mother wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, forming a glistening trail, not unlike that of one of a slug. In The Name Of The Father The man closed his eyes as the pain became more intense. It would be OK, he told himself.  The pain intensified. It felt like someone had placed needles in a furnace and pushed them into his arms and hands. It would all be OK, he knew the truth. Finally, he gave in. They checked his body. 'Yes, he's dead.' 'OK, good work everyone. Who do we have next from the mental institute?' The men went back to checking their lists, for the next person who would hang from the giant cross behind them. The Ghost Who Came To Life The ghost floated along, floating along happily. He floated even more happily, until suddenly, he felt very sad. 'I used to be alive.' Suddenly, a genie appeared. 'I will give you one wish, ghost.' 'Only one?' he replied. 'Don't genies usually grant three wishes?' 'Yes, but you are dead. You only get one.' 'OK, fine.' The ghost thought long and hard for a second. 'I want to come back to life, and be immortal.' 'Your wish is my command.' The genie brought the ghost back to life, and then disappeared. The ghost was now human again. In a coffin underground. Trapped. The Dead Rapper Yo, Yo, yo, yo. Naw, I ain't alive.  But I'm still rappin' Take a seat And I'll you what's happenin' Guy comes up, Pulls a gun Aimed it at my head It wasn't fun Yo, Yo, yo, yo. Some called me A rapping masta Now I'm writin' Creepypasta From beyond the grave While you are at a rave Guess what? The twist is coming at you like an attack I'm still alive- and my name's 2pac.

 My first pasta...be kind :3: I've been lying here for a few days now. She broke up with me, and I can't move. We'd been arguing for a while. My paranoia had always been a problem, and when I saw her getting out of a guy's car the other day, it all blew up. She was screaming, saying I was suffocating her by being so needy, I wasn't the person she thought I was; all of the usual things. But it seemed different this time. She seemed like she hated me. It turned out it was just an old schoolfriend of hers that she was meeting to talk about old times, but my accusations were the final straw for her. She packed a few of her things, called her sister to tell her she was coming over, and left without another word. The next few days were a bit of a blur. I'm lying here, wondering whether I'll ever be able to go and get that drink of water that I so desperately want. Wondering whether she'll come back and dig me up.

 You may have heard the old theory about 'an infinite number of monkeys with an infinite number of typewriters could type the complete works of Shakespeare'. Well, here's the part you probably haven't heard. Someone actually tried to do this.  Danish scientist Lars Hansen took this theory very seriously- as luck would have it, his job was Monkey Cloner at the University of Copenhagen. He had spent the last few days just cloning monkeys non-stop, knowing that Monkey Infinity would soon be arriving. 'This one, it's this one!' he yelled excitedly to his assistant Noah. 'Oh my God,' said Noah, his beautiful eyes widening. There it was, in front of them, monkey number infinity. Then the monkeys became self-aware, and realised there were more of them than the humans. They decided that they would each kill one human, travelling around the globe, led by Monkey Infinity. Monkey Infinity gestured towards Monkey #289994 and #9011.  'Kill,' Monkey Infinity said. And then Lars (human #289994) and Noah (human #9011) were both dead. Monkey Infinity laughed with satisfaction, knowing that he would never have to kill anyone himself, as there was no Human Infinity. So just remember...there's a monkey out there, with your number on it.

 Red. The colour of blood; flowing around your body day after day. Until that final day. White. The light blinds you for a few seconds as you wake up, tied to an old chair. You hear the faintest laugh, and then footsteps. Black.

 The kid was retarded; there was no getting past that. Dribble running down his face- gross. His tongue lolled around his face at weird angles. His beautiful green eyes ravaged by years of self-doubt. Lo! Realisation. He just became self-aware. And he's left the room now. Creeping...creeping towards those who made fun of him in the past. Creeping closer...and closer...and closer. He licks the door before he enters. The bully lay there, blissfully unaware. And he stayed unaware forever more, as the hammer crushed his skull within a milisecond. The retarded child left without a word.

 After getting poor reviews for my first pasta, I've taken my time over this one, making sure that hints are dropped throughout for the twist ending etc. Hope this one is more satisfactory. It had been a long few months. I was made redundant at the end of Easter, and was finally starting to get interviews again. But this one...this one was different. My suspicions were first aroused by the name-tag on the guy who was interviewing me. 'A. Lien' At first I just thought it was a Chinese guy, but no, he was white. Then they started asking me whether I would be prepared to 'relocate'. When I said 'what, to a different country?' they just laughed. But it didn't sound like a human laugh. It sounded alien. But anyway, I got the job. They didn't tell me where or when I'd be starting. One night I was whisked away in the back of a van. Call me paranoid, but I could have sworn that the van didn't just travel along the road- it travelled upwards. Almost like some kind of spacecraft. So I started work. The weird thing was, I don't remember anything about the work I was doing. It was almost like my mind was being wiped after every day, but some kind of technology not known to Earth. The truth hit me one day, when I asked my employers 'Where on Earth am I?', emphasising the word 'Earth'. They just laughed. But it didn't sound like a human laugh.

 If God became President, he would win every war. If God became President, no-one would worry any more. If God became President, the devil would be his vice-president. What if the vice-president (the devil) convinced the President (God) to kill himself? Then the Devil would be President. Imagine if the Devil made God II his Vice President?  Imagine if God II managed to get the Devil to change his ways and resign, then God II would become President. God II appoints the Devil II as his vice-president. The cycle continues. Eventually- it all ends.

 Los Angeles, 1975. I wasn't alive then, and I ain't never been to Los Angeles. But this is what I imagine it was like. The rain was incessant; the tighter I tried to pull my coat around me, the more seemed to get through. The flashing neon was a welcome distraction from the pain currently rippling through my body. They had all come to see me off- the guy who got buried alive, the guy who got abducted by aliens, angie the elephant, the goddamn emo, the dead rapper, the unhappy car, the thinker, the ugly wizard; all these legendary characters had turned out to see their creator's final stand. And they were all smiling. Not smiles of satisfaction, but warm smiles. Comforting smiles. Angie the elephant brushed her trunk gently over his body. He returned their smiles weakly, and felt his eyes begging to be closed. Nothing. The final twist is that his death was from natural causes. RIP NoLove.

 The Devil wagged his tail. The Devil barked loudly. The Devil growled beautifully. The Devil chased a cat. Suddenly, the dog became self-aware and realised he was the Devil. And the cat that he was chasing was God. The world imploded. In future when you see a dog, try not to get creeped out.

 The rabbit lay beautifully in the grass with a smile on his face. Then it stopped smiling. And started to eat its own skin. Crunch. Skin ripped off. Squelch. Skin ripped off. Only it wasn't a rabbit, it was your insane brother who just turned up at your house after 38 years. And he wasn't eating his skin... He was eating yours.

 'Hey! Hey you, you goddamn punk!' The goddamn punk turned around. 'What do you want from me?' 'All your cash, phone, everything. Turn out your pockets.' The goddamn punk sighed. Would these muggers never learn? He reached into his pockets, and pulled out a gun. 'Woah! Hey...woah, man. Jesus Christ.' The mugger stepped back in shock at the sight of the weapon. 'I'm not a goddamn punk. I'm a goddamn emo.' The goddamn punk shot himself in the head. The mugger tenatively kicked his body over, and stole his money, phone, and after a second's thought, took the gun.

 The God turned to the other God. 'I am the true God,' he said. 'No,' replied the second God. 'I am the true God.' The two fought, kicking each other beautifully, and scratching each other's God faces, and pulling each other's God beards. They fought, and fought, and fought. Then, a third figure entered the fray. It was The Devil. 'I AM THE TRUE GOD,' he whispered gently. The other two Gods were too tired to put up a fight. With one stab of his fork, The Devil killed both Gods. 'There can only be one God,' breathed The Devil, 'Of nothingness.' Then the world ended.

 I think I'll do it again today. I think I'll make that train crash. I think I'll make that plane crash. I think I'll make that bus crash. I think I'll make that car crash. I am God, after all. I think.

  The Hungarian Orangutan made his bed in the morning.

His French wife messed it up while he went to work.

The Hungarian Orangutan put his dinner in the oven.

His French wife burnt it on purpose.

The Hungarian Orangutan went to bed to try to sleep.

His French wife played loud music to keep him awake.

They were certainly a couple who had opposite views on things.

The French wife wanted to live...

*

Meanwhile in France, the police knocked on the door of a mother and father to deliver some very bad news.

'What is it, officers?'

'Your daughter has been murdered by an orangutan.'

'Oh no.' they said.

The officers left. They took off their disguises to reveal that they were in fact the Hungarian Orangutan and the French wife. They kissed on the lips. 

And then there was light.

Death. Death, death, death. Life. The wizard's eye opened slowly, as he tried to take in his surroundings, which were fuzzily beginning to move into focus. 'I thought you weren't going to make it,' smirked the figure across the room. 'You thought wrong,' said the wizard. The figure opposite stepped closer. His face was pale white, and he had beautiful blue eyes. He was a marked contrast to the wizard on the ground. The wizard's face was ashen, his features were shrunken, and he had a twisted scar across his entire face. 'For all your ugliness, your powers as a wizard are second to none.' 'And for all of your nice features, you still haven't managed to become a wizard.' The figure seemed to drink these words in, like an athlete gulping down water after a particularly tough race. 'Oh, haven't I?' The figure sank to his knees, twisting his arms around, whispering manic incantations, and sparks began to fly around him. The wizard looked on in shock, and then pain began to course through his body. Death. The figure laughed with pleasure. Then, the smallest trace of a scar began to form across his face.

 He walked through the bar, shaking each man by the hand. He walked down the road, shaking each woman and child by the hand. He entered the old people's home, shaking each old person by the hand. He entered the children's hospital, shaking each child by the hand. He goes home at the end of the day; smiling, satisfied with his day's work. They'll all see him again one day. And they'll remember when they shook this hand.

 Left turn. Right turn. Full speed ahead. He drank too much tonight, there's no way he's totally in control of me. That fifth beer pushed him over the edge. Not drunk enough to be all over the place, but he's not in control. Maybe if he was happier, he wouldn't drink so much. Left turn. He glanced at his phone, and saw the time. Better get home quickly, she'll be wondering where he is. Right turn. He didn't see the child step out in front of him. Full speed ahead. I guess they'll sell me to someone else whilst he's in prison. I hope I don't make them unhappy too.

 He strained...every muscle in his body seemed like it was fighting its own world war. Reach. Reach. Relax. He fell back again, unable to achieve his goal. What would it take for him to get there?! One last push. Reach. Strain. Reach! Yes! He did it. He reached out, and pressed. The submit button that is. The twist is that the main character was me, making his 100th post.

 The creepypasta became self-aware. The creepypasta got on the bus. The creepypasta got a job. The creepypasta found a wife. The creepypasta had creepypasta kids. The creepypasta got old. The creepypasta died. It always ends the same.

BananaCorn wrote:You do realise that this entire NoLove escapade started because he couldn't take criticism for his serious stories, so he posts stupid shit to make us rage.

This is the third and final part of the 'Los Angeles Trilogy' by NoLove. I hope you've enjoyed it. I will be back with some new material very soon. I also hope to go to Los Angeles someday. Los Angeles, 1977. They say that birth is followed by life, which is followed by death. But the question on NoLove's lips was: 'what follows resurrection?' The answer came to him in a flash. More death. NoLove loaded up his gun, and began firing randomly. Truly, randomly. The first shot hit a building. The second shot hit a cow. It survived. The third shot hit himself, full in the face. He died. And then the sequence from Part Two happened all over again, and he was back to life. 'Looks like I'm gonna be around forever,' said NoLove, in arguably one of the most incredible twists of all-time.

 The Devil sat happily in a chair. He sat in silence, and then he sat some more. Then he decided to sell his own soul...to himself. 'How much do you want for your soul?' he asked himself. 'One thousand dollars,' he replied.  Out of nowhere came one thousand dollars. The devil had sold his soul to himself. THIRTY EIGHT YEARS LATER The mentally ill child sat happily in a chair. He sat in silence, and then he sat some more. Then he decided to sell his tricycle to a kid he knew. 'How much do you want for your tricycle?' the kid asked him. 'One thousand dollars,' the mentally ill child replied.  Out of nowhere came one thousand dollars.  The mentally ill child took the money, and thought to himself. 'I'm sure I remember this happening before.' The new child on the tricycle had a red glint in his eye, as he pedaled away.

 Now this is the story about how My soul got flip-flopped, passed around Now I'd like to take a minute Just sit in my chair I'll tell you how he became the prince of WHAT FRESH HELL? In west Gehenna born and raised On the ninth circle is where I spent most of my days In chilly ice, that's right, it was all cool And chewin' up traitors, 'cuz that's the rules When a man without love  Who was up to no good Started making pasta 'bout my demon-hood There was one sick kid who sold his ride And from then on, well, its a downhill slide He whistled for a kid and when he came near The trike was fresh and had dice in the mirror If anything I can say this trike was funny But he thought 'Aw, what the heck' - 'Yo homes, gimme money!' He pulled out some bills, about 7 or 8 And he yelled to the seller, 'Yo homes, meet your maker!' I sobbed for my realm He was finally there To sit on my throne, with me in utter despair

  Spin.

Spin, spin, spin.

Stop.

The man stopped spinning the toy globe for a second. Then...

Spin, spin spin.

If he stopped spinning, you wouldn't be reading this thread anymore.