#the news had him choking up and coughing that said pip had to give him some water!! poor old man was trying to hold out a WHEEZE like

[branffro]

I just did the whole marathon as per tradition during winter and each time I see this scene I literally cry laughing because you can tell Gandalf is really trying hard not to be obvious that he finds ‘fool of a Took’ Pippin becoming guard of the citadel the most hilarious shit ever

[atombombbagel]

Companions reactions to sole dying

Hi…

So I’m trying to get back into this which is way harder thanI thought it would be, it find that I have no motivation to do anything thesedays and writing doesn’t come as naturally to me as it used to, so I ask thatyou bear with me. I will add all of the companions to this eventually, like I’mprobably going to add one at a time. It’s been hard but I’m trying. I hope youenjoy it.

 Obviously by the request there’s angst, there’s a warninghere somewhere, if you don’t like reading about this sort of thing… you don’thave to. AND… this is kind of AU… AND spoilers to the end of the game… kind of?So, if you haven’t finished playing the main story… do that first 😊

Preston:

“Ok, we’re all set. Its finally over.” Preston announced ashe tapped a dew keys on the terminal in front of him. He turned around to faceSole. “You ready?” He asked before noticing something was slightly off.

“You need to go,” Sole said with a fragile voice, Prestonalmost hadn’t heard what they had said. Sole held out their arm and stretchedout their fingers. “I almost hadn’t realised what it was.”

Preston took a small tube from Sole’s hand, his browsfurrowed in confusion.

FEV-II

“What is it?” He asked examining the empty tube. Sole bittheir lip.

“It’s a strain of the forced evolutionary virus. When I wasexploring before I found an abandoned lab dedicated to the research anddevelopment of it.” A confused expression remained on Preston’s face. Solecontinued, “When we were attacking the room with the reactor, just before I setthe charge, a courser injected this into my leg.”

Preston’s face softened as he realised what Sole had meant.

“I can’t leave the institute. I need you to finish this.”Sole was choking back tears. “I need you to take Shaun back to Sanctuary andbring back hope to the people. I know you-.”

“How can I do this without you?” Preston interjected, hisvoice cracking as he looked at Sole. Sole reached for him, cupping his cheek intheir hand. Preston relaxed into their touch.

“You can.” Sole backed up.

“What if there is a way to reverse-”

“I met a supermutant, a former institute scientist whodeliberately injected himself with his own virus to escape that retched place. Therewas a cure, the only cure… his cure. I don’t want to become one of them, yousee what they do to people. Virgil and Strong are different somehow but what ifI turn out like the rest of them? What if I can’t stop myself?”

Preston nodded; he knew that Sole would never risk anybody’ssafety even if the chanced were at the lowest percentage. He loved that aboutthem.

“I love you,” Preston whispered and Sole nodded sadly, holdingback tears.

“I love you too,” Sole paused, “Now go and protect our people.”

With a flash and a slightly tingly sensation, Preston was lookingover the Commonwealth. He was looking out at the dilapidated, broken buildings,that although destroyed, with this nightmare over they provided everyone with abeacon of hope for the future. One without the terror and the kidnappings ofthe Institute. Sure, there were other monstrosities out there, but this wasprogress.

“Preston? Where is Sole?” Preston was pulled out of histhoughts by that all too familiar voice. Sturges. He turned around with apained look etched across his face. One that told Sturges immediately of Sole’sfate. “Sole was brave and kind, hell they were the bravest person I’ve ever met,”He added.

Preston looked down at the ground. He moved his hand so ithovered over that dreaded red button, but he couldn’t bring himself to pressit. Sturges reached for his shoulder giving it a firm but reassuring squeeze.He told Preston with his eyes that he would do it. He backed up against the wall,he was unable to cry, unable to talk, he could only think of his lost love, turningand completely alone. He felt a sense of numbness, a sense of guilt that he’dfelt once before. Quincy. Only this time he felt like maybe he could have donesomething, he could of killed the synth before he had the chance, he could havetaken the shot of FEV for Sole, he could have stopped the whole thing and letthe Brotherhood deal with this mess. Or maybe, what fate intended is as itshould be. But all he knew was that Sole was gone and he felt empty.

Hancock:

The area was said to be abandoned, a scavenger from Sanctuaryhad informed Sole that the area was clear and full of salvage. Which was greatnews, they were low on ammunition and that gaping hole in the fence needed tobe fixed for the safety of the settlement. Hancock accompanied Sole to the building,but let’s be honest, he followed Sole everywhere. It was a tall building, anold factory which a few stories of offices above it.

“This seems to good to be true,” Hancock mumbled under hisbreath as Sole reached for the door handle. Sole shot him an optimistic look, alook that made Hancock break and smile, a look that he had come to appreciate andlove. “You’d think a gold mine like this would have been cleared out by now.”

Sole knew Hancock was probably right, but they couldn’t affordto pass up on an opportunity like this. They needed this find. Sole slowlyturned the door handle and peered inside the room, to listen for any movementbut the coast was clear. Hancock followed Sole inside, his hairless brows creasingas he immediately noticed a ticking sound.

“Sole? What is-”

CRASH. BAM. ALAKAZAM.

Hancock had been interrupted by a loud explosion. Dust anddebris now blocked the entrance they’d come through and the opposite side, sealingthem in a small space. Sole heaved and coughed as they tried to get the dirt outfrom their lungs.

“Hancock?” Sole croaked standing up and brushing themselfoff. They turned around to see the red coat wearing ghoul on the ground coveredin trash and rubble. Sole knelt in front of him. “Hey… are you alright?” Sole rantheir fingers down the rough skin on his face. Hancock coughed and nodded. Heleaned up on his elbows.

“What the fuck was that?” He said in bewilderment. Solenoticed his voice sounded raspier than usual.

“I’m not sure.” Sole looked around, “I think maybe a tripmine or something, I didn’t see it.”

“What is that?” Hancock squinted as he looked up at the nowcrumbling ceiling. A green mist floated in the air above them. Hancock heardclicking. He looked at Sole’s arm.

“Shit,” Sole mumbled tapping their pip-boy.

“That thing is going crazy.” Hancock noted referring to the Geigermechanism inside the pip-boy.

“We need to get out of here. There is an insane amount ofradiation in the air.” Sole panicked, the clicking increasing with every passingsecond. Sole started picking at the rubble by the door in which Hancock helpedbut their efforts proved futile.

Minutes, no… hours ticked by and still no luck, they weretired and they were trapped.

“I knew something felt off,” Hancock mumbled, “I think thiswas a sick trap. Who was the scavenger who told you about this place?” Hancocklooked over at Sole. He noticed their gaunt pale skin, the life being suckedout of them.

“I don’t feel so good,” Sole whispered before doubling overand heaving before vomiting on the ground in front of them. Hancock dropped tohis knees beside Sole, rubbing their back.

“C’mon Sunshine,” He continued comforting Sole, but he knewdeep down that if they didn’t get out of there soon… it would end badly. He hadto act quickly. Hancock stood back up and tried to pull himself up through theroof knowing his body could stand the radiation. As he managed to pull hisupper body through the hole, his hand slipped which caused more debris to fall fromabove, pushing him back down to the ground and blocking their only exit. Therewas no escape, no hope. He looked back down at Sole, his face dropping.

Sole was lying on their side in the foetal position, blood tricklingfrom their nose. Sole coughed and puked, their vomit laced with blood. Hancocksat down against the wall and pulled Sole into his lap, holding them againsthim.

“This is all my fault,” He cried quietly, rocking his loverin his lap. “I knew. I knew and I let you go in anyway.” He kissed the top ofSole’s head. “Why! Why did I let you go in?!” He shouted angrily at himself, disturbingthe rubble once again, being showered in a layer of dust.

“Hancock…” Sole croaked their voice hoarse and weak.

“Shh. It’s okay Sunshine. It’s going to be okay.” Soleheaved in his lap. He stroked their hair. Tears streamed down Hancock’s face. “Ilove you so much Sunshine. You…” he paused, “You are the best thing that’s happenedto me, you’ve brought me a happiness I didn’t think I deserved. I- I love you.”He threw his head against the wall. Sole was muttering gibberish.

“Shaun? Where’s Shaun? Where’s my baby?” Sole choked out, theirbreathing heavy and coarse.

“He’s safe don’t worry, he’s asleep in his cot. He’ll bethere when you wake up.” Hancock slowly pressed his gun against Sole’s temple,his tears dripping onto Sole’s greened face. He closed his eyes.

BANG.

I’m not crying… you are… 

[cozykhaos]

A New Sun Part 14

I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long! I had to wait for inspiration to strike and it did! And to apologize there is some sexy bits! 

Sebastian

It was too early in the morning to be awake, I had been up most of the night working on my latest project I was hired for. At ass o’clock in the morning I heard a knock at the door, which I promptly ignored. It didn’t stop my door from creaking open and my mom asking me for help. I groaned and pulled a pillow over my head.

“Please Sebby,” she sat down on the edge of my bed. “I just need help with loading and unloading, I’ll have help once we get to the beach.”

I sighed. The Luau my least favorite holiday.

“I know you were up late last night but Maru and Demetrius are working in the lab, I could really use an extra set of hands.”

The sentence caused me to grinned my teeth together. OF COURSE THEY COULDN’T HELP. Why should they have to help while they worked? I just stayed up all night working my ass off but no one cared about that.

“Sebby?”

Bash.

My eyes popped open, of course she would be the one to get me motivated. I grumbled and sat up.

“Thank you Seb,” my mom smiled and gave me a quick hug before leaving. I dressed in gray shorts, purple tank top and my work boots then headed out. Mom handed me my to go mug, already filled with coffee. A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.

We loaded the truck in record time and drove down to the beach. The planning committee was already there. Mayor Lewis, Haley, Evelyn, Marnie, Gus the towns over achievers. A wildfire of curls caught my attention, her once alabaster skin had lost the angry sunburn and had now tanned into a golden honey, a constellation of freckles were sprinkled over her arms and face. I hadn’t seen her since last week when we went on our scavenger hunt. Once she had the items in hand she had thanked me and all but ran away. Since then neither myself, Abigail or Sam had seen her.

I turned away from Kit and started to unload the truck of the buffet tables and stage for the cauldron of soup.

“We can just put them right here, the others will figure out where they need to go,” mom said, starting the line up.

I grunted a response as I lifted a table. I glanced back over at Kit, she was listening intently to Lewis and nodding.

Mom and I unloaded the tables in record time, I was ready to go home and take a shower then find my way back to bed. I slammed the bed of the truck closed just as mom said. “I’ll be right back, I’m going to talk to Lewis.” I rolled my eyes as she turned her back and leaned against the closed door. My fingers tapped against the side of my leg. I just wanted to sleep. I just wanted -

My thoughts were cut off, I could feel her eyes on me. I looked up and even though she was across the beach I could see the look of concern on her face. The corners of her mouth pulled into a frown, her eye brows knitted together. The look vanished when I raised my hand in a small greeting. She beamed, her smile reaching her green eyes.

Fuck. What did I do to deserve that smile?

I looked at the ground.

Then turned.

And left.

I didn’t deserve her smile. Or the gaze of her bright green eyes, the color of the new summer advances. I didn’t deserve to gaze upon her face, where all I wanted to do was to trace the new constellations of stars that were sprinkled across her soft skin.

Love is hard, fucking is easy.

I dragged my hand down my face and scrolled through the meaningless names on my phone. There had to be someone in here to distract me from Kit. I flicked through the names, most of the girls I had met at a club in Zuzu called Fantasia. It was a BDSM club that I had started to frequent a couple years ago.

Like I said.

Fucking was easy.

No string attached.

No emotions.

Was that something that I could accomplish with Kit? Could I kiss her and feel nothing? I looked at the name on my phone, it was the girl from the electronic store in Zuzu. What was her name again?

Morgan.

That was it.

I remember the way she had fished my phone out of my pocket, typing her number in before sliding it back into my jeans. Hesitating I scrolled up to Kit’s name. There was a picture of the two of us as her icon picture. Her red curls flared around her, unable to be tamed that day. Clover green eyes clear and that smile reached upwards and filled them. Then… then there was me. I didn’t deserve her.

I scrolled back to Morgan’s name and sent a text.

Kit’s P.O.V.

Abbie and I watched, wine coolers in hand as Sam and Vincent built a sandcastle. The day was warm with a vibrant blue and cloudless sky. The luau was one of the few celebrations that I was apart of growing up and the nostalgia was comforting. I looked back at mayor Lewis who was speaking to the Governor, for a moment I expected to see my grandfather standing next to them.

“I don’t understand, where is Seb?” Abbie said checking her phone again.

“You know he hates these things,” Sam spoke over his shoulder. “He will probably skip the luau and show up for the bonfire tonight.”

“Bonfire?” I asked.

“Yeah, we have it every year,” Abbie finished tapping out a message then looked turned to me. “Did you not come before?”

I raised an eyebrow at her.

“Really?” Abbie paused, her eyebrows knitted together. “For some reason I remember you being there.”

“That’s just how strong our love is,” I bumped our hips together.

“You know it boo,” Abbie slung her arm over my shoulder.

“You guys are cute together,” Sam said.

“Can I have everyone join me around the cauldron please!” Lewis shouted from the middle of the beach. “Well folks, it’s time once again for the potluck ceremony. I trust that you all put high-quality ?ingredients in the post this year. We don’t want the governor to regret his visit to the valley! Well… Governor? Would you do us the honor of tasting the soup?”

“Of course! I’ve been looking forward to this all year!” The Governor clapped his hands together and rubbed them together. Abbie, Sam and I exchanged looks, Sam opened his mouth with what had to be a sarcastic comment when the Governor jumped in surprised.

“Oh my!” He belted out. “That’s the best soup I’ve ever tasted!” He didn’t hesitate to grab and bowl and fill it and slurped it down.

Lewis filled his own bowl and took a hesitant taste. “You’re right! It is delicious! Wonderful job everyone! Now, who else wants a taste?”

They were right, the soup was amazing. It was sweet from the tomatoes I brought, spicy from the jalapenos. The macaroni had absorbed the flavor of the bone broth. Even in the afternoon warmth the soup was delicious and comforting.  

That comfort lasted all day and into the evening. The sun melted behind the mountains casting the golden glow of honey onto the water. The girls and I passed a bottle of blueberry wine between us, a bottle that never touched a corporate shelf. It was sweet and cooled the sting of summer that had kissed my nose and shoulders.

“What games do we have planned for tonight?” Leah asked.

“Thought we would spice things up tonight with Kiss or Strip,” Haley wiggled her eyebrows.

Abbie perked up. “Speaking of, has anyone talked to Sebastian?”

I choked on a sip of wine, coughing I passed the bottle to Emily.

“Thinking of kissing Sebastian under the stars are we?” Leah teased.

“Someone is, but it isn’t me,” Abbie dug her elbow into my ribs. I slapped her arm away and turned towards the beach where Sam, Shane and Alex were tossing a football between them. Harvey and Alex stood back with there own glasses of wine.

Robin hadn’t seemed worried, she hadn’t even mentioned his absence when I briefly spoke to her earlier.

Maru pipped up from her spot next to Penny (who hadn’t touched the bottle of wine). “He left yesterday,” she shrugged. “Didn’t really say anything just that he’d be back sometime today.”

Abbie frowned, I reached for the bottle of wine and drank deeply.

“Come on, lets get this night started,” Haley bounced to her feet, with a twirl she sashayed down the boardwalk.

“That girl has more grace in her tiny toe than I do in my whole body,” Leah said.

“I really hate it,” Abbie sighed.

“Same,” Emily frowned looking after her sister.

I stood, my knees popping and I groaned.

“That’s more like it!” Maru clapped, her own knees popping when she stood.

Haley had confiscated the football from the guys and had taken a seat around the fire, the guys were sitting, Shane and Alex pouting that their game was interrupted.

“Since we have a new face I’ll explain the rules, granted the are stupid simple,” Haley flicked her golden hair over her shoulder. “You spin the bottle, you either choose to kiss the person it lands on, or strip. Easy, right Farmer?”

“Stupid simple,” I muttered.

She took out a square of plywood and grabbed an empty wine bottle, starting to pass it to Alex she reached over his head and handed it Harvey. There was a noticeable frown on Harvey’s face, even in the firelight, but he spun any ways.

I grabbed for a wine cooler and drank.

The bottle landed on Penny, Maru demeanor visibly sunk. Harvey shrugged and moved to kiss Penny, giving her a small peck.

Next to Abbie Sam cringed.

Elliot was next, landing on Abbie.

“By the way, if you want more privacy, feel free to walk to the other side of the beach,” Haley pointed.

“That doesn’t seem nes-” Abbie was cut off by Elliot’s lips pressing against her, his fingers curling through her purple hair. Elliot pulled away, his thumb brushing across Abbie’s bottom lip. Her mouth dropping.

“Want me to get your jaw for you?” I asked, pretending to pick it out of the sand. She slapped my hand away and stared at Elliot.

“At least close your mouth,” Sam shut her mouth.

The game continued, with Sam taking off his shoes when the bottle landed on Abbie. I followed suite when the bottle landed on Shane, next to me Emily squeezed my hand in thanks. Then when she spun and it landed on Shane, she practically lept across the circle and kissed him. There was an audible gasp from Shane before he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. Haley cleared her throat loudly.

Twice.

Three times.

Before Emily finally stopped kissing Shane, then kissed his cheek with a loud smooch. Emily plopped back down in the sand next to me, a giant smile on her face, the blush on Shane’s cheeks could of replaced the glow of the fire.

Alex spun next, the bottle pointing towards me. My heart rate quickened in fear, in case he did choose to kiss me. I could already feel Haley’s wrath and a shutter ran down my spine. For both of our safety and because Alex was fiercely loyal, he stripped off his shirt, revealing his toned abs, he was the first to show actual skin.

“Good boy,” Haley purred, running her fingers through his hair.

The game continued, I ended up kissing Sam on my next turn, a simple peck that tasted like Joja Cola.

I thankfully did not puke on him.

It was back to Elliott, who on this spin landed on me.

“My my, it looks like the bottle favors that side of the fire.” It was true, on his last turn he landed on Sam, whom Elliott had kissed, loudly and dramatically on the mouth.

Ellis moved towards me, Abbie shifted away from me, I turned to look at her when Elliot’s hand touched my cheek. I turned back to him, his lips grazed over mine, lightly pressing against mine in a chaste kiss. He returned to seat and I looked back at Abbie, still blinking at strobe light speeds.

“Right?” She mouthed at me.

“Seb!” Sam shouted as a shadowy figure sat next to him. “I knew you’d show your face eventually!”

Fuck.

“Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to be here,” sitting criss crossed, Sebastian propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his palm.

“Well thank you for gracing us with your negative energy,” Haley sneered, Sebastian flicked her off.

“Since you are late you’ll have to wait until we go around the circle again,” Haley said. Sebastian didn’t respond. I suddenly couldn’t remember how to breath and every second seemed to drag by.

Had he seen the kiss between Elliot and I? Why did it even matter? Why did I care? It wasn’t like he was interested in me. Unless Abbie spilled the beans and told him how I felt. She wouldn’t do that, would she?

What was I even doing here?

The Farm.

You’re a failure.

You’re letting your grandfather down.

Again.

Again.

AGAIN.

He doesn’t like you.

“Kit?” Sebastian was leaning in front of me, the fire light blocked by his frame. My eyes darted back and forth, no one seemed to notice my panic attack or the fact I was now clutching the front of my shirt. “Kit, you okay?” He asked softly, I shook my head no. He held out his hand to me, I took it and he helped me up.

“Kit?” Haley asked.

“We will be right back, give her a minute,” Sebastian said pulling me along after him.

“Want me to come?” Abbie asked. I just shook my head, wither she saw me or not I don’t know, I just trailed after Sebastian, anchoring myself to the warmth of his hand in mine.

We crossed a small bridge, past some tide pools and to the rock face. I pushed my back against the cool rock surface and closed my eyes.

“Deep breaths, you’re okay,” Sebastian spoke quietly, he ran his thumb over the back of my hand, rubbing slow circles into my knuckles. “Hey Kit?”

I looked up into his dark eyes.

“Can I talk to you?” He asked.

I shook my head again.

“No?” His eyebrows knitted together.

“Now…. Is …. not… the best… time,” I said between gasp of breaths.

“I’m just bad at this,” Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck. “And if I don’t do it now, then I might not be brave enough to do it again.”

My eyes flicked downward.

Rejection

Rejection

Rejection

Sebastian caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced me to look up at him.

“Bash -”

My words were taken from me as his lips crashed against mine. He pulled me close, one arm snaking around my waist, the other planted against the rock wall behind me. I suddenly couldn’t figure out how to think, or what to do with my hands. Sebastian backed away and the ole’ hamster started running on its wheel again. I grabbed at the front of his hoodie and pulled him back towards me.

“I’ve been wanting to do this since we were kids-”

“Kids? Really?” He smirked.

“Teenagers, whatever. We are not done!” I snapped and pushed my lips against his. He placed both hands on the rock face behind us, trapping me. My hands slid down his toned chest, until I found his belt loops, hooking my fingers around them and pulled him against me. Feeling his hardness I let out a moan.

“Fuck, lets get out of here,” Sebastian groaned against my lips. He began to trail kisses down to my neck, sucking on the skin at the base of my ear, I let out a gasp.

It took me a moment to put a thought together to answer him. “What about the others?”

“I mean I’m really not into orgies,” he nipped at my ear lobe.

Fuck.

His knee found its way in between my legs.

“My shoes are still over there,” I wiggled my bare toes in the sand.

“Say the word and I can get Sam to grab them,” Sebastian whispered into my ear, pulling his phone out of his pocket. I couldn’t think properly with him so close. “Kit, we don’t have to do anything you don’t want too,” Sebastian moved to where he was looking down into my eyes. “Understand? We can go back to the fire right now. We can pretend this never happened, or talk about it later.”

I chewed on my bottom lip, staring up into his eyes. “What are you thinking about?”

“Wither I want you to cum on my face or dick first,” Sebastian shrugged.

First?

“Lets get out of here.” I grabbed his hand.

“Follow me."

[yellow-mapleleaves]

Bloody Hands

Young man named Pip crying over his dying fiancée

⚠ possible triggers ⚠

“Sir, I’m going to need you to calm down.”

“No! No! I can’t! Leave me alone!”

Pip violently shook as he felt as if his whole heart was ripped out of ribcage. In his bruised arms, he held his fiancée's motionless body, her blue eyes shut tight, like as if she were sleeping peacefully.

“Wake up! Wake up you idiot!” he screamed in horror at her body, wanting nothing but for her to move, or for even her fingers to wriggle, only a little bit.

“Why did you do that?! Why did you jump in front of me?! You’re an idiot! Look what you’ve done!”

Pip’s own body shook and trembled with each breath he let out; tears were cascading down his pale cheeks, dripping onto his fiancées lifeless face.

“I hate you so much right now!” he thrashed the body around, hoping for her to react to his desperate behaviour.

“Sir, plea-”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said go away!” Pip yelled at the police officer.

He knew he was just trying to help, but at the moment he wanted nothing but to grieve alone.

He didn’t want anyone around him, he never did. She was the only person in his life he ever felt something for, ever cared for. She was his home, family and comfort. She was always there when he needed someone.

And now, she was potentially gone.

Nothing but a stiff pile of skin and bones, resting in his arms.

Pip’s crying came out in wails and screams, pain and melancholy flooded the screeches like a shallow pond on a rainy night.

“Please! How hard is it to just wake up?!” His voice was cracking, his throat hoarse from the cries he’s been letting out.

He felt as if his soul was leaving his body. That moment when he heard the deafening bang and saw her fall to the concrete ground in front of him. But not before turning around, and giving him a sweet, sad smile. Her white shirt then slowly staining deathly, deep crimson.

“God dammit,” he whimpered as he leaned down and buried his tear-stained face into her long, black hair. 

“God dammit. God dammit!” He builds up his voice, becoming louder with frustration.

“Why is it always me?! Why is it that when I finally find someone I care for, they suddenly get ripped away from me?!” he looked up at the sky, yelling his lungs out.

He didn’t know who he was yelling at. God? The world? Himself? He didn’t have anyone to blame but himself. He wanted to have a clone of himself in front of him just to yell profanities and throw punches at. His hatred for himself sunk deeper and deeper as seconds ticked by.

He opened up his blue eyes wide and let the waterfalls flow down his copper-coloured cheeks as he stared up into the sky. The dark abyss was awake with many gorgeous glowing lights, but they meant nothing to Pip at that moment.

Pip could feel the thick blood seeping into the knees of his pants. His heart became heavier and heavier with grief and hatred as time went by. He felt terrible that he couldn’t do anything but watch her bleed out. He wanted it to be a dream. He wanted to wake up back in his and his fiancées apartment, a warm duvet covering both of their bodies with the bright morning sun shining through the closed blinds, just like how it was that morning, when everything was perfect and okay.

He came back to reality quickly when he heard the distant sound of sirens, nearing his position. Everything seemed to slow down.

Hot, thick blood was dripping off his shaking hands onto the cold concrete below. Pip’s head was pounding from the force of his sobs that spilled out of his mouth. He watched as the blaring lights and sirens turned around the corner onto the street.

Pip couldn’t feel anything. His whole body was numb.

“Oh god,” he groaned out quietly, “oh god, oh god, oh god.”

He buried his face into his hands, then ripped away from them when he felt his fiancées blood against his facial skin. The smell filled his nostrils and burned his throat, causing him to gag. He thought he had cried all his tears by now, so when he felt more running down his face, washing the red liquid partly off, he was perplexed.

He turned back to her body, lying motionless on the hard ground. With shaking hands, he attempted to pull her cold body towards his trembling one, cradling her head so it didn’t fall in an uncomfortable position. He set her body on his lap so she was sitting up in his arms, tucking her head into the crook of his neck and rocking their bodies back and forth like a mother cradling a crying child. Pip couldn’t care less if he got blood stains on his new shirt, all he cared about was her. He needed to keep her safe. He promised himself and her parents that.

Pip stroked her hair, knowing that it was something she enjoyed. She mentioned that a couple of years ago when they were lying on the couch together watching a movie and falling asleep in each other’s arms. He would never forget those moments. The happiness and warmth he felt was overwhelming.

“I’m sorry,” he choked out, suffocating on his own breath. “I’m so sorry, I wish I could’ve protected you better. This is entirely my fault,” he whispered into her ear, hoping that she was only just conscious enough to hear it.

He tucked his face into her shoulder, trying to block out any outside noise.

“Please,” he pleaded out loud, “please be okay. I’ll do anything to make sure you’re okay.”

Pip could hear the sounds of heavy boots running towards him and his fiancée. He knew it was the paramedics, coming to take her away from him. He gripped her tighter, trying to get her as close to his body as he could, just wanting to feel her warmth, in case it was the last time he could.

He felt her warmth disappear as two paramedics grabbed her by the arms to lay her down on a carry sheet. Pip refused to let go, gripping her torso desperately.

“No! No! Don’t take her away! She’s everything I have!” he screamed at them, scrambling to his feet as they laid her down on a carry sheet. She was then lifted quickly onto a stretcher. Pip only watched as he saw the blood puddles left on the ground. His breathing quickened as they pushed her into the ambulance, closing the doors and immediately speeding away, not having the time to deal with his hysterical behaviour.

Pip stayed frozen, not moving from his position. He watched the blaring lights until they were out of sight. He felt his legs give out from underneath him and he dropped to the ground, head down and screaming his lungs out.

He screamed and screamed and screamed until nothing but rough, hoarse coughs came out.

“Please be okay,” Pip whimpered out, “I don’t want to lose you too.”

[neo-culture-mafia]

Glory of Neo Culture

What was this all for? Saying goodbye to your family...for this? Drowning away college days for motorcycles and guns? Throwing away any chance of having a future; not to mention a future with a significant other. You had 21 brothers who were your ride or die, leaving you hopeless with the possibility of running away for they had a team on every continent ready to look out for you, but never leave you alone. 

Life was uneasy and it was a daily hassle to get up and go to training -- but you were still there laying people on their asses. You needed a release from something and it never came as a clear answer. It was always hidden within one of the boys. 

When you had a hard time looking over a small group of students, Taeyong was there to show you how to make yourself known. He was your all-time role model and it made you happy that he gave a damn about people, compared to some of the other mafia leaders of this world. “Make yourself bigger than you really are and get mad. They’re not gonna listen to a little pip-squeak with a small voice who is always nice.” He said lightly flicking your forehead. You nodded and waited for his next direction. He went over and sat leisurely at the edge of his desk. “Alright, now get angry.” 

With Taeil, you never had a frowning moment -- even when you thought you were alone. When you had a secret relationship with a boy on the outside he knew about it. He also knew when it fell through and you were crushed but never let anyone inside your bubble. He was there with a cup of tea and a shoulder to cry on, without letting your secret get to any of the other boys. You didn’t even know he was sitting inside your closet. You just heard a thud and a curse before Taeil popped out with 2 cups of tea in hand and a package of your favorite cookies. He sighed as he set them down; grabbing a bunch of tissues from your dresser. He shook his head as he came over and wiped your tears. “Men are pigs.” 

Johnny looked at you as a younger sibling. He always played around with you on the daily. He made you fight for yourself, even when you thought you couldn’t do it on your own. When the tin roof of the bomb shed was blown off, Taeyong sent you two to go fix it. Johnny put you in charge of lifting the roof off the ground; the jagged metal posing a threat to your soft palms of flesh. He watched you struggle and groan at the tough task; denying you any help even when you were pleading. Finally, his denial pissed you off and you managed to lift the whole roof onto the side of the shed. He was standing right there, ready to give you a hug. He was a man with ways of teaching lessons. “You don’t know how strong you are till you need to be. Then you just have to find the things that make you ten times stronger.” 

Yuta never came around much from Japan to be lovey-dovey towards you, yet you knew he still cared. When you choked during a mission and everyone was mad at you on return, he was the first one to call you just to make sure you were alright. “Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” You said ripping your jacket off and throwing it on the ground in frustration. You were throwing a temper tantrum behind the privacy of closed doors, even though you were in the mood where you didn’t care if anyone else saw. “I’m so fucking stupid. I just had to fucking pull a damn stupid trigger.” You said punching your bed over and over again. The intercom buzzed on your wall next to the door. You groaned loudly and marched over, accepting the call. “Hello?!” You asked after a couple seconds of silence. “Hey. It’s Yuta.” He said and you just froze, crumpling into a ball underneath the intercom. “Listen...I know everyone is probably pissed at you...but I just wanted to say that I am super proud of you.” He said and you could feel the tears pool in your eyes. “Thank you.” You mumbled, bringing your knees to your chest. “Just know that everyone makes mistakes. It will be okay...You did good, kid.” 

Kun was like a dad. Whether it was in person while he was in Korea, or when it was over Skype when he was in China; he always talked to you and made sure you had enough to eat at dinner and you drank enough water when you woke up every morning. He also made sure you had someone to go to for anything: cuts, bruises, or maybe just ranting about the most random topics till 2 in the morning. “So I told Jess, you use the sniper for long range instead of an automatic.” You shook your head. He shook his head too, throwing his hands into the air. “Unbelievable.” He scoffed. “I know right! It’s common sense!” You exclaimed and he laughed at your cute expression to your story. “I swear, I’m in training with a bunch of morons.” You shook your head, grabbing your drink Kun had made for you. “You couldn’t have said it more perfect.” He said grabbing his drink and clinking it with yours.

Every single Thursday, you met Doyoung for your usual gossip session. You would both walk to the same coffee shop about 2 blocks away, and make the afternoon free for each other. “Did you hear about the 2 new students in tier 6?” You asked as your drinks were delivered. He sat back in the chair, sipping his cold coffee. “Spill the tea.” He said as you began. “They were caught making out in the locker rooms after training. Mark was pissed, even though Jaemin found them smooching on each other.” You said and he grew a disgusted face while you nodded, confirming the story. “They both got toilet duty for 2 weeks and permanently moved dorms.” You said and he rolled his eyes. “That’s super disgusting. But you know what’s more disgusting? The outfit that Taeyong wore to the Asiatic Leaders meeting last week, like, all he has to do is ask for my help.” 

Ten and you were like besties who never separated from each other. He always confided in you about some of the students he taught. You always went him to learn new ways to take the boys down when they were annoying you. So, when he was told he was being relocated to China; you were the first person he told. You both were a mess as you both held each other the night before his plane left with Kun and Lucas where they would join Winwin’s team. “This isn’t fair.” You cried as you hugged him tighter. “I know, nothing is fair anymore.” He sighed, rubbing your back. “Who am I going to go shopping with? Who am I supposed to go see the new romance movie with? We...we...that was our thing...we would sit there and laugh the who-whole time at the stu-stupid couples.” You cried and he just held you more. “I know. I’m not dying. I’m just, moving.” He said and you just groaned. “You still aren’t here.” You countered back. He just sighed but held you tighter if that was any way possible. “I am, you just have to look real hard. I’m always here.”

Jaehyun was like your dumb older brother even though he was highly intelligent. He would be the type to use you as an armrest, and ‘lose’ his balance, making you both tumble to the ground. He was still very protective like a usual older brother. You were on the way to the usual gossip session where Doyoung was already waiting. You walked through the lobby to the main gate and Jaehyun was walking through, eating some cereal. “Woah woah woah. Where do you think you are going, dressed like that?” He asked, motioning to your outfit with his spoon. “Going to meet Doyoung?” You questioned looking at your own outfit. It was what you usually wore. “Well, you should dress like it.” He said as he set his food down, taking his flannel off and throwing it on you. “Now...just button it...all the way to the top. And...wear a hat-” “Jae, it’s July.”

You and Winwin had a good relationship even though you were both stationed in 2 different countries. He would help with anything he could, whether it was with homework or it was figuring out how to fix your laptop over the phone. “Okay, just one more question.” You said and he hummed in agreement. “A bullet is shot from 15 feet away and reaches the target in 2.6 seconds. What type of gun is it?” You asked and you thought to yourself. All you heard was a loud bang from the other side of the phone. “Winwin?!” You called, your worry coming over. “Well, I can tell you for certain that it isn’t a Glock.” He said and you groaned. “You’re not supposed to shoot your men!” You said from your side of the phone. “Hey! I was helping you with your homework!” 

Jungwoo makes your sides hurt whenever you see him. Always making you laugh and forget about the situations that made you want to curl up and sleep the day away. You were sitting on your bed, playing with your fingers because you just couldn’t fathom being by yourself. Your thoughts always got the best of you when you were alone. Your door busted open and you jumped. There stood what you presumed to be Jungwoo. His whole arms were filled with blankets and snacks. “We just got Easy A on DVD, and I need a movie buddy.” He mumbled behind the fluffy blankets in front of his face. You chuckled as you ran over and helped him drop the stuff neatly onto the floor. You both spent the whole night chilling and watching romantic comedies while complaining about your single lives. 

You never had a dull moment with Lucas. He was just there in the background to make you laugh. You were all sitting in a serious meeting where you were negotiating with a Japanese triad that was looking for land in Korea. You sat next to Lucas with more members lining both sides of you. The curtain was dropped and you were all met with more men on the other side of the room. You all did greetings and then sat back down. Yet, Lucas kept rubbing his teeth with his finger. You kept bumping him with your elbow, telling him to knock it off and he was being rude. “That thing.” He mumbled, picking at his front tooth, staring at the other mafia boss. You concentrated on the boss and realized he had a piece of seaweed on his front tooth. You had to cough a little to suppress your small giggle. Lucas kept rubbing his teeth, making it harder for you to keep your composure. You both lost it when the leader laughed and the food flew onto the table in front of him. Lucas maintained a horrified expression as he began to point at the piece of food. You grabbed his hand and put it back down as he couldn’t help but stare at it more. You both got in trouble for being ‘rude’.

Mark was actually the one who needed you. He deemed himself as an outcast to some of the new students. He would come to you in embarrassment just to have you tell him there was nothing to be afraid of. You were making yourself a quick snack in the Junior Forces dorm. You grabbed the knife to cut the sandwich when you felt a hand on your shoulder. The hand was pulled so your grip with the knife was next to the person's neck. Yet, your weapon hand was grabbed and pinned behind your back, while the other person’s arm held your back to their chest so you couldn’t move. You looked up, seeing the familiar deep brown eyes. “Oh...uh...hi.” You said as he let you go. He put distance between the two of you. “Hey...I need help.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck. “With...?” You asked and he sighed. “How do I talk to the new students? They’re all so young and cool and I’m -” “Old?” You cut him off and he furrowed his eyebrows. “I was gonna say boring...but gee...thanks.” 

You were in China because Taeyong thought you were at high-risk as you were the only girl in the main unit. A huge rival gang that was known for doing things to young girls were going around and following you. So, to throw them off, Taeyong sent you to stay with Winwin and Kun for a while. You were welcomed with open arms from everyone...except the boy from the end of the hall that always had his nose crammed in a book or in his computer. Everyone tried to tell you Xiaojun was an awesome person to be around, you just had to be in the right place at the right time. So when it was during your midnight snack run, it was a shock that was a good one. You walked into the dimly lit kitchen as you were greeted with the fridge and cupboards. You poured yourself a glass of milk and sat with the Oreo package at the island as you texted everyone back home in Seoul. “You’re quite oblivious of your surroundings, you know that right?” A new voice made you jump. “Hello?” You questioned looking around in the darkness. The lights flicked on above your head and you were greeted with Xiaojun who had been standing across from you the whole time. You both stared at each other, trying to figure out what the other was going to say first. “You have good taste in late night snacks though. I’m impressed.” He chuckled motioning to your snack. You looked over to his and saw the exact same thing was in front of him. You smiled a little. “Well, I guess great minds think alike.” 

Hendery kept you on your feet. Whether it was having random dance breaks in between training sessions, or even in the middle of mission run-throughs. You both got each other when everyone else thought you were weird. He was also the only one who could deal with your sass on a daily basis. “Hendery, donkey looking, pink-loving headass.” You said coming behind him and hitting him upside the head. “Yo. Not cool.” He flicked your forehead. You both started pushing each other, alarming the other members. “Hey! Break it up!” Ten said pushing you two away from each other. “You gonna make me go crazy.” You said, puffing your chest out. “Come at me, short stack.” He said and you both ducked under Ten’s arms. People yelled and tried to grab both of you, but it was too late. What was about to come next was never expected by anyone. You both laid down on your stomachs and got into an intense session of rock, paper, scissors. You were victorious and got up to parade around the room while he laid their defeated. 

You found quality and peace in Renjun’s silence. You both would sit there and do something so domestic, yet you both understood it was needed. You both sat there and sketched your respective drawings, sometimes showing the other to gain feedback. The other boys would try and crash the peace; especially Chenle and Jisung. “Y/N, do you hear something?” he would ask after so many minutes of the 2 children trying to get both of your attention. You listened to the whines and pleas for the 2 boys to answer them. You shook your head, looking at the smirking Renjun. “No, I don’t hear anything. Must be the wind?” You questioned and he nodded, both of you returning to previous activities. The said pests eventually gave up and left. Renjun scooted closer and gave you a fist bump. He chuckled and shook his head. “No one has played along in the past 2 weeks.” 

Jeno was the main man you would go to when you had problems with another student or member. Ever since he became a full member of the 127 Unit, he took up some classes so he could teach his practice to aspiring students of the Neo Culture compound. “Jeno.” You said, walking into his empty classroom. He stood, writing something on the chalkboard as various glasses and beakers boiled behind him. “Hello, Miss. Thang.” He winked as he set his book down. You rolled your eyes as you walked behind his desk. “I’ve been having trouble with one of your students.” You sighed, crossing your arms. “And...what would you like me to do about it?” He asked as he flipped through the pages of his textbook. “Talk to him or something. Just, do something.” You grew frustrated. “Woah, calm down. What’s up?” He asked, putting his hand on your waist. It didn’t mean anything, he did it to most people. You saw a flash and looked over to the doorway where the student stood there with their cell phone out and pointed towards you. “That!” You yelled pointing to the kid who began to run down the hall. Jeno wasted no time in running after him out of the door in his classroom. He cut the kid off and grabbed the collar of the boy’s shirt. You followed out as Jeno grabbed the phone of the boy. “Unlock it. Now.” Jeno said. “It’s my phon-” “Wrong, we provided you with this phone. Unlock it. Now. I don’t repeat myself.” Jeno said and the boy quickly unlocked it. The camera roll was filled with pictures of you with various members. Yet, the photos were edited to make it look like it something it wasn’t. “Did you have her permission to capture these?” Was all Jeno asked. The boy slowly shook his head ‘no’. “Maybe you’ll learn some respect after this.” He said with a wicked smile and the phone was thrown onto the concrete where it shattered into what seemed like a million little pieces. “Let’s go.” Jeno guided you back to his classroom while the boy cried on the ground where his phone now laid, broken beyond repair.

He was an older brother figure that was always overprotective much like the others. He just knew how to take it to the next level though. You walked into the class you would be teaching. You would be teaching new students about the subject of disguise makeup. You worked alongside Donghyuck, where he would teach the students how to act on decoy missions and creating a real backstory on the spot and what to do when missions go wrong, while you teach them about meltable prosthetics and hideable wigs and makeup, along with concealing weapons. It was the first day and you barely got past your introduction before the door opened to Donghyuck in a pair of sunglasses and a floppy hat; his neck adorned in a feathery scarf. “Hello. Sorry I am late for the first day.” He spoke in a high voice, trying to sit in an empty seat. “Yah, get out. I’m trying to teach.” You chuckled along with the class as he put his purse on the desk, pulling out a compact. “Excuse you, but you do not know me. Don’t use informalities.” He said in a posh voice, throwing his scarf over his shoulder more. The class laughed, but you were getting more impatient. “Yes, I do know you. You’re Mr. Lee who teaches next door. Next door, where you’re supposed to be. Not in my classroom where I currently have a class.” You said and he sighed. “How are you so sure it’s me?” He asked, forgetting to use his girly voice. “Well, 1) You must’ve hit puberty rather quickly because you voice dropped in a record time and 2) Your member tattoo is showing.” You motioned to his forearm where a tattoo sleeve was not hidden. He cursed under his breath and took off his ‘disguise’. “Alright, you got me.” He said standing up and putting his regular glasses on. “I just wanted to make sure to come and help introduce you properly.” He said coming over and putting an arm around your shoulder. “I also wanted to mention that if any of your students misbehave, I have some gym socks that need some hand washing.” He said and everyone pulled their chair in closer, sitting up more straight. “Thank you...now get out.” 

Your late night rendezvous with Jaemin always surprised you. Whether it was burning down an old barn to sitting in his bed and listening to some music, some nights were reserved especially for him. You both laid in the bed of his truck, random music playing over the radio. You both had been driving around the whole night where you talked about the things you couldn’t say to other members. “Listen...I want to say something and I don’t want you to get weird about it.” He sighed and you just looked at him. You knew he didn’t want to look at you in fear of something. You turned your head back to the night sky. “Shoot.” You said and he sighed. “I really...appreciate you? I’m not good with feelings and especially the concept of family...but you just make everything easier. I don’t need to be completely self-destructive when I’m with you. You just...get me and it-it makes me feel like I’m not alone anymore.” You looked over and saw his eyes closed, yet they shook as the fluid built up behind them. You didn’t say anything and just hugged him as that’s all you could do. It seemed like the only logical thing at the moment. You weren’t good with feelings either, and he understood that. You both just needed to be here at the moment. 

Yangyang was one of those special cases where you both hated each other until you realized you were both stronger together. You both competed in China while you were staying. You both spoke many languages so you tried to confuse each other by speaking some that the other couldn’t understand. You both were super active and hyper, making you and him race each other at training. It wouldn’t start as a race, but it would turn into who could finish warm-up first. But one night, he heard you get emotional behind your bedroom door. He wanted so badly to open the door and tease you for crying until he learned the context. “What-what do you mean I can’t come back?” You whined and he felt your pain. He moved around as a kid and all he wanted to do was go ‘home’...but he didn’t know where ‘home’ was exactly. Now it was him and the guys. “But I’ve been here for so long.” You sighed, and he could hear the desperation in your voice. “Ok. Fine. It’s whatever. I’ll talk to you later, Tae.” He heard a couple sniffles and the door opened to your puffy eyes and face. You both just stood there and looked at each other for a couple seconds. “What?” You asked and he just shrugged. You walked past him, and usually, he would push you into the wall playfully, but now he knew that you needed someone. He followed you to the bathroom like a lost puppy while you threw cold water on your face. You patted your face and looked at him. “What do you want, Yang?” You asked looking at him, not really in the mood to play around. Yang yang looked down at his 2 ice cream sandwiches that he was going to eat in front of Xiaojun to make him angry. “Here.” He said pushing one of the desserts into your hands. “I know what it’s like to want to go home. And I know the feeling of not being able to. Just...find me if you need to talk...” He said and you just nodded, smiling to yourself. “Also, I’m sorry for being a jerk. I just wanted to tease you a bit...but I let it get out of hand.” he said. You forgave him. He smiled at you before running back to his room like the nervous dork he usually was. 

The darkest days could be turned upside down by your favorite dolphin companion, Chenle. You both were the pranksters in the compound. You filled Jaemin’s hair dryer with flour and replaced Jeno’s favorite cat socks with baby socks to freak him out. You both sat outside of Jaehyun’s bathroom. The water turned off and it wasn’t long before you both were met with the screams of your older. You both snuck back down the hall where you both erupted in laughter. He stormed down the hallways, purple hair dye running down the back of his neck. He totally missed you and Chenle as he marched into Taeyong’s office, where he was already waiting for his grape headed co-worker. In fact, it was Taeyong’s idea...but you and Chenle carried it out. Some students gathered to see Jaehyun look red as a tomato in the face and purple as a grape in his hair. You and Chenle high-five each other as you both ran to the post office to mail a box of fruit to Ten in China. 

Jisung just wanted someone to take him seriously. He wanted someone to have a decent conversation with without being brushed off as an annoying kid. He was wise beyond his years and you were the only to seem and get that. “So I was thinking, with the misso-” “Nah. Won’t work. Just go back to coloring or something.” One of the new members said, flicking Jisung’s notebook towards him. “Oh...okay.” Jisung nodded. The older boys got up, leaving Jisung alone and feeling embarrassed for even trying. You quickly got up, walking over and sitting down next to him. “I want to hear.” You said and his eyes lit up, but they were masked with the fear of rejection. “No. It’s okay. You probably have to get ready soo-” “Jisung. I want to see. Really.” You said and the look on his face was priceless and incomparable to anything you had ever seen before. He nodded, opening his notebook again to the diagram he drew up. “Okay, so the huge mission coming up...instead of doing an on-ground attack...how about an air-attack? We’d hit them in their weakest point. They’re already expecting something on the ground--so we should surprise them.” Jisung said you and you sat there, silently. The smile on his face slowly but visibly fell. His hands rubbed against his jeans as the fear of rejection began setting in. “But also, it’s a really dumb idea. I was just thi-” “That’s an amazing idea, Jisung. I’m just pissed that no one thought of it before.” And the smile was the widest you had ever seen on that boy’s face. 

But if this is what you treasure and hold so close...why are you running? Why did you pack your bags in secret a month before you left? Why did you tell Jisung that you and he could go get ice cream next Sunday if you knew you wouldn’t be here? Why tell Jungwoo that you would go see the new romantic movie this Friday if you didn’t plan on staying here for the next 24 hours?

Why?

Out of all the love...all of it...why leave? You were safe. The boys would go through hell and back to get you what you needed because they understood you better than anyone could. 

So as you packed your bag and grabbed your keys, you told Taeil that you were going to pick up more milk. Yet, they all knew your plans. They already had posts set up to bring you home if you wanted to. The boys understood you needed space, and time. You just needed an escape from reality. Yuta flew in men just to put up more post and protection. Kun and Winwin were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the call to say you left Korea and were on your way to China. Ten is in Thailand, just for the crazy chance you chose to run off to his homeland. Lucas is back in Hong Kong for the same reason Ten is in Thailand. Johnny left 3 hours ago for his plane back to Chicago. Mark left right after you did for his plane back to Canada. Renjun and Chenle are split up in China, just to make sure that if you got over -- you would be safe and looked after. Yangyang is in Germany again, covering Europe for the unlikely chance you run to Europe for a safe haven. 

Taeil gulped down his water as he watched you roar your bike to life and looked back at the compound. Taeyong popped up next to him. “She’ll be back. It’ll be okay.” Taeil nodded to calm the buzzing anxiety of their leader. 

You were running to Europe for a new start. You were now stuck in traffic and ready to get to the airport. Your earpiece beeped. You answered it, already knowing who it was. “Hey, Taeyong.” You sighed. “Hey.” He spoke quickly. 

“Listen...” he started off and you knew he knew about your plan. “...I understand that you need to do what you need to do...but we have someone on every continent ready to bring you home if you’re ready or you need help.” He said and your throat got dry. “Yeah?” Your voice cracked. “Yeah...” He trailed off. “...we will always be looking over you. Just remember we’re all a plane ride away.” He said and you nodded, sniffling some emotion back. “...we all love you, y/n...” He trailed off and you couldn’t help but cry a little. “I love you all too.” You cracked into your mic. 

“Just please remember we’re here...and we won’t forget about you.” Taeyong said and you nodded, humming in response. “Of course.” You mused. “Well it’s time for me to go.” you confessed and you heard a sharp intake of breath. “Of course, of course. Just remember to call regularly.” He said and you agreed. “Alright. See you later.” He said and you lost it. No one ever said ‘goodbye’ to each other in the unit because it meant forever. 

“See you later.” You said and he hung up. You were still stuck in traffic as you approached a tunnel. A car horn beeped behind you. You turned around to see Haechan and Jeno in a car, waving you to go ahead of traffic. 

You nodded and revved your engine as you quickly looked back at them. They looked like they were in pain as you nodded to them a ‘farewell’. They both jokingly blew you a kiss. You caught them and threw it in your pocket. You revved your engine and began swerving in and out of free spaces around cars. 

This was it...your family wasn’t going to give up on you...it was the glory they held within eachother...the glory of neo culture

...this is it...

[honeyjaez]

Maze of Miroh- Chapter 12 “Old Memories and New Problems

Minho cracked opened his eyes to the dark lit room surrounding him. His senses were still dulled from just waking up, but the soft lulling snores from Felix’s side of the room could no longer being heard. His roommate must have gone to train early in the morning in order to  avoid Woojin’s scolding about being on bed rest.

 He knew he should get up and get ready for the day, but after his episode with Jisung last night, Minho had gotten back to his room, falling into the deepest sleep he has ever felt. For the first time in his entire life he didn’t have his sleep disrupted by endless nightmares, faceless shadows. There was no screaming. No dead bodies.  And more so than that, he woke up without the immense pressure of despair on his chest that he so often felt.

For the first time in his life he felt better about things.

Now, don’t get him wrong, he still very much has issues within him. The thought of taking on The Order terrified him shitless. He still hurt from the loss of his family. Jeongwoo. Hyunjae. Grandma Yoo. But the fear seemed more manageable now, and part of him believed one way or another, they were doing the right thing. 

Minho groaned and groggily opened his eyes back up, reluctantly begging to get up while yawning loudly in the process. He winced as his joints cracked in the cold room and lethargically grabbed his towel, heading to shower,

__

After the longest shower in existents and felt like he was thoroughly clean, Minho wrapped his naked body up, heading out and allowing fresh steam to roll out of the bathroom.  He wandered up to his dresser that was filled with clothes that the other boys had graciously given him when he first joined. Slowly, he began to pull out a jeans and other garments to put on for the day.

And that’s when he saw it.

He had almost forgotten about it. Hurt by Hyunjae’s betrayal, Minho all but discarded the wayward gift that day, the envelope that had been entrusted Grandma Yoo to pass along to him.  But sure enough, like a virus, his eyes landed on the small parchment of paper slipped in between the clothes in his dresser.

Minho stood still, eyes carefully scanning the object.

He had half a mind to throw the thing out, feeling an overwhelming need to expunge anything Hyunjae out of his life. But still, Minho found himself with no self-control and his finger slowly traced the smooth paper. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew he should move on. Whatever Hyunjae wanted to give him was unneeded in his life. 

But Minho couldn’t help himself, curiosity filling him too much, and he quickly found himself opening the small envelop with shaky hands

No note...

Minho tried to swallow his disappointment. Out of anything in the world, Minho wanted a letter the most, but alas, there was nothing. Nothing that would explain his friend’s betrayal or a hint to what was happening. 

Instead all there was, was a small golden object that slid out onto his hand. Minho carefully eyed the object and realized that it was a small golden locket with a golden chain to match. With shaking hands, he opened the locket and had to stop himself from letting out a silent choked sob, eyes fighting back tears.

Inside the locket was a single picture. It was of him and Hyunjae, their arms wrapped over each other’s shoulders. Hyunjae giving the camera a toothy grin, while Minho, he realized, was looking at Hyunjae. A hand slapped over his mouth and Minho realized he was crying. 

He remembered this day.

It was right before that day in the factory. The day everything went to shit. 

Hyunjae hadn’t been feeling well and so Minho made it his own personal mission to cheer his hyung up. He showed up at his apartment, movies and snacks in hand and asked if he could keep Hyunjae company.

It was all very out of character for Minho.

And Hyunjae had known this too.

But still, they stayed together that whole day, Minho trying his best to be a caretaker, but failing epically. Hyunjae didn’t seem to mind, actually being receptive to Minho’s failed attempts at comforting him. Eventually Hyunjae had admitted to Minho that day that he wasn’t actually sick that day. He had just had one his rare moments of depression and wanted to be alone that day. He confessed to Minho however that that soon changed once he saw Minho’s smiling face. “You have a face that makes everyone feel better. Makes them feel happy and safe.” he had said to him that day. Minho remembered it so clearly.

 They looked so happy in this moment. He looked down at his own face, seeing the soft, fond smile he was given the older. Hyunjae’s smile looked so authentic that Minho almost forgot it wasn’t real. Once again he found his stomach twist into tight little knots as he looked down, a common feeling when he looked at Hyunjae and Jisung’s words suddenly rang clearly through his head.

“Did you love him?”

A single tear slid down Minho’s cheek but he made no movement to wipe it off.

This sucked.

All of this sucked.

Suddenly of knock at his door broke him out of his trance and his head snapped up.

“Minho”

Minho’s ears perked, hearing Jisung’s voice on the other side of the door.

“Chan’s called a meeting” his voice was muffled by the door but Minho could hear the slur of his words and knew he must have just woken up. A small, half smile broke across his face and quickly wiped his tears, grabbing a sweatshirt on his way out.

“Hang on. I’ll be right there!”

___

They held the meeting in the living room, countless of sleepy faces already inhabiting the room. Minho sat on the end of the couch, with a groggy Jisung taking the spot next to him. Woojin sat off to the side, his black hair tussled to the side and….was he not wearing pants? Hyunjin was sprawled on the chair next to him, blanket still in hand as he yawned loudly and his hair in a fluffy heap. Changbin laid on the bean bag chair that sat on the floor, his back hair all ruffled from his sleep and Minho stifled a laugh because the usual cranky mercenary almost looked too adorable in that moment.

Chan was standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and heavy bags under his eyes. Seungmin was also standing off to the side, his body leaning up against the book shelf as his eyes seemed unfocused and his teeth tugging on his bottom lip, deep in thought. Concern coursed through Minho’s body. What had happened?

“Now I’m sure you are all wondering why I called you this early…” Chan started to say.

“Wait” Changbin mumbled quickly while looking around “We aren’t all here. Where is Felix and Innie?”

Minho nodded wordlessly, noticing the younger missing and heart did a quick jump suddenly. Was this about Felix? Was he okay?

Chan shook his head, eyes closing “I sent Innie to get Felix, they should be h-“

As if on que, the door swung open and a familiar tuff of red hair poked into frame. “Sorry I’m late!” a light voice sounded. Minho immediately sighed in relief and turned his head, locking eyes with a rather sweaty Felix, with Jeongin right behind him.

This seemed to catch Woojin’s attention too and the elder hissed in exasperation, glaring at the ginger headed boy. “Lee Felix I thought I put you on strict bed rest until that gunshot wound healed. Why the hell are you all sweaty?!”Minho flinched slightly at Woojin’s angry tone but Felix seemed unfazed and gave the older man a big smile.

“Ahh sorry hyung.” He said while sitting on the arm of the couch next to Woojin “If it helps I didn’t push myself too much!”

Woojin grit his teeth and stared at the younger boy. Finally he just threw his hands in the air and sat back down in annoyance. “Whatever. But if your wound doesn’t heal properly and you can no longer walk don’t come crying to me.”

Minho turned his gaze back towards Chan and noticed the older boy giving them a small, amused gaze, despite the bags under his eyes. He caught Minho’s gaze and without missing a beat winked at him like he was giving him a hidden message. “Right” Chan coughed suddenly “Well anyways, you are probably wondering why I called all of yo-“

“It’s about the canister you had Minho steal yesterday right?” Jisung interrupted while yawning noisily. Eyes wide, Minho looked to Chan for confirmation and the elder boy just nodded once, unfazed by Jisung’s outburst.

“And? What about it?”  Changbin grumbled, still trying to wake up.

“Yeah wasn’t it just some information on The Order?” Felix added. 

“That much is true” 

Minho ear perked up as Seungmin finally joined in the conversation. However an awkward silence fell upon the group as they waited for the Strategist to continue. Minho noticed with a twist in his gut that Chan’s gaze was grave. Whatever was going on, Chan was not happy.

 Seungmin sighed and pushed himself off the shelf behind him, gaze serious. “Rather than it being information on The Order, it was actually containing a new biological weapon for them.”

Silence.

Minho felt his eyes go wide knowing what this meant, and he felt his heart beat quickening. “It’s a…. chemical?”

Chan nodded, face grim.

Changbin seemed to mirror Minho’s shocked expression and looked towards Seungmin “What kind?”

The younger shook his head, frustration clear as day on his face. “I’ve been up all night with Chan hyung and Jin but we aren’t any closer to figure that out then we were when we started.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Woojin asked, a pinch of hurt laced in his voice. “If it’s a biological weapon, you should have had a doctor look at it as well.”

Chan turned and looked sadly back at Woojin, shaking his head. “It’s not that simple I’m afraid. I know your skills better than anyone Woojin but trust me when I said this is just simply out of our area of expertise.”

“Even Hyunjin hyung’s?” Jeongin pipped up from the side. Minho turned and looked at the black haired boy in question and the chemist just shrugged his shoulders casually. “I’m more of an explosion kind of guy. Once you get into biological stuff I’m pretty useless.” He muttered

“Says the guy who uses his bombs to put people to sleep” Changbin grumbled under his breath.

Hyunjin’s ear twitched and Minho knew the younger had heard the comment, but he made no notion to it. He was being all nonchalant about the whole thing but Minho could tell Hyunjin was rather troubled about the whole situation himself.

“So what do we know” Chan started while lifting a finger. “One. The Order is experimenting with some kind of biological weapon to use for whatever reason. Two. We have said weapon. And Three. The Order knows we took it.”

“Thanks Minho” Changbin muttered.

Minho opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jisung was quicker and rounded on the smaller boy “I mean who else was going to take it hyung?” he challenged “Is The Order supposed to think the little old lady down the street took it?”

Minho gaped his mouth at the younger, surprise written on his face. This was very different than from the scolding Jisung gave him yesterday from the very same thing.

Chan nodded “Jisung is right. This is no one’s fault. We are the only ones in Spector that would take it, so it’s only natural for The Order to assume it was us.”

“But what is IT exactly?” Felix interjected.

Chan shook his head and pulled the small canister out of his pocket, looking down “I don’t know….” he trailed off, pausing. Minho could tell from the tone of his voice that he was contemplating something. But what?

His question was answered when Chan gave a long sigh and turned back up towards the group.

“I don’t know what it is….” He started again “But I know someone who might…”

Minho only stared at him, questioning, but unbeknownst to him, the original members of SKZ all stared at Chan with a horrified gaze.

“Hyung” Jisung said slowly “You can’t mean...?”

Their leader nodded, expression solemn. Minho could feel Jisung tense up almost immediately and noticed Seungmin face darken. What was going on?

“You can’t!” Changbin growled suddenly “You promised him!”

“Yeah hyung!” Jisung’s tone was desperate but dark. “Hasn’t he suffered enough?! If you bring him back here he will just be in dang-“

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Chan hissed back.

The room fell deathly silent at Chan’s outburst. Both Changbin and Jisung backed down almost immediately while the rest looked at one another awkwardly. Whatever this was, it was obviously a secret held between the original members. Minho knew that much. He didn’t even know they kept secrets. Minho sighed, knowing it was his turn to act like a member of the group.

“Look” he said while standing up, hands in the air “Whatever is going on, it’s obviously needs be discussed by you four. Let’s leave you al-“

“No” Chan said almost too harshly “No more keeping this a secret.” He turned his gaze back up and gave Minho a grateful look before looking at Jisung and Changbin in turn with a harder gaze. “I know I promised him I would never speak of him to anyone but this is bigger than us.” He said the last part with a waver in his voice, almost like he was getting emotional and he lifted up the canister to the group. “We have this strain, but who is to say The Order doesn’t already have clones of it? The fact that Hyunjin couldn’t figure out its effects means it’s something big…..and that scares me to death.” He paused, letting out a long sigh and lowering the canister back to his side. They all held their breath. “Spector might be in serious trouble. Whatever this strain does…. We NEED him.”

As he finished his speech, Chan looked back at Seungmin, a silent conversation passing between the two. Minho watched as the tiny boy in gasses stared evenly at Chan, finally nodding in agreement. He then in turn looked back towards Jisung and Changbin, the same conversation passing between them. Both boys hesitated before sharing a look and begrudgingly nodded in agreement.

“Fine” Changbin muttered “But if he yells at us, I’m blaming you”

Chan smiled weakly at this and gave the younger an appreciative smile “I will take the blame.”

“Does anyone wanna explain to the rest of us who you are talking about?” Minho heard Hyunjin whine.

Chan let out a long sigh before turning back to the rest of the group. “His name is Dowoon and he is the only one who might know how to stop this.”

 ___

“So you’re saying that you, Seungmin, Changbin, Chan hyung all knew about this Dowoon guy? And you kept it a secret from the others to protect his identity?” Minho whispered hushed to Jisung who seemed rather annoyed with the elder’s bombardment of questions.

“We did” he hurriedly whispered back “Dowoon was the only one who survived that day when The Order killed Sungjin, Younghyun and the others and that was only because Chan nearly killed himself to save him!” he paused and let out a sigh, sensing his own agitated tone. “He didn’t die that day, but The Order knew his face after that. Being the only survivor from Sungjin’s group, we all, including himself knew he couldn’t stay above ground. As a Scientist, Dowoon knew a lot about The Order. He was a threat to them” he explained, a sad look on his face. “So all agreed he would hide out the rest of his days in The Under and we wouldn’t tell a soul. For all the world knew, the man named Dowoon died that day with the rest of his members….”

Minho contemplated his words while looking back ahead, peering passed Chan’s head. Fast forward a few hours from Chan shocking confession about a secret ex member, amd Minho currently found himself, along with Jisung, Chan and Woojin heading down a corridor, hidden deep in Spector’s underground. The walls surrounding them were cold hard stone and Minho knew the aesthetic matched the name.

The Under

___

*Few hours earlier*

“Dowoon is alive!?” Hyunjin gasped, fully awake now. ”You mean THE Dowoon?” his eyes were wide with awe, like he was admiring the name. “Chan! Everyone in the chemist world knows that name. He is a legend!”

Chan nodded, shame twinkling in his eyes. “It’s a long story… but all you need to know is that he is alive….”

“Where?!” Hyunjin’s eyes were sparkling now, the sheer thought of his hero coming back from the dead.

“The Under….”

Minho watched as Hyunjin’s eyes suddenly lost their sparkle, his face falling.

“You mean…..?”

Chan nodded, knowing full too well what that name meant.  But the name was foreign to Minho. He had never heard it before. The rest of his members however seemed to know the name well. He turned and saw Jisung look at him with a grim face, shaking his head slightly. Minho then looked up and even saw fearless Felix’s eyes wide slightly at the name. Only Jeongin seemed just as lost as Minho.

“What’s The Under?” The younger piped up, voice curious.

Woojin’s face darkened as he stood up, walking until he was next to Chan, his turn to overlook the group now. “All you need to know is that it’s off-limits Innie.” He said Jeongin by name, but Minho couldn’t help but feel like Woojin was addressing them as a whole.

“Trust me” the eldest continued “when I say I’d rather deal with The Order than The Under I mean it.” Woojin then spun on Chan, his face severe “If you are going down there, then you are taking me.”

“Wooj…” Chan started to say but was interrupted when Woojin raised a hand in the air to stop him.

“I know more about The Under than any of you. This is NOT up for debate. I’m going”

Chan knew better than to argue. He didn’t like it, but he knew better. Begrudgingly, Chan bowed his head in response then turned to the rest of the group. “Well there you have it. We have to go down to The Under and find Dowoon who is our best bet at finding out what exactly this chemical does. I will personally lead this mission myself…” he trailed off, looking at his members, a grave look on his face. “My first choice would be Felix but since you are injured…”

The red head stood up, determination on his face “I can still go hyung! It doesn’t even hur-“

“Abso-fucking-lutely not!” both Changbin and Woojin hissed in unison, both giving the younger boy hard glares. Felix opened his mouth like he was going to argue but quickly shut up as he took one more look at Changbin’s furious gaze.

Chan nodded in agreement “Sorry lix’ but they are right. You need to focus on healing that gunshot wound.”

Minho could see Felix pout but didn’t argue as he sat back down. “Changbin-”

The younger tore his gaze from Felix’s brooding face and turned to their leader.

“I’m going to ask you to stay here as well.” He started “We are going into neutral territory and I’m afraid having my trigger happy gunner might make negations a bit tense.”

“Hyung I don’t reall-“ he began to argue.

“Besides” Chan added with a smile “I need you to watch Felix and make sure he doesn’t go running off.”

Changbin shut up and quickly stole a brief glance at the moping boy much to Minho’s amusement. If Felix heard his name, he made no notion to it and Changbin turned back around, nodding once.

“Neh hyung what about me?” Hyunjin pipped up from his chair. Minho knew Chan had to pick Hyunjin. If he wasn’t taking Felix or Changbin, Hyunjin was their next best line of defense.

But to Minho’s confusion Chan shook his head at the younger. “I need you here Jin. There is no guarantee that Dowoon will know what this strain does, and if that’s the case I need you to be here and continue to pick at it. I don’t want to lose time if we have it.” He paused and looked off to the side at Jeongin who seemed rather disinterested at this time. “Have Innie help you.”

“Hey!”

Minho expected Hyunjin to argue as well, but surprisingly the boy nodded his head in compliance without saying a word.

Seungmin stepped forward, pushing the glasses up on his face up. “So that means the 5 of us-“  

“4 Seungminie” Chan interjected “I need you here as well.”

Minho’s eyes shot wide. Was Chan seriously not going to take his best guys on such an important and dangerous mission?

Seungmin seemed shocked by this and spun on their leader “W-Wha?!” he exclaimed, flabbergasted. “You mean to tell me you expect to get down there and find Dowoon without me?! How exactly do you plan on dealing with Zico and his thugs Hmm?!”

Chan smiled and placed a comforting hand on Seungmin’s head, ruffling it. ���Seungmin, with me gone, I’m putting you in charge. The Order knows we took their canister and while I know they probably won’t find our hideout anytime soon, I don’t want any chances. I want you to stay here and work with Changbin on an emergency exit plan in case worse comes to worse. Do you understand Minnie?” he added “If anything happens to me down there, you are next in charge. You need to take care of your members here” Chan finished with a fond gaze.

Seungmin’s ear burned bright red as he quickly shoved Chan off, embarrassed. “Whatever. If you die I’ll bring you back just to kill you myself.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that” Chan let out with a chuckle. He then turned back to the group and eyed the remaining members, his gaze lingering on Minho’s a moment longer than the others. “That leaves Jisung, Minho, Woojin and myself as the lucky winners.”

“B-But” Minho suddenly spurted out “I thought I was taken off missions until Jisung said otherwise”

Chan tiled his head in confusion and he heard Jisung mumble beside him. “It’s cute that actually thought I was serious about that.”

Minho rounded on the younger with a look of shocked betrayal. He playfully shoved the younger lightly “You butt! I actually believed you! “

“Shh” the younger hushed him “Chan is still talking.” Minho rolled his eyes knowing the younger just said that to avoid Minho’s scolding but complied and turned back to Chan who looked at the pair with a fond glint in his eyes.

“Meeting is over. I want the three of you to meet back here in exactly thirty minutes so that I can debrief you on the mission. The rest of you, get to work!”

___

*Present Time*

Now with that being said, Minho still knew nothing about The Under, nor why everyone was so afraid of it. Both Chan and Jisung had been there before, that much was known. But to Minho, Woojin seemed the most familiar with the area. The entrance to The Under was supposedly the most mysterious thing in the city of Spector, eluding The Order grasp for years now. But Woojin found it with ease. And on top of that, he just so happened to have a key laying around that opened said entrance. When he asked the older about it, Woojin just got very quiet and claimed to have found they key randomly in the streets.

Minho wasn’t stupid. Woojin obviously had some sort of past with The Under, but he wasn’t about to pry.  

“Neh Jisungie” he whispered again “What’s The Under like?”

Jisung didn’t tear his gaze from in front of him but sighed quietly in response.

“It’s a very dangerous place” Woojin answered for him, obviously hearing Minho’s question.

“Dangerous how?”

“It’s lawless down here.” Woojin explained “Like you think The Order is bad. The Under is led by a ruthless and cruel man who goes by the name Zico.” Woojin spat the last part out, almost like the name itself left a bad taste in his mouth. “Zico is……well…..let’s just say Zico is more often than naught the one pulling the trigger against your head.”

Minho gulped. He did not like Zico already.

“The Under are for the worst of the worst. Criminals. Murderers. Thief’s” Chan explained “They refuse The Order like the few of us, but unlike us who do it for the greater good, The Under exists only for anarchy.”

“If they had their way, The Under would destroy all of Spector just to make a statement” Woojin added.

Unknowingly, Minho began to fiddle with the locket that was now hanging around his neck feeling the anxiety setting in. He knew he should have thrown it away, but he couldn’t find it in his heart to do so. He felt drawn to the object and the memories it gave him, even if most of them were false.

Jisung noticed this and eyed the small pendent. “What’s that?” he asked.

Minho’s hand froze almost immediately and he let the locket go, hands falling to his sides. “Oh it’s nothing…..” He knew he should feel ashamed. After all, Hyunjae was their enemy. Why should he cherish something that was given to him by him?

But yet he did.

While Minho was trapped in his own thoughts, the others began chatting quietly. “We are getting close” Woojin warned. “Stay on your guard” he hissed “Everyone down here is either looking to rob you, or kill you.”

 But of course Minho did not hear this, nor did he notice the flash of blonde rushing at him from the side. Jisung did, but it was too late. Suddenly Minho felt pain explode on his side as he got knocked sideways. Someone had just kicked him and his body went flying, hitting the cold hard wall behind him.

“Minho!”

Jisung’s words were drowned out as he groaned in pain.  His eyes shot opened and he looked up to see a strange blonde overlooking his slumped body, a fox like grin etched on his face. The stranger opened his palm to reveal a small golden object dangling from his hands and Minho’s heart sank.

His locket.

“Finders Keepers” the boy sneered, his fox smile getting bigger and bigger.

“Hey!” Minho yelled, quickly standing up. “Give that back!”

The fox boy looked down at the locket, then turned back to Minho, eyes holding a mischievous glint to them. “Ooooo tempting…but I think I’ll pass. Think of this as payment for not killing you guys on the spot.” Despite his severe words, the fox like grin seemed to be permanent on his face and he gave Minho a cheeky wave before dashing off in a blinding speed.

Minho let out a small growl and shot up, chasing after him despite his members yelling at him to come back. He locked eyes with the strange blonde who noticed Minho following him and begun running faster, almost catching up to him.  The thief noticed this and gave Minho a playful look

“Alright” he could hear him say “You wanna play? Then let’s play pretty boy.” His voice was light but Minho could hear the homicidal tone to it “Let me welcome you to The Under.”

[paradisobound]

I Want It, I Got It: Chapter 14

Summary: Phil Lester was a worker for the BBC in London. Working in the advertising department, he was content being alongside his friend and fellow coworker PJ during every shift. However, the BBC is temporarily being used as a film set for a new movie staring Hollywood ‘It’ star, Daniel Howell. Being stuck as an extra on the set, Phil finds it’s hard to ignore the famous star. And maybe, just maybe, Dan finds it hard to ignore Phil as well.

Word Count: 2.4k (this chapter)

Warnings: Occasional swearing and sexual themes 

Rating: Explicit

Updates will be every Sunday at 1pm EST

**MASTERLIST | READ ON AO3**

A/N: I split this chapter into two parts so this part 1 and part 2 will be either sometime this week or next Sunday! 

Phil wants to set himself a reminder to never book a flight as early as 6am ever again. He makes it to Gatwick with bleary eyes and a small bag haphazardly packed with a set of clothes for overnight. 

He boards his plane and then when he lands, he throws the strap of his bag on his shoulder and walks through the airport to find his mum waiting for him where she always does. 

When he sees her, he gives her a big hug and then steps back with a smile. “You look tired dear.” She comments, rubbing his arm. “Did you sleep well last night?” 

Phil doesn’t want to tell her that no, he didn’t really sleep because he Skyped with Dan until he fell asleep. He also wasn’t going to mention to her how he and Dan have been slowly progressing past the friend stage and he’s getting to the point where he can hardly imagine not knowing what Dan is doing and whether or not they can speak. 

“Just pre-flight jitters.” Phil says with a forced half-smile. 

His mum gave him a knowing glance. “I know how you feel about flights, dear.” She said, pulling her hand away from his arm. “But let’s get going now. Your father insisted on staying back and making breakfast for when we get back.” 

Phil followed his mum out of the tiny airport to the carpark and got into the car with her, tossing his small bag into the backseat before climbing in the front. The Isle of Man was small and he enjoyed having his parents living here now because even if he only went for a few days, it still felt like a holiday. 

“How is the BBC?” His mum asks as they head onto the main road towards his parents house. 

“Normal.” Phil says. “I’m working on making a new website for the BBC Radio 1. Like, not an entirely new website but a new webpage. That’s taken up a big portion of my time.” 

“How is PJ?” His mum then asks. He’s actually surprised that she’s gotten his name right. The last time, she called him Peter. He still doesn’t know how she ever got Peter from PJ but he still laughs about it. 

“He’s good.” Phil says. “I actually just went out for drinks with him a few nights ago.” 

“How about him and Sophie?” 

“Mum…” Phil says with a laugh. “I’m not PJ.” 

“I know,” She says with her own chuckle. “But you know how your mum likes to gossip.” 

“How can I forget?” Phil says. 

His mum reaches over and smacks his arm gently and Phil laughs. They pull into his parents driveway and it’s exactly like how Phil remembered it. The same cozy little cottage on an old road with the same stone fence around it. The same pink and red flowers bridged the outside and the same weather grey stone shone on the outside. 

Phil honestly likes this house better than the house he grew up in outside of Manchester and his dream is to retire to such a little community like this. 

“Come on, Philip, grab you bag! Your father is waiting and you know how he can be a bit impatient.” 

Phil steps out of the car and opens the backdoor, grabbing out his small bag from the seat. He puts the strap on his shoulder again and follows him mum inside the small doorway into the kitchen. 

His father is sitting at the table with his newspaper in his hand and Phil has to chuckle at how typical this setting was for him. He remembers being a teenager and waiting up to see his dad sitting at the table with his newspaper. 

“Hello Phil!” His father chimes in. “How was your flight?” 

“It was fine.” Phil answers, his answer automatic. He always responds the same way. Maybe it has to do with the awkwardness he still feels around his dad. He’s not sure. 

“Well, that’s good.” His dad answers. “Your brother is arriving in a few hours for the weekend too with Cornelia. You’ll have to sleep on the couch tonight since they called dibs on the guest room.” 

Phil feels himself groan. He shouldn’t groan. It was quite childish. But he also wasn’t feeling like sleeping on the couch with no privacy tonight. He was looking forward to spending a few hours on Skype with Dan and he can’t do that if he’s on the couch. 

“When did Martyn decide he wanted to come this weekend too?” Phil asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“I wanted to spend the weekend with my boys.” His mum chimes in, leaning up on her toes to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Why does he get the bedroom though?” Phil asks, his voice verging on a whine. 

“Because he and Cornelia can’t fit on the couch like you can, dear.” His mum says. “Oh, pip up. It’s only one night. I’m sure you can survive on the couch.” 

Phil wants to stomp his foot to put on a fake tantrum but he instead just rolls his eyes playfully and looks down at his dad. “What did you make for breakfast?” 

“There is some sausage and eggs on the counter if you want.” He responds, folding his paper and setting it on the table. “Your mum and I figured we could take you and Martyn and Corn on a walk this afternoon. The weather is supposed to be lovely.” 

Phil nods and walks over to the counter, grabbing a couple pieces of sausage and putting them on an empty plate. He begins to snack on them when his mum walks over next to him and steps close to him. “So tell us about Daniel.” 

Phil chokes and sputters, forcing down the bite he had just taken as he coughs. He sets down his plate and goes to the refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of juice. He grabs a cup from the cupboard and pours a small glass, taking a sip of it to still his coughing. He was trying to avoid this question and this conversation but it’s clear he wasn’t getting out of it. 

“It’s not polite to ignore your mother.” His mum presses, her eyebrow choked as she stands at the counter. 

“I don’t have much to say.” Phil answers. “What do you want to know?” 

“Well, how did you and Daniel meet?” She said. “Let’s begin with that.” 

“We met through the BBC.” Phil says, trying to remain as vague as possible. 

His mum waited patiently for him to continue and he cocked his eyebrow up. She tapped her fingers on the counter. 

“How did you meet at the BBC?” She pressed further. 

“His film was being filmed there.” Phil says. “The offices were shut down for it.” 

“What was the film?” 

Phil shrugged. He actually doesn’t know the name of the film. He’s never really bothered to ask Dan much about it. He’s never really thought about asking Dan about it actually. It always skipped his mind when he was speaking to Dan. 

Talking about his film was normally the last of their thoughts. 

“Well, when did you and Dan become friends then?” She continued. 

Phil was well ready for this conversation to end already even though it barely began. “He came up to me in the BBC the one day and we exchanged contact information. Then we just started talking.” 

“He’s cute.” 

“Mum…” 

“Well, I’m just being honest, dear.” She says, her lips curved into a smile. 

“We’re not dating.” Phil says. The more and more he says it, the more and more he feels like a broken record. He and Dan really aren’t dating. And in complete honesty, he’s not quite sure if they’re friends right now. They are obviously friends but recently, they’ve been slowly bridging that gap between friendship and a relationship. 

He blushes slightly as he thinks about the night before and how Dan had looked, shirtless and comfortable on his bed in Los Angeles. Dan had asked him if it was okay that he was shirtless and of course Phil said it was. But he couldn’t help staring at Dan the entire time. 

“You’re blushing, hun.” His mum comments, her hand coming up and pinching his cheek. 

Phil yips out a little noise before he jerks away and his mum chuckles. His cheeks flush even redder yet and he just smiles at her as he shakes his head and takes his bag into the living room. He sets it down beside the couch and checks his phone, something he hasn’t done since this morning. 

He has a couple messages from Dan and reading them makes him smile. 

Dan: I’ll have you know that I still cant sleep 

Dan: Thanks 

Phil let out a chuckle and began to type out his own message back. 

Phil: Not my fault :P 

Phil exited from his messages app and opened Twitter. He’d slowly been getting accustomed to Twitter and other social media. His Instagram has remained pretty tame despite having a bunch of people follow him and also his profile suddenly get verified. His Twitter got verified as well which was a shock to say the least. 

Going on Twitter and YouTube for the first time was a bit of a shock but Dan helped him through it on Skype the night he finally looked. 

“If you never do it,” Dan had said, “Then you’ll never see the support that you got for the video.” 

And Dan had been correct. He had gained a massive fanbase already and that was a big deal. He really did want to pick up YouTube more like he had when he was still in university. 

He even tweeted out that he wanted to do a Q+A and he had gotten a ton of questions already that he was eager to film when he got back to London tomorrow night. 

Dan had convinced him to do the Q+A and he even suggested filming things in LA and sending them to Phil but Phil told him that wasn’t necessary. The next time Dan came to London, they could film many more videos together. 

“I see that you have begun doing YouTube again.” 

Phil looks up from his phone to see his mum stood in the doorway now, making her way into the living room. 

“Oh yeah.” Phil says. “I wanted to get back into it. I think it’s going well.” 

“It’s nice that Dan was in the video with you.” She says, sitting down next to him on the sofa. 

“It was his idea.” Phil admits. “I told him about how I did YouTube and he thought that it would be a good idea to do a video.” 

His mum nods and Phil knows that she is waiting to say something. So he waits…with a baited breath, until his mum finally speaks. “I worry,” She begins. “I worry that Daniel isn’t good for you.” 

Phil turns his head and looks at her. “What do you mean?” 

“He’s a big named celebrity, Phil.” She says, her voice serious. “He might not be looking for the same things that you are.” 

Phil feels his stomach knot and his chest tighten. He felt like this was a middle school talk, not one he should be having at 32 years old. 

“And I’m not saying this because I believe that Dan’s intentions with you are bad. But you have to remember his lifestyle.” She continues. “I don’t want you mixed up into that lifestyle if you’re not ready.” 

“It’s not about that.” Phil says, because it’s really not. “Dan doesn’t even like the lifestyle.” 

“Oh?” 

Phil nods. “He gets overwhelmed by it.” He says. “I don’t think he’s ever admitted it to me or even to himself but I think he just enjoys doing the movies and the acting. I don’t think he enjoys the publicity that comes with it. Like, everywhere you look, his photo or name is plastered somewhere.” 

His mum suddenly bends down to the coffee table and rifles through some of the crumpled magazines until she finds whatever she was looking for and hands it to him. He looks at it and he’s not sure what she’s getting at until she’s suddenly grabbing it from him again and opening to a dog-eared page. 

DANIEL HOWELL’S NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO. WHO IS THE MAN BEHIND THE VIDEO? 

It was an entire article about his video with Dan that he never knew existed. His face was plastered in this magazine, without his consent. And here is Dan’s face as well…just covering the page with this 200 word article about the video. 

He felt sick. His hands began to shake and he felt clammy. 

How many other articles has he been the subject of that he never knew? 

“Where did you get this?” He asked, his voice tense. 

“Your father saw the magazine in the store when he picked up his newspaper. It was just meant for me because you know that I enjoy reading those gossipy tabloids every once an a while. I stumbled upon it and saved the page.” She said. “This is mostly why I wanted you to come here this weekend. I thought we could discuss this and what you’re getting into.” 

“I didn’t consent to this article.” Phil says, his voice trembling. 

“I know, dear. I know.” She comforts. “Does Dan go through this a lot?” 

He nods. Yeah, Dan does go through this a lot. He’s seen the moment Dan’s face falls when he sees an article written about himself that he didn’t even know. 

“Maybe we should hire someone.” His mum continued. “Maybe we could hire someone to speak on your―” 

“I’m not going to do that.” Phil says. “I’ll just talk to Dan.” 

“But how much can Dan really do, sweetie? He seems just as powerless as you.” 

Phil feels like he could cry. His eyes suddenly feel full and his cheeks feel hot. He struggled to hold them back but he does. He sniffles once and hands his mum back the magazine, not bothering to read it. 

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” 

He doesn’t say anything. He just sits in silence as his stomach knots and twists. She eventually gets up without a word and a few moments later, he hears the front door shut and he realizes she’s probably gone to wait at the airport for Martyn and Cornelia. 

He sits back on the couch and shuts his eyes. Maybe he can catch a nap before she gets back. 

[randomly-random-jen]

Uncalled For Actions (4/?)

A Girl Genius fanfic

When Gilgamesh Holzfäller is fourteen, he’s taken on as an apprentice to Baron Wulfenbach as part of a program to produce the next generation of leaders in the Empire–a group that will hopefully get along (although most see this as wishful thinking on the Baron’s part).

He’s learned a lot over the months of shadowing the Baron, but nothing has prepared him for his most challenging assignment: confronting the skeletons in his closet.  [Part 1 | 2 | 3 | Part 5 ]

Part 4

About half a dozen emotions flitted across Tweedle’s face at that news before he settled back to his barely contained rage.

Gil refused to back down for the obvious intimidation tactic he knew well from his childhood. He brought himself up to his full height which was still nearly a head shorter than Tweedle, chin held high and a practiced, indifferent expression plastered on his face.

Finally, Tweedle stepped out of Gil’s personal space and dusted the front of Gil’s jacket like he was straightening out the wrinkles Gil had already fixed. “The Baron, you say? I heard a rumor about you.”

Gil cocked one eyebrow under his fringe of bangs and crossed his arms over his chest. “Which one?”

“That you’re the orphaned son of homicidal Sparks that went on a rampage, and the only reason you’re an apprentice is the Baron feels sorry for you.”

Gil wanted to laugh–as if his father would give such an important job to someone out of pity. Instead, he shrugged as if the words didn’t bring back loathsome memories. “Close enough.”

As expected from habitual bullies, Tweedle looked even more annoyed that he didn’t get a rise out of Gil, but he recovered quickly. He took two menacing steps towards Gil and shoved a finger in his face. “Baron or no, I don’t care who you are, if I catch you around my sister again-”

Seffie interrupted him with a swat on the back of his head. “Martellus, no. Bad brother.”

She grabbed Tweedle’s rather large and solid forearm and tried to drag him away which had the effect of her trying to move a train until she pinched him in the side.

He didn’t say anything else as he finally allowed his sister to pull him down the hall, but he did smack Gil’s head into the wall one last time for emphasis.

Gil rubbed the back of his head as he watched the von Blitzengaard siblings round the corner then glanced at Anevka. She had her face in her hands.

“I’m so sorry about that. My family is–embarrassing.”

“Aren’t they all?”

She looked at him through her fingers then dropped her hands with a dry laugh. “I guess you’re right and my family has the market on humiliating twisted branches cornered.”

“I don’t know–Seffie seemed okay.”

“Well, you don’t know her like I do,” she said with a grin. “Come on, there’s still time before the summit reconvenes.” Anevka slipped her hand into the crook of his elbow, leading him down the hall opposite the way Tweedle and Seffie had disappeared.

Gil looked over his shoulder. “I don’t think we’re supposed to leave the luncheon.”

“They won’t even notice we’re gone. Besides, you’re with me and this is my home.”

Gil had a feeling the Baron would not accept that excuse, but he continued to follow Anevka farther into the castle, memorizing the route just in case.

They took two lefts, a right, went up a flight of stairs, two lefts then right, left, right before going down a very narrow spiral staircase lit by something glowing on the walls. Fascinated, he reached out to touch the substance, but it contracted into itself with a pip causing a cascade of lights going out up and down the stairs.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

Anevka laughed. “Don’t worry–they’ll light back up if we’re quiet.”

Sure enough, the walls began to glow softly a moment later until they were back at their original brightness. Gil leaned closer to get a better look; this time without touching. “It’s a fungus–that glows.”

“Pretty, isn’t it? It grows in the mines all around Balan’s Gap–the miners use it instead of gas lamps or candles with the added benefit of it processing just about every toxic substance into oxygen so-”

“No chance of sudden asphyxiation–a light source and air scrubber in one. That’s brilliant.”

Anevka smiled then tugged him along. “Well, I can’t take credit for creating the things, but I did bring them up here and plant them along the walls in some of the lesser used passageways that are too troublesome to keep lit with gas lamps or wire for electricity.”

“This was your idea?’

She ducked her head and despite the green glow, Gil had the distinct impression she was blushing which made him feel a little light headed.

They got to the bottom of the stairs when Anevka suddenly turned to him, eyes twinkling in the shimmery light. “If you like plants, you’ll love the arboretum,” she said, guiding him to the left. “We have hundreds of specimen from all over the world–Mother used to get dreadfully sorrowful during the long winters so Father brought the tropics to her. It’s all very romantic.”

Gil coughed then started choking before nearly tripping over his own feet.

Anevka tried to hide her giggles behind her hand but didn’t do a very good job. “I’m kidding, Gil.”

Gil let out a breath, face blushing fiercely.

Anevka pinched a cheek. "Aren’t you just adorable.”

He tried to smile, but he suddenly felt uncomfortably aware of their isolation. “Where even are we?” he asked after they passed numerous unadorned and presumably locked doors.

“The East Wing or as it’s affectionately called, the ‘Fire Mountain’ Wing."

"Why do you call it that?”

Anevka just smiled as they spilled out into a large, open atrium–the glass dome soaring at least ten meters above them–and covering every wall, a mural depicting the surrounding mountains burning.

“Pretty, huh?”

Gil's eyebrows shot up--'pretty' is not the word he'd used to describe it.

Terrifying, morbid, twisted--those worked better, but he just nodded, not that she was paying any attention to him anymore.

She twirled around the center of the room, face turned up to the dreary sky beyond the glass. "This is my favorite room in the entire castle.

You should see it during the sunrise and set--the whole room is ablaze of reds and oranges thanks to the special glass." Her eyes looked a little on fire themselves when she glanced back at him. "The flames in the murals seem to dance, and you can almost feel the heat."

"Uh, that sounds-"

She continued to dance, oblivious to his awkwardness.

He needed to move things along because Anevka was seriously creeping him out right now. "So, you said something about an arboretum?"

She stopped abruptly then grabbed his hand at a run. "I almost forgot--we don't have much time before we have to get back."

Gil let out a sigh, allowing himself to be dragged along again. This girl was going to give him whiplash, and it reminded him of his father's numerous lectures on the evils of women that Gil mostly ignored because he thought the theories were just his father's way of coping with being bad at relationships. Maybe he wasn't so wrong after all.

A minute later, they dashed under an arch adorned with angels of some sort and through a set of glass doors.

The air inside was humid and you swam through it more so than walked, and everywhere you looked were plants and trees and more plants--the ground, the walls, hanging from the ceiling, growing in planters.

"Wow."

"You like it?"

Gil could tell this was important to her so he nodded, not that it was a lie or anything; the place was amazing.

"Come on, I'll show you my favorite spot." Anevka reached her hand out to him, wiggling her fingers in invitation.

Gil had a feeling he was going to regret spending so much time alone with this girl, but she was nice and a princess so he could hardly refuse. Besides, it was kind of nice having the attention on him for once and not have it involve fists and stolen food.

He pushed those thoughts away, took Anevka’s hand and followed her through the maze of tropical trees and flowers until they came to a clearing near the center where the largest tree towered over the others, its’ branches heavy with long strings of leaves reaching to a little pond at the base.

"This is the best spot for picnics,” she said, flopping onto the ground and patting the soft grass next to her.

Gil scratched the back of his neck as he looked around, unease growing in the pit of his stomach. “It’s getting kind of late–don’t you think we should go back?”

Anevka threw herself back, her red hair splaying around her face, contrasting with the dark green grass. “You know, you remind me of my brother.”

Gil sucked in a sharp breath. “Why would you say that?”

“Oh, you know–you’re both concerned with following the rules and being responsible.”

That’s how she saw him? Responsible? Gil mulled that over while Anevka continued to ramble about the garden and what having fun actually meant. He considered how it felt to be compared to Tarvek so easily and cluelessly.

As a kid, he probably would have puffed up with pride if someone thought he was like Tarvek who was smart and resourceful and brave, but what would Anevka think if she’d been on Castle Wulfenbach with them when they were skipping classes and sneaking around in restricted areas?

The thought made him smile–sure, Tarvek was always the voice of reason when they planned their adventures, but he never stopped them and came up with more than his own share of stupidity.

“What’s that grin for?” Anevka asked, breaking into his reverie.

Gil schooled his features. “You really think I’m like your brother?”

She cocked her head, considering the question. “No, I suppose not much–he’s way stuffier than you. He’s always studying and playing by the rules to get ahead. I can tell already that you’re a lot more fun–Tarvek would have never doodled during a meeting.”

Gil hoped his disappointment didn’t show too much.

Anevka didn’t seem to notice. “You’ll see when you meet him later. Come, sit with me.”

She patted the ground next to her, her expression way too innocent to be authentic–Gil didn’t like it. “We really should be getting back,” he said, taking a step towards to exit. “I don’t want to make the Baron mad.”

* * *

Violetta balanced on a branch in one of the great trees in the arboretum watching her cousin and the Baron's apprentice chat. Since she'd been following them, she'd learned his name was Gil, he was lying about being an orphan, had zero experience with girls, probably spent most of his life on Castle Wulfenbach by the awed way he stared at the foliage, and obviously already knew Tarvek even if Anevka seemed oblivious to that fact.

And he was surely keeping other secrets that Violetta was eager to discover. She was tired of people like Martellus always underestimating her. She could do this job--she could be a good Smoke Knight if they just let her try.

Down below, Gil took a step away from Anevka. Violetta swiveled to keep him in sight, her foot sliding from the edge of her branch.  The whole tree swayed and she scrambled for a better grip, cracking several twigs in the process. She finally steadied, holding her breath as Anevka looked around suspiciously then she got up, dusting off her skirt.

"Yeah, you're probably right; we should get out of here," she said, holding her hand out to Gil who reluctantly took it, following her out of Violetta's eyesight.

The girl slowly let out the breath with a groan. "I suck at this," she mumbled, tears filling her eyes while she quickly slid down the tree trunk. "Can't even spy on my own stupid cousin."

She gave herself a full minute to wallow then sniffled and wiped her eyes with the corner of her cloak. She couldn't keep following Gil--Anevka was on to her now--so she left through the opposite door into a darker, cooler corridor that wa only used in the summer months.

Consumed by her thoughts, Violetta almost missed the voices growing louder as she walked towards them. At the last second, she darted into a corner and used a technique to blend with the shadows, staying absolutely still without so much as blinking her eyes until the people passed.

She let out the breath she'd held too long and followed after the three older boys--Martellus; that oaf, Orrik; and one of the assistants brought by a distant uncle controlling a nearly non-existent kingdom in the north. She tiptoed behind them, darting between shadows, trying to keep up--all thoughts of Gil and Anevka fading from her mind at the mystery before her.

Somewhere in the back of her head, Tarvek's voice whispered that this is the kind of thing that would get her killed, but like the real boy, she ignored it as always--Tarvek never had any fun.

They took several turns and staircases, including a hidden one, making Violetta wonder how well Martellus knew the castle when he didn't live here full time--she barely even knew where they were and only did because of the scorch marks on the walls.

This hall led to several abandoned labs. Abandoned by people, at least. The accident that nearly took out a quarter of the wing released quite a few unruly monsters that wreaked havoc for days before they were forced back into the labs where they were left to rot--no one smart came over here anymore. So of course, Martellus was here; he was one of the biggest idiots Violetta knew, and too full of himself to know any better.

Eventually, she got close enough to catch their conversation while Martellus consulted a ring of keys in front of a very impressive oak door covered in more locks than seemed necessary. He was actually going to the labs--idiot.

"Martellus, where are we even going," Orrik whined as he leaned against the wall looking sleepy.

"It's a surprise," her cousin answered, finally finding the first key.

"I don't like surprises," said the other boy who looked a little older than Martellus--maybe in his early twenties and still pockmarked with acne that his scraggly beard couldn't hide.

Three more locks were undone followed by a steel bar across the entire door. "Relax Warner, will you?"

Both Orrik and Warner contained any other complaints as the last lock fell off and it took all of Martellus' strength to pry it open--they didn't look very happy about any of it. The door creaked open, and Martellus stepped aside to let the other two through.

Violetta needed to get through that door but there was no way she'd be able to open it on her own--she needed to think fast. She quickly pried free a chunk of battered wall and tossed down the hall, catching Martellus' attention.

As soon as his head shot up, she bolted for the door using another Smoke Knight technique that was supposed to shield her from view even up close. She'd only learned it a month ago and wasn't sure she could even do it correctly yet, but she skirted past her cousin and slid into the shadows of the room beyond where the other two boys were arguing softly.

Not seeing anything, Martellus closed the door, blanketing them in absolute darkness, causing Warner to squeak in surprise.

"I don't like the dark any more than I like surprises."

Martellus lit a match and pulled a candle from a shelf near the door.

"Oh, shut up," he commanded, shoving between the other two towards a dark set stairs at the far end of the room--these led to the labs in the bowels of the castle.

The three were silent as they descended which made it harder for Violetta to follow without being heard. When they reached the bottom, Martellus opened another heavy door that led to another staircase--this one only a few steps long. The complaining started up again as soon as they got to the bottom and realized the room was filled with over a foot of water.

"I don't like water," Warner muttered.

Martellus ignored him, marching through the room with purpose.

Violetta hurried to stay within sight of the dim candle but paused at the bottom of the stairs. She had no fear or general dislike of water, but this water had an oily gleam to it and smelled foul--like rotting eggs. The surrounding room showed the obvious signs of the devastation from the explosion and ensuing battle.

Chunks of walls and ceilings poked above the water and broken furniture floated in the boys' wake, but the lab tables along the edge of the room looked sturdy and intact if more than a little worn. Violetta stuck to these, hopping from table to table to stone blocks to barely stable shelves--anything to stay above the water and out of sight.

"What was that!" Orrik yelled suddenly. "Something touched my leg."

Warner glanced around at the mostly placid water. "Don't be ridiculous."

"No, really, I felt it." Orrik's voice continued to rise in pitch.

"You're imagining things--it's just water."

Violetta perched on a crooked chandelier as the boys argued beneath her, but her attention was on the water.

Martellus had stopped as well, spinning slowly to shed his light on the surrounding room. The water glistened green and purple but nothing moved. "Keep moving," he ordered, putting everyone in motion again.

Violetta swung the chandelier enough to hop to a beam hanging at an angle on the opposite wall then to an equally cockeyed shelf that nearly gave out under her weight.

The idiots were making enough noise not to notice her presence much to her relief. They continued through a heavy metal door blown nearly off its hinges into a bigger lab where the main explosion must have taken place by the nearly complete destruction of the contents--nothing was untouched by fire or left unbroken which left Violetta with a lot fewer choices when moving.

"There it is again," Orrik screeched, his voice echoing in the large space and causing everyone to freeze.

Martellus swung the candle in an arc around them showing placid water except where Orrik churned it up with his nervous dancing. "Knock it off, idiot--you're scaring Warner."

"I'm telling you there's something in the water."

Martellus growled in frustration. "I swear, you whine more than my little sister. Now get your heads in the game."

Warner still watched the water warily. "But I heard there were monsters under Sturmhalten, and we are most certainly under Sturmhalten."

"Why are we even down here, Tweedle?" asked Orrik. "I thought you said we were going to work on the plan."

Violetta's ears perked at this new information. A plan? What plan? What were these idiots up to way down here with the monsters other than being monsters themselves? Her mind swirled with intrigue but stayed alert enough for other clues.

"We are," Martellus said, his annoyance growing. "We just need one thing."

"What's that?" Orrik asked, inching closer to Martellus but never taking his eyes from the water.

Martellus fiddled with a dented and rusted cabinet in the corner until he pried open the door with a loud squeal of twisting metal. He pulled out a bottle of iridescent liquid with a triumphant smile stretching across his weasely face.

"And what's that?" asked Warner, peering over Orrik's shoulder to get a better look.

"Just something my great-uncle cooked up--right before he cooked himself," he said glancing around the destroyed lab with a chuckle.

He left the cabinet door hanging open and trudged back towards the stairs, Orrik and Warner muttering behind him. Violetta didn't need to know what was in the bottle to know it was bad news--it was made by someone in her family and locked in a lab destroyed by Madboy experiments and monsters.

What she did need to know was what they were planning on doing with it because her imagination ran wild with the possibilities including plagues and mind control. You just never knew with her family.

She quietly followed them back up the stairs, hiding in a dark corner while she figured out how to slip out without being seen which ended up not being a problem because as soon as Martellus shuffled the others out, he wheeled around and tore Violetta from the shadows.

"You just never learn, do you?"

"Damn," Orrik yelled from out in the hall, "look at the time, Tweedle."

That was enough to get Martellus' attention and give Violetta the seconds she needed to escape in a less violent method than she'd originally optioned for which would have probably led to one less future Blitzengaard heir.

She did a quick twist maneuver with a practiced ease that made her heart pound with glee. Before Martellus knew what was going on, she dropped from his grasp, grabbed the bottle from the pocket in his coat and darted out the door--all Martellus found was the broken remnants of a chair wrapped in a piece of tapestry with a dirty mop for a head.

"Violetta!"

She didn't stop to hear what curses her cousin threw at her--she knew she couldn't outpace him in a foot race which meant she needed to get sneaky. And fast.

[Part 5 ]

[maraudersandlily20]

That Day at the Potters

She was bored. James was at Quidditch practice, Sirius and Peter were in detention for hexing a Slytherin boy, and the girls were in the great hall, tutoring some third years for their transfiguration course. Lily had been asked as well, but she was tired from her Prefect duties that day, which had included grading multiple assignments from first years for Mcgonagall, and declined. Now, she was bored. Remus sat beside her, his quill scratching the parchment in front of him lazily. He wasn’t very motivated to finish his essay, Lily noticed.

She perked up, cocking her head to the side as she studied him. This year had been very revealing about Remus. It had shocked her, despite the fact that she considered him one of her dearest friends. She had uncovered his werewolf side, she remembered how he had actually gotten detention for cursing a slytherin table to make it dance, which was very unlike him, and Lily was rather certain something was happening between him and Sirius Black. Something possibly romantic. And that was what made her the most curious.

As if he were able to feel her gaze, he looked up to see her scrutiny of him. He looked around the room, self consciously, before asking, “Is there something on my face, Lils?” The redhead snapped out of her reverie and smiled.

“Sorry, Remus. I was just thinking.”

He sat back against the cushion, forgetting his paper and extending his long legs in front of him. Like he would welcome the distraction. “Would you like to elaborate?”

Lily thought for a second. “I’m worried you’ll be too embarrassed to tell me.”

“So it is about me?”

“Yes, of course, that’s why I was staring at you.”

He chuckled. She had realized that her dear friend Lupin was not the type of person to ever explode with laughter. He would find things slightly funny here and there, but she wondered if he had ever laughed so much that his stomach hurt. Her thoughts went back to fourth year, when she had had a small infatuation with him for a while. He had always been able to make her laugh, which is what made her notice him more that year, but she wasn’t sure if she had ever really repaid the favor. Pushing these thoughts from her mind, she decided to come out with it.

“I’ve noticed that you and Sirius have been acting rather… close lately.”

At the very mention of Black’s name, Remus was blushing. His scarred skin was tinted red from the sudden heat to his face and he choked out a cough. “I, uh, I’m not sure what you mean.”

Lily sat up from the armchair, his sudden awkwardness catching her attention quickly. With a sly grin, she got up and sat right beside Remus on the couch. He looked extremely uncomfortable, clearing his throat every few seconds, as if he couldn’t swallow correctly. His anxiety was so painstakingly obvious that Lily knew there was no way she could let it go.

“Yeah, darling, that isn’t going to pass as an acceptable answer.” He winced. “Come on, Re, it’s just me. I’m not going to run around and tell people whatever you say. You know me better than that.”

“It’s nothing against you, Lils. It’s just… new. And weird. And nothing I ever thought would happen.”

“Please don’t dangle this in front of me, Remus. You know I won’t leave you alone until you tell me. Come on, please?”

He looked at her face as she widened in her eyes in pleading innocence. A shake of his head showed how he felt about her ridiculous antics, but he steeled himself, knowing she was right. She really wouldn’t give it up.

A hand ran over his face and his blush looked as if it would permanently paint his skin. “It started this summer.” He was embarrassed to even bring it up. “Well, that’s not entirely true. For me, anyway. It started...oh… probably third year. I was starting to realize that I wasn’t really looking at girls the way that James was looking at you.” It was Lily’s turn to blush. “The conversations in the dorms always seemed to revolve around the fickleness of women. The way that James talked about his feelings for you, or Longbottom for Alice, or Peter for the dorky hufflepuff girl he was crushing on; I had never felt that way about a girl before. When I casually mentioned this to James, he tried to explain it. Butterflies in your stomach, your skin sets fire when they touch you, you always look for them in a crowded room.”

This was a completely ridiculous way to talk about a crush, but Lily thought it was sweet that James had tried to help his friend understand what feelings were like when you liked someone. She could only imagine the kind of talks they had.

“Well, armed with this new information, I started trying to test out how my body reacted around girls. And it didn’t really come to anything. I tried to talk girls up in my head, telling myself that I thought they looked beautiful, or they were funny, or whatever. It didn’t really work. And then, one day, after potions, I was in the library, still trying to work out if there was something wrong with me, when a hand touched my arm, and I felt something.”

Lily smiled, wiggling her eyebrows. “It was Sirius, wasn’t it?”

Remus sighed, head in his hand. “Yeah. And all that stuff James was talking about? The butterflies, the burning skin, it all happened at once in that moment. It was like getting struck by lightning. However, a part of me was worried that now there really was something wrong with me. I wasn’t supposed to have those types of feelings for my best mate. And he probably didn’t reciprocate them. So for three years, I tried to shove those feelings down as far as I could. I watched, the end of fourth year, when Marlene and Sirius started snogging. It hurt, a lot more than I thought it would, to be honest. In fact, whenever Sirius showed interest in anyone, I would kind of spiral. It was almost as exhausting as shifting. After a while, I think Sirius began to noticed my mood swings.”

“I mean, Sirius notices more things about you than he does anyone else, so that is definitely plausible.”

Remus scowled at her. “Will you shut up?” She giggled, but gestured for him to continue. “That was fifth year, when he finally said something. He was worried that something was happening at home with my parents, and so would constantly badger me with questions. It was hard to handle his questions when he was the reason I was acting that way. In fact, we got in a few arguments right before school ended that I really regretted. I just was having difficulty facing my feelings for him and I was pretty confident that he didn’t feel the same way. I didn’t want to risk our friendship in anyway, so I tried to ignore it.”

“Can I just say something?” Lily pipped in, riveted by the story he was weaving. Remus snapped out of storytelling mode and looked over at her. A nod from him made her open her mouth. “Obviously this doesn’t matter now, but I am quite positive that Sirius was mad about you. While it was in his dumb, ridiculous “Sirius” way, I’m pretty sure he stared at you all year fifth year. Just so you know.”

Remus laughed. “Thank you for the confidence boost. I’d hoped he was, since I’d seen him staring too, but it just seemed like a little too much to hope for. Now, is that all? Can I get on with what I was saying.”

“By all means.” He gave her a rueful smile.

“So, fifth year ended and that was when Sirius’ family disowned him. They had asked him to renounce a few of his friendships here, and he refused. So he became a blood-traitor and the Black disappointment. He had nowhere to go. Except to the Potter’s. James asked Sirius to spend the entire summer with them, which of course snowballed into Mrs. Potter demanding that he moved in as well. Sirius hasn’t ever looked back. They wrote me constantly that summer, and I saw them a few times, and then James and his family went on their annual trip to India.”

James’ heritage was colorful and full of spices, Lily had learned through the years. His father was meant to marry a girl back in India, but when he was 18, he left his parents behind and moved to England, where he met a beautiful woman who would one day be James’ mother. Every year, the Potters returned to India and spent a few weeks with their relatives. James spoke highly of his family and clearly loved the time he spent in India. Lily had received quite a few trinkets from him that had originated from James’ mother country.

“They invited Sirius, of course, as he was living in their house. He refused. Thought it may be a bit awkward. So he stayed in England. And I think it was four days later, he asked me over.”

Lily’s mouth opened in gleeful surprise at this admittance. When Remus clocked it, he rolled his eyes and gave her a shove.

“Sod off Evans. Anyway, he asked me to stay with him for a few days. He wasn’t used to staying in an empty house and it made him wary. He has some… interesting fears. Well, I was still trying to get over my feelings for him, so I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea. But he seemed genuinely troubled by being alone. I packed up and headed over to the Potters, only intending to stay a few days.”

Remus turned on the couch, pulling his leg up along with him. His relaxed posture was a reassurance to Lily. He was willing and content to spend time with her and let her know the intimate details of his life.

“You have to understand, Evans, Potter’s house is amazing. It’s large for no reason. You can get lost in there simply by walking it. But despite that fact, when it’s nearly empty, it can give you the creeps. Being in that house for three days was strange because it’s usually so full of life. I don’t know. Sorry, this isn’t pertinent to the story.”

“Speaking of, this story sounds like it has a very specific way it needs to go.”

“Well, I’m working toward one singular event, if that’s what you’re asking me in your obnoxious way.”

“Yes, that’s what I was wondering,”

He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, so I was with Sirius for a few days, and it was kind of awkward at first, considering the fact that I was mad about him. It was one of the few times in our friendship that I actually remember not having something to say. We used small talk, if you can imagine it from us. I hated it. I felt like we weren’t friends anymore. The second morning, Sirius made breakfast and he couldn’t take it anymore.”.....

~~~~~~~~~~ THE SUMMER BEFORE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sirius slammed the spatula down on the counter, startling Remus so much he nearly fell out of his chair. He looked up in shock at Sirius, who was seething and grinding his teeth. A feeling of dread filled Remus and settled thickly in the pit of his stomach.

“Alright, Lupin. Enough of this. I want to understand what’s going on. For the past two months you have been a moody, angry mess and you’ve hardly said a thing to me that wasn’t meant as an insult or an argument. Now, I’ve been racking my brain for the past few days, wondering what I possibly could have done to make you so angry at me, but I’m honestly drawing a blank. And I’m sick of it. So what is it, Lupin? You have to tell me what it is.”

Remus winced, a groan escaping him without him meaning to. This is what he had been dreading about his stay at the Potter’s house. He was worried that Sirius would do this and he didn’t know what he was going to do about it.

“Sirius, it’s nothing…”

“Don’t you dare tell me it’s nothing, Lupin. It’s been more than two months with this kind of behavior from you and that is not nothing. Come on, out with it.”

It was a gut reaction, something he didn’t even think about before doing. He stood up from his stool and marched over to Sirius, until there were only a little space between them. Sirius’ eyes were wide at the sudden action and stared up at Remus. Sirius wasn’t that much shorter than his friend, but Remus had a good few centimeters on him. Remus’ chest was heaving and he stared into the greenish yellow eyes of the boy who drove him crazy. When it seemed to occur to him what he had done, he drew in a ragged breath.

“Sorry,” he whispered, taking a few steps back, running a hand over his eyes. The look in Sirius’ eyes showed his confusion. His mind was racing for a few seconds, trying to make sense of Remus’ actions, and then he moved.

In a moment, Sirius had Remus backed up against the kitchen counter, his hands braced on either side of him, and was staring him down. “What is is Remus? Do you want to hit me? Is that it? Getting all up in my face like that, is that what you want? To hit me? Punch me? Is that what you want?” Remus was shaking his head, panic setting in from the situation. Sirius just didn’t understand. “Go on, Remus. What do you want? Come on, just tell me what you want dammit!” Sirius’ loud words echoed around the kitchen.

Without allowing himself to think, Remus met Sirius’ eyes and whispered, “you.”

They both froze. One in terror, the other in shock. Remus’ crush on the Black boy had consumed so much of his thoughts that the truth had slipped out without his permission. The tension his admission caused was thick between them, as if neither even wanted to breath.

Finally, after an excruciating amount of time, Sirius cleared his throat. “Do you… Do you mean that?”

His answer, simple as it was, caused Remus’ heart to stutter in his chest. It sounded, for a moment, like Sirius felt the same way he did. Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, he nodded.

A shuddering breath left Sirius’ chest and, though it didn’t seem possible, moved even closer to his friend. Their mouths were a breath apart, tantalizingly close, but neither dared to close the distance between them. Remus thought his heart might explode and the butterflies in his stomach were more intense than anything he’d ever felt.

They were staring at each other, both unsure of what to do next that would be okay with the other. Sirius’ voice came out hoarse, like a whisper, and he said, “Do you want me to… kiss you?”

Remus could barely get any words out. “Do you want to?”

Sirius rubbed his lips together and let out a little hum, his eyes flickering down to Remus’ lips before racing back up to his eyes. “And if I said I did?”

The tall boy trapped in his arms let out a small whimper and allowed his eyes to close for the briefest of moments, soaking in the words that had just been whispered. When he realized that Sirius was waiting for an actual answer, he opened his eyes and quietly replied, “Then I’d beg you to hurry up.”

Sirius’ cheeky grin lit up his face and pushed himself up onto his toes. The space between them shrunk even more, and then his lips were on Remus’, and nothing else mattered. He moved forward, his hands grasping onto Remus’ hips. Remus felt his heart pounding. He slowly reached up with both hands and rested them against Sirius’ neck. He had wanted to touch Sirius for the longest time that it was almost intoxicating, like his blood was humming simply from the contact. This was bliss. After a few seconds, Sirius pulled back to look up at his friend. The taller boy was flushed, his eyes half closed and heart still pounding.

The distance between them was very miniscule and Remus was rather tempted to close it. “You should have said something before,” Sirius whispered. “We could have been doing this forever ago.”

Remus let out a breathy laugh. “Don’t worry,” he said, threading his fingers deep into Sirius’ black hair. He felt a small tug of happiness as he watched Sirius shut his eyes at the feeling of his fingers in his hair. The fact that Sirius seemed to be just as affected by Remus as Remus was whenever they touched gave him an intense feeling of pleasure. “We have plenty of time to make up for it.” And then Remus leaned forward and they were kissing again. They continued like that every day that Remus stayed with Sirius, which was quite a few more than Remus had originally planned staying at the Potter’s house. It was the best few days that led to the best summer either of them had ever had.

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

Lily’s hands were resting above her heart as Remus recounted the story of his first kiss. She let out cooing noises in the appropriate places and completely had forgotten about her boredom. In her opinion, Sirius and Remus were made for each other. As he finished up and looked at her with an embarrassed half smile, she grinned and started giggling.

“Remus, that is the cutest story I have ever heard in my entire life.”

He blushed. “Thank you, I know.” They laughed for a second before Remus leaned back against the couch. “Since then, it’s been secret kisses and cuddling in the dorm when Pete and James aren’t around. We haven’t really discussed what we’re doing, but if we’re being honest, I really don’t want it to stop.”

“He felt the same way about you the whole time?”

“No,” Remus shook his head. “He told me that he started having feelings for me the end of fourth year.”

Lily squinted. “That’s when he started snogging Marlene? How does that make sense?”

“We’ve actually talked, in depth, about it. When Sirius started to realize that the feelings he had for me were more than what most people feel for their friends, he panicked. He was already a disappointment to his family, he was scared that his playboy appearance would be ruined if he people found out that he was a shirt lifter. So, he did was Sirius always does: overreact and do the stupidest thing he can think of.”

“Marlene.”

“Luckily, she wasn’t actually interested in him in that way. It was more like she was a rambunctious 14 year old and an attractive boy was giving her attention. It didn’t last long.”

Lily rolled her eyes. His story matched up to Marlene’s personality and she remembered that her best friend hadn’t admitted she had kissed Sirius until a few months later, which meant she hadn’t been torn up about it. “And the other girls Sirius was “interested” in?”

“Trying to rustle a response out of me, actually. He just didn’t think I would react like a moody teenager. When he finally did notice the signs, he realized I had been acting that way all along. Jealous and temperamental.”

She couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t even imagine how interesting this conversation went. I’m sure you were both shocked at the revelations.” Remus blushed a deep red. This caught Lily’s attention. “Oh my word, Remus, what happened?”

He shook his head. “Nothing bad, I swear. Just… a lot of relieved snogging, when everything was finally out in the open. No more secrets, you know? It was a lot of lying around on couches, discussing what was happening and how we felt about it, how we had gotten there. Luckily, we both felt relatively the same. Which led to more snogging. When you’re finally with the person you’ve always wanted, you just can’t help yourself.”

“I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “All this time, Remus John Lupin actually fancied Sirius Black. And no one ever knew.”

Remus looked at her, an eyebrow raised. “I’m quite adept at keeping secrets, Evans. I’ve been doing it almost my entire life. Unlike you. How long have you been besotted with James?” It was her turn to blush. “Yes, I thought as much. You’re really not as subtle as you think you are. Sometimes, I wonder if both of you are just daft idiots because you’re always looking at each other when the other looks away. It’s exasperating.”

“Well I’m sorry my indecisive nature is such a hardship for you, Re.”

He rolled his eyes. “Just do all of us a favor, love, and put him out of his misery. He’s completely mad about you.” She lowered her eyes from his scrutiny.

“Yeah, I know.”

At that moment, the door burst open to reveal James, Sirius, and Peter, all who were smiling and laughing, though Peter was red-faced. Lily suspected that he was the butt of the joke. They caught view of Lily and Remus and headed their way. After hearing the extensive story about Remus and Sirius, she found herself studying them a tad bit closer. Sirius’ eyes lit up when he caught sight of the boy he adored. She watched as he came and nudged Remus over to make room. The tall boy did so, shooting a shy smile as the shaggy haired boy stretched himself out. A groan left Sirius’ lips before he lowered his arms from above his head and crossed them over his chest. If Lily hadn’t been watching, she would have missed the subtle movement of Sirius’ hand, his fingers gently running up and down Remus’ arms. The blush on Remus’s face was a telltale sign, though and he tried to suppress a grin. He bent over and picked up his essay, though she doubted he would be able to concentrate with the other boy beside him. She clocked Sirius’ face and noticed his half smirk, smug at the reaction he got out of Remus simply by touching him. However, she understood how Remus felt. Any time James touched her, her skin went bright red. It was embarrassing.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Peter declared, picking what looked like dry ink out of his hair, completely oblivious to his friends. They all bid him farewell. It left just the four of them in the common room.

“Remus?” Sirius said suddenly.

The boy looked up, his eyes curious. “Yes, Padfoot?”

“There’s… uh… something really interesting I wanted to show you… over by the window. Over there. Do you want to come take a look at it?”

Remus looked at him like he was the stupidest human being on the planet. Sirius widened his eyes, trying to communicate his secret message with his eyes, and the subject of his infatuation sighed deeply. Remus stood up, grabbing Sirius’ hand in his own.

“If you’ll excuse us,” he said, directing his words toward Lily and James. “I believe Padfoot and I are going to snog in the corner for a bit.” Sirius’ eyes grew wide and his face turned red. He let out a surprised cough, but stood up and followed after Remus quickly and the two disappeared out of sight, presumably behind a bookshelf.

Lily waited until she couldn’t see them before bursting into laughter. “Merlin’s beard,” she wheezed. “What a delightful mess those two are.”

James chuckled along with her before taking a seat on her right side. “I’m assuming Remus told you. About them, I mean.”

“He did.”

“Good. I was wondering how you didn’t know, actually. They aren’t that subtle, though they try to be. If you pay attention to the both of them for more than two seconds, it becomes glaringly obvious that they can’t keep their hands off each other. I wish they would admit it to more people though. Sirius is so afraid of what people will think. I know Remus tries to hide it, but I think it hurts his feelings that he can’t be more obvious about his affection.”

Lily shrugged. “They’ll figure it out. Knowing Sirius, he probably just wants to reveal himself in some exorbitant way, make it memorable.”

“That sounds about right.”

Lily studied him for a moment. His glass were filthy, his hair more wild than usual from the wind and the shower he must have took after quidditch practice. The pads that usually accompanied practice were shed and he was dressed in a warm jumper. He always looked incredibly well after a practice, which she felt unfair. But then, a lot things about James Potter were rather unfair. His kind and gentle nature, his ability to make anyone laugh, including professors, and his overwhelming sense of loyalty to those he cared about. But he didn’t seem like the type to be alright with his two best mates having romantic feelings for each other. He certainly was full of surprises. It was another thing she was learning about him that made her regret her previous impressions of his character.

“You’re alright with it, then?” James looked up at her, confused, eyes asking her to clarify. “Remus and Sirius being together?”

“God, yes. It was exhausting, watching the two of them dance around each other since fourth year. I knew how Sirius felt before he even told me.”

“How?”

James met her eyes. “He looked at Moony the way that I looked at you.”

Lily blushed to the roots of her hair and let out a strained laugh. “Well, then, I’m not sure Remus would ever have realized that Black felt the same way. I had no idea you were ever looking at me until last year.”

James’ head reared back. “Seriously? Wow, I thought I was being so obvious about it, too.”

“Well, there was the small factor that I thought you were a pretentious prat with no sense of social decency. So there’s a chance that if you were looking at me, I was explicitly ignoring you.” They shared a laugh. So much had passed between them in just this year alone that the time Lily had spent hating James seemed like a distance memory. Now they were friends, with Lily trying to comprehend the depth of her feelings for him. She knew it was only a matter of time before they got together. The thought made her anxious, but also excited.

“Did you know? When you left for India last summer. Did you know what was going to happen?”

“That they were going to snog? Oh yeah. Well, I hoped anyway. When Sirius turned down the invitation to India, I couldn’t understand it. His reasoning was that he didn’t want to be awkward around my family. But after some pressing, he admitted that he was hoping he could get Remus over to figure out why he was behaving so weird. They had fought quite a bit before the year’s end and I really needed them to make nice with each other. If snogging was included in that, then good on them. I had my suspicions of course, that it would happen. It’s hard to put yourself out there, romantically I mean, when it’s your best mate, but it seemed inevitable. I hoped that Remus felt the same for Sirius. Neither of them were very subtle about their feelings. So I let it go, allowing Sirius to stay without too much of a fight, but also hoping that Remus would put Sirius out of his misery. He did. I got the letter from Sirius a few days after.”

He looked in the direction where the other two boys had disappeared. He smiled and shrugged before returning his gaze to Lily. “They’re my best mates. I’m just happy they’re happy.”

It warmed Lily’s heart to hear this admission and she scooted a little closer to James. She picked up his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder before snuggling into his side. “You’re a good friend, James Fleamont Potter.”

She felt him rest his head atop of hers and let out a deep, contented sigh. “I know,” he murmured. “One of the best.” And she laughed.

[swindlefingrs]

August Fic Challenge: Day 24 - A challenge given to you by someone else

Over a year ago @thisiswhymomworries sent me this prompt and I’ve picked away at the WIP of it for way too long. Time to wrap it up and set it free.

Write a scene about Stoic Person A treating the wound of Jokester Person B who tries to make light of it and the normally tough character breaks down in tears

Title: Getting to Know You Rating: Mature Word Count: 1.1k

The Commonwealth never stopped trying to take more than anyone could afford to give.

With the butts of their rifles wedged into their armpits, Bullseye and Deacon swept through the second floor of the old department store. Menswear. The movements rote. Another day, another security check on behalf of Channing safehouse in a nearby basement. They all imagined it’d be more days off with the Institute gone, but the Commonwealth had other ideas.

Bullseye spotted the empty cans and cinderblock campfire ring in the men’s dressing rooms as they circled the perimeter of the floor. Striding towards the ashes, intent on seeing if they were cold or not, she felt something catch against the ankle of her boot. Then the click. Then the silence. Then the explosion. It rang off of the concrete walls, punched her square in the chest, and sent her flying.

She shook her head to clear the stars out of her eyes and the cotton out of her ears. The sound of blood rushing in her ears faded away, replaced with the unnatural silence that fills a space after an explosion. Like the entire world was trying to figure out what just happened.

Something heavy pinned her legs. A counter top. Bullseye groaned. Pushing up with all her might, she was able to lift it high enough to wriggle out from underneath it. She tried to take a deep breath to slow her heart, but as her lungs filled with air, a sharp pain cinched itself around her chest. Ribs bruised. Maybe busted. Her lower leg throbbed. Sprained foot. Maybe busted. She gingerly rolled onto her side and up onto her knees.

She scanned the damage for her partner. Rubble. Concrete. Rebar. Dust hung in the air, debris fell from above them. She heard his cough, and a moan, before muttering something to himself.

Hobbling over to the sound, she found Deacon sitting, knocked back against a wall. More rebar than wall, now. He glanced up at her, the shine on his sunglasses dulled by grit. Deacon nodded, his grimace lifting into a smile. He offered up his hand.

Bullseye reached down, clapping his hand in hers and yanked him up. Deacon screamed, ripping his hand away, and crumpled back to the floor. She sank to her knees, quickly running her hands over his shoulder. Dislocated? No. Down his legs. Nothing compound. Spine? Fuck.

“What hurts?” she asked.

His trembling fingers pulled down the thick zipper on his leather jacket and peeled it open.

“Will you look at that,” Deacon muttered, his voice tight and thin. Bullseye’s stomach twisted.

Dark red blood stained his undershirt. A stake of rusted rebar pierced through his middle. His intestines skewered by the end of the rough metal rod, and caught the sickly green light of her Pip-boy.

“Fuck,” she hissed under her breath.

“I think shishke-Deacon’s on the menu tonight,” he snorted, before wincing and shaking his head at himself.

Charlotte took a slow breath, as deep as she could, before hobbling back to where she landed after the explosion, hunting for her pack. Ripping it out from under a fallen chunk of concrete, she blindly scrabbled through all the scrap and crap in it to find anything that felt like a stimpack.

“You know, Glory always said-” Deacon coughed, “Glory always said I had no guts.”

In one of the side pockets, Bullseye found the new transponder Tinker had developed for the sweep teams. No voice comms but they’d be able to triangulate location based on radio towers. She spun the knob to “SOS” before setting it aside.

“Jokes on her,” he smirked. His teeth were stained with blood. Flecks of it speckled his chin and lips. Bullseye dropped back to his side, unwrapping an old bundle of newspaper and revealing five stimpacks. Three had been crushed.

She uncapped one and jammed it into his thigh. He flinched. Blood had begun to soak through his jeans. The knot in her stomach tightened.

“I have... Holy shit, I have a lot of guts. And blood. Is this normal? A normal amount of blood?”

“Don’t,” she warned. He shrugged.

“Hey, uh... We got any water?” His voice cracked. Without a word, Bullseye hefted herself up and back towards her pack.

“I turned the uh… the uh… the new transponder on. They’re on their way, ok?” she called out, searching through her pack. Two cans of water crushed flat near the bottom, soaking through everything.

“Deacon?” She looked up from her bag. In the stillness of the room and in Deacon, her heart began to race.

She’d seen the way life drains away from a face before. Twenty-some-odd years in the Navy, ten of those in Alaska on the front lines. It’s always around the mouth first, the little ways their lips stop moving, then the color, then their eyes, and then...

Bullseye drummed her fingers against Deacon’s cheek. It felt clammy against her fingertips.

“Deacon!” she barked, letting her measured tone break off into something higher and hysterical. She cleared her throat, swallowing down that reckless tone in her voice.

“Huh?” He raised his head, eyebrows raising over the top of his sunglasses.

“Stay with me, Dee. You gotta stay with me. Help’s coming, ok?”

“The calvary,” He held a hand to his mouth to blow a fake trumpet. A sad, effortless trumpet before letting his arms hang limply at his side.

“You have to stay awake.”

He sighed, blood catching along the edge of his lips, thin strands of blood splattered on his face.

“Stay. Awake.”

Deacon whined.

“What’ve you been humming all fucking day? Sing it.”

“What?” he scoffed.

She began to hum emphatically. Each note emphasized as best she could. A bright, lively tune.

Deacon’s voice floated over top of her humming, quiet but on-key, “Getting to know you... Getting to know all about you…”

“I have to move your sunglasses. I need to see your eyes, ok?” she reached out, pausing to shake the tremor out of her hands, before lifting them off off his dirt-stained face.

He nodded, continuing to sing, “Getting to like you... Getting to hope you like me…”

The sunglasses didn’t come off often, and when his eyes focused on her for a moment, she held her breath. Sitting on pile of rubble, watching what she called a life, bleed out on rotten concrete.

“Getting to know you, getting to feel free and easy,” he continued, muffled as he looked down at his his hand pressed against his stomach.

“When I am with you, getting to know what to say.”

She pressed her hands over his, applying even more pressure. Blood seeped through their fingers. Her eyes burned. Her pulse thumped in her ears.

“Haven’t you noticed... suddenly I’m bright and breezy?”

Deacon’s chin dropped to his chest and the knot in her stomach grew. She swatted at his cheek, picking up the next line in a tight, off-key voice, “Because of all the... beautiful and new…”

He laced his fingers with hers and squeezed. Not as hard has he should have. Could have. He began the next refrain, his voice quiet and breathy, “Things... I’m learning... about you…”

“Day… by…” his voice trailed off as his head slowly listed to one side. His eyes focused somewhere far off behind her before closing them.

“Dee?”

She slapped his cheek. Nothing. She grabbed his jaw, smearing his face with blood, shaking his head from side to side. She called his name again.

“Dee?! Stay here, stay with me,” she pleaded.

She hums the last bar over and over, like a siren, trying to catch his attention, lure him back to the song, to this room, to her.

“Dee, please, keep singing,” Bullseye’s voice breaks, she chokes on a gasp in her throat. Tears tumble down her cheeks.

His pale lips twitch, but she can’t hear a song on them.

[hamiltrash2097-blog]

Three Pints--?

(for @avenoire a random continuation of this and this 

ISTG I’m dying at how easily that could happen.I think you forgot a pair thouuggh. I couldn’t resist-

Take note this is not anywhere near accurate to history cause Laurens was v dead when Philip was 19.)

Summer is  a season Philip enjoys because he could spend time outside writing poetry under the shade of the trees. But not today...today it’s unbearably hot. Philip wears his hair down enjoying the breeze ruffling his unruly curls. Not today...today it’s humid making his hair frizzy coupled with the unbearable heat it was not a day to have hair sticking to his sweaty neck. “It has to be 80 degrees!” Philip huffed his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and coat over his arm. His satchel sat on his shoulder he having ��planned to walk by the pond to get inspiration while his mother spent time with his aunts. The 19 year old wiped sweat off his brow feeling some drip from the tip of his nose. His hair stuck to his forehead falling into his eyes. “Ugh...” Philip brushed it back only to have it fall back onto his face again. “I can’t deal with this!” Philip grumbled irritated after the fifth time he had to brush his curly hair out of his eyes. he stopped beneath a small birch tree and rifled through his bag, “I know I have one in here...” After a few minutes he pulled a hair tie from his bag triumphantly. He pulled his frizzy hair back into a ponytail a few rebellious stands falling onto his forehead and ears. He sighed continuing to make his way home; it’s  hot and he needs to change into some lighter clothing before returning to the park.

Not too far away Lafayette and Mulligan walked towards a bar both wanting to forget the events that transpired earlier. The couple had agreed not to speak of Laf being kissed  by Madison or Hercules being hugged by Jefferson. “Knew he was secretly soft.” Hercules said pulling at his caret to ease the heat his new suit caused. Laf nods smiling his own shirt partially unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up. “Let’s drown our sorrows and the heat in liquor huh?” Hercules said right as Pip rounded the corner. Hamilton had always joked with his son that he could be mistaken for his friend John Laurens with his hair up. Philip tried to sound southern making  his entire family burst into a fit of laughter. Never once did Pip think he would ever actually be mistaken for the Lieutenant Colonel; fate seemed to have other ideas for the 19 year old. As he rounded the corner near one of his father’s favorite taverns he was spotted by Mulligan one of his father’s closest friends. “Well fate has smiled upon us today! Laurens you’re back early!” Pip looked at them confused, “Uh sir  with all  due respect I think you’re-” Mulligan laughed, “Sir? God you really have been all business. Time to loosen up don’t ya think?” Philip tried again to point out the mistaken identity, “Er I think you have the wrong-” Lafayette grasped his shoulder steering him toward the cool tavern, “Mon ami I know my friends when I see them.” Philip was led inside being unable to free himself of the older man’s grasp without being rude. So he ended up sitting across from Lafayette at a table in the cooler corner of the bar. Mulligan called for a server to bring them three Sam Adams; Philip felt sweat drip down his neck when the beer was placed in front of him. “To great friends.” Laf cheered leaving Pip to join the toast but freezing the glass against his lips when he realized he had to now take a sip. 

“What’s wrong Johnny boy? You love Sam Adams!” Hercules said already on his second beer. “Come  mon ami join the festivities!” Laf patted Philip on the back hard forcing him to swallow the entirety of glass pressed against his lips. He gagged a bit on the liquid going down his throat. “Laf not so hard what if he chokes?” Hercules said still sober. “He won’t will you John?” Philip coughed, “I’m not-” Laf laughed, “See he’s fiine~” Hercules smiled ordering his third Philip staring at the empty glass slightly confused but realized trying to correct them was hopeless. “Drink up John the day is young!” Laf giggled. “B-but-!” Pip squeaked. “Aweee listen to him stutter did you meet a pretty belle down south hmmm?” Laf teased and Philip’s mind turned to his girlfriend Theo; he turned scarlet thinking of her beautiful face. “He diiiid~ Look at his red cheeks!” Hercules laughed. “Our little John is in looove~” Philip was very embarrassed covering his face with his hands. “Awe don’t hide from us John tell us bout her!” Philip blinked stuttering about how she’s a beautiful woman with caramel skin and chocolate brown eyes that sparkle when she sings. “You ‘ave fallen hard mon ami.” Laf laughs and Philip nods his head. “Let’s have another round to you finding love!” Hercules put another beer in front of Philip. “Drink up it’s on us tonight!” Philip was now in a position where he could not refuse the alcohol in front of him without being seen as rude and ungrateful. He took a breath and swallowed down the ale letting out a breath afterwards. “That’s more like it!” Philip smiled sheepishly hoping vainly that two was enough but of course a third was put before him, “Maybe tonight you can get through three pints eyyy Johnny boy?” Philip sighed but put on a brave smile, “Sure maybe so?” They cheered when Philip downed his third without a problem. Philip was beginning to feel the buzz of the alcohol in his system and smiled loosening up, “Only three?” he giggled. “Get this man anther beer!” Three  beers later Philip was completely drunk and leaning on Lafayette singing the national anthem drunkenly Hercules joining in. The two adults had finally washed away the weird day they’d had and Philip was fully relaxed for the first time in a while. He finally understands why his dad goes drinking once a week. 

“Let’s have another *hic* round!” Hercules cheered but before he could order the drinks the door opened revealing Lieutenant John Laurens looking tired and stressed. “They’re over there.” The bar tender told John who nodded walking over to his friends. Laf looked up seeing John standing behind Philip, “Heh I must be wasted to see double?” Hercules laughed stumbling off to get more booze. “Double...?” John walked around the chair and saw a very drunk Philip. “Oh my god!” John cried in shock; the poor boy had more than gone half way to three pints. “What’s wrong?” Laf slurred. “You got Alex’s son drunk that’s what!” John hissed. “Alex’s...son...?” He blinked a few times, “Wait...JOHN?!” John winced at his volume and Pip jumped startled. “But then who...?” he slurred his vision focusing enough to see Philip. “Oh merde...”  John pinched the bridge of his nose, “Oh shit is right Laf. Alex won’t be happy.” “I k-kept *hic* trying to *hic tell them...” Philip squeaked. “I believe it. Your father raised you to be polite and honest.” Pip nods weakly. “Come on Pip let’s get you home.” Philip almost fell over trying to stand. John sighed pulling Pip’s arm over his shoulder and grabbing his bag and coat leaving his own belongings in their place. He helped Philip wobble out into the sunlight. “M’ sorry Mr. Laurens...” Philip hiccuped. “Why are you sorry? It’s not your fault we look alike.” “Shoulda refused the drinks...” Philip said the fresh air slightly clearing his hazy mind. “Probably would have had them forced on you regardless I know my idiot friends are overbearing at times.” “Is that why only once a week?” Philip asked. “Yes” John replied. Philip began to sober up the longer they walked stopping once to throw up but seemed a bit better after. “Ugh...” he whimpered. “Low tolerance. You get that from your father.” Pip wiped his mouth, “’s a lightweight?” Pip asked not completely sober. “Yes I drag him home most nights.” John laughed. 

“Mom must get mad?” Pip asked. “Your mother is used to it. We invited her once. Your aunt Angelica is a completely different person when drunk.” Pip smiled weakly still leaning on Laurens’ shoulder. They arrived back to the house and Pip was barely awake. John knocked surprised his friend answered the door. “I can explain once he’s safe in bed?” John sighed. “Okay” Alexander helped John get Pip to bed before raising a brow at his friend. “ Jesus when you said we looked alike Alexander...” John rubbed his temples. “So the tailor and the french moron got him drunk mistaking him for you?” Alex summed up. “Alas i admit it.” Alexander hugged his friend, “I’m glad you’re back safely.” John blushed. While Alexander is married with two children he still has feelings for him. “I think I’ll go grab my things and come back if that is all right?” Alex nods and John leaves returning with his things ten minutes later.  Alexander smiled offering John iced tea which was gladly accepted. Alexander also still held feelings for John but never went beyond hugging or sneaking a kiss on the cheek like a French greeting. “he is going to need painkillers in the morning like some people.” Alexander rolled his eyes setting his glasses aside. “I’m a lightweight I admit it.” John laughed and then told Alexander of his progress in the south. “That is amazing.” Alex replied sipping his tea as his wife and sister in law returned. The two men recounted what happened to Philip and Angelica slapped her palm to her forehead. “Those idiots.” 

Eliza sighed but smiled glad John is home safely. “So why are they drinking it’s not Saturday.” Angelica asked. “Well if you were kissed by Madison and hugged by Jefferson being mistaken for said people I’d think you’d want to erase that memory.” They gaped and then began to laugh. “Oh god I’d feel bad but OH MY GOD!” Angelica laughed. Eliza giggled as well finding it funny. “That white house is getting more gay ever day that passes.” John shook his head. They all agreed it was an evening spent laughing and enjoying summer. Philip did eventually come downstairs saying his head hurt. “You are my son indeed.” Alexander laughed softly giving him some painkillers. “And here I thought you were joking about me looking like your friend pa.” John patted his shoulder and they told him why the others were drinking, “Oh god.” Philip laughed. “Jefferson screamed.” Alexander hummed. “Even better.” John laughed. “We all make dumb mistakes but that is just sad.” Angelica said. “Agreed.” The others hummed. It was very awkward at work the next day and Hamilton had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing at how flustered the Secretary of State was. Washington himself asked why and his booming laughter was heard across the white house making the not so secret gay couple flush in embarrassment. “Never again” The two swore. Herc and Laf thought the same as they suffered through their hangovers. 

Misplacing identities...a very cruel joke indeed. 

[mintypothos]

An Apology to Everyone Who Followed Me For Jamilton Content

So, here’s a sequel to the modern day Jamilton I wrote where Jefferson is good with Philip. Coincidentally, here’s also the end to all, if any, integrity I had as a writer. In the end, my love for “hijinks of dubious plausibility force the ship to spend time together” was too great. More under the readmore

Alex still didn't understand Jefferson one bit. The next day, after the Philip fiasco, it was right back to normal again. Jefferson took one look at Alex, wrinkled his nose in that irritating way again, and insulted his fashion sense- again.

Well, if Jefferson wanted to forget that day's events, who was Alex to stop him? He shot back with an insult of Jefferson's value as an employee, if fashion was the main thing he was concerned about, and the status quo resettled itself.

Except, of course, for one change.

“Dad! Dad! When can we go to the movies with Tommy?”

Alex choked on his hot chocolate. “Tom- you mean Jefferson?”

Philip grinned broadly, bouncing in his chair. “He said I could call him Tommy, as long as he gets to call me Pip. I like Pip anyways, so joke's on him.”

“Right,” Alex coughed. “Jeff-er, Tom,” He couldn't bring himself to finish the childish nickname. “Tom's... busy.” He misdirected. There was no way Alex would be the one to bring that evening up again, and certainly not at work- the only place he ever had to interact with Jefferson.

“Busy?” Philip furrowed his brows, as if immediately seeing through the lie. “He said he wanted to come.” His voice tipped down, hurt.

Alex winced. “Well, sometimes adults have other obligations that they forget about. I'm sure he'd love to go if he could. His work is as busy as mine, though.” The best excuse was a true one. As much as Alex hated to admit it, Jefferson did plenty of work for the firm. He was Alex's rival for good reason, even if he was a pompous jerk who got everything handed to him.

But the excuse did nothing to console Philip. His shoulders drooped. “He said he would,” Philip whined, not quite teary eyed, but certainly upset. “Does Tommy hate me after all?”

Alex froze. “No, of course he doesn't,” He found himself saying automatically. “Look, I'll ask him again, maybe I can help him clear a date, how does that sound?”

Philip smiled, bright as the sun. “Yeah!”

Alex smiled back, silently cursing his big mouth.

Jefferson was, of course, Jefferson. Alex studied him carefully, the next day at work, thinking of the right angle to take. He could just walk up and ask, but he needed a 'yes', for Philip's sake.

Jefferson, for his part, stared back with equal wariness, almost as if he expected something. Or maybe it was because Alex didn't respond to his morning taunt, too wrapped up in what he'd have to do sometime today.

Alex lost his first chance, when Jefferson strolled by to steal Alex's stapler.

Alex lost his second chance, when he chickened out at lunchtime and went out for a burger instead.

The third time, though, Alex went for it. It was the end of the day, and James had gone on ahead- they were neighbours and best friends who carpooled; and Alex didn't care how rarely they were apart, he was not doing this in front of James. Alex took a deep breath. He was not throwing away his shot.

“Yo, Jefferson,” Alex raised his voice before he could change his mind. Jefferson turned, looked genuinely confused for a moment, before raising one slender brow. “I need to ask you something.”

Jefferson's brow raised further as he sauntered over. “Oh really?”

Alex swallowed down his instinctive frustration. Why did Jefferson have to be so damn condescending? “You remember Philip?”

Instantly, Jefferson's entire demeanor shifted. His perfect back posture slackened, his annoying smirk disappeared, something almost friendly flashed across his face as he blinked once, then twice. Then, he frowned, brows creasing; but Alex had already seen it.

“Yes, why?” Jefferson spoke cautiously. It was so unusual, Alex hesitated, knowing instinctively that he was in strange, new territory.

It was worrying, but Alex didn't get this far by shying away from new territory. “He's been asking about you. Wants you to go see that movie with him. Us.” Alex firmly resisted the urge to nibble his cheeks and shift his weight. He would not be a nervous schoolchild, not with his sworn enemy.

Jefferson's eyes blew wide for a single split second, before being masked behind confused wariness once again. Alex wondered where all these facial expressions had been hiding this whole time. Jefferson had been nothing but smug arrogance since they'd met, and only now he was being a three-dimensional human being?

“I...” Jefferson trailed off. “Uh, okay.” He coughed. “For the kid's sake, sure.”

“Yeah,” Alex nodded quickly, not sure how to take Jefferson's reaction. “This doesn't change anything.” Jefferson's eyes hardened, scowl turning sharper, more familiar. For a moment, Alex was disappointed. He decided not to dwell on it.

--

Philip was overjoyed, both at the news and throughout the actual event. That's all that mattered, Alex told himself. He'd even believe it, if only he could take his eyes off of Jefferson.

The thing was, he wasn't just good with kids. He was great. Alex watched blankly as Jefferson laughed and ruffled Philip's hair, acting for all the world like he'd known Philip for years. He looked like he belonged there, making Philip laugh and smile and swing their arms back and forth together.

Then, Jefferson would glance up, and catch Alex's eyes, and the moment would shatter. His lips twisted, his eyes narrowing. Philip hummed the movie's end credits song as they walked out of the theater, utterly content.

“What are you staring at,” Alex hissed, when Jefferson refused to let up.

“Shut up, Hamilton.” Jefferson hissed back. “You're being weird, the kid's noticing.”

Anger bubbled up, as hot as it was unbidden. “Don't talk to me like I can't parent my own kid!”

Jefferson's eyes flared, incensed. “Then act like it! You can't even keep a half decent eye-”

“Are you fighting?” Philip cocked his head, frowning.

“O-of course not!” Alex and Jefferson both startled at the same time. “We just... don't always see eye to eye,” Alex tried for an honest explanation.

“Yes, your Dad's to short to see things on my level,” Jefferson joked, shooting Philip a conspiratorial grin. “That's why he's always angry at me.”

“Excuse me-!?” Alex started, and then cut himself off. It would only prove Jefferson's point, and he was far too aware of Philip's expectant face. He couldn't take the bait in front of his own son.

Still, Jefferson's eyes lit up, not missing the reaction in the slightest. Philip frowned deeper, before shrugging. “You should get along, Dad. Tommy's great!”

“Yeah...” Alex agreed reluctantly, not wanting to disappoint Philip. Jefferson snorted, but left it.

Yeah, there wasn't a chance in hell of that happening.

--

“Hey, Dad?” Philip asked the next day, at breakfast. “How come you never got Tommy to come over before? He's tons of fun.”

Alex narrowly avoided spilling his breakfast down his front, only controlled because he was partially expecting it. “Well, as I said last night, we don't always... get along.” Before Philip could frown, Alex tried to make a better explanation. “Sometimes that just happens. You find someone who doesn't like you, and you don't like them, and that's all there is to it.”

Philip stared into his cereal, looking more thoughtful than crestfallen, thankfully. “But he's nice. And you're nice. Why don't you like him?”

The question was uncomfortably piercing. Alex decided to go for honesty. “It's not that I dislike him, more that he dislikes me. We have a lot of different opinions, and he's always challenging me at work, so I have to challenge him back. So we fight a lot.”

“Oh,” Philip fiddled with his spoon. “I asked Tommy the same thing, when he was taking me home the first time we were gonna see the movie. He said the same thing, that he thinks you don't like him.”

Alex froze, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable at the words. “I see,” he couldn't read into it, Jefferson just didn't want to upset Philip.

He still wasn't in a position to fully understand his feelings over Jefferson actually being invested in Philip's happiness either, to be honest.

“So, if you both don't actually not like each other, if you just spent time together you would get along better?” Philip grinned, impressed by his own idea.

“Err, I'm not sure if that would work,” Alex waved his hand. “We'd probably get mad at each other and stop hanging out in the first minute, anyways!”

Philip hummed, finishing his breakfast. “So if you weren't allowed to leave, you might get along?”

“Sure, Pip.” Alex ruffled his hair. “But that's not likely to happen. We're already forced to spend time together at work, we'd probably have to be attached at the hip for it to work.”

Philip brightened, like he'd come to some sort of conclusion. It might have been worrying, but he dropped the subject, which was all Alex cared about.

The rest of the week went thankfully, mercifully normal. Philip visited his friends- Lafayette's and Burr's children, plus that Eacker kid. Jefferson continued to snipe and snap, and Alex continued to give as good as he got.

Until, the end of the week, when Philip nearly demanded to see 'Tommy' again. “Dad, come on, please? I'm going back to Mom's tomorrow and it'll be a whole week before I can ask again!”

“Philip, it's only a week.” Alex reminded, somehow expecting this moment. “You've gone your whole life without meeting Tom, you'll survive a bit more.” He suppressed a wince at addressing Jefferson by his first name, and a nickname on top of that. It was weird.

Philip wrinkled his nose. “You're only saying that because you don't want to ask, and you're afraid of actually getting along.”

He really was the most troublesome of his parent's traits- Eliza's sharp perception, and Alex's blunt ambition- well, the ambition may well be from both of them. “Nice try, kiddo,” Alex said even though Philip was spot on for the first part; but he wasn't about to address the 'afraid to get along' part.

“Aw, come ooon” Philip whined. “Just for a bit, before Mom picks me up?”

“Sorry, Pip. There's only so much Jefferson- Tom, that I can handle in a week.”

If anything, Philip only looked more determined. “I just think if you gave him a chance, then you'd have a boyfriend too, like Mom has Mars...” Philip pouted. Alex paled.

“Tom is never going to be my boyfriend. Philip, is that what this has been about?”  

Philip nodded. “I just want you to be happy too. Mom smiles a lot more now that Mars is hanging around all the time.”

Alex sighed. “Pip, I know you mean well, and you're very smart for your age, but you're too young to be matchmaking.”

Philip frowned, but wasn't deterred. “How do you know, if you don't even try?”

“I just do, now please leave it.”

“Fine, then I'll wait till next week and ask Tommy why he won't date you.”

Alex froze. “You wouldn't.” He could hear exactly how Philip would phrase it, as if it were a question Alex was asking himself, and not the work of an overeager child.

Slowly, Philip smiled. “Then ask him to come over today, just for a bit, before Mom picks me up.” This was it, he was being blackmailed by his own son.

“I could ground you, you know.” Alex tried.

“Okay,” Philip shrugged, apparently so dedicated to this scheme that he was willing to bear the punishment- which meant that the chances of him just forgetting this over the week with Eliza was slim. Damn it, Alex realized, he was being successfully blackmailed by his own son.

“We'll see. But if Tom can't make it, I better not hear a word from you.” Alex warned. Philip shrugged. It wasn't a good sign.

Jefferson, of course, was available, somehow. It was a Saturday, he should have been off doing whatever asshole things he did in his leisure time; but one call to Madison and a phone pass later, and it was set up.

“Is this going to be a regular thing, because Jemmy about had a heart attack from sheer confusion.” Jefferson griped as Alex met him in the driveway. Philip watched them from inside the house, the opposite of subtlety.

“God, I hope not,” Alex griped in return. “Philip won't shut up about you, unfortunately. He hasn't met a new adult in a while, it'll pass.”

Jefferson's face softened, just a touch. “Well, your kid has better taste in company than you. Must get it from his mother.”

“Now listen here, you-” Alex trailed off, glancing at the window. Philip grinned back with both thumbs up, obviously excited. “You know what, nevermind. Just come in.” Alex could at least try to get along for a bit. It was only a matter of time before Philip's fascination faded.

Jefferson stared, taken aback. Then, he shook himself and nodded. “Don't mind if I do.”

“Right,” Alex hesitated in front of the door. “Eliza will be over in about half an hour anyway, so you won't need to stay long. And,” Alex swallowed. “I guess, uh, thanks for humouring Philip.”

Jefferson gaped. “I'm sorry, what?”

“You heard me!” Alex snapped back. “You could have been a bigger asshole about this but you aren't, okay? Being an asshole about this specifically, you still are one in general.”

Jefferson's eyes stayed wide for another moment; and then they crinkled into a laugh, rich and pleasant compared to the usual scathing cackles Alex was used to. “Okay, Hamilton. Sure thing.”

“Oh, shut up.” Alex opened the front door instead of finding a proper response, cheeks reddening.

Philip wasted no time bounding over. “Tommy! You came!”

“Pip!” Jefferson laughed, once again warm and empty of spite. It did something uncomfortable to Alex's gut. He decided not to analyze it.

“Now you need to hold hands!” Philip put on his most innocent grin. His most innocent grin, of course, was full of lies- Philip was far too clever for his age.

Alex tried to cut if off. “Philip, no, seriously.”

“Just for a second! Please?” Philip batted his eyes.

“You don't want to make a guest uncomfortable, Philip, not when he visited just for you.” Alex reprimanded, as gently as he could. Jefferson was right there, and oh God, Philip better not bring up the date thing-

“Pff,” Jefferson scoffed. “You think that's enough to make me 'uncomfortable'?” He crossed his arms. “I'm not some fragile flower.”

Alex glared helplessly. “Hey, I'm just trying to- ugh,” He shook his head. “Philip, you don't just tell people to hold hands. That's something people only do together if they want to.”

“Are you trying to give the enthusiastic consent speech right now? Over hand holding?” Jefferson rolled his eyes.

Alex bit back a sharper retort. “Will you just-”

Jefferson cut him off with a loud, fake sigh. “Don't worry about it, Pip. Your Dad can't handle something like holding hands.”

In that moment, Alex saw red. “Okay, you know what, fine!” He seized Jefferson's hand in the fiercest grip he could manage. It wasn't nearly strong enough, Jefferson only rolling his eyes and gripping back. “Are you both happy, now?”

“A-almost!” Philip swallowed an excited giggle. He reached for something behind his back. Alex had a split second to fear it was a camera, before something far, far worse happened.

With two harsh ratcheting noises, Philip snapped a pair of handcuffs tight against Alex's and Jefferson's wrists. Then, he pushed past them and ran out the door, laughing.