#the whole situation was just a very messy accident ok. I can work with this

[sixty-silver-wishes]

yk I’m sort of obsessed w my hcs about jane and cesare becoming friends because it’s a genuinely compelling idea considering the themes of the film, but even more so because there is nothing that could possibly piss caligari off more than that

[lifewithdavefarts]

DaveFarts - Episode 9 “Trapped In The Closet” [Episode List] Following the most blatant sit-com tropes you can think of, Dave decides to spy on his girlfriend, Dana, because he thinks she’s hiding something. Tim reluctantly decides to join his friend, but the two end up stuck in the girl’s closet, which will eventually turn into a gas chamber.

Trapped In The Closet

“Yeah Dana. Sure. No problem.”

Tim was working on some college tasks, but couldn’t help but to eavesdrop Dave’s conversation with his girlfriend, Dana, on the phone. He could only hear his friend’s replies, which being only the 50% of what they were talking about, it didn’t make a lot of sense. Not that he was interested: Dave was simply hanging out in his room because he had nothing better to do during that warm Summer evening, apparently, and so he simply showed up to Tim’s place with a couple of beers and a remarkable amount of procrastination powers.

Despite being relatively hot outside, Dave was wearing a t-shirt and a pair of long, grey levi jeans, kinda loose as usual. Something that Tim hated about his kink is how quickly he checked his friend’s outfit, something that he always did since Dave is now basically his “fart bud”, against all odds.

“Yeah… yeah… I love you. No… I love you more!”

Kinda funny how Dave, 24, would revert back to an awkward teenager at times whenever he and his girlfriend were on the phone. They probably even acted like that on purpose, because love is doing stupid things together after all.

“Tim. Car. Now!”

Dave hung up and turned weirdly serious, got up and walked downstairs, saying something about getting in the car.

“Wait, what?” Tim asked, questioning whether his friend was being serious or not, but he did follow him to wherever he was going.

“We don’t have much time, Tim. Dana will come back soon. She’s out with her own friends and we have… like… 15 minutes.”

The two walked outside and headed towards the girls’ house, actually only a few blocks away from Tim’s. Tim himself reluctantly followed his bro into this, knowing that, at best, it may turn into a funny mishap to tell to their other pals while being drunk and laugh about it.

“I’ll just pretend your words make any sense, like I usually do…” Tim chuckled, sarcastically, but still following his friend.

“I think she’s hiding something.” Dave explained, walking at a fast pace, Tim right behind him. “She’s been strangely elusive lately and I want to check her room for clues.”

Tim just chuckled in response. “Dave, you do realize that this is not a 90s sit-com, right? Her room? Really? What are you hoping to find out, exactly, anyway? That she’s having some kind of affair behind your back?” he asked, trying to reason with him.

“An affair? You think I’m that kind of guy?” Dave answered, looking surprisingly offended by Tim’s question.   “I just want to make sure she’s fine. She seemed worried about something and she’s like this organized haf-woman/half-machine hybrid who keeps sticky notes in her room to keep an eye on her busy life.”

“Oh…” Tim replied, rather sarcastically.   “Now that makes a lot of sense.”

“Leave your sassiness for later, dork. Can we take your car?” Dave asked.

“Why? We’re already right in front of her house…”

Dave realized that he was so worried that they did, in fact, walked for a couple of blocks and found themselves stepping in Dana’s backyard without even noticing. He just laughed a bit about it.

“Sorry. Love makes me blind.” he joked, knowing that it was a rather silly thing to say anyway.

“Not the words I would have used, but ok.” Tim answered.

“Come on, let’s get inside.” his bro said, with a smirk.  

“Alright… but please, let’s keep a low profile and no awkwa-”

But as they approached to the girl’s house, Dave awkwardly started muttering some kind of theme song that was oddly reminiscent of the Mission Impossibile’s most iconic soundtrack. This guy has a girlfriend, everyone.

“So much for keeping a low profile, Ethan Hunt…” Tim joked.

Dana’s room, following the usual   “average american house tropes” that the writer of this story grew up with in the 90s, was on the second floor. Luckily, the house was empty, so both Tim and Dave could easily climb it without fearing of someone noticing their totally legal actions.

“Look at Tim, such a rebel! Such a fast climber!” Dave whispered, noticing how good Tim was at climbing the girl’s house.

“Thanks. I learned it when I visited your mom.” he joked.

“I thought you’d prefer my dad, you know.” Dave played along, with a rather noticeable reference to Tim’s homosexuality.

“Just… just let’s get done with this.”  

After some awkward climbing, the two found themselves in front of a window leading to Dana’s room. The duo was sitting on a small portion of slanted roof, wondering how to get inside.

“Alright. I could just punch through the window and open it. But you know I don’t like violence against windows.” Dave said, somewhat joking, but really trying to come up with a way to get through this final obstacle.

“Never mind, it’s open.” Tim said, as his hand passed right through the window.   “Or, you know, I got ghost powers all of the sudden, but I doubt it.”

“You’re so funny I forgot to laugh.” Dave commented, as he got inside his girlfriend’s room, making sure no one was there, immediately followed by his sassy friend.

The room was fairly big and messy, books and magazines scattered all around the floor and the bed. Dana was a busy woman: she got a degree in economics but, given the tough times, she had troubles finding a decent job lately. Dave actually suspected that this was the reason she was being nervous about, well, everything, understandably.

“Why don’t you just ask her instead of acting like the perfect boyfriend material that you are?” Tim stated, in his usual snarky tone, noticing Dave basically rummaging through Dana’s more personal stuff.

“Just… let me do my thing ok?” he was serious again, trying to find something that could be clue, deep down knowing that all of that was quite non-sense and even ridiculous, but his stubbornness was showing.   “Wait…”

Something drew his attention. A red (therefore important, according to Dana’s code) sticky note on the nightstand. Something was written on it.

“Oh… I guess I was right…” Dave whispered, eyes glued on the note.

“Something about her job?”  

But Tim didn’t get an answer, as they heard someone coming from downstairs. They probably were so focused on their mission that didn’t even notice how someone got inside the house minutes after them. They went silent and tried to listen to the person’s footsteps.

“Yeah. I’ll keep you posted.”

They heard a muffled female voice getting closer, probably talking on her phone. A voice that was very familiar.

“Fuck! It’s Dana!” Dave whispered.

The two looked around, looking for a quick solution or a place to hide, blatantly ignoring the window they used to get inside in the first place.

“The closet!” Dave said.

Without even questioning whether this was a good idea or not, the duo sneaked inside Dana’s closet and closed themselves inside just as the girl came into her room, still talking on the phone about something.

Tim and Dave managed to mess things up however, as they ended up in a very small section of that apparently big, spacious closet, so they had to arrange themselves in a weird position. Dave was standing up, towering over Tim, who found himself sitting on the floor instead, right behind his friend… with his face perfectly aligned with his loose jeans butt. As his eyes got adjusted to the dark, Tim started to distinguish the seams and texture’s on Dave’s jeans ass, and the tiny red Levi tag on the right back pocket. He couldn’t help but take a look, which he felt really unnecessary, given the context.

“So… this is where you lived for most of your life…” Dave joked, looking around, as if the closet was some kind of fancy mansion.

“Haha! Another gay joke! Great timing, Dave!” Tim muttered instead. The last thing they had to do was talk.

The two waited for a couple of minutes, hoping that Dana would just leave again or even just go downstairs, so they’d have enough time to get out of there in the hopes that Dave didn’t leave any clue of his presence.

“As long a we remain silent…” Tim whispered.   “We have nothing to worry about.”

Only moments after saying that, he felt a very familiar sound greeting his face. It was a long, rumbling sound coming from Dave’s denim ass. It was one of his usual, well-known loud farts, a fart that he was desperately trying to keep as silent as possible. Luckily, Dana was too busy with her phone to even notice the weird noise coming from inside of her closet.

“Dave! What the fuck?!” Tim hissed.

The gassy friend tried not to laugh, realizing how idiotic the whole situation was.   “I’m sorry dude.” he murmured.   “You know what happens when I’m nervous!”  

The smell was unbearable already. Being in a such small space didn’t certainly help. Those were probably some of the smelliest farts Dave ever managed to rip in Tim’s face, although this time was, against all odds, more like an accident.

“Tim…” Dave whispered, carefully placing his butt closer to his friend’s face.

Another fart erupted, sounding dangerously louder than the previous one. The rough surface of Dave’s denim gently caressed Tim’s nose. The blast of gas then turned into something much more subtle, but still otherwise bubbly. Tim felt his nose burn, as really he had no choice but to breath all of that in.

“Dave I swear. If you don’t stop, Dana’s gonna–”

But another   “slow-paced” rumbly fart cut him off. Dave was seriously trying to contain his well-known farting abilities. Tim, instead, was trying to remain calm, feeling like the Universe was somehow messing with him. That was an insane situation: he certainly wasn’t new to Dave’s farts, but in that context, it felt almost like one of his weird dreams about his fart fetish.

“Tim I’m sorry, at least I know you don’t mind… I hope”

Funnily enough, despite the slightly amused tone in his whispering voice, Dave sounded genuinely sorry. Yet he was right: Tim was insanely enjoying it, but knowing that Dana was out there made the whole thing almost surreal. And, once again, as much as Dave always proved so chill about this stuff, he couldn’t help but feel somehow awkward about having his friend face-farting him so non-chalantly.

And yet another   “ninja” fart was ripped all over his face.   Being nervous really turned Dave’s stomach into a messy cloud of gas, and Tim’s nose was there to vacuum it all up, completely defenseless, standing before the sheer power of the gassy friend’s powerful denim-covered anus.

Even though the situation was absurd, Dave couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. After all, the smell hit him too, and it was getting insane even for the farter himself, whose gas just didn’t stop building up.

“Sorry bro… I have to do this.” he whispered.

Tim felt Dave’s hands gently grabbing the back of his head, holding it still, as he pulled him in the clutches of his denim butt. The warm fabric of the jeans was soaking in that unbearable smell. The sniffer then felt the weight of his gassy friend almost crushing his skull. Despite being dark, Tim realized that Dave was basically sitting on him, using his head as some kind of human stool.

The fart was directly ripped in Tim’s mouth at that point, that rumbly sound once again renewing the already destructive stench. It was supposed to be loud, so loud, that Dave had to basically use his friend’s face to deadpan its impressive thunderous noise. The gassy bro was trying to rip it in the form of a long series, hoping that Dana would fail to hear (or even recognize) his well-known gross, but rather impressive talent.

Tim heard his friend’s sighs of relief after each, rumbling fart, but Dave was also trying not to burst into a laughter that could blow their cover. Fart fetish or not, he couldn’t help but to find it more hilarious than gross.

As much as the lack of space in that closet wouldn’t really allow it, Dave even lifted his right leg a bit, while still   “sitting” on his stool-friend, as a way to facilitate the impressive amount of gas gushing out from his anus. It’s not like he had to worry about Tim passing out or finding it too gross, anyway.

That fart itself was lasting longer than both of them anticipated. They lost count of how much time passed, probably a full minute. Tim’s face was warm and sweaty now, still trapped in the clutches of his gassy bro’s denim butt, directly living in person that thin line between Fart Heaven and Fart Hell.

A final sigh of relief, followed by a louder toot and a chuckle.   “Sorry, bud.” Dave muttered, hoping that his plan worked.

Indeed, Dana didn’t hear a thing. She hung up and left the room, her footsteps slowly turning into a far, muffled sound, until silence announced that the duo was now free to get the heck out of there, especially considering how they were almost both choking on farts.

Tim forgot what fresh, non-fart air felt like in his nostrils and so took a deep, refreshing breath the moment he stepped out of that gas closet. Ironically, Dave did the same, maybe even wondering how would Tim even endure something as overwhelming as his farts, but he didn’t really mind anyway. Despite everything, that was oddly hilarious, as the two stared at each other and then bursted into a laughter.

“Now let’s get out of here…” the farter suggested.

But before the two could even walk towards the window, Dana showed up again in her own room. She didn’t even startle.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked, sounding more like an inquisitive mom than an angry girlfriend. She was fairly mature, after all. “I don’t know what you Dumb and Dumber are up to, but I swear if you–”

“I heard the news, Dana. We were just outside your window…” Dave explained, slightly tweaking the truth. “We wanted to play a stupid scary prank but then I heard it, while you were on the phone you know…”

Dana shook her head and laughed a bit. She hugged her boyfriend and kissed him.

“Yes! I got the job!” she giggled. “Sorry I’ve been so cold lately. The job interview made me so nervous…”

“It’s fine, Dana. You’ve always been stone-cold anyway!” Dave joked, earning a playful slap on his chest by his girlfriend.

“Yes, that’s a very import–wait what’s that smell?” the girl asked, sniffling loudly the air around him.

Tim’s heart almost stopped while Dave did his best to not just laugh like an immature prankster. His hair, clothes, skin, were completely “soaked” in his gassy bro’s gas, so naturally he’d himself smell like flatulence.

“Never mind. It must be you, Dave. He farts like crazy when he’s nervous, Tim, I swear.” she said, disgusted but slightly amused as well.

“Ow… it’s part of my charm, babe.” Dave replied, using what he would have considered an irresistible flirty tone of voice, which was super awkward instead.

“And yeah. Tim’s very aware of my skills, right?” he joked, winking at him, like the big teasing bastard he’s always been since he found out about his fart kink.

Tim just shrugged, faking a disgusted look, his heart racing fast, knowing that all he had to do after that was take the biggest shower in the hope that such unbearable stench didn’t fuse with the atoms in his body.

“Well, it’s gonna be a wild ride!” Dana exulted, happy about her new job offer.

“How about a round of beers to celebrate?” Tim suggested. “It’s on me, no worries.”

“Great idea, but I’m paying. I got the job, you dumb-dumbs get to drink!” Dana replied. She was in a very good mood.

“It’s fine, Dana! It’s the least we can do after-“ but Dave interrupted him.

“Come on Tim, stop living in outdated gender roles and let the pretty girl buy you a drink.” he said, faking a serious tone.

The girlfriend simply rolled her eyes and left the room “Just… meet me downstairs when you’re done saving the world, ok?”

As Dana was nowhere in sight, Dave simply turned to Tim and let another huge, long one rip.

“Shhh. Just tying up some loose ends here.” he said, shushing the gay friend, blasting what was left of his gas out.

“Are you finish-“ “Not yet” he simply said, as if he was making sure no particle of gas was left behind.

With one high pitched final note that was met with some immature laughter, Dave sighed in relief.

“With that said” he chuckled “You might want to take a shower.”

Tim simply nodded with an unamused expression.

“Oh, and you might want to leave the other closet you’ve been hiding.”

That was out of nowhere.

“No pressure bro, just know that we’re all always more than happy to have a beer with you.”

“Thanks Da-“

“Despite your bigoted views on gender roles of course.”

“I’m going to punch you now.”

The duo then headed downstairs and no one got punched luckily.

Tim thought about his friend’s words and how it was probably time to leave that metaphorical stuffy closet soon or later, not that he felt forced or anything.

Dana’s closet, however, that’s probably the only one he enjoyed being trapped into…

End of Episode 9

[urisk-factor]

Ok I wanted to throw out a few of my own Heartless Headcannons, entirely the Jury, mostly Dock. TW for blood, mentions of animal testing, dead corpses, rats, organs, violence, and stuff that Dock would do. I'm just gonna tag this as body horror because I guess that counts. Oh and I headcannon Dock and Alastor as married too, sorry (not sorry), I don't make the rules.

Dock once, a month or two after graduating from medical school, got really drunk and blacked out. In the morning, he found a giant teddy bear and a human body in his room, with the organs from the human in the teddy, and the stuffing from the teddy in the human. He has no idea what happened that night and has no idea how he did it or where he got the teddy, let alone the body.

Bandy somehow knows everything before it's public. He knew that Alastor and Dock are married, he knew about Heartless, he knew about Lance's stash of "chewed items", he knew about Lorelei's black swan dress, and he knew about Diana's pet owl.

Anyways, like I said, Diana has a pet owl that she took care of since his mother left him. He's call Ben, and she likes saying stuff like "Ben killed and ate a mouse that I've been trying to shoot for weeks, he's a good boy, bless his heart" to people she's just met but have warmed up to enough to speak.

Lorelei sometimes calls Dock her "skirt buddy" to annoy him and he just accepts it.

Dock really hates animal testing, and once beat a guy to an inch of his life for testing drugs on rats. He took the rats and he still has them. They're old and well looked after.

Alastor once got so annoyed with a guy who was somehow bigger than Dock that he climbed up Dock's cloak, sat himself on Dock's shoulders, and started berating the man. Lorelei, Lance, and Bandy got in on video camera.

Their curses come from heavily repressed magic.

Their ages are Lance and Bandy at twenty-nine (29), Lorelei at thirty-two (32), Diana at thirty-seven (37), Alastor at thirty-nine (39), and Dock at fourty-three (43).

Dock's real name isn't actually Dock, but is instead Daniel Harrowmoore. Daniel Harrowmoore may or may not be wanted for arson. All Dock will say is that it was an accident.

Diana is somewhere between craving physical touch and hating physical touch at all times.

They leave notes on the fridge. The only ones who can read Dock's atrocious hand writing (it's the doctor hand writing) is Alastor because he's so familiar with doctor hand writing, and Diana because she made a code for it.

Following on from that last one, Lance once wrote "okay I am convinced that you're not even writing words anymore" under one of Dock's notes.

Lorelei has handwriting so neat and curvy and pretty that it's almost as impossible to read as Dock's, not quite though.

Lance, Lorelei, and Alastor are cat people, Bandy and Diana are dog people, and Dock just really loves animals of all kinds, especially if they're considered unlucky or horrible or something.

They have this sort of truck thing, with three seets in the front, three in the back, and then the boot. In the front, Diana drives (she's the only one who can drive), Dock navigates, and Alastor sits between them and helps Dock sometimes. In the back, Lorelei, Lance, and Bandy all sing show showtunes and get on the front three's nerves.

Well that's not totally true. When Dock was in his twenties, he had a motorcycle, but it was stolen and he never got it back.

Alastor is the only one allowed to hug Dock and vice versa. They're very affectionate towards each other, with Dock often coming up behind Alastor, wrapping his arms around Alastor's chest, and wresting his head on Alastor's. Alastor is a bit more nervous but will sometimes just zoom over to Dock and cling to his side.

Alastor's coat used to be Dock's. When Alastor first met Dock, it was really cold, in the middle of a snowstorm, in a giant city, alone, at twenty-one (21), at approximately three o'clock in the morning. He was walking down the street, shivering, when Dock just happened to leave a small twenty-four hour store, saw Alastor, and just went, "yup, small, shivering, not a threat, hey I wonder if he wants this jacket? I don't need it". Dock offered it and Alastor accepted, grateful. They would meet again a few years later and Dock recognized him by the same coat.

Dock has a bad habit of working for days straight, then heading back to his room/home or wherever he sleeps and just crashes and sleeps for the rest of the week. Only a Lorelei scream can wake him.

Not really a headcannon but my mind randomly went "what if the Jury aren't witch hunters, and are instead witches, pretending to be witch hunters, to save other witches, and this whole Heartless and Co. situation was just one big misunderstanding that could easily be solved by simple communication" and I thought it was funny.

Once the paparazzi were following the Jury leaders around, to the point of it probably being a crime, so Alastor invited them into the Jury HQ and told the leaders to be as obscene and messy and dickish as possible. Dock walked in, covered head to toe in blood, with a still beating heart of unknown origins. Just imagine this giant, massive thing, probably bigger than Dock's head. So anyways, he walks in with it in his hands, walks over to the head interviewer or whatever, dumped in into his lap, and said "I hope you find it just as delicious as I do." They left incredibly quickly after that, and never even looked in the Jury's direction after that.

[unsettledink]

A while back I made up a list of fics I had ideas for/wanted to write, mostly to try and drum up bids for Marvel Trumps Hate.

Since then I have, of course, had approximately five million new ideas and keeping track of them has gotten a bit out of hand, so i thought I’d try and put them all in one place that I could come back to and also update more easily. Also possibly some sort of... accountability thing? Like if I put them out into the universe I’m more likely to actually write them? Well I can dream.

There’s going to be a couple of these, divided up by pairings. Feel free to ignore, it’s mostly housekeeping!

(This one’s just for starker and polystarker ideas.)

I’m kind of grouping these because it got long. (Smut, smut + feels, fluff, oh no the sads)

* for new ideas (ARG)

Just the smut! (Ok some feels):

Continuation of Hang Up – so what does happen the next morning after that phone call? (Sex. Probably more phone sex.)

*Pocket Change sequel – Why yes, Peter, you can work out some sort of retroactive deal to 'pay' for the suits...

Peter is dumb online – Peter decides to auction off his virginity online. Of course Tony finds out immediately. Of course Tony buys it to keep Peter from getting hurt. Of course Tony decides to meet up and teach Peter a lesson about being safe – wait. That might have been a mistake. (It’s not.)

Actually, Peter doesn’t like it rough – miscommunication piled on top of miscommunication because they’re both idiots who are desperate for each other, until a tipping point is reached. Happy ending! Fluffy ending!

Gag reflex training – pretty much what it sounds like. Tony having a lot of fun with Peter; messy, noisy, hopefully hot.

Experienced Peter – Peter hasn’t been waiting around for Tony to be the first, and he’s had time to figure out some of his preferences. Like topping almost exclusively, among other things. Hey I kind of wrote this!

Civil War pick me up – after the airport, Tony goes to check on Peter and is in desperate need of something nice. Peter really, really wants to be that something nice. Could be underage, could be not.

Continuation of Gift Wrapped – (Peter/Tony/Pepper) there’s a lot more sex happening for Tony’s birthday than I had time to write for kinktober.

But you want me to be safe, don’t you? - Peter’s hit with sex pollen, but it can be taken care of without outside help. Peter would still really like it if Tony would help. Or would at least keep an eye on him. Or at least stay in hearing range! He won’t be able to resist if Peter’s noisy and saying his name while he gets off, right???

Armor Kink - I mean, basically what it says on the tin. Peter’s been having fantasies about the armor forever. Tony is absolutely willing to help him with that.

ABO forced presentation – Peter doesn’t know what he’ll end up being, and that’s bad for Reasons. He convinces Tony try forcing a presentation (not noncon type forcing) and things get weird. Playing around with the idea of how non-binary might go in ABO. Possible Tony/Peter/Pepper endship. More than likely somewhat underage.

Avengers orgy – Peter’s finally old enough to join in the tradition! While he’s having fun with everyone, Peter and Tony keep gravitating to each other, winding up with things getting a little too emotional when Tony finally gets his chance. Potential for Tony/Peter/Rhodey endship.

The spider bite did what?!? - Peter starts having really weird cravings when he’s around Tony. Weird as in blood, and Tony is going to help him figure this out. Even when it turns into a craving for sex (and bloodplay). Even when it turns into terrifying (for Peter) egg/medical kink.

*Hooker D/S AU Brat!Peter – Tony orders 'the brattiest sub you have' and gets Peter. Who is incredibly so, and Tony is actually delighted by this. And Peter is a little taken aback that someone likes this rather than considering him a bad sub.

*Flaunt follow up – more Peter/Tony/Rhodey D/S AU? Yup!

*No, I'm saving YOU – villains of the week catch them and plan on gangbanging Peter – until Tony offers to be willing if they leave Peter alone. At some point Peter comes around and tries to bargain for them to use him instead of Tony. Tony is not happy about this, but boy, the villains are!

*Peter/Harley/Tony - Tony’s so glad Peter’s over that crush and happy with Harley. Really. Totally. Meanwhile, Peter & Harley are doing their best to get Tony into bed with them and growing increasingly frustrated with Tony’s (intentional) obliviousness.

*

Smut! Oh wait, where did all these feelings come from?:

Toybox – slightly darker Peter decides if Tony won’t fuck him, the least Tony can do is pay for Peter’s toys, and watch while Peter enjoys them. No touching allowed since Tony doesn’t want him, after all. Which is a rule that gets harder and harder to keep in place; feelings, so many feelings everywhere.

Pain kink Peter – what it says on the tin, lol. “Oh Mr. Stark, maybe you should supervise this slightly dangerous sex thing I like.” I think we can guess where it heads from there.

Baby's first D/S (dom version) – established T/P, Tony's subby but hasn't brought it up. Peter is like, 'but what if I was into the idea of doming?' and they start messing around with it. Peter is Very Earnest and learning all these new things, and Tony is surprised to find, after a while, Peter's doing pretty good on his own.

Call boy Peter – what it sounds like! It’s an accident that Tony gets him; good thing Peter was blindfolded! Bad thing that Peter’s senses are enhanced and he knows from the start who it is. Good thing that Peter’s not going to say anything so he can keep this reliable customer?

Evil Ex D/S verse – Peter’s pretty insecure about being a good sub for Tony and it’s not helped at all when one of Tony’s ex subs tells him he’ll never be able to take what Tony wants to dish out. Well, Peter’s going to prove him wrong! Tony really doesn’t understand why Peter is making himself miserable for something Tony doesn’t even want, and things almost break before they get fixed.

*Besties and Omegas and Peter's – Rhodey and Tony (both omegas) end up in an awkward situation when Peter has something like an enhanced rut around them. Slightly complicated dynamics but happy ending for everyone.

*Outraged owned Peter – some sort of slave type au where Obie buys Peter for Tony as a companion, considering Peter to be a distraction and possible spy. Tony does not want a sex slave and rejects him, and Peter is furious – he is not just for sex, he is literally worth his weight in gold, and how DARE Tony not want him!

*Very dark Peter - Peter’s decided he really likes having Tony completely wrapped around his little finger. To the point of getting Tony to give him/do things that are pretty far from acceptable, and then Peter figures out he likes showing off his hold over Tony even more. Oops.

*

Fluff! (Crap there’s not much):

Follow up to Seiche – mostly fluffy 5 times +1 where the emotion sensing bond causes (minor) problems

Fluffy D/S verse – all the fluff! All the outside POV! Everyone assumes that obviously Tony is a dom; after all, that’s how he’s always presented himself. Everyone is wroooooong. Tony’s never been happier.

Nail polish – little bit of Tony finding it incredibly appealing when Peter wears nail polish

*Lingerie shorts – several vignettes of them getting each other and wearing different interesting pieces of lingerie

*

Oh No + all the feelings, heavy on the bad ones:

Soulmark AU – Tony finds out first and isn’t going to do anything due to the age difference. Peter finds out and thinks that’s bullshit + horribly hurt that he’s being rejected. Things are forced when Peter gets hit with a drug that messes with that bond and they both have to figure out how things are going to go. Possible bittersweet ending.

Screw soulmates, actually - Post CW and Tony dealing with soulmate rejection (that’s a WHOLE other fic). Peter’s become convinced Tony’s a blank like him, and then doesn’t understand why Tony’s soulmate wouldn’t want him. Peter does! They get their happy ever after without being fated for each other, and Peter gets a chance to tells Tony’s soulmate what a dick they are. All the satisfaction!

*Blanks are Bad – soulmark au where blanks are regarded extremely poorly, and Tony is exposed as one. Lots of dealing with the ugly fallout, and Peter coming to Tony and confessing he's a blank too and has been so scared.

Untenable – sequel to Indefensible and … horrible. The ABO underage incest continues, Tony hates himself, Peter is distressingly happy. Mpreg makes everything ten times worse; endgame makes everything 100 times worse. Going beyond that would be spoilery, but uh. Everything becomes 1000 times worse by the end! Yay! Yikes.

*Made For It follow ups (aka the... happy version of Indefensible??) - we want to actually see the sex scene they talk about doing, right? Right. And possibly some mpreg? We shall see.

ABO accidental bonding – the worst abo version, heads up. Underage Peter, omegas are treated very poorly, Peter and Tony don’t know each other beforehand and don’t do great getting to know each other afterwards. Biology continues to fuck Peter over, and Tony really doesn’t get how desperately Peter wants Tony to like him. Mountains and mountains of angst and sad before the happy ending.

Copy - After IW, Tony makes a Peter clone/android/whatever. Unfortunately, it just makes things worse because it’s just enough off to make it super obvious it’s not Peter. And fake!Peter knows it too. He’s just enough like real Peter to fall in love with Tony too, and he can’t figure out how to make Tony care about him instead of real, dead Peter. Not that it matters when he snap is reversed (Tony lives) and fake!Peter isn’t needed or wanted anymore. (Will probably have a sequel where real Peter finds out about all this, probably happy ending for everyone.)

Nothing sticks around - years after the blip, Peter discovers Tony, alive - only Tony has none of his memories. Tony doesn’t want anything to do with these people Peter tries to reintroduce him to; he trusts Peter and wants to stay with him. And does, for quite some time, things turning into a relationship, and even if Peter feels guilty about it, he’s happy. Right up until Tony suddenly remembers everything … except what’s been going on the last few years with Peter. Undecided if there’s a happy ending or not.

I hate time travel - once Tony figures out time travel, he decides he needs to find out if this works by hopping forward and seeing if Peter is back. And then maybe he should hop forward a little more just to check on him. Keeps doing this, about once a year, and while Peter is so glad to see him, it’s destroying Peter to basically go through Tony ‘dying’ over and over. Pretty soon it’s fucking up Tony too, after he accidentally shows up when Peter’s in the middle of sex. Very bittersweet ending to maintain the timeline.

Fuck you, Beck - Beck goes about getting the glasses in the worst ways, and Peter finds out a little too late - way too late when it comes to sleeping with him. Not that he’s going to ever tell anyone about that. Not even Tony, when Tony comes back. Not even Tony, when it turns out Tony is interested. Okay, maybe he’ll have to tell Tony when Peter’s reactions to sex become a problem. Happy ending but lots of ouch on the way.

Sequel to Dormant - so what exactly does Tony notice the morning after? And what exactly does Peter do about it? (Spoiler: A lot more than Peter thought he would, and nothing good.)

Don’t punish people like that – as much Tony/Obie as Tony/Peter, maybe pre-Tony/Peter. Obie decided to deal with Tony’s wild streak by punishing him in an especially awful, painful, dehumanizing, sexual way. Tony’s managed to handle how awful that was by pretending it was helpful (nope!). When Peter will not stop misbehaving, the last resort Tony can think of is what was done to him. It helped, right? (He can’t bring himself to in the end, which sets off a cascading failure of repressed trauma, woot!)

*That's rape, Tony – Tony getting drugged, gangbanged, and recorded, and then having part of it released that looks consensual. Tony doesn't remember enough to say it wasn't, and with his history, people don't question it. It goes over very poorly and he's handling all the parts of it very poorly, and Peter is the one to finally put the pieces together.

Sex Pollen Non-Con – Tony’s hit with some sort of fuck or die stuff; only problem is that he 100% refuses to let Peter do anything, and there’s no one else. Peter, convinced that Tony’s going to die, stops giving Tony a choice. What’s that, the trauma Tony was hoping to spare him is replaced with way worse trauma from basically raping Tony? WHOOPS. (Probably happy ending!)

Secondhand verse – following after this, things growing steadily worse, hotter, and more complex between Peter, Beck, and Tony. Bad decisions all around! Unexpected feelings all around! General unhappiness at having feelings that can be hurt all around! Probably a series of fics.

12:00 - follow up to 11:59, Tony and Peter finally getting it on and Beck being an ass in the background. Also the prequel that’s primarily Peter/Quentin, and possibly a sequel where Tony decides that maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, watching Beck fuck Peter - and Peter liked it, right? Everyone’s down for a totally uncomplicated round two, right? Or three, or four...

(And feel free to talk to me about anything here, I love an excuse to ramble. Also, if something grabs your attention, have fun writing it - the more the merrier!)

[klaumiel]

You are all I’ve got,Austin.//Chapter 10: Mother Karma

I felt a sharp pain before landing on the ground. My neck was bleeding, Bennie’s knife was so close to my skin that even though I managed to release myself from him, he still cut me.

At first, I thought it was just a small scratch, so my eyes landed on Austin who’s fists continuously crushed Bennie’s face. Austin’s face was terrifying full of hate and fury; he completely lost control of himself. A small part of me was scared of him in this form, was this Austin from the past? Is that who he was? He talked about this so many times, how he had to fight with himself, how horrible he felt every time he had. to hurt someone.

I called his name a few times, but he didn’t listen just kept throwing punches one after another, like in the trans. For a moment I thought he would kill Bennie, there was no way he could survive this. Everything was happening so fast, but at the same time felt like forever.

Suddenly I saw Bennie reaching for his knife, that was not far from his arm when I was about to get up, I felt a metallic taste in my mouth, and in a split of a second I started to choke, I couldn’t catch my breath. I pressed my hand on my neck, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Austin looked at me; his eyes were filled with tears; I tried to warn him, but I couldn’t make a sound until it was too late. Bennie thrust his knife right into Austin’s chest; I was too weak to get up, too weak to scream or even cry. I felt hopeless, watching him collapsing on the ground hurt more than anything. I heard him yelling my name, but I couldn’t do anything. I watched my boyfriend bleed, and there was nothing I could do.

I saw two guys taking Bennie, dragging him away, he yelled to finish us off, but police sirens stopped them from it, I saw them running away before everything went dark.

----

I woke up hearing familiar voices. I opened my eyes and saw my Dad’s face, smiling. Everything felt like a dream, faded.

‘Maya, sweetie’ I heard him say.

I looked around I was laying on the hospital bed, surrounded by familiar faces, Shaun, and Dad. I tried to move my head, but sharp pain followed, and then everything came back to me.

‘Where am I?’ I asked, barely making a sound, I cleared my throat and tried again, this time more successfully ‘Where am I?’ I knew exactly where I was, but I needed that confirmation. I needed to know if I’m awake or this is just a dream.

‘Sweetie, you are in the hospital. Thank god you are awake, we were losing our minds… Don’t force yourself … Shaun, go to get the doctor.’ My Dad said, holding my hand.

‘Where is Austin?’ I shifted nervously looking around. I had no idea if he was even alive. I passed away right after Bennie’s escape, and he was badly wounded’ Please tell me he is OK… Dad, where is he ?’ I panicked, my eyes filled with tears by the thought that he didn’t make it. Please don’t tell me he is dead!

‘Shh... Hey!... calm down. He is here, few rooms away.’ He said, trying to calm me down, but his face was serious, I knew that look. That wasn’t very reassuring.

‘How is he? Is he awake?’

‘I don’t know the details; your Mum spends a lot of time with him. She told me he is fine, but doctors can’t say much until he is awake. You were a bit luckier than him’ He said, stroking my cheek. I knew he isn’t telling me the whole truth.

‘How long we’ve been here?’

‘Six days’ He said ‘ but that doesn't matter, you are OK, and that’s all it matters.’

‘What about Bennie? Please tell me they found him, he couldn’t go far.’

‘No sweetie, they didn’t fund him. Police are looking for him; he seemed to vanish.’

‘What you mean, vanish!? In a puff of smoke!? He is a person, not a wizard! I saw the police arriving when he was escaping Dad!... he couldn't go far. He needed medical assistance, did they checked hospitals? What about his old house?’ I felt anger build inside me. ‘ How did he even managed to escape the prison!?’

‘One of the guards helped him for a reasonable sum of money, and few others were covering his ass…they will find him, Maya. Stop worrying now; they know what they are doing.’

I doubt that very much.

At that moment, I saw a doctor coming into the room with a nurse. Alex was a young and handsome doctor; he looked after me after my accident. Also, we had a history of short but very steamy romance back from the Uni times. After my accident, we met a few times for how they called it – Netflix and chill, but after a few dates, we called it a day as our relations were strictly physical. We decided to be friends, and while we were single friends with benefits. Last time we saw each other was a few months ago just before I met Austin.

‘And who we have here? Maya Clark decided to wake up finally. You do like to keep us waiting, huh?’  He smiled coming closer; the nurse started to remove the bandages from my neck. ‘ We did our best to stitch you up nicely, wasn’t a deep cut, but very messy. It was mostly superficial, but there was small damage to the carotid artery and jugular vein, where the substantial bleeding came from. You will be fine. You will be able to go back home in a few days.’ He said, looking at the cut, he brushed his fingers on my neck shooting me a glance, I knew he still had hots for me, unfortunately for him, from my side, there was none left ‘Is starting to heal nicely.’ He smiled, touching my neck for a little bit too long.

‘And what is Austin’s situation? Will he be alright? … but Alex, be honest, please’ I looked him in the eyes.

‘Well, that’s a bit more complicated. Austin’s wound was deep, causing severe internal damage. The knife missed the heart but didn’t spare the lungs; we managed to patch him up, but the internal bleeding did more damage than we thought. So far he is functioning well, but we need to wait for him to wake up to have a full diagnose… I am optimistic; he is very strong.’ He said, rubbing my arm reassuringly.

‘What you mean by more damage?’

‘So far, all his organs are functioning correctly, and we are monitoring it, but I will be honest with you Maya, the possibility of coma is strong. The fact that he didn’t wake up yet points to it, but we are giving him another few days to be sure’ Alex said

‘Coma!?... No, no… I need to see him now!’ I said starting to get up but suddenly felt dizzy and fell back on the bed.

‘Easy there … Not yet, you should be resting. We will have you checked today, and we will see tomorrow, I will keep you updated on him, I promise’  He said with a smile, helping me lay down.

‘Alex please, I need to see him now... do you want me to beg?’ I said. He knew that if he didn’t help me, I would go one way or another.

‘Ok…I will have a nurse to take you there in few. I need to check on him anyway so I can keep an eye on you as well’ He smiled

‘Thank you Alex’ I said

‘It will sound bad, but I didn’t want to see you here again so soon. You two were very lucky; few more minutes could’ve been too late.’  he said and walked off the room.

My mum stormed into the room, wearing sweat pants and hoody, she looked so tired, her hair was messy, no make-up. She smiled when she saw me.

‘Maya, sweetie’ she cried and wrapped her arms around me ‘ you give us a proper scare’ she said, kissing my forehead ’how are you feeling, love?’

‘I’m good Mum, my neck is a little bit sore, but Alex said it would heal well’ I smiled

‘You have no idea how we were all worried about you two. Shaun called us when we were at the airport, waiting for our flight to Paris. He said you would be fine, but Austin… ‘ she stopped and looked at me, her face was full of worry.

‘Mum?’

‘You should go to him, Alex said that he could hear everything, maybe if he will hear you he will get better.’ she said ‘I’m sure he is sick of hearing my voice’ she laughed.

‘Maya...’ Alex’s head pop through the door ‘ Ready?’ he asked.

I nodded, the nurse brought the wheelchair and helped me sit, a few moments later, we entered the room.

‘I will leave you here for a moment; I just need to check on him.’ He said. Austin’s chest was wrapped in bandages; I was so glad to see him in one piece.

‘He’s heartbeat is slow, that’s not a good sign.’  I heard Alex whispering to the nurse; he saw me staring and turned away and said something to her; she walked off the room.

‘Alex… should I be worried?’ I asked.

‘No Maya, everything is ok’ he give me a reassuring smile.

I turned to Austin, grabbed his hand gently in both of my hands ‘My mum told me that he could hear us? Is that correct?’ I asked.

He nodded, I pushed myself up from the chair and brought my face close to his, I kissed his temple still holding his hand ‘Austin… honey… I’m here’ I whispered to his ear ‘ don’t you dare to leave me, you hear me? I need you to wake up.’ I heard the cardiac monitor beeping faster. I turned my head to Alex and smiled; he smiled back.

I’ve put my hand on Austin’s chest gently rubbing his skin ‘Come back to me.’ I whispered.

‘Whatever you are doing is working’ Alex said, stopping the nurse from injecting some medication to Austin‘ Rose, I don’t think we will need that, for now.’ he smiled.

‘Can you move me to this room?’ I asked, looking at Alex.

‘If that will make you rest, I will have that arranged … you are still weak, and I know how annoyingly stubborn you are, if I don’t agree to that I will never see you in your bed resting, but I trust you know what you are doing’ he said.

‘Thank you, Alex.’

‘Before I leave, there was a guy, he came here a few times asking to visit, but we didn’t let him in. I asked your parents, but they didn’t know him, Skylar Quinn? Sounds familiar? black hair, blue eyes, looks pretty young.’

‘Yes, he is a friend’ I smiled ‘ I will text him and tell him to come over.’

‘Great, I will pass that to the reception.’

The same night my bed has been moved to Austin’s room next to him. I knew that me being close to him will help in his recovery. My parents finally went home to get some rest

I texted Skylar letting him know we are okay and that I need to talk to him urgently.

I needed Skylar’s help; I knew that police wouldn’t find Bennie and I had to do it myself, for our own sake, so we could finally have some peace.

This had to end, Bennie being around had to end. After that event something in me broke, I felt pure hate and rage every time I thought of Bennie. It wasn’t just about what happened that night; it had more to do with Austin’s mother, his face when Bennie mentioned her was so full of pain and sadness, I knew deep down that this bastard had something to do with it, and I had to know what exactly happened.

I decided to relax and buried my mind into the Outlander, checking every now and then on Austin. The room was utterly silent; I could hear only beeping of the machines. I was deep into my book when I heard a quiet gasp, I turned my head and put my book down, Austin’s eyes were openly looking right at me.

‘Baby’ he said quietly. I jumped off my bed and sat next to him, grabbing his hand. I smiled wildly; I was so happy to see him awake.

‘Careful, love.’ I said when he started to move around, trying to get up. ‘Don’t move; I will call the doctor.’ I said, pressing the button on the side of the bed and smiled, I turned my head back to him and rubbed his face with my hand.

‘I’m so happy to see you alive Maya’ he said quietly ‘I thought I’d lost you.’ His voice was soft and warm.

‘I’m stronger than you think’ I smiled, happy tears falling down my face ‘But we are both fine, and that’s what matters now.’ He moved my hand from his cheek to his lips and kissed.

‘I love you so much baby, I felt like the world shattered in a million pieces when I saw you there.’ I saw a single tear falling on his cheek.

‘I love you too. And I’m fine.’ I smiled

‘Did they catch Bennie?’ he asked.

I tried to keep my face straight, but he knew, he could read me right through.

‘Austin…let’s see what the doctor says first and then I will tell you ok? You are too weak yet; you should rest.’ I said, knowing that wasn’t convincing at all.

‘Maya… please, tell me. I need to know.’

I took a deep breath ‘He escaped…but police are looking for him, they are close’ I said trying to calm him down.

He didn’t say anything, but I saw the anger in his eyes, the same anger I saw that night.

‘Welcome back’ Alex smiled ‘Is good to see you finally with us…Maya could you give us a minute, Alex asked smiling touching my hand, the way he definitely shouldn’t  I pulled it away quickly. What the hell was that about?!

I kissed Austin gently on the lips, grabbed my phone and walked out the room.

I called my parents to tell them that he woke up. Mum wanted to come over right away, but I told her that he needs to rest, after all, it was the middle of the night.

I sat in the corridor deep in my thoughts, completely lost the feeling of time. Something was bothering me; something I had in my head ever since I woke up. Austin’s face, when Bennie mentioned his mother, did he really watched her die? Is this his last memory of her? And what Bennie had to do with it? I knew she died when he was only a kid and that he didn’t remember her for a long time, but what exactly happened? All those questions in my head, I needed to know the whole story, soon. I needed to decide on what to do. Next, I couldn’t just let it go. I found Bennie before, I could find him again.

I felt tapping on my shoulder; I looked up, it was Alex. He sat next to me and smiled.

‘Everything is on order; he is like newborn, we will need to keep an eye on him for at least one more week to make sure everything is healing nicely, but I don’t see any complications. Everything is absolutely fine Maya.’

‘You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, thank you.’ I smiled and hugged him.

‘Couple of days.’ he said, getting up.

I went back to the room, Austin was sitting on the bed, smiling.

‘They unplugged me.’ he laughed and extended his arm to me ‘Come here you.’

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close; he pressed his head on my chest. I kissed the top his head burring my fingers in his hair. He held me tight, rubbing my back. He looked up and pulled my chin gently to him, I cupped his face and kissed him deeply; everything around stopped to exist; it was just us. The kiss was different from any others, stronger, more intimate, but not in a sexual way. There was something different, like a magical dose of happiness spreading through my whole body. Austin pulled away looked in my eyes.

‘I’m sorry baby’ he said.

‘What for?’ I was a bit confused.

‘I failed you … I promised I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, I should’ve reacted sooner… but the feeling of him having full control… the fear of losing you completely took control over me.’

‘Austin, stop it! Don’t even go there … there was nothing you could do, we are alive. That’s the most important; you didn’t fail me, you are still here, you didn’t give up.’ I said, rubbing his face.

‘I should've protected you better.’ he looked down.

I pulled his face up ‘You protected me the best you could… for god sake, you nearly died, Austin, how can you talk about failure? You would’ve failed me if you died… leaving me alone … that would’ve been a failure. Because guess what smart ass, I would die without you, do you understand?!’  I said with a serious face.  How can he even think like this?

‘Bennie is going to pay for this, for everything he did. I will make him pay for this.’ He said with anger. I felt like it was time for him to tell me what I needed to know before he does anything stupid and irrational.  Like what I planned to do? Such a hypocrite Maya!

We laid together on his bed wrapped in each other, enjoying the silence. I decided it is time to start “that” conversation.

‘I had so many dreams in the last few days. I didn’t know if I am alive or dead, but the dreams were so real, none of them made any sense. Did you dream about anything?’ I asked, tracing his chest gently with my finger.

‘I did, about many things. Mostly about you, all of our happy moments, about prison and my childhood, but there was one thing that kept repeating.’ He said but didn’t continue; he looked into the distance, his face was sad and full of pain.

‘What was it? I asked, looking at him.

‘My mother, she was wearing the same clothes when I last saw her, she stood in the middle of our old garden, smiling, she kept repeating my name and my pop’s name like she was calling us, then I heard a gunshot, and she was gone. It was a brief moment, but for some reason, I felt weird like happy to see her but also scared, the same way when she died the same type of fear. ’ He said, still looking at the distance. I grabbed his hand; he turned his head towards me and looked at me. ‘ What is wrong? Tell me, I can feel you want to tell me something, but you are holding back.’

‘Well, I dreamt about many things as well, but mostly Bennie, his voice that night, when he spoke about your mother. Just the pieces of the whole situation with his voice, what he said and how he said it. Also your face at that moment, honey, what happened to her? You never told me…, and I have this horrible feeling that Bennie had something to do with this.’

He once again looked away, for a moment didn’t say anything. I let him take his time; I knew he wanted to tell me. After a couple of minutes, he took a deep breath and held my hand tighter, still looking away.

‘I was eight years old when that happened. Bennie was already a teenager; he was old enough to be involved in the business with pop. He was always jealous of me because pop treated me better; after all, I was younger and less problematic. His mother was a drug addict; she died when he was no more than two. Pop decided to move on and met my mother; she was an average person, a nurse, with a golden heart and face like an angel. Pop told me that it was difficult for her to get into his lifestyle, but everything changed when I was born. She raised Bennie like his own son, at least she tried. She treated us equally no matter which one of us was at fault she punished us equally, but he hated her for some reason, and he hated me more than anything. He made my life difficult every chance he got; Pop didn’t have time to discipline him he wasn’t home very often, so we were left with mum, I know she loved him, she was a good person, she never hated anyone… She always said that nobody is perfect, but everyone can be fixed …One day she went to chop shop to talk to pop, but she saw something that she shouldn’t, few guys from the other gang tried to rob my Pop’s shop, she saw their faces but managed to escape home, not for long. A few days later we were home, waiting for Pop to come back when they showed up, I don’t remember in detail what happened but… they questioned her first and even though she said she wouldn’t say a word to anyone about what she saw, they slit her throat in front of my eyes, only because she saw them, she had no idea who they were and what they were doing there. Only years later, I’ve learned that Bennie was the one who told them who she was, he also told them that she worked with pop, which was a lie…they killed her because of him, Maya, he hated her and found the way to get rid of her, and hurt me in one go, after everything, she’s done for him …’Austin’s eyes filled with tears, which he quickly tried to wipe. He turned his had to me and looked at me ‘ He took everything from me, exactly the way he always said he would. Mum, Pop, my freedom, and he tried to take you.’ He rubbed my cheek with his thumb wiping my tears.

My heart dropped, the pain I saw in his eyes was heartbreaking.

‘I’m so sorry, baby; I can’t even begin to imagine how you felt, and how you feel right now. But know this… You have me, and I love you. That will never change.’ I said, pulling myself up and wrapping my arms around his neck.

‘You are all I’ve got, Maya. All I care about.’ He said, burying his face in my neck, I felt him crying, he tried to hide it, but I squeezed him tight and rubbed his back; he relaxed and finally let it go, the hate, the rage, the pain everything built through the years. Hear him cry broke my heart; I knew that I was the first and the last person to hear this story from him.

I realised that I never hated anyone as much I hated Bennie, I never wished anyone death before, but at this moment I wanted him to die in pain, with whole this pain that Austin felt.

We talked for hours, he told me about his mother's good memories, all the happy things he remembered.

I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night; I was busy planning my next move.

‘There you are lovebirds… I walked past this room at least three times’ I heard a familiar voice in the room, I was so deep into my thoughts that I didn’t hear anyone entering, I’ve put my book down and saw Skylar hanging his jacket on the chair.

‘Skylar!’ I got out of bed and hugged him. ’So good to see you’ I smiled.

‘How are you doing you, bastard? You gave me a proper scare; I thought for a moment that you were gone, but ambulance came just in time.’ he said, looking at Austin.

‘I’m tougher than I look. ’Austin smiled.

‘How come you were there?’ I asked.

‘I followed Bennie’s thugs; I arrived seconds after they escaped with him.’ I saw Austin’s jaw clench.

‘Let’s go to get coffee; Alex said you couldn’t stress.’ I said, rubbed Austin’s arm and whispered in his ear ‘I will be back to you in just a moment, I love you.’ I kissed him, stroking his hair gently.

‘Bring me coffee, ok?’ He smiled.

‘I will be back soon, mate, ladies first.’ Skylar laughed

I took Skylar to the cafeteria; we sat far from others. I didn’t want anyone to overhear what had to tell him. We ordered coffee, and I cut to the point.

‘I have a plan… but not a word about this to Austin ok?’  Skylar raised his brow and leaned closer. I knew he would be interested. ’Will you help me?’ I asked

‘I will’ he smiled

‘I need to find Bennie; the police is useless’ I said, he rolled his eyes laughing.

‘Yeah, no shit Sherlock … you are lucky because I know exactly where he is’ he smiled and sat back in his chair sipping his coffee.

‘How come?’ I asked, surprised.

‘I told you before; I followed one of his thugs. Right after the ambulance took you two, I went after them. My friend Seth hacked this idiot’s phone and installed a tracker; he never leaves Bennie’s side so wherever he is, Bennie is close’ He said showing me the app on his phone with Bennie’s location.

‘Can this information be wiped? Can anyone find out that this guy’s phone is tracked?’ I asked he looked at me trying to figure out what am I talking about.

‘Well yes, once Seth disables the tracker, there will be no sign of it… Maya, why do you need to know this? What the fuck are you planning?’

‘Do you trust him?’

‘Yes, we helped each other a few times; he is a great hacker. He hacks everything and does what he wants with it.’ He had no idea how valuable that information was for me.

‘Great, we will need him… I need you to keep tracking Bennie. I will be out of the hospital in two days. I need you to be ready the same evening.’ I said

‘Maya, what the fuck are you planning? And why I have a feeling this is something crazy?’

‘We are going to pay Bennie a visit … and finish it once and for all.’ I said, making sure nobody is listening.

‘Elaborate … I don’t think I understand this correctly, what you mean by the ‘’finish it’’?’ Skylar looked a bit worried.

‘Bennie won’t stop hunting us, even if he goes back to prison, he won’t stop. He has people working for him, but they are loyal because he pays them. Austin told me all about the whole gang business; everything will stop once Bennie is gone, and I want to make this happen. Also, there is something else, but I don’t want to talk about this right now.’

‘You are going to turn him in?’ He knew exactly what I mean, but he tried to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

‘No’ I said looking Skylar in the eyes, he understood ‘ How many thugs are with him?’

‘Two, he keeps a low profile …Maya this is crazy you know that right?’

‘I know, but that’s the only way. I need Austin to have some peace… Skylar I nearly lost him, and that’s not the first time. Bennie is responsible for so much pain in his life; he killed his father, was the main reason for this mother’s death, and tried to kill me. If this is not a good reason to finish him, I don’t know what is. If I don’t do it, Austin will, and I can’t allow it, that’s why I need to you stay quiet, don’t tell him anything until it is done.’ I said in a quiet voice.

‘Are you sure about this? I am not the best bodyguard, you know?’ He laughed

‘Darling, my father is a first rank Capitan, me and Shaun had self-defence classes since we were toddlers, with a good plan this will be easy. Plus Shaun will be there as well you just need to make sure that your friend Seth takes care of all the cameras around the area for at least two hours.’

‘You have it all planned out … you cheeky...’ he laughed

‘You underestimated me, Skylar Quinn.’ I laughed back

‘You know that Austin will be furious when he finds out, we are talking about real shit here, Maya. One mistake and we are all going to jail.’

‘So we need to make sure we don’t make any mistakes.’ I said confidently ‘ Skylar. I nearly died there. I have to take that chance; Bennie doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as we are. So, are you in or not?’

‘Yes, I’m in.’ he said ‘ I will sort everything out with Seth and come back to you as soon as I have the full confirmation, let’s just hope Bennie will stay in place for two days’ Skylar said looking at his phone.

We went back to the room; Skylar stayed for a bit longer, talking to Austin.

I knew that deep inside; he was excited about our little plan. He was a man of adrenaline and risk after all.

Two days later, I was released home in the morning. Skylar already confirmed that his friend Seth is waiting for our signal.

‘Is Shaun coming to pick you up?’ Austin asked, sitting on the bed, watching me gather all my stuff.

‘Yes, he is already waiting in the car.’ I said, sitting next to him. ‘I will come tomorrow, pop into Cinnaholic and grab you something, huh? What do you fancy?.’ I asked.

‘Oh you know how much I love the Caramel Apple Pie, you can get the Cookie Monster as well… shit you give me a taste now, baby. I might need to pop into the cafe to satisfy my needs.’ He laughed ‘But remember, don’t forget the fork this time.’

I rolled my eyes ‘ You mean the fork you never use?.’ I said

‘Ha. Ha… it’s for you silly, I am a trained professional I don’t need a fork. ‘He said, smiling.

‘Right, trained professional, maybe you should make videos and post it online, maybe you will get them for free if you get enough followers, and you will have some hot chicks thirsting and watching your face getting covered in icing.’ I laughed.

‘Maybe I should, you convince me with the hot chicks.’ He smiled, I pushed him when he started to laugh ‘You should see your face.’ he cracked laughing

‘Not funny Austin Russo, not funny at all.’ I said

‘Baby, you know that the only hot chick I care about is you.’ He said, pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. ‘What’s wrong? You seem concerned about something … talk to me.’ Shit, did he noticed? Poker face Maya, focus, he can’t suspect anything.

‘No, I’m fine, just the thought of sleeping alone tonight makes me sad.’ I said the first thing that came to my mind, hoping he will believe it.

‘Alex said they are waiting for some results and I will be good to go. Hopefully, not too long.’ He smiled and kissed me; my phone kept ringing when we kissed.

‘I should go, Shaun is getting impatient. I love you, boo.’ I said talking my bag and placed a small kiss on his lips.

‘I love you too … don’t forget the fork.’ He laughed when I walked out.

I sat in Shaun’s car; my mind was already focused on one task.

‘Do you have everything?’ I asked

‘Yes, I can’t believe you kept all this Luke’s stuff…We don’t have much time to get ready. I will ask you one last time Maya… are you hundred per cent sure you want to do this? There as so many ways this could go wrong.’ Shaun said, squeezing the steering wheel.

‘Shaun, we have everything planned, we just need to focus and stick to the plan.’ I said, trying to sound confident, but the more I thought about this, the less optimistic I was.

‘Are you sure those drugs are still good? It’s been a while.’

‘Yes, I checked. This shit never expires.’

‘Ok, I trust you sister. If this is what you want, I will support you, but I think you should warn Austin, just if anything gets tits up.’

‘Everything will be fine, I don’t want to worry him, plus he would never agree to this.’

We arrived home; I took a shower to clear my mind. I’ve put the most suitable clothes: skinny black jeans, a black shirt and camp boots. I’ve put my hair in the high ponytail. I zipped my leather jacket and looked in the mirror, taking a deep breath and correcting my leather gloves. I checked my pockets and boots for the hidden knives and opened walked to my spare room.

In the corner of the room right behind some of my paintings was a small chest of drawers, my hands were shaking, I didn’t open this drawer since Luke died, all his stuff was there, but I was after only one thing. I moved aside neatly folded shirts and grabbed the gun; we had only three bullets, enough to finish the job.

My heart pounded in my chest. I looked at the gun, remembering when Luke brought it home, together with the drugs, that he never managed to use and I never dared to get rid of, the gun was stolen, Luke stole it from some drug dealer long time ago. Police won’t link it to us, that was the plan, use it for a good cause. I stuck it in my belt behind my jacket and walked downstairs where Shaun was waiting for me.

‘Should I go now?’ he asked

‘Yes, I will call Skylar and go to get him. I will meet you there.’ I said, hugging him.

‘Good luck to all of us … I hope we will come out from this in one piece.’ He hugged my tight.

‘We will.’ I said and kissed his cheek.

I called Skylar; the stress started to kick off. I was restless walking from one side of the room to another.

‘You ready?’ I asked when he picked up.

‘Yes, waiting for you. I will let Seth know to go ahead; he is waiting for my call.’ He said

‘Great, I will be at your house in fifteen minutes… Skylar … thank you.’ I said

‘You will thank me once is over, now get your ass in here, we have a job to do.’ He said, and hang up. I looked out the window it was already dark.  Its time.

I picked up the bike keys from the counter, checked my phone one last time and wrote a message to Austin, before leaving my phone on the table. I knew he would call me later at night, better for him to think I’m sleeping.

‘’I love you, see you tomorrow boo.’’

I didn’t know if using Austin’s bike is a wise idea, but that was a better way to escape quickly, than using my mini Cooper, that takes ages to build up the speed.

Fifteen minutes later, I was in front of Skylar’s door; he walked out as soon as he saw me, put on his helmet and wrapped his arms around my waist.

‘Ready?’ I asked

‘Yes, go.’ He said

The place was around forty minutes outside town, all the way there I had only one thing in my head, everything that Austin told me about Bennie, how hateful and horrible person he is, how much pain he caused him and others. Everything he told me the night before only gave me straight and motivation.

We arrived at the place; it was a field with nothing else than farm buildings. We stopped around a hundred meters from the place Bennie was staying, in the middle of a little forest. Seth made sure that all the street cameras are disabled around the area for the next hour.

Shaun was already there waiting, making sure everything is in place, Skylar went first to explore the area and check the situation inside the house, he knew what he was doing.

Five minutes later he came back ‘ Is looking good, only two guys and Bennie, they are all in the middle room… Shaun and I can go there from the back, and you go by the front door. Bennie is sitting in the middle, and the others are walking around the room, we will need to get them from two sides. Maya, you stand by the front door and wait until we get the other two, the front door seems unlocked. Also, they are full of buzz, which makes it easier.’ He said, checking his pocket for the syringe. ‘Got it.’ He smiled.

‘Ok, let’s go then…remember in the neck, and all of it.’ I said

They both nodded. I walked quietly to the front of what looked like an old farmhouse; I could hear Bennie talking. I looked through the gap in the window for a sign of Skylar or Shaun.

Bennie was sitting on the chair, with his legs on the table and bottle in his hand. His face was in the rag order, black eyes, cut lip, bruises all over, seeing him like this gave me joy, I knew that after today more would join to add some more bruises to his collection. Two other guys were walking around the back of the room, one of them was pretty big and packed; with a stupid look on his face, he didn’t look very smart. The other was average, skinny but tall, and both seemed pretty buzzed, I hoped that Skylar would go after the smaller guy, my heart dropped when I saw his face behind the gorilla-like looking guy.  Fuck sake, Skylar!

On the other side, Shaun was getting ready to go after the other guy; they give me a sign and both of them at the same time walked behind them striking them on the back of the head.

‘What the fuck!’ Bennie jumped from the chair and reached for his gun.

It was time for me, I opened the door, pointing the gun towards Bennie.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’ I said, walking inside; my heart was pounding in my chest, I barely managed to keep my hands from shaking.

‘You bitch! I should’ve fucking finish you when I had a chance!’ He shouted, turning towards me a bit shaky.

‘You should've.’ I said, still pointing the gun at him; I saw Skylar injecting the drugs to the other two. Shaun grabbed Bennie from behind and pressed a knife to his throat. ‘You will pay for everything; this is my promise to you… you took everything from Austin, everything he loved the most, now I will take everything from you. You will remember my face until you kiss the ground.’ I said, approaching him. I pressed the gun to his head, looking him right in the eyes, I could feel Shaun and Skylar staring at me. I felt like pulling the trigger right at that moment, the desire to blow his head off was so strong that I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or hate that made me feel like this, but I knew I had to control it. Stick to the fucking plan, Maya!

‘Come on, do it.’ Bennie laughed ‘ That will make you one of us. Just what Austin needs, a chick who can kill.’

I took a step back, still pointing the gun at him, my eyes not leaving his. I couldn’t read him; he showed zero remorse or fear; I could only see evil.

‘I didn’t say I’m going to kill you; I’m not a murderer like you. I only said I would make you pay for everything you’ve done. Someone else will do the dirty work for me.’ I said and pointed the gun at one of his thugs, lying on the ground unconscious, pulled the trigger, and shot him on the shoulder, I moved to the other and did the same.

‘What the fuck are you doing you stupid whore!’ Bennie shouted and tried to move, but Shaun held him tight.

‘I am sure that your gang members will be pleased to find out that their boss shot two of his mates. Mostly the ones in prison, where you will wake up tomorrow morning. I’m sure they will welcome you with open arms.’  I finally saw a flinch of fear in his eyes; he didn’t saw it coming. ‘You messed with the wrong girl, Bennie. I love your brother more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for him, you tried to destroy his life for years, but I will destroy yours with a blink of an eye.’ I looked at Skylar and nodded, he stuck the syringe into his neck, I saw Bennie’s eyes getting heavy, he mumbled something before landing on the ground.

‘Come on we have to hurry up, we don’t have much time.’  Shaun said and starter to move things around.

I placed the gun in Bennie’s hand, making sure his fingerprints are on it.

‘Are you sure they won’t remember anything?’ Skylar asked

‘I am sure they will wake up like after the heavy partying, they won’t remember a damn thing.’ I said, looking at Bennie. Skylar and Shaun were on their way out.

I stared at Bennie, the whole feeling from before still dominating my mind. I  picked up a chair and smashed it on Bennie’s head with all the force I had, pieces of the broken chair flew around the room  ‘Maya for god sake, what the fuck are you doing, we are done here, we need to go!’ Shaun grabbed my arm, pulling me out.

‘Motherfucker! I hope you die in pain!’ I shouted.

The whole adrenaline in me started to sink when I walked out the door.

‘Let’s get the fuck out of here; I messaged Seth to call the cops.’ Skylar said, sitting on the bike behind me.‘ I hope you have something strong to drink at home because I fucking need it.’ He said.

We drove back to my house, and spend the rest of the night in silence, drinking.

It was done, the whole plan worked. Now the most challenging part was ahead … tell Austin.

[mothyrship444]

Moon square Mars Natal

Moon in Sagittarius in the 4th house square Mars in Aquarius in the 6th House.

I call this the “mommy issues” aspect. You can see this in a lot of peoples charts who have issues with the mother. When I was born my mother didn’t see or hold me till the next day, she had a C-section so I was given to my father. My father and I were very close. My mom would get upset because I always wanted to be with my dad, she would get jealous because I would sleep next to my dad all the time. My mom was 21 and my father was 22 when they had me. My father is an alcoholic, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t love me, I know this now. Being the sensitive Pisces he is, he found escape from his pain through the bottle, the downstream fish. My mom became pregnant with my brother, an accident. She left my father not long after, moving us back to Alaska from Minnesota to live with my grandparents. I never saw my daddy again till I was 25 years old. After my mom left he was a full blown alcoholic, too weak minded to be there for my brother and I, and that’s hard to understand for a child, you think that the absent parent just doesn’t love you, you feel unlovable and abandoned. I became quiet and withdrawn, I tucked feelings away deep inside my subconscious. My mom didn’t waste anytime to find a man. Another military man, my father was Airforce, my stepdad Army. It wasn’t bad for a bit, until my sister was born when I was 8 years old and I started going through puberty. That’s when things started to get bad. My mom got the attention she needed, she had her new daughter, and a man who hated me just because I was me, a man who dominated and controlled me, my moon is in Sagittarius and my Mars in Aquarius freedom and independence is of utmost importance, cage me in and I will be your worst nightmare. I bet they had hate sex because of me, I wouldn’t doubt it. She always made sure to be extra loud...always making me feel uncomfortable, go ahead and validate yourself ma.

This aspect will give an individual a bad temper, emotionally volatile, and quick to get upset. Think of Tinker Bell when she gets upset and her whole body turns red...that’s me. 0 to 100 in a hot second. I’m not confrontational, but I am prepared to throw the fuck down if I need to, and I enjoy it. I’ve had lots of trouble in my relationships due to being too sensitive or too demanding. I get worked up easily. Always on the defensive side, due to living everyday having to defend myself over every little thing. The smallest thing could set my stepdad off, and 9 times out of 10 it was something my brother did that I would get punished for. Something tells me there was early abuse as well, around age 3 but I am not ready to talk about that yet. My feelings are 100% emotion based, emotionally impulsive, I can sense things even if you appear to be fine. This was conditioning. My stepdad conditioned me, it prepared me to be on my toes, because I married a man who was just like my stepdad, my stepdad just hid his darkness better. If my boyfriend is moody or having a bad day and he isn’t talking about it, I know when he is not ok, which triggers my abandonment issues, it scares me to my very core. The energy is so raw and it could be that he is just moody but I think in extremes. 

It’s hard for me to be comfortable and secure when things are perfect, calm and happy, when I feel safe. Like it’s too good to be true, I am waiting and on my toes, waiting for conflict, waiting for him to leave me. Trying not to get my hopes up. I hate living like this, it tears me apart. I never knew that I was difficult to love till after the 4th relationship and I was told that I wasn’t an easy person to love, that I wasn’t a loving person, that I didn’t initiate enough. When all your past lovers are saying the same thing its very sobering and you think you’re destined to be alone forever. I wasn’t loved and nurtured by the man who made me or by the man who raised me, and my mom’s love was barely at my fingertips. I’ve either wanted someone I couldn’t have, or completely sever connections and hurt those I have gotten close to. Sex has always been a problem for me, because I am empathic, I am emotionally tuned in and present, sex is very empathic for me, which has often gotten me into some messy situations, because I am a magnet for energy sucking vampires, they latch on to me and try to control me, try to claim me as theirs and they become possessive, even if they aren’t faithful to me, they think they still own me. 

Sex is actually a great outlet for all this volatile energy and I am so grateful to be able to have and share that with my partner who is such a positive and patient force in my life...he’s a Aries on the cusp of Pisces ruled by Mars, he knows how to calm my fire. I have seen and known evil, I have watched my aura float over my body as death stood at my door. I have different perspectives than most when it comes to life and I am very much present and tuned into my life force. physical exercise, whether it be the gym, hiking, swimming or making love with my man is very  important for my emotional well being. I have this innate ability to take care of others and myself. I very passionate about taking care of people I love or need help. I like to encourage people to be brave and have courage as I know life is too short, it really is, and I will protect and defend those that I love with ferocity you have never seen, because I know what it’s like to not feel protected, to feel unsafe, to feel vulnerable to feel like nobody cares. I want to be the person I needed for others. 

[florida3exclamationpoints]

Hey fam here's a deep dive of AoS 7x04 including justification of the time travel by a branching timelines believer and lots of Peggy Carter love & appreciation

I definitely feel better about this whole situation now that we've seen 7x04 than I did when we just had the preview. But still. Ughhhhhh I'm just. Conflicted.

They're not sticking to Endgame's time travel rules at all and ik some people didn't like Endgame's time travel but I don't really have issues with it. And even still there's the debate of whether or not Steve (does this debate expand outside Steve arguments? Idk but you get it) is in a branched timeline. Personally, I think he is. For people who think he's not, Shield's time travel, especially with Sousa, is probably easier to take. But for a while I was willing to go with the theory, my own theory idk if it's been mentioned here or not, that since they're using a different time travel method in AoS, and one that was invented by space robots Chronicoms, then they have different rules that limit them to a looped timeline. But now, idk does bringing Sousa into it disprove that?

So he was supposed to die. That's in the history books. They saved him. Which means we're in a loop that can be altered. Ok fine, but that's only because we're using Chronicom time travel. Tony Stark time travel still created branches. So what branch are we in? We have two choices right? Timeline A, which we see throughout the entire MCU, and timeline '49 B, the one Steve created when he went back to Peggy. If it's in the history books that Coulson and the team read that Sousa died, I would assume we're in timeline A. But where's Peggy? Personally I'm not the biggest peggysous stan (basically I ship steggy and in timeline A where she can't get him back, as long as she's happy I'm happy. If that means Daniel, great.) but I'm sure those who are aren't super happy with Shield basically confirming that they didn't make it. I'm sure the only reason they did that was to be able to pull him out of 1955 so I'm not really mad at it. If they had just had him pop in real quick in the 50s and left him there I would have rathered they leave it ambiguous but since that's not what they did I'm not too bitter.

Anyway, I saw a close up of the fake id they made for Jemma when she was undercover as Peggy. It listed her rank as 'agent.' You could say that's a prop mistake but I also noticed that no one has referred to her as 'director.' But she absolutely should be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but Peggy was the first director right? That's always what me, my brother, and my dad, aka everyone in my household who are Marvel fans, thought and we're pretty sure they said it at some point somewhere. And in the Agent Carter one shot (which admittedly has a lot of continuity issues anyway but i think the principle of it stands) Howard said about Peggy "tell her she'll be running Shield." I've always gotten the impression that she was director from the time Shield launched. If someone could give me solid proof that she was or wasn't I'd appreciate it. But as long as there's no proof I'm assuming that she was. That's what I'm going with in the rest of this post anyway lol.

Overall im just confused as to what the writers think they're doing lol. From what I've seen, they started shooting season 7 two months before Endgame premiered so it was written even further before. That sucks because at the time of the writing they didn't know they had all of this to deal with. At least I assume they didn't know bc it seems like there's no communication behind the scenes since no one got dusted before and now we're messing around with time travel. But I also wonder if Endgame hadn't premiered by the time they were shooting the 50s episodes. I have no idea though. If it had, were there changes? Did they have to take out mentions of Peggy, or did Enver maybe act it with the Steggy ending in mind? Because I personally don't want the writers or anyone thinking that Steve was always in a loop therefore this season is jumping around in the same loop and Daniel was left by Peggy for Steve. I can deal with a looped timeline in AoS bc of the Chronicoms and them being in a loop of timeline A but I'm gonna be annoyed if they try to imply that that's not what's happening. But again it was written before Endgame came out so I don't think they'll really go that far.

This is what's really annoying me. Do they seriously think Peggy's not director? Are they saying Peggy's not director? Because they want me to believe that Daniel noticed that Shield had been infiltrated by Hydra and Peggy didn't and then one of three things happened. 1. He told the CIA but not Peggy, 2. He told Peggy but she didn't believe him, or 3. He told Peggy and she looked into it but didn't find anything. I take issue with like all of that. In scenario 1. Daniel Sousa personally knows the Director of Shield and, regardless of any awkward breakup they may of had, doesn't tell her that her government organization may be hijacked by freaking HYDRA? In scenario 2. The Director of Shield is told by the Chief of her LA branch and an agent that she worked alongside for a considerable amount of time that her government organization may be hijacked by Hydra and she doesn't listen to him, because, what, they had a messy breakup? In scenario 3. The Director of Shield, Margaret Elizabeth Carter, has reason to believe that Shield is infiltrated by Hydra, she investigates, and finds absolutely nothing out of the ordinary? None of those sound even almost reasonable. So are they not mentioning that Peggy is director because it makes Daniel's storyline more believable and convenient or am I missing something? I've lost hope that she might make an appearance but I'd appreciate some Director Carter content even in passing mentions or at least tell me who the Director is if it's not her.

Also, Daniel's death, real or not, is gonna hurt her really bad and I'm not a fan of that. I'm glad I didn't have to watch him die and I'm excited to see more of him but it's really gonna mess with Peggy. We've already seen her struggle with feeling like everyone she gets close to dies and even though at this point she's married and maybe has kids, that doesn't take away from what they had in Agent Carter, that goes beyond the romantic and into the fact that he was one of the few men who showed her even the smallest amount of respect. It's gonna hurt her and I don't like when she's hurt. Also also, I don't care about whatever Coulson said about his death being ruled an accident, Peggy is a critical thinker and 100% would have looked into it. Especially as the Director of Shield if I keep saying that maybe AoS will hear me or it'll become canon lol she wouldn't let that slide.

Basically what I'm saying is: I can talk myself into the time travel making sense, I just did lol, but while I love Daniel and getting to see him again and continue to see him in the coming episodes, it stretches the imagination a bit too far concerning Peggy and his dynamic with her. Either that or I have to be to ticked off at the writers for not knowing that Peggy is director in 1955. Or I have to be ticked at the entirety of Marvel for not making Peggy director as soon as the thing was up and running. But. That doesn't mean that this hasn't been a good season so far, it's been pretty great. And I'm very excited to see them in the 70s. And to see Daniel in the 70s. And to see my man Enoch make another appearance. I have my issues but I'm still highly enjoying all of this absolute tomfoolery sldjskdjksksjk that is all

[nethwan]

A Life By Your Side

Summary: After a tragic car accident Lars has lost his memories of the past few years. Many things have changed, not to mention that he's married. He still trusts no one, least of all the one who claims to be his wife. Is it possible that he can continue his life in that way, or will life take such a turn that it will change him even more?

Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending (ofc)

Translation of “Una vida contigo”

Otros links: 

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13663177/1/A-Life-By-Your-Side

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25720198/chapters/62452669

_______________________________

Chapter I: Waking Up

Lars looked out the car window, still not daring to say a word. He couldn’t think of what to say or how to act. Besides he was sore all over and he felt dizzy. His siblings were finally taking him home. He observed them, having the impression that they both looked a little different from what he remembered. Then, he turned to see the woman next to him, a certain Mei, who said, was his wife. She smiled sweetly at him and wanted to hold his hand, but he instantly pushed away. She continued smiling. He still couldn’t accept the idea that he was married.

A few days before, he had woken up in the hospital, and when he did it, his whole life was different from how he remembered it. According to the doctor, the impact he received during that car accident had caused him partial memory loss. He had apparently hit another vehicle while trying to avoid a deer. The fog had obscured the road, and by the time he realized it, the animal was only a short distant away, so by avoiding it, both cars lost control and it ended up in a messy accident.  

When he finally reacted and opened his eyes, he was lying in a hospital bed and a woman was holding his hand. Lars asked her who she was and looked at her with incredulously as she explained that she was his wife. He shook his head, saying that it was the first time he had seen her, he couldn’t be married, it must be a mistake, this woman was a complete stranger to him. She looked at him shocked and confused. Then the doctor came to check him and Mei had to leave the room.

All the corresponding analyses were carried out and it was concluded that he would recover his memory over time. It was as if his memories of his last few years had been buried somewhere in his mind or had simply vanished. Lars didn’t want to know any more details because he couldn’t understand a single word, he thought it was such an implausible story out of some dull soap opera. Only the young woman listened carefully, nodding. His siblings visited him a little later, when he was finally able to receive visitors.

“We are glad to know you’re better,” Henri said, smiling.

“Emma? Henri?” he asked, as if he hardly recognized them.

Both siblings nodded, talked for a moment, comforting him in the face of the situation, and above all, encouraging him. Then, Lars saw the young woman talking to one of the doctors. It was her, whom he had just met when he woke up, and she proclaimed herself his wife.

“Who is this woman?”

“It’s Mei, your wife. You had been married for over three years,” Emma explained.

He later learned that she had not left his side since the day he was admitted to the hospital. So, he figured he had to trust them. Mei visited him every day and always tried to cheer him up, he didn’t know what to talk about and sometimes they were just silent. His parents visited him as soon as they found out, they mentioned to him that Mei was informing them of his progress, since they lived on the other side of the country and he calmed down a bit. A few days later he was finally discharged.  

On the way, Mei and his siblings were telling him about his life in general, but he wasn’t paying attention. He looked around, at his siblings’ new appearance and the ring on his left hand, asking himself a lot of questions. It was like had been asleep for a long time.

They came to the apartment. That was exactly the same place he had been living, but when he went inside, he realized it was different. There were some people waiting for him, all of them looking happy to see him and dedicated loving words of relief to him. However, they looked different from the way he had tried to look for them in the scraps of his memory, some of them were barely familiar and others were complete strangers. He also learned of several events, for example that his sister owned a bakery, was married and had a baby; his younger brother, was also a lawyer and had a relationship with Mei’s sister.

The guests were there for a while longer, wishing him a speedy recovery, but Lars didn’t feel like being there. They understood and left. He hated surprises, so this whole scenario was overwhelming. He wasn’t ready to suddenly hear so much news all at once. Even though the events weren’t serious, it was still a lot of information for one day. Mei felt a bit guilty about making him feel uncomfortable, so she suggested that he better get some rest. She would wake him up later for dinner. He agreed and she led him to the bedroom.

Lars looked around the bedroom, noticed the double bed, the decoration he knew couldn’t be of his choice and on the night table: a book in Mandarin Chinese and a photograph of the wedding. He looked at the photo for a few seconds. They looked happy indeed, she looked at the camera with a smile, while he put his arms around her and kissed her on the cheek. He put it back in its place and lay down in bed. He sighed and closed his eyes, thinking that it was a dream and he would soon wake up.

A couple of hours later she brought him dinner. He didn’t want to eat; he still didn’t have much of an appetite.

“Give it a try, you need to eat to get energy” she said with a certain motherly sweetness.

“I’m not hungry”

“Well, at least have some water. I’ll let you rest, but if you need anything, I’m in the next room,” she said, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek and a sweet smile.

That night Lars couldn’t sleep, even though he was tired. He tried to make a mental summary of everything that had happened. It was more than obvious that he wouldn’t regain his memory overnight. Perhaps, it would be best to be patient and try to remember little by little. Besides, he wasn’t alone, he had his siblings and Mei, although he didn’t yet know if he should trust her completely.

Meanwhile, Mei was grateful to have him alive. How scared she had been by the news of the accident, she spent days in complete anguish waiting for positive results. And then, he woke up and she thought the nightmare was over. Now the next challenge followed. She prayed that little by little he would remember and get his life back. She knew it would be difficult, but she would be there to help him to get through the accident and fill in the gaps in his mind that it had caused.

The next day, Lars woke up late. He sat up on the edge of the bed and yawed. At least he didn’t forget that he hated mornings. He saw his reflection in the mirror, he was pale, haggard, he also had some scratches on his face, then he touched his head scar with his fingertips. Now he realized how serious the matter was and how lucky he was to have survived. He took a long shower, as if to prevent the day from continuing. Then he put on a simple shirt and jeans, something different from the expensive suits he wore, but for the moment it didn’t matter since he would only be at home. Then he went to the kitchen and found Mei preparing breakfast, which was plenty, not like the cup of coffee he used to start his days with. Mei was happy to see him, and told him to sit down and eat. From that day on, they would start looking for his memories.

“Good morning, Bunny. Did you sleep well?”

“Bunny?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a loving nickname” she explained with a smile.

“I don’t like it, that’s why I have a name” he said, dryly.

“Oh… Ok, you’re right” she replied a little embarrassed to hear such a harsh comment.

He saw her smile fade and apologized for his abruptness. It wasn’t the nickname itself that bothered him, but the familiarity of this woman he barely knew was strange to him. Yes, she was his wife, but for the moment she was a stranger.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m not brusque with you, am I?” he asked worriedly, thinking that maybe it was like that and it wasn’t his morning mood.

She smiled again and shook her head. “Only when we argue… you know… I don’t have the best character either…”

“If you say so,” he said a bit uneasy. “Well, tell me what happened to me,” he continued, to change the subject.

“Let’s see, you are a great lawyer. You write for a little column in an independent journal…”

“Some of it I remember, what else?” he interrupted her, patiently.

“You’ve also tried to learn many different things, like Mandarin Chinese”, she said a little sadly, “It’s a shame. It took a bit of work, but you understood it more and more every day. You’ve also tried to do plumbing work.”

“Really?” he exclaimed in surprise, since it had never occurred to him and also understanding why that book was on the bedside table.

Mei nodded again, then added: “We have had a lot of plans lately. We are thinking about looking for a house somewhere calm. A place where we can have a garden and an orchard, and where our kids can ride their bikes in peace.”

“Kids?” he asked, about to spit out his coffee, and raising his eyebrow as if he had heard something horrible.

“Yeah… you know, when we got… we were working in it…” she added and her cheeks turned pink. “What else do you want to know?” she asked, changing the subject.

“What’s your job?”

“I’m an art teacher and an illustrator, but we are not talking about me, we are talking about you,” she said. “You’ll get to know me.”

He assumed she was right, however if his memory came back, he would know more about her.

Every day, Mei would wake up very early, leave him indications and go to work. Lars did the cleaning and when she arrived, they ate and spent every afternoon watching videos and pictures of their life together and telling him what had happened with several people close to him. Lars simply nodded, trying to get a sense of what was going on and being surprised by all the changes. It was like entering another dimension. Other times, they would go for a walk. They would visit places that had sentimental value, like the café they used to frequent when they were dating or the park where they had their first kiss. Lars could only imagine, but for him they no longer meant anything.

Mei always had a positive attitude and was very patient in the face of his perpetual indifference. Lars was surprised when she told him certain details of his life. She knew everything about him, what he liked and disliked even his clothing size. That made him feel important, in a way, and at the same time guilty because it seemed unfair, because he just getting to know her, and as that feeling was repeated, he asked himself more and more questions.

He watched Mei get excited when she told him about the project, she had in mind for a comic book and suddenly he wondered why he had agreed to marry her in the first place if she wasn’t his ideal type. He always had another kind of woman in mind. He wanted a sophisticated, judicious and intellectual woman, which, he felt, Mei was far from being. Although it was true that her beauty didn’t go unnoticed and that she had grace and artistic talent, he found it difficult to discuss serious matters with her, she seemed so immature. Perhaps, it was the emotional stability she offered him. Mei turned to see him and smiled tenderly as she showed him another project she had. He felt like a fool to be judging her without even really knowing her and seeing her as not deserving of being around him. That she wasn’t his type didn’t make her inferior to the woman he had in mind.

He was always resigned to getting married so he wouldn’t be alone, having a fairly routine couple’s life that would end in divorce, and many years later, his children would hate him for being an absentee father. But this life he had seemed completely different. Mei was an attentive and loving wife, an optimistic and persistent woman who conveyed encouragement. He wondered then, quite the opposite of what his pride had let him believe, why she would have married him.

So, as she told him some stories, he had the impression that, although they loved each other, they were quite incompatible, and that detail didn’t convince him of that supposed domestic happiness. Although she described everything as a fairy tale, he was sure the story was another one, and even more so if he considered what he had thought of her. He couldn’t even identify with the Lars in those stories. It was hard to believe. It was hard to digest a life together and have to bear the burden of not being able to reciprocate and the fear of asking for space, because Mei wanted to be by his side constantly.

He also began to worry about her, as each day that passed, he saw her more distressed, even paler and more haggard. But when she was with him, she always had a smile on her face, gave him everything he needed, and did the impossible to make him remember her again. So, he put up with it as long as he had the chance to get his life back just for her. However, as the days went by, he saw it as more and more difficult.

One day, after a little over a month without good results, Mei sat down by the side of the bed and took out the wedding photo album. As she turned the pages, she let out a few tears. The truth was that she was desperate to have her husband with her again, but he wasn’t coming back. He didn’t remember anything. Lars watched her from the door, it was terrible to see her like that, it broke his heart to see her suffer. She noticed his presence in the room and rushed to wipe away her tears.

“I didn’t hear you. Dinner is…”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault. It really isn’t. Now come on, I’ll heat up dinner”

She gave him back a fake smile and left the room. That was the last straw. Mei deserved someone who would love her and protected her, not someone who would make her suffer and judge her. So, it was the best was to stop being a burden and not tie her to an uncertain future. Lars followed her into the kitchen and asked her to talk at once, because he couldn’t bear to continue with the charade. He had to make her understand the situation so she could finally open her eyes. He tried to think in the right words and use a soft, but firm tone. Mei looked at him in confusion, waiting for what he was trying to say. Finally, Lars took a deep breath and without making much eye contact, he began talking.

“Mei, I don’t think I can go on like this anymore. I don’t want you to suffer for me anymore, maybe we should stop all this. I’m just causing you troubles…”

“Don’t say that. You know you will never be a bother to me,” she said, reaching out and hugging him.

He refused her hug.

“Of course, I am, look at you, you look more tired every day. When was the last time you slept well?”

“What are you talking about? I just want to help you. You are my husband and I want to be with you in these difficult times,” she replied, somewhat offended.

Lars sighed in frustration as he heard this argument from a devoted wife, blinded by a love that was going nowhere.

“Tell me why you want to be tied to a man who can’t remember you?” he replied, already exasperated, taking her by the wrists.

She looked away. It was true that nothing was the same anymore and that every day she lost more hope, that everything would return to normal. But it was so cruel to think of the possibility of losing him just like that.

“I admit I’m desperate too, but… I just want my husband back… understand me”

“Well, realize for once that I’m no longer the man you married. I’m sorry but that’s the way it is. I don’t think I will ever be the same again,” he said. “I think we should… get a divorce,” he said, releasing her.

“No, Lars, don’t do this to me. Please reconsider,” she replied, sobbing.

“Mei, think about it. It’s been over a month and I’m still the same, we haven’t made any progress. It’s uncomfortable to me to see you suffer. It’s better to separate, maybe we were going to get divorced someday… Don’t you think we have very little in common? How do you build a relationship with someone who’s not compatible with you?”

Mei looked at him shocked and began to cry, it was too painful to hear what she was once afraid to say to him at the beginning of their relationship. She never thought she would hear those words, but they were spoken for him.  

“Don’t you think that love has nothing to do with us getting married?” She asked him, in a serious tone.

“Sometimes marriage has nothing to do with love. Besides, I don’t know if you are telling the truth when you talk about us. I don’t think we’ve gotten along as well as you insist on making me believe”

“I never lied to you! Don’t you want to know about me anymore?” Mei replied.

“Anyway, I can’t do this anymore. I don’t love you and I felt overwhelmed when I’m with you,” he confessed and looked at her as if it would have been better to shut up.

Mei was speechless, the latter falling like a bucket of cold water, but maybe it was true. It was her fault for harassing him to force him to come back, insisting on so much information and why not, painting a life that was a distorted version of reality. She was being so selfish instead of truly help him. So, maybe she was the burden.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…” he said, when he saw her reaction.

“No, you’re right. Now I realize that instead of helping you I’m just suffocating you,” she said, looking at him for the first time.

Lars thought that expression of pain would be hard to forget. Despite the fact that he didn’t love her, he felt that his heart was breaking into a thousand pieces, but if they didn’t do something, the situation would probably get worse and she might hate him for wasting her time.

“We are both hurting each other. I’m taking up your time and energy. So, I’m asking you to give me time to put my mind in order, to find myself on my own pace. This might even be useful to both us,” he murmured.

Mei nodded. Her love for him and herself prevented her for imploring him any longer, and especially after those words. If he wanted to be free, then she would let him go. It was better than tying him up against his will. They were silent for a while. Then she wiped away her tears and tried to pull herself together.

“Well, this apartment is yours. It’s better that I go. Then, you won’t have any trouble getting used to what you already know,” she suggested, stepping aside.

“But where will you go?”

“With my sister. She had a room available. I’ll call her tonight”

Lars observed that in her countenance there was no longer the sweetness or affection with which she looked at him, but instead the total resignation of someone who had just given up.

It didn’t take Mei long to pack up all her belongings, she did it as fast as she could, without stopping to think. The next day, she had everything ready and very early Ling arrived to help her put everything in the car, without allowing Lars help her. She wanted to leave before he woke up, but she didn’t make it, he watched her in silence, not being able to come near her. Finally, Mei took her purse, walked to the door and without looking back, said: “I’ll come later for the rest of my stuff”. Lars saw her getting into the vehicle and disappearing into the distance. Not knowing that she hadn’t been able to look at him, so he wouldn’t notice that she was crying.

[pinkvhs]

GIMME THE INFOS I WANT IT UNLOAD ALL YA GOT

YOU HAVE MADE A MISTAKE !! IM GONNA CRY OK THIS IS GONNA BE LONG SDLAKFLJKASD

23 years old ( part of our timeline ) youngest of the boys

university student, undeclared major. 

very talented at a lot of sports! mainly track and field ! 

has the most muscle out of the boys! not a lot tho

but he is a normal dude! no powers (as of yet!)

he is about 5′6″ 

blonde curly hair & green eyes. freckles and later on scars on hands & face (when he gets his powers)

very good at hugging like i mentioned before! ! 

LOVES ANIMALS !! all shapes sizes!! even the “ugly” ones! he is the kind of dude who will pick up spiders either by letting them crawl on his hand or by napkin and puts them outside 

a vegetarian!

he is a social butterfly and loves people! he sees the good in most people! (doesnt have time for shitheads though) 

kind to everyone he meets and wants nothing but the best for people! 

he is the kind of guy who would put himself in harms away for a total stranger 

he has a job as a babysitter to make some extra cash and mostly watches Henrik’s kids since both henrik & his wife work (their kids are 4 and 8 both little girls)

he loves to play pretend with the girls! sometimes they dress him up. play doctor with henriks stuff like stethoscope, tongue depressor, and bandaids. and heroes where he picks up the girls like they are “flying” in the air like superheroes! 

he also reads to them and cooks them meals they love! he is like their big brother to them 

he meets marvin one night when he sees him standing in the middle of the road looking like he was having a panic attack and a car was coming but saw no signs of slowing down. he pulled him away from it and tried to talk to him and see if he was alright

marvin and him become friends over time, jackie helping marv out and finding a small apartment to live in (the marvin isnt from his timeline but jackie doesnt know yet)

jackie being good at cooking making marvin meals since he seemed to not understand the appliances he was given so he would often show up with meals while the two of them talked, usually over stuff marvin has 0 idea what he is talking about such as current movies, social media, and so on. 

jackie does eventually find out about marvin having fire powers and he is THRILLED to bits about it cause he exclaims how he is like a superhero and now he cant believe magic is real! 

he helps marvin become more comfortable over time with his powers and each time marvin did a trick he would be sure to cheer him on and that helped ease marvs mind and raise his confidence by a LOT 

 jackie also learns where marvin came from and the whole ordeal about that and helps marv figure out his powers even more so marv can go back in time

he also was the one that helped marvin find a job where he can preform for others again and really just wanted marv to feel happy despite the situation he is now in 

jackie eventually ends up alone again though due to an accident with marvin and his fire magic. marvin leaving out of fear. 

but also while marvin was gone, he soon hears from henriks wife that henrik is missing but isnt saying much about it to not worry the girls. she at first didnt think much of henrik not being there but after days went to a week she worried, all past errors of her and henriks relationship aside. 

jackie shows up more and more at henriks house to watch the girls till he has to leave for university again but makes it known that he will be there for henriks wife to watch the girls if needed. 

jackie shows up often and the girls really take to him as a brother more than ever, him giving the girls gifts for their birthdays and christmas. 

he over the months becomes extremely vocal about henriks disappearance and gets it out there as much as he can that he is missing but no one ever contacts him or the family about it.

he still goes to school and lives alone in his messy apartment. its small but its home to him. 

worry gets to him and ontop of school stress he starts running and working out more to let things out, sometimes in unhealthy amounts. 

he has pictures of him and marvin hung up that they took on his phone, showing off new technology to marvin 

 he does hear from marvin again via written letter next to a photo of them and he is relieved to know that marvin is still alive 

but...

he gets his powers at the price of marvins death, marvin transferring his powers over to jackie since he trusts him. how marvin was “never much of a hero” but jackie can be. (  i wont go full detail of this again KALSDJFDSLL to save the trouble ) 

jackie gains marvins powers that are mostly elemental but his key one is electricity.

he gets hellbent on finding anti and killing him for the pain he caused to so many. to fix the past 

his powers are very influenced by his emotions similar to marvin

when he is happy tiny sparks form around him and his hair kinda does that ghibli thing where it rises up 

when he is angry or in deep emotional sorrow storms form with a LOT of lightning 

he does learn to control his powers though! but sometimes when he meets people and handshakes them they get shocked a tiny bit, kinda like when you touch metal or when static clings and you get a small shock sometimes 

 he one day gets in a very bad fight and has a run in with anti using marvins body as his own. he was asked to babysit before it happened but he saw a cat that looked like it was in pain. he was going to pick it up and help it but the cat ended up shape shifting into marvin and it took him aback. seeing his dead best friend in front of him. then “marvin” attacking jackie. jackie ends up making it out of there but comes at a price with a fucked up right side of his face being bloody. 

when he knows he is safe, he rushes to henriks home while trying to hide his face and get ride of the blood while using his sleeve. he ends up lying to henriks wife saying he got jumped but no one followed and that he is fine. but of course the girls see him but he plays it off as him “playing superhero”. 

[mactuna]

𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔒𝔫𝔢 ~ 𝔍𝔞𝔢𝔪𝔦𝔫

Word Count: 1.87 K

Genre: fluff

Summary: jaemin finally settles for the one <3

"nA jAeMiN, they are not just old ladies!"

Jaemin was driving the two of you to the nursing home that was like, three blocks away from the SME building that you two worked at. If he hadn't been the one driving, you would've most likely thrown a chicken bone at his adorablely cute face. Without any regrets.

"You'll see when we get there."

By the time you arrived, the head nurse had already gotten out all of the porcelain plates that you would be decorating today.

"Y/N!! Is that the boyfriend you've been telling us about???”

"He is so handsome!!"

"I think he is a good match for our dear Y/N, right?"

Your face was literally the equivalent of the surface of a tomato and you desperately hid your face in Jaemin's shirt while he just laughed at you.

"Oh? She talks about me? What does she say about me?"

"Darling, she's head over heels for you! You two are so cute together!!"

"Stay like that and I'll take a picture for your wedding day!!"

By then, you couldn't even bear to move your head away from him because it was so embarrassingly red and you knew that frickin' Jaemin would be slightly pink at best with his classic cheesy smile.

"ARE YOU GOING TO GET MARRIED?!!!!!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

These old ladies were no longer old ladies, but old-looking high schoolers now. And this had their full attention.

"Did you get her a ring?!!"

"Are you going to get married abroad?!!"

"Oh no, do the fans know?!!"

"It must be so hard to date an idol..."

Finally, you mustered up the courage to break away and held up your hands in surrender.

"OKAY WE WILL BE PAINTING THE PLATES NOW!!!"

And thankfully, these halmeonis were very easily distracted, but one sat in her wheelchair staring at the boy.

I could've sworn I saw him at the jewelry shop yesterday when I was shopping with Chaeyoung....?

The two of you busied yourselves with getting them situated at the giant table with their little porcelain plates, paint, and cups of water.

"Y/N-ah!! Can you help me paint a cherry blossom tree please?"

It took every ounce of you to not groan out loud. Ms. Taemi had been a real pain in the butt since the very beginning and nothing you did ever seemed to make her happy. And today wasn't an exception.

"AISH WHAT IS THAT?!!"

Her yelling took you by surprise, nearly causing you to drop the plate.

"Ms. Taemi? What's wrong?"

"You! You painted this completely wrong and it looks so ugly! I'll just do it myself, hmph!"

All you could was bow and hand her the plate back.

"I'm sorry Ms. Taemi, I promise I'll try harder next time."

"If I have my way, there won't be a next time!"

This whole time, Jaemin had been helping Ms. Hyemin, who was literally an angel. But the two of them were staring in awe at you. The look of annoyance on your face was so obvious, but yet, you spoke so softly.

Wow.... what did I do to deserve her?

To say he was proud was a severe understatement. It was just such a proud papa moment, even though he was your boyfriend. Everyone who knew you back in high school knew how hard you'd had it, shaping you into the cold-hearted princess of the school. But when you met Jaemin? Your shell completely melted and your bitchy self became one of the sweetest girls anyone had ever met.

Still smiling, he watched as you just went to help someone else. But all the other halmeonies were just not having it. Whatsoever.

"Yah, how can you speak to our Y/N like that?!"

"She tried so hard but you are so ungrateful!!”

"That flower is absolutely beautiful!"

"How does she even deal with you?!!"

Ms. Taemi just hmph!ed and wheeled her way over to the snack table. That's when Jaemin felt the tug on his arm and found Ms. Hyemin beaming at him with that all-knowing granny look.

"You really love her, don't you? Just look at your smile.."

He was usually the cool one who acted so nonchalant about these things, but now he was an absolutely nervous trainwreck.

"I do, I really really do."

"And you know how lucky you are to have her?"

"Yes ma'am."

This was basically the equivalent of meeting the parents, because Y/N had basically been raised in this nursing home after being the sole survivor of a car crash with her parents and little brother. Meaning, Jaemin was literally about to have a heart attack.

"Aigoo... the look in your eyes... the love that you have for her is so obvious I want to cry! You better take good care of her Jaemin-ah or this entire nursing home will come after you."

"I will!"

And that was just the beginning of the interrogation.

"What if she gets sick? Will you be able to cook and take care of her?"

"What if she gets pregnant? Will you love the child unconditionally?"

"What if she gets in a car accident? Will you still tell her she's beautiful?"

"What if someone else hit on her? What would you do?"

"How far are you willing to go to protect her?”

By then, you had left the room to prep their rooms for naptime. Which basically meant that you left Jaemin to suffer his interrogation alone. Clearing his throat nervously, he answered the question with obvious love and admiration for you in his shining eyes.

"I will do anything for her, even if it hurts me."

Squealing, Ms. Hyemin wheeled herself over to the gaggle of halmeonis, whispering excitedly. And just like that, everyone exploded.

"AHHHH!! YOU TWO ARE SOO ADORABLE!!"

"You two remind me of me and my husband!!"

"When are you getting married? Can I please come??"

"Are you planning to have kids?"

"AIGOO THEIR KIDS WILL BE SO CUTE JUST LIKE THEIR MOM AND DAD!!"

"You're right!! They both have good looks and cute personalities!"

"DAEBAK!! MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN!"

"Jaemin-ah, kiss her before you leave please!!"

By then, you had walked out in utter confusion to find the poor blushing boy amongst the snoopy halmeonis who could not help but be so excited for their adopted granddaughter.

"Y/N-ah!! COME HERE!! It's good luck for your elders to bless you before getting married!!"

What the heck is going on?

You looked at Jaemin, who just shrugged his shoulders at you. As if to say,

I don't know what they're talking about either, babe

But let's be real here. The sneaky halmeonis have absolutely no idea if the whole good luck thing was true. They just knew that the two of you were the sweetest couple ever and it was like watching a drama when you two kissed. Why? Jaemin made it as dramatic and princely as he could.

Putting his hands on your waist, you couldn't do anything as you just stared at the floor in embarrassment.

Why can't his face be as red as mine, dammit?!! With an angelic touch of his finger, he gently tilted your chin up to look him in the eyes.

"Embarrassed... are we?"

"Just... just shut up!!"

He just giggled a bit, loving how he was able to melt you into this bubbly, hot mess in a matter of seconds. Then again, he knew he was absolutely whipped for you, so... But of course.... cue in the halmeonis.

"OH JUST KISS ALREADY!!"

"SHUT UP IT WAS GETTING GOOD!"

"SO CUTE!! JUST LIKE A DRAMA!!"

"JUST KISS HER JAEMINIE!!"

"YAH!! Let the poor boy live!!"

This whole time you kept staring at the floor, thoroughly annoyed with Jaemin being completely unaffected by the halmeonis' endless teasing. But you knew that he was totally whipped for you too.

So why not use it to your advantage for once?

Sticking out your bottom lip, you wrapped your arms around his neck with the saddest puppy look you could manage. Needless to say, this was not your thing so whenever you did it, Jaemin literally went into cardiac arrest every time.

"Nana~ why won't you kiss me~?"

"OMG I'M GONNA CRY!!"

"THIS IS TOO DAMN CUTE!!"

"I LOVE PET NAMES!!"

But Jaemin was largely unaffected on the outside, just a tad pink. Why? He was a total flirt with the NCTzens and when one of them decided to be a little feisty... he knew how to use fire against fire.

"Angel, you never need to ask if you want me to kiss you~"

Of course he knew how much you hated how unaffected he appeared with your little quips. But on the inside. Oh honey, it's a wholeass zoo in there. Smiling at you, he pressed his lips gently to yours, lingering there for a hot second before pulling away to smile at you. Frowning, you gently forced his chin down to kiss you again.

"OH MY GOD I COULD DIE HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!"

His lips moved smoothly against yours, nipping ever so gently at ypur lips, but couldn't do anymore since y'all had a combusting audience behind you.

"Ok, time to go home!!"

Giggling and semi-unaware of how tickled pink you were, he opened the door for you, bowing.

"M'lady?”

"My prince?"

But as soon as you were clear of the door, he picked you up bridal-style and ran all the way to the cover. Giggling the whole time.

"nA jAeMiN!! Put me down!!"

Smirking, he sat you down in the passenger seat, pulling the seatbelt over you before placing a sweet kiss on your forehead.

"I love you angel~"

"And I love you nana~"

All giddy and tingly, he skipped his way to the driver's seat and y'all drove home, with the old ladies hooting and cheering for you. Before it was reduced to fits of heaving coughs and sneezes. Damn allergies.

By the time y'all got back to the SME building, you were dead asleep with your hair slightly messy from the open window. Yet you were the most beautiful being that Na Jaemin had ever set eyes on.

"Angel, I can't wait until I can ask you to marry me~"

Knowing that almost nothing else would wake you up, he stuck his head through the car window and placed his lips on yours. Although still sleepy, you returned the kiss, cupping his face with your tiny hands.

"YOU GET HIM GIRLFRIEND!!"

"NO PDA IN THE DAMN PARKING LOT YOU TWO!!"

Embarrassed as hell, you clambered out of the car but if anything? Jaemin was the proudest guy in the world to show you off. Especially to his friends. Picking you up bridal-style, he pecked your lips again.

And the last that was ever heard of Jisung or Chenle again was a whole lot of high-pitched screaming.

"AHHHH I NEED TO BLEACH MY EYES OUT!!!!"

"HYUNGGGGG~~~!! WHY~~~?!!!!"

Laughing, Mark, Renjun, Haechan, and Jeno clapped and hollered.

"JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY JEEZ!!"

Done with your humiliation for today, you playfully slapped his chest.

"Why do you keep embarrassing me~~?!!"

"I'll stop being embarrassing when you stop being so cute~!"

"stOOPP~!!"

Jaemin, 4 vs Y/N, 0. Dammit.

Anyway, this was Jaemin on the inside....

[witch-chester]

Where Mischief Lies Pt. 2

Seeing the black impala almost brought tears back to Mariah’s eyes. She had been waiting outside her motel room since Dean had sent her a five minute away text and she all but launched herself into his arms the moment he got out of the car. It really should have bothered her how much comfort she got from this man she barely knew, but the feeling of his hands stroking her hair and rubbing her back eased away the tension in her body.

Dean let her go, touching her face briefly with a few words of comfort before she greeted his brother. hey all went into the room and Mariah curled up at the head of her bed while the boys looked around. Dean saw the map and blood covered pendulum laying on the floor. “What’s this?” A silver knife was close to it so he picked it up. It too still had fresh blood on it.

“Oh,” Mariah help up her badly bandaged hand. “I did that. Spell to help find her.” She tucked the bloody hand back under her arm. “Didn’t work.”

Dean cursed and walked over to her, pulling her hand so he could look at it. Numb to everything at that point, Mariah didn’t fight him. Sam was at her laptop looking through the same articles she hadn’t bothered closing. “You guys were hunting demons?” He asked.

“Not really. Just looking for cases close by. Just happened to be a whole lot of demonic,” she said without looking at him. Her attention was focused on Dean while he unwrapped her sorry attempt at helping herself. The cut across her palm wasn’t very deep but it had been difficult to wrap one handed.

“Was it a demon that attacked you?”

Mariah did look at Sam then. “We aren’t idiots. This room is warded against demons.”

Sam help up his hands. “Ok. Sorry. Just trying to help.”

Mariah sighed. “I know. I’m sorry I just feel on edge.” She looked back down at her hand. It was still bleeding and Dean gave up trying to fix her patch job and took the soiled gaze off all together.

Dean got up to get more first aid items. He didn’t like how pale Mariah was. She wasn’t as put together as she normally would be. Makeup faded. Hair down and messy. She was still a looker but he knew what it meant for her to be like this. He paused a minute, thinking hard about how he could possibly know her state of mind from just her face. Not wanting to think to much about what it could mean, he grabbed the bag Mariah must have pulled out to fix her hand the first time and went back to the bed.

He knelt back down and took her hand again, tugging it gently so she would turn to face him. She relented and let her legs fall on either side of him as he cleaned and rebandaged her hand. He noticed color on her legs. Tattoos of the planets and moon phases decorated with watercolor splashed around them were bright on the ivory skin of her thighs. Dean had noted vine like tattoos on her wrists that he didn’t remember but has written it off at being unobservant. But he knew he would remember ink on her legs.

Sam was back to asking her questions. He was trying to track Kit’s phone. Mariah was arguing that she had tried it. Something was blocking all forms of trace. Magical and technological. His odd knowledge of the witch’s feeling and moods aside, he knew his brother better. The two of them were bother getting frustrated with one another and Dean tried to diffuse the situation before it turned into something.

“You have tattoos,” Dean said off handily.

Marathon blinked. “What?”

“Tattoos. You didn’t have them before.”

Mariah raised an eyebrow. Dean was focused on her hand and his tone seem neutral. He was trying to distract her. She smiled just a little. “I did actually. I just used a spell to glamor them.”

“Why? It’s nice ink.”

“Tattoos are easier recognized than a face.”

Dean pursed his lips and nodded. He tied off the gaze. “There.” But he didn’t let go of her hand. Her fingers were like ice. “We will find her, Mariah. I promise.” His green eyes were warm and it made her smile for real. “Thank you.”

Dean stared at her a long minute then cleared his throat. “Any luck, Sammy?”

His brother shrugged. “No. I really don’t get this. Some guy with powers that you say can’t be a witch just pops in on two witches by accident?”

Mariah bit her lip. “It might not really be by accident. He was looking for us. Or rather, looking for Kit.”

Dean’s brow furrowed. “You said you didn’t know him.”

“I don’t. But Kit might have.” She was playing with one of the several rings on her fingers, not meeting either of them in the eye.

“What’s going on Mariah?”

She sighed and said, “Last month at the auction, Kit kinda stole a necklace.”

“What!?”

She flinched at Dean’s shout. “She said it could be dangerous. It had Enochian symbols carved into it.”

Sam held up a hand. “Enochian? As in the language of angels.”

She nodded.

“Kit can read Enochian?”

Again, she nodded.

The brothers exchanged looks. Then Dean growled out, “Cas!”

Mariah stood up. “What’s wrong?”

Before they said a word. A man in a long khaki trench coat with dark hair and breath taking blue eyes was standing behind Dean.

“Yes Dean?”

Mariah reached for her gun but Dean help up a hand. “It ok. He’s a friend. Kinda. Cas, this is Mariah. Mariah, the angel Castiel.”

Mariah stared for a long minute, eyes shifting between all the men in the room. Then she burst into a fit of giggles, plopping back onto the bed. Cas looked confused. Sam looked nervous. Dean looked concerned. She might have finally cracked.

“Mariah, what’s so funny?”

Mariah tried to breathe and answer Dean. “Y’all are fucking with me right?”

“Mariah, this isn’t a joke.”

Her giggles stared to fade as she took in their faces. “He’s-he’s not really an angel.”

No one smiled. No one even moved.

“He can’t be an angel!” she shrieked.

“Why not?” asked Cas.

“You’re to pretty!”

“Mariah!” Dean put his hand on her shoulders. She looked like she was going to cry again. The events of the day seemed to be to much for her. “I’m getting you food.” Mariah was still staring wide eyed at Castiel. “Hey, let go grab some food.”

She blinked a few times then focused on him. “I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat. I saw the bag from earlier. You barely touched it and it’s cold by now. You can fill Cas in then I’m taking you to get something in your stomach.” Dean didn’t want her to get hysterical. Food was the best distraction.

Mariah stared at him. His green eyes were hard and she knew he wound or give up. Stressed and to drained to argue she just nodded.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The feel of silk moving against her skin as she moved was making Kit feel on edge. This was Mariah’s field. She couldn’t flirt and be coy. Dazzling strangers in fancy gowns and glittery jewelry. She much preferred using her magic or her fists. She wasn’t girly in the slightest. Kit peeked once again at one of the many mirrors that line the obnoxiously large dining room. Loki had also glamored or spelled or whatever he had done makeup onto her face. Her eyes were smokey and winged like a cat’s. Lips full and slicked a dark plum.

She took a deep breath and tried to suppress her anxiety. Moving the gold plated fork around the butter seasoned vegetables and perfectly cooked steak. Everything smelled delicious but the churning of her stomach made her afraid to take a single bite. The glass of bubbling champagne was completely out of the question.

“I said dinner in exchange for answers,” Loki breathed from across the table. “Not staring at you fidget and move a perfectly good porterhouse around.”

She glared at him. “Maybe being kidnapped ruined my appetite.”

He smiled. “You’re a guest, not a prisoner.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that you knocked me out and brought me here against my will.”

He sighed heavily and set the flute of champagne down. “If I give you a few answers will you calm down? You look ready to crawl out of your skin.”

“Maybe. Let’s see.”

“Ok. Ask away.”

“What are you?”

He laughed. “Going for the kill are you?”

“Answer.”

“I told you. I’m Loki.”

She rolled her eyes. “So I’m just supposed to believe that you are the trickster god Loki?”

“You’re a witch and a hunter. Is you’re mind really that small.”

“Bitch!” Kit gripped the fork tightly in her fist.

“Oh, did I hit a nerve?”

Kit dropped the fork and shoved herself back from the table. “Where are you going?” Loki called out after her.

“Fuck you and your answers.”

“Wait!” He was right next to her grabbing her arm. She turned, gripped the wrist that was holding her and rolled him over her hip. There should have been a loud thud of his body hitting the marble, but the room stayed silent.

“Well.” Kit turned and saw him leaning against the table. “That was fun.” He was smirking and once against sipping his champagne.

Rage boiled and quickly killed her anxiety. She wanted to punch him but the stupid look on his face told her he like making her angry. “Did you have a reason for bringing me here, or are you just playing with me?”

“Both.”

She really wanted to smack that stupid grin off his face. How did Mariah deal with these creeps.

“Take me back, I don’t care what this stupid necklace has to offer if it means I have to deal with you.” She started to pull the necklace over her head.

“Alright. Alright. I’ll stop. Just keep that on.”

“I don’t want it.”

He shrugged. “To bad. It’s yours now.”

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Sit down and I will actually give you answers. No more games.” He placed his hand over his heart. “Trickster’s honor.”

“That means bullshit.”

He winked at her. “Take it or leave it buttercup.”

“Stop with the stupid nicknames too. My name is Kit.”

He nodded. “Kit. Understood.”

Kit huffed and dropped back into her chair.

He didn’t sit. He leaned over the back of the high backed chairs and stared at his hands. Kit figured he was trying to figure out how to answer her questions without really answering. Years on the run and watching Mariah run dozens of cons, she knew that face. “I’ll ask a simpler question if who and what you are is so difficult.”

He looked up and smiled at her. “Go ahead. I promise to answer this one.”

Kit narrowed her eyes and thought hard for a minute. “What is the point of bringing me here? I was willing to give you back the necklace but you said no. If it’s no longer the reason then why?”

He tilted his head. “I told you. I am very intrigued by you.”

The twists and knots filled her stomach again. “But I don’t understand why. Explain what so intriguing about me.”

“We might not have time. I told your friend I wouldn’t have you out for to long.”

“Can the sweet talk.”

Those hazel eyes sparkled. “You are fascinating! Such a beautiful woman that hates being treated like a queen.”

“I’m a hunter. Not a queen.”

The smile grew and he said, “So fascinating. But to give a more specific answer to your question.” He moved and sat back down. “I brought you here because of the necklace.”

Kit gritted her teeth. “You just told me to keep it.”

“Not to take it from you. To see what it chose you.”

“Chose me?”

Loki nodded. “You’re a smart witch. Despite what I said earlier I know you are. That necklace has a protective charm on it.”

She nodded. “Yeah I got that from the Enochian.”

His eyes widened. “You could read it?”

“Well yeah. I’m the only living witch that I know of that can.”

He stared at her in shock for a long time then simply whispered, “Fascinating.”

[very-damn-gay]

answer 1-100 please 😋 you can miss out the ones you’ve done already

The meaning behind my url: I'm very damn gay :^D

 How many tattoos i have and what they are:I don't have any yet! I want so much! 

Biggest turn offs: cruelness, bigotry, hatred, just that sort of shit in general is so ridiculously unattractive. I've had to leave a few dates early before where the girl has dropped some really gross comments about people or subjects she doesn't understand. 

Top 5 animals:Lions, Dogs, Wolves, Hyena's and Leopards 

Tattoos i want: I want so much all over my body. I want a bunch of simpsons ones for sure :)

 Age: 21 Ideas of a perfect date: Just being with a girl I really like and hit it off with. We could do anything and i'd be happy

 Life goal: Have a dog

 Relationship status: I am a single bean 

Favorite movie: Into the wild 

A fact about my life: I was born in Queensland and moved to SA when I was very young. I've been obsessed with art and animals ever since I can remember. I brought easily like over a 100 strays home during my childhood. Kids bullied me, called me 'nature freak' but can I blame them? I used to look after spider nests. 

Middle name: Jade

 Height: 5'6

 What’s your shoe size? women's 6 I think

 What’s your sexual orientation? Lesbian :D 

Do you smoke, drink, or take any drugs? I drink socially and I've done drugs like cocaine and weed but I don't like them

 Someone you miss: My Grandfather 

What’s one thing you regret? I was so eager to move in with an ex I had left my dog at my Mum's. My dog got out and got hit by a car. I regret not finding a place I could've had her right away. She wouldn't be dead.

 First celebrity you think of when someone says attractive: Saoirse ronan 

Favorite ice cream? Vanilla

One insecurity: My nose 

Have you ever taken a picture naked? Absolutely. They're fun as heck. I like to make funny nudes and send them to my friends. Like my tits? Nah let me draw on them, that's homer simpson now 

Have you ever painted your room? nope 

Have you ever kissed a member of the same sex? Yes, it is the best 

Have you ever slept naked? Always 

Have you ever danced in front of your mirror? Yeah probably HA 

Have you ever had a crush? YEP 

Have you ever been dumped? HA YEP

 Have you ever stole money from a friend? no 

Have you ever gotten in a car with people you just met? Yeah look im kinda dumb

Have you ever been in a fist fight? When I was younger with my brothers definitely 

Have you ever snuck out of your house? 

Yep when I was a kid

Have you ever had feelings for someone who didn’t have them back? yeah for sure, people are messy, things don't just always match up. I'm glad I had whatever experiences I had anyway and I hope people who I didn't have the same feelings for back feel the same. 

Have you ever been arrested? no Have you ever made out with a stranger? yeeeeees 

Have you ever met up with a member of the opposite sex somewhere? ye lots of people in my life are men so HA I do socialise with them ahhahaha 

Have you ever left your house without telling your parents? when I was a kid and lived with them a few times 

Have you ever had a crush on your neighbor? nopeo 

Have you ever ditched school to do something more fun? yesss, year 12 I used to sometimes just leave to go home and eat some cereal and play with my dog

 Have you ever slept in a bed with a member of the same sex? yeah its my favourite pass time 

Have you ever seen someone die? When I was a dumbass kid I watched a video where someone was killed. I thought at the time if I watched it I was ?? Somehow respecting the situation? The poor person who died?? I don't understand the logic at all now but yeah 

Have you ever been on a plane? yep yep

 Have you ever kissed a picture? Maybe jokingly, but I don't think so, maybe if it was a picture of shrek

 Have you ever slept in until 3? ye 

Have you ever love someone or miss someone right now? I have loved someone. I don't miss anyone in particular I think I have missed certain feelings and situations but I don't miss anyone in particular that way 

Have you ever laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by? ye itsso fun! 

Have you ever made a snow angel? nope I like in South Australia Have you ever played dress up? yeah 

Have you ever cheated while playing a game? Probably, im a cheeky bitch 

Have you ever been lonely? always but im ok with it 

Have you ever fallen asleep at work/school? Nope

Have you ever been to a club? yeah probably too much

Have you ever felt an earthquake? nope not that im aware 

Have you ever touched a snake? Yes! I have a pet snake, her name is mangles :)))) 

Have you ever ran a red light? No 

Have you ever been suspended from school? Yes 

Have you ever had detention? Absolutely, I was a very dumb rebellious kid 

Have you ever been in a car accident? A couple yeah, nothing too bad 

Have you ever witnessed a crime? ye, I've witnessed violence and I've seen people do drugs but should drugs even be a crime?? legalised with Regulation and supply control makes more sensee 

Have you ever pole danced? I've danced on a pole but not pole danced HA Have you ever been lost? Every day of my life babey 

Have you ever been to the opposite side of the country? Maybe, I wouldn't remember, my parents did most of their travelling when I was very small 

Have you ever felt like dying? Yes definitely Have you ever cried yourself to sleep? YEEp 

Have you ever sang karaoke? yeah :D and I'll be singing karaoke tonight with friends 

Have you ever done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? Yeah, too much 

Have you ever slept with someone at least 5 years older or younger? not 5 years younger but definitely over 5 years, my oldest was like 28 I think 

Have you ever kissed in the rain? yeah some of my happiest memories :) Have you ever sang in the shower? every damn time babey 

Have you ever dream that you married someone? yeah they're not the happiest dreams though HA 

Have you ever glued your hand to something? PROBABLY im very dumb 

Have you ever got your tongue stuck to a flag pole? no 

Have you ever ever gone to school partially naked? no 

Have you ever been a cheerleader? no 

Have you ever sat on a roof top? ye best spot 

Have you ever brush your teeth? yes hahah 

Have you ever played chicken? Yeppp for like 1 single second, im a baby 

Have you ever been pushed into a pool with all your clothes on? Yepppers 

Have you ever been told you’re hot by a complete stranger? Yeah :)))) 

Have you ever broken a bone? NOPE 

Have you ever been easily amused? my whole life is me being easily amused 

Have you ever laughed so hard you cried? YES 

Have you ever mooned/flashed someone? ye :) 

Have you ever cheated on a test? no I take pride in my stupidity 

Have you ever forgotten someone’s name? Yeah I forget everyone's for the first few weeks of knowing them THERE WE GO WOOOT WOOT HAHA THAT WAS AN ADENTURE thank u for asking XXXX

[douxreviews]

Jessica Jones - ‘A.K.A. Hellcat’ Review

"I've got this."

For the second time this season, Jessica Jones pulls the 'Let's see all that from someone else's perspective' trick. Once again, the second perspective is Trish's. Once again, it really, really works.

When the episode titles were announced and we were dividing up which Agent of Doux was going to review which episode, I saw the title for this one and thought to myself, 'Oh good, I get to do the one where Trish has her big hero debut that we've been waiting for. That will be neat.'

That was not what this was.

Since her funeral is the emotional core of the episode, why don't we start by talking about Dorothy. Last episode we saw most of the events of Dorothy's funeral, and what was surprising was the number of people who approached Jessica and Trish and told them inspiring stories of how Dorothy genuinely helped them in their careers. I was a little concerned about this, because I thought it might be the indication that we were going to go ahead and Hank Heywood Dorothy, and I really hate that trope.

If you don't follow Legends of Tomorrow, first of all let me say that you should be watching Legends of Tomorrow. Unless you hate things that are awesome. Secondly, I'll explain the reference. Hank Heywood was the father of Nate, one of the titular Legends. Hank was regularly shown to be an emotional abusive, self involved piece of garbage whose go-to move was to try to destroy as much of his son's self esteem as possible. Then Hank died, and at his funeral we heard one nice story about one singular time that he did something decent, and everyone acted like he was totally absolved of everything forever and has always been just like Jesus.

Obviously I'm still a little irritated by this. Hang in there, I'm coming around to my point.

Since then, 'Hank Heywooding' (v.) has become my own personal shorthand for that thing that TV and movies like to do in which they bestow retroactive sainthood on an intrinsically negative character for the sake of shoehorning in a 'redemption arc'. When the first few testaments to 'Dorothy saved my career' started coming in I really thought that's where they were going. with her. But then the show did something really interesting. Without disavowing or minimizing the times that Dorothy had honestly been a positive and supportive force for people, it went on in this episode to show us Dorothy at her most manipulative and emotionally abusive, pushing Trish into getting her big break through the most reprehensible means possible.

And just a side note, in case anyone is in any way unclear on the point; telling a girl that age that the financial well being of her whole family is entirely on her shoulders is not even the tiniest bit OK. To say nothing of adding on, 'now you're responsible for all of the cast and crew having jobs too.'

I like how they handled this overview of who Dorothy was as a person. It's complicated, and it's messy, and it feels realer than we generally can expect from television.

So, while we get 'Secret Origins: It's Patsy', what we're really being told is exactly what Jessica said both here and in a previous episode. Trish is who she is because of Dorothy. Good and bad. It just turns out that Trish is a lot more broken inside that we'd had an opportunity to see before, and her grief at Dorothy's death is being channeled into the worst possible interpretation of 'You're obligated to give it everything you've got.'

Great usage of misdirection leading into this episode. At the end of the previous one we interpreted Erik's look of shock when he entered the construction site office as, 'Oh my God, Trish is the killer!' It turns out that what he was really shocked by was how completely Trish had lost control. In fact, all of the 'do over' scenes that we get here are reinterpreted in fascinating little ways now that we know Trish's side of the story. That's good storytelling.

I felt just awful for Erik through most of this one. He's right, the situation is completely dicked. It was endearing how dedicated he was to rescuing Jessica from being arrested for the crime that he himself was at least partially responsible for. It did however make me sad inside to find out that he was lying to Jessica by omission last episode. I really wanted to believe in him. Wonderful detail as well that Erik called the cops on Jessica in order to stop her from preventing Trish from attacking Mr. Arsonist and thereby giving Jessica an alibi. Erik and Jessica are going to have one hell of a come to Jesus talk at some point very soon.

So, final score at the close: Jessica was mostly absent. Trish is deeply scary now and completely off the rails. Erik's heart is in the right place but he continues to make poor choices. And Dorothy was capable of being both very good and very bad. RIP Dorothy, and bring on the final two installments.

Bits and Pieces:

- Young Trish's red wig was absolutely horrible.

- The flashback of Trish attacking Sallinger didn't give us any new information, but set up the structure of the episode really nicely. I liked how they handled that.

- Was Erik's expression after Trish punched him just pain from the punch or was he feeling evil from her? Was the punch a plotting contrivance to justify why he didn't sense evil from her at that moment?

- What the everloving hell was up with Omar 'Satan wins when the forces of light stand idly by’ the Doorman? That's a super messed up thing to say to someone whose mother was just murdered. I notice that we didn't see his face when he said it though. Are we going to find out that that was just in Trish's mind?

- Erik and Trish continue to have amazing chemistry with one another as performers. Also, most irresponsible vigilante team ever.

- It was good that the kick that killed Nussbaumer didn't look any more over the top than anything else she'd done. That sold the 'it was an accident' vibe.

- I suppose leaving the badge behind with victim number two should theoretically clear Jessica of the first murder.

- I have a million questions about whether evil is a tangible and finite substance, based on Erik's reaction to the first death.

- Did anyone else get a real Logan Echolls vibe off of Erik through most of this episode?

- Did Erik leave the trailer because Trish was giving him a headache there at the end? Because that was my read.

- I actually experience a groin pull just watching Trish put her foot on Jeri's throat. I can't be the only one who thought Trish was going to attack her.

- Jeri is now blackmailing Trish in order to get her to help solve Kith's problems. That's nice plot dovetailing. There is now no shortage of people who might kill Jeri before the season's end. My money's currently on Trish, although Jessica might be the dark horse in that race.

- I love the worldbuilding detail that cops have to take into account how various superpowers affect their perp investigations.

- Trish is totally going after Sallinger now, right?

- This episode was written by Jane Espensen, my favorite TV writer of all time.  I wrote her a love song once.  You can google it.

Quotes:

Dorothy: "What did I tell you about parentheticals?"

Trish: "Despite everything on my side, the good, the right, they still win."

Trish: "Was I bothering you? Because your wife beating was bothering me."

Erik: "I can take a hit. When it’s righteous."

Dorothy: "You take that holier than Mom look off your face."

Trish: "You blackmail guilty people." Erik: "I’m re-thinking that career path."

Erik: "If you get hurt chasing my bad guy, Jessica is going to kick my face in and I’ll let her."

Erik: "Christ. This is so dicked up."

Another solid installment which fills in the answers to a bunch of questions that we didn't know we should be asking yet.

Eight out of ten groin stretching exercises.

---

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water. 

[winmance]

Prompt: Supernatural just started filming season one and Jared wants to / needs to break in Jensen to make sure they will have good chemistry. Rumours go that Jared's trailer rocked constantly for more than an hour and that the moaning was heard over the whole studio. ;)

Jared isn’t a shy guy. He’s friendly, kind, funny, and peoplewho meet him usually leave with a good impression. He never had a problemsocializing or meeting new people.

That’s why he can’t understand why he can’t seem to talk to Jensen Ackles.

He and hisnew co-star met a few months ago during the audition, and they clickedinstantly. They were both from Texas, had the same family history, the sametaste in music, and for a moment, Jared thought he had found his perfect twin.Hell, even their siblings had names that started with the same letters.

When helearned that they were both cast, he was thrilled.  Then, not even five minutes later, Jensen wascalling him and asking him if he wanted to go out for a drink.  

It wasgreat. Really great. Jensen was the perfect friend, the perfect co-star, andthey had an incredible chemistry, on and off the set.

It wasgreat, until they filmed the scene where Dean breaks into Sam’s apartment.

Fortechnical reasons, they did this one a few weeks after they started toshoot.  Jared often wonders if thingswould have been different if they’d filmed this scene first.

If theyhad, Jensen wouldn’t have had to change his clothes,right in front of Jared, and maybe Jared would have be able to focus onsomething else than how muscular Jensen really was.  How his skin seems to be the most soft andperfect skin ever, sprinkled by freckles. And maybe he wouldn’t have noticed how perfect Jensen’s ass was.

There’s probably a lot of things he wouldn’t have noticed. Or maybe he would’ve,but he would have had time to go take a cold shower and clear his head. Insteadhe found himself pinned down by Jensen, their bodies pressed as close aspossible.  While Jensen’s hands were trying to pull himcloser, he was also applying pressure with his lower body to roll Jared over.

That’s all it took for Jared to get hard.Not right in front of Jensen- No, that would have been too easy – But right on Jensen.

“I-I need a break” He says, getting up as soon aspossible.

He didn’t turn and look at Jensen, he simplyran towards his trailer as fast as possible, adjusting his pants on theway.  

“What’s gotten into him?” One of the crew member askedJensen, helping him up

“We’ve been filming for a while. He’s probably just tired” Jensen says, offering an excuse forJared, even though the young man was already too far away to hear him. “I kind of need one, too”

Jared isn’t a shy guy, but he can become onereally easily.

Forexample, getting hard while filming with his co-star is a situation thatresulted in him becoming really shy. Even more when he knew that Jensen feltit.  

Of course,Jensen didn’t say anything, he’s too nice to say it, but there’s no mistaking how he looks and actsaround Jared now.  As if he had to becareful with every single word.

It’s making Jared even more shy andawkward. Jensen shouldn’t be feeling like he needs to becareful around him, Jared is the one who fucked up here.

The worstis probably that their awkwardness around each other has an impact on theirscenes together.

Theirchemistry is all but gone.  It doesn’t fit with the brother’s relationship. The emotional scenewhere the brothers share their feelings is flat.  The tension between them filling the air, andinstead of a few extra takes, they end up behind an entire day.

Three weeksafter the “accident”, Jared decides that he has enough.He’ll apologize, tell Jensen that hedidn’t meant to… to do what he did, maybe make ajoke and then it will be done. He needs to come clean. It will be easy andquick.

He standsin front of Jensen’s trailer for almost ten minutes,unable to do anything. He can’t knock, can’t face the consequences of what hedid. He knows that it’s no big deal – they’re both men, and they know howthings work. But it’s not supposed to happen when you’re with another guy, much less whenyou’re working with another guy.

He can doit.

Or he can’t.

He doesn’t know.

He’s not sure.

Or maybe heis.

Yes, he is.

He can’t do it, can’t face Jensen and tell him that itwas an accident because it wasn’t, not really. He’s been thinking about Jensen sincethe very first day, and soon or later, Jensen would have find out.

He walksback to his own trailer and collapses on the bed, his mind dizzy witheverything that happened. He screwed up big. Really big. What if Jensen doesn’t want to work with him anymore?What if the show ends because of him? He’s not the only one involved here.There’s hundreds of people working on theset, people who would lose their jobs because of him. He won’t be able to find a job after that.What if Jensen tells everybody what happened? What if –

He’s cut out of his thoughts whensomeone knocks on his trailer.

Is that it?Is he gonna learn that the show is over, that he is fired?

But when heopens the door, he’s surprised to see Jensen standing infront of him, his hands in his pockets, looking almost as awkward as Jared.

“Hey” Jensen says, bouncing from one feetto the other “I, uh, I saw you in front of mytrailer but you left before I got there”

“You weren’t in your trailer?” Jared asks, his eyes widening. Hehadn’t even thought about checking ifJensen was there or not.

“No. There was a problem with how the makeup looked on screen so I had to doa scene again. You didn’t knock?”

“I- Yeah, I knocked, I just- Ithought maybe you were busy” Jared tries to laugh it off, but heknows he’s not convinced. He’s a really good actor, but when itcomes to lying, he’s pretty awful at it.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course”

Jaredpushes himself aside, letting Jensen enter his trailer. They’re gonna talk. This is it. This isthe moment.

“Listen, Jared-“

“I’m sorry”

Jensenfrowns at Jared’s words, much to Jared’s confusion.

“Why are you sorry for? I’m the one who fucked up”

“What? No, you didn’t” Jared says, “I-Listen, whathappened during the scene-“

“Was unprofessional” Jensen finishes “It- We’re colleagues, and we’re… It was indecent, rude, and it putus in a really awkward situation so I wanted to apologize”

“Apologize?” Jared repeats. His heart breaksknowing how disgusted Jensen is with the situation, but he can’t blame him. He just can’t understand why Jensen isapologizing.

“For… You know, getting hard while wewere filming?” Jensen says, biting his lips

“I got hard during that scene” Jared corrects him “I-I’m the one who did that”

“What? No, I did”

“You were hard?”

“Yeah. You were too?”

“Yeah” Jared admits, a little laughescaping his lips.

Jensenlaughs too, all the tension leaving his body, and Jared quickly followshim,until they both burst into laughter.

“Dude, I thought I fucked up” Jensen says “I thought you hated me”

“I thought you hated me too”

They laugha little more, all the awkwardness from the past few weeks disappearing.Knowing that Jensen had the same problem as him makes Jared feel lighter. Atleast, he’s not a freak, or if he is, then sois Jensen.

“So, we’re good, right?” Jared asks, just to be sure

“Yeah, we’re good Padalecki”

Jensensmiles again before walking toward the door. But instead of opening it, he juststays in front of it, his hand on the handle.

“Hey, can I- Can I ask what… you know, got this reaction?”

“Oh” Jared can feels his cheeks burning,and he quickly drops his head, hiding behind his bangs “Just, I don’t know, the tension from filming, Iguess. And you?”

“Yeah, the tension, too” Before Jared can realize what is happening,Jensen is in his personal space, He’d never seen Jensen so closely, except whenthey were filming and he was Sam at the time, not Jared. “I mean, your ass had a lot to dowith it, too”

“My-My what?”

“Ass” Jensen whispers, his hands slidingbehind Jared before touching his ass softly, leaving room for Jared to leave ifhe wants. “I’m not reading this wrong, am I?”

“No, you’re not” Jared admits, bringing his headcloser to Jensen. He doesn’t know what to do.  Doesn’t know what they should or shouldn’t do, but luckily, he doesn’t have to think about it any longer,Jensen’s lips are already pressed againsthis.

Jared doesn’t waste time over thinking this, andright away, opens his mouth so Jensen can slide his tongue in.

It’s hot and messy, Jensen’s hands squeezing his ass hardernow, bringing him as close as possible while a moan escapes Jared’s lips. It’s good, so good, better than anygirl he ever been with, their bodies working together, dancing together likethey were born to it.  

Jensenpushes him down the hall, into the bedroom and gently onto the bed, their kissnever breaking.  He starts to undresshim, kissing every part of his skin. When he starts to lick his nipple, Jaredmoans again, his legs closing around Jensen, bringing their cocks closer.

“Have you ever…?”

“With a man? No” Jared admits “But I want to. If-If it’s ok with you”

“You’re too adorable for your own good,you know that?” Jensen laughs, kissing Jared again.

Jensen getsrid of his own clothes, and the next thing Jared knows, they’re both naked.  He can see everything; the freckles on Jensen’s chest and shoulders, his pinknipples, his really big dick, thats rubbing against his.  Jared’s mouth waters when he thinks abouttaking it in his mouth. Maybe another time.

“Condoms?” Jensen asks, biting on Jared’s neck

“In- In the-the nightstand”

Jensenreaches in and takes a condom out before searching for the lube.

The firstfinger against his rim makes him jump a little, but Jensen helps him relax,sweet talking in his ear while working him open slowly.

“So good, Jay, so good” Jensen whispers, biting Jared’s lobe “Think you’re ready for more?”

“Yeah, please Jensen, more”

Jensenobliges, pushing a second finger inside Jared before moving a little deeper,searching for Jared’s sweet spot.

He knows hefinds it when Jared screams his name, his whole body convulsing with pleasure.

It doesn’t take long before Jared begs formore again, and after pushing a third finger, Jensen finally lines himself upwith Jared’s entrance.

“Ready?” He asks, Jared’s legs still around him

“Yeah”

“If it hurts, we can stop”

“Come on Jen, just do it”

Jensenrolls his eyes and carefully, starts to press inside Jared.

There’s no word strong enough to describewhat Jared is feeling. It hurts a little, but Jensen is gentle. He tries tofocus on everything else. On the fact that Jensen is inside of him, reallyinside, where no one else has ever been.

In a normalsituation, he wouldn’t have done it. Wouldn’t have slept with a guy for thefirst time, or at all, after just one kiss. But Jensen… Jensen is perfect. He makes himfeel whole, and right now, they’re finally one, and a peacefulfeeling is spreading inside of Jared.

“You can move” He says after a few moments.

“You’re so tight” Jensen moans, rocking his hipsslowly “Just for me, right, Jay?”

“Just for you”

Jensenrocks into him faster and stronger, hitting Jared’s sweet spot in the process, andJared can’t remember a time when he screamedso hard, when he’d had so much pleasure while having sex.

Not oncedoes Jensen stops kissing him, telling him how good and perfect he is.

When it’s finally over, they lay on Jared’s bed for an hour, cuddling andkissing as much as they can.

“It’s not- It’s not a one time thing, right?” Jared asks, tracing Jensen’s freckles with his fingers

“No. I mean, unless you want it to be”

“I don’t” Jared hurries to say “But I don’t want it to interfere with the show”

“It won’t, I promise. We’re just… releasing some tension, you know?” Jensen rubs Jared’s back gently “I mean, as long as we keep doing ituntil the show ends, we’re good”

“It sounds like a contract” Jared laughs

“It is” He admits, “And all good contracts end with akiss”

Jaredlaughs again, but lets Jensen kisses him anyway.

He hopesthe show will be picked up for another season.

beta by @debivc78​

[klaumiel]

You are all I’ve got, Damien// Chapter 10: Mother Karma

I felt a sharp pain before landing on the ground. My neck was bleeding, Bennie’s knife was so close to my skin that even though I managed to release myself from him, he still cut me.

At first, I thought it was just a small scratch, so my eyes landed on Damien who’s fists continuously crushed Bennie’s face. Damien’s face was terrifying full of hate and fury; he completely lost control of himself. A small part of me was scared of him in this form, was this Damien from the past? Is that who he was? He talked about this so many times, how he had to fight with himself, how horrible he felt every time he hurt someone.

I called his name a few times, but he didn’t listen just kept throwing punches one after another, like in the trans. For a moment I thought he would kill Bennie, there was no way he could survive this. Everything was happening so fast, but at the same time felt like forever.

Suddenly I saw Bennie reaching for his knife, that was not far from his arm when I was about to get up, I felt a metallic taste in my mouth, and in a split of a second I started to choke, I couldn’t catch my breath. I pressed my hand on my neck, desperately trying to stop the bleeding.

Damien looked at me; his eyes were filled with tears; I tried to warn him, but I couldn’t make a sound until it was too late. Bennie thrust his knife right into Damien’s chest; I was too weak to get up, too weak to scream or even cry. I felt hopeless, watching him collapsing on the ground hurt more than anything. I heard him yelling my name, but I couldn’t do anything. I watched my boyfriend bleed, and there was nothing I could do.

I saw two guys taking Bennie, dragging him away, he yelled to finish us off, but police sirens stopped them from it, I saw them running away before everything went dark.

----

I woke up hearing familiar voices. I opened my eyes and saw my Dad’s face, smiling. Everything felt like a dream, faded.

‘Maya, sweetie’ I heard him say.

I looked around I was laying on the hospital bed, surrounded by familiar faces, Shaun, and Dad. I tried to move my head, but sharp pain followed, and then everything came back to me.

‘Where am I?’ I asked, barely making a sound, I cleared my throat and tried again, this time more successfully ‘Where am I?’ I knew exactly where I was, but I needed that confirmation. I needed to know if I’m awake or this is just a dream.

‘Sweetie, you are in the hospital. Thank god you are awake, we were losing our minds… Don’t force yourself … Shaun, go to get the doctor.’ My Dad said, holding my hand.

‘Where is Damien?’ I shifted nervously looking around. I had no idea if he was even alive. I passed away right after Bennie’s escape, and he was badly wounded’ Please tell me he is OK… Dad, where is he ?’ I panicked, my eyes filled with tears by the thought that he didn’t make it. Please don’t tell me he is dead!

‘Shh... Hey!... calm down. He is here, few rooms away.’ He said, trying to calm me down, but his face was serious, I knew that look. That wasn’t very reassuring.

‘How is he? Is he awake?’

‘I don’t know the details; your Mum spends a lot of time with him. She told me he is fine, but doctors can’t say much until he is awake. You were a bit luckier than him’ He said, stroking my cheek. I knew he isn’t telling me the whole truth.

‘How long we’ve been here?’

‘Six days’ He said ‘ but that doesn't matter, you are OK, and that’s all it matters.’

‘What about Bennie? Please tell me they found him, he couldn’t go far.’

‘No sweetie, they didn’t fund him. Police are looking for him; he seemed to vanish.’

‘What you mean, vanish!? In a puff of smoke!? He is a person, not a wizard! I saw the police arriving when he was escaping Dad!... he couldn't go far. He needed medical assistance, did they checked hospitals? What about his old house?’ I felt anger build inside me. ‘ How did he even managed to escape the prison!?’

‘One of the guards helped him for a reasonable sum of money, and few others were covering his ass…they will find him, Maya. Stop worrying now; they know what they are doing.’

I doubt that very much.

At that moment, I saw a doctor coming into the room with a nurse. Alex was a young and handsome doctor; he looked after me after my accident. Also, we had a history of short but very steamy romance back from the Uni times. After my accident, we met a few times for how they called it – Netflix and chill, but after a few dates, we called it a day as our relations were strictly physical. We decided to be friends, and while we were single friends with benefits. Last time we saw each other was a few months ago just before I met Damien.

‘And who we have here? Maya Clark decided to wake up finally. You do like to keep us waiting, huh?’  He smiled coming closer; the nurse started to remove the bandages from my neck. ‘ We did our best to stitch you up nicely, wasn’t a deep cut, but very messy. It was mostly superficial, but there was small damage to the carotid artery and jugular vein, where the substantial bleeding came from. You will be fine. You will be able to go back home in a few days.’ He said, looking at the cut, he brushed his fingers on my neck shooting me a glance, I knew he still had hots for me, unfortunately for him, from my side, there was none left ‘Is starting to heal nicely.’ He smiled, touching my neck for a little bit too long.

‘And what is Damien’s situation? Will he be alright? … but Alex, be honest, please’ I looked him in the eyes.

‘Well, that’s a bit more complicated. Damien’s wound was deep, causing severe internal damage. The knife missed the heart but didn’t spare the lungs; we managed to patch him up, but the internal bleeding did more damage than we thought. So far he is functioning well, but we need to wait for him to wake up to have a full diagnose… I am optimistic; he is very strong.’ He said, rubbing my arm reassuringly.

‘What you mean by more damage?’

‘So far, all his organs are functioning correctly, and we are monitoring it, but I will be honest with you Maya, the possibility of coma is strong. The fact that he didn’t wake up yet points to it, but we are giving him another few days to be sure’ Alex said

‘Coma!?... No, no… I need to see him now!’ I said starting to get up but suddenly felt dizzy and fell back on the bed.

‘Easy there … Not yet, you should be resting. We will have you checked today, and we will see tomorrow, I will keep you updated on him, I promise’  He said with a smile, helping me lay down.

‘Alex please, I need to see him now... do you want me to beg?’ I said. He knew that if he didn’t help me, I would go one way or another.

‘Ok…I will have a nurse to take you there in few. I need to check on him anyway so I can keep an eye on you as well’ He smiled

‘Thank you Alex’ I said

‘It will sound bad, but I didn’t want to see you here again so soon. You two were very lucky; few more minutes could’ve been too late.’  he said and walked off the room.

My mum stormed into the room, wearing sweat pants and hoody, she looked so tired, her hair was messy, no make-up. She smiled when she saw me.

‘Maya, sweetie’ she cried and wrapped her arms around me ‘ you give us a proper scare’ she said, kissing my forehead ’how are you feeling, love?’

‘I’m good Mum, my neck is a little bit sore, but Alex said it would heal well’ I smiled

‘You have no idea how we were all worried about you two. Shaun called us when we were at the airport, waiting for our flight to Paris. He said you would be fine, but Damien … ‘ she stopped and looked at me, her face was full of worry.

‘Mum?’

‘You should go to him, Alex said that he could hear everything, maybe if he will hear you he will get better.’ she said ‘I’m sure he is sick of hearing my voice’ she laughed.

‘Maya...’ Alex’s head pop through the door ‘ Ready?’ he asked.

I nodded, the nurse brought the wheelchair and helped me sit, a few moments later, we entered the room.

‘I will leave you here for a moment; I just need to check on him.’ He said. Damien’s chest was wrapped in bandages; I was so glad to see him in one piece.

‘He’s heartbeat is slow, that’s not a good sign.’  I heard Alex whispering to the nurse; he saw me staring and turned away and said something to her; she walked off the room.

‘Alex… should I be worried?’ I asked.

‘No Maya, everything is ok’ he give me a reassuring smile.

I turned to Damien, grabbed his hand gently in both of my hands ‘My mum told me that he could hear us? Is that correct?’ I asked.

He nodded, I pushed myself up from the chair and brought my face close to his, I kissed his temple still holding his hand ‘Damien… honey… I’m here’ I whispered to his ear ‘ don’t you dare to leave me, you hear me? I need you to wake up.’ I heard the cardiac monitor beeping faster. I turned my head to Alex and smiled; he smiled back.

I’ve put my hand on Damien’s chest gently rubbing his skin ‘Come back to me.’ I whispered.

‘Whatever you are doing is working’ Alex said, stopping the nurse from injecting some medication to Damien ‘ Rose, I don’t think we will need that, for now.’ he smiled.

‘Can you move me to this room?’ I asked, looking at Alex.

‘If that will make you rest, I will have that arranged … you are still weak, and I know how annoyingly stubborn you are, if I don’t agree to that I will never see you in your bed resting, but I trust you know what you are doing’ he said.

‘Thank you, Alex.’

‘Before I leave, there was a guy, he came here a few times asking to visit, but we didn’t let him in. I asked your parents, but they didn’t know him, Skylar Quinn? Sounds familiar? black hair, blue eyes, looks pretty young.’

‘Yes, he is a friend’ I smiled ‘ I will text him and tell him to come over.’

‘Great, I will pass that to the reception.’

The same night my bed has been moved to Damien’s room next to him. I knew that me being close to him will help in his recovery. My parents finally went home to get some rest

I texted Skylar letting him know we are okay and that I need to talk to him urgently.

I needed Skylar’s help; I knew that police wouldn’t find Bennie and I had to do it myself, for our own sake, so we could finally have some peace.

This had to end, Bennie being around had to end. After that event something in me broke, I felt pure hate and rage every time I thought of Bennie. It wasn’t just about what happened that night; it had more to do with Damien’s mother, his face when Bennie mentioned her was so full of pain and sadness, I knew deep down that this bastard had something to do with it, and I had to know what exactly happened.

I decided to relax and buried my mind into the Outlander, checking every now and then on Damien. The room was utterly silent; I could hear only beeping of the machines. I was deep into my book when I heard a quiet gasp, I turned my head and put my book down, Damien’s eyes were openly looking right at me.

‘Baby’ he said quietly. I jumped off my bed and sat next to him, grabbing his hand. I smiled wildly; I was so happy to see him awake.

‘Careful, love.’ I said when he started to move around, trying to get up. ‘Don’t move; I will call the doctor.’ I said, pressing the button on the side of the bed and smiled, I turned my head back to him and rubbed his face with my hand.

‘I’m so happy to see you alive Maya’ he said quietly ‘I thought I’d lost you.’ His voice was soft and warm.

‘I’m stronger than you think’ I smiled, happy tears falling down my face ‘But we are both fine, and that’s what matters now.’ He moved my hand from his cheek to his lips and kissed.

‘I love you so much baby, I felt like the world shattered in a million pieces when I saw you there.’ I saw a single tear falling on his cheek.

‘I love you too. And I’m fine.’ I smiled

‘Did they catch Bennie?’ he asked.

I tried to keep my face straight, but he knew, he could read me right through.

‘Damien…let’s see what the doctor says first and then I will tell you ok? You are too weak yet; you should rest.’ I said, knowing that wasn’t convincing at all.

‘Maya… please, tell me. I need to know.’

I took a deep breath ‘He escaped…but police are looking for him, they are close’ I said trying to calm him down.

He didn’t say anything, but I saw the anger in his eyes, the same anger I saw that night.

‘Welcome back’ Alex smiled ‘Is good to see you finally with us…Maya could you give us a minute, Alex asked smiling touching my hand, the way he definitely shouldn’t  I pulled it away quickly. What the hell was that about?!

I kissed Damien gently on the lips, grabbed my phone and walked out the room.

I called my parents to tell them that he woke up. Mum wanted to come over right away, but I told her that he needs to rest, after all, it was the middle of the night.

I sat in the corridor deep in my thoughts, completely lost the feeling of time. Something was bothering me; something I had in my head ever since I woke up. Damien’s face, when Bennie mentioned his mother, did he really watched her die? Is this his last memory of her? And what Bennie had to do with it? I knew she died when he was only a kid and that he didn’t remember her for a long time, but what exactly happened? All those questions in my head, I needed to know the whole story, soon. I needed to decide on what to do. Next, I couldn’t just let it go. I found Bennie before, I could find him again.

I felt tapping on my shoulder; I looked up, it was Alex. He sat next to me and smiled.

‘Everything is on order; he is like newborn, we will need to keep an eye on him for at least one more week to make sure everything is healing nicely, but I don’t see any complications. Everything is absolutely fine Maya.’

‘You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, thank you.’ I smiled and hugged him.

‘Couple of days.’ he said, getting up.

I went back to the room, Damien was sitting on the bed, smiling.

‘They unplugged me.’ he laughed and extended his arm to me ‘Come here you.’

He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close; he pressed his head on my chest. I kissed the top his head burring my fingers in his hair. He held me tight, rubbing my back. He looked up and pulled my chin gently to him, I cupped his face and kissed him deeply; everything around stopped to exist; it was just us. The kiss was different from any others, stronger, more intimate, but not in a sexual way. There was something different, like a magical dose of happiness spreading through my whole body. Damien pulled away looked in my eyes.

‘I’m sorry baby’ he said.

‘What for?’ I was a bit confused.

‘I failed you … I promised I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you, I should’ve reacted sooner… but the feeling of him having full control… the fear of losing you completely took control over me.’

‘Damien, stop it! Don’t even go there … there was nothing you could do, we are alive. That’s the most important; you didn’t fail me, you are still here, you didn’t give up.’ I said, rubbing his face.

‘I should've protected you better.’ he looked down.

I pulled his face up ‘You protected me the best you could… for god sake, you nearly died, Damien, how can you talk about failure? You would’ve failed me if you died… leaving me alone … that would’ve been a failure. Because guess what smart ass, I would die without you, do you understand?!’  I said with a serious face.  How can he even think like this?

‘Bennie is going to pay for this, for everything he did. I will make him pay for this.’ He said with anger. I felt like it was time for him to tell me what I needed to know before he does anything stupid and irrational.  Like what I planned to do? Such a hypocrite Maya!

We laid together on his bed wrapped in each other, enjoying the silence. I decided it is time to start “that” conversation.

‘I had so many dreams in the last few days. I didn’t know if I am alive or dead, but the dreams were so real, none of them made any sense. Did you dream about anything?’ I asked, tracing his chest gently with my finger.

‘I did, about many things. Mostly about you, all of our happy moments, about prison and my childhood, but there was one thing that kept repeating.’ He said but didn’t continue; he looked into the distance, his face was sad and full of pain.

‘What was it? I asked, looking at him.

‘My mother, she was wearing the same clothes when I last saw her, she stood in the middle of our old garden, smiling, she kept repeating my name and my pop’s name like she was calling us, then I heard a gunshot, and she was gone. It was a brief moment, but for some reason, I felt weird like happy to see her but also scared, the same way when she died the same type of fear. ’ He said, still looking at the distance. I grabbed his hand; he turned his head towards me and looked at me. ‘ What is wrong? Tell me, I can feel you want to tell me something, but you are holding back.’

‘Well, I dreamt about many things as well, but mostly Bennie, his voice that night, when he spoke about your mother. Just the pieces of the whole situation with his voice, what he said and how he said it. Also your face at that moment, honey, what happened to her? You never told me…, and I have this horrible feeling that Bennie had something to do with this.’

He once again looked away, for a moment didn’t say anything. I let him take his time; I knew he wanted to tell me. After a couple of minutes, he took a deep breath and held my hand tighter, still looking away.

‘I was eight years old when that happened. Bennie was already a teenager; he was old enough to be involved in the business with pop. He was always jealous of me because pop treated me better; after all, I was younger and less problematic. His mother was a drug addict; she died when he was no more than two. Pop decided to move on and met my mother; she was an average person, a nurse, with a golden heart and face like an angel. Pop told me that it was difficult for her to get into his lifestyle, but everything changed when I was born. She raised Bennie like his own son, at least she tried. She treated us equally no matter which one of us was at fault she punished us equally, but he hated her for some reason, and he hated me more than anything. He made my life difficult every chance he got; Pop didn’t have time to discipline him he wasn’t home very often, so we were left with mum, I know she loved him, she was a good person, she never hated anyone… She always said that nobody is perfect, but everyone can be fixed …One day she went to chop shop to talk to pop, but she saw something that she shouldn’t, few guys from the other gang tried to rob my Pop’s shop, she saw their faces but managed to escape home, not for long. A few days later we were home, waiting for Pop to come back when they showed up, I don’t remember in detail what happened but… they questioned her first and even though she said she wouldn’t say a word to anyone about what she saw, they slit her throat in front of my eyes, only because she saw them, she had no idea who they were and what they were doing there. Only years later, I’ve learned that Bennie was the one who told them who she was, he also told them that she worked with pop, which was a lie…they killed her because of him, Maya, he hated her and found the way to get rid of her, and hurt me in one go, after everything, she’s done for him …’ Damien’s eyes filled with tears, which he quickly tried to wipe. He turned his had to me and looked at me ‘ He took everything from me, exactly the way he always said he would. Mum, Pop, my freedom, and he tried to take you.’ He rubbed my cheek with his thumb wiping my tears.

My heart dropped, the pain I saw in his eyes was heartbreaking.

‘I’m so sorry, baby; I can’t even begin to imagine how you felt, and how you feel right now. But know this… You have me, and I love you. That will never change.’ I said, pulling myself up and wrapping my arms around his neck.

‘You are all I’ve got, Maya. All I care about.’ He said, burying his face in my neck, I felt him crying, he tried to hide it, but I squeezed him tight and rubbed his back; he relaxed and finally let it go, the hate, the rage, the pain everything built through the years. Hear him cry broke my heart; I knew that I was the first and the last person to hear this story from him.

I realised that I never hated anyone as much I hated Bennie, I never wished anyone death before, but at this moment I wanted him to die in pain, with whole this pain that Damien felt.

We talked for hours, he told me about his mother's good memories, all the happy things he remembered.

I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night; I was busy planning my next move.

‘There you are lovebirds… I walked past this room at least three times’ I heard a familiar voice in the room, I was so deep into my thoughts that I didn’t hear anyone entering, I’ve put my book down and saw Skylar hanging his jacket on the chair.

‘Skylar!’ I got out of bed and hugged him. ’So good to see you’ I smiled.

‘How are you doing you, bastard? You gave me a proper scare; I thought for a moment that you were gone, but ambulance came just in time.’ he said, looking at Damien.

‘I’m tougher than I look.’ Damien smiled.

‘How come you were there?’ I asked.

‘I followed Bennie’s thugs; I arrived seconds after they escaped with him.’ I saw Damien’s jaw clench.

‘Let’s go to get coffee; Alex said you couldn’t stress.’ I said, rubbed Damien’s arm and whispered in his ear ‘I will be back to you in just a moment, I love you.’ I kissed him, stroking his hair gently.

‘Bring me coffee, ok?’ He smiled.

‘I will be back soon, mate, ladies first.’ Skylar laughed

I took Skylar to the cafeteria; we sat far from others. I didn’t want anyone to overhear what had to tell him. We ordered coffee, and I cut to the point.

‘I have a plan… but not a word about this to Damien ok?’  Skylar raised his brow and leaned closer. I knew he would be interested. ’Will you help me?’ I asked

‘I will’ he smiled

‘I need to find Bennie; the police is useless’ I said, he rolled his eyes laughing.

‘Yeah, no shit Sherlock … you are lucky because I know exactly where he is’ he smiled and sat back in his chair sipping his coffee.

‘How come?’ I asked, surprised.

‘I told you before; I followed one of his thugs. Right after the ambulance took you two, I went after them. My friend Seth hacked this idiot’s phone and installed a tracker; he never leaves Bennie’s side so wherever he is, Bennie is close’ He said showing me the app on his phone with Bennie’s location.

‘Can this information be wiped? Can anyone find out that this guy’s phone is tracked?’ I asked he looked at me trying to figure out what am I talking about.

‘Well yes, once Seth disables the tracker, there will be no sign of it… Maya, why do you need to know this? What the fuck are you planning?’

‘Do you trust him?’

‘Yes, we helped each other a few times; he is a great hacker. He hacks everything and does what he wants with it.’ He had no idea how valuable that information was for me.

‘Great, we will need him… I need you to keep tracking Bennie. I will be out of the hospital in two days. I need you to be ready the same evening.’ I said

‘Maya, what the fuck are you planning? And why I have a feeling this is something crazy?’

‘We are going to pay Bennie a visit … and finish it once and for all.’ I said, making sure nobody is listening.

‘Elaborate … I don’t think I understand this correctly, what you mean by the ‘’finish it’’?’ Skylar looked a bit worried.

‘Bennie won’t stop hunting us, even if he goes back to prison, he won’t stop. He has people working for him, but they are loyal because he pays them. Damien told me all about the whole gang business; everything will stop once Bennie is gone, and I want to make this happen. Also, there is something else, but I don’t want to talk about this right now.’

‘You are going to turn him in?’ He knew exactly what I mean, but he tried to make sure we are talking about the same thing.

‘No’ I said looking Skylar in the eyes, he understood ‘ How many thugs are with him?’

‘Two, he keeps a low profile …Maya this is crazy you know that right?’

‘I know, but that’s the only way. I need Damien to have some peace… Skylar I nearly lost him, and that’s not the first time. Bennie is responsible for so much pain in his life; he killed his father, was the main reason for this mother’s death, and tried to kill me. If this is not a good reason to finish him, I don’t know what is. If I don’t do it, Damien will, and I can’t allow it, that’s why I need to you stay quiet, don’t tell him anything until it is done.’ I said in a quiet voice.

‘Are you sure about this? I am not the best bodyguard, you know?’ He laughed

‘Darling, my father is a first rank Capitan, me and Shaun had self-defence classes since we were toddlers, with a good plan this will be easy. Plus Shaun will be there as well you just need to make sure that your friend Seth takes care of all the cameras around the area for at least two hours.’

‘You have it all planned out … you cheeky...’ he laughed

‘You underestimated me, Skylar Quinn.’ I laughed back

‘You know that Damien will be furious when he finds out, we are talking about real shit here, Maya. One mistake and we are all going to jail.’

‘So we need to make sure we don’t make any mistakes.’ I said confidently ‘ Skylar. I nearly died there. I have to take that chance; Bennie doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as we are. So, are you in or not?’

‘Yes, I’m in.’ he said ‘ I will sort everything out with Seth and come back to you as soon as I have the full confirmation, let’s just hope Bennie will stay in place for two days’ Skylar said looking at his phone.

We went back to the room; Skylar stayed for a bit longer, talking to Damien.

I knew that deep inside; he was excited about our little plan. He was a man of adrenaline and risk after all.

Two days later, I was released home in the morning. Skylar already confirmed that his friend Seth is waiting for our signal.

‘Is Shaun coming to pick you up?’ Damien asked, sitting on the bed, watching me gather all my stuff.

‘Yes, he is already waiting in the car.’ I said, sitting next to him. ‘I will come tomorrow, pop into Cinnaholic and grab you something, huh? What do you fancy?.’ I asked.

‘Oh you know how much I love the Caramel Apple Pie, you can get the Cookie Monster as well… shit you give me a taste now, baby. I might need to pop into the cafe to satisfy my needs.’ He laughed ‘But remember, don’t forget the fork this time.’

I rolled my eyes ‘ You mean the fork you never use?.’ I said

‘Ha. Ha… it’s for you silly, I am a trained professional I don’t need a fork. ‘He said, smiling.

‘Right, trained professional, maybe you should make videos and post it online, maybe you will get them for free if you get enough followers, and you will have some hot chicks thirsting and watching your face getting covered in icing.’ I laughed.

‘Maybe I should, you convince me with the hot chicks.’ He smiled, I pushed him when he started to laugh ‘You should see your face.’ he cracked laughing

‘Not funny Damien Jones, not funny at all.’ I said

‘Baby, you know that the only hot chick I care about is you.’ He said, pulled me to him, wrapping his arms around me. ‘What’s wrong? You seem concerned about something … talk to me.’ Shit, did he noticed? Poker face Maya, focus, he can’t suspect anything.

‘No, I’m fine, just the thought of sleeping alone tonight makes me sad.’ I said the first thing that came to my mind, hoping he will believe it.

‘Alex said they are waiting for some results and I will be good to go. Hopefully, not too long.’ He smiled and kissed me; my phone kept ringing when we kissed.

‘I should go, Shaun is getting impatient. I love you, boo.’ I said talking my bag and placed a small kiss on his lips.

‘I love you too … don’t forget the fork.’ He laughed when I walked out.

I sat in Shaun’s car; my mind was already focused on one task.

‘Do you have everything?’ I asked

‘Yes, I can’t believe you kept all this Luke’s stuff…We don’t have much time to get ready. I will ask you one last time Maya… are you hundred per cent sure you want to do this? There as so many ways this could go wrong.’ Shaun said, squeezing the steering wheel.

‘Shaun, we have everything planned, we just need to focus and stick to the plan.’ I said, trying to sound confident, but the more I thought about this, the less optimistic I was.

‘Are you sure those drugs are still good? It’s been a while.’

‘Yes, I checked. This shit never expires.’

‘Ok, I trust you sister. If this is what you want, I will support you, but I think you should warn Damien, just if anything gets tits up.’

‘Everything will be fine, I don’t want to worry him, plus he would never agree to this.’

We arrived home; I took a shower to clear my mind. I’ve put the most suitable clothes: skinny black jeans, a black shirt and camp boots. I’ve put my hair in the high ponytail. I zipped my leather jacket and looked in the mirror, taking a deep breath and correcting my leather gloves. I checked my pockets and boots for the hidden knives and opened walked to my spare room.

In the corner of the room right behind some of my paintings was a small chest of drawers, my hands were shaking, I didn’t open this drawer since Luke died, all his stuff was there, but I was after only one thing. I moved aside neatly folded shirts and grabbed the gun; we had only three bullets, enough to finish the job.

My heart pounded in my chest. I looked at the gun, remembering when Luke brought it home, together with the drugs, that he never managed to use and I never dared to get rid of, the gun was stolen, Luke stole it from some drug dealer long time ago. Police won’t link it to us, that was the plan, use it for a good cause. I stuck it in my belt behind my jacket and walked downstairs where Shaun was waiting for me.

‘Should I go now?’ he asked

‘Yes, I will call Skylar and go to get him. I will meet you there.’ I said, hugging him.

‘Good luck to all of us … I hope we will come out from this in one piece.’ He hugged my tight.

‘We will.’ I said and kissed his cheek.

I called Skylar; the stress started to kick off. I was restless walking from one side of the room to another.

‘You ready?’ I asked when he picked up.

‘Yes, waiting for you. I will let Seth know to go ahead; he is waiting for my call.’ He said

‘Great, I will be at your house in fifteen minutes… Skylar … thank you.’ I said

‘You will thank me once is over, now get your ass in here, we have a job to do.’ He said, and hang up. I looked out the window it was already dark.  Its time.

I picked up the bike keys from the counter, checked my phone one last time and wrote a message to Damien, before leaving my phone on the table. I knew he would call me later at night, better for him to think I’m sleeping.

‘’I love you, see you tomorrow boo.’’

I didn’t know if using Damien’s bike is a wise idea, but that was a better way to escape quickly, than using my mini Cooper, that takes ages to build up the speed.

Fifteen minutes later, I was in front of Skylar’s door; he walked out as soon as he saw me, put on his helmet and wrapped his arms around my waist.

‘Ready?’ I asked

‘Yes, go.’ He said

The place was around forty minutes outside town, all the way there I had only one thing in my head, everything that Damien told me about Bennie, how hateful and horrible person he is, how much pain he caused him and others. Everything he told me the night before only gave me straight and motivation.

We arrived at the place; it was a field with nothing else than farm buildings. We stopped around a hundred meters from the place Bennie was staying, in the middle of a little forest. Seth made sure that all the street cameras are disabled around the area for the next hour.

Shaun was already there waiting, making sure everything is in place, Skylar went first to explore the area and check the situation inside the house, he knew what he was doing.

Five minutes later he came back ‘ Is looking good, only two guys and Bennie, they are all in the middle room… Shaun and I can go there from the back, and you go by the front door. Bennie is sitting in the middle, and the others are walking around the room, we will need to get them from two sides. Maya, you stand by the front door and wait until we get the other two, the front door seems unlocked. Also, they are full of buzz, which makes it easier.’ He said, checking his pocket for the syringe. ‘Got it.’ He smiled.

‘Ok, let’s go then…remember in the neck, and all of it.’ I said

They both nodded. I walked quietly to the front of what looked like an old farmhouse; I could hear Bennie talking. I looked through the gap in the window for a sign of Skylar or Shaun.

Bennie was sitting on the chair, with his legs on the table and bottle in his hand. His face was in the rag order, black eyes, cut lip, bruises all over, seeing him like this gave me joy, I knew that after today more would join to add some more bruises to his collection. Two other guys were walking around the back of the room, one of them was pretty big and packed; with a stupid look on his face, he didn’t look very smart. The other was average, skinny but tall, and both seemed pretty buzzed, I hoped that Skylar would go after the smaller guy, my heart dropped when I saw his face behind the gorilla-like looking guy.  Fuck sake, Skylar!

On the other side, Shaun was getting ready to go after the other guy; they give me a sign and both of them at the same time walked behind them striking them on the back of the head.

‘What the fuck!’ Bennie jumped from the chair and reached for his gun.

It was time for me, I opened the door, pointing the gun towards Bennie.

‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you.’ I said, walking inside; my heart was pounding in my chest, I barely managed to keep my hands from shaking.

‘You bitch! I should’ve fucking finish you when I had a chance!’ He shouted, turning towards me a bit shaky.

‘You should've.’ I said, still pointing the gun at him; I saw Skylar injecting the drugs to the other two. Shaun grabbed Bennie from behind and pressed a knife to his throat. ‘You will pay for everything; this is my promise to you… you took everything from Damien, everything he loved the most, now I will take everything from you. You will remember my face until you kiss the ground.’ I said, approaching him. I pressed the gun to his head, looking him right in the eyes, I could feel Shaun and Skylar staring at me. I felt like pulling the trigger right at that moment, the desire to blow his head off was so strong that I didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or hate that made me feel like this, but I knew I had to control it. Stick to the fucking plan, Maya!

‘Come on, do it.’ Bennie laughed ‘ That will make you one of us. Just what Damien needs, a chick who can kill.’

I took a step back, still pointing the gun at him, my eyes not leaving his. I couldn’t read him; he showed zero remorse or fear; I could only see evil.

‘I didn’t say I’m going to kill you; I’m not a murderer like you. I only said I would make you pay for everything you’ve done. Someone else will do the dirty work for me.’ I said and pointed the gun at one of his thugs, lying on the ground unconscious, pulled the trigger, and shot him on the shoulder, I moved to the other and did the same.

‘What the fuck are you doing you stupid whore!’ Bennie shouted and tried to move, but Shaun held him tight.

‘I am sure that your gang members will be pleased to find out that their boss shot two of his mates. Mostly the ones in prison, where you will wake up tomorrow morning. I’m sure they will welcome you with open arms.’  I finally saw a flinch of fear in his eyes; he didn’t saw it coming. ‘You messed with the wrong girl, Bennie. I love your brother more than anything in this world, and I would do anything for him, you tried to destroy his life for years, but I will destroy yours with a blink of an eye.’ I looked at Skylar and nodded, he stuck the syringe into his neck, I saw Bennie’s eyes getting heavy, he mumbled something before landing on the ground.

‘Come on we have to hurry up, we don’t have much time.’  Shaun said and starter to move things around.

I placed the gun in Bennie’s hand, making sure his fingerprints are on it.

‘Are you sure they won’t remember anything?’ Skylar asked

‘I am sure they will wake up like after the heavy partying, they won’t remember a damn thing.’ I said, looking at Bennie. Skylar and Shaun were on their way out.

I stared at Bennie, the whole feeling from before still dominating my mind. I  picked up a chair and smashed it on Bennie’s head with all the force I had, pieces of the broken chair flew around the room  ‘Maya for god sake, what the fuck are you doing, we are done here, we need to go!’ Shaun grabbed my arm, pulling me out.

‘Motherfucker! I hope you die in pain!’ I shouted.

The whole adrenaline in me started to sink when I walked out the door.

‘Let’s get the fuck out of here; I messaged Seth to call the cops.’ Skylar said, sitting on the bike behind me.‘ I hope you have something strong to drink at home because I fucking need it.’ He said.

We drove back to my house, and spend the rest of the night in silence, drinking.

It was done, the whole plan worked. Now the most challenging part was ahead … tell Damien.

[klbloodx]

HLS Chapter 2 - 2027.2.11 Xiaonian

The old Huangli hanging on the wall had spoken unexpectedly. If an ordinary person heard this, they would probably be instantly shocked into fainting. But Xiao Nanzhu was not scared of these supernatural things since he was young, although he was startled, he didn’t react too dramatically.

He stepped back unknowingly, confirming that it was really the carp boy on the calendar who had just spoken to him, he opened his mouth in disbelief.

"Ah, so calendars now have voice calling function..."

"..."

(source:net. You mean this thing right here? Xiao Nanzhu? This is called the smartphone)

Xiaonian on the calendar was there silently fuming, when Xiao Nanzhu said so, he immediately puffed his cheeks up angrily. He thought that he could sleep the year off the same way as he did in previous years, with nothing he needs to do. 

Who would have thought it would be ruined by this guy called Xiao Nanzhu just before 12 midnight. These calendar gods are all delicate since they work only one day in a year with an extremely low working intensity, the few of them near the year-end are especially so. This is represented by Xiaonian who is in charge Xiaonian Night.

Isn’t Spring Festival supposed to be all about red envelopes, reunion dinners, warm bedding. Why can Laba① and Lichun② who were in charge just a few days ago laze through so simply, and I became the unlucky one when it came to my turn…

Thinking of this, his chubby little face, which should be joyous being a calendar god associated with Spring Festival, wrinkled up. Xiaonian really wants to let his precious red carp in his arms to splash this guy a full face of pond water again.

But looking at how tall Xiao Nanzhu is, he dared not be naughty on a whim. At the same time, the tipsy Xiao Nanzhu, who still hasn’t figured out what was the situation, was half sober at this point in time. He wanted to raise his hand and touch the old Huangli left by his old lady to find out what is the problem with it, but in the next second, the vividly painted chubby boy hugging a big red carp climbed down the calendar with his bare buttocks.

(source: on the picture, Xiaonian wears like that, I couldn’t find a better one with carp though)

“Hey hey! If you have anything just say it! Don't dawdle around! I only have 20 minutes, so what? You’re asking for the fortune, do-s, don’t-s, zodiacs or dream interpretation?…”

The little chubby kid who looks like a Jintong③ started to talk to Xiao Nanzhu as soon as he landed. This scene of him wearing a red Dudou④ and hugging red carp has a strange joyful cuteness in it. However, the one who happened to witness the old Huangli speaking, and now a painting coming alive right before his very eyes, Xiao Nanzhu has chills down his spine right now. The carp boy seemed to be used to humans looking silly the first time they saw him. He stroked his chin and muttered softly.

“Oh well, I can’t just be summoned without doing anything. Let me just predict something for you, no fooling around on workday after all...Let me see, you shouldn't bathe and light a fire today…”

Xiao Nanzhu recovered his wits by the little chubby boy's murmuring voice. He anxiously pinched the bridge of his nose and wanted to determine whether what he saw right now was a hallucination from too much alcohol.

After all, the education he received in the last two decades told him that all of these are unscientific⑤ and should not have happened, but in the next second, he suddenly smelled something not quite right.

“What was that? Grilled squid…?”

He sniffed and mumbled to himself. Xiao Nanzhu, usually very alert, had a clouded mind.

“Ahhhhh!! Squid your head!! I told you not to light a fire! Fire!! Fire!!!”

Xiaonian was so alarmed that he threw away the red carp in his arms as he screamed and dragged Xiao Nanzhu by the legs of his trousers into the kitchen. Suddenly remembering that he left a kettle boiling, Xiao Nanzhu came back to his senses and followed the carp boy as they ran into the kitchen.

As soon as they rushed in, he found that the kettle was almost all dry.

The fire on the stove was raging, the whole kitchen was filled with pungent smoke, even the kitchen floor was covered by fire. Xiao Nanzhu immediately covered his face and tugged the curtain beside him down to extinguish the soaring flames as he dashed away the sparks spit onto him. Xiaonian followed closely behind and wobbled as he dunked a basin of water from nowhere onto the fire.

“Huff..Huff..That was so close...I’m exhausted...”

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Xiaonian had his chubby white face smeared with smoke as he helped Xiao Nanzhu put out the fire. He usually stayed in the Huangli and only worked for one day a year, so his physical strength is imaginable. Xiao Nanzhu, heart still beating wildly, was equally relieved. Then he turned his head and looked at the kitchen that was half burnt.

If it wasn’t for this chubby kid who appeared suddenly in his house, he would probably have just dozed off in the living room.

He has never thought that a long period of inoccupancy would cause the liquefied gas pipes in the kitchen to decay so much, and for him to pass out drunk in such a fire... It would be 2027 in a few days... He really is done with his life it seems.

As he was thinking, he inadvertently felt grateful for surviving such a danger. Xiao Nanzhu, who is fully awake now, didn’t want to pursue who exactly this chubby kid who came from the Huangli was, especially when he could be now considered as his lifesaver. Xiaonian didn’t think Xiao Nanzhu would accept his existence so quickly, he’s still there rubbing his dirty face with his little hands, but then he seems to realize something and his eyes widened. He ran back barefooted to the living room with hurry steps.

“Hey hey hey, what are you running for? Aren’t you cold with your feet out…”

Xiao Nanzhu followed behind hurriedly, he felt as if he had suddenly became a father. It was a little bit of a burden to watch the chubby kid running about like this.

However, by the time he caught up with the darn kid and wanted to find some shoes for him to put on, he saw this rascal squatting beside the sofa, staring at the red carp lying vertically across the floor with white eyes seen, with tears filled in his eyes.

Xiao Nanzhu: “......”

....

“Xiaohong⑥…Xiaohong…Xiaohong died…Wahhhwuwu!”

Tears are dropping as if they are free of charge. Busy helping Xiao Nanzhu extinguishing the fire, this dumb kid left his precious red carp and ran for the kitchen, carelessly forgetting that fishes can’t survive without water for too long. By the time he remembered that his pitiful red carp was struggling to breathe in the living room, this red carp which represents abundance for the year had already died.

Covering his eyes as he sobs, Xiaonian lost his baby red carp, it’s no wonder he’s crying so sorrowfully. Xiao Nanzhu found a short stool and sat him properly, then a pair of oversized wool slippers for him to wear, he watched Xiaonian until he hiccuped from crying, he then pinched his cheeks and said.

“Okay, okay, don’t cry, uncle will buy you a new one the next day alright? You like carps we’ll buy carps, you like grass carps we’ll buy grass carps,  you like soft-shelled turtles we’ll buy soft-shelled turtles…⑦”

Speaking in a tone as if a wolf baffling its way to eat a child, Xiao Nanzhu had his nerves tormented this night and wasn’t able to clean the messy kitchen up, he sat down and began comforting Xiaonian who had lost his beloved fish.

If this was any other times, he might have became impatient and beat the child up, but this is New Year's Eve, this little chubby child risked his life to save him, so Xiao Nanzhu restrained his temper and tried to be nice on this rare occasion. However, Xiaonian, who had his eyes all red from crying, heard Xiao Nanzhu’s impudent words and started crying even more.

“It’s already too late! What are you even saying *sob*... It’s all your fault...It’s all your fault *sob*... My Xiaohong... *Sob*...”

“Hey, kid, why is it my fault? Xiaohong is obviously unlucky…”

“It’s your fault!! I blame you!! *Sob*! You big bastard!”

“Ok, alright, alright... My fault, my fault..."

Once a child cries, he’ll end up crying even more upon being coaxed.

All that whining made Xiao Nanzhu had such a bad headache that he almost knelt down to plead mercy, but in the end he could not make this chubby kid recover from crying.

He was still wondering if he could ask this little ancestor to explain why he could predict the fire accident and why he could appear from the Huangli, but Xiaonian obviously didn’t want to talk to him and was busy crying.

Xiao Nanzhu was all out of ideas. He started wondering if he could keep this mysterious chubby kid at his place and see if he could get something out of him later, a kid can’t run anywhere else, after all. Upon making a decision, he stood up and called out to Xiaonian sitting on the bench.

“There’s not much food at home, but there’s still some sesame paste. Should I make it for you?”

(source: net, mmm~ sesame paste :P)

Xiaonian paid no attention to him and continued crying sorrowfully. Xiao Nanzhu awkwardly scratched his head and went to prepare sesame paste for this little ancestor. He took a glance at the wall clock before stepping into the kitchen, its hands showed that it would be midnight in a minute’s time.

Xiao Nanzhu didn't think too much about it, he entered the kitchen and boiled another kettle of water. This time he waited by the electric stove, so it took him a little longer. He kept himself occupied in the kitchen for ten minutes, but when he came out with a sluggish expression, Xiao Nanzhu was surprised to find that no one was sitting beside the living room sofa.

The little chubby kid was gone, the red carp was gone as well.

He didn't hear the sound of the front door being opened just now, the child couldn’t possibly have run outside in the middle of the night.

His heart froze, Xiao Nanzhu put down the small porcelain bowl and rushed to the Huangli hanging on the wall. He didn't know what drove him, but everything that happened tonight seemed to reveal a kind of indescribable mystery. However, as Xiao Nanzhu ran to the old Huangli to take a look, he saw the painting of the joyful chubby kid, with his bare buttocks facing him and wrapped in his arms was…the dead carp.

Xiao Nanzhu: “...”

1.  Laba  腊八：The 8th day of the 12th lunar month, Chinese believe that it’s the transition of the new and the old, and celebrate Laba Festival on this day by offering to gods for a good harvest year ahead and eating Laba porridge.

2. Lichun  立春：Spring solstice.

3. Jintong  金童：Short form of Shancai Tongzi, child of wealth or golden youth, which is used to describe good-looking young boys not more than 12.

4. Dudou  肚兜：A traditional Chinese bodice

5. Unscientific  不科学：Literally means unscientific, it’s a Chinese internet slang to refer to something that seems impossible or supernatural.

6. Xiaohong  小红：Literally translate as little red, or redy.

7.  carp 鲤鱼, grass carps 草鱼, soft-shelled turtle甲鱼：Read as Liyu, caoyu, jiayu, which have similar sounds at the end and rhymes, suggesting Xiao Nanzhu wasn’t being serious about the situation.