#there is a 60% chance the escape room you just went into is broken somehow. you will notice but the gamemasters will try to cover it up

[damaged-graveyard]

Quitting my job at a massive entertainment company in the capital. The anxiety and self doubt ive had for months due to the manager giving 0 feedback and playing favourites is not worth it. I hope she trips and falls down the bowling lane and gets sucked into the ball return machiene. Maybe she can attend a manadegement class once the machiene pulls her head out of her ass. I hope she gets stuck in one of the escape rooms and they just leave her there.

[daysofourlivesrecaps]

Thursday, 8 June 2023

We’re sweeping away the last vestiges of that stressful Colin/Talia thing today, so let’s get that out of the way first.

Talia has a nightmare that Colin has returned to rough her up some more.

Then Jada comes home and the two of them have a tearful conversation about what went down. Jada talks Talia into going to therapy and we can all thank God (probably literally on this show) that Marlena isn’t dead because she really is the only therapist in this entire town full of traumatized people.

Back at Wendy and Tripp’s place, Johnny still hasn’t shown up or called or even texted since he ghosted Wendy last night. So Tripp subtly reminds Wendy what he looks like without a shirt.

Wendy is still giving Johnny the benefit of the doubt, because after all, it can’t be that he just ran off with his ex again, right?

Meanwhile, in the town square, Johnny’s holding hands with his ex.

Okay, so they were at the police station all night answering questions about the whole Colin incident. But that still doesn’t explain why he didn’t tell Wendy any of this.

Then he moseys on over to the apartment where he finds Tripp making another meal for Wendy. (Tripp may be the only dude who can “make your girl dinner and breakfast” and still have it be kind of wholesome.)

Then Johnny and Wendy chat. And once again, Johnny gives the absolute bare minimum and Wend issues him yet another Last Chance from her seemingly bottomless bag of Last Chances. Like, is this kid blackmailing her, or…?

At the police station, Paulina lets herself in to that conference room where they keep suspects and harasses Colin.

And look, he completely deserves all of this and more. But I continue to be baffled by the fact that any member of the public has free access to any suspected perpetrator with no police supervision of any kind. I used to think it was an occasional oversight but at this point, the only explanation here is that it’s actual department policy.

Sloan intervenes with talk of “due process,” which everyone rolls their eyes at.

Colin claims to know where Abe is, which gets everyone’s attention.

Sloan chases them out of That One Room and he admits that he has absolutely no idea where Abe is. He just wants another opportunity to escape.

And somehow, impossibly, Sloan talks Colin out of it! Even she thinks this bastard needs to answer for some of the awful shit he did. And she’s his sister!

Then she leaves That One Room and retracts Colin’s obvious lie about Abe.

Abe, for his part, is still giving us some outstanding reactions to Nurse Kim Coles and her loopy nonsense.

She also won’t let him watch live TV, claiming it’s because she forgot to pay the cable bill. And we get this shot, which I originally rolled my eyes at, because the RCA cables are obviously connected. Turns out I didn’t recognize a coaxial cable (you know, a cable TV cable) because I haven’t used one in so long. But NBC and Peacock are owned by Comcast, so obviously they know what they’re talking about here. (I mean, we’ve been fighting them for literally a month to get a misbilling corrected, so let’s not give the too much credit.)

Then Nurse Kim Coles makes a cute meta-reference to a soap she enjoys watching.

And makes THE GREATEST META JOKE I’VE EVER SEEN about it.

Yeah, what kind of idiotic corporation pushes a nearly 60 year old show — one of only four soaps left on the air — exclusively to a streaming platform?! Could it possibly be the same idiotic corporation that expects us to pay $100 because they sent some techs out to fix our modem, which was broken and outdated? It sure can!

So she goes off to work and Abe puts the soap on.

We don’t get to see any of what he’s watching. But I’m holding out hope that we’ll get to see it tomorrow. (Actually I Googled it and we will and I cannot fucking wait.)

Talia arrives at the hospital for her first session with Marlena. (Yes, the therapist has an office at the hospital. No, I have no idea why this is.) There, she runs into Chanel, who once again tears into Talia with no regard for what she’s been through.

She does back off when she hears that Talia’s going to therapy though, which is something. I guess.

And Rafe, realizing that his only lead regarding the whereabouts of Mayor Abraham Carver is that nurse who never called him back, goes to her house and knocks on the door.

But I forgot to mention that she told Abe that he was in danger from a guy disguised as a cop (partially true! Sort of!) and he shouldn’t open the door to anyone! I mean, I hope he does open it eventually.  He deserves to be back with his family. But not before we get to see some footage from Body and Soul.

[shadowfaximpala]

Spellcast

MASTERLIST

Summary: A hunt leads goes awry when a Witch throws a powerful hex at you that leaves you seeing all sorts of crazy... 

Tags: Sister!Winchester, Wing Kink, Reader Insert, Female Reader, Smut

Pairing: Gabriel x Reader

Warnings: Smut, Wing Kink, Language

Author’s Notes: My light bulb started going crazy and just died when I wrote the ending... Inspiration is a funny thing. Let me know if you’d like a part two to this! I left it open on purpose with a few unanswered questions.

The dawn loomed on the horizon, colours bursting through a blanket of clouds like a scenic painting hung in the sky. Your eyes drifted to the rising sun, a new day was beginning and you hadn't slept since the previous night. Sam and Dean sat up front of the Impala in complete silence. The hunt had gone well, however you had been on the receiving end of a horrific spell, your body wracked with a new form of awakening . Your exterior remained intact but your interior was plagued with Chuck holy knows what, all you could remember was seeing a regular demon 60 some miles back with glowing eyes, fucked up skin and horns protruding from its head.  

Sam and Dean had acted on narrow instinct, Dean pulled the car over, shoved the demon into the darkness of an alley and knifed him, they couldn’t see the nightmare plaguing his face, those glowing black eyes, the heat radiating off it’s body like a pavement in the height of summer. Confusion induced an argument with your brothers but you persisted that you weren't crazy, that the spell had backfired somehow or it wasn't meant for you. Nonetheless, you weren’t sure when or if it would wear off.

The witch that cast it had a cluster of hex bags on the table, in her defence she threw one at you. Searing pain radiated from your skull as you felt something being burned onto it, followed by a moment of temporary blindness that unfolded before she escaped the room but not before your loss of sight caught the panicked look of horror on her face, only for her to run into Dean’s knife, sealing her inevitable fate at the hands of hunters.

You threw your bags down in exhaustion in the corner of your room, you collapsed onto the bed, burying your face into the unmade sheets, you groaned loudly like a feral zombie, feeling very much like an extra off The Walking Dead, you were certain you looked like the personification of one. Minutes ticked away into hours, but sleep couldn't pierce your mind or take your soul to the realms of rest.

“Fuck,” you whispered to yourself, you dragged yourself off the bed, hauling your body up into a slumped position as your feet dragged along the floor, along the bunker and into the kitchen. Two things you were not expecting: to see a figure other than your brothers, and the vision of a glorious pair of black wings…

“Holy shit!” You muttered, Castiel pivoted on his heel to see you standing in awe behind him.

“You alright Y/N? You look like you've seen a ghost,” Dean taunted from the counter top he was perched on.

“Wings!” You pointed towards your angelic friend, your jaw still agape. You were so tempted to reach for them to see if they were as silky as they looked, Castiel could see the conflict on your face, his expression turned sheepish, he recoiled away from you instinctively.

“You can see them?” His head tilted to the side, mirroring an inquisitive puppy.

“Yes… oh my chuck they are amazing!” You grinned. Cas looked embarrassed at your comment.

“You can't touch them Y/N…” The angel shot at you, your disappointment evident to explained in his deep, rich voice. “It’s uh… personal, to touch an angel’s wings.” His eyes darted around the room, he shifted uncomfortably on the spot.

“Ahh, okay!” You chimed. You could see a small glance shared between the angel and your eldest brother, the cogs in your head clicking into place. You let out a soft nervous laugh, changing the subject to hunting.

You found a simple haunting case in a nearby town, once fuelled on unscrupulous amounts of coffee you heeded the call and piled into the Impala, shouting shotgun before Sam could manage it. Despite your sleep deprived state you were surprisingly alert.

-----

The hunt went as expected, scratches, scrapes and bruises, nothing too serious, Sam had dislocated a shoulder but you and Dean helped him click it back into place with a resounding pop and a heavy grunt. You were dropped off back at the bunker while Sam and Dean decided to go celebrate the old fashioned way, at a bar with some female company. You rolled your eyes as the Impala sped off down the hidden pathway and out onto the main road, Dean turned up the music to a ear shattering pitch. You could almost feel Sam’s distaste as the car rolled out of sight. You spun on your heel, heading back inside to curl up and watch anything you could find using Sam’s Netflix account, you plan was to find something boring that would send you straight off to sleep, your lack of shuteye was now weighing down heavily on your body, shrouding the corners of your mind.

You flicked the lights on, the bunker roared to life as the air conditioning began to circulate. You hauled your form down the stairs, completely ignoring the angel lurking in the shadows. You dragged yourself to your room to stuff your hunting bag into the closet before warily shuffling your tired feet along the corridor, your aim to get to the study in one piece without collapsing into a tired heap on the floor, you rubbed the hazy clouds from the corners of your eyes.

Your vision met an illuminating blur of beautiful gold, you took a sharp inhale of breath at the sight before you. Golden feathers flexed the span of the room as a certain angel stretched his arms, a look of mischief evident on his face.

“What are you up to?” You cocked an eyebrow, folding your arms across your chest. His amber eyes shot up to look at you, surprised to see that you were back from the confines of your room so fast, you were aware of how tired you looked, you knew he had assumed you had gone straight to bed.

“Nothing-” He chimed, placing the sharpie marker on the table and stuffing a post-it note into his jacket.

“Likely story,” you sassed, sauntering over to stand on the opposite side of the counter, trying to avert staring as those glorious wings folded delicately behind his back. “So, what are you doing breaking into the bunker this late at night Gabriel?”

“It’s not technically breaking in when you haven’t broken anything to get in…” He quipped back, earning a smug smile from your lips. “I was checking in on my favourite Winchester,” he wiggled his eyebrows at you before shooting a wink in your direction. If he was anyone else you would have scoffed but you had a crush on the cunning trickster for as long as you could remember.

“Yeah... Then what were you scribbling on that post-it note? And why is there an excessive amount of candy stacked on the kitchen counter?” You nodded your head to the large pile of sweet treats loitering on the surface tops.

“Oh that? Just a few snacks, thought you were hungry, you look like you could use a little sugar rush,” he practically purred, your heart skipped a beat with excitement at the suggestive tone in his voice. You shoved all those thoughts back into the dark recesses of your guttural mind, a small glimmer of hope still clinging onto your heart strings and pulling in painful knots.

“How sweet of you,” you soothed back, giving him a little flirtatious smile, your eyes fixed on his. A comfortable silence fell between you. You were too absorbed by those glittering irises of whiskey, laced with flicks of green bordered by a soft grey. You were hopelessly lost in them and he knew it. He could have you at any time and you would bend to his every desire.

He tilted his head at you inquisitively, noticing your gaze faltering slightly as you looked away, a bashful glow illuminated on your cheeks, the way your eyes darted from his face to over his shoulders, the way they trailed downwards next to his body.

“Y/N is there something wrong?” Gabriel’s expression voiced his concern more than words.

“I’m fine Gabe, some witch got me with a hex or something and now I can see all sorts of messed up shit. Demon’s horns and their weird eyes mostly. I’m okay.” You left out a shade of truth, that you could see the archangel’s metallic yellow plumage.

“Explains why you look like you’re hauling ass, have you had any sleep? You’ve got circles under your eyes bigger than trash bags,” he flashed you a wicked grin. You groaned softly, tapping your forehead against the cold surface of the counter.

“Charming… I can’t sleep,” you drawled. “I’ve tried but I can’t close my eyes, I think she slipped something into that hex bag...” you whined.

“More than a little something, I think you got roofied kiddo, I can help if you-” You cut him off before he had a chance to finish.

“I don’t need any special treatment Gabe, I’m sure I’ll wear myself out eventually.” You groaned softly into the crease of your arm. Finally you picked your head up with effort, extending to your body. You rose steadily making your way into the kitchen to inspect your gifts. “You really didn’t need to get me all of this you know, but thank you.” You offered him a soft smile over your shoulder. You saw how his wings twitched and flapped behind him before extending outwards, you couldn’t keep your composure anymore as he approached, you watched his sides, those alluring feathers calling to you.

“My eyes are up here you know…” He stated flatly, “You can see them can’t you?” A soft exasperated sigh left your lungs as you nodded.

“Yes, before you ask, their gold and freakin’ gorgeous,” your voice was almost a whisper as he approached you, the arch of his wings responding to the sounds of your voice, you watched until he was only feet from you, suddenly your shy nature crept back in, you looked to the floor, everywhere, anywhere but at those wonderful wings…

You spotted your exit to his right, casually moving to dart around him before you did anything stupid that had no coming back, no redemption. “Thanks for the candy,” you smiled before letting your feet carry you forward. Gabriel’s wings instinctively arched out to stop you escaping but he was a little off on judging how fast you could walk under your tired state. His wing brushed your hand, you felt it hit you like soft golden silk. Instantly his wing recoiled, snapping back to his side. You heard him grunt, his hands slamming against the kitchen counter. Eyes darting to him you took in his appearance, panic washed over you, you didn't mean to touch his wing, it must have been sensitive by his reaction. Rushing to him you watched how he clenched his eyes shut.

“Shit, Gabe did I hurt you?” Your voice dripping with concern for the feverish angel.

“Nope,” he groaned softly. “Quite the opposite,” a strong hand wrapped around your arm, pulling you flush against the counter, his arms trapping you from escaping.

“Uh-” you began, trying to gauge the situation but your brain was on high alert. “I’m sorry I didn't mean to-”

“Touch them,” he commanded, the way those whiskey coloured eyes were burning holes into yours you knew there was nowhere to run. You were at his mercy now.

“Are you sure? Cas said it's an… intimate thing,” you watched how his thin lips pursed, his brows furrowed into a deep frown.

“You asked Castiel if you could touch his wings?” It was almost a snarl. You weren't sure about this new primitive and slightly feral demeanour Gabe was presenting to you.

“That was before I knew what it meant, I'd never ask again knowing you angels get off on it, shit wait… Are you jealous?” You arched an eyebrow at the golden angel looming so dangerously close.

“Of course I am, I've been throwing you enough hints for a long time,” he groaned, rolling his eyes. You let out a soft giggle, finally in the wake of silence you reached out, your hands delicately brushing against the soft plumage. Gabriel’s breath hitched at your ministrations, your actions becoming bolder you laced your fingers upwards against the arch of his wing. He panted heavily his forehead gently pressing against yours. Decadent caresses sent electricity pulsing through him, breathing laboured, one arm encircled your waist, a hand tenderly caressed your cheek, the gap between your bodies gone.

With deep and singular affection your lips met with Gabriel’s, his mouth moving over yours with such sweet wanting you were dizzied by the intensity of his desire, his arousal for you. You wanted this, wanted him so badly. Sweetness turned to an intense and unrivalled passion as your tongues moved in sync, your hand still tangled in his feathers he moaned into your mouth.

“Fuck,” he whispered breathlessly as he broke the kiss. You both shared an intense stare, he was searching your expression for any sign of resistance, finding none he dove back in for another searing kiss, his hands moving to cup your ass as he lifted you with ease, your legs wrapping around his torso. With a flap of those elegant wings you were transported to your room.

You kept your body wrapped flush around his, feeling every muscle in his torso pressed against you. Gabriel placed you down gently on your plush mattress, his weight settling atop of you.

“I've always wanted a taste of this, sugar,” he purred into your ear. He wasted no time with trivial matters such as clothes, they were gone in a snap of his fingers, the cool air hit your body sending a wave of goosebumps dancing over your skin, his mouth travelled down your cheek delicately, stopping at your collarbone to ghost soft kisses across the tender area. You moaned in appreciation, arching your back as his mouth wandered the span of your figure, stopping at your breasts to appreciate them with his tongue.

You back arched in response to how actions, you mewled as he switched from one breast to the other, taking delicate care and appreciation of your soft mounds of flesh.

His mouth traversed down your body to your stomach and further still until he met with your slick and moistened folds, his tongue danced over your clit, eliciting a loud moan. He hooked your leg over his shoulder as he worked you with his mouth, you could feel your whole world unravelling, white spots flashed your mind, the edge of the cliff was so close, ready to engulf you and send you tumbling over without anything to break such a fall.

A digit inserted into your core, fingering you softly, hitting that sweet spot sent you over the edge, your back arched as the waves of release crashed over you. Before your mind could catch up to the blissful events of your orgasm Gabriel was above you, his mouth on your with fierce affection.

The head of his cock pressed against your sex, you danced your hips up in a teasing manner to signal your need for the angel to succumb to your every desire.

“Please, Gabriel,” you moaned breathlessly.

“You’re going to need to beg harder than that, sweetness.” He gave you a smug grin. You bucked your hips to glide against his throbbing erection once again.

“Don’t make me wait any longer than I have,” you whined.

“I see the looks you give me, the way your eyes drift to this…” He lined himself up with your entrance, teasing you in such a feral manor. You tried to force yourself onto him, to stop the ache that was consuming you. His eyes were completely black with lust, mirroring his golden coloured irises. He pulled away from you mercilessly. “I’ve wanted this for too long, I was to savour it,” he whispered seductively, planting soft kisses along your jaw.

“I can’t handle this anymore Gabriel, please, take me,” you panted. He gave you a low chuckle before gliding effortlessly into your immensely dripping folds. You cried out in ecstasy as he filled you, your lungs momentarily forgetting how to function. A roll of his hips against yours as he entered and began to pull out entirely, leaving you empty.

The frustration building in you began to leak painfully from your tender spot. He was being so decadently cruel.

“Please,” you repeated, you weren’t one for begging, not like this but you couldn't think straight, drunk from the enamour of his exuding grace you tried to grip to the recesses of your mind that didn't cloud your judgement, but be damned with it, you were already laid bare, vulnerable underneath one of the most powerful creatures in all creation. “I've tried to hide it for too long, I'm irrevocably yours Gabriel,” you could feel your heart pound painfully in your chest as you confessed.

“I don't know what I did to deserve your shared affections, but I'm yours,” he whispered softly into your ear, no pet names, no hint of humour, he was serious this time, you trembled with anticipation. With his words finally he ended your hunger for him, delving into your slick entrance.

The pace was slow and rhythmic until hot and heavy open mouthed kisses drove him insane, he quickened his movements until you were hot hot, sweating, wreathing mess beneath him, shamelessly crying out his name.

“Gabe, That’s… Ahh…” you panted between breaths, that familiar knot in your abdomen threatening to untie itself. “I’m…” White spots clouded your vision as the world seemingly broke apart around you, an orgasm even more powerful than the first washed over you, and Gabe still wasn't finished with you yet. He hooked your leg under his arm to gain a new angle, finding another sweet spot that was hidden deeper in the caverns of your sex.

His thrusts became erratic as his desire became lost in a hurricane of pure bliss, he moaned your name deeply into your ear, he was so close to the precipice of release. The lights in the bunker flickered on and off as his grace became erratic, your hands found the base of his wings, he cried out shameless. “Fuck, Y/N…” You traced the edges with such tender affection that it became his undoing, one final roll of his hips as he buried everything of himself into you and he finally spilled himself into you, pushing one last orgasm from you.

The archangel showered you with loving and indulgent kisses as he cascaded from his high along with you.

Both of you stayed like that for a long while, no words to share, enjoying the embrace of one another before it would finally have to end. Gabriel removed himself from atop of you, snapping your clothes back into existence as well as as fixing up your general hygiene. You thanked him with a soft peck on the lips which he returned more fervently.

“I won’t be able to keep this down if you keep doing that..” He groaned. You hadn’t realised that your hand was now traversing the span of his wing which had delicately surrounded you.

“Don’t play coy, you enjoy it.” You grinned up at him through your lashes, his eyes fell closed as he leaned into your touch.

“Nnn, that’s…” You pulled his feathers softly, his eyes shot open. “Holy fuck…” He was back on top of you in a flash, biting at your neck in response. You yanked harder at the golden plumage, his evident arousal digging into your thigh once more. “I don’t know why I bothered putting clothes back on…” And with that they were gone, as was the empty feeling, excitement budding in your lower regions once again.

“This is going to be a long night,” you purred into his ear.

“Oh sweetcakes, this is going to be a long forever.”

When morning arrived you awoke to an arm wrapped around you, and possibly a wing, but your groggy state couldn’t register anything apart from the previous night that was fuelled by the most orgasms you had ever experienced in a single evening having found Gabriel’s kink.

“Morning sugar,” he whispered into your ear. You nestled closer to the angel, his fingers trailing up and down your arm with a feather like touch, eliciting goose pimples in their wake. You let out a soft little hum of approval before turning over to cuddle closer to Gabe’s chest.

“Last night was incredible,” he finally broke the comfortable silence that had settled over the two of you, a serious shift in his body alerted you that he wanted your undivided attention. “I hope you don’t think that all this was just me trying to seduce you then, well ya know. Split. I was kinda’ hoping you would give this… us… well me, a shot?” He was fumbling over his words, your heart swelled with such affection you giggled lightly at his dorky antics.

“Of course I will, I meant what I said, I’m yours if you will have me,”

“I’ve never wanted anything as much in my long ass existence,” He scooped you up in his arms, rolling with you on the bed in sheer happiness, nibbling playfully at your neck. Your laughter erupted louder than you anticipated.

Moments later there was a loud knock on the door.

“Y/N?” Concern laced with annoyance came from the other side. “You alone in there?” You could tell Dean was being cautious by not bursting in.

“Oh fuckballs,” you groaned. “Time to face the music then,” you whined low enough for Gabriel to hear. “One minute…” your tone was low and warning, you knew your brother would take the hint.

You shot a pleading look at your new boyfriend, grinning he snapped his fingers, summoning some form of ‘decent’ wear for you to approach the door and greet your brother.

You pulled the door open just slightly, sliding your face out to greet your eldest brother.

“Morning…” your voice was hoarse and rough. Dean gave you a once over before shifting uncomfortably.

“Morning… I thought you didn’t go out last night? Did you know half the lights in the bunker are out?” He cocked an eyebrow at you.

“I didn’t go out and no…” Before you could supply a further explanation the door was pulled aside just a little further by a strong pair of hands.

“Morning Dean-o,” Dean’s face paled, he looked as though he was going to vomit.

“Over my dead body!” Was his horrified response.

“Two words. Mystery Spot. I can arrange that,” Gabe jested.

“I’m gonna throw up, this ‘aint happening.” Your brother walked away his hand over his mouth muttering angrily to himself.

“I think he took that quite well,” Gabriel playfully nudged your sides. You closed the door and rolled your eyes, lacing your arms around his neck.

“Well he better get used to it,” you planted a soft kiss to your angel’s lips. “Because those light bulbs will be on the fritz a lot from now on,”

“I’ll snap some up as a peace offering.”

[epacer]

Rolando, San Diego

This is from a three-part series that ran in Rolando's community newsletter last year. I'd interviewed people who grew up in the area between the late '50s and early '80s, but the self-indulgent second part was the one best received and now featured permanently on the RCC website. Kevin B. Staff, February 15, 2019

Growing Up in Rolando, 1960s - early 1970s

On a hot summer day in 1960, a young musical group piled into a car for a drive to North County. They called themselves Rosie and the Originals. Their destination was an airplane hangar in San Marcos that doubled as a recording studio. Their saxophonist was missing because he had committed to mowing a lawn, and his mom wouldn’t let him out of it. Another group member knew the rudiments of blowing a simple instrumental break, and the unpolished nature of the recording that resulted is probably part of what makes it so hauntingly appealing, as if emanating from no particular place or time.  

By fall, Rosie’s “Angel Baby” had become popular locally. By Christmas, it was an international hit.

In mid-September 1960, as the song was first getting airplay, our next-door neighbor on College Avenue walked me to Henry Clay School for my first day of afternoon kindergarten. My mom had broken a toe while chasing my little brother and me around the coffee table in our living room. The plan was to show me a definite route to follow—from College to Acorn Street to Seminole Drive to Solita—and, after a week of escort, to let me walk it on my own. There were no sidewalks along College Avenue in those days, but I was able to make the walk.

During that first week, a kid kept crying in class, and on one occasion tried to escape. Old Ms. Leber seemed to leap across the room in a single bound as she grabbed him by the collar and dragged him back. Resistance was futile. My best childhood friend, a year younger than I, spent several days with me trying to build an airplane out of bamboo strips and pinwheels that we thought we could use to fly away in, so that I wouldn’t have to go to school.

I came to like kindergarten after a while. I began to walk with a girl who lived in the back unit of a duplex near the corner of College and Acorn. I tried to impress her by breaking glass bottles on the wall of the Campus Drive-In until an old lady came out and made me sweep it up and that was the end of that. One day, I came to the girl’s door just as her father was rushing off to work. The screen door hit me and knocked me into a cactus garden by the side of the house. He actually seemed relieved to be able to call in late. While her mom telephoned my mom to explain what had happened, he took me into the bathroom, had me pull down my pants, removed a number of cactus needles from my bum and rubbed the area with Bactine. It was quite embarrassing.

The rest of my elementary school flew by, in retrospect, although a year seems to take forever when you’re a kid. Kennedy was inaugurated in January 1961, To me, he was President for a long time. It was hard to think of him as young, since all adults seemed old and he was even older than my dad! He was assassinated while I was in third grade. We heard about it just before recess and did talk about it on the playground, but it wasn’t as if the world had stopped. We played ball and ate our lunches; I even bought a bag of Planter’s peanuts for a nickel that day.

We moved to our new house on Seminole Drive on Veterans’ Day 1965. Although it was less than a mile away, I didn’t see as much of old friends and started hanging out with a different set of kids. The area west of Henry Clay had been developing steadily since the early ‘60s. The apartments on the south side of Acorn Street went up around 1963; we used to climb around on the building materials until the workers chased us off. An old-style ranch house with a big front porch was torn down, and four houses, including the one we moved into, went up on the west side of Seminole. The shopping center where the BLVD63 apartments now stand started out as a large dirt lot with just a De Falco’s Food Giant on the east end.

As the rest of the shopping center developed, Thrifty Drug Store and College Theater opened, with a few small retail businesses between them. There was a vacancy between Thrifty and Von’s for several years, until Straw Hat Pizza Palace opened. It showed old Laurel and Hardy films and such, and instantly became a favorite hangout for older kids. The back of Thrifty had a tall flat wall and a good-sized parking lot that quickly became a place for playing handball and racquetball. We got to know most of Thrifty’s employees, who let us go up to the roof to retrieve our ball if we somehow hit it up there. We bought candy bars that over the years went from five cents to ten cents to fifteen cents while becoming smaller and smaller, and could get a scoop of ice cream on a cone for a nickel, with two scoops for a dime.

Sixth grade at Henry Clay ended in June 1967, just before the weekend of the much-remembered Monterey Pop Festival and several weeks after the release of the Beatles’ much- overrated Sergeant Pepper album. In the fall, I moved on to Horace Mann. Because I went to Sunday school in the College Area and had joined the church-sponsored Scout troop, I already had a collection of acquaintances from other elementary schools that I now saw every day. It was quite a change, having to go to different classrooms and listen to bells ringing every hour. Miniskirts were much in fashion, and we guys were beginning to notice.

For those who went through adolescence in the late ‘60s, the era has always been something of an enigma. That time in a kid’s life is chaotic and confusing enough, but we also had to deal with living in one of the most tumultuous eras in modern history. There was a lot of anti-establishment posturing by kids my age—mainly aping older siblings, I suspect. At heart, I think, teenagers are the most reactionary of conformists. If you were going to rebel against society, there was a very definite way to dress and behave. But political posturing aside, kids will be kids. We enjoyed going through what we called the A&W and Uni-mart storm drains, identified by the businesses nearest the tunnel entrances. We had raucous impromptu after-school football, basketball, and soccer games. We took off on long bike rides without bothering to tell our parents where we were going or when we’d be back. We threw water balloons at each other in hot weather.

In fall 1970 I started high school in 10th grade at Crawford. It seemed a much more easygoing place than Horace Mann, with basically no dress code and fewer ringing bells and public announcements. I didn’t take part in many extracurricular activities, having embraced the current drop-out-of-society ethos. That fall I took drivers training, then offered by public schools. Dad occasionally let me borrow the car, but I really wanted a motorcycle. In July, after working a few months at Campus Chuck Wagon, I was able to buy a little Honda CB160. By the middle of my high school years, several of us had small bikes and would take them on weekend camping trips in the backcountry. Although my Honda wasn’t built for off-roading, we did a bit of that too, often in the area that is now Mission Trails Park. There weren’t a lot of restrictions on where you could ride then. Soon enough, the noise and dust got on people’s nerves and laws changed.

I participated irregularly in wrestling and track, but for the most part was uninterested in school-related activities. I did stay active in the Boy Scout troop throughout high school because of its outdoor program. A half-dozen other boys my age felt the same way and we’d all become friends. It was through the troop’s outdoor program that I got to know most of San Diego County, particularly Anza Borrego State Park. We climbed Mount San Jacinto in the San Bernardino mountains each year, in preparation for an annual week-long trek through the Sierras. I’d climbed Mount Whitney twice by the time I was 16!

Watergate was just getting underway when I graduated from high school and American participation in the Vietnam War had ended earlier that year. For us, the feeling was that the ‘60s were definitely over but nothing particularly cool had come along to take its place. There was a lot of soft rock music, and it was considered fashionable to be a “sensitive male.” On the other hand, it was the era of the Guitar Hero–all about making a lot of noise while playing fast. To me, most of the hard rock seemed much less tuneful than ‘60s music.

I left San Diego that fall of 1973 to become an auto mechanic in Arizona. It seemed like a practical thing to do until I realized I intensely disliked the work. After a year, I joined the army. Although I came back to San Diego for short periods, I didn’t live here permanently again until 1997. The Rolando area was basically recognizable as the place where I grew up, until about ten years ago when the shopping center was demolished to be replaced by BLVD63, the Thrifty became Rite Aid and moved to its present location by the Post Office, and Henry Clay got some upgrades.

When I taught at Palomar College in San Marcos, I had the chance to ask Rosie Hamlin, the lead singer of Rosie and the Originals, if she remembered the location of the hangar where they recorded “Angel Baby,” but it was all too long ago and far away from her current life. In March of last year, Ms. Hamlin died. *The author of this article is Kevin Bradshaw Staff, Class of 1973 and is on the Rolando News Staff.

[crackmadhi]

Technicians, Magicians and Princesses make the Best Sisters

Saturday, 17 March 2029

“Klavier, would you be so kind a get the panda?”, Nahyuta asked the rock star as he put down the plate with pancakes on the table.

Klavier obliged and went into Simon's room. He found the man laying on his back under about four different kinds of blankets. He attempted to go over to him and remove them with a quick movement, as the tall man sat up himself and eyed the rock star suspiciously.

“Never try to wake me up like this again”, Simon stated coldly as he stood up and stretched his arms.

"You're no fun", Klavier pouted and followed Simon into the kitchen.

As they came to the table Simon was rather surprised to see what the monk had managed to make out of the few things that had been left in his fridge.

“The eggs yolk should still be liquid. If you want it well-done, I'll cook it some more, but now sit down and take some pancakes”, the monk ordered him to sit down.

Surprised, but definitely smiling, the man sat down and took a pancake out of the plate while amusedly shaking his head. Discreetly he watched Klavier doing the same with a lot more yawning. Nahyuta on the other hand was quite lively, as he energetically started to cut his fried eggs. He was definitely a morning person and somebody who loved to eat.

A brief laugh escaped Simon's lips and earned him a pointed look from Nahyuta. The man rose his eyebrows and then asked him: “What's funny?”

Simon shook his head and took honey from the middle of the table.

“Nothing. Only that there's somebody here, who's even less of a morning person than I am.”

Softly Simon pointed with the knife in his hand to Klavier's direction, who had almost dropped a piece of sugar into the marmalade glass. Nahyuta only raised his eyebrows at the sight of this and did not even bother to comment on Simon’s observation. Klavier’s clumsiness in the morning spoke for itself.

The conversation died down after that for a bit. The three men simply ate in silence and just enjoyed their own company. They all also had their own little sorrows and problems that occupied their minds and kept them from talking anymore.

Well, until Klavier’s sleepy switch suddenly switched and he straight out asked the samurai: “How did you get us into your bed, anyway? I don’t remember how we got there at all.”

“You can’t recall that”, Simon responded flatly, “because you were asleep. Neither of you reacted when I picked you up and carried you into my room. You both slept like stones.”

“What?”, the blond asked unbelievingly.

“Don’t act so surprised”, Simon mumbled and handed the monk the soy sauce he had pointed at. “Neither of you is really heavy and I’m by all means anything but weak. As you may recall I was able to break my shackles. And I could do it again, if I was required to do so.”

“Well”, Nahyuta interfered while holding his hand in front of his mouth and then swallowed the food he had just been chewing, “it’s still quite troublesome to lift people our height. I’m six feet tall and Klavier is probably about the same. And I honestly can’t believe that you could have broken your shackles. They are made out steel and are able to hold back guys that are twice as wide as you. You’re just bluffing.”

Simon laid his fork down and mildly annoyed stared at the monk, while Klavier observed both of them curiously. In a way he found it amusing to see Simon so pissed and Nahyuta being so unreasonably bold.

“I could lift you and this chair without breaking a sweat, feather weight. And I have no need of bluffing about these things. Klavier saw me breaking them and your brother can tell you the same. I did break my shackles and I do not care for your baseless assumptions.”

Nahyuta’s eyes had widen slightly by that statement and he searched for confirmation in Klavier. The blond nodded agreeing with Simon’s word and gave the monk a sympathising smile. As Nahyuta then violently turned back in Simon’s direction in utter disbelief Klavier almost started laughing out loud. He had even more difficulties to contain himself, as he looked at Simon’s less than under impressed expression while he was demonstratively sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Seriously? You are not shitting me right now?”, the monk said slowly realizing that Simon in fact might be telling the truth.

Now Simon actually started to chuckle. Seeing the man like this was just too amusing. He straightened up in his chair and then quickly stood up. Swiftly he stepped over to Nahyuta, carefully but quickly pulled back his chair and lifted the man up, just as he had done it the other night.

Nahyuta did not react at all out of shock, but only stared at him in bewilderment. The man had not been bluffing. He actually was able to pick him up easily and hold him simply in bridal style. And suddenly it dawned the man how they must look like right now and felt the blood rushing into his face.

Deliberately, Nahyuta put his hand on his collar bone and turned his face away from Simon’s chest. Slightly faltering but still composed enough he raised his voice and told the samurai with the shit-eating grin on his mouth: “I see… You have proven your point and elaborated why I’m wrong. Would you now please let me down? I do not appreciate being hold like a damsel in distress.”

Carefully the samurai let Nahyuta down. While he was at it, he explained: “Actually I haven’t really proven my point. You are indeed very light, and I think most people would be able to pick you up. To prove my point, I’d have to also pick up the chair and probably put a 25 pounds weight on it. And even then, it would not be that impressive.”

Huffily Nahyuta straightened the wrinkles in the foolish sweatpants and mumbled offended: “I’m not a lightweight. 149 pounds are perfectly fine for a guy my height and frame. You have no idea.”

“How much do you weight?! I’m barely 2 inches taller than you and am almost 60 pounds heavier! Are you eating enough?”, Simon asked Nahyuta with big eyes.

Surprised Nahyuta met Simon’s gaze and found real concern in the samurai’s eyes. Oh my, the man somehow reminded him of his always troubled mother. That was a bit unsettling.

“Cool down Simon. His weight’s fine. And you should not take yourself as a standard for weight. You are a huge guy with a lot of muscles and are like three times as broad as he is. And anyway, it’s a bad idea to compare weight. It’s really unhealthy”, Klavier interfered coolly.

The other two gave him a suspicious look. That tone definitely intended something more than Klavier had just said. Silently both men decided to let it drop. It might be a better idea not compare weight in front of Klavier again. It seemed to make him uncomfortable.

So Nahyuta went back at his place on the table and waited with speaking until Simon had sat down as well. When the tall man finally had settled down again, Nahyuta offhandedly told him: “I eat regularly an enough. I’m just constantly on the move and I rarely got the time to eat long dinners. And if it wasn’t for that I probably would be rather chubby. I put on weight pretty fast.”

As Nahyuta said that last sentence, he made a sour face.

Simon barked a laugh and Klavier knitted his eyebrows together in doubt. A chubby Nahyuta did not sound very likely. Both of them could hardly believe that he could be something else than a thin leech but how were they supposed to talk back? Neither of them knew if Nahyuta had indeed once been a bit fatter than today.

“Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I’ll have to take your word for it”, Simon said amused and took the soy sauce. “Anyway, it would probably look nice on you. I mean, you manage to look kinda cute in my old clothes, so a few pounds more can’t possibly hurt you that much.”

Flabbergast Nahyuta stared at the samurai. This was the very last thing he had expected to hear from him. No, this kind of compliment, form a man who had despised him only a day earlier, this was not something Nahyuta had expected in his day.

He was so taken aback that he did not even manage to say something as Simon stood up and went into his room to let his hawk inside, who had been crying vehemently.

With Simon gone Klavier pulled on the monks t-shirt and told him quietly: “He’s saying such things often. It comes very unexpected at first, but you’ll get used to it. It’s actually really nice to get compliments from him. He always means what he says there.”

“Life’s too short to not say what you mean. It’s worse to regret saying nothing than saying the wrong thing. It’s what my sister preached all day long and by now I have to admit she’s not completely wrong with that statement”, Simon said as he came back to the table.

Finally, Nahyuta had got his composure back and observed how the tall man sat back down. His tone was different than before. It was just a small difference in his voice, but he could definitely spot the change, even though he could not say what it was about. Curiously he watched the samurai continuing eating calmly.

His left hand was shaking a little and he did not look up to them, even though he clearly knew that Nahyuta and Klavier were watching him.

“It slipped my mind that you had an older sister. What was her name again? Something with A wasn’t it?”, Nahyuta inquired while waving around with his fork and watching the ceiling.

“Aura” Simon’s answer was quick. The grip around the fork became tighter. “She’s-“

“I’m aware. You do not need to inform me. I had the chance to look at the records of the retrial of UR-1, when I came to the States.”

Nahyuta had saved Simon from talking about his sister’s crime. He did not want to torture the samurai with the story. There was no need for more cruelty.

Meanwhile Simon had turned away from the other men. He felt the stinging pain in his lungs and had no intention to show them this. Slowly he then closed his eyes and counted to ten. It was not the most efficient way to deal with this but the subtlest, and around these four keen eyes he needed to be as subtle as possible.

As soon as he could, he turned back to the others and continued eating pretending as if nothing had happened at all. Playing it down had always worked best for him. In a way. Somehow.

When Nahyuta cleared his throat Simon simply glanced at him. The monk took it as a permission to speak and said: “I did not want to touch a nerve, Simon. Excuse my intrusiveness.”

Simon smirked at him. Neither Klavier nor Nahyuta could determine if it was an honest one or one that was there to make them feel better. Anyway, the samurai licked his lips and told the monk nonchalantly: “Look, actually I don’t mind talking about her. I just hate it that she sacrificed so much for me. I did not ask for it and she endangered herself and others with her actions. … Why did you even read my case file? It shouldn’t be too interesting for you.”

“For one I was interested in the case and the international spy, and other than that I wanted to learn about the circumstances in which Clay died. I did not know the man, but he was close to Apollo and I wanted to understand his pain as good as I could. I talked with him about it, but he was never really ready to talk about the incident itself. And… I had the urge to learn more without bothering Apollo any longer. Then I remembered the case file and read it after asking him if he was fine with it. That’s why I know about your sister. I did not stalk you or look up your past more than that. Same goes for Klavier, if you were worried about it”, Nahyuta explained and shot Simon a cautious look.

Simon just shrugged and said to him: “Glad to know that you’re not a stalker. And if that’s the only thing you read about Aura, then you probably have a horrible impression of her.”

“I can’t say that she appeared very friendly in the files. Would that be different normally?”

Simon chuckled and shook his head. Nahyuta recognized a small glint of amusement in the other’s eyes and understood that this time the samurai’s cheer was sincere.

“Nah, she’s horrible all the time. Snarky and standoffish. And an annoyingly smart robotic nerd. And arguing with her is real pain in the ass. She’s way too stubborn, that’s why she never stopped trying to talk me out of it. And as I did not give in, she took a different route. An extreme one, but that had to be expected. She never was one to half ass things.”

He sighed and shot both men a short look before taking another bite of his pancake. Neither of them felt entitled to say something. Nahyuta remained silent, because he believed that he had no right to say something, since he did not know Simon well enough and Klavier held back because he did not know what to say to Simon’s situation. It had never crossed the rock star’s mind that Simon was thinking about his sister’s choices. He had never realized that it might bother him, even if it actually was a rather obvious thought.

Eventually Nahyuta cleared his throat and slowly laid his fork and knife down. He still was unsure if it was appropriate for him to voice his thoughts, but he felt the need to say them, nevertheless. Patiently, he waited for Simon to look at him and as the black-haired finally met his gaze, Nahyuta graced him with a smile and said: “You don’t flatter her a lot with your words, reverse panda. But your tone tells a different story. You are missing the woman, aren’t you? There is no shame in longing for your family. I can understand that very well myself.”

Simon only hinted a smile and brushed it off right away.

“She’s the only blood family I have left. And I – I owe her a lot. I was able to become a prosecutor because of her. And she did a lot of other things she never had to do… It was way more than you can ask of a sibling. Way more than you could ask of a parent even. And still… She just did it. What doesn’t mean that she’s a good person. Because she’s not. But she gave up a lot for me and taught me plenty things. She cared about me, even when I had stopped to care. And I appreciate it. And yes, I miss her. Often. But I know that she’ll come back, so there is no need for me to brood about it anymore. I’ll get to see her again, and that is more than I ever could have hoped for”, Simon explained his eyes filled with determination and his back being straight and strong.

For a moment Nahyuta forgot that he was in the states, sitting on a wooden chair in the living room of an apartment from a man he barely knew. He only saw this human being sitting in front of him with so many emotion’s hiding behind his eyes and a strange, gentle passion buzzing in his words. He reminded him of something. A flash of green eyes and the tone of unruliness resonated in his ears.

A nostalgic smile stole its way on Nahyuta’s lips and the man muttered still lost in his memories: “How could she not try and save this potential? I would - I have done the same… I would always do it again.”

Surprised both Simon and Klavier looked at the monk and quickly exchanged a look. Where had that been coming from?

“Pardon?”, Simon asked gently and nudged Nahyuta to the side.

The man flinched a little but quickly composed himself. He realized that his thoughts must have drifted off and that he might have actually said what had been going on in his mind. Well, it had happened, but it was not too bad. He had not said a thing he’d be ashamed of.

“Oh, I just thought loudly. I can understand your sister’s choice quite well. You must be truly important to her, judging your words. And because of that she would have wanted to keep you as safe as possible. Protect you as well as she could. And so, she took the only way she could think off. You might think of it as extreme and maybe even foolish, but I’d go just as far to protect my family. Because I know how horrible it is to lose a brother. And I do anything to stop that from happening again. I won’t let him get hurt anymore.”

With the last phrase Nahyuta had shot Klavier a meaningful look. Nobody was allowed to hurt Apollo, no matter how kind or good they normally were. If the rock star just dared to make his brother cry, Klavier would suffer the consequences.

The blond gulped quite stressed, and Simon had a flash back to the trial he had seen Nahyuta fighting in. The man was truly intimidating, despite his regal behaviour and innocent face. He admittedly like that spunk.

He grinned and told the monk while shaking his head: “Rayfa and Justice must be glad to call you their brother, then. You went far to keep your sister safe and do a lot now to give Justice the recognition he deserves. You should be a really proud brother.”

With that Simon stood up and put his empty play to the sink. He went back and started to take the empty plates of the table and quietly noted that Nahyuta had eaten half of the pancakes himself. This guy truly loved it to eat.

At once Nahyuta stood right next behind him with his empty glass and the raspberry jam, which he put back in the fridge.

“Just put it down here, I’ll wash it-“

“You won’t do the dishes on your own this time”, Nahyuta stated with tone that did not accept any further arguments.

Defeated Simon gave in and said Nahyuta to grab a towel to dry the cutlery he had washed. Klavier ended up helping as well, as he put away the stuff Nahyuta had dried and it was rather crowded in Simon’s small kitchen.

Simon got the feeling that he would not get rid of this foolish monk and loud rock star anytime soon. And somehow, he was not as annoyed by it as he wanted to be.

Link There are several more chapters to this.