#there was an accident on the highway. and the people ahead of me slowed WAY THE FUCK DOWN.

[racke7]

I did NOT crash my car today.

[crazedlunatic]

Enter: Matt

“You have got to be kidding me.” Adrian huffed, pulling off on the said of the road and turning on his caution lights. He then rolled down the window and put his hands on the steering wheel. That’s what you were supposed to do, right?

He could just see his mother in his head, signing to not go over the speed limit and to definitely never do it around holidays since they usually had one scanning and would call another police officer down the road with the car description.

Of course, he’d seen an unmarked car five minutes ago in a median.

Meaning, as always, his mom was right.

He was going to be ten minutes late to his internship but now it would be at least thirty minutes. Because after he finally decided to make an appearance, Adrian would have to wait for Mr. Copper to go back to his car and run the information.

Then again, it would have gone a lot quicker if the freaking police officer wasn’t taking his sweet time getting out of the stupid car.

“You know it would have been a lot safer if you’d pulled into that parking lot a mile up, but you’re not the one that has to walk on the side of the roa—oh.”

Adrian looked at the police officer, clearly annoyed.

“I know I was speeding. I’m late to my internship and it will be my fourth time this week. It’s Thursday, right? Oh God. If it’s Friday I am going to be so pissed off.”

“Uh… It is Friday actually.” The police officer that had to be younger than him said.

Well, so much for being late.

But that meant he was late yesterday and nobody said anything, but…

“What, are you twenty? Can people your age even be cops?”

“Technically you can apply at nineteen years old but most people don’t… and we prefer to be called police officers and not cops.”

“A nineteen year old is pulling me over?”

“Have you ever been pulled over before because I’m supposed to be the one doing all of the talking? And I did not say I was nineteen.”

“That was rude. I’m sorry.”

But I’m only saying that so maybe you won’t give me a ticket.

“You were going 20 miles over back there. there You were only going 8 just then so I can’t give you a ticket.”

“If you can’t give me a ticket, why did you pull me over?”

“Well you should be glad it’s me and not the guy that clocked you back there. But you probably wouldn’t be talking like this to a guy in his forties, right?”

“Well… no, I wouldn’t be.” Adrian admitted.

If he wasn’t in such a bad mood, he probably would have felt a little guilty.

“There’s a lot of construction going on up there. Yesterday there was an accident from speeding and a worker ended up in the hospital so you need to slow down. Just so you know, if I did ticket you, it would be double fine due to the construction sign you obviously didn’t notice back there.”

Adrian did not respond because no. He had not seen any signs.

How was he getting lectured by a nineteen year old? Was this his life right now? Really?

“Getting somewhere one stop light ahead isn’t worth killing somebody working on the side of the highway.” He said. “They’ve got families too.”

“Isn’t that a bit dramatic?”

The police officer’s eyes widened. “Are you serious right now?”

“Kind of. You pulled me over to say I was going five miles over and now you’re lecturing me on not speeding in a construction zone when we both know they’re probably all on lunch.” Adrian stared at him.

“Eight miles.” The office said. “And just so we’re clear… you do know that I’m a police officer, right?”

“The red and blue lights kind of gave you away.”

The guy stepped back, his eyes wide. He didn’t look mad, though. He looked amused.

“Stop enjoying this.” Adrian snapped.

“Will you get dinner with me?”

Adrian literally rested his head against the steering wheel, groaning. “You have got to be kidding me right now.”

“So… that’s a no.”

“Sorry. I don’t date teenagers.” Adrian sat up straight. “Are we done?”

“Yes.” He smiled and then said cheerfully, “By the way, it is actually Thursday so you’re now later than you would have been if you hadn’t been speeding. If you weren’t a smart ass you would have been about twenty minutes earlier than you will now. Have a great day and a lovely holiday weekend, sir. Am I young enough to call you sir?”

Adrian huffed, waited to make sure the kid made it safely into his car, and drove off.

Nothing that, yes, the construction crew was on lunch.

…

All he wanted to do was get his cookie so he could go home, eat it, and take a nap.

Was the cookie necessary?

Yes, because he’d been thinking about it for two days and he was finally on this side of town. Although he would have been home an hour ago if it wasn’t for getting pulled over by someone who was barely out of high school, making him have to stay an hour late.

What was with these ten days of hell anyway? And also, why wouldn’t AJ quit sending him pictures of pastries? Clearly he needed a new best friend. One that supported his diet, not encouraged him to cheat. At this rate, he was never going to have abs again.

Finally, there was only one person left in front of him in line. He could get his cookie, go home, and lament over the fact that drunk making out with Blaine had been so disappointing.

Not that he needed to go there anyway because he was caught up on an ex. But he had literally fallen asleep. Blaine had fallen asleep while in a bed, full on making out with Adrian. Which was offensive honestly.

People without nice abs deserved love too.

“Oh my God. Really?” Adrian said when he realized the guy in front of him had bought his cookie—the last cookie and his cookie.

The guy, who was about to leave since he had Adrian’s cookie, looked at him. He then got this almost sarcastic smile on his face. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” Adrian sighed and ordered stupid lemon bread.

“You wanted this cookie, didn’t you?” The guy asked—and he was really freaking cute. Tallish, blond hair, blue eyes, and an adorable smile. Not to mention super toned.

“No. It’s yours. I’ve got lemon bread.”

“Yeah but the lemon bread is nowhere near as good as the cookie.” The guy was grinning, like he knew something Adrian didn’t know.

“Yeah. I know.” Adrian went to move past him.

“Here. We’ll trade.”

“We aren’t going to trade. That’s ridiculous. You were in line first, you got the cookie first.” Adrian looked at him, not able to figure out if he’d seen this person before… but surely he’d remember this guy.

“Nope.” The guy took Adrian’s bag and then held out his bag. “I happen to like the lemon bread too and you look like you’ve had a rough day.”

“Rough week actually. I’m really not usually this grumpy.”

I just really need to get laid, Adrian mentally added.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Well tomorrow is Friday and then the weekend. Alcohol and sleeping always helps relieve stress.” Adrian shrugged. “Are you sure you don’t want your cookie back?”

“No. It’s yours.” The guy said. “I’m Matt.”

“Adrian.” Adrian shook his hand.

Man, his eyes were blue. He had never seen eyes that blue. Not in person at least.

“I don’t mean to sound forward. Okay, I do. Will you get dinner with me? Not today because I have to sugar glider sit whatever that means. But maybe next week?”

“Sugar glider sit? The little thing with big eyes?”

“Yeah. It’s my niece’s. You know, she loved it for a week and now she wants a cat she can ‘play with.’” The guy, Matt, said.

“Saturday? Lunch?”

“Sorry. I don’t get off until 4:00. 4:30?”

Lunch means no sex. Dinner means almost positively sex.

“Sure. Why not?” Adrian shrugged. “Have fun with your sugar glider.”

“Aren’t you going to give me your number so we can decide where to go later this week?” Matt asked, holding out his phone.

Adrian called himself using Matt’s phone and showed him that his own phone was ringing as proof. “Don’t bother before Thursday because I won’t know when I’m free until then. See you later.”

“Great. My car is illegally parked so I’m going to go. Bye.”

Adrian sat at a table, entering Matt’s name in his contacts.

He walked out, seeing the police car that had been parked off to the side of the entrance was gone even though he hadn’t seen a police officer in there and it was not a shared parking lot.

Oh well. At least I got my cookie.

[collectivelyhuman]

Adding to this because it's currently raining and traffic is horrible.

I love traffic when it's raining. I'm a slow driver and rainy days are the one time I can guarantee everyone will be going a speed I'm comfortable with. No one's honking me for going 55mph on a highway when it's raining.

People are also nicer on the road when it's raining

They'll actually let you into their lane for once

They might even slow down so you can get ahead of them.

Something about driving slow in a dangerous makes everyone miraculously remember the humanity of those around them

The act of letting someone pass you up in order to cut into your lane feels like a silent way of saying "I see you, please come in. Don't speed up, I want you to get home safe."

I also find the language people use about the abandoned cars and accidents they see as they drive changes

"Hey look at that car" quickly changes to "I hope they're okay" when it rains

Driving in the rain is scary and difficult, but crashing in the rain is even scarier

We all know it's scary

We all just want to get home safe

Hot take but I think driving is a more communal experience than we give it credit for. Obviously not as communal as public transport of course, but still communal.

Like when you notice someone's headlights are off so you give them a quick flash, or when you do the little handwaved to tell someone across the street it's okay for them to go.

Or, most importantly, the little headlight flash people in my area give each other when that one specific cop is sitting in his usual spot, hidden to the side of the main road.

I like that we've all collectively decided to warn each other.

My city is very big and I am very small. I don't get the opportunity to feel apart of my community very often. I like these little subtle moments of "Hey you! I see you! You see me! We are both human! We are both doing our best!"

Even if it comes in the form of "Ayo that asshole cop is parked 50ft head! Fuck that guy! But also slow down!"

One flash of a headlight can have so many meanings and I think that's fun.

[massivedrickhead]

Bechloe Week 2021 - Day 4

July 29th: Near death experience

Read on AO3

“Beca, I’m not done talking about this,” Chloe huffed, following Beca out of their bedroom and down the stairs. One hand was held against her heavily pregnant stomach, while the other was gripping the bannister as she struggled to keep pace with her much quicker wife.

“I’m gonna be late for work, Chlo’,” was Beca’s response as she grabbed her jacket from the hook in the hall.

“It’s Saturday,” Chloe said, finally making it down in one piece. “You’re not supposed to work on Saturdays anymore. You promised.”

“I know,” Beca said as she began searching for her keys. “But the studio needs me to come in,” she lowered her voice a fraction, “and we need the money.”

Chloe sighed. “I need you here more than we need the money,” she said. “We have savings, and I’ll be going back to work once my maternity leave is up. And if things get really desperate, we could always ask-.”

“No,” Beca said, cutting her off.

“Beca.”

“We are not asking your parents for money. They already have a low enough opinion of me, we aren’t going to make it worse by letting them know I can’t even provide for my family,” Beca said, dropping her bag on an armchair when she realised her keys weren’t in there. “And our savings are for our kids’ futures, not for right now.”

She walked through the living room, where her six-year-old daughter was watching cartoons, and into the kitchen.

“Blake, have you seen mommy’s keys?” Beca asked as she walked.

“No.”

Chloe followed Beca into the kitchen.

“So I have to suffer because you want to save face in front of my parents?” She said, trying to keep her voice low so Blake wouldn’t hear.

“Oh, I didn’t realise you were suffering,” Beca replied. Chloe spotted Beca’s keys on the bench and picked them up. “Can I have my keys please?”

“Beca I can’t keep doing this on my own. I need your help,” Chloe said, her hand resting on her stomach again.

“This is me helping,” Beca said. “Going to work and putting money in our account is how I help.”

Chloe had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping.

She didn’t know how many more times she needed to tell Beca that providing for the family wasn’t all on her shoulders.

“Beca. Please. I know you think it’s all on you because the latest single didn’t sell as well as you’d hoped-”

“- it bombed, but thanks for bringing it up-”

“-but we’re a team,” Chloe said, as if there’d been no interruption. “That means we share the load. And it also means you can’t run off to work every Saturday and leave your very pregnant wife looking after a six-year-old.”

Beca sighed as guilt prickled the back of her neck. “I’m gonna be late,” she said, holding out her hands for her keys.

Chloe dropped the keys into her hand before pushing past her in order to start making breakfast.

“I’ll see you tonight, okay?”

“Fine,” Chloe said, keeping her back to her as dropped bread into the toaster. “Don’t wake me if you’re home too late.”

“Okay,” Beca said, before she turned and left.

Chloe swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard Beca say goodbye to their daughter before she left the house.

Beca was running very late by the time she made it out to her car.

Guilt, worry, and frustration were all fighting each other inside to see which could make her feel worse.

Couldn’t Chloe see that she didn’t want to have to go into the studio on a Saturday?

She would much rather spend her weekend with her wife and daughter than deal with the aftermath of the dud she’d just released.

A chunk of the money she’d made from the first album was in a trust fund for their kids, enough to cover college (if they wanted to go) or to help set them up in their first home.

Some of it was in a bank account for a break-in-case-of-emergency situation.

But the rest… it had surprised Beca how quick it had gone down.

There was the wedding, the honeymoon, buying them this house, paying off the remainder of Chloe’s college debt, paying off her Mom’s debt, and then the cost of living in L.A… it all added up.

It didn’t help that after she’d given birth to Blake she took some time out of the spotlight and the income of money began to slow down.

After a gap of almost two years, Beca had been ready to start making music again but her first single off her new album just… fell flat.

Theo warned her she’d have to do a lot of work on the album to recover from that, and that meant a lot of late nights and weekends.

“Chloe, just a few more weeks and the album will be out and then things can go back to normal again.”

“No, Beca. A few more weeks and then you start promoting. A few weeks and you start touring. A few weeks and our baby will be born!”

A car cut her off as they were approaching the highway, and Beca had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting it.

“Asshole!” She said, laying on the horn.

She saw the sticker in the back window, and had to laugh.

‘You’re right where you’re meant to be.’

Beca wondered if it was meant to be inspirational, or if it was meant to be a joke.

“Yeah, right where I’m meant to be,” she muttered. “Which is right behind you.”

They reached the traffic lights and the car ahead drove off while Beca was stuck at a red light.

Great.

If she’d left even one minute earlier-

She didn’t have time to finish her thought as a truck came barrelling out of nowhere and t-boned the car that had cut her off.

“Oh my god!”

Beca got out of the car and dialled 911 as she surveyed the carnage in front of her.

She could hear screaming and yelling as other people got out of their cars to look.

She could smell smoke and burnt rubber, and heard the long unbroken sound of a horn.

Some people ran forward to help, others were calling for help.

Others took videos. Holding their phones up to record the chaos.

Will they watch the footage later? Beca wondered. Or just sell it to a news station.

Beca requested an ambulance and had just told them the location as the car that had been hit burst into a fireball.

She could feel the heat from where she was standing.

That would have been me, she thought, her blood running cold with horror. A second earlier and it would have been me.

In her mind, she saw that sticker again.

You’re right where you’re meant to be.

She threw up. Last night’s dinner splattered the road.

Ambulances, fire trucks, police, they all showed up in the next ten minutes as Beca watched the nightmarish scene in front of her. She couldn’t take her eyes off it.

She would learn on the news that night that there were no survivors.

An officer came to ask her if she saw anything, and she told him what happened.

“Sounds like you got lucky,” he said, writing it down. He took her details in case they needed any more information, and told her to drive carefully on her way home because “you look a little pale ma’am.”

Beca got in her car, turned around, and drove straight home.

She didn’t even register the journey, and was parked in her drive and walking through the front door before she even realised she’d made it home.

“Bec? Is that you?”

Chloe was in the living room with Blake when Beca walked in, looking very pale with unshed tears in her eyes.

“Baby? Are you okay?”

Chloe stood up with difficulty and made her way over to Beca.

“Beca?”

Beca didn’t answer, she just wrapped her arms around Chloe as tightly as she could, and started crying.

She buried her face in Chloe’s neck and breathed her in as she tried to control her tears.

“Okay,” Chloe said, softly. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.”

“I’m sorry,” Beca choked out. “Please, never stop arguing with me.”

“What?”

“Never stop giving me a hard time about working too much. Please don’t give up on me, Chlo’.”

“Bec, honey, take a breath and tell me what happened,” Chloe said, ending their hug and resting her hands on Beca’s shoulders. Beca still looked scarily pale. “Sit down.”

She led Beca to the sofa and sat down beside her.

Blake, who had been watching with apprehension ran off to the bathroom before returning with what looked like half a roll of toilet paper.

“Here you go mommy,” she said, handing it to Beca.

Beca laughed and used it to wipe her eyes. “Thank you baby,” she said. She lifted Blake into her lap and kissed her cheek and hugged her so hard that Blake started to giggle.

“Mommy you’re gonna squish me!”

“Sorry,” Beca said, relaxing her grip, allowing Blake to slide off her lap and return to her toys.

“What happened?” Chloe prompted.

Beca sniffed and wiped her eyes again. “There was an accident,” she said. “It was bad, and… and I would have been in it. If I’d left here a minute earlier I would have been in it. I… I almost…” She swallowed, not wanting to voice it in front of Blake.

Chloe didn’t need her to say it, she understood.

“Oh my god,” she said, her voice catching. She swallowed hard and blinked back tears. “Okay,” she said, pulling Beca into a hug. “You’re okay.”

“I love you, Chloe. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” Chloe said, squeezing her as hard as she could.

Their hug ended when Beca’s phone began ringing.

“It’s Theo,” she said, pulling the phone out of her pocket. She wiped her eyes. “Do I sound normal?”

“No, not even a little bit,” Chloe said. “Let me speak to him?”

Beca nodded and handed over the phone. She knew Theo was a little bit scared of Chloe, so would be much less likely to insist Beca come into work if she spoke to him.

“Hey Theo, it’s Chloe,” Chloe said. “Yeah, she won’t be making it in today.“

She took her free hand and started running it through Beca’s hair in a soothing motion, and she could almost feel the tension leaving Beca’s body. Sometimes she liked to tease Beca on how much she acted like a cat, but she wouldn’t do that today. Today she just needed to calm her down and make her feel safe and loved.

“No, she was almost in a car accident,” Chloe said, adjusting her position as best as she could so Beca could lean into her. Beca’s had came to rest on Chloe’s stomach, and she pressed a soft kiss against it. Their baby responded with a few kicks.

“Yeah, that’s the one. No, she's fine, but I don’t think she’s in any state to drive or work, I think she’s probably in shock. Okay. I’ll let her know. Thanks.” Beca looked up as Chloe ended the call. “He said not to worry about it. He heard about the accident which is why he called. He knows you take that road to work.”

“Thank you for doing that,” Beca said.

“Of course. We’re a team, remember?”

“I won’t ever forget it.”

Blake joined her mothers on the sofa, and cuddled into Beca’s other side.

Beca closed her eyes, surrounded by her family, and let out a slow breath.

She was right where she was meant to be.

[bomberqueen17]

vacaaaaay

ok i accidentally held down the a key there but i like it so i’m leaving it.

meandering travelogue behind the cut, nothing exciting has happened yet

so we set out yesterday, sister 4 (Farmsister), sister 3 (Middle-Little), Farmkid, and me, in #4′s minivan, with all kinds of stuff in it, crammed full. Dude had shared his location with me when he left Buffalo; he had a 5-hour drive so he left ahead of us, planning to arrive later than us. So I shared my location back, but IDK if he could see it.

(We started off well; I had to hide to let 4 and her husband pack the car, as I’m quite good at it but, as BIL said in his kind-but-intense way, too many cooks, so I went out and washed and packed eggs to be out of the way. But then 3 was supposed to show up at noon, and had said she’d probably really show up at 12:30, and at 12:47 she rolled in insisting she wasn’t late. Ha! And then she had like six huge boxes of booze we had to cram into the van but we managed perfectly well.)

I rode next to the kid, and had 3 doing navigation while 4 drove. It was only 3 hours, and I hadn’t realized until now how extremely used to driving 4.5 I am.

We left with just a little water sprinkling the windshield. 3 had already seen a convoy of National Grid trucks heading south as she’d made her way about on errands that morning. We saw another collection of them once we got on the highway toward New York City.

Soon it began to rain, and then to pour; we were driving along the leading edge of Hurricane Henri. It was slow going at times, but we kept making steady progress. 4 had intended to switch off driving with one of us others, but never got around to it. We crossed into Pennsylvania and lost cell service, having lost track of Dude somewhere around Binghamton.

But 3 hours passed faster than we thought. Kid demanded near-constant snacks, and drank a liter of water, but did not need a potty break. 4 needed the potty first but swore she could make it. We all contemplated that sense of urgency where you’re like ‘if I get in a traffic accident i will definitely have a separate little accident of my own oh no’, and the frisson of danger that adds.

The last bit of road was quite narrow and winding. “Don’t wreck,” 4 said. We made inquiring noises and she said “oh I’m just giving myself a pep talk.”

“I should check in with the others,” 3 said, and sent a message to the groupchat. Both my phone and 4′s eventually dinged, once we got a bar of cell reception back (and I found that Dude was nearly in Scranton, huzzah), and after a moment 3 looked at her phone again to see if there were any replies, and started laughing. “I just sent that to the groupchat of just us,” she said. “The only people who got that message are in this car.”

She re-sent it to the larger groupchat, and noticed on 4′s phone, which was in the dash holder with navigation on it, that she came up as Probable Spam. “Hey am I not in your phone?” she demanded, offended.

“Look closer,” 4 said, and 3 did, and realized the name Probable Spam was accompanied by a photograph of her holding a can of Spam, and remembered then that she’d done this herself, added herself to the contact list under that name because she’d thought it was funny. 4 has an Android phone anyway so actual suspected scam calls come through as Spam Likely. The only downside is when she’s searching for 3 in her phonebook 3 of course does not come up under her first or last name.

Somehow despite Mom having left Maryland (with Other Niece) on track to arrive before us, she had not arrived yet when we did. So it was up to us to figure out the gated community’s entrance.

The GPS was correct about how to get there, and we managed. It was pouring rain. We pulled up to the garage door and 4 sprinted up to the combination lock front door, intending to come down and let us into the garage, but there was no way out there. So we had to unload the car up the wooden front steps in the pouring rain. Farmkid fell twice but being seven, she bounced and was unhurt. The tile entryway was a bit of a nightmare in the wet and the rain, but again, Farmkid was the only one who slipped on it. She was-- she’d been so quiet in the car, she’s used to long car rides, but as soon as we got there she was YELLING and RUNNING and SO EXCITED and THIS IS GONNA BE MY BEDROOM and MOMMY AND [other niece] ARE GONNA SLEEP HERE WITH ME and LOOK HOW MANY ROOMS and all of it.

The first thing we unpacked was the cooler. The last thing I’d done before we left was run out to the picking garden and harvest huge handfuls of herbs; I put them all into drinking glasses and set them on the windowsill by the sink. We’d also brought last week’s leftover flowers, so I put them into glasses and pitchers and vases and set them around. It was extremely bougie but I’m rather delighted with the effect, and glad I did that first. I’ll take a photo later, I took no photos yesterday really.

We’d completely unloaded in the pouring rain and moved the van out of the way when we got a call from Mom, who’d made it in the gated community entrance but then her GPS wouldn’t tell her where to go. Fortunately the AirBnB rental had included step-by-step directions and 4 had printed them, so she read them off and talked Mom in. When she arrived, we unloaded her car in seconds flat, and then BOTH little girls could tear-ass around the house bossily informing all of us who was sleeping where.

“We are not making a decision on bedrooms,” 4 said, with great authority and patience, “until Sister 1 arrives, because she may have some conditions we don’t know about, so we have to let her look and cast her vote before we make any permanent arrangements.”

This did not deter the girls, who kept turboing around as we unloaded the coolers and set up the kitchen and tried to clear the foyer of all the luggage. Poor farmkid was a bit overstimulated, bright pink and agitated, but she did manage to calm herself down a little instead of having a meltdown. (She’d been so excited to see her cousin, who is just a year and a half older than her, but in the moment it was almost too much, as cousin was also QUITE wound up and slightly aggressive. Mom had accidentally given her free run of the snacks and there’d been chocolate covered espresso beans in there, but fortunately she’d stopped after three or four of them. Still, a mildly-caffeinated 9 year old who was just cooped up for three hours is not the most rational of actors.)

It was another half an hour until Sister 1 arrived with her sons. Her husband had just bought a big esoteric new piece of equipment he’d needed her help and the boys’ to set up, and had gotten it working *just* as they’d been planning to leave, so they’d had to delay their departure. That BIL is... not great at considering other people and their plans, but 1 seems contented enough to work around this tendency of his, and he is a decent dude apart from that. At any rate, they got their father squared away and then piled into their van and we all helped unload, and the boys joined in the No THIS will be MY room Discourse until 4 finally said “NO ONE IS MAKING A DECISION EXCEPT SISTER #1 SHE IS THE SOLE AUTHORITY”, so the very first thing that happened when 1 finally set foot in the house is that all the children presented themselves loudly to her.

“I,” she said, with great poise and grace, being a newly-minted colonel (just on Thursday! we haven’t drunk our champagne about it yet) and quite used to this sort of nonsense, “am taking a tour of the bathrooms first, and then I will hear your petitions, view the scene, and make my determination.”

So we left her to that, and I got the fridge stocked, and in the midst of that, my dude arrived, just in time to be told where to go and what to do, which delighted him (he loves a good decision already-made).

The house is.... well the development is lovely, they left it very very forested so the houses are crammed in but don’t seem to be. This house would benefit greatly from having someone live in it, because the rental is set up to look good in photos and be easy to clean. There’s a cathedral ceiling in the main room, and with no rugs or soft furnishings it is so echoey as to be unusable for conversation. As it was pouring rain on the skylights, we couldn’t hear one another at all, and then the children yelling made it absolutely unbearable.

We did get them calmed down, and had a pleasant dinner at the ridiculous table-- it’s four narrow IKEA tables pushed together, with capacity for 16. We removed several chairs. 

All of 1′s kids, and 1 herself, are in the basement bedrooms. Me, 3, and Mom are in a small hallway on the main floor with three bedrooms and two baths, slightly isolated. And then there’s a master bedroom upstairs where 4 and Farmkid are, which 4 is slightly embarrassed at being the nicest room in the whole place, but like-- it’s only sensible to stick 1 and her kids together and she is not fussed at being in the basement. The boys wanted to each have their own rooms but then recognized it would be a bit much to stick 1, 4, and both girls in a single room together, even though the master bedroom is big enough that they could do that. The awkward bit there would be that the husbands each possibly might show up for a couple of days and it’d be weird to try to find places for them.

(Farm-BIL will be lucky to make it for one night. They just can’t leave the farm unattended with no staff. Other-BIL is also genuinely rather busy. So yes, my dude is the only adult male to show up, so far. He is utterly unfussed about this, as he’s quite used to my family. Though he is finding the noise distressing; we need to figure out how to muffle that cathedral ceiling. The kids are mostly old enough to be able effectively to be reminded to keep their voices somewhat down, but they’re also all old enough to be capable of making some serious noise; the teenaged boy’s voice hasn’t changed yet so he’s like full power but all of the shrill. Not an ideal acoustic situation.)

4 managed to cook dinner even though the electric range had all the markings worn off so there was no way to tell whether the burners were on or, if so, how high. THere was one incident with a very hot frying pan, but no one was injured. 3 found the vent fan on the range hood but that had the incidental effect of putting 4 into a cone of silence so she could not participate in any conversations while cooking, which was faintly hilarious.

There are several huge TVs in this house. We turned one on briefly, in the basement, after several (but not all) of our phones buzzed with tornado warnings and told us to seek shelter. The weather channel told us there were flash flood warnings but mentioned nothing about a tornado. So we waited in the basement briefly-- no hardship as the kids had already been down there playing pool and ping-pong-- and then went back up.

To make the living room usable we had stolen all the extra bedside lamps from the bedrooms and put them around in the room. The only lights are all in the ceiling, which is some 20 feet high or more; you can’t read by them. Obviously the room is designed for watching television, but that’s not something we as a family enjoy doing as a matter of course. I have a suspicion we wouldn’t have been able to hear it; the rain on the skylights was fierce by then. So really I’m not sure what that room is for, except looking great in photos. Probably good for reading by daylight because the roof’s all skylights, at least.

I of course have slept like shit, I’m writing this at 4am and I can tell you it only stopped raining a few minutes ago. But it’s supposed to be sunny the rest of the week. I am hoping that exhaustion will get me down for a nap later, and that there’ll be time, because I am in a fine state of not having slept really at all. Ugh. Oh well.

[rissynicole]

DTIYS Contest Prize: Rllyaangrlly

Here is the first of the one-shots promised to the three winners of the DTIYS event I put on recently. (Thank you guys for being patient with me, btw. I’m a very slow writer, and you’re seeing it in action). Just as the title states, this one is for @rllyaangrlly, based on her requests. 

This was a ton of fun and gave me an opportunity to not only shake some writing rust, but work with topics I don’t normally explore. More than anything, I was able to try to emulate the vibes Brit gives these characters in her own art/writing. I wish I had a better word for it, but I’ve always felt like Brit has a certain “aesthetic” with the IZ characters through her drawing style, the situations she puts them in, and her overall portrayal of their personalities. I’ve always adored it, and it was an honor to be able to try my hand at writing it. 

Story is under the cut.

Characters: Dib, Zim, Gaz

Relationships: ZaGr, ZaDf

Warnings: minor injuries

Words: 3,706

Absurdity

The car’s engine and the drone of its wheels on the highway were the only sounds that passed between the three. The radio hadn’t been turned on, and no one had the gall nor the desire to change that. Not Zim, who was turned almost completely towards the window in the passenger seat, nor Gaz in the backseat. They drove along in heavy silence as Dib stared stonily ahead of him at the stretch of road, hands gripping the wheel numbly.

Dating. They’re… dating.

The idea was positively absurd to him. Not only did it feel weirdly out of the realm of possibility, but it felt wrong, somehow. Like some sort of tasteless prank. When Zim had told him, he’d half expected the camera crew from Punk’d to come parading around the corner, led by Ashton Kutcher, to point and laugh at the look on Dib’s face. “Can you believe it?! Your best friend—alien best friend—and your little sister! You totally fell for it!”

That almost would have been better. Cruel and mortifying, maybe, but better. At least then, he wouldn’t be sitting behind the wheel of the car trying to make sense of it while the two pretended not to notice from inches away. But it wasn’t a prank. Hell, Dib wasn’t famous enough to be on Punk’d anyway. Maybe someday… but not today.

A little part of him had high hopes for the series of paranormal investigation videos he and Zim had strung together. Lately, that little part of him had stopped feeling so childish, too. Their following had risen significantly over the last few months, gaining more and more traction as people tuned in. Suddenly, their modest little support net of viewers was in the hundreds. Then the thousands. Then the hundred-thousands. Truth be told, Zim and Dib hadn’t really come across anything of substance in their investigations, but their newer viewers weren’t exactly around for solid proof of the paranormal, anyway. It hadn’t taken long for the two to realize that most of the channel’s appeal came from the dripping sarcasm and witty banter directed at one another.

“Chemistry” was an apt word, and it got thrown around a lot. Zim and Dib, quite by accident, had become the up-and-coming best friend duo in the paranormal community. And with each new investigation, they garnered more and more recognition.

That’s where they were headed now, towards Ottawa National Forest to investigate the latest hot spot Dib’s research had led him to. The “Paulding Light” was a strange phenomenon, appearing in a single spot in the woods and taking form of a bright glow before fading off into the darkness of the night. Though plenty of locals could attest to having seen it, no one could feasibly explain it. Dib was determined to catch it on camera. Or at least he had been, before Zim had dropped the bomb on him right before leaving the house.

Dating. They’re… dating.

His thoughts rounded back, and he felt his hands readjust themselves on the steering wheel. Behind him, Gaz sighed quietly and cross her legs. He almost swore he could sense her and Zim exchange a glance through the rearview mirror, but he really had no way of knowing. He didn’t really want to know.

Dating.

“What’s the exit?” he asked, jarring them all back to reality.

Zim paused before answering. “It’s a couple down. Not this one, but the next.”

They returned to silence. Even as Dib’s blinkers resounded through the car and they exited off the highway. Even as the smooth highway turned to bumpy asphalt, then later, dirt roads.

At last, Zim spoke. “Dib—”

“I’m not mad,” he interrupted. “I’m just…I don’t know what I am. I need to process this. Just…” He trailed off, his mouth a thin line.

Zim and Gaz glanced at each other through the rearview again.

Eventually, they pulled into a dirt lot and spilled out of the little hatchback, glad for a break in the tension that had been all-consuming throughout the entire car ride. Gaz leaned back, popping her joints before heading to the trunk of the car where the camping supplies and camera equipment was. Zim took over, gathering it up and taking inventory of what they had brought along.

Just as before, everything was done without a word. No one really knew what to say. Gaz and Zim were giving Dib his space, and the latter still seemed to be at a loss. Driving hadn’t really cleared his head as he’d lamely claimed it would; it’d just made him more flustered.

Before long, they were off. The hike through the woods was only marginally less uncomfortable than the car ride had been, but the open air helped. Dib led the way, walking along the dimming trail as dusk settled in. The plan was to find a place to set up camp near the area where the Paulding Light supposedly made its appearance. Then, they’d hike again—this time under the cover of darkness—with the cameras rolling.

As the daylight slowly dissipated and the cool air settled in, Gaz paused to unhook her backpack from around her shoulders. Her jacket was inside, probably balled up beneath all the other crap she’d packed for this little excursion. Before she could even get her bag unzipped, though, Zim handed her his own sweatshirt.

She glanced up, and a wordless argument passed between them.

Now you’re going to be cold, her glare told him.

He gave her a challenging, almost haughty glance in return. Just put it on. I’m fine.

Gaz huffed a little and rolled her eyes, but ultimately acquiesced. She bunched it up and pulled it over her head. It was an overlarge navy hoodie with their college name and emblem branded on the front in bright, almost obnoxious yellow font. Zim had been wearing it almost religiously since October had arrived and the first freeze of the year had swept through their neighborhood.

When her face appeared at the neckline, she made brief accidental eye contact with Dib. He averted his eyes quickly. His mouth was still in that tight, thin line.

They continued on, walking until they’d found a suitable place to set up camp. Just as agonizingly silent as before, they set to tidying up the area, pulling out their sleeping bags, and taking inventory of the food they’d brought.

At this, Zim reached into one of the backpacks, eyes lighting up at a bag of jumbo marshmallows. Gaz slapped it away, all pretenses forgotten for a second. “Knock it off. We still have to film,” she said.

He snagged one anyway, popping it in his mouth defiantly before chuckling at her wavering attempt at a serious expression. They locked eyes for a moment, and then Gaz finally dropped it and began laughing along with him.

Dib cleared his throat.

They both turned and looked at him, smiles dropping instantly.

“Let’s get going,” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose and looking up at the smattering of stars up ahead. “You have the camera, Gaz?”

She nodded and held it up.

Dib did his best to not look behind him at Gaz and Zim as they walked on. Suddenly, any playful or even amicable interaction between them had taken on a whole new meaning. Because it wasn’tjust amicable.

Dating. They’re… dating.

It made him feel like the last few months had been a lie. It wasn’t just him, his sister, and his best friend anymore. It was him, his sister, and his sister’s boyfriend.

He visibly shuddered as he stepped over a fallen tree branch. Ugh, he didn’t want to think about that.

About a mile in, they began to hear running water. Sure enough, only about five minutes later they came upon a fallen tree that spanned about the width of the trail. Some quick observation showed that it was acting as a sort of bridge over a shallow stream about five or six feet below.

“I guess this is sturdy enough,” Dib muttered, testing the strength of the log. He peered over the edge at the water. At this point, night had fallen proper. A small slice of moon illuminated the sky, casting down on the stream. Dark water glinted here and there as it passed over rocks.

He began to walk over it, arms held out for balance. He hadn’t said much at all, despite Gaz currently filming. She held the camera up anyway, sighing inwardly.

What a waste this trip was. Who the hell would want to watch a video of Dib moodily wandering through the woods all night?

As for Zim, he had hardly uttered a word, either. And he was usually the comic relief of their little program. The fact that Zim was quiet wasn’t just bizarre; it was unsettling.

Zim stepped up on the log, followed by Gaz, who was still holding the camera out in front of herself. The disproportionate weight made her lose her balance for a moment, which was then exacerbated when the entire log rocked along with her. On instinct, Zim reached out and caught her by the wrist.

Dib turned, still halfway across their little bridge over the stream. He glanced at the two blankly. Then, his eyes narrowed. Even in the darkness, the intensity of his glare met Zim’s eyes.

“Would it kill you to not fondle my sister in the middle of the night while we’re trying to film?” Dib muttered.

“What are you talking about, Earth-stink?” It was clear Zim’s already-thin patience was running dry. These days, nearly a decade after arriving on earth, he only pulled out the immature nicknames when he on the verge of arguing.

Dib simply gesticulated at Zim’s hand, still grasping Gaz’s wrist. Zim looked at him incredulously and then let go of her.

“Dib…” Gaz growled, “You’re acting like an asshole.”

I’m acting like an asshole?!” he said, the hours of tension suddenly bubbling to the surface. “You’re the one who decided to… to…” He was at a loss for words.

Gaz darkened nonetheless, eyes glinting. “I didn’t ‘decide’ to do anything! And if I knew you were just going to sulk the whole time, I would have stayed the fuck home! Do I even have to remind you that I do this shit as a favor to you?” She waved the camera in front of her, and Dib paled at both her words and the prospect of it slipping from her grip and into the stream several feet below them. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe I didn’t even want to go camping right after my midterms?”

“A favor for me, sure!” Dib shot back. Maybe some people could be perfectly silent for hours on end and be perfectly calm. His temper had never allowed for that. He was speaking without thinking, and he could feel it. It still didn’t stop the word-vomit from coming. “You sure it’s a favor for me and not a favor for your little boyfriend over there?”

He gestured vaguely towards the “boyfriend” in question, who’s face was beginning to match Gaz’s. Before Zim could open his mouth, though, Gaz lunged forward, right into Dib’s face. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll shut the fuck up right now!”

The fallen tree they were balanced on began to rock a little, and Zim’s eyes went wide as he clambered to keep his footing. “Gaz—”

“Stay out of it, Zim!”

“I will not!” he shot back. “Not when you’re both acting like complete—”

He didn’t finish the sentence. The log rocked again, and this time, Gaz’s balance didn’t withstand. The little hand-held camcorder slipped from her grasp, and she instinctively lurched towards it with her hands outstretched. Zim, operating on the same instinct, tried to catch her again. His foot slipped out from under him along with a crumbling of tree bark that had split off the log

“W-woah!” Dib shouted. His eyes bulged from behind his glasses. He reached for both of them, catching the sleeve of Gaz’s hoodie and Zim’s arm to try to keep them from falling over the side. He only succeeded in making the sorry excuse for a bridge rock yet again. At that point, it seemed, the log decided it was no longer interested in keeping three fully grown adults upright and out of the water. It rocked, crumbled, and then slipped from where it had been wedged between the two ends of the hiking trail.

Dib, Zim, and Gaz went tumbling off. High, clipped shouts preceding their fall, then a series of splashing.

The water below was cold, but not terribly so. It was a shallow, slow-moving stream. Almost more of an inconvenience than anything. Even so, the drop was high enough that Dib landed on the balls of his feet, skidded out, and skinned both elbows as he fell clumsily onto his rump.

He groaned, cupping one scraped elbow in his palm. Already beginning to internally bemoan his soaking-wet clothes, he turned to Gaz. His anger was beginning to return to him in place of shock.

“Great. That’s a new camera down the fucking drain.”

Instead of an onslaught of choice words back at him, however, Gaz didn’t respond. She wasn’t even looking in his direction. Instead, she was turned away, hunched over something in the darkness. It took him a moment to realize what she was doing. At her feet, Zim’s body was lying halfway in the stream, completely motionless.

Gaz whipped around to look at Dib, soggy tendrils of hair stuck to her cheeks. She no longer looked angry. “I think he hit his head. Help me get him out of here!”

Dib’s eyes widened, and without thinking, he hurried around Gaz’s other side, grabbing Zim’s shoulder and hauling him to the grassy bank a few feet away. “Is he okay?” he shouted.

“I don’t know. Move!” She dropped to her knees in front of him. His wig sat like a sodden mop on his head, and she pulled it off before it could burn his scalp any more than it had. The worry she so evidently felt was plastered all over her face. Even in the darkness, Dib could see it. He was worried, too, but it was strange to see it so plainly on Gaz of all people. She had always been the more level-headed of the two, and seeing her normally morose, carefully composed poker-face fall away so quickly made Dib feel like he’d entered some alternate dimension.

Seconds later, Zim came around. With a moan, his eyelids fluttered open to reveal one contact and one overbright pink eye.

Gaz didn’t fuss or wring her hands, but she sighed noticeably in relief, then began asking him questions. (What is your name? Where are you right now?)

Zim answered in turn, seemingly fine. His hand wrapped around to the back of his head to absently massage at a growing bump, though. He groaned again and sat up.

“You need to get out of those clothes,” Dib said. He could hear a distant sizzling—the awful sound of water against Zim’s skin. Even in their days of mortal rivalry, that sound had always had a visceral effect that could pierce through any bluster and leave Dib cringing inwardly.

Gaz nodded her head in agreement. “Come on,” she said. She rose to her feet, then helped Zim up.

“I’m fine. This isn’t the first time this has happened on this filthy planet,” he muttered. The fire that had been in his voice just moments before had been snuffed out. He tugged at his soggy clothing and scratched at the rashes that were beginning to form on his arms and torso.

Before Dib had time to realize what was happening, they were walking ahead of him back to their camp. Gaz was leading the way this time. Zim managed to keep up, wincing in pain occasionally.

When they got back, Gaz beelined to Zim’s bags. While he ducked behind some brush and changed into new clothes, she pulled out a small first aid kit with the Irken insignia printed on the outside.

“He’ll need the—” Dib started. He stopped when he saw Gaz pull out the exact tube of antibiotic cream he had been about to gesture towards. She glanced at the Irken characters—Irken characters Dib hadn’t known she could read—and opened it.

“Can you hand me the bandages from your bag?” she asked.

Dib shot her a weird look but reached for the bandages anyway. “You know, his PAK heals him pretty quickly. I don’t think he even really needs them.”

“Yeah, but bandaging it up makes him whine about it less,” she said. She tried to hide the smile that had begun to form on her lips.

Dib handed it over and began to build a fire for the three of them.

Zim returned then, dressed in clean, dry clothes. While Gaz helped treat and bandage the worst of the burns, Dib kept silent. This time, however, it wasn’t out of whatever conglomerate of frustration he’d been feeling earlier. He was watching his sister coyly.

Gaz was not the maternal type. Throughout their entire lives, Gaz’s words and actions had been laced in a gruff sort of outer layer that warned others she was not to be trifled with. She kept her circle small and very rarely expressed any emotion other than cool apathy or outright anger.

The way she was acting towards Zim was a far cry from her normal self. Dib had only ever seen her like this on a handful of other occasions. When those memories drifted to him and he realized the common denominator, he suddenly felt uneasy. The tenderness in which she wrapped Zim’s forearm was with the same silent, admonishing tenderness she’d shown Dib when he’d gotten injured during his own idiotic exploits over the years.

Meanwhile, Zim sat slumped against a tree, letting her bandage him up without a fuss. While he was making an attempt at nonchalance, it was clear he was practically falling asleep where was sitting.

That was another little thing Gaz seemed to either know already or manage to take in stride: something about injuries made Zim unusually tired afterwards. For as long as Dib had known him, he’d been this way. Dib had deducted it was because his PAK was using more energy than usual, and Zim had more or less confirmed it. Even so, it was rather unsettling to see anyone sustain an injury and then drop off to sleep moments later like a narcoleptic.

That’s precisely what Zim was doing now, now. As soon as Gaz finished with the last bandage, she shook his shoulder to wake him. With the last of his energy, he shuffled to his sleeping bag and practically faceplanted onto it. Within seconds, he had dropped off to sleep.

Gaz patted his hand.

Dating, Dib thought yet again.

It was absurd. That was the only way he could put it. It didn’t make any sense. Almost…almost as absurd as the idea of him being friends with Zim in the first place.

He frowned and began to pull at the loose strings of a bracelet he’d worn on his wrist for the last year or so. Zim had an almost identical one that he, too, never removed.

Hadn’t there been a time when he couldn’t imagine himself being anything but Zim’s enemy? And now they were almost inseparable. If he could get used to that, why couldn’t he get used to this?

He glanced down at the bracelet and sighed. “You really care about him, don’t you?” he said finally.

Gaz glanced up, her face guarded. “I wouldn’t be with him if I didn’t.”

“And he treats you well?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?” She made a face, but it wasn’t entirely hostile. “I wouldn’t be with him if he didn’t.”

Dib’s eyes fell on Zim, who was snoring lightly. He didn’t doubt that. “Okay,” he said through another exhale.

“‘Okay,’ what?” Gaz said, raising a brow. “I don’t need your ‘blessing,’ Dib. I just want—”

“—No, no, no. I don’t mean it that way,” Dib said quickly, “I mean ‘okay,’ I will get used to this. And I’ll stop being such an asshole.” He quirked his lip upward in a humorless smile at the last part. “I’m sorry, Gaz. I could have handled that a lot better, and I didn’t.”

She pulled her knees to her chest and stared into the crackling fire. “Apology accepted.”

Zim began to stir then, one hand reaching out to scratch at his bandages.

“Hey, don’t do that,” Gaz said softly, taking the hand and moving it away. She made to rifle through their bags but was stopped when Zim’s hand closed around hers. He held her in place and began to murmur incoherently.

Gaz smiled; a sweet, serene smile Dib very rarely saw. “Just give me a minute,” she told Zim. She squeezed his hand and pulled away, unzipping the bag closest to her and retrieving what she was looking for—the marshmallows Zim had been after earlier.

She pressed one into his palm, and his fingers wrapped around it groggily.

Over the next hour, he slowly came out of whatever fog his PAK had put him through as it worked to heal him. By morning, the irritated rashes from the water would be gone and the bump on his head would be nothing but a distant memory.

Not for the first time, Dib thought about how strange Irkens were.

Over the rest of the night, the three gathered around the fire, roasting marshmallows. Even through the lulls in conversation, the tension that had practically been a permanent fixture earlier was gone. Instead, they slipped into their new dynamic. A dynamic that was, as Dib had claimed, absurd. But when hadn’t it been? Not when Zim had first arrived on Earth. Not when years and events had passed them by, and enmity had melded to friendship. And not now.

Absurdity was their specialty, and they were learning to wear it proudly.

~The End~

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

But again, he was just a little too late...

Hello!! I’m back and finally gathered the motivation to finish this! Here is one of the Izumi angsts that I keep on going on about!! It took me ages, but I decided that since I don’t think my motivation will let me make this any longer, I might as well bring it to a suitable end and post it for you to see :)

I hope you enjoy, I spent a little too long on this one (the other Izumi angst is a little longer but a bit more on the proper angsty side, so there’s that one to look forward to when it’s done!)

Warnings: mentions of death, destruction, panic, and death.

Tagging: @kiriderp @chaotic-trash-can @theshisthings (if anyone else would like to be tagged in any of my writing posts so you can see them, please let me know and I will happily do so!😊)

————————————

“Oi, Jeanist, slow down!! What the hell?!”

An exasperated Hawks yelled as he clung onto the side of the car seat, his body pressed closely against a very squashed Rumi, who was sprawled rather awkwardly over an even more squished Ryuko.

“Dude! Say something, for god’s sake! What’s going on?!!” Rumi shouted, trying to correct her posture but failing miserably. “I know that ya like to conceal stuff and hide things so people don’t worry but-”

“-this is getting rather concerning, Tsunagu.” Ryuko interrupted the rabbit hero, speaking the thought that was running through all of their minds as the blond man drove at incredibly high speeds down the highway.

“What’s going on?”

No answer.

“Tsunagu.”

Still no answer. The tall man’s hands clenched tighter around the steering wheel, his breath wavering slightly.

“HAKAMATA, FOR FUCKS SAKE-”

“-ALRIGHT! Bloody hell, Ryuko....” Tsunagu blurted out a reply, his hands shaking slightly as he tried to steady his voice. “....w-we just. I need- I need to get there....”

Ryuko sighed and her eyes softened slightly as she heard the vulnerability in the older man’s voice. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell, it’s just....I’m worried.”

“We all are....” Keigo chimed in informatively.

Tsunagu nodded his head and sighed. “I know, I know. It’s fine, Ryu, it’s my fault, I should’ve at least said something.”

The dragon hero chewed her lip and looked out the window, thinking back to what happened.

They’d all been waiting to be called for a mission of any sort and were interrupted by a hero message alert, simply informing them about an accident that had happened somewhere. This happened a lot and would notify heroes that were nearby so that they could be on standby for if aid was needed.

Now, all was well, until Jeanist read the message and received another immediately afterwards that contained information that the others were unaware of.

Ryuko observed as the man’s face went paler than ever as he read what had been sent to him, and she didn’t even have time to react or ask before being flung quickly into the back of his car along with the other two and told that it was ‘an emergency’.

“It was that alert, wasn’t it?” She muttered, not wanting to know the answer as she feared the worst. “Wait- Shinya, what about Shinya, where is he?”

Tsunagu winced at the harsh sound of the woman’s voice and prepared to answer but was cut off by Rumi as she gave her thoughts of what Ryuko had just said.

“Isn’t he on patrol around that area with Kamui and Mount Lady?” She questioned, yelping slightly as the car took another sharp turn and sent her flying straight to the other side of the car. “Augh...The message said it was only a small villain attack but it’s mainly the building that got demolished....though they said there were some casualties and injuries and such...”

Tsunagu’s chest grew tight and he started shaking even more at the thoughts that raced through his mind. ‘Oh god....no please.....please be safe...oh please, I beg you....’

“....look at the time...” the blond man whispered, his voice sounding even more vulnerable than before.

4:50pm.

What was so special about 4:50pm?

“What- what’s up with the time?” Rumi asked hesitantly. Looking over Ryuko’s arm as she checked the time. “It’s 4:50, what about it?”

“Izu-” Tsunagu stuttered, his breath hitching as he felt that familiar feeling creep from his stomach up to his throat yet again. “Izumi finishes her school at this time. Hana....Hana looks after her and takes her home....but- but the area. This- argh!”

The car swerved sharply as the blond man narrowly avoided a massive crevice in the road. They stopped moving and looked at the sight in front of them.

They were there. They were at the area that they’d been told about but were shocked to see that the building had completely vanished. It was not there. It was as if someone had plucked it from the ground and taken it elsewhere.

“Holy shit...” Keigo muttered, his wings slumped slightly at the sight that he saw.

Rumi’s ears did the same, as they drooped against her face in a shocked manner while she took in the imagery of the rubble filled, dusty concrete space in front of them.

Ryuko clutched onto the seat in front of her tightly and could feel as Tsunagu’s shoulders dropped, her own breath wavering as she looked out the window.

Police cars and ambulances were scattered around the scene, many heroes could be seen trying to clear the rubble. Despite feeling like such an empty space, there was carnage everywhere.

“Oh god, Tsunagu, please tell me that my suspicions are wrong...” Ryuko quietly spoke, her hands letting go of the seat in front of her as she moved to open the door. “Please....tell me that what you were worried for isn’t what I think it is...”

The blond man drew in a sharp breath and fumbled for the door handle, pushing it open. The other three watched as he stumbled out of the car and exchanged concerned looks before following him in his actions and hurriedly getting out of the car themselves.

“Oi!” Hawks called out, trying to get the older man to slow down as he watched him run towards the police officer that was standing amidst the rubble. “Jeans- Tsunagu, for gods sake, slow down!”

The blond man was too caught up in his worried thoughts to notice the yelling coming from the other three that were following him. His head was so heavy. So loud.

‘Oh god-’

“Tsunagu!”

His stomach felt as if someone had set it on fire....a familiar feeling...too familiar.

‘Please, no-’

“Hey!”

He felt tears prick at his eyes as he reached the shorter police officer who was looking up at him in quite a terrified manner.

“Where are they.”

The smaller figure looked up and squeaked at the surprisingly threatening tone of the fiber hero’s voice.

“U-um, sir? Pl-please wait, don’t-”

“Let me through.” Tsunagu interrupted, no longer trying to mask the harshness of his voice.

“I’m sorry, I-I really can’t let you do that right now, sir. You can’t-”

“Let me get through, and let me see what’s going on.” He loomed above the other man, his long and thin figure casting a dark shadow onto those who were in front of him.

“B-but-”

“Now.”

“Jeanist, sir, please I can’t just-” The police officer cut himself off as he saw the hero’s eyes.

Bright teal orbs glowing with adrenaline, rage and dread, staring straight back into his own. Their light intense enough to mortify the soul that shook in fear within oneself.

This was enough to completely terrify and intimidate the officer. He obeyed the tall man’s demand and dropped everything he was doing as he stepped back hesitantly in shock, unable to look away.

“C-carry on, sir!”

Taking this opportunity, Tsunagu rushed forwards and weaved his way through the piles of rubble, jumping over some of them and kicking some out of the way as he neared the centre of the attack.

‘Idiot!’

Tsunagu snapped his head up at the thoughts that started flooding his mind as he stared up at the huge chunk of concrete that seemed to loom ominously over him.

‘You’re so slow- too late, always too late...’

He shook his head and took a step forward. ‘What would your family think? It’s not like they’d care about you any-’

“Shut up!” He blurted out, feeling his eyes sting from the tears that refused to fall. “Shut up....goddammit, Tsunagu, you’re an idiot.....Shinya....Izumi.....shit...”

His mind felt as if it would explode at any moment. He blamed himself, he always had, but the dread and fear for what he’d find was too much to bear...he couldn’t breathe.

‘So slow-’

“Oh god...”

He stumbled around the massive boulder and shuddered at the sight he saw. The sight that was hidden from everyone else.

‘Too slow-’

“No no no-”

He felt a pair of warm hands gently grasp his shoulders from behind as he watched two younger heroes run towards him in a manner of which to prevent him from going any further towards the usually comforting and familiar flash of red that was wrapped around the kneeling figure that lay ahead of him.

‘Too late.’

Tsunagu felt his heart shatter as he looked at what was in front of him. The tears started to fall and his voice faltered as he tried to call out to his husband, his child, his family...anyone....

“No...th-that’s not right....no...”

“Hey, I don’t think this is a good idea...” Mt Lady spoke quietly as they approached the taller man, her eyes darting back to where Shinya was curled up on the ground.

Kamui shakily looked up at the blond man and took in the fear in his face.

“Let...me...go...” Tsunagu weakly demanded, his voice fading slightly as he tried to shrug the winged hero’s hands off of him.

“I can’t, Tsunagu....holy shit...you two...what happened?” Hawks stuttered out, his own words failing at the sight in front of him, his grip still firm on the other’s shoulders.

“I- I can’t say it.....not here....not now...” Shinji whispered as he tried to steady the tall figure in front of him, his own eyes saddened by the harsh truth of what had happened, blinking rapidly to try and clear away the tears that had already made themselves present. “Jeanist, please......please wait a moment, this isn’t a good idea....”

“Let me go...” Tsunagu’s hollow voice croaked out again, yet this time it seemed to get louder...more desperate....

“Wait! You need to calm down, it’s not safe!” Yuu exclaimed, her voice still trying to be soft. She grabbed onto Tsunagu’s arm and shook it gently, trying to bring him back to reality and make him pay attention to them. But it didn’t work.

His throat tightened as he stared at the crumpled figure of his husband on the ground, his heart racing as his thoughts grew deafeningly louder. He couldn’t hear the others. He couldn’t feel the reassuring hands of the three that held him back from behind...or the hesitant words of comfort from the two that blocked his path.

“Let me get to them!”

All he could hear was the pain of his own thoughts and the silent screams that came from his husbands mouth...the muffled wailing that only he seemed to be able to hear...

“Shinya...”

“For gods sake, please calm down-” Ryuko’s steady voice cut through his thoughts and snapped him back to reality, making him realise that he still hadn’t gotten any further, and that Shinya was still there, curled up on the cold ground.

“Please! Let me see them!” Tsunagu cried out, his voice still straining to the point where barely any sound would come out. “My family, let me get to my family!”

Hawks pivoted around to face the struggling blond and sharply dug his fingers into the older man’s shoulders, trying to make him come to his senses. “For pity’s sake, Jeanist, you know this is a bad idea! You need to calm down, ‘cause out of all people, if you lose control-”

“I need to see my child.”

“Oi!”

“Where is my daughter?”

The two younger heroes that had been with the ninja hero at the time of the incident shared a worried glance and thought back to the moment that Shinya found out what had happened...the fear on his face...the heartbroken scream he let out when he saw....

“Tell me...”

When he saw......

“Let me see my child...”

“Hakamata-san.....” Yuu started, her voice cutting off as more tears welled up in her eyes.

“Let me go....”

“Please....you need to calm down....please listen to us....” Shinji finished what the blonde woman tried to say.

“Don’t touch me...” Tsunagu’s eyes clouded over yet again, his heart racing as he tried to fight against the others.

“You know bloody well this isn’t a good idea!” Rumi hissed as she tried to help Ryuko grab hold of the tall man’s shoulder.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Tsunagu yelled out, his voice finally making enough noise to startle and frighten the others, the tears streaming down his face even more than before.

“Shit-”

“LET ME GO!”

“For God’s sake-”

“LET ME GO!!”

“No- we can’t, you know this-”

“STOP IT!”

“We’re trying to help, for fucks sake-”

“LET ME GET TO THEM!”

“TSUNAGU!”

At the sudden loud mention of the fiber hero’s name, the silver haired man’s head snapped up and turned towards the commotion in a weary manner.

Locking eyes like the first time they met, the two anguished heroes shared a gaze. Two parents...partners....family....feeling the same despair and pain as each other as they knew...they knew what they both would have to accept.

“.....Tsunagu?” Shinya called out weakly, his voice barely making a sound as he reached out for his husband. “.....you’re here?”

The others watched as the smaller figure reached out to them, their eyes darting back to the man they were holding.

Tsunagu’s face seemed calmer than it was before, still distraught and pained, but calmer. He seemed to breathe slower and his shoulders lowered as he locked eyes with the other man.

“Shinya...” Ryuko started, her voice filled with concern and worry. “Shinya, are you-”

“Let him go...” The silver haired man interrupted the shaky dragon hero, his voice still quiet despite the boldness of his words. “Let him through...”

“Shinya-”

“Let him get to me...let him see her...” His grey eyes seemed to pierce through the air sharper than his own body when using his quirk, despite how dull and hollow they appeared.

Seeing this, the others shared a hesitant glance before letting go of the distraught Jeanist, their hands lingering slightly to let him know that they were all still there for him.

Stumbling forward slowly, Tsunagu reached out to Shinya, his knees buckling beneath him as he fell into the shaky arms of the other man.

“I-I....I can’t....Shinya, I’m sorry...” he started, his tears rolling steadily down his face.

“Don���t....don’t apologise to me, Tsu, we are both sharing this pain....” the silver haired man whispered, rocking the child in his arms ever so slightly as his own tears fell down the sides of his cheeks. “Just....look at her....look at them both.....look....look at her face, Tsunagu, her face-”

The blond man whimpered as the other man shook in despair, holding his family closer to his chest as they took in the peaceful features of the two that lay in his arms.

The small child that was bundled up in Shinya’s arms stared up lifelessly at them, her usually bright and happy teal eyes, now dull and empty. Her light silver hair was dishevelled and dirty, matted by the dust and rubble that was laying around them. Her tiny little body, laying there, broken and damaged...in a way that not even the most heartless creatures could stand and look over....and the imagery of her childhood, stripped away forever. Her life...cut shorter than anyone could ever deserve.

A different pair of kind and caring arms were wrapped around the resting child. Ones that did not belong to Shinya or Tsunagu, but to a certain hero whose own life had been interrupted by the sudden incident.

Hana’s face seemed to carry so much focus, despite being devoid of life and hope, and her eyes still carried their usual determination. She had always been willing to die fighting for those she loved, however it was never meant to be this soon....not with Izumi...not with her trying and failing to protect her own niece.

“What....what happened....” Tsunagu muttered, burying his face deeper into the top of Shinya’s head and taking the other man’s hand gently in his own, squeezing it in the same reassuring way he would’ve done when their family was alive.

“They were walking home...” Shinya croaked, his voice getting smaller as he held his sister and his child’s body closer to him. “They were just coming home, but they got caught- they got caught up in- Tsunagu, I can’t-”

The taller man attempted to comfort his shivering husband but couldn’t stop his own tears from intensifying.

“Tsunagu....Hana...she tried so hard...” Shinya reached down and fixed a stray strand of hair that was poking out from the fairy hero’s head. “My sister....she....she’s gone.....she.....she tried so hard to protect her...our petal, our little Izumi...”

He trailed off, tears falling onto the red scarf that he had wrapped around the two that lay in his arms.

“Our child....our baby....” Tsunagu breathed, continuing from his husband’s unfinished sentence, his own voice sounding more broken than ever.

“Why....why did this happen?” The smaller man asked a question that he didn’t really want the answer to, yet he asked desperately anyway.

“Shinya...” Tsunagu turned away in pain, looking back at the other heroes he had dragged with him. He felt bad. He didn’t mean to yell at them or push them away...but the blind panic he felt had washed over him like a tidal wave drowning out the signs of those who were trying to help. But now he saw. He could think, he could see, he could hear them clearly once again.....but it was too late for that......and it was too much, too loud, he knew too much of what he wish had never had to know.

He watched as Ryuko crumpled to the floor in anguish, barely being held up by the usually strong bunny hero, who’s ears were now pressed against her face, both being comforted by the winged hero that stood by their side. Keigo’s head hanging low as he felt his heart fill up with a familiar sadness that he knew all too well.

“Why did this happen to us?”

Shinya’s words rang through the air as clear and sharp as the cold winter air that they used to play in as a family, throwing snowballs at eachother and watching as Izumi jumped into the massive piles of snow, only to come out shivering and asking for warm hugs and to be wrapped in her favourite blanket. Those memories that could never happen again.

The fiber hero looked back down into his husbands eyes and saw the pain once again, seeing the desperation from deep down within Shinya’s soul.

He took a deep breath and tried to reply as steadily as he could, keeping the other man’s gaze locked to his own.

“Because she’s our daughter....and anything that happens to us will only ever result in pain for those we love the most....”

Shinya felt more tears run down his face as he listened to the familiar and somewhat still so soothing voice of his husband, sharing the truth of what he had already known.

“That’s how it’s always been for us...all throughout our lives.” Tsunagu continued, closing his eyes as he felt his tears blur his vision over and over again.

“It’s all our fault.” Shinya quietly mumbled, brushing the dirt off of their child’s face as he cried.

Looking up, the silver haired hero saw a flash of blue in the distance, and watched the horror seep into the familiar secretary’s face as she looked upon the bodies he held in his arms, falling to the ground as she saw Hana’s broken figure, and wailing when the reality that her partner was actually gone had fully sunk in.

“We’re her parents....and because of that, now she’s dead.”

Shinya felt Tsunagu’s embrace tighten and watched as his husband place a gentle hand against Izumi’s face.

“Our child is dead...Tsunagu.....our child.....our petal....our sunshine....”

The words that escaped Shinya’s lips stuck daggers into both of their hearts as the felt the shared pain of losing a loved one once more.

“Our baby...” the taller man whimpered, his head no longer able to be held up high, resting on the others own shoulders.

The pain they shared was more excruciating than any injury or near-death experience they had ever felt, all combined together. For they had once felt the joys of being a happy family, becoming parents to a whole entire new life that saw the happiness in everything. For the first time in both of their lives, they had felt true peace, and true happiness. But once it was taken away from them, the light they saw in those moments, would never shine again.

“She’s gone....”

[wordsinwinters]

Then Again, Part 26 (Peter Parker x Reader)

Masterlist (with AO3 links)

Total word count: 50,293

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25,

Summary: After an intense argument and a forced-to-share-the-bed situation during their junior year decathlon trip, Peter and the Reader examine their faults and failings. As they attempt to fix their mistakes and improve their friendship, that friendship quickly begins to evolve into something else.

Slow burn fic in which all characters are included and their dynamics explored; multiple character POVs.

Betas: @girl-tips-from-satan and @fanboyswhereare-you

A/N: This isn’t my favorite chapter, but it’s been sitting in my drafts for over a year and I figured if I don’t post it now, I’ll never move on to the next. Additionally, as always, I live for feedback. 😉

Without further ado,

Then Again Part 26:

(Words: 2,825)

The bus ride will probably get boring soon, or at least as long as the girls stay asleep, but even as quiet as it is, it’s almost a perfect morning. Being early (around 6:00, I think?), there’s barely any light except street lamps and car lights, but some of the clouds on the right have caught a pretty bluish purple tinge. It reminds me of that Rainbow Fish book Aunt May used to read to me as a kid. To make it better, the morning air is chilly enough that the driver turned the heaters on low so it’s wrapped-in-a-blanket-while-it-snows warm in here. Although that also might be why, apart from general dirt and old gum, the strongest smell on the bus is salty grease— since the nearest heater is under the seat Flash spilled french fries and chicken nuggets in yesterday. It could be worse, though. I mean, it’s not necessarily a bad smell and the traffic isn’t horrible. It’s not the best, but it could definitely be louder and a lot slower. The field of flowing red tail lights ahead of us is oddly comforting, like a snail-slow pasture of mechanical color. 

All in all, it’s a pretty cozy start for a dreaded five hour bus ride. It’s giving me quiet time to think. So that’s where I’m at. Or should be. I got some stuff organized in my head last night even if I keep getting distracted now. Well, it was more like a couple hours ago, since I wasn’t able to get to sleep for so long after we said goodnight. But anyway, I’m trying to focus. It’s just hard, even with both of them sleeping.

From my and Ned’s spot behind them, watching the girls’ heads gently shake and bump against each other as the bus shudders through potholes is kind of calming. They seem so peaceful from this angle, like two people who’ve never pranked me and Ned to the point we were nearly suspended, or kept us awake and annoyed by asking paradoxical hypothetical questions because they know how Ned and I will argue for days if we don’t agree on an answer, or anything else like that. It’s like finding two mischievous cats sleeping, curled up on a chair. It’s easier to appreciate them when they aren’t causing chaos. But it’s not that hard to appreciate them when they are anyway.

Though Ned and I won’t admit it when they’re fully awake, seeing their heads smack into the seat in front of them each time the bus lurched to a halt at stoplights (during the first ten minutes after they’d fallen asleep) was funnier than it should’ve been. Even knowing then that we wouldn’t mention it later didn’t stop us from exchanging silent laughs when they leaned back up, muttering unintelligible complaints before settling their heads back onto one another. For the last couple stoplights before the highway, at least, we decided to be better friends. We both stood up with one leg on the floor and one knee on our own seat so we could easily hold their foreheads back each time it happened. Again, I wouldn’t admit this out loud, even to Ned, but it’s a little bit funny that Ned was a split second slower than me, so while I kept catching MJ’s head before the stop, he half-smacked Y/N’s forehead, like a really-close-to-the-floor basketball dribble, and made a wincing face each time. A lot of times. But it did stop her from colliding with the seat, and she didn’t wake up or complain. 

As nice as it is with them and almost everyone else sleeping through the dark, quiet first hour of the bus trek back to New York, I am excited for her and MJ to wake up. Whenever that is. I’ve missed them. 

But anyway, I really need to focus. God. I’m not doing a great job of that this morning. Apparently. So I’m focusing now. It’s like Ned said. I need to be honest with myself. 

Okay. 

Alright. 

No distractions. 

I’m going to set myself straight now, before we get back, so I can make a game plan and be more decisive and make less mistakes. Fewer? Yeah, fewer mistakes. She’s told me that half a dozen times this since she read that grammar book last summer. But that’s not important.

If I’m being honest... I think I’ve avoided the real possibility that things could work out between us because it felt too risky. And I make some dumb, impulsive choices. So that’s saying a lot. If she said no, what’s the worst that could happen? May and Ned have been asking me that for months, and it’s been so frustrating. The answer should be obvious. The worst thing wouldn’t be the rejection, it’d be if it made her uncomfortable and she broke off our friendship. Or, even if she stuck around, if our friendship changed and I had to watch her get more and more distant, knowing it was my fault and nothing would ever go back to normal. 

Those were the worst — and, I thought, most probable — possibilities. For months I’ve been certain that if anything changed, everything would, and it’d all go to shit. So I kept dodging it. And dodging her before the trip. But, then, things did change this weekend. Things are changing. We fought, and it was super shitty and awful and a total nightmare fiasco, but we made up. And she seemed almost as relieved as me when we did. Now we even have this pact about spending more time together. I know it’s officially only in the name of friendship, but something’s… different. I feel it, and I think she does too. And it doesn’t seem bad. That’s the craziest part. I mean, she even kissed me last night. On the cheek, but still. “Keep it.” Maybe May’s not ridiculous: she really might feel the same way. 

I’ve been texting her this morning, actually. Aunt May. I had to admit that I’m happy she forced me to do the forehead kiss thing last night. As annoyed as I was that she and Ned ganged up on me like that, I can’t dispute the results. She kissed me! Kind of. (To be fair, she did hit my mouth a little bit even if it was an accident.) At first it made me wonder if she heard any of Ned’s shout-comments before I could turn the t.v. up to cover what he was saying. But I doubt it. Even if she felt the same way, I know her too well to think she wouldn’t freak out more and enough that it’d be noticable. Yeah, no, I’d definitely have been able to tell if she’d heard him saying things like, “Nobody’s saying you have to tell her that you googled the probability of high school sweethearts getting married that time she saved your ass on that Bronte essay, but yeah, Aunt May’s right! Just ask her to come over and either talk to her or do the hair/forehead thing!” Anyway, May’s on board with her coming over a lot this week and next week and giving us some space. So are Ned and MJ. Ned said they agreed on giving us two weeks (starting tomorrow) without them hanging out after school. And who knows, if the dance goes really well, maybe it’ll be normal for us to hang out, just us, without the whole group. Because… well, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. 

I’ll admit, they’re the best friends I could ever have. All three of them. 

And it’s nice to have them all here now, Ned to my left and the girls in front of us. It’s even nicer to be outside of class or the city or crazy study sessions and have had a short breather from all that (despite the shitshow before we smoothed things over and could enjoy it). To be somewhere chill together. Yesterday and today probably feel even better because the last few days, or even weeks… no— months, if I’m being honest— have had me in a kind of less than happy place. But that’s over now. We’re all here and things are finally good. I just wish the girls would wake up, especially since Ned’s back on his phone. Again. 

Yesterday, everybody hung out for most of the afternoon, but being in the whole decathlon group isn’t the same as just being the four of us. Or two. 

Speaking of two— Ned being away during this next week or two is going to make everything so… unfiltered. New. Without his interference and being able to talk to him as often as normal, it’ll mostly just be her and me. Nobody to distract attention or blame stuff on or help me out when I’m doing something dumb (which is often). Like, for example, last night when I maybe let my excitement get the better of me and I might’ve jumped on the bed and thrown a pillow that accidentally broke the lamp on the nightstand. While I don’t really think writing that “Bill Mr. Harrington” note with the school’s address was Ned’s best idea, it helped me not care too much, enough that I didn’t do something dumber like actually tell Mr. Harrington. It might come back to bite us, though. Still, he was genuinely helpful this morning when Flash showed up too. 

While we were hanging out in the girls’ room waiting for them to finish packing, there was a knock on the door. I figured it was Mr. Harrington about to yell at me and Ned for the broken lamp, so I motioned to Ned to shut up and move closer to the head of the bed we were already sitting on where, courtesy of the wall between the bedroom and bathroom, he wouldn’t be able to see us as long as he stayed by the doorway. MJ gave us an odd glance before she got up to answer it. Her annoyed, “What are you doing here?” didn’t immediately disqualify Mr. Harrington, but the sound of Flash’s voice saying, “I, uh, brought you guys some muffins,” made me tense at the first syllable.

“The free muffins they give us for breakfast?”

MJ’s dripping sarcasm nearly made me laugh even though I couldn’t see her, but Y/N turning from her suitcase and walking over to join them killed it still in my throat. 

“Nope,” he said. “They’re fancy muffins from a bakery a few miles away.”

I wanted to roll my eyes out of my skull.

She may not like him, but that doesn’t mean I was wrong about him being into her. What a dumb way to impress someone. “Fancy muffins.”

“Expensive?” MJ asked. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was giving him the squint death stare. It’s scary to have to respond to that face if you don’t know what the right answer is.

“Yes, especially with the delivery fee,” he said, sounding prepared for the question, “but they’re from a small local place, not a chain, which I figured you guys would appreciate. Actually, I think you’d like the woman who owns it, she was super grouchy and hard to convince.”

“Convince?”

“They don’t normally deliver at 5 in the morning.”

“Oh, so you thought you could just—”

“What kind did you get?” 

That’s one of the things I like about Y/N. She knows how to manage tempers and when to jump in; she has Flash and MJ down to a science. In that moment, though, I wanted MJ to fire her most confrontational questions at him with no mercy.

“Well, they’re all apology muffins—” I heard MJ scoff. Exactly. She gets it. “But I got blueberry, chocolate, obviously, coffee, cranberry orange, maple, I think that one has chicken in it or something, and banana nut.”

Ned and I turned towards each other with silent smirks at the last one. It’s a dumb joke, but under normal circumstances we’d never resist—

“Cool. Since you’ve brought so many, you can come in.”

Sometimes MJ drives me up the wall. This was one of those times. 

I mentally took back my agreement with her scoff.

The three of them came into the room, and for a couple seconds, Flash didn’t see us. The girls were closer to the window than they were to the wall and the bed Ned and I were sitting on, and he didn’t look behind him. Until MJ pointed us out directly.

“You can give them some too,” she said, her expression bordering on smug. “Apology muffins, right?”

Flash froze for a second. I straightened my back. Neither Ned or I said anything.

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded. “Of course.”

Surprisingly, he shook his shoulders like a bug just buzzed by his head and walked over, opening a giant rectangle of a box up to us. 

“Take however many you guys want.”

I stared at him, not moving. Nobody flinched. Then I realized he was tapping the side of the box with his thumb. Not in an asshole come on, hurry up way, but in an anxious way. Just as I started to reach toward the box, Y/N asked:

“Why’d you get so many of the coffee ones?”

Flash looked away at just the right second. 

Did I technically cave first by reaching into the box? Yes. But did anyone see? No.

Although, I guess he technically caved by offering us the muffins in the first place. Ha. All the same, I took a blueberry one. 

“They’re my dad’s favorite. I wanted to surprise him, you know? But I can’t even get a hold of.... Um, are your guys’ parents going to pick you up when we get there, or are you actually staying for school?”

“Staying.”

“All of you?” 

He looked around to ask all of us, even me and Ned. We all nodded. When he looked at me, though, his eyes twitched. It’s a face I’ve gotten a lot before. He realized he said parents. 

“You said these are orange cranberry?” Ned asked, pointing. 

Flash nodded. 

“They’re solid, though the banana nut ones are probably the best.”

As I said, under normal circumstances, like if one of the girls had said it, I would’ve laughed right then, but I’m not used to laughing around Flash. Ned, who usually follows that same rule, shook his head and grinned, if a little bit... nervously?

“Hell no!” he said, pretending to be mildly outraged. “I’m not eating banana-bust-a-nut muffins.”

A second surprise: Flash tilted his head and paused, clearly as stunned to be told a joke by Ned as the rest of us were to witness it— and laughed. So did everyone else. It was only for a few seconds, like literally three quick seconds, but for the first time for as long as I can remember, all of us were laughing with Flash. It stopped almost as soon as it started. 

Tension crept back in soon so he left pretty quickly after that with an awkward, “See you guys in a few.” Thank god. 

The girls finished tidying their room and going over the homework that’s due today (which we did last week since we knew we’d never get it done on the trip), before forcing me and Ned into the hallway so Mr. Harrington wouldn’t need to check our room for us and potentially find the broken lamp. 

And then, pretty soon, we ended up on the warm bus, loaded in with everyone else. It seemed like everybody but Ned and I were too quiet and sleepy and squinty to be able to talk much before dozing off or staring blankly out the window or scrolling social media on their phones, the latter two options leading to the first in most cases. At this point, I think Ned, Flash, and I are the only ones still awake. 

I’m going to work at tolerating him. As long as he doesn’t cross any lines with anybody from now on, I won’t bait him either. (Admittedly, I’ve been guilty of that, especially recently.) I mean, his comment about his dad was hard to miss. And even when he said it, it wasn’t a shock. Everyone in our grade at some point has had to listen to Flash’s rambling excuses for his parents ignoring or forgetting to show up for school events. Maybe being a dick is just hereditary for him. Or a family tradition. 

I don’t remember how I got so off track. Where was I before? Oh yeah. Risk. Possibilities. The almost-worst case scenario that turned out not so bad. It’s been a messy weekend with plenty of re-evaluating, but the point is simple: I think I’ve got to give a few new things a try, and I’m excited to have a chance over the next couple weeks.

Next update: God only knows.

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[myundeadgayson]

DC Street Racing AU — Bart Allen’s Backstory

alright, i know practically nothing about cars. i’ve also never even seen a Fast and the Furious movie, but SOMEONE has gotta fill the void on lack of DC Street Racing AUs, and i’m gonna do it. (if there are some out there though, please let me know! i can barely find ANYTHING, and i’d love to see stuff for this kind of AU!)

so,,, i’m just saying,,, the Teen Titans and Young Justice Crews as Street Racers.

we’ll start off with the characters that sent me into this spiral in the first place: Bart Allen and Wally West.

again, i know practically nothing about this kind of stuff. i know nothing about street racing, or cars, but i’m just saying… i really love imagining Street Racer!Wally being Bart’s inspiration for wanting to race.

even though Iris was never approving of Wally’s racing (she’s supportive, but extremely concerned for his safety), Wally would occasionally bring Bart along to the races that he’d have with friends. sometimes Bart would sneak his way into going without Wally realizing, but either way, Bart would come along.

after years of growing up and watching Wally race, Bart decided he wanted to race too. (note: to save myself a headache since this is No Powers AU and Time Travel doesn’t take place, we’re just gonna pretend that Barry and Iris adopted Bart. i want to say that his parents were close family members of Iris and Wally. perhaps one of the parents was another cousin of theirs, but both Bart’s parents ended up dying in some sort of accident. since then, Bart’s been living with Barry, Iris, and their newly born twins.)

i have so much more to say about this AU, but i want to warn you because this is about to be a VERY long post. however, if you wanna know Bart Allen’s Street Racer AU backstory and more about Wally (and his racing group, The Titans), please read more!

      (TW: small car accident — completely non-graphic, no injuries involved, everything is okay, but it does happen)     Bart’s been interested in racing for YEARS. ever since he was a kid, he’s always craved to know what it’s like — to feel the wind in your hair, the rush of adrenaline in your veins, the feeling of your heart racing as you watch the speedometer go up and up and up. the exhilaration filling your lungs as some part of you realizes “this is dangerous”.

he wants those feelings. he wants that experience that makes Wally’s eyes light up like there’s pure lightening rushing through his veins.

he wants to go Fast.

when Bart was thirteen, Wally let him sit in the driver’s seat for the first time.

Wally didn’t let him drive it, of course. Bart wasn’t tall enough yet to reach the petals even if he wanted to, but he was excited nonetheless. Wally had laughed at him as he grinned, asking how to work everything.

the car wasn’t on — Wally wasn’t dumb enough to give him even the slightest chance of trying to start it. it was a good choice. Bart would be a liar to say that he wouldn’t have instantly tried to drive it. instead, Wally let Bart mess with the gears and pretend he was in a race of his own. he’d adjust the mirror to try to see himself. he was too short to fully be seen in it, but if he sat up tall enough he could see his eyes.

years later, Bart would do the same. he’d look into his reflection and see his eyes, sparkling with that same determination that he had all those years ago.

Wally had explained everything to him. Bart started off by eagerly pointing at things (like the gear, the numbers, and all the weird symbols he could see) and ask questions, and Wally would answer every one. Wally explained other things too, like what made Wally’s special car better for racing than some random car. Bart hung on every word, trying his best to imagine all the pieces, even if he didn’t know what some were at all. he tried to commemorate every bit of information to memory bc maybe one day, he could make himself a cool car too.

the first time Bart actually drove a car was a disaster.

he was barely fourteen. it was hardly even a few months after Wally had verbally explained to him how to work a car.

no one expected him to put that knowledge to use so quickly.

somehow he got ahold of Iris’ keys. he would never explain how he got him (they were RIGHT THERE on the counter. how was he supposed to say no when they made it so easy?), but somehow it happened.

his joyride didn’t last long enough. for a short moment though, he was beyond excited to be beyond the wheel. after lots of adjusting the seat and awkwardly shuffling to sit as close to the wheel as possible to be able to see over the hood, Bart started to drive.

he managed to get down the street. he was a little slow at first. the car wobbled in an unsteady line as it trudged down the road at barely 10mph. Bart’s eyes flickered constantly between the road and the mirror, his small hands gripping the wheel like a lifeline.

the anxiousness he felt subsided as he reached the end of the neighborhood. there was no sign of Iris in sight, and he managed to drive just fine. stunned laughter bubbled from his lips as his eyes flickered back down to the road ahead— he was doing it! he was really doing it! he was driving!

with a newfound confidence urging him on, he turned onto a connected street to keep going. he started pressing on the gas pedal more, trying to gain some speed. the car started going from a slow crawl to a decently safe speed. Bart started pressing down on it harder and harder, going faster and faster. he remembered laughing in delight. the windows were cracked halfway, allowing the air to rush in. it tousled his hair, and for a moment he felt like he was flying.

until he wasn’t.

he hadn’t really considered the thought of other cars. he hadn’t considered a lot of things actually, such as the fact it was the middle of the day and people would be driving.

he didn’t crash into anyone, but it was a close call. when he started getting closer to the main road and noticed the cars zooming across, he panicked.

he hit the brakes. he did what Wally said. he didn’t slam them, but he was still going too fast. the cars were getting closer! Bart pressed his foot door harder and finally, stomped on the brakes altogether.

he yanked the wheel away from the road, shutting his eyes tight.

the wheels spun. he went off the road into the grass, tire skidding rough tracks across the grass and dirt. he didn’t hit a car, but he did hit the stop sign at the end of the street.

it was a miracle he didn’t get hurt, or worse. he ended up a bit banged up hitting the wheel and the seatbelt yanking too tight, but he was overall fine. unfortunately, Iris definitely wasn’t happy.

Bart didn’t drive for a long while after that.

occasionally, Wally would still take him on drives though.

some of Bart’s best memories are riding in the passenger seat late at night. along barren backroads and empty highways, Wally would race through the streets. with the windows rolled down, the two of them would laugh, voices carried through the wind that whipped their hair like reckless flames.

under the passing lights, Bart would grin wide and holler his excitement into the night sky without a care in the world.

the world would need to try pretty hard to catch them.

Bart would also get to attend a few of Wally’s races. it isn’t as often as he used to with Iris and Barry watching him more closely, but he still got to go some times.

he’d only really watch Wally race against friends.

they called themselves the Titans. Wally said the name wasn’t planned, it just happened to stick. Bart assumed it was more because as time went on, they really did become like the titans to beat if you wanted to prove yourself as a racer.

it was who made up the team that once surprised him.

Dick Grayson, Wally’s best friend of many years and infamous son of Gotham’s Bruce Wayne, was the unofficial leader of the group. The Dick Grayson, with his car as dark as the night. the darkness of the car was only disrupted by a few brilliant blue decals. the most memorable one was always the striking blue silhouette of a bird on the hood. (“Nightwing,” Dick affectionately called the car.)

Koriand’r, an incredibly kind woman with hair that was almost more fiery than Bart’s own. her car was a vibrant purple with flames racing along the sides as if it’d caught fire. (“they call me Starfire”, she told him once when caught him fawning over the car, awed as ever. “i like to imagine that if i drive just fast enough, i can see flames.”)

Victor Stone, who indulged all his questions and answered every single one with the same enthusiasm. he’d lost an arm to an accident, but replaced it with an amazing cybernetic one. his designed his own car to have similar robotic style. incredibly futuristic and constantly updated with the best parts he could find. (“someone called me Cyborg,” Victor told him once while working on the car. he let Bart sit in the garage with him, occasionally offering whatever help he could. “i think it was an insult at first, but the name sort of stuck, kind of like with the Titans. so i made it my own.”)

and at last, Garfield Logan, the youngest of the group. with his dark green hair and toothy smile, Garfield was always quick to make him feel welcome and make him laugh with an endless amount of dumb jokes. his charisma and bright personality showed in his car. like his hair, it was a deep green. when he turned it on, the underneath glowed a neon green. black pawprints walked along the sides towards the end of the car. (“they’re actually tiger pawprints,” Gar corrected him once, looking excited as ever to explain. “there’s a few other animals too. i wanted it to look like the animals were really here, or like maybe i’m the animal? i dunno. i told everyone to call me Beast Boy, so i guess this would be my beast.”) they had another friend, Raven, that never raced with them. dressed in black with dark hair that he swore shone purple in certain lights, Raven was much more quiet and reserved than the rest of the group. Bart enjoyed her rare company, despite it being more of a companionable silence. he’d take it none the less. sometimes if Bart was able to hang out with Wally and the group outside of racing nights, he’d occasionally he’d bring along homework, a book, or a comic to read if Wally was meant to be busy at some point. he’d end up hanging out in one of their apartments while they were busy, and sometimes Raven would be there. they’d quietly read in each other’s company, never having to say a word. he’d asked Wally once why she didn’t race too. Wally had only laughed. (”we’re lucky that she doesn’t,” Wally told him, “if Raven raced, we’d all be doomed, trust me. you should never underestimate her.” Bart figured that meant that Raven was an undeniable part of the group too. he hoped he’d see her race one day.)

all of them were amazing, but Bart was a little stunned by each of them had their own unique style. they all had their own story and reason for being inspired to race. the one thing they all shared though was that same spark in their eyes Wally had.

needless to say, Bart would try to spend as much time with them as possible to try and learn from them.

his dream was to race, but his other dream was now to become just like them. he wanted to be a Titan.

he was too young at that time, but he would aim to prove that he could be good enough to join them one day. he would be a Titan.

or at least, he’d be close enough to being a Titan, he’d decide upon meeting a few other faces around his age, but that’s a story for another day.             ...and that’s all we have for now, folks!

if you’re wondering why i chose only those Teen Titans, i didn’t want to make the group too big. i originally considered the OG Young Justice group, but found that i really wanted to save Superboy (Conner Kent, my beloved) to be apart of Bart’s friend group later. (not to mention, i REALLY wanted to talk about Street Racer! Kori existing in this AU. Beast Boy’s another favorite that i just HAD to include, thus we have the animated Teen Titans team, just with Wally and Dick having the same kind of friendship as kids like in YJ.)

let me know if you want any more from his idea! i’d love to know what you guys think of all this so far. if you ever want me to talk about anyone in particular, please feel free to ask! i’d totally be up to come up with more ideas! i’d also love to know if anyone has any thoughts about other characters might be like from this AU!

i really just came up with all this on the fly, but i’m honestly becoming attached to this AU already, so i’d be more than excited to talk more about it!

thanks for reading!!

[little-diable]

The end of the world - Negan (fluff/angst)

!Don’t copy or edit my work, without asking for my consent!

Request by @negans-attagirl​ : First of all: I love your stories! Would you have time writing a story with Negan/OC where the OC is a psychologist and Negan is her patient and he is like the sassy king we now during sessions, she tries to suppress her growing feelings for him but sooner or late gives in. A nice sidekick would be if she gets stalked by another patient and Negan saves her one day before they get intimate. I hope that’s not too specific. Anyways thank you so much! 🥰🥰🥰

Decided to include the request into something I’ve been working on. Inspired by Billie Eilish version of the song. Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: Negan and the reader have to live through the end of the world, the day where the apocalypse started

tw: angst, this could be triggering for some of you, mentions loss of loved ones. 

(Credit to gif owner) 

“Negan, right?”, she double checked his name, eyes drawn to the tall, handsome man, “damn right doll”, his raspy voice made her shiver. His leatherjacket crunched with every step he took, plopping down in the chair in front of her, eyes shamelessly checking her out, already forgetting, why he had decided to visit her office. 

He’d turn up once a week, barely talking about his fears, his nightmares, that kept him laying awake at night, his sassy comments would keep her on her toes, flushed cheeks hidden away from his curious eyes. “Sweet lord, doc that skirt does some things to me”, Negan chuckled, towering above her, tongue darting out to wet his lips, hands slowly wandering down her sides. “I’m your therapist Negan, we can’t”, she sounded unconvinced, shaky voice echoing through the room. 

But he wouldn’t be Negan, if he’d ever listen to her, lips meeting hers in a passionate kiss, drowning out the sounds of her moans. Both had been hooked on each other from the first day on, he’d ask her out on dates and at one point he’d ask her to move in with him, followed by the night, where he proposed. He’d keep her sane, would protect her at all costs, shamelessly in love with her. 

They had their lives planned out in front of them, would try for kids at point point, living together in a small house, just enough for their little family, but sometimes dreams would simply not come true. Something both would have to accept rather sooner than later.

Breathe the air again, it's a beautiful day I wish this moment would stay with the Earth Some primal paradise

It should have been a day like any other, should have been a day, where they’d savor their time together, getting lost in each others embraces as they were watching show reruns, giggling about the words they knew by heart by now, it should have been a day like any other. 

But it wasn't. 

Both woke with a heavy feeling clouding their minds, they took a few extra moments for themselves, touching and kissing each other, as if they were trying to remember how to other one would taste, how their skin would feel underneath their fingertips. 

Negan was towering above her, hands cupping her cheeks, lips pressed against hers, “I love you”, the words were burned into her mind, words she’d never forget, till her last breath would leave her body. “I love you too”, the words carried some heavy weight, engulfing him like a thick blanket on a cold December morning, cradling him in its fabric. 

“Maybe we should take some time for us, somewhere else, where we could just be on our own?”, (y/n) combed her hand through his hair, staring at the man who’s last name she had been carrying for years by now. “I’d love that doll”, he smirked at her, even though Negan didn’t truly felt the wave of happiness crash upon him, like he had desperately hoped for. 

They had been wrapped in each others arms as the broadcast went live, reporting about the killings, the accidents, how the government and the armed forces were desperately trying to get the situation under control, empty words, lies, that would stick to them for a while. He bit his tongue, rising from the sofa, “pack a bag doll”, they had to leave, had to make it out of there, Negan knew, that they’d only manage to make it, if they’d leave now. 

If the end of the world was near Where would you choose to be?

Tears were blurring her vision as she grasped his hand a bit tighter, (y/n) couldn’t reach her parents, with trembling limbs she blindly followed him, not being able to focus on anything or anyone. “What if something happened to them?”, she sobbed, holding onto him, “we need to check on them, see, if they’re alright Negan”. He desperately wanted to give in, wanted to drive her over to her parents house, like they’d do any Sunday, eating lunch together as they’d talk about god knows what. 

But he knew, that there wouldn’t be any Sunday lunches ever again, at least for a while. 

Negans mind kept working on autopilot, dragging (y/n) along with him, out of their apartment complex, head whipping from one side to another, running towards their car. “Negan?”, she frantically repeated his name, couldn’t truly grasp what was going on, she felt confused, anxious and panicked. The smell of something burning hung in the air, the sound of sirens echoed through their street, “listen to me”, he grasped her chin, forcing her glassy eyes up to his. 

“We need to make it out of here”

His words didn’t leave any room to argue, didn’t give her any time to come up with a remark, Negan started the car and reversed out of his spot, driving towards the highway, they’d be able to make it out of there, to save themselves, nothing would rip them away from each other. 

At least, that’s what he thought. 

We would love again Under glorious suns With the freedom that comes with the truth

She tried to drown out the screams, tried to forget about the weird walking people, wondering what was going on, wondering what was happening, but the rapid beating of her heart brought its realization with it, the end of the world was near, at least that’s what it felt like. (Y/n) watched a few cars crash together, people ran around the streets, crying for help, watching them speed by as they were making their way towards the highway. 

“Fuck”, his raspy voice ripped her out of her thoughts, they were surrounded by hundreds of cars, stuck in a thick traffic jam, apparently they haven’t been the only ones, who wanted to get out of the city. “It’ll be alright”, it sounded more like a question, her shaky voice made his heart clench, Negan felt sick, he wasn’t one to get anxious, wasn’t one to lose his focus, but today all of his beliefs had left him behind. 

Hours seemed to pass by, the screaming wouldn’t stop, cars would honk all through the afternoon, cursing as they were stuck, not moving forward. “What’s wrong with them?”, (y/n) pointed her finger towards a group of slow walking people, blood was dripping down from their clothing, their hair was hanging into their faces, their skin had turned greyish, the sight made a lump form in her throat. 

Both kept their eyes focused on the nearing crowd, Negan's instincts seemed to kick in, like a few of the drivers near by, he pulled (y/n) out of their car, strapping their bags, running towards the forest, not looking back once. “Doll”, Negan panted, eyes finding hers every now and then, they were surrounded by quite a few people, all running into the same directions, crying and begging for help. Groans echoed through the night, the chilling sound made her shiver, lose her focus for just a second. 

A second enough to make her let go of his hand, falling behind, losing all sight of him. 

If we had five more minutes Would I, could I, make you happy?

“Negan?”, (y/n) screamed, tears were welling up in her eyes, her breathing quickened, she tried to pick up her speed, but it seemed like she got lost in the crowd, getting pushed into another direction. She called his name over and over again, swallowing down her sobs, by now the sun began to set, her feet were hurting, she was sweating, feeling more exhausted than ever. 

He couldn’t find her anywhere, couldn’t hear her voice, no trace of his wife as he combed through the crowd, he tried to move against the current, tried to make his way back, but the people seemed to pull him with them, not giving him any chance to make a run for it. “(Y/n)?”, he’d call her name every now and then, he wouldn’t give up, not on her, not on his (y/n). 

“Here”, one of the guys pushed his baseball bat into Negan's hand, tugging Negan with him, eyes focused straight ahead, running through the forest, hoping to make his way out alive. The thought of her wouldn’t leave his mind, his heart was aching for her, praying that she had found somebody to keep her safe, Negan wouldn’t rest, not until he had found her. 

If we had five more minutes of air to breathe And we cried all through it But you spent them with me On our last few drags of air we agree I was and you were happy

-----------------------

There’ll most likely be a part 2 xxx

[backburnerdio]

Fictober – Day 22

Original Fiction: Time Borrowed Prompt #03: I've Waited for This Word Count: 1616 Words Warnings: Language, Violence, Blood, Car Accident

“Traveling east on Pratt –Beau, Garnet, he’s headed your way.”

“Copy that.” Garnet hit the sirens, peeling out from the parking lot and onto Pratt Street. Beau connected with one of Ayla’s drones, anticipating where exactly the small car was coming from.

“There,” Beau pointed, diverting his HUD to the windshield. A silver vehicle emerged from oncoming traffic, outlined in blinking orange lines.

“He’s not slowing down. If he gets past we might lose him,” Garnet warned, already reaching for the emergency brake.

“Let's do whatever we have to.” Beau positioned his footing in the floorboard to better wedge himself, anticipating their trajectory as the suspect spotted them, swerving in the intersection trying to slip past.

“Hold on, Turtle,” Garnet grunted, twisting the e-break. The patrol car drummed as its wheels locked up, swinging into a broadside slide. Tires screamed. Beau held onto the seat, twisting in hopes of blocking any imploding glass from Garnet.

The anticipated crash was somehow louder than expected, a cry of twisting metal and cracking fiberglass. They jerked on impact, Beau’s safety belt snapping tight and digging into his shoulder. His audio crackled in and out before reconnecting.

“—car 777 is hit. 164, 212, do you copy?”

“We copy,” Garnet grunted, Beau scanning him for severe injuries before himself. Besides being coated with powder from the airbags, Garnet was okay. “You good, B.O.?”

“Copy.” He expelled dust from his sensors.

“777, suspect is continuing on foot. Northbound towards the river,” Ayla reported. Beau shoved on his door finding it jammed and blocked by the smoking vehicle.

“Oh, I’ve waited for this!” Garnet cackled, kicking his protesting door open. “Stay here.”

“Garnet! The suspect is armed.” Beau warned, frantic to remove his safety belt. Stuck. Garnet took off as if he didn’t hear –or care. Typical. All Beau could think of was the way the call had been announced by dispatch. That this suspect was armed, clearly dangerous and desperate.

Beau yanked on the seat belt again, finally gripping the buckle socket and yanked. The bolt in the floor gave, freeing him. Working one foot from the dented mess of the car’s damaged floorboard, he clawed his way out the driver’s door. Squinting in the sun he stumbled out, connecting with the nearest drone to know which way to start.

“Traveling down Fourth,” Ayla’s updates crackled in and out, Beau breaking into a sprint in the direction. Garnet was already out of sight, cars a block ahead laying on the horn, no doubt warning him of his recklessness. Beau threw himself into the run, darting around people on the sidewalk, turning onto the next street, leaping over a stroller.

"Excuse me," he called back to the shouting mother. He cut across traffic and over the knoll into a library park. Swinging around a light post he vaulted over one of the many outdoor tables where a group shared a lunch. “Sorry –pardon me.” He crossed the blacktop, throwing himself feet first over a wall onto the steps that led to a pedestrian ecoduct, crossing the main highway. Tires screeched below, Beau glancing down finding Garnet skating across the hood of a car, landing on his feet. Safe.

“He’s turned down Broad, continuing east.”

Beau sharply wheeled to the edge of the bridge, leaping the rail for the street corner below. Gravel of a solar garden cushioned his landing, rolling to his feet without slowing down.

“Suspect has entered the Horizon Hotel off Broad. I’ve lost visual.” Ayla warned. Beau slid around a corner, taking an alley to arrive on the backside of the building. Leaping the garden wall, he landed in a courtyard fountain, scanning windows catching a silhouette matching Garnet's build taking the stairs.

Beau scrabbled up to the first balcony, throwing his weight to the second. He climbed to the roof, one balcony after the other. The access door was locked by code, hacking and unlocking it by the time he reached the knob. It hissed open and Beau charged down the flight of stairs, gun drawn.

He heard scrambling from floors below, orders from Garnet before the wail of the fire alarm started.

| What the hell did you do? |

Beau rushed his way down, hearing the clatter and bang of a storm door shut. Exiting on the next level he peered out the window, watching the suspect leap from the fourth floor, roll off the bed of a truck, and keep running.

Garnet soon followed.

Beau took the nearest window, catching the ledge before dropping, grabbing the rail of the second story breezeway, unsure what he may land on below. Once it was clear, he dropped. A gunshot echoed between buildings, Beau looking up to find Garnet staggering at the sidewalk of the roundabout, diving onto a shoulder.

WARNING CPU UTILIZATION MAX CAPACITY

CPU OVER TEMPERATURE

“Fuck!” Garnet gathered himself up, gripping his arm that bled above the elbow.

| Stop running ahead. Wait for me. |

Beau fought his way out of his jacket, trying to cool down. Garnet, however, wasn’t stopping. He took off down the sidewalk again.

OVERCLOCKING

Beau forced himself into a run, refusing to stop considering the suspect was desperate and dangerous. And Garnet? Ever reckless. But he had every right to be. This was the only lead they had in finding Ryker. The longer they took, the more likely he was dead. If they lost this suspect, they could lose Ryker.

Beau took off down the street, merging into traffic in lieu of dodging pedestrians. Between cars he continued to chase, spotting Garnet at the next intersection. A car nearly swerved on top of Beau, having to roll over their trunk and nearly staggering into the back of a recycling truck.

“Shots fired,” Ayla reported. “All units to Winter and Common. I repeat. Shots fired. All units to Winter and Common.”

Beau rounded the truck finding Garnet hunched in the middle of the intersection, suspect standing with their weapon raised. People scattered from harm's way, traffic stopped. But Beau was fixed on Garnet.

He kneeled in the street, gripping his bloody arm.

He wasn’t getting up.

Beau pulled his weapon free, aiming for the suspect, HUD locked on the center of their forehead.

BIOS PROCESS WARNING

CPU OVER TEMPERATURE ERROR

But the heat wasn’t of exertion or season. It was a heat driving through his processes, a dizzying pitch working from his TLN. Uncontrollable and lashing.

He squeezed the trigger.

The shot entered the suspect’s shoulder, twisting them to the ground and dropping their weapon. Beau wanted to fire again, no longer trusting himself and knowing protocol may not make a last moment adjustment to keep him from firing into their head. He dropped his gun, rushing to check on Garnet.

He hissed in warning when Beau pressed on his shoulders, sitting him up to scan him over. He’d been shot once in the arm, another in the thigh. Grabbing Beau’s arm, he continued trying to stand.

“Be still,” Beau ordered. |212 to Dispatch. Requesting two ambulances to Winter and Commons. Gunshot wounds.|

The wail of a siren cut him off, turning just in time to spot the Mediator car wheeling around the corner. Their breaks shrieked. Beau grabbed the front of Garnet’s jacket, twisting him around to brace against the incoming car. Its front end crumpled, partially wrapping around Beau’s shoulder and guarding arm. Bowing forwards from impact, he was able to stop it from crushing them.

WARNING COMPONENT #4115 DAMAGED

WARNING COMPONENT #3252 DAMAGED

Garnet drug himself backward, eyes wide, continuing to glance to the car as if it would suddenly drive forwards and over the both of them. Beau glared at him, the burning sensation in his TLN network still alight.

“I wish for once you would stop being so damn stubborn and reckless!” He barked, words rupturing from him regardless of the warning in his HUD that Garnet may be in shock. “I told you not to go alone! That it was dangerous! I know you don’t care for me but for once will you listen to me?! I can back myself up. I can come back. But you’re Human –if something happens to you, you don’t come back! I can’t lose you and Ryker!!”

Garnet gaped, eyes darting across Beau’s face.

“Do you understand?! I’m fucking terrified! This unit is all I have, and if I lose you, I won’t have anything. You have to be careful. You have to listen!”

“O-okay, Beau. Okay, I’m sorry. Just relax, bud. It’s okay, alright? I’m okay.” Garnet sat up, nodding as if it would be compelling against his bleeding wounds. His harsh manners faded, careful in touching Beau’s shoulder that wasn’t currently in the grill of a car. The officer driving it staggered out, coughing on airbag dust. “Why don’t you look where the fuck you’re goin’?!” Garnet snapped at the man, pointing. “Arrest that motherfucker. There’s an ambulance coming for him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Garnet’s face softened again, looking back to Beau. “You alright? Anything hurt?”

“Not badly.” Beau watched his temperature descend in his HUD, scanning Garnet again to confirm what he's said was true –that he was alright. More sirens wailed as other cars and an ambulance arrived.

“That was some real Terminator shit,” Garnet snickered, mussing Beau’s hair. “Can you get out?”

“Oh,” Beau moved, trying to pull himself forward and out of the car. His shoulder was caught, wrapped in fiberglass. “No… I’m stuck.”

Garnet turned to the closest vehicle. “Hey! Can I get some spreader-cutters over there for my friend? Yeah, you. You got some?”

“Sir, do you need an EMT?”

“No, get that guy first. We need some spreader-cutters. Look’at him.”

[deanwanddamons]

All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

Summary: You’re driving alone after getting into a huge fight with your now ex-boyfriend. You spot a guy standing on the side of the road in the rain, hitching a ride, so you give him a lift. That guy happens to be Dean Winchester.

Characters: Dean Winchester, You

Pairing: Dean x You

Word Count: 4427

Warning: Smut, smut and more smut! Oh and very slight angst.

Song inspiration - https://youtu.be/OAfxs0IDeMs

Heart - All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You

A/N - I have had a lot of help with this as it was my first Dean fic. So huge thank you to @mummybear​ @winchest09​ @queen-of-deans-booty​ and @1000roughdrafts​ for everything.

‘That’s it! I’m outta here,’ you yell as you slam the door behind you, running into the rain.

Jamming your hands in your pockets, you find your car keys. Having just discovered your boyfriend is sleeping with a girl that he works with, you decide to go for a drive to clear your head. Seething with anger, you get into your car and pull the door shut with a noticeable slam.

‘That cheating bastard!’ you scream, slamming your hands on the steering wheel in frustration.

The wheels spin out of the yard as you head towards the highway with no destination in mind. You just need to drive.

Deep down you knew he wasn’t happy because things had not been right for a long time. You hadn’t made love for months, but you somehow thought he would have the guts to end it rather than cheat. If you're being honest, you weren’t happy either. You and boyfriend were more like roommates than lovers and you were stuck in a rut. Maybe this was the excuse you needed to finally get out.

The rain is coming down so hard it’s getting increasingly difficult to see the road ahead. To avoid an accident, you turn onto a side road in the hope the rain will clear up soon.You look up and realize you must have driven for miles. You are in the middle of nowhere, and you don’t really know where to go next. Suddenly, your headlights catch a figure standing on the side of the road. Curious as to why someone would be standing alone in the rain, you slow down and roll the window down.

Hey, are you okay?’ you shout to the figure. As he approaches the car, you see it’s a man of roughly your age who is soaked to the bone.

‘Hey,’ he answers. ‘My car broke down just up the road, and I have no battery on my cell.’ As he leans in through the window, your breath catches in your throat. He is gorgeous. Really, really gorgeous.

Okay, so this could be dangerous.

You are miles away from anywhere that you vaguely recognize, and a complete stranger is currently leaning in through your window. He could be a serial killer or a rapist, though something about his manner tells you he’s not. If you’re wrong, the next decision you make could be your last, but you make it anyway.

‘O-oh,’ you stutter. ‘You’re soaking. Get in.’

Smiling, he jogs around the car and gets in. ‘Thank you so much. This weather sucks!’ he laughs. Your ears prick up as you register just how deep and sexy his voice is. ‘I’m Dean,’ he introduces himself with a big smile.

The interior light allows you to see his face properly. Short dark hair, sparkling green eyes framed by long lashes, plump succulent lips over perfect white teeth, a dusting of freckles across his nose, and a slight stubble on his cheeks.

‘Hi Dean. I’m Y/N,’ you respond. ‘Let me just get my cell, and we can call you a tow truck.’ Checking your pockets, you realize you left your cell in the house. ‘Shit, I don’t have it with me. I kinda left the house in a hurry,’ you tell Dean, turning to face him.

He makes a move to get out. ‘Oh okay, never mind, sweetheart. If you’re in a hurry I’ll--”

‘-no, it’s fine. You can’t go back out in that weather,’ you interrupt. ‘Is there anywhere I could take you instead?’ You notice how the handsome man next to you takes a moment to think over your question.

‘There’s a motel a few blocks away,’ he says, looking out of the window. ‘If I could trouble you to take me there, I’ll get a room for the night and sort something out tomorrow.’

‘Won’t your girlfriend be worried if you don’t come home?’ you inquire.

‘No,’ he says with a laugh. ‘I don’t have a girlfriend.’

‘Okay, just show me the way to the motel,’ you begin, revving the engine while secretly praising that he is single.

‘Are you sure? I’m just some random guy. I could be anybody,’ Dean says with a look of concern on his face.

‘If I leave you standing here in the rain, I won’t be able to sleep tonight,’ you tell him.

‘Well okay then.’ he nods, settling down into the seat.

During the ride you and Dean slip into easy conversation. You briefly tell him why you rushed out of the house, and he tells you that he had been working in the area. His brother, Sam, is also in the family business with him, but is in another state on a different job so he is working this one alone. He was heading back to join Sam, when his car broke down. It only took around fifteen minutes to get to the motel and soon enough, you see the motel sign lighting up the sky in the distance.

‘Here we are,’ Dean says with what sounded like disappointment in his voice. ‘Do you have time for a drink?’ he suddenly announces, ‘as a thank you for driving me here.’

You really don’t want to go back home, so against your better judgement you decide to go. What’s the harm in having one drink with a handsome stranger?

‘Sure, why not?’ you agree, pulling the car over to the sidewalk.

‘Awesome. I’ll go and check in. There’s a bar just over there,’ Dean says, pointing out of the window to the building next to the motel.  ‘Wait here, I’ll be right back.’ He jumps out of the car and runs toward the reception.

Watching him leave, you process what could be happening here. This is so unlike you. You're normally so sensible, so vanilla, but you're still young and technically newly single, so why not enjoy it? A sharp rap on your window disturbs your thoughts, making you jump. Dean is standing there with a smile.

‘All sorted,’ he says, raising his voice against the sound of the rain. ‘Shall we get that drink?’

Opening the door, you step into the night, the rain cold as it hits your face. Dean takes your arm, and you run together across the parking lot into the warm, dry, and gloomy bar.

It’s quiet, and there are plenty of places to sit, so you follow him to a booth in the back. As he removes his brown leather jacket, you notice how broad his shoulders are and his strong arms fill the sleeves of his denim shirt. How his Levi's fit snugly against his muscular, slightly bowed legs and very peachy ass. Wow, this guy is seriously off the scale hot.

‘What are you drinking?’ he asks as he puts his jacket on the seat.

‘Whiskey, on the rocks,’ you tell him.

‘Girl after my own heart,’ he grins as he turns and walks away.

After a few minutes, he returns and slides into the booth beside you, sitting close. The touch of his thigh against yours sends shivers up your spine.

‘So, Dean,’ you hedge, turning to face him. ‘Tell me more about the family business you and your brother are involved in.’

‘We are, um, shall we say, exterminators,’ he tells you hesitantly. ‘We travel around the country and help people to get rid of...pests.’

‘So, once your car is sorted, you’ll be leaving?’ you question.

‘Yep,’ he responds, taking a sip of his drink. His deep green eyes look intently at you over the rim of his glass. Is it just wishful thinking, or do you see a mischievous glint to them? Placing the tumbler on the table, he runs his tongue along his succulent lips. Is he flirting?

A naughty thought runs through your mind. Dean is hot, single, and has a motel room for the night. You're newly single and haven’t had sex for months.

‘Do you often take random women out for a drink when you’re on the road?’ you ask, running your finger around the edge of your glass.

‘It has been known, but they are rarely as sexy as you,’ he whispers.

Okay, you think, he’s definitely flirting. You swallow hard.

‘Rarely? I would have preferred you to say never,’ you respond with much more confidence than you currently have.

Placing his warm hand over yours, he looks you directly in the eyes. ‘I’m sorry, never as sexy as you,’ he says, his voice low and deep.

His face is so close to yours, you can count the light freckles that run over his nose. The smell of him is intoxicating. A mixture of spearmint from the gum he has been chewing, a clean, woody cologne, and whiskey.

Even though your heart is pumping so fast from nerves, that you think you are going to have a heart attack, you lean forward and kiss him lightly. His lips are soft and responsive. They part slowly, his tongue hesitant, but you allow him access, the taste of the whiskey still evident.

His arm snakes around your waist, and he pulls you towards him, deepening the kiss. You are aware you are in public, but you need this so bad that you allow yourself to relax, and lace your fingers around the back of his neck.

Breaking the kiss, he rests his forehead on yours. ‘Shall we move this conversation elsewhere?’ he whispers.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ you respond breathlessly. Sliding out of the booth, he grabs his jacket. Taking your hand, he helps you up.

‘What am I doing?’ you silently ask yourself as he leads the way to the door, your hand still in his.

When you get outside, Dean spins around to face you. Kissing you hard, he pushes you against the wall. Using his knee, he opens your legs, and his pelvis meets yours. You whimper as you feel his hardness through his jeans. His long fingers link with yours as he raises your arms above your head, his mouth leaving yours to travel down your neck.

The rain is still falling but it doesn’t bother you. The water runs down your face, cooling your hot skin. His lips have ignited a passion inside you that you had forgotten existed.

‘I want you, Dean,’ you hear yourself whisper, not really understanding where your confidence has come from. You need him so bad it escapes your lips anyway.

‘I want you too, Y/N,’ he breathes, lust glinting in his green eyes. ‘There’s a warm, dry bed waiting for us.’

‘Let’s go then,’ you respond, pulling him by the hand towards the motel.

‘Are you sure about this?’ he questions as you run through the rain.

‘Absolutely,’ you reassure him. ‘I really need this right now.’

Finding his room, he produces the key from his pocket. He fumbles as he attempts to open the door, which causes you to giggle.

‘Sorry, I laugh when I’m nervous,’ you chuckle.

‘Why are you nervous?’ He says, taking your face in his hands.

‘I was with my ex for a long time,’ you admit. ‘And I haven’t really been with many people before him.’

‘Don’t worry baby,’ he says, turning back to the door, and finally manages to open it. ‘I’ll be gentle.’ He looks over his shoulder at you. ‘That’s if you want me to be,’ he adds with a wink.

Giggling, you follow him into the gloomy room as he switches on a lamp. The room is sparse with just two double beds, a TV on a stand, and a hard backed chair.

‘I know it’s not exactly luxury, but it will do for what I need it for,’ he says apologetically.

‘It’s fine,’ you acknowledge. ‘As long as it’s clean, then it’s fine.’

Feeling a little awkward, and not quite sure what to do with yourself, you take off your jacket and hang it on the back of the chair. You sit on the edge of one of the beds and attempt to act casual as you kick off your shoes.

Having also taken off his jacket, he walks over and sits next to you.

‘So...’ he trails off, taking your hand. His fingers move a stray piece of hair from your face, placing it behind your ear. Before you have time to speak, his lips are on yours again, kissing you hard.

Falling into the kiss, you lie back on the bed with your arms around his neck, and he follows. His hands move slowly along your hips, sliding inside your T-shirt, and along your ribs. His touch is so incredible, your skin feels like it is on fire. Until now, you didn’t realize how much you needed this; to feel wanted by someone again.

You groan involuntarily so he moves, all the while deepening the kiss until his hard body is covering your small frame. His lips leave yours and move to your neck. You start to undo the buttons on his shirt. Noticing a black, almost tribal tattoo on his broad chest, you trace it with your fingertips.

‘Sweet. What does it mean?’ you ask.

‘Just something my brother and I both have. We’ll just call it a form of protection,’ he mumbles against your skin, his breath causing you to break out in goosebumps.

Taking the hem of your T-shirt he pulls it over your head. His hands tangle in your hair as he pulls your head back, and his tongue travels down your neck and back up to your waiting mouth. The tip of his tongue maps your lips before meeting yours.

Expertly, he pops the clasp of your bra and takes it off in one swift movement, flinging it aside. His rough fingertips run down your chest, and brush across your breast. You moan into his mouth as he takes a pert nipple between thumb and forefinger, gently massaging it. The taut spring in your stomach is beginning to tighten, and a hot slick pools in your panties. His tongue follows the line of your neck to your shoulders and down your chest, and he sucks a nipple into his warm mouth, tongue circling, swirling in a figure of eight.

‘Fuck Dean,’ you breathe, ‘that feels so good.’

Feeling him start to fumble with your belt buckle, you reach down and undo it. His fingers pop the button on your jeans as he slides his hands into the waistband, and with an audible pop, he releases your swollen nipple. He stands up at the foot of the bed, and wriggles your jeans down your legs, throwing them aside.

‘Jesus, you're beautiful, sweetheart,’ Dean comments husikly as his green eyes survey your body.

‘Your turn now,’ you reply with a smirk and sit up. Returning the look, he quickly takes off his boots and jeans.

Your eyes follow the delicious contours of his incredible body, and they stop when you reach his tight, black shorts. The outline of his hard cock is visible through the material. He looks so divine standing there that your heart momentarily stops beating. Your pussy flutters at the sight, and the heat in your panties continues to build. This man is exquisite and you want, no need, to feel him inside you.

He leans down to kiss you, so you pull him down. Wrapping your legs around his waist, you hungrily kiss him back, with your hands balling into fists in his short hair. He wastes no time grinding his pelvis into your heat. The material of your panties causes friction against your clit, and the coil in your stomach is tightening by the second.

Slipping his hand into your underwear, he easily glides through your wet folds. His fingers find your entrance and he slips two inside your warmth.

‘Fuck,’ you purr, arching your back to meet them.

‘So fucking wet for me,’ Dean groans.

He begins to scissor his fingers inside you. You can feel your juices starting to flow, the sound of his voice turning you on even more.

‘Let’s get these out of the way,’ he says. ‘I want to see all of you.’

Standing at the end of the bed, he leans over you. Gripping the top of your panties, he slides them down your legs, and drops them to the floor.

Pulling yourself up so you're sitting at the foot of the bed, you put your feet on the floor beside his, knees on either side of his legs. Because your face is directly in line with his taut abs, you lightly kiss them and follow the line of hair from his stomach to the top of his briefs. With quick fingers, you make light work of removing them, releasing his thick, hard cock.

He is a sight to behold. He looks divine. The head of his cock is engorged, pre-cum already glistening there. The need to taste him overwhelms you. Leaning forward you suck his cock slowly into your mouth. As you roll your tongue around the tip, you hollow your cheeks. Swirling your tongue from the base to the tip, you take his length down your throat as far as you can.

‘Shit, Y/N,’ Dean moans as he starts to thrust a messy rhythm.

Putting both hands on his ass, you firmly hold him in place. As you slow down your pace, you lightly run your teeth down the underside of his cock, running your tongue back and forth along his balls. Gripping your hair in his fist, he pulls your head back so you stare up at him with hooded eyes.

‘Lie back for me baby,’ he demands, and you do as he asks. Sinking down to his knees, his big hands push your legs apart. Using butterfly kisses, he moves up the inside of your thighs until his mouth reaches your needy pussy. Your clit is throbbing at the thought of his plump lips on your heat.

As his fingers part your folds, he runs his tongue up your soaking slit. A bolt of lighting shoots through you as he sucks in your sensitive nub, the tip of his tongue stiff as it quickly flicks up and down over it.

‘Oh my god, Dean,’ you hiss through gritted teeth as a rush of ecstasy flows through your body. Waves of pure pleasure begin to pulsate in your core as he devours your pussy as if he is starving. ‘Don’t stop,’ you plead, raking your fingers through his hair as you look down at him.

‘I wasn’t planning on it, sweetheart. Touch yourself for me?’ he murmurs, the vibration of his voice sending shock waves through you.

He buries his head once again, his tongue thrusting into your hole. Noticing your slight hesitation, he takes one of your hands and guides it down your stomach, moving your fingers between your mound. You have never done this in front of anyone before. However, you’re probably never going to see Dean again after tonight, so you decide to go with it.

Hesitantly, you press your index and middle finger on either side of your bundle of nerves, and begin to stroke. The thrusts of Dean’s tongue in your hole gets faster, as he raises his head slightly, opening his mesmerising green eyes and looking directly into yours. Replacing his tongue with his fingers, he continues the rhythm he had built up. Licking along your slit, his tongue meets your fingers, and you simultaneously massage your clit. As your spring uncoils, a wonderful feeling of relief takes over you.

‘Fuck Dean, I’m going to cum,’ you groan as your fingers speed up. Arching your back, you allow the waves of pleasure to wash over you, your juices flowing over his tongue as he laps them up.

‘Hmm, you taste incredible,’ he whispers as you lay back on the bed, panting, your pussy muscles still fluttering.

Grabbing your hands, he pulls you up as he stands and swiftly spins you around. His mouth is on the back of your neck, chest against your back. He bends you over so your ass is against his hips, and you push up onto your hands.

‘Don’t move,’ he demands and moves away from you. You hear the unmistakable sound of a wrapper being torn open, and you look over your shoulder to see that he has produced a condom. ‘Always have one in my wallet in case of an emergency,’ he smirks.

Realizing this guy is obviously a player, you are relieved that he has the sense to think about protection as it had not crossed your mind; you were so caught up in the moment. You begin to feel a little self conscious because you’re bent over the side of the bed with your ass in the air, so you go to move.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ he says huskily, returning to the spot he just vacated.

Running one hand across your ass cheek, he uses his other to push gently but firmly on the small of your back, which causes you to bend over the bed further. Opening your legs slightly, you push your ass back against him, and his thick cock slips easily between your damp thighs. Teasingly, the tip nudges at your opening.

Gripping your hips with his fingers splayed, he leans forward and whispers, ‘are you ready for me, sweetheart?’

An animalistic sound comes from deep within your chest. You want to feel him inside you so bad, want him to fuck you so hard, that you can barely remember your own name. Leaning your head down, you rest your forehead on your arms, tipping your ass up to him, all inhibitions lost.

‘Yes, Dean,’ you croak, ‘please, fuck me.’

With that, he thrusts into you with a grunt. Immediately, a breath is pushed out of you. A loud moan espaces your lips once you get past the brief stab of pain as he stretches you open. That pain doesn’t last long, and it’s soon turned to pleasure. As your muscles contract around him, he pulls almost all the way out. He takes a second to wrap your hair around one hand, then thrusts back into you, pulling your head back as he does.

‘You’re so tight,’ he moans in a guttural voice.

His fingers dig into your hips as he slams into you. As he builds up speed, the sound of his balls slapping against your ass mingling with his groans fills the room. The sound is strangely erotic, and the familiar tingling in your core returns. Normally, it takes your clit being stimulated for you to cum, but the way he’s fucking you is bringing on a whole new feeling that you have never experienced before.

‘Oh fuck, fuck,’ you spit as the dam in your stomach begins to crumble. Sensing your impending orgasm, Dean leans forward and grips your hair harder.

‘Move forward,’ he orders, and you don’t dare disobey him.

Getting on his knees behind you, you push your ass closer to him. Using your hips as leverage, his thrusts get harder and faster as his hands move to your shoulders. He pulls you up so your back meets his chest, and his lips find the top of your spine. His teeth lightly nip at the delicate skin on the side of your neck, and he sucks lightly.

‘Oh my God,’ you yelp as your dam breaks.

Wave upon wave of electricity flows through every nerve in your body, and your knees buckle. Dean’s rhythm starts to falter as the tip of his tongue runs along the spot he had been sucking, his strong arms around your waist. With one last powerful thrust, you hear a deep, low moan fill the air as he cums.

‘Jesus Y/N, fuck,’ he breaths as he sags against you.

Panting, you drop down on your stomach as he rolls over onto his back. You bury your head into the pillow. A moment of silence passes, broken only by you both breathing heavily. Eventually, you feel him get up from the bed.

‘I’ll just get rid of this,’ he says, his voice getting distant as he goes into the bathroom.

Having come down from your high, you begin to feel a little exposed. Sitting up, you stare around the room. An overwhelming feeling of shame suddenly envelops you.

I gotta get out of here.

Picking up your clothes from the floor, you start to get dressed. Running your hands through your hair, you consider what has just happened. You just had the most incredible sex with a complete stranger.

Shit, I just had sex with a complete stranger! Oh god, what have I done?

A feeling of panic rises in your throat. Quickening your pace, you continue getting dressed. The desperate need to get out of the room takes over you. Dean returns from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He notices you have started to put your clothes back on.

‘Oh, you're leaving?’ he asks with a confused look.

‘Er… yes… sorry,’ you squeak, shoving your feet into your shoes and grabbing your jacket from the back of the chair. ‘I’m so sorry, Dean. I have to go. I’ll admit that was amazing, but it shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.’

You lean into him, briefly bringing your hand to his face and kiss his cheek. You take one last look at his gorgeous face.

‘Bye, Dean.’ you sigh. ‘I hope you get your car sorted and get back to your brother.’

You leave him standing there, speechless, an expression of complete surprise on his face as you close the door behind you. You never saw Dean Winchester after that day, but you often thought of him, wondering if he ended up getting back to Sam. The memories of him are fantastic, and you can still see that beautiful face whenever you close your eyes. He will always be the handsome stranger that made you feel alive for one incredible evening.

Read Part 2 here

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[elsanna-shenanigans]

June Contest Submission #12: Boom Boom Pow

Words: ca. 3,300 Setting: mAU Lemon: lime CW: sand, alcohol, beanbags, dash of lime, language

“Do you like the stars?”

“Anna it’s fucking noon, the sun is up, it’s bright as shit. Why are you asking about stars?”

“Yo, my dude, chill. The sun is a star… right?”

Elsa rolled her eyes and turned up the radio, blasting 80’s music, but only the good songs. “I don’t know why I agree to come with you on these things.”

At this Anna laughed and danced a bit offbeat to the song that was playing. She didn’t know the lyrics, but the bass line was nice and she could vibe with that. She let the whole song play out before answering.

“Because you loooove me” She sing-songed, earning another eye roll from the driver. “You love me and we’re going to the beach and it’s going to be a good time.”

“If I didn’t love you, would it still be a good time?” Elsa asked, smirking.

As a response, Anna reached over and changed the radio. A loud, bass-heavy rap song overtook the speakers. The signer immediately spitting out questionably appropriate lyrics for the radio. Elsa’s face reddened under her large glasses and she reached to change channels so quickly that she turned it off. Enveloping the small sedan in a brief silence till Anna’s laughter filled the space.

And it went on like this the entire car ride, bits and pieces of random songs rapidly changing. Anna would allow something Elsa liked to play out entirely but when it was her turn she either skipped around or Elsa changed the station for her. The older woman apparently hated both rap and country music. The first part Anna didn’t understand and the latter, she agreed with. She was desperately trying to find a gospel station, just to see her sister’s reaction, but she found nothing but commercials.

Finally, she heard what she was looking for and turned to see Elsa’s reaction just as the other girl reached over and turned the radio off again. Anna was going to protest when she realized they were in a drive-thru.

“What can I get started for you today?” a tired-sounding voice asked over the intercom.

Anna leaned over Elsa to get closer to the open window and thus the speaker box. Making sure to be just close enough to be annoying.

“We would like to get married please, with Elvis if you have him, if not we’ll take what you have.”

“Anna!” Elsa exclaimed, slapping her on the shoulder.

There was an audible sigh come over the loudspeaker, “Ma’am this is a Wendy’s.”

“Oh right, then I’ll take a cheeseburger and a medium Coke, no ice. Thank you!”

“Anything else?” the tired voice asked. “I’ll have the same thing.”

They continued driving towards the beach after the drive-thru. Cupholders full of sodas in flimsy paper cups, and Anna’s lap full of white paper bags of greasy food. She kept sneaking a fry when she thought Elsa wasn’t looking. But it was a small car and Elsa could see every bit of fried potato Anna took.

The closer they got to the beach, the darker the sky became. Tall looming clouds crept over the horizon. They couldn’t see the beach yet as it was the east coast, and most roads took you to the beach straight on instead of winding down cliff faces like the Pacific was famous for. But still, the clouds loomed. Elsa knew there was a storm somewhere off the coast, but it seemed far away last she checked, which wasn’t today. She refused to check the weather today for fear of bad news.

On the main highway, traffic was starting to get heavy, more tourists were headed for their long-awaited vacations and the road ahead was either congested to the point of slowing down. Or there was an accident and everyone had to slow to a crawl to creep a glance at the carnage.

Thankfully the girls weren’t tourists, unthankfully they lived close to this tiny town that became a major city in the summer months. Having to deal with millions of tourists every year meant that locals had a series of short-cuts. So when traffic started building, Elsa took the next exit rather suddenly, cutting across the solid white lines and nearly missing the crash barrier.

“Elsa! Shit! What the fuck!” Anna yelled and shot out her hands with nearly inhuman speed to catch the drinks before they spilled out of their too-small cupholders. “There’s a backup, I’m not sitting in that,” Elsa replied, taking the next turn so hard that the car nearly tilted on two wheels.

“But I saw flashing lights, it could have been a firetruck!”

“It could have been a police car…”

“But Elsa you don’t understand, the hot firemen! …and women.”

“Anna I’m not sitting in traffic for 30 minutes or even longer, just for you to ogle at people in uniform.”

Anna took another fry, “Not people in uniform, F-I-R-E-M-E-N and women. It is very different.”

Elsa let out a heavy sigh as they came to a stop at a red light. “If I buy you that stupid Australian calendar will you shut up?”

“Wow, harsh.” Anna dramatically threw one braid over her shoulder. “But, yes.”

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes and continued forward when the light changed. It was only a short while later that they left the main road and turned into a small, older housing development. The narrow street lead them all the way to the ocean, coming out on the far end of the main strip. Highrise condos and hotels dotted the skyline to their left, but right in front of them was the beach, concealed behind a short sand dune. Because life is a bitch like that sometimes.

Luckily for them, there was also free parking at this end if you didn’t mind a bit of a walk. Which, for the price of 17 bucks to park next to the beach, who wouldn’t mind the walk. 17 dollars could buy many cheeseburgers, Anna pointed out.

The beach wasn’t nearly as crowded down where they were, away from the boardwalk and the hotels. The sand also happened to be rockier, rough and pitted with long-forgotten footprints and broken shells. The beach groomers didn’t come this far. Which was fine by them, they would take a rough sandy beach with fewer people over a crowded hellscape any day.

There’s nothing more relaxing than simultaneously listening to eight different speakers all playing different music. While children screamed for no reason and the air was filled with a mix of sunscreen and cigarette smoke.

So yes they will miss out on the hot lifeguards and yes there will be fewer people to watch. But you can’t put a price on the quiet and the fresh air that this section of the beach had to offer.

After crossing the highway on foot, climbing the dune, and laying out their towels, only then did they pause to look out on the water. The ocean was angry, white caps dotted the surface as far as they could see. The horizon line was blurred with fog or rain and the dark clouds from before were more ominous than ever. Why the two women didn’t notice all these signs until now was some kind of act of God. Or stupidly. Probably the latter.

The beach itself was even more sparsely populated than normal. A smart person would have gone home after seeing all the warning signs. But this was Anna’s only day off for the next few weeks. And Elsa, well Elsa was too stubborn to admit her beach idea was a bad one.

They both laid down, on separate towels, choosing to ignore the warning signs and attempting to soak up as much sun as possible before it was swallowed by the coming storm. Elsa tried not to think about it too much. Neither was sure how long it had been before they were interpreted.

“What are you two gay ass losers doing?” Came a female voice.

“Ch’yeah it’s like gonna rain bruh.” Said a male’s.

Elsa opened one eye to see her cousin and her boyfriend, or so it fiancé now? Standing over them. The sky beyond them somehow looked even darker than before, which was very rude.

“Trying to enjoy the sunshine, obviously.” She mumbled in response.

“What sun?” their cousin asked, in a weird out of place, and badly performed accent.

“Wait but what is that voice?” Anna asked, sitting up and brushing the sand off her arms. How that girl could get sand everywhere, Elsa would never know.

“It’s like our new characters,” Eugene answered, earning not an eye roll from Rapunzel but a nod of approval.

“I’m New York and he’s Los Angeles. Both strong and independent cities that you could almost say are their own character. And those characters are us.” She added

“Why though?” Elsa was also now sitting up and confused, though nowhere near as sandy because she wasn’t a dirt gremlin-like her sister.

“Because we wanted to be unique characters, otherwise we’re just boring white people and where’s the fun in that?” Eugene or rather Los Angeles answered.

“Oh boring, like you watch Star Trek and try to fit it into everything even though it has no business being there?”

Eugene shot Anna finger guns, “exactly, this one gets it… bruh.”

A boom was heard in the distance and it sent a few people running towards their cars, towels billowing behind them. A long-distance away, over the water, there was a flash and with it, the wind picked up.

“Looks like our beach day is ruined, I’m sorry Anna.” Elsa stood and began to roll up her towel. Even with the limited sun, she was already red on her front, making a stark difference to the pale skin of her back.

“Nah we just getting started, come back to our place and play some ping pong. We just pulled the table out of storage.” Rapunzel aka New York offered. The two of them didn’t live far from the beach, having taken over Rapunzel’s parent’s beach house. It was very old and run down, but the pair was fixing it up in exchange for free rent.

‘Aye New York is right, and we can take my new whip… bruh.” Los Angeles gestured over his shoulder towards the dunes. They couldn’t see it yet because that dang dune was blocking things again. But everyone knew he was referring to his new golf cart.

Reluctantly the girls agreed and a few long minutes later they were rushing inside an old house to avoid the rain that had just started to fall. Their car was left abandoned in the free parking lot.

Inside was an odd mix of old and new. Brand new stainless steel appliances dotted a kitchen with dark wood cabinets and a yellow linoleum floor. A half-torn-down wall gave way to the living room with floor-to-ceiling wood paneling and floral print furniture.

“It ain’t much but it’s home.” Los Angeles said once everyone was inside. He walked beyond the torn-down wall and slapped his hand on the wood paneling. “New York over there hates this stuff, but it’s hella soundproof if you know what I mean.” With this, he wiggled his eyebrows and finally, earned an eye roll from New York.

“How did you know we were on the beach by the way?” Elsa asked as she took a step further into the kitchen to look at the collection of magnets on the fridge.

“Your sister posted about it on her tumblr of all places. Honestly, get an Instagram like the rest of us already.” New York said throwing her hands up dramatically. The drama ran in the family apparently.

The ping pong table was in the basement, a dimly light space with concrete walls and a tiled floor. Mix-matched chairs lined the walls and a mini-fridge sat in the corner next to a shelf full of liquor bottles.

The ping pong game quickly descended into beer pong with a twist. No one had to drink from the cups the ball landed in. Because that’s gross, don’t do that. Inside if someone managed to land the ball in a cup the other team had to take half a shot of vodka. Los Angeles had wanted to do full shots but Elsa and New York talked him out of it, if only for not dying reasons.

Even so after a few games with no true stand-out winner, just a bunch of dumb luck, they were all fairly buzzed. Flushed creeks and slurred speech. Outside the storm finally hit. Rain battered the small basement windows and thunder boomed overhead.

With each thunderclap, Elsa reached for Anna’s hand and wouldn’t let go till the other girl gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Finally, everyone seemed to have enough of the game and collapsed into bean bag bars that Anna and Elsa had both not noticed before. Elsa scooted her bean bag closer to Anna’s, the other two people didn’t seem to notice. New York was hanging all over Los Angeles. Her fingers tracing the curve of his jawline down, her eyes practically boring holes into his face. He acted like he didn’t see, but it was obvious he knew.

“You guys can stay here for the night if you want since the storm sounds so bad,” Eugene said, dropping his horrible accent.

“That’s very kind, but it’s just a little rain, we’ll be alright,” Anna replied, completely forgetting their car was many blocks away.

New York stopped messing with her man and turned to them. “Anna, it’s more than a little rain. It’s a hurricane, I mean it was a tropical storm and it was supposed to miss us. But you know how it be sometimes.” She said with amazing clarity for a drunkard.

Elsa’s hand shot to Anna’s and she let out an audible gasp. She had refused to check the weather before heading out the door today, figuring what she didn’t know, can’t hurt her. Which was stupid and out of character for someone who claims to be responsible.

Another boom followed by a bright flash of lightning illuminated the room for a brief second. Elsa looked terrified so Anna took it upon herself to change the subject.

“So we will be seeing you in two weeks right?”

Rapunzel playing New York smiled and clapped her hands together, “Yes! At the church!”

“For things better left unspoken,” Eugene playing Los Angeles groaned, covering his eyes with his forearm.

Another boom and the room was suddenly cast in darkness and accompanied by an eerie quiet. You never notice how much sound your electronics make till everything is off. Elsa grabbed Anna’s entire arm, holding it so tightly Anna was worried she would lose it.

“Ah fuck the power is out. We have some candles upstairs, I’ll be right back, Rapunzel can you see if the camping lantern is over on the shelf?”

“Um excuse me, it’s New York, but yes I will look.”

Two bodies moved away in the darkness, their paths illuminated by the small light on their phones. Next to Anna, Elsa’s breathing became rapid and she clung to Anna as if she was in danger of being blown away.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” Anna whispered, using her free hand to pet the top of Elsa’s head. The older girl shifted so in one fluid motion she was off her beanbag and on Anna’s before curling into the young girl’s side.

“I found it!” Rapunzel slash New York exclaimed. She turned it on and the room was partly lit up. She walked back to where the other two women were cuddled together and sat back down in her own beanbag.

“Wow, that’s like hella gay.” She said, pointing to the pair.

“Oh shut up, she just doesn’t like storms, you know that.” Anna quipped

Elsa let go of Anna’s arm long enough to extend a hand and flip off her cousin, earning her a laugh in response.

Eugene returned shortly after with the candles, a tray of food, and some cards. “Anyone up for a game of hurricane poker? It’s like regular poker only there’s a hurricane.”

He rejoined the group, placing the tray in the middle of everyone and paying no mind to the two women who now shared a beanbag.

Elsa lifted her head to look, the tray was adorned with a random assortment of food. Celery sticks, M&M’s, KitKat bars, Cheetos, Grapes, and some animal crackers. She made a face.

“What’s wrong uh bruh?” Eugene asked in a bad attempt to get back in character. Los Angeles would never quite be the character that New York was.

“I’ll only eat celery sticks if you pay me,” Elsa responded.

The next few hours consisted of Eugene completely wiping the floor with everyone. They played for the M&M’s, of which he now owned all of. With the power still out and the storm still raging on the decision was made for the sisters to spend the night over.

Their room was completely unrenovated, the same wood paneling from the living room made up the walls and the carpet was a thick green shag rug. Eugene was right about one thing though, the paneling sure did dampen the sound. Once the door was shut the two women could hardly hear anything, which was good because Rapunzel had started blasting Mandy Moore music for some reason.

There was only one bed, pushed into the corner, but it didn’t matter anyway. There could have been 80 beds and they still would have shared just one.

Anna laid down on her back and traced the grains in the wooden wall. “Really makes you want to carve something in this stuff you know? Something that would be around for hundreds of years.”

“Please don’t vandalize our cousin’s house,” Elsa said before sitting on the edge of the bed. She turned the lantern off so the only source of the light in the room was the candle on the nightstand.

“You alright?” Anna asked, propping herself up on one elbow.

“Yeah, I’m just worried about the storm, I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Anna reached out and gently grabbed Elsa’s arm, guiding her back to lay in the bed next to her. “Do you want to sleep or keep your mind off things?”

Elsa paused for a brief moment before removing her arm from Anna’s grip. “I don’t know…”

“It’s your choice, either way, I’m here for you.” Anna smiled at her, a flash of lightning lit up the room but no thunder.

It startled Elsa but she remained where she was, staring at Anna. Thinking, always thinking.

“It’s just a storm and this old house seems to be built like a tank anyway.” She made a fist and pounded the wall to prove her point.

Elsa started twirling the end of one of Anna’s braids but her eyes remained locked on Anna’s. The delayed thunderclap came and Elsa inhaled sharply. Anna leaned over and kissed the top of her forehead.

“You sure this is okay?” Elsa asked and Anna nodded, running the back of her hand down the other girl’s cheek. “Let’s get our mind off of things then.”

Elsa crawled till she was straddling Anna who gazed up at her with eyes that shown like stars in the candlelight.

“What’s your favorite constellation?”

“Hmm, probably Orion, because you can find his belt so easy,” Anna answered, “Yours?” “Your eyes”

“Ew, that’s so fucking cheesy.”

Elsa leaned down, her mouth slightly agape. Anna’s eyes fluttered shut as her hands found their way to the other woman’s shoulders.

The storm, the damage, their car, all these things could wait until tomorrow. Tonight they were out of their control so for tonight they didn’t matter.

Elsa blew out the candle, and they both plunged into the sinful escape of the darkness.

[thiswasinevitableid]

winter prompt fill 5, indruck, nsfw?

5: your car slid into a snowbank and i’m the mechanic that comes to tow you

Two hours.

Two fucking hours, that’s how far this guy is from town. But because he’s three hours from the one to the west, it’s Duck’s company that got the call from AAA for a tow. On night three of what's forecasted as a week-long snowstorm.  And because it’s that kind of job, the call came in at 4:45 pm. At least he’ll get overtime for this. 

Being out of Kepler means the radio has real stations, half of them playing blocks of pop hits and the other half blaring Christmas carols. Duck doesn’t mind either, settles on listening to crooning about sleigh bells and winter wonderlands as he tries to keep the truck from sliding into snow piles. 

He’s all prepared to be aggravated at whoever was clueless enough to get themselves stranded and stick him with the four hour round-trip, but the closer he gets to his destination the more he sympathizes. Because this is a rural two-lane highway and not a major through-road, the maintenance is spotty at best. Couple that with the still-falling snow and he’s just glad the guy was in the kind of accident where he could still make a call after it.

The last half-hour he’s down to thirty miles an hour, lets out a groan of relief when the dead  taillights of a car reflect back at him. Once he positions the truck and hops out, he rolls his eyes; the sedan doesn’t have snow tires or chains on, something even a person with a Nevada license plate should have known to carry north.

Duck wonders if being unprepared is a habit when the driver steps out in far too light a coat for the weather, shuddering and stuttering out an “Th-thank g-goodness.”

“Guessin you’re Mr. Wilde?” 

Pale hair falls over red glasses as the man nods. With his hood up, he looks owlish, guarded. He’s all limbs and edges, and Duck can’t help but think of a stray cat that needs a warm bed and some food. 

“Go ahead and get up into the passenger seat. Heat ain’t runnin, but it’s sure as heck warmer than out here. I’ll get her hitched up and we can get going.”

Another nod, the man hunching forward as he scurries into the truck. This is the easy part, getting the damaged car hooked to the truck and freeing it from the snow. The hard part comes when they turn towards town, two hours of darkness and icy roads ahead of them. 

“I’m so sorry you had to come all this way. I, ah, did not intend to crash, nor to do so this far from help.”

“Hey, it’s what we’re here for. Gonna be slow goin on the way back, since it’ll be real fuckin embarassin to call a tow truck for a tow truck.”

A snicker, “I picture them as growing exponentially larger, like nesting dolls. A tow truck towing a tow truck towing a tow truck towing a car would be the size of a semi.”

Duck chuckles, “Yeah, it’d be a sight. And a fuckin nightmare for anyone who got behind it.”

The cab is warming nicely, so his passenger pulls back his hood. In the darkness he can tell the pale hair is metallic silver, and there’s a hell of a bruise blooming on his forehead. Duck’s never seen anyone quite like him, and if their survival didn’t depend on his concentration, he’d spend the next hour studying him.

“Damn, got banged up in the crash huh.”

“Yes.” The man gingerly touches the bruise, sighs, “It’s my own fault for being careless.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, nearly spun out on the way to get you from the damn black ice.”

“I wish I could say that was the sole cause, but I was also asleep.”

Duck bites back the urge to scold him; he wants him to be comfortable around him and besides, even if Duck is having a crappy night, this guy is having an even worse one.

“Wouldn’t be the first person who thought they could make it one more town before stoppin for the night and was wrong.”

“True. It’s just that, ah, I’ve been driving three days straight without sleep.”

“Jesus Christ, you on the lamb or somethin?”

In his periphery, he swears the taller man flinches. 

“No. Just having bad luck with a chaser of poor choices.”

“Gotcha.” Duck drums on the wheel, “so, uh, Mr. Wilde, what do you do when you ain’t stuck in the snow?”

“I draw. And Indrid is fine…” he peers awkwardly at Duck’s name tag, “Duck.”

“It’s a nickname.”

“Ah. Are you a mechanic as well as a driver?”

“Yep. Do it part-time when I’m not workin at the national forest. Friend of mine, Ned, runs the garage attached to the Cryptonomica.”

“I recall seeing that when I drove through. Quite the Jacks of all trades, you two,”

“Most of Kepler’s got more’n one job. It’s the kind of place that’s always losin fundin or people, just barely stayin afloat.”

“One sympathizes. Do you like your jobs?”

“Trained in forestry, so it’s always what I’ve wanted to do. The mechanic stuff,” Duck shrugs, “nice workin with my hands and beein able to help folks out. And I ain’t half bad at it.”

“I certainly appreciate your efforts. I--wait, hold on, I’m sorry but I need to…” he turns up the radio, playing what Duck assumed was Santa Baby from the melody.

“He is saying ‘buddy.’ What in the world? Why would you change it?”

“Can’t have the fella in the red velvet suit thinkin you’re gay.” Duck jokes. 

“Heaven forbid.” Indrid smiles, and Duck likes the expression so much he decides to see if he can get him to do it again.

“You wanna hear a slightly inappropriate joke?”

“Absolutely.”

“How come Santa don’t have any kids?”

“How come?”

“Because he only comes once a year and it’s down a chimney.”

There’s a beat and then Indrid guffaws, covering his face with his hands as his whole body shakes with amusement, “that was horrible, do you have any more?”

Thank god he’s got a wealth of bad jokes tucked in his brain. When he exhausts those he and Indrid trade brainteasers, stopping now and then to talk about their lives. The taller man asks Duck about his jobs, about the woods, and the town, and offers a few anecdotes in exchange. Duck senses they’re about they’re set in a time in his life that’s further away than Indrid would like. 

Indrid also readily shares the snacks from his small backpack. Duck eats what he can while still safely piloting the car. Then nearly takes them across the yellow line when Indrid unwraps a Starburst with his tongue, and prays the man will stay in Kepler long enough for Duck to take him to dinner.

-------------------------------------

Given he was expecting a painfully awkward trip at best, Duck’s friendliness is a welcome surprise. Now that they’ve been stuck in the car together for close to two hours, Indrid is confident saying this is most fun he’s had talking to someone in a long time, even before things went all to hell. 

It helps that Duck is the picture you’d get if you googled “Indrid Cold’s type”; sturdy, handsome in an unassuming way, undoubtedly pleasant to cuddle, with muscles that Indrid is positive could hold him up against a wall for at least a few minutes. In another life, one that’s so far away he fears he imagined it, he’d wait until they were done with the business portion of this evening, then slip Duck a card with his name in silver letters and his hotel room number on the back. The man is so genuine in his kindness too, Indrid feeling safer in the dark with him than he’s felt in years.

Which makes him feel even worse about what he’s going to do.

“Not too far now.” Duck turns the windshield wipers up a notch, “thank fuck for that.”

Indrid curls forward, holding his stomach, “I, ah, I really hate to say this, but I’m afraid my gas station lunch is coming back up.”

“Shit, okay, lemme pull over.” Duck guides the truck onto the side of the road, “do what you gotta do.”

His hands are on his lap, keys still dangling from the ignition. Indrid lunges over, grabbing them and trying to shove Duck into the door in one go. The mechanic is too fast, yanking the keys to his chest.

“What the fuck man!?”

“I’m so sorry about this!”

“Then fuckin stop!” Duck kicks, misses, and Indrid knees him in the stomach as gently as he can.

“I can’t, I need the truck.”

“Are you fuckin car-jackin me right now?”

“It’s not personal.” He gets the keys away, only for the world to flip ninety degrees as Duck tackles him backwards.

“It sure feels like it is!”

Indrid hoped that his survival instincts would kick in hard enough to make up for the exhaustion and that coupled with the element of surprise would bring him success. Instead, his limbs have no power behind them, and all he can do is curse when the driver flips him onto his stomach, trapping his hands behind his back and pinning him with his body weight. 

“Fuck.” It’s a pathetic noise for a pathetic man.

“Explain. Now.” Duck growls.

“I, I, you were right when asked if I was on the lamb.”

“....fuckin what?”

“It was a set up, and I finally, finally got free, and, and I will not go back, I can’t, but if I’m out a car I need a replacement and-”

“And you almost stole a truck that’s got a goddamn tracker in it.”

“Oh.” He presses his face to the seat in shame.

“Somethin tells me you ain’t a seasoned crook.”

“I’m not a criminal at all! I have no idea what I’m doing. I was just going to drive and drive until I hit the coast, I hadn’t even decided what to do after. I, I’m sorry, I waited until we got close to town so you wouldn’t be too far away to walk home safely. I, ah, I wasn’t prepared for having to do this to someone I like.”

Duck shifts above him, mutters, “what the fuck do I do now” to himself, and tightens his hold on Indrid’s wrists. 

Indrid whimpers, realizing with horror that his body responded to the mechanics of the fight but not it’s context.

Duck freezes at the noise, and when Indrid hazards a peek the mechanic is staring down in disbelief. 

“Are you fuckin hard from this?”

There’s no use in lying, he’s faced worse humiliation than this, “Some. Not on purpose. I, ah, I enjoy rough treatment.”

Duck’s face fills with bitter amusement, “And I like givin it. But not to fellas who nearly steal my truck. Fuckin figures the first guy to flirt with me is doin it for some other reason.”

“That’s not true, my plan involved no flirting.” Indrid huffs, “I was flirting because I think you’re handsome.”

More pressure on his back as Duck leans down to whisper in his ear, grinding against his ass, “Yeah? Were you hopin I’d fuck you in here? Or over the hood when we got back?”

“Maybe.” He manages a smirk.

“Hopin I’ll fuck you now?”

Indrid nods, but Duck doesn’t notice. The mechanic sits all the way back, releasing his hands, “too damn bad, because unlike you, I only take things with permission.”

“C-consider it granted.” 

The hand finds his back again, but instead of shoving or grabbing it strokes up and down, “Indrid, I’m serious. I ain’t doin anythin if the only reason you’re offerin is because you think I’ll hurt you if you don’t.”

“I’m not. I want this, Duck, I want to be with you.” He’s going back to jail one way or another after this, unwilling to consider the thought of hurting Duck to get the keys. He’d rather go back with one happy memory and a few minutes of fun freshly stored in his mind. 

There’s silence, Duck’s hand still as he thinks. Then it comes down hard on Indrid’s ass, “Okay sugar, happy to oblige you. Besides, seems to me you owe me an apology for that sorry excuse for a car theft.” 

Indrid moans loudly when Duck hauls onto his elbows and knees, though it’s the pet name that hits deeper than any of the much-welcome pain. The waistband of his dollar store sweatpants hits his thighs, there’s a pop of something plastic, and then a slick finger is teasing between his asscheeks. 

“Vaseline. Great for keepin your skin from cracking in the cold.”

The finger disappears and he whines, pushing his ass back and getting it slapped so hard he yelps. 

“Nice try. But this ain’t for you, it’s for me. Don’t got a condom and only got a tiny bit of this left and it ain’t enough to fuck you full on.”

“It’s alright, I like the pain, you could use spit or-”

“Nope” another slap, “that turns into the bad kinda pain real quick. Now open your fuckin legs.”

Indrid does so, gasps happily when Duck slides his lubed-up cock between his thighs. 

“Close ‘em and keep ‘em closed. Good, ohfuckyeah that’s good.” The thrusts are already fast, Ducks hands holding his hips in place, “fuck, tell you what sugar, you may be a shitty crook but you’re a damn good lay.”

“Yes.” Indrid moans, scrabbling for a hold on the upholstery.

“Shit, you do like it rough. Like it when I talk like that?” One hand comes down, petting Indrid’s head and brushing his hair away from where it’s stuck over his eyes. 

“So much, Duck, please, please, more, I want more AHgod!” Tears slip past his glasses as Duck hits the right side of his ass over and over again. He’s been treated like a criminal mastermind, made miserable because of it, so being nothing more than an eager piece of ass is a welcome change.

“Then I oughta tell you this is what you get for tryin to get one over on me. Think you can throw my ass out in the cold? Gonna turn yours so red you won’t be able to sit for a week.”

He’s so hard it isn’t even funny, and beneath the wonderful cycle of pain-relief-pain-relief his mind chants safesafesafesafe.

“Fuck, Indrid, I’m so fuckin lucky you tried that stunt on me, can’t wait to cum all over that cute little ass, ohyeah, fuck, fuckyeah.” He pulls out, cum spurting onto Indrid’s ass and legs and Indrid hears his own voice saying “thank you” as he does. 

As he’s contemplating what form of begging will earn him an orgasm, he’s flipped onto his back, one calloused hand pressing him down by the shoulder while the other jerks him off. He squeaks and squirms, one palm thwacking into the door as his right leg catches the steering wheel. 

“Sensitive, sugar?”

“Yes.”

“Shoulda thought of that before you bent over for me.”

“TechnicallyAH, you, you’re the one who bent me over.”

Duck jerks him extra hard in reply, grinning. The sight of him is just the right balance of menacing and protective that Indrid only needs two more bucks of his hips before he’s cumming. The mechanic works him through it, squeezing him roughly just to hear him whimper (Indrid’s certain of it).

He sits back and starts putting his clothes in order as Indrid lays there, panting from exertion and the weight of reality on his chest. 

“I don’t suppose you have something I can, ah, wipe off with before you take me to the station?” He asks softly.

“I’m not taking you to the police, Indrid.”

“What? Why?” He bolts up, his mind screaming that he shouldn’t ask too many questions lest it make Duck change his mind. 

“I’m not sure what kinda guy fucks someone and then hands them over to the cops, but I’m damn sure I don’t wanna be one.”

“You’d do that without even knowing the full truth?”

“Wouldn’t mind if you told me.” Duck starts the car, adds “seatbelt” as he pulls back onto the road. 

Indrid gets his pants up and buckles in, huddling in on himself, “As you probably guessed, my name isn’t Wilde. It’s Indrid Cold. Wilde was the man I stole that car from, who also had a very nice AAA plan it seems. I am, or was, an architect. Quite talented, if I do say so myself. And many other people said so, once upon a time. My firm got a contract with a certain large city to design and help build a bridge. I was head of design, and I was certain this would be the project that made my name. It did. Just not how I hoped.”

Duck slows down as they reach the edge of Kepler. 

“Have you ever heard of the Silverlake Bridge?”

“Ain’t that the one that collapsed a few years agooh, oh shit was that your bridge?”

“Yes. Halfway through the project, I became concerned that certain elements of the design would not be as stable as they needed to be and might collapse without warning. The higher ups said it would require a larger budget to do the new, far safer design, but gave me the go ahead to finish my proposal of the securer model. They accepted that design, and I thought that was the end of it. Turns out, they funneled the money needed for the better bridge into their own pockets, both my bosses and the representatives from the city. Unbeknownst to me, they built the weaker bridge. When it collapsed I” he takes a deep breath, the memories surfacing in a tidal wave, “I was shocked, and prepared to accept responsibility, as I could not understand how the design failed. It was only when the investigation revealed how it failed that I understood my warnings had been ignored and I was being set up as a fall guy. Not only for the collapse, but for the missing funds, my bosses swearing up one side and down the other that they’d given the money to me to manage. They’d had this planned for months, and so had built our communication in such a way that I had no proof the money hadn’t come to me. Thus I was blamed, tried, and convicted, and in the minds of many I am responsible for the death of 67 people.”

The engine shuts off and he looks up to see them in an auto garage. Duck is turned to him, face so sad and sympathetic that Indrid could almost believe..

“You think I’m telling the truth.”

“I know you are. Not sure how, but even though I ain’t much of a liar myself, I can usually tell when someone is bullshittin me.”

“I don’t want to go back to prison.” 

“You won’t.”

“Duck I, I can’t ask you to hide me, that could put you in danger of arrest.”

“There’s all of four cops in Kepler, and I’d bet my life no one here could pick you out of a line-up as a ‘disgraced architect Indrid Cold.’ And if we need a cover story, Ned’s got a knack for ‘em.”

“We?”

Duck cups his cheek and Indrid leans into it, “You and me. Indrid, I think fate is a load of bullshit, but I can’t shake the feelin me pickin you up tonight was meant to be. Lemme help you, please.”

Indrid sets his hand on Duck’s own, “Okay. Ah, where do I stay? I have fifty dollars left.”

“Could stay with me if you want. No strings attached.”

“Is that your way of letting me down gently?”

“My way of saying you don’t gotta fuck me to have a place to live. If you wanna fuck me just because, say the word and I’ll rail you into next week.”

“I’d like both those things so very much. Though right now all I want is to sleep.”

Duck leans forward, kissing him so chastely that the following lovebite is all the more thrilling.

“In that case, sugar, let’s get you home.”

[tvdstelenaforever]

Till UnDead Do Us Part

TVD Kai Parker imagine | Who is She? Part 3

Theme: Fluff, smut, death, car accident, torture (18+)

Other: Y/N pronoun is she/her and is a human, then newly turned vampire

Plot: Kai and Y/N fall into some danger in New Orleans which test their relationship and finally come to realise what they truly want.

Word Count: 7.8k

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy this third and final installment. I really enjoyed writing this mini fanfic series. If you have any requests, then send them over! :)

--------------

Klaus was livid. He didn’t know how Bonnie could mistakenly send Y/N to a prison world. Y/N had forgiven Bonnie as she knew it was an accident but Klaus not so much.

“Klaus, she said she was sorry. It’s not a big deal, I’m fine and I’m out now” Y/N exclaimed. Elijah could sense Klaus getting agitated so he tried to diffuse the potential angry outburst. “Niklaus, Y/N is safe now. She’s living with us so she’ll be in safe hands again” It seemed to work until Klaus caught sight of Y/N and Kai in a hug.

“I thought it was understood that you two would stay away from each other. I don’t want you to get Y/N into any danger” Klaus said in Kai’s face. This angered Y/N who was about to rip one into Klaus.

“I don’t understand why all of you can date whoever you want without being told not to. I’m sick of people being horrible to Kai. I’m in love with him and none of you are going to stop us being together”. Suddenly Klaus could see it clear as day. He recognized that aura and took a step back.

With gritted teeth, Klaus allowed them to stay together. He wasn’t sure it was a good idea but he could now tell that they were indeed serious about their love. Kai was stoic, not showing his true feelings but it was just to guard his emotions. The thought of being away from Y/N made his heart ache.

“Fine, but that means he’s going to have to move to New Orleans as I’m not letting you back in Mystic Falls. I’ll be keeping an eye on you miss”. Y/N turned to Kai, pleading with her eyes. Luckily he didn’t need any convincing. 

“I’ll be glad to leave this hellhole” Kai retorted sarcastically. The idea of living somewhere else was quite thrilling to him, especially as he wouldn’t be known and judged. However, knowing the Mikaelson family there'd be a lot of drama.

It turned out that when both Y/N and Kai were in the prison world, Stefan had to make the dreaded call to Klaus. They all spent hours upon hours trying to figure out how to bring Y/N back so Bonnie was worked to the bone researching through grimoirs and contacting other witches. On the Mikaelson’s side, Rebekah contacted the witches in the Quarter to help alleviate Bonnie’s workload. 

Finally there was hope when Bonnie found a passage in one of her Gram’s grimoirs. Rebekah gave it the once over and was impressed to see such an intricate and rare artifact. One of Rebekah’s contacts looked over the spell and confirmed that it was the right one. 

It was time to leave so Y/N said her goodbyes to the Mystic Falls gang and left hand in hand with Kai, followed by her family. The trip back to New Orleans started off awkwardly and continued being quiet. It was going to take a few days to get back, so hopefully no arguments would ensue. Y/N kept glancing over at Kai for reassurance but he kept his gaze ahead. Probably lost in his own thoughts. She squeezed his hand and leaned into him.

Kai was just trying to keep to himself to avoid any conflict, he didn’t want an argument to start. Normally he would be his witty carefree self but for Y/N’s sake he’d be good. He just wanted to be curled up with her by a fireplace, just mindlessly relaxing. Kai’s aimless thoughts suddenly made their way to his and Y/N’s night of passion. She made him feel seen and heard, but especially loved. It was a feeling he never had before and it was out of this world.

He never expected to fall in love, especially with someone who reciprocated those feelings. Kai glanced over at Y/N, a single tear falling from his cheek. Through the rear view mirror, Elijah witnessed the emotional moment. In that instance Elijah felt compassion for the young heretic. Before, he noticed the reckless behaviour and sharp tongue. Sure he was still like that but to less of an extent. It was certainly an improvement, a hugely welcomed one at that. What truly mattered to Elijah though was Y/N’s happiness.

A few more hours passed and Y/N fell asleep whilst everyone else just kept silent. Kai didn’t mind, he was just staring out the window. Elijah was busy concentrating on the road ahead, so Klaus and Rebekah eventually starting chatting idly together. It wasn’t long before Y/N awoke from an aching shoulder. She rubbed it, letting out a slight sigh.

Y/N felt strong hands massaging her right shoulder, the pressure being just right. She closed her eyes, trying to relax. It was so effective that Y/N nearly fell asleep again. However, before she could there was a sudden scream from Rebekah. “Elijah, watch out!” Kai only realised the seriousness of the situation a little too late. He was quick enough to react though as he shielded Y/N from the sudden impact. 

A bright light shone through the entirety of the car, illuminating everyone’s shocked expressions before the car was severely pounded into by the four thousand kilogram truck going the wrong way. The car flipped over several times before finally coming to a halt in the middle of the highway. Everyone would have scratches and bruises only to heal immediately, whereas Y/N’s fragile state was apparent. 

In the silence of the aftermath, Y/N could hear ringing in her ears and feel her pulse throbbing heavily. She was bleeding from her scalp, blood dripping down her forehead. She was still in Kai’s embrace, her breath hitching. She was slowly loosing consciousness but not completely. Kai knew what he had to do, it was the only way to make sure he wouldn’t loose her. 

He dug into his wrist with his fangs, drawing blood. With one swift motion he made Y/N drink from it. At first she objected but with enough force from Kai she gave in. Once she took enough Kai pulled his arm away. Everyone was still trapped due to the car being on it’s side. The smashed windows left debris scattered across the road, the sight quite shocking to witness. Luckily for the vampires nobody was actually around due to it being past midnight midweek. The truck that collided with them wasn’t in view as it had continued to skid down the highway and consequently falling into a ravine. 

Kai used his powers to allow them all to make their way out of the car unscathed. Unfortunately Y/N had gotten a concussion due to the impact, regardless of Kai’s protective embrace but it was worse than it seemed. It was more than likely she was suffering from a brain hemorrhage.

They now found themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere, half way to New Orleans. Y/N was laying on the ground in Kai’s arms, slowly falling into unconsciousness. Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah were standing around them, worried about Y/N’s life. “We need to give her our blood before she...” Rebekah trailed off, not wanting to admit the possible outcome. “She’ll be fine” Kai replied sternly, wanting to be left in peace with Y/N. 

“How can you be so calm?” Rebekah shouted back, who was getting visibly riled up. Blue and purple veins appeared from under her eyes. Before the situation could escalate even further, Klaus interjected. “Enough! Let me give her my blood, move out Kai” As he made his way to Y/N, Kai used his powers to make both him and Y/N disappear. The trio were left in bewilderment which was then followed by anger. “Typical Kai!” Klaus spat. Elijah tried to reason with his siblings. 

“Niklaus, Rebekah, we can’t act in haste. I’m sure Kai is handling it. If not, then he will meet his demise when we catch up to him” he reassured calmly. If it weren’t for Elijah, Klaus would be on a manhunt. Not a quiet one at that. The three of them decided to leave the scene and find their way back to their home through any means possible. 

***

Kai used his invisibility powers to hide them from the others. He had obviously overheard them speaking about getting revenge on him if Y/N died. Luckily for him that wouldn’t be an issue. However, as quick as he was listening to Y/N’s siblings go mad, she was slipping away under him. Kai heard her breath slow and he checked her pulse, squeezing her wrist. “Hey, Y/N?” he asked as he nudged her. No response. “Come on, wake up princess” Kai pleaded as he hugged her tightly. 

Kai was sitting down in the same place an hour later, still waiting for his love to wake up. He knew she’d make it, he gave her enough of his blood. She was officially dead so if it didn’t work Kai would go on an angry rampage. Before he could become riled up, he felt Y/N shift in his lap. Suddenly he heard a loud gasp emanate from Y/N as she awoke.

Y/N checked her surroundings, clearly confused. “Where am I? Kai?” she asked absentmindedly. Kai sighed in relief and brought Y/N in for a soft kiss. After pulling away, Y/N needed some answers. “Why does my head hurt? Wait, didn’t we, were’t we in a...” she trailed off as she started remembering the past chain of events. With wide eyes Y/N stood up and ran her left hand through her hair. When she inspected her hand she saw some blood and caught eyes with Kai. It immediately dawned on her what was happening. 

First it was the crash, followed by drinking Kai’s blood, then she felt herself fall out of consciousness. The time between then and awakening from her slumber was actually her being dead to becoming part of the undead. She shook her head, not wanting this to be real. “Hey, babe, it’s okay. I’m here for you sweetheart. I’ll help you get through this. I know it seems hard to wrap your mind around but it’ll soon be okay” he reassured. Kai knew that they had to get her to human blood before she died for good. 

“But, I don’t want to be a vampire” Y/N said sadly. Those words made Kai feel a little defeated. He saw this as their opportunity to be together forever. “Where’s Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah? Are they okay? Surely they’re okay!” Y/N asked impatiently. “Yes, they’re fine” he replied coolly, not caring about them.

“Then where are they?” Y/N said with her hands on her hips. Kai knew right then that he had to be careful what he said, he didn’t want her to retaliate against him. “They left for New Orleans after I made us invisible to them. I wanted us to be in peace before you awoke. They offered to give you their blood to save you, but I had already beaten them to it. I got annoyed because I said you’d be fine and they got mad at me for it”. The declaration was very Kai of him, Y/N thought. 

She thought better than to shout at him because she knew he meant well. She appreciated the gesture but would have loved to see her siblings as she awoke. She sighed loudly before grabbing Kai’s hand to pull him in for a hug. She needed his touch, shivering from the cold. Kai let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as he relaxed into the embrace.

As they pulled away from each other, Kai and Y/N started trekking along the highway, hoping to catch a ride. Not long into their walk, a dark grey saloon car slowed to a halt near them. The window slid down slowly, revealing a young man in his twenties in the driver’s side. Next to him sat a young lady who wasn’t recognizable in the dim light.

“We really need a ride, our car broke down and got towed” Kai said with a smile. The driver and his passenger agreed so Kai opened the door for Y/N to slide in. He then closed the door behind him. He took Y/N into his arms to keep her warm since she was still shivering. 

The journey started off quietly as the driver didn’t really engage in conversation. He only asked where the two of them were headed and agreed to take them all the way there. Y/N was starting to get worse as her body started shaking. Kai’s facial expression changed in an instant, becoming worried for Y/N. “We need to get you some human blood asap!” he whispered in her ear. Y/N hesitated before nodding in response. 

They were finally nearing New Orleans after a couple of hours, Y/N still shivering but thankfully not becoming critical. She looked Kai in the eyes, silently letting him know that she needed blood. “How long will we be until we get there?” Kai asked the driver, hoping the answer was good. “In twenty” he said matter of fact. That was good, Kai thought. “We need to get dropped off at the hospital instead” he demanded. A nod was given in response through the rear view mirror. 

Finally the hospital was in sight. They couldn’t wait any longer so Kai got the car to pull over. Kai lifted Y/N into his arms, running vampire speed to the hospital doors. She sat outside whilst she waited for Kai to get her a blood bag. When he reappeared, he ripped it open and handed it to her. At first she chocked on the blood but soon got accustomed to the metallic taste. The feeling of it trickling down her throat suddenly felt good as she squeezed the bag in a firm grip in her fist.

Y/N let the bag drop from her hand and licked her lips to get rid of the excess blood staining her mouth. Kai was eagerly awaiting her response. “So, was it good?” Instead of giving a positive reply Y/N bowed down her head, feeling ashamed. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Kai asked worriedly, wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t want to be a vampire! This wasn’t meant to happen. I can’t Kai, I just cant!” Y/N blurted out, tears prickling her eyes.

“I don’t know what to tell you sweetheart. It’ll get better though, I promise. I’m here for you, I always will be my love” he tried to reassure. “I understand why you turned me, but I wish you asked me before forcing me to drink your blood. What if I was happy to die as a human? I love you, I do, but I wish I had the option” Y/N cried. “Just take me home”.

Kai was stunned at hearing Y/N’s true feelings. He assumed she was just hurting but deep down he felt as if she really meant it and not just due to the immediate shock. Without saying a word to each other, the pair headed off in the direction of the Abattoir. 

***

Y/N stood before her home, hesitating to enter. She really wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone, let alone her family. She just needed to be left in peace. Tears were threatening to fall but she forced them away. With a small intake of breath, she pushed open the door and marched through not waiting for Kai.

Y/N’s eyes made contact with the entrance gates, spotting Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah at the far end of the living room gathered by the coral sofa looking in the opposite direction. She took a moment to collect her thoughts before storming in, keeping her eyes on the right hand staircase. 

Upon hearing the gate clatter, Klaus spun around to see the potential intruder. His eyes widened at the sight of Y/N. He was so relieved to see her but at the same time was anxious to hear what had happened with her. Elijah and Rebekah’s eyes followed suit. Rebekah stood up from her seat, ready to pull Y/N into a much needed embrace. She couldn’t believe her eyes. However, Y/N ignored them as she marched all the way to the bottom of the right staircase. Before Klaus could say a word, Y/N beat him to it. “Don’t talk to me” she yelled as her feet clomped against the steps, walking in the direction of her bedroom.

The three siblings exchanged a look, brows furrowed in confusion. Before they could discuss the matter, Kai walked through nonchalantly. “Where did she go?” he called after Y/N. Elijah gave his siblings a confirmation look, in reference to his previous statement about not needing to get revenge on Kai for Y/N’s life if she survived. 

“Look who’s decided to crash the party” Rebekah snapped sarcastically, more to herself than anyone else. All of them followed Y/N, running vampire speed to the main upstairs hallway. Y/N flung open her bedroom door, not looking behind her as she walked through. With one swift motion of her hand she slammed the door shut. With wide eyes, Kai and the Mikaelson’s exchanged a confused expression. Was this what it really looked like? They all thought to themselves.

“What the hell...” Kai whispered to himself. As he took a step forward, Klaus grabbed him by the collar. “Where do you think you’re going?” Kai didn’t like being manhandled so he shook himself free and punched Klaus in the face. Klaus’s face filled with rage but Elijah quickly held him back. “Niklaus, calm down. Let him go to her”

He was still shaking but obliged. Klaus huffed off, with Rebekah in tow. “Kai, thank you” Elijah whispered to the heretic before joining his siblings. Kai was glad he had someone on his side outside of Y/N. On the other side of the door, Y/N was slouched on the floor by the window, leaning against her bed. The door creaked open slowly and shut quietly. She didn’t know who it was but she sighed in exasperation.

Kai spots Y/N sitting with her arms wrapped around her bent knees rocking back and forth, sobbing. Without hesitation he goes to sit down next to her, opening his arms for her. Y/N doesn’t budge, unwilling to face the world. They sit together like this for a while, not wanting to move. Eventually Y/N breaks away from Kai’s arms to look at his face. 

“What am I?” Y/N breaks the silence. This took Kai aback but he had to face the reality. To him it seemed obvious, she must be a witch vampire hybrid like himself. But this theory was to be tested. He couldn’t be sure. Maybe it wasn’t Y/N but just the wind. The fact that she questioned it must have been her. Kai’s head was starting to spin. He needed to feed. 

“We need to sustain ourselves” Kai blurted, pulling Y/N’s hand as he dragged her out the room. He was feeling rather peckish and knew Y/N had to feed as well. “What? Where are we going?” Y/N asked, perplexed. Ignoring her, Kai continued walking. They managed to walk out of the Abattoir without being noticed and blended into the crowd. 

It was a busy afternoon with the bustling street parties and bands playing jovial jazz music. Kai found the perfect alleyway to catch their pray. Nobody was walking through and Kai was getting fidgety. Randomly, he grabbed Y/N’s face and kissed her roughly. Y/N pulled away, confused and angry. “What is wrong with you Kai? Stop trying to be reckless”. Instead of replying, Kai turned to face the person who’s footsteps he could hear walking down the cobble street. In vampire speed, he grabbed their neck and dove in. Fangs ripping into flesh and blood cascading down his throat, Kai let out a moan. 

Y/N looked on in horror, not recognizing her love. Kai spun around and flashed a blood stained grin in her direction, motioning for her to come over. Y/N didn’t like seeing this side of him at all. When she wouldn’t budge, Kai huffed and used his magic to will her over. “Ugh, Kai!” Y/N yelled. Without hesitation Kai leaned in for another rough kiss. This time, Y/N relaxed into it. The taste of this human’s blood on her tongue made her feel fuzzy. 

The blood craze was making her not see sense and so Y/N went to sink her own teeth into the poor human’s exposed neck. Seeing Y/N like this lit up Kai’s whole demeanor. He was finally seeing her accepting this part of herself. Unknowingly this was going to be the catalyst for Y/N’s heretic acceptance. 

He grinned as she gave him a devilish smirk. When Y/N was satisfied from her feed she dropped the body which landed with a thud on the cold concrete. After discarding the body, the two of them decided to go back home.

Upon entering, the three siblings plus Kol were all gathered in the main hall in deep conversation. Y/N screeched with happiness when she laid eyes upon her beloved brother. They all turned to the sound of her voice. Kol’s eyes lit up when he saw her. She ran into his open arms, beaming happily. 

“You’ve perked up” Elijah smiled. “I feel so much better. All I needed was some sustenance” Y/N replied, exchanging a knowing smile with Kai. “We really need to address the elephant in the room” Klaus stated, staring at Y/N. For a split second Kai thought it was going to be about him, but was eager to get this conversation delved into. They all needed to know what Y/N was, especially for her sake and safety. 

Y/N shifted on her feet, feeling uncomfortable at the sudden spotlight moment. “Kai, you’re a heretic. You should know if she’s like you” Kol interjected. “But, how could I be a heretic? I was never a witch” Y/N offered. The sudden realisation hit everyone, Y/N was likely a witch before she died. Nobody, not even Y/N knew about her old life. 

“We need to take her to the witches” Klaus knew that it was the best way to figure this out. Klaus and Y/N left for the cemetery with Rebekah and Kai tagging along. When they arrived at the gates a large gust of wind brewed, making the girl’s hair swish in the air. It was as if the witches were expecting them. Following their way through the maze-like layout of tombstones, the group hurried along. They wanted to leave as soon as possible. The witches didn’t like vampires hanging around there, especially the Mikaelson’s.

Arriving at the covered grave where the witch ancestors were located, Klaus coughed to get any witches attention, living or dead. Sometimes the live witches would be here attending to their own business. A young woman with long luscious mahogany hair walked out and greeted them with a cold smile. She seemed to know the Mikaelson’s very well but wasn’t too pleased about their acquaintance. 

“Sophie, a pleasure” Elijah said as he took the woman’s hand in his to plop down a kiss. Kai had no idea who she was and didn’t care. He needed answers. Likewise, Sophie didn’t recognize the young man with jet black hair and deep blue eyes. “Oh, this is Kai Parker. Kai, this is Sophie Deveraux” Elijah introduced the pair to each other.

Something seemed to register in Sophie’s mind as the name rang a bell. “Parker, huh? The name is familiar but I can’t place it unfortunately. Or maybe fortunately, I don’t know” she smirked. Kai wanted to sucker punch the woman but at the same time thought she was funny. He rushed the thought away, not wanting to become distracted at the task at hand.

“We’re here because we have a situation regarding our honorable sister Y/N” Klaus started. “She just recently turned vampire but we witnessed a magic outburst. She flung her hand and slammed the door shut with such force it was most definitely magic. We don’t know if she was a witch before she died” Klaus finished. 

Sophie pondered the question, taking time to digest the information. After a minute in thought Sophie grabbed Y/N’s temples and squeezed tightly. All of a sudden Y/N burst out into a banshee like scream at the intensity of the pain. She let go of her head and went back into the temple grave. When she returned she had some really vital information.

“I’ve consulted with my ancestors and we can confirm that she was indeed a witch before she died” as the news processed in Y/N’s mind, her eyes widened. She shook her head. Kai grabbed her hand and squeezed. Sophie continued “What’s really surprising is which family she belongs to”. Klaus’s ears perked at the sudden revelation. “Do go on” he demanded. 

“Are you acquainted with the Bennett witches?” Sophie asked. The air seemed to feel thicker as everyone was shocked into silence. “In order for Y/N to be a heretic she would have needed the blood of one” Sophie relayed. Everyone but Sophie turned to Kai. Sophie raised her eyebrows. “Y/N’s a heretic because of Kai since she drank his blood to save her from dying in that car crash” Rebekah told Sophie.

“That would be the reason she’s a hybrid. That’s a powerful creature to be, she needs to watch her back” Turning to Y/N, Sophie directed this at her. “You’ll have a target on your back like Klaus when people find out, be wise who you surround yourself with”. The ominous message sent shivers down Y/N’s spine. That annoyed Kai and he yanked Y/N’s hand to escape this dark place.

“Great! We left Mystic Falls to move to a more dangerous city. This is just perfect Y/N!” he sighed angrily. “Don’t you want to talk about what I am?” Y/N replied shyly. They stopped in their tracks and Kai looked at Y/N properly. A tear fell down his cheek as he finally digested the question. “I’m sorry if you hate me even more because of this but I had to do what I needed to in order to save your life. You’re everything to me and if that means you want to leave me because of this, then by all means...” Y/N shut him up with a tender kiss.

“I’m more shocked to know I’m related to Bonnie” Y/N laughed against Kai’s lips. He scoffed lightheartedly, laughing afterwards. “I’m sure she’d be thrilled” he replied. The pair decided to go back to the Abattoir to get some much needed rest.

***

Soon word was spreading across the city among the supernatural of the existence of a new vampire witch hybrid with as much power as Klaus Mikaelson, maybe if not more. Most people were keen on staying as far away from the heretic as possible to avoid danger or death. However, one individual in particular had a plan he needed to execute. 

The power he’d have with such a being was priceless. First he had to find a way to steal the young heretic from the prying eyes of the Mikaelson’s. After long hours of plotting, the young man had the perfect idea. He would implement it the following morning.

Light jazz music was playing in the street and Y/N smiled at Kai in their bed. “Morning Princess” he cooed. She kissed his cheek before getting up and finding some black jeans and a black peplum top. She then chucked on some black laced boots. “Damn, you look hot” Kai smirked. Y/N laughed joyously. He loved her laugh, it was infectious.

“Let’s go outside and join the party” Y/N winked. Kai just couldn’t resist so they left hand in hand. Once they reached the street they made their way through the bustling crowd. For an instant they let go of each others hand which was a massive mistake. Y/N tried finding Kai in the sea of people but failed. 

On the left hand side of the street, the hunter followed Y/N’s movements. He had his target in sight. Perfect, he thought. He inserted himself in the crowd as he kept tabs on Y/N. As she stepped aside into a small alleyway, his eyes lit up. How easy was she making this for him? He laughed to himself. As he made his way into the alleyway, Y/N wasn’t facing him. Using his right arm to grab Y/N from behind and using his left hand to inject her with some sleeping agent, she fell limp in the strangers arms. 

Y/N groaned as she regained consciousness. She tried to move her hands but was stuck. Looking down she saw that she was tied with duct tape to this uncomfortable wooden chair. She didn’t even know how she got here in this dark and dingy empty warehouse. It smelt damp and pungent. Y/N tried to understand her bearings. She had never been here before, she could be far out of the city for all she knew. 

A clatter erupted from somewhere close by which caught Y/N’s attention. She could hear so well with her newly acquired powers and it was a little overwhelming. She wasn’t used to it yet. Finally a shadowy figure came into view from Y/N’s left. Only when the person came into close proximity that Y/N could take in his appearance. 

The youthful captor had dark red hair, emerald green eyes and was wearing a navy blue leather jacket with a black shirt and slacks. For shoes he wore some black Oxford’s. His features were almost clown like and he was smirking smugly. Y/N felt an unsettling feeling in her stomach, something felt very ominous about this man. 

“What am I doing here? Who are you and what do you want?” Y/N asked nervously. “So many questions dear, don’t worry I’ll answer them all in good time” he laughed. Y/N felt her skin crawl as she shivered. First he grabbed some plants which looked exactly like vervain. Y/N’s eyes widened as she realised what was about to happen. Y/N shuffled in her seat as she tried to move but to no avail. The hunter smiled sadistically as he slapped the bunch of vervain onto Y/N’s exposed arm. She screamed as it torched her skin with a burning sensation. 

“So to answer one of your questions, my name is Nolan. Who I really am doesn’t matter” The next mode of pain was Nolan’s fist smacking the side of Y/N’s face. Blood trickled down her nose and her cheek stung from the forceful impact. She squinted for some relief. “What do I want, you ask? Well, I want your powers. Then you’re as good as dead” Nolan shrugged nonchalantly.

“But how did you find me? How do you know what I am?” Y/N asked. “You don’t think witches talk, Y/N Bennett?” Nolan laughed manically. Y/N shivered at his coldness. Of course, the witches were blabber mouths Y/N thought. Being part of the supernatural came with an element of danger no matter how safe you tried to be. The sound of the name escaping his lips made Y/N feel uncomfortable. She may be a descendant of the Bennett witches but she wasn’t a Bennett. She was a Mikaelson. Figuratively and legally, since Y/N changed her surname to Mikaelson when she joined her family.

Nolan was enjoying playing with his pray, like cat and mouse. He enjoyed using the vervain on Y/N, so he grabbed two lots of it in both hands and started caressing her arms from the top all the way to the tips of her fingers. An echoing of screams filled the warehouse. 

Whilst Y/N was enduring her ordeal, Kai on the other hand was searching for her. Once he lost her in the crowd he made his way back to the Abattoir since he couldn’t locate her alone. When he arrived he spotted Rebekah and got her to help him. “I need you to help me with a locator spell. We already have something of Y/N’s in her room. We need to act promptly” Kai asked impatiently. With Y/N’s hair and Kai’s blood with the map of New Orleans, they began the spell. 

Y/N’s location appeared from the blood smudges, highlighting an old abandoned warehouse just outside of the French Quarter. “Why the hell would she be there of all places?” Kai huffed. “She must have been abducted” Rebekah came to the sudden realisation. “Thanks, I’m going to rescue her alone. If I need backup I’ll call” and with that Kai stormed off.

The journey didn’t take long but time was of the essence. Kai cloaked himself to become invisible as he checked out the perimeter. In the interior, Nolan was continuing his handiwork. As Kai entered the building he could hear Y/N’s screams. It pained him to hear her suffer so atrociously. 

Kai undid his invisibility cloaking and mistakenly bumped into the wall, consequently letting something clink to the ground with a small ricochet. Nolan snapped his head to the sound of the commotion and raised his eyebrows at the sight of the intruder. 

“Hmm, who do we have here?” he hummed. Y/N was limp in her seat as she was worn out from the vervain burning. Kai used his vampire speed to reach Y/N but Nolan tried pushing Kai to no avail. He was just stronger than him. Kai started chanting a spell to help loosen her tied hands.

“There’s two of you?” he said with clear surprise. “If only I had known!” he exclaimed, delighted. Before he could continue his spiel, Kai squeezed his right hand into a fist with magic so he could strangle the maniac as tightly as possible, crushing his windpipe. He then fell to the ground, the life dissipating from his eyes. With a satisfied hum, Kai ran to Y/N. He undid her bound hands and feet from the wooden chair. 

Her under eyes were purple and black from being punched several times. Vervain marks were covering her arms like tattoo sleeves and Y/N was slouched forwards, head touching her chest. She groaned as Kai lifted her up in his arms. She had no energy left. 

Kai carried Y/N back home and placed her in her bed, pulling the covers over her. He decided to let Y/N rest until she felt good enough to talk with everyone.

Hours passed and Y/N eventually woke up. She called for Kai and he entered the room. “Can you lie down with me?” She asked with a small smile. Of course Kai would oblige, he wanted to smother her with affection. After a few minutes of silence, Kai asked Y/N about her captor. “Honey, do you know who did this to you?” He said motioning to her already healed arms. 

“He was just a power hungry psycho that’s all. All I know is that he was called Nolan. No surname given, he was just a complete stranger. I know he was a vampire and wanted to use me to become a heretic himself. I guess torture was just part of the fun” Y/N scoffed, still upset by the ordeal. 

The next few days consisted of Y/N relaxing in bed, sleeping, reading and snuggling with her love. Kai looked at Y/N briefly, admiring her soft features. Y/N wore a frown, deep in thought. “Are you alright?” He asked softly. “Oh sorry, yeah I’m okay. I was just thinking that since becoming part of the supernatural, I’m not so sure I really like it that much” Kai could sympathize with Y/N and he suddenly had the perfect idea.

“Babe, let me show you how good it really is” Kai replied with a sexy smirk.

He hovered over her and placed soft kisses on her neck, trailing down her stomach all the way to the hem of her jeans. He peered up at Y/N, smirking at what he was about to do.

First he pulled down her jeans and threw them to the floor. Then he did the same with her lacy underwear. Y/N bit her lower lip from being exposed. “I’m going to relish everything I’m about to do to you” Kai hummed. Before she had time to respond, Kai dove straight into Y/N’s sweet spot. He used his fingers to rub circles on her clit whilst his tongue swirled at her core.

Y/N gripped the bedsheets into her fists as Kai worked his magic. She couldn’t help but jerk her hips at the rhythm of which Kai pleasured her. A moan escaped Y/N’s lips, completely intoxicated. Kai pulled away, needing to see her face. Satisfied, he then decided to plunge two fingers into her and quickly pump in and out. Soft whimpers filled the room as Kai increased the speed.

Kai could tell Y/N was nearing her orgasm so he pulled his fingers out and sucked on them seductively, eyes boring into Y/N’s. She groaned out, missing his touch. It wasn’t long before Y/N felt her clit being stimulated again but Kai wasn’t physically doing anything. She raised her eyebrows when she figured out what he was doing.

Kai laughed at her realisation and slid off the bed. He undid his belt and yanked down his pants but kept on his boxers. As he glanced at Y/N arching her back in response to his magical fingering, he bit his lower lip. Her arousal was turning him on.

After a few seconds of admiring Y/N, Kai jumped on the bed. He caressed her leg and pushed her legs further apart. Replacing magic with flesh, Kai curled his fingers inside Y/N one more time. “That feels so good” She said breathlessly. Kai was getting increasingly aroused so he switched places with her and got her to grind on him, facing forwards so he could see her face.

Y/N started slow and gripped Kai’s arms. She dipped her head back as Kai was breathing heavily. He tried to stifle his moans but Y/N moved faster and with a little more force which resulted in Kai groaning out. His sounds were turning Y/N on so much that she moaned loudly against his lips. Kai gripped her ass and helped her movements. Y/N could feel him getting harder under his boxers and decided that she was going to pleasure him in return. She hadn’t really returned the favour so this time he was about to be treated.

She slid down his boxers and threw them away. First she sat on top of him to grind against him again as a warm up. The skin to skin contact caused a moan to escape both their lips due to the sensitivity. Once she was happy with her efforts, Y/N switched to using her hands.

Kai was shaking under her touch and bucked up his hips, totally immersed in his arousal. Before he could get nearer to his orgasm Y/N let go and Kai groaned in response. He grabbed Y/N’s waist and got her to grind against him again. “Can I fuck you?” Kai pleaded, the tensions starting to well up. Y/N shook her head as she kept her pace steady. Once she was satisfied, Y/N got up and this time used her mouth to pleasure him. Kai took some of her hair in his hands as she worked her own magic. As the pressure started to build Kai felt as if he was going to release. “Babe I’m about to...” He trailed off as Y/N went faster. She kept her hands firmly placed on his hips to keep him from moving around and pull out of her mouth. He moaned out as he came, the excess liquid dribbling down her chin. “Oh wow Y/N, I didn’t expect that. Mmm” Kai cooed.

Before Y/N could do anything, Kai flipped her over so he could hover over her. He pressed his body to hers and kissed Y/N deeply. His fingers found her clit again and moved frantically so he could hear her moan. Without any warning Kai lined up with her entrance and pushed into her. Moans intertwined between kisses and with intense panting, the tensions started building between their legs. Y/N rolled her eyes to the back of her head as her orgasm was nearing and Kai was focused on making Y/N feel good. Y/N screamed out as Kai pushed deeper and eventually they moaned in unison as they came together. Kai pressed his forehead to Y/N’s as he was still inside her. “I’m irrevocably in love with you Y/N” She smiled, then bringing him in for a soft kiss. “I love you too Kai Parker”.

“I want to be with you forever” Y/N eventually whispered in Kai’s ear, getting fed up with the constant danger. The memory of them in the prison world made Y/N feel emotional, missing their time in each others’ presence without other people. Kai gave her a knowing look, reciprocating the feeling. The constant danger since returning from the prison world gave them both the realisation that all they wanted was each other alone.

***

After some encouragement from Kai, Y/N built up enough courage to talk with her family about their wish. It was actually just a goodbye because they weren’t going to be told no. Y/N just didn’t know how they would take it, especially Rebekah. She paced around her room before trudging down the steps and gathered all her siblings in the living room. Kai soon followed and took his place next to Y/N, taking her hand in his. He nodded at her and she began.

“So I’ve gathered you all here because we have something we need to tell you. You may not like this at all, but we’ve made up our minds. We wouldn’t do this on a whim, and we’ve thought long and hard about this decision” Y/N started. She could see their confused expressions turn to somewhat of worry. “I don’t like where this is headed, Y/N” Rebekah said sternly. Y/N smiled sympathetically. “I know”. Kai squeezed her hand. “We’re going to ask Bonnie to send us back. It’s where we feel we belong. I don’t know if it’ll be reversible or not, so this is your time to say goodbye” Y/N finished. Rebekah had tears falling down her face, feeling the harsh reality of her words. 

Everyone else just stood there shell shocked. Elijah’s eyebrows furrowed and Kol just stared at Y/N in disbelief. Klaus wanted to respond but was speechless. Then all the siblings exchanged a look, eventually coming to an unspoken agreement. Klaus was the one to break the silence. “Y/N, you do realise you’ll probably never see us again. The prison world is quite complex and we may not be able to visit you or for you to come back to this plane. We love you Y/N, and...” He trailed off, afraid to say what he was about to. “This goodbye is hard. You mean everything to us and we’ve been there for you since the beginning of your new life, and it hurts” He said, finally admitting his vulnerability that he usually never did. This stunned Y/N and tears fell from her eyes, blurring her vision. Klaus then went to hug her, squeezing tightly. This was the final goodbye and they knew it. Y/N was going to cherish this moment forever. 

Then it was Elijah’s turn. His eyes were teary but he didn’t say anything as he brought Y/N in for a last embrace. As he pulled away Kol took his place. “I’m going to miss you sport” He smiled sadly after placing a kiss on her forehead. Rebekah’s goodbye was the hardest. She immediately bought Y/N in for a hug, lingering for the longest moment. Y/N started crying uncontrollably, feeling guilty. As much as she loved her family to the ends of the earth, Kai was her world. She would sacrifice everything for him, over and over again. 

Klaus came back after disappearing for a while, and handed Y/N a folded photograph. “Look at this whenever you miss us. In your heart you know we’re with you sweetheart”. Then he emerged with a necklace. It had the Mikaelson crest on it and little crystals encrusted in the design. It was beautiful, Y/N thought. “Thank you brother, I love it”. Klaus unclasped it and put it around her neck before clasping it back together. It fit perfectly above her collarbone as the crystals shone in the light. She hugged him again, inhaling his scent to remember him by. 

“We leave soon to Mystic Falls. I spoke with Bonnie and she’s expecting us later. I love you each tremendously, always and forever” Y/N said to them for the last time. Y/N and Kai took everything they needed and magically transported themselves to Mystic Falls. As they arrived in Mystic Falls, Y/N sobbed into Kai’s chest.

***

Y/N and Kai met Bonnie at the local park. It was a spot out of the way of prying eyes. “Bonnie!” Y/N exclaimed, delighted to see her. She waved back, smiling. “Hey Y/N, nice to see you” Bonnie squeezed Y/N. “I don’t know if you found out the news regarding us yet. New Orleans witches don’t know how to keep their mouths shut. I wouldn’t be surprised if it got to you here in Mystic Falls”. Bonnie looked confused and shrugged. “Oh, well I don’t know how you’re going to take this news then...” Bonnie awaited in anticipation. “So... I’m actually part of the Bennett bloodline”

Bonnie was definitely taken aback. She didn’t know if she was joking but if she was genuine then it was a pleasant surprise. She always liked Y/N. Instead of saying anything, she pulled Y/N in for a warm embrace. Y/N was relieved for such a nice response. She felt accepted by yet another familial relation. “You should definitely look into our connection Bonnie” Y/N offered. Bonnie nodded.

“So what brings you both here then?” She asked. “I hope you can do us a favor. We’ve decided to live forever in Kai’s old prison world”. Bonnie chocked, not believing her ears. “You what?” Bonnie did not expect this at all, it seemed quite irrational. “Do you realise what you’re asking of me?” Y/N smiled, nodding. It looked as if Bonnie was about to cry but she suppressed it well. 

“Are you sure about this? It’ll be permanent” Bonnie warned. Both Y/N and Kai looked each other in the eyes and smiled, knowing this was what they truly desired. “Yes” they both replied in unison.

“Then your wish is my command” Bonnie smiled sadly as she sent them both back to the prison world.

***

Epilogue:

Kai and Y/N were gardening, a newly found pastime the both of them enjoyed. Their magic helped them grow anything they wanted, and Y/N loved turning their back yard into a flower heaven. Tulips, lavender, poppies, lilies, and daisies filled it all. It looked like an expanding flower forest. Kai chucked some soil at Y/N and they both laughed, Y/N falling into Kai’s embrace and making out in the dirt.

[rjdrawsstuff]

Something cool I found out about Racing Lagoon, Squaresoft’s forgotten racing title

Y’all played the game Racing Lagoon on the PS1? It’s made by Squaresoft, the same company that made Final Fantasy. I had it back in 1999 and sadly enough it never had an English version, the text was all Japanese. But over the years I was able to piece together the story through just the cutscenes alone and some help from wiki sites, and I recently noticed something cool about the lore of its main character and how it works for the game’s mechanics.

Racing Lagoon is an adventure racing game that functions as a JRPG and runs on JRPG logic. It had about the same narrative you’d expect from a 90s JRPG as well. Its story was about a man named Sho Akasaki, who joins a newly formed street racing group. Per the norm, he also has a shady past. (Sho on the right) 

During the events of the game, people around him constantly mention a major driving accident that had caused the deaths of several test drivers 10 years before the game’s story begins. Fast forward later and every major plot point causes Sho to have a flashback of the accident. This is especially prevalent when two of his companions die in high speed collisions, presumably due to him outshining everyone to a point where everyone competing with him pushes too hard. It had turned out that Sho was one of the test drivers who was caught in the accident 10 years past, and he was the one responsible for it. He’s also the only survivor. To my understanding it took place after the revelation that WON-TEC, the organization supervising him was injecting a steroid called the Diablo Drug into his system as well as the other drivers’. It was an experimental superdrug that heightens animalistic senses but does away with a person’s sanity over time. Supercars called the Diablo Zeta(video in link) were also created to house the drivers. These were more like abominations than cars, as these machines exhibited unfathomable power and aerodynamic designs that almost look like biological deformations. So one can only assume how dangerous these things were.

Sho went mad, destroyed the drugs, the cars, and massacred the other drivers in a highway accident. It didn’t help that one of the drivers was the older brother of one of his two friends who died within the course of the game. WON-TEC immediately knew about this and quickly apprehended him and put him in cryogenic stasis to hide a possible scandal. He remained like that and didn’t age for 10 years. It is unknown if Sho escaped, or if the organization let him go out into the world again(where the game’s events took place) as another means of experimentation. But regardless, he has no recollection of his former identity. His name might not have even been Sho Akasaki to begin win.

As for the game mechanics, it runs just about the same as an RPG. You navigate through a mostly overhead world with miniature versions of the game’s population, and encounters or duels in this case are the races you participate in. You just have to flash your headlights into oncoming traffic.

This is where it gets really cool, at least for me now especially. When you win races, you get car parts, or you get entire cars if you wanted. The game then takes you into a menu where you get to customize literally everything about your car. It’s like a spiritual predecessor to Need for Speed Underground in that regard. If you want a slow, small car, sure. You want a Le Mans track monster, yeah go ahead. And nobody in game really seems to question it, not even Sho himself. So automatically you as a player wouldn’t think much of it as well. Because it’s just par for the course. Of course you get to do this, it’s a JRPG.

But it makes sense. And being the dumbass that I am I only realize it now. You can drive anything because SHO CAN DRIVE ANYTHING. That’s what his character was built around to begin with. He has the background to back it up. The Diablo Drug that WON-TEC injected into his body is a testament to his flexibility as a driver. That’s all the justification needed to make this part of the game not look utterly ridiculous. It is by all means ridiculous, but it was what made the game, it was unique, and no other game has ever done this again. This is an example of great game design where lore and game mechanics meet. And I’m baffled why it never made its way out of Japan because it really was that good.

But that’s really just about it, and I think that’s neat. Other than that it had graphics that challenged Gran Turismo and an incredible soundtrack by Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi(link provided).