#this is just a no-plans straight ahead thing i did during a zoom call

[ragsy]

doggy :)

[give-grian-rights]

HERMITCRAFT 8 LIVEBLOGGING

fifteen hermits worth of liveblogging. i am losing my mind. LONG POST AHEAD.

JOE HILLS (First HC8 Video)

Mumbo did the speech. he forgot everything he was supposed to say <3

Pearl and Gemini were just .in a pit . having stuff thrown onto them

Every Hermit is staying on the same continent !!

FIRST DEATHS VERY QUICKLY, Iron Golems took out Tango and Etho (maybe more?)

Joe seems to be the only one looting the chests

Evil Jevin !!

Evil Xisuma appearance on Jevin’s 60 second video!

Pearl has something planned for an “archeticual wonder” for a resupply area upon death?

Stress, Xisuma and Joe are capturing villagers and starting up a resupply debut.

Bdubs is killed by Cleo and is now OUT FOR BLOOD

First death counts- Etho, Tango, Bdubs, Cleo?

Cleo was killed by Keralis

Joe has now supplied Cleo with weapons and food . She left but not before saying “Time to kill BDubs again!”

Gemini was killed by Bdubs! They both died and are now at spawn.

Pearl was killed by Cleo

Pearl is planning a respawn inn !!

Cleo was killed by Iskall

Cleo was killed by Pearl

False, Stress, and Gemini team up??? AA!!! they brought a delivery of supplies to Joe <3

i wish i knew what was happening on that end .

APPARENTLY XISUMA IS ONTO MAKING THE SECOND VILLAGER BREEDER ALREADY ??

Iskall is the first with Diamonds??

Breathe in that ash !

WAIT IS TANGOS EYES LIKE THAT RN BECAUSE HES TEAMED WITH KERALIS AND BDUBS ???

KERALIS, BDUBS, AND TANGO TRIED TO DO A SHAKEDOWN ON JOE. HE TRIED TO DROP LAVA, GOT HIMSELF ONTO TWO HEARTS BECAUSE HE PLACED IT ON HIMSELF, AND IS NOW SWIMMING OUT INTO THE SWAMP

the big eyed trio are now off to shake down Gemini

Joe fell in Lava in the Nether

Joe Death To Lava Two: Electric Boogaloo

Joe drowned trying to kill a glowsquid

WATCH JOE’S VIDEO OH MY GOD SEAN HILLS RECAP RAP??? MY BELOVED????? i am gonna be streaming this unironically later LIKE OH MY GOD THIS SLAPS. ALSO THE CREDITS AT TEH END IS HILARIOUS

Zedaph Episode Recap

Zed gave us a recap of the continent every Hermit will be living on !!

Wouldn’t recommend Zedaph as the first video for the season, he skips the intro/speech but it’s Zedaph and hes making it fun!! Lots of nice editing :)

~SCIENCE TIME !~

Zedaph.. why is your starter base made out of concrete ?

There are no sheeps whatsoever on his mountain

Hes calling his lab an icecream sandwich..yeah i see it

Zed tried to make a portal underater...f

Scar died to a creeper </3

Zedaphs base is gonna be tracking how long hes there/someones loading the chunk!

XISUMA LIVE BLOGGING

A cool cinema scene of him becoming an axolotl!! <3

NOW I CAN SEE IT, GRIAN WAS THE FIRST DEATH!! Death by Iron Golem!!

XIsuma’s baseplans need over 45 THOUSAND BLOCKS TO BE PLACED

He’s also planning on making a shulkershell farm!!

i’m not gonna lie ! talking axolotl X is horrifying ! thanks !

Day one Villager Breeder... chaos.

Xisuma Derp! looked straight at a buncha wool and said how badly he needed beds and then walked away

THE GIRLS CAME OVER AND CONVINCED HIM HE NEEDS TO MOVE THE DESIGN OVER MY FIVE BLOCKS FOR SWAMP VILLAGERS..

THE GIRLS ARE JUST LAUGHING AT HIM AND HIS VILLAGER TROUBLES

day one and Xisuma has got his axolotl!!

Very pretty starterbase!!

XB’s

..I’m not gonna lie theres not much to say!! He’s very calm :) he says hes going into it without a plan, and htat last season was the only time he had any thought of what he was gonna do.

He made a real nice starter house and thats about it!

Cleo’s

Bdubs: “She ain’t gonna hurt me!! i’m invincible, babey!”

Cleo learnt that BDubs will never hurt her even if she deserves it . I am starting to realize why she kills him

SHE DECIDED SHES GONNA BE A PROPER CHAOS GREMLIN THIS SEASON...

AISDJASID CLEO GOT PAID TO KILL BDUBS?? HDUIAIHSI SCAR WHY

“Alright I found my mission for the season! Murder.”

Cleo, Mumbo, Grian, and Scar are all holed up in a cave together!

..Scar died from a skeleton !

Cleo has now split from Grian and Mumbo! Scar is missing in action

CLEO FOUND A GOAT

SHES KILLING THE GOAT???

she got a HORSE <3 and Joe gave her a saddle! I think her name is..Widget?

She LOVES the candles for shamboo n waterbottles and bits n bobs for her armorstands!!

Got her Armorstand stickgod book <3

Geminitay POV

NEW HERMIT NEW HERMIT NEW HERMIT!!

She has a LOVELY voice!!

The pov of her in a hole . being surrrounded . is kinda hilarious

It might’ve been Etho who was first death?? I GENUIENLY CANNOT TELL BECAUSE OF EDITING

All the murder was just for heads!

Seriously her voice is. wow

WE LOVE A QUEEN WHO KNOWS HOW TO CRAFT A SHIELD WITHOUT USING THE GUIDE <3

False, Gemini, and Stress are on the great journey for MOSS !

Gem just blew their minds with the moss.

TANGO KERALIS AND BDUBS ARE BACK Keralis: “Show the diamonds show the diamonds show the diamonds!” Gem: “Keralis. This is not how you make friends.”

The boys suecessfully recieved a diamond each

Etho n Iskall are travelling together!! You dont see those two together often

Etho got a glowsquid head!!

Gem: “Etho doesn’t share, is what i’m learning..?”

Etho hooked her with a fishing rod and said she has to do what he said .

In order to get the diamonds, Tango, Keralis, and BDubs placed down a sign saying “Gem is Great!” and Gem used a glow inksack on it.

Etho: “So..What is this? Do you have an ego, or this a motivational thing, or..?” He said, while laughing

Iskall: “I think its really funny that you have set your base up in the middle of a birch forest.” Gem: “I love birch forests! Do you not like my birch forest? Iskall: “I love it, yeah.” Gem: “This is the best biome in the game, Iskall.” Iskall: “Mmmm..” Etho: “I’m pretty sure I heard Iskall talking earlier that like, of all the biomes in the game, there was one he hated more than anything. Gem: “Oh really? And what was that one?” Iskall: “..Taiga.” Gem: “Taiga.. That’s true, thats a good one, thats a good one.” Iskall: “Don’t like Taiga.” Gem: “Mhm.” Etho: “Which one do you hate more than anyone?” Iskall: “..Diorite fields. Thats a bad one.” Etho: “Yeah thats a bad one.” Gem: “Didn’t know about that one. Well make sure to avoid’em. Birch forests are really good.” Iskall: “I’m a big fan of birch forests.” Gem: “Yeah, me too, me too. I’m glad we’re on the same page :) This is so beautiful! All the white and- and the like zebra stripes! is fantastic.” Iskall: “I..Um.. Yes.”

OH SHE’S CANADIAN,, ETHO HAS A FRIEND /j

She’s still in college :O SHE’S A SCIENTIST?? SHES WORKING AT A HOSPITAL?? POG!!

She accidentally found an enchanted golden apple in a mineshaft!! she thinks its the first she ever found in survival!!

She has a cow, sheep, and a few crop farms set up!! Her starter house has INTERRIOR!

SHE CHANGED HER SKIN AND ITS SO PRETTY AND HAS OVERALL AND I LOVE IT!!

shes doing a cottage core inspired base!

WOAHH!!! SHE MADE HTE MOST GOREGOUS CUSTOM TREE I’VE EVER SEEN ??

BDUBS IS HERE and he is so so so impressed by the tree ?!

also hes carrying a clock.. :(

He’s here with a present!

HE BROUGHT BAMBOO!

she thinks its so funny that he stops conversations to sleep AOIDHFEAUI\

SCARS

WE GOT A TRANSITION SCENE!! the canonical reason for the bed in his old village always being occupied is because underneath it, was his wizard portal!

Bdubs: “It’s a new season! You’re the little guy now!”

They are all very amused by that ^

they’re rubbing the fleece of bdubs jacket .

Bdubs: “Have a nice rub :)” PLEASEAHSIOJDIUASLDHIASDA

His starter base is gonna be a wagon and he wants the end game to be a bioshock esque skyscraper!

he confused a horse for a player . flashback to iskall thinking mumbo was a mob

PEOPLE THINK MUMBO DOESNT HAVE PANTS ON.... </3

Scar, Mumbo, and Grian.. have NO braincells. at all. THey just placed a crafting table with a boat on top with a bed on top with a boat on top .

this is what BROS FOR LIFE looks like.

BOATEM POLE !

SCAR IS STUCK UNDERGROUND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IRL AND HAS NO PICKAXE..

AND HE DIED TO A CREEPER .

it seems like Grian, Mumbo, and Scar are working together !!!! HOLY SHIT !!

THERES SO SO SO MANY FARMS???????

he died several times trying to catch a skeleton with a sword

FIRST CHEST MONSTER OF THE SEASON <3

SCAR JSUT TOLD BDUBS HE LOOKS LIKE OSCAR THE CROUCH... BDUBS CANNOT EVEN ARGUE

OH NO.... GRIAN WENT AFK IN A HOLE . WITHOUT A HELMET .

THEY PUT A  GLOWSQUID HEAD ON HIM

OH MY GOD MUMBO MADE A NOTEBLOCK SONG?? AJUDA

SCARS BUILTING IS SO SO SOOS GOREGOUS SERIOUSLY GO WATCH THE VIDEO OH MY GOD ITS HUGE

its a giant ass house boat wagon . its pulled by a llama . that killed him . so now its trapped, pulling hte agon, forever

Grian: “..Thats a very big house, for a very little hat.”

GRIANS SUPER SPECIAL EGG??

SCAR PUNCHED IT..

they really came out here . and killed the egg already.

Scar: “..I touched the thing”

TANGO POV

We see the three big eyed boys forming <3 they interrupted Tangos intro

THEY’RE BULLYING HIM ABOUT HAVING SMALL EYES AHIDUIASUHDWIS

HE TRIED TO CALL THE TRIO TEAM BUG EYE... THE OTHERS ARE VERY OFFENDED

they found an axolotl and Bdubs was TERRIFIED just screaming “WHAT IS THAT YELLOW THING?!”

BDUBS IS ATTACKING IT ???

okay nope Bdubs caught one and Tango lost it

Bdubs is naming his axolotl Idiot

AMAZING HOUSE. WHY IS TANGO SO GOOD AT BUILDING AND REDSTONE??

Impulse POV

MUMBO TRIED TO PLACE DOWN A BERRY BUSH TO HURT IMPULSE . HE FORGOT HOW BUSHES WORK..

I DIDNT EVEN NOTICE THAT IMPULSE WAS IN THE BOATEM POLE

so it looks like those four are hteo nes who grouped up together

PEARL BROKE THE CONSTITUION SHE GOT IN THE WRONG BOAT SMH

THIS IS SEASON EIGHT! FIVE BROS !

So its gonna be about five people in the same area!!

YOO!! Fantasy build for Impulse!!

G gave Impulse a spyglass, they had a fun moment of zooming in on eachothers face and complimenting eachother IHAUDIHAW

Grian and Impulse worked on an xp farm!

ASHDUIWAHISD GRIAN JUST LOGGED ON INFRONT OF HIM

a pillager stole his boat . not just any pillager . the one with a banner. </3

he has to live with Mumbo tuning a song .. </3 haha

Mumbo POV

it took fifteen seconds until Grian ran in during Mumbos intro

CONFIRMED? GRIAN WAS FIRST DEATH?

SECOND PERSON TO THINK MUMBOS PANTS ARE SKIN COLOR. GRIAN..

Grian: “Can you..Briefly explain why you’re just wearing a hawaiian shirt?” Mumbo: “Uh- what do you mean ‘just wearing a hawaiin shirt? I have shorts on as-well, dude”

FOLLOWED BY

Mumbo: “Can you explain why you’re wearing a red jumper?” Grian: “You know- you know i was born with this!”

MUMBO AND GRIAN STOLE THE BOAT LOOT FROM RENDOC

I THINK RENDOC JUST STOLE THE DIAMOND MUMBO THREW??

Grian: “Is that Scar?” Mumbo: “I can’t see past your giant waffle!”

DSFSDFJIOA they did an edit where they placed down a boat, both Mumbo and Grian got in, they made noises and then bopped up on top of the ravine they were in <3

THEY HAVE NO BRAINCELL THEY JUST PLACED DOWN A BENCH AND SAID “THIS IS THE MARK OF OUR VILLAGE!” and then placed a torch and a boat and a bed and aANOTHER BED..

..Mumbo is trying to be a pacifist this season!

Grian’s taunting him with beheaded things

And obviously part of being pacifist means he’s gonna be vegetarian in minecraft!

..he cannot use monster farms because pacifisim..

Mumbo was in the middle of reading the magical Timmy shack that Tango made (did i remember to mention that? who knows) and IN THE MIDDLE OF GETTING TO THE PART ABOUT IF YOU REMOVE STUFF FROM THE CHEST, NOTHING WILL BE ADDED IN IT AGAIN. Grian opened the chest . Mumbo SHOUTED HIAUDHUW Grian jumped man

They renamed it “Cave of Do Not Enter” HIAUEDUH

Mumbo and Scar BOTH did not know- at least Mumbo didn’t, Scar forgot,  that podzol spawns from two-by-two spruce..

him and his guitar song to be played underneath his house.. it goes with the aesthetic i suppose

MAN HE NEEDS SO MUCH HAYBALES I FORGOT THATS NEEDED FOR THE TUNE HE WANTS

Mumbo: “What.. On Earth.. Scar, it’s meant to be a starterbase, buddy! What is this? This is many things, many many things, a starterbase is NOT one of them!”

HE LITERALLY DIDNT KNOW THAT THE DRAGON EGG TELEPORTS... WHEN YOU TOUCH IT...

BDUBS

nothing special we havent seen yet!! just him screaming about axolotls.

He was working in the Mesa in his intro, skipping the “speech” from Mumbo

He released Idiot the Axolotl and lost it .

Him SCREAMING “Gemini” is HILARIOUS

While Gemini gave away those three diamonds, Keralis got so excited he won a bet with Tango and Bdubs, that he gave back . two of the diamonds . and none of htem released until well after they left

Bdubs: “That’s why i have my mwoss skin!” PLEASE I LOVE THE WAY HE SAYS IT.. make the moss hood.. REAL..

it took me a while to figure out what his base is but i LOVE IT so so much!!!

Nothing much new to add !!

Stress pov

please i love her . very good !! False seems to have joined her sheerly because Stress sounded like she knew what she was doing. she does not.

False felt peerpressured and asked Stress for permission to fight her because everyone was killing eachother .

It ended up with Stress following False. they found a village!

ISKALL only saw him one other time today!!

JEVIN APPEARS AGAIN !

XISUMA FELL INTO HTE BREEDER AND IT WAS SO FUNN IUAHHYIAUSD

Ren: “Ya look goregous, Stress!” Stress: “Thanks! Don’t murder my dog!”

She’s so proud of herself for caving!! (with False n Gem

Iskall blew up!

..Iskall fell from a high place

Stress has a LOVELY ravine base!!

False

False wants to become pirates with Stress <3

gatekeep gaslight girlboss

BIG OL MUSHROOM HOUSE !!

it looks like a mushroom church and i LOVE IT.

Nothing new we didn’t see from Gem. She does want to come up with a banner design for her base, though!

Grian

..Mumbo just thought Grian had a purpose so decided to follow him <3

ALSO HIS INTRO, AS HE JOKED ABOUT IN THE OTHERS VIDEO, WAS, IN FACT, THE BOATEM POLE

Grian is SO PROUD of the fact taht they got good loot from a treasure map. Ren and Doc are NOT IMPRESSED

Grian: “Lets go, potato boy!”

Mumbo: “I don’t have to replace everything I break! Peace Love and Plants- are these plants..?” He says, mining amethyst

pants

he who controls the egg, controls the server... Grian.. you’re doing great sir

...He decided.. his goal.. is to make his OWN..caves and cliffs update... HELLO..?

Grian was the first one to kill the enderdragon, MAN. Speedrunning career WHEN? /j

Grian: “And now [Mumbo] is flexing on my bed!”

he might not have a base. but he has an egg.

It is now 2am. i cannot do this anymore. This will be continued.. tomorrow!

[batfam-rewrites]

Batfam During Quarantine: Retirement

Dick pulls up in front of the apartment that Barbara and her family lives in. He takes out his boom box and sets in a cassette tape. He sets the volume to the maximum setting. He holds the boom box over his head as Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” starts playing.

Dick: BABS!!!!

He waits out there for a few minutes until she opens up the window and leans out of it.

Barbara: You Dick!

The song ends and starts playing “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” from Aerosmith.

Dick: BABS! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! PLEASE TALK TO ME!

Neighbor 1: GO HOME!

Dick: I’M DOING THIS FOR LOVE!

Neighbor 2: LOVE IS DEAD YOU SCHMUCK!

Dick: YOU’RE HEART IS DEAD!

Neighbor 3: SHUT THE FUCK UP KID!

Jim Gordon: DICK, IT IS 5 AM! GO THE FUCK HOME!

Dick: FINE!

The next night

Dick walks up to the door to the Gordon family’s apartment. He knocks on the door and Jim opens the door.

Dick: Hey Jim, I was sorta expecting Babs to open the door.

Jim: *looks at the cards in Dick’s hands* Just take a hint kid. You’re making this harder than it needs to be.

Dick: I’m persistent, it’s part of my charm.

Jim: Whatever. *shuts the door*

A minute late Barbara opens the door.

Dick: *holding the cards*

Barbara: They’re facing you.

Dick: *looks down and flips the cards around* “Babs, I know I messed things up by *flips the card* not telling you Helena was staying at the *flips the card* mansion. I want you to know that you are *flips the card*

Barbara: *shuts the door on Dick*

Dick: I still have twenty-something cards left. At least finish reading them.

Two days later at the grocery store

Barbara is walking down the aisle looking for food. The music playing over the speakers as a voice replaces the music.

Dick: You’re just to good to be true. Can’t take my eyes off of you. You'd be like Heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much. 

Barbara starts looking around the store for Dick and sees him leaning against a wall with one of the phones.

Dick: *notices Barbara and points to hear and then makes a heart with his hands* At long last, love has arrived. And I thank God I'm alive. You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. *plays the instrumental part on his phone*

A store employee now spots Dick and heads towards him.

Dick: I love you, baby. And if it's quite alright. *struggles to keep possession of the phone* Get away, you’ll sing next. I need you baby *still fighting for the phone* To warm the lonely night. *starts climbing between the wall and the refrigerated section* I love you, baby. Trust in me when I say.

Barbara starts walking away embarrassed.

Dick: Oh, pretty baby, wait Babs, where you going? Babs? Babs? BAAABBS! LET ME ME LOVE YOUUUUU!

Daily Briefing

Dick: Okay, while things are a bit peaceful now, they’re not going to stay that way forever. Let’s try to plan ahead now and see if we can recruit any former members of Batman Inc. Tim, Steph, and Duke, you guys need to try and convince Luke to come out of retirement. Kate and Babs you go try and convince Bette to join us in Gotham.

Jason: What are the rest of us doing?

Dick: Selina, Jason, Harper, Cass, and Damian will patrol and hand out mask later today....

Harper: Cool, glad I can finally do something!

Jason: Got it!

Dick: And I will be sulking in my room!

Damian: Try again, Grayson.

Dick: I will be on patrol and handing out mask as Nightwing! Julia will be on monitor duty and Helena, tonight you’ll be on sanitation duty.

Helena: *sexually* Whatever you say.

Selina: Oh god!

Duke: Please stop!

Tim: There is a child present!

Jason: *Laughs hysterically* Am I the only one who still thinks this is funny?

Stephanie: Apparently so!

Dick: Alright, let’s get moving.

Tim, Duke, Stephanie, and Luke

Tim: Damn, it’s nice to finally be out of the mansion!

Duke: We were on patrol almost every night.

Tim: Yeah, but as Red Robin, not Tim Drake.

Stephanie: I mean, I guess that’s true.

Tim: *knocks on the door* 

Luke: *opens the door* Hey guys, it’s been a while!

Tim: Hey Luke, how have you been!

Luke: Not bad, Tim! What about you guys?

Tim: Could be better!

Stephanie: Not bad!

Duke: Send help!

Luke: Their dysfunction has gotten to you I’m assuming?

Duke: Maybe.

Tim and Stephanie: We’re not dysfunctional!!!

Luke: Relax! I’m talking about the others.

Tim: Kay, coolcoolcool.

Stephanie: Yeah, the others are pretty dysfunctional.

Luke: Anyways, come on in guys. Take a seat in the living room.

All three walk in and sit in the living room.

Tim: Okay I’m going to cut straight to the point, things aren’t going to be so peaceful for so long. It’s only a matter of time until the Joker pops up with a futuristic Batsuit or some dude comes in with a plan to destroy Batman in multiple ways.

Luke: I’m not coming out of retirement, Tim.

Stephanie: Why not?

Luke: Because I can’t stand to go back being some vigilante trying to save the city. I mean don’t you guys get tired of feeling like the weight of this city is pressing down on you every time you put on that mask.

Tim: Yeah, but I mean it’s not that bad.

Luke: When was the last time you slept.

Tim: Like 6 hours. Plus 2 days.

Luke: That’s my point! This is a thankless job that you guys work your ass off for.

Duke: Yeah coming here may have been a mistake. Let’s go guys, Luke’s not coming back.

Stephanie: Why not stay here Duke. I mean, Luke is right. We risk our lives to save some fucks who don’t give two shits whether we live or die. Sure they’d be sad if we did, but they would only be sad because that would mean they’d have to actually defend themselves!

Tim: Yeah, that is a great point!

Stephanie: Woooo let’s get hammered, this is my retirement party fuckers!

Luke: You’re not drinking alcohol! You’re under age!

Stephanie: Whatever! *stands up and walks out the door*

Duke: Tim, let’s go!

Tim: Yeah, I mean it’s probably about time I retired too!

Duke: Damn it!

Damian and Jon

Damian sets up a zoom call with Jon

Damian: Hey, Kent.

Jon: Hey, Wayne.

Damian: Why must you mock me?

Jon: Why must you mock me?

Damian: Goodbye!

Jon: No, wait, I want attention!!!!

Damian: Works like a charm. How’s it going over there?

Jon: Not bad, it’s super boring. I wish I had 50 people staying at my place.

Damian: No you don’t! It is awful. I want to punch Drake constantly, Grayson is always trying to hand out hugs, Todd tried to kill me!

Jon: The hugs don’t sound....

Damian: Row turned my knife into an electric razor...

Jon: How...

Damian: Kyle keeps trying to bond with me, Cain tried to stab me because I stole a waffle from her, Bertinelli and her lust for Grayson is annoying! Honestly, Pennyworth and Thomas are the only ones who haven’t managed to piss me off.

Jon: You know what, I take back what I said earlier.

Damian: Wise choice.

Jon: Hey, remember the time your dad almost adopted me?

Jason: *talking in the hallway*

Damian: That was funny. Hey I got to go, I’m about to go on patrol.

Jon: During the day, I thought you guys were nocturnal.

Damian: No, we are not. We’ll talk later.

Jon: See ya!

Damian: Bye. *rushes to the door to see if he could hear Jason*

Jason: I’ll see you there. *walks off*

Damian: *walks out of his room and sees Selina* 

Selina: Hey Dami, you ready to go on patrol?

Damian: Actually, we have a change in plans.

Nightwing

Nightwing: *sees a kid walking by without a mask, he squats down and waves* Hey what’s up little dude!

Little kid: *runs away from parents and hugs Nightwing*

Parent: Hey! Sorry, we’re still trying to get him to understand what social distancing is.

Nightwing: It’s okay, he’s young, he’ll eventually get the idea. I see that someone lost their mask though! Do you like super heroes kiddo!

Little kid: *nods excitedly* Batgirl is my favorite!

Nightwing: Really! Batgirl is my favorite, too! Hey, let’s get you another mask buddy! *reaches into the box of mask he has and hands a Batgirl mask to the parent to put on the kid’s face*

Parent: Thank you so much! *puts the mask on the little kids face*

Nightwing: No problem! Stay safe! *waits a bit longer and puts in an earbud*

Nightwing: *sees another guy not wearing a mask* Hey, how about we wear a mask buddy!

Guy: Piss off!

Nightwing: Come on. Let’s try to think about everyone else.

Guy: Who cares! If I get the virus I won’t die! It’s only the old people who are dying! 

Nightwing: Okay, please tell me your joking.

Guy: I mean, you don’t really see much other people dying.

Nightwing: If you pay attention to the statistics you would see that there are other people who are 20, 30, 40 years old and dying from this virus! Can you just put the mask on?

Guy: Hell no, it’s uncomfortable for me!

Nightwing: UNCOMFORTABLE FOR YOU! I HAVE TO WEAR ONE FOR LEGIT MOST OF THE DAY. OUR CITIES FIRST RESPONDERS MUST WEAR ONE TO DO THEIR DAMN JOBS. NO ONE, ESPECIALLY ME OR ANY NURSE, FIREMAN, POLICE OFFICER, ET CETERA, CARES IF IT BOTHERS YOU! PUT ON THE DAMN MASK!!!

Guy: Damn. *starts walking away*

Nightwing: *grabs cologne* Sir, don’t make me do this.

Guy: Do what? Bit......

Nightwing: *sprays cologne all over the guys face*

Guy: pffft. pfffffftt. 

Nightwing: I bet you’d like a mask now!

Guy: YOU FUCKING SON OF A

Nightwing: *spays the cologne at his face again* Hey! *throws a mask at the guy* No profanity! There’s kids around. Put on the mask, too. 

Guy: *puts the mask on reluctantly and walks away* Stupid vigilante in this stupid damn city. Hate this damn place.

Nightwing: *watches him walk away for a bit* Never thought I’d take a page out of Jay’s book.

Julia: Nightwing, need you over in Gotham Heights. There’s a.... *clears throat*..... situation over there. I’m sending you the coordinates now.

Nightwing: On my way! *takes off firing the grappling hook into the side of a building as he takes off*

Jason

Jason walks towards the house, checking his surroundings to see if any of his “family” members followed him. Fortunate for him, Dick is preoccupied with his thoughts and Damian and Selina left after he did.

He opens the door and walks inside of his safe house. He then sits down, takes off his helmet, sets it down on the table, and turns on the tv to watch Supernatural. Not long after Roy walks downstairs.

Roy: What’s up Jaybird?

Jason: Not much Roy.

Roy then sits down on the couch next to him to watch with him.

Roy: Is it just me or would Jensen Ackles be the perfect person to play you if there was to ever be a movie about you?

Jason: I KNOW, RIGHT!!!! Hey do you want to order some pizza?

Roy: Sure!

Roy begins to pull out his phone when they hear a knock at the door.

Jason: Hide! 

Roy: Hey it’s my safe house, too!

Jason: It’s my city! Hide!

Roy begins to hide as Jason looks outside the door to see Damian and Selina outside the door. 

Jason: *opens the door* Hey Catwoman, Robin! What are you guys doing here?

Damian: More importantly, what are you doing here?

Jason: Following up on a lead. I saw a very shady guy leave here so I’m looking for some evidence.

Selina: Are those your guns on the counter? And your helmet and phone on the table?

Jason: No.

Damian: Then where’s your guns?

Jason: Okay, I hate to admit it, but I came across a dog and decided to pet it, then it bit the barrel of both guns and ran off.

Selina: Mmmmhhhmmmm and why don’t I believe you?

Jason: Because everyone but Duke has trust issues.

Damian: Give it up, Todd.

Jason: Give what up?

Damian: *walks over to the closet and opens the door*

Roy: Woah, how the hell did I get here!

Jason: *shakes his head*

Tim, Duke, Stephanie, and Luke

Duke: Dude, you broke Tim and Steph.

Luke: No I didn’t!

Duke: Really because we came here to try and convince you to be Batwing again and yet you somehow got them both to decide to retire!

Luke: So, they should! They deserve it. No kid should have to deal with that kind of stress!

Duke: Dude, we live in Gotham freaking City. Stress is literally stuff we learn in 6th grade because our parents need us to get jobs!

Luke: You had to get a job in 6th grade?

Duke: Oh right, sorry I forgot you all are rich! Hey, where’s Steph and Tim?

Luke: Outside somewhere.

Duke: DUDE!!!! WE HAVE TO FIND THEM!!!!!!

Luke: They’ll be fine!

Duke: Whatever. *walks towards the door* If you change your mind, you know where to call. *he walks out the door*

____

Tim: *grabs a helium tank* Hey Steph!

Stephanie: *turns around*

Tim: *pulls down the mask and inhales the helium* I am vengeance, I am the night, I am BATMAN!

Stephanie: O-M-G!!! That is amazing!

Jason, Roy, Damian, and Selina

Selina: So again, Jason, what are you doing here?

Jason: Trying to get away from you people! Do you know how often I want to shoot Dick alone from all of the stupid stuff he does! 

Damian: Yes!

Jason: You’re no better. You can not adopt stray animals every week!

Damian: They can catch the virus, too! They need a home!

Jason: They have one! In the wild somewhere!

Selina: What’s your point?

Jason: I needed a place to escape you idiots at the mansion. There’s only so much I can take before I break B’s no killing rule.

Damian: Then why is Harper here?

Roy: Jaybird has been my emotional support person since Kori left Earth for Tamaran.

Selina: I can see that.

Damian: Is this where you’ve been every single patrol?

Jason: Not every one. Only when I get sick of you all. 

Selina: Everyday!!!!

Roy: *laughs uncontrollably*

Jason: Not everyday!!! Look, this is why I need this place, because I can’t stand you fuckers!!! Get out of my house!

Damian: How did you even pay for this place?

Jason: I USED TO KILL PEOPLE FOR A LIVING!!!!

Selina: Jason, your not supposed to even be here. We need to leave now.

Jason: Yes you fucking should!

Selina: I meant all of us!

Jason: Good luck with that! You’ll have to drag me out.

Damian: Just watch us do it!

Roy: This is getting a bit personal, I’m gunna grab my bow and leave.

Jason: Stay Roy!

Roy: Okay, I’ll stay!

Selina: How are we so awful? What is it that we do that bothers you so much?

Jason: I don’t want to talk about it!

Selina: What is it?

Jason: You guys make me want to actually be a part of the family! You guys care for me, and make fun of me *starts crying* and make me laugh, and it’s not fucking fair!

Selina: Jason..... I’m.... I’m sorry. Why are you crying?

Jason: Because this shit has always been unfamiliar to me! Family has always been fucked up for me before Bruce. When he took me in I didn’t know how to feel because at that point my life was filled with rage, sadness, and confusion. *sits down on the couch* Then came in Dick, who at first made me feel at home with how much he hated the fact that I replaced him, until a few months go by for him to accept me as a brother he never had. Then I fuckin’ died!

Selina: *sits down next to Jason* It’s okay if you want some time away from us, I understand now that this is new. We won’t ever stop loving you Jason. If you ever need a break from us then I’ll cover for you, just don’t be out for too long.

Jason: Thanks Selina.

Roy: *starts humming Love Is A Battlefield*

Selina: Are you humming Love Is A Battlefield?

Jason: He is so humming Pat Benatar right now.

Roy: No, you’re all just hearing things.

Damian: Who’s Pat Benatar?

Jason: Okay, GET OUT!!!!

Selina: *rushes themselves out the door* Let’s go Dami, we’ve overstayed our welcome!

Damian: But my phone!

Roy and Jason: GET OUT!

Tim and Stephanie

Stephanie: *dancing in a strangers house* Woooo!!!

Tim: *break dancing to “Dirrty” in the middle of a dance circle*

Stephanie: *nudges the person next to her* I’m friends with that guy!

Stranger: Nice!

Stephanie: I know right!

Tim: *steps out of the dance circle* Hey!

Stephanie: How many Red Bulls did you have?

Tim: How many legs does a wolf-tigark have.

Stephanie: What!

Tim: I’m super fucked up!

Stephanie: Same! Wanna have sex?

Tim: Sure!

Duke, Cassandra, and Harper

Duke: Hey, Harper! Do you remember that time you were totally surrounded by the Riddler’s henchmen and I swooped in and saved you, and you were like “Thanks dude! You’re the best! I totally owe you one!”

Harper: Yes, I remember part of that being true!

Duke: Well, I need you to return that favor and you can not tell any of the others. I lost Tim and Stephanie and need help finding them.

Harper: What the hell Duke! How did this happen?

Duke: Well, Luke broke Tim and Steph, causing them to decide to retire, then they disappeared.

Harper: Okay, Orphan and I will be right there after we take down these two drug dealing pimps!

Duke: Thank you!

Harper: *hangs up the phone* Okay, let’s take care of this Orphan!

They both jump down landing a kick to their chest. Harper then grabbed her dudes arm and broke his wrist, finally stomping on his face, knocking the dude out. Cass walked towards her guy reaching down and throwing him against a wall, then kicking his back.

Nightwing

Nightwing: *arrives at the apartment door*

Boyfriend: YOU STUPID BITCH! WHY CAN’T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT! 

Girlfriend: *through tears* I’m sorry!

Boyfriend: *slaps the girlfriend* SHUT UP BITCH!

Nightwing: *knocks on the door*

Boyfriend: *opens door* Can I help you?

Nightwing: Yes hi. I was walking around the neighborhood and wanted to know if you wanted to donate to the charity of whoop-ass?

Boyfriend: Not interested. *tries to close the door*

Nightwing: *pushes the door open* Hold on, you need to hear the rest of my pitch! *kicks the boyfriend in the chest* 

Girlfriend: *still crying* NO! PLEASE STOP!

Nightwing: Wha-

Boyfriend: *tries to throws a few punch at Nightwing’s face*

Nightwing: *drops to the floor and goes for a flare, sweeping the boyfriend off his feet*

The sound of sirens is heard out side.

Nightwing: *temporarily distracted by the sirens*

Boyfriend: *gets up* YOU CALLED THE COPS! YOU UNGRATEFUL GOOD FOR NOTHING BITCH! *tries to punch his girlfriend*

Nightwing: *catches his fist* Not gunna happen. *tosses the boyfriend against the wall and has him put his hands over his head*

Police Officer: G-C-P-D! GET YOUR..... Oh, Nightwing? How random seeing one of you guys here. Like always. *goes in to arrest the boyfriend*

Nightwing: *kneels down to where the girlfriend is sitting and takes note of the cuts and marks on her arms* Are you okay?

Girlfriend: I-*sob* I don’t *sob* know what *sob* I did *sob* wrong?

Nightwing: You did nothing wrong. Everything will be okay. Did he hit you?

Girlfriend: *nods her head yes*

Nightwing: Where did he hit you?

Girlfriend: *looks up to reveal a black eye and cuts on her face* My *sob* face, arms *sob*, stomach. *buries her head in her arms and starts to cry even harder*

Nightwing: Hey, it’s going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay. 

Nightwing tries the best he can to comfort the girl before the EMT arrived. After that he stuck around for a bit to give a statement of what happened when he arrived and to make sure everything was fine before he left.

Duke, Stephanie, Tim, Harper, and Cassandra

Stephanie: *wakes up* Ugh. My head! *she looks over at Tim and smiles as she gets out of the bed*

Tim: *starts to wake* Ow! *sees Stephanie* Hey!

Stephanie: Hey! 

Tim: *sits up on the bed*

Stephanie: Look about what happened, can we agree it was a drunk mistake.

Tim: Yeah! *rubs the back of his head and stands up close to Stephanie* I’m sorry, I can’t pretend! *he pulls her in and kisses her* I really like you!

Stephanie: I like you, too.

Tim: Wanna crawl back under the covers again for a bit?

Stephanie: Absolutely!

____

Desk Clerk: Thank you, hope you enjoyed your stay!

Tim: We certainly did, thank you! *both Stephanie and Tim walk out the door and see Duke, Cassandra, and Harper* 

Stephanie: Hey, you found us!

Duke: Get in the car!

Harper: Spent most of the night looking for you suckers until we saw that Tim used his credit card to purchase a hotel room there! 

Tim: We’re sorry you had to go searching for us!

Duke: Also, if you are even still thinking about retiring, you’re going to have to tell Bruce yourself.

Stephanie: We’re not retiring. We probably just thought it was a good idea because we were both sleep deprived.

Duke: Good, because I didn’t want to see Bruce lose his shit!

Dick and Julia/Dick and Jason

Back at the Batcave

Julia: How did it go?

Dick: Rough. That building was well into Harper’s sector though, why did you have me take care of it?

Julia: I think you know why.

Dick: *thinks for a moment* Because of the way I’ve been reacting to my breakup with Bab’s.

Julia: If you stopped thinking of how to win her back for one second, you would see that she is most likely suffering as much as you are. 

Dick: I understand. I’m going to head upstairs. Don’t stay down here much longer, that’s an order.

Julia: Are you still entitled to give orders?

Dick: I still get to wear the cowl, don’t I?

Julia: Fair enough.

Dick quickly showers and heads upstairs.

Jason: Hey, Dickwad. Over here.

Dick: Sup, Jay?

Jason: Follow me.

Jason leads Dick to the parking garage and into one of Bruce’s cars and drives to the safe house.

Jason: Welcome, to the safe house. I heard you had a rough day so I thought it would be worth it to take you here. Wayne house free zone so feel free to cry, let out your feeling, whatever you need to do to process this. I’ll wait in the car.

Dick: *crying* Jay.

Jason: Yeah.

Dick: *hugs Jason* Thank you!

Jason: No problem. If you tell Bruce, I will end you though.

Dick: Got it!

While I try to make these stories for the most part humorous and entertaining, domestic violence is a very serious topic. Since quarantine, domestic violence rates have gone up. If you or some one you know is in an abusive relationship or has found themselves in one since quarantine began, don’t hesitate to call the Domestic Violence Support hotline at 1 (800) 799 7233. You can also go to thehotline.org to contact them.

If someone you know has just left an abusive relationship (boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife, parent/child) remember to be there for them. Allow them to talk but don’t force them too if they don’t want to. Make sure not to bash the guilty party and respond about them neutrally. Most of all, make sure to let them know that they are still loved, and that they are still the same person, even if they feel that they are not.

I will be reblogging this message on my blog. I ask you to please share and reblog as much as you can.

[glassesandswords]

Summary: 

It was a normal, peaceful day in school until Eren tried to impress him, and now Levi found himself hiding in a cramped dark closet with a girl he barely knew to escape the wrath of a thousand bees ready to unleash their vengeance on them.

Dammit Eren.

Read the fic below: 

It all started when that bitchbrat Eren slammed open the window that was not supposed to be opened.

Just a few minutes ago, Levi was having a nice, normal day at school. He had skipped PE to finish up his homework in his classroom, relishing the silence that came with being alone after spending most of his morning with his draining classmates. The only sounds that filled the empty, echoing classroom was the creak of the dusty old ceiling fan and scratch of his pen on his notebook. Soft sunlight shone in through the two of the five windows that were open and even if Levi was sitting near one of the closed windows, he did not feel like shifting to a seat with better lighting.

But his moment of silence was broken when Eren entered the classroom.

“Ah, Levi! Why are you all alone here?”

Levi suppressed a frustrated sigh. Eren was his junior, three grades younger than him. Levi never attempted to interact with his peers in other divisions, much less in other grades, but unfortunately for him, he and Eren shared the same bus-stop. And for some reason, Eren’s eyes would always sparkle like stars when he saw Levi.

It was annoying.

“Why are you here?” Levi frowned as Eren walked in, looking around curiously at his senior’s classroom.

“Ah, I had taken a washroom break.”

“Then go.”

“I did. I just wanted to kill some time before going back to my classroom. Geography is a boring subject.”

Levi was not surprised. No person, sane or insane, liked geography anyway.

Eren noticed the shoes littering the classroom. “Oh, did your classmates go for PE?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you not go? I thought you liked PE. You are the fastest sprinter after all.”

“Just because I’m good at something doesn’t mean I have to like it,” He waved his notebook at him. “I’m finishing up my homework.”

“Oh, do you need any help?”

“Sure, solve this for me,” He pushed a complex quadratic equation at Eren. Eren stared at it, eyes blissfully blank and then chuckled in a sheepish way, scratching at his ear.

“I can’t do sums three grades higher than me.”

“Then shut up and go back to your class.”

Much to his ire, Eren shook his head, “Well that doesn’t mean I can’t do other things to help you, you know? I can speed up the fan if you want!”

“No need.”

“Oh, why are you sitting in the dark? That’s right, let me open the window for you at least.”

It took Levi a second before the gravity of his words hit him through the continuous stream of ‘oh god he is annoying’ that looped in his brain. “Wait, no,” he exclaimed, his eyes widening as he whipped his head towards Eren, “Don’t touch that win-”

Too late.

Eren, with his chest puffed up in triumph, pushed open the window with all his strength and in that moment, Levi could see his entire life flashing before his eyes.

Levi was the first one to notice it a few months ago as he stared out of the window during tedious lectures- the little goop on the slab shading the window from outside, and how there seemed to be an influx of bees buzzing around. After a while, it was obvious: a group of honeybees had started to build a hive right outside the window. When he had informed it to his teacher, she asked the students to close the window and not open it till the hive was removed.

But days passed by and no one removed the hive. One day, as Levi was walking past the watchman Hannes, he heard him talking about it with the other staff members.

“The beehive outside the third floor classroom has grown pretty big, y'know. I did ask Principal Zachary about its removal, but he said that it was a pain in the ass to call in men and remove the hive when it was that small, so he’s planning to wait till it grows so that he can harvest the honey while removing it as well.”

“But what if it hurts the children?” one of the other staff asked, leaning on his broom.

“Tis what I asked. But the principal seemed firm in his decision. He told the students and the teachers to not open the window and the two windows next to it. After all, bees don’t bother you if you don’t bother them.”

“I get that, y’know? If the beehive grows to the maximum size, we could probably harvest more than twenty kilograms of honey from it. Honey fetches a good price after all...”

So the beehive remained carefully untouched till then.

And when Eren, in his oblivious glory, slammed open the window, all hell broke loose.

Levi barely had the time to grab a screaming Eren by the back of his collar and run for their lives. The heavy wooden door hit the fat hive and the angry bees swarmed in, poised with their stings to defend their home. Once they were out of the classroom, Levi flung the boy ahead of him. “Run,” he commanded.

“But-”

“RUN!”

And Eren ran. Levi held back, slamming the door and windows on the other side of the classroom shut so that the bees would be contained within the classroom instead of finding their way into the corridor to the rest of the school.

But the bees had other ideas, and other routes. And within seconds, there was an uproar throughout the building.

“Tch,” Levi cursed internally as he ran towards the school office. He had to alert the authorities, to ask them to announce through the speakers to shut all the windows. However, the bees had already entered the school through the other passages and they were now flooding the corridors in a buzzing cloud of fury as students and teachers started rushing outside the classrooms alike, screams filling the air.

“Everyone, lock the doors and windows of your classrooms,” boomed all the speakers in the school at once, “A swarm of bees are spreading out. Take shelter immediately.”

Finally Eren did something useful for once, Levi thought as he turned a corner, looking desperately for somewhere to hide. But the doors and windows of the other classrooms were already locked shut, and Levi knew if he were to bang on the door and wait for them to let him in, he’d risk not just being bitten, but also letting the bees enter into the classrooms.

An overly aggressive bee zoomed straight at him, and in reflex, Levi tried to swat it away. Which was a very bad idea, as he immediately felt a sharp sting on the back of his palm. He hissed, gritting his teeth in pain.

One of the buzzing bastards had got him at last.

With watery vision and panic rising steadily within him, he almost felt his heart jump out of his throat when a random hand grabbed his arm, breaking his run, to yank him inside a storage closet and close the door shut.

Levi crashed into something soft, which in turn crashed into something hard. He felt small objects raining on him- both metal and plastic- as if he had knocked over a shelf lined with things. He was in one of the storage closets after all.

A soft groan from below made Levi push himself up, only for him to freeze as he came face to face with a girl sprawled underneath him. With the help of the small glass peep-window on the door that let in a sliver of light inside the dark room, he saw the startled look in her big brown eyes behind an askew pair of glasses.

A girl. He had a girl pinned underneath him.

She rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her messy brown hair in the process as she cocked her head to the side, like a bird.

“You’re welcome, but you are kinda heavy, you know?”

Levi felt heat rush to his ears as he scrambled away, his back digging into yet another shelf as he tried to put some distance between them. It did not work very well, however, the storage closet was too small and cramped that it was only comfortable for one person standing in it at a time.

“What’s happening out there?” the girl asked, straightening her glasses as she stood up, “Are they removing the hive?”

“No,” Levi said as he glanced at the stinger buried in the back of his hand, “A stupid kid disturbed it.”

“You got stung?”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, show it to me in the light.”

Levi was curious himself, so he obeyed, positioning his hand in the sliver of light that streamed in through the tiny glass window at the top of the door.

His skin had reddened and started to swell where the stinger had embedded itself. It was agonizing and Levi clenched his jaw as the girl hovered close to it. “Wow, that must hurt. Any other place you got stung?”

“No.”

“Okay, let me remove this for you.”

“Huh?” Levi automatically pulled his hand back from her vicinity, “No.”

The girl’s eyebrows rose. “You don’t trust me with that?”

“I don’t even know you.”

“Right,” the girl pointed to herself with a thumb, “I’m Hange, and I think I’ve seen you around before.”

“Where?”

“We are in the same grade, you know. Just different divisions.”

Levi squinted. True, he did not pay much attention to his classmates in other divisions, much less bother to remember them or their names, but why did he not recognize her from her appearance at least?

“Oh, I joined this school this year, by the way.”

Ah. That explained it.

“I have been a very outdoorsy person from childhood and I’ve been stung by bees more than once in my life. So, I know what you must feel right now and I kinda know what to do about it,” she continued, “Anyway, I think that’s enough information for you to trust me with the stinger.”

Without waiting for Levi’s reply she swiped her ID card from its holder and grabbed Levi’s hand.

“What about you?” she asked, “What’s your name?”

Distracted by the question, Levi attempted to answer it. “Le-”

He flinched, grunting in pain as Hange swiped the ID over his hand without hesitation, effectively removing the stinger, with way more force than necessary.

“There we go!” she declared proudly, a wide smile on her face. “Good job, Lee!”

Levi was still smarting from the sting to correct her.

[ivyglow]

making my boyfriend jealous #prank 01 - Carter Hart | Philly

a/n: this idea sounded perfect in my head, but I don’t know if I’m satisfied with how it turned out; Hope you guys like it anyway. Don’t forget to let me know <3 It’s not proofread-ed so let me know if you find some mistake

btw, I wanted to say a huge thank you to @skarsgardswiftie​ for putting up with me talking about this idea and helping me out with some scenes. Love you, Val!!! <3 *muah*

Word count: 3.5k

Requested: yes

Prompt: 17. “wait a second..are you jealous?”  19. “I don’t love them. I love you” 

warnings: none

No one would believe if told that Nolan, the grumpy almost shy one, was best friends with y/n the smiley and loud girl. They met at a pharmacy, going for the last pain medicine box on the shelf and bumping hands, he was about to give up, but then she smiled and suggested buying it and give him one card since there were two inside. They spent some time talking in the line and when she found him once again in the same pharmacy she didn’t lose time following him and sliding to his DM. They got along pretty well and months after y/n saw herself in a bar full of hockey players to celebrate the victory of the team. 

That’s how she met Carter and more further ahead started dating him.

They were two distinct polos. 

Y/n loved to dance, Carter preferred to sit and sip at his drinks.

Y/n was a college student of Fine Arts, Carter was a hockey player.

Y/n had curly hair while Carter had the thinnest straight strands of hair.

Y/n was Colombian, Carter was Canadian. 

 Y/n had a YouTube channel and Carter, well Carter discovered that he liked it a lot more than he was supposed to. 

She did videos of hair care, study routine, and even some dance moves while cleaning the house. He was able to watch her, hear her, and almost feel her even if the timezone would not allow during trips. 

Their first kiss was in one of those videos, y/n was talking about some chapstick new flavor while Carter was watching some game on the TV sitting on the opposite sofa. 

“Well, I’m really suspect to talk about the peach one since I don’t like peaches” she comments while putting it on. “Carter, can you come here for one sec.” 

At that point, the boys were part of her routine so they were used to appearing in some videos sometimes, TK truly loved the attention, he would show out of the blue behind the camera or pretend the video was about his morning routine. Nolan would crack a laugh and Carter would roll his eyes telling his friend to give the camera back to y/n. Of course most of the time she would edit these parts, so it didn’t appear, but sometimes it was hilarious, and so she couldn’t help herself. The next day Travis would be the joke of the locker room -but he never stopped-. 

“What’s up?” he asked, sitting by her side on the living room floor. Travis and Nolan were out buying food, Hart and y/n being the only ones in the house. 

“Can you taste this chapstick flavor and see if you like it?” she applied one more time in her lips and smelled the tiny balm in her hands, making a face and giving it to him. 

Carter laughed and scooted closer to her taking her shin into his fingers and bringing her face close. She giggled not expecting him to taste directly from her lips, he was probably messing with her like they always did with each other. But when Carter closed the gap all she could do was hold his neck and dive into the feeling. 

After the episode, they would kiss every time no one was around. Dates and night in started to be a common thing and the rest is history.

It was a Saturday morning, Carter was sound asleep since he was going to have a game later in the afternoon and y/n was already in the kitchen preparing the usual breakfast they had for game days, except today she was reasonably early. 

“Hey there, my lovely pals” she greeted trying to speak as low as possible. “It’s a Saturday morning and I’m doing breakfast while editing some school stuff, Carter is sleeping and this video has everything to do with him” she grins while sipping from her favorite cup of coffee. “Travis was talking to me about some kind of conversation they had at the locker room and apparently Carter said he wasn’t a jealous person...well, it’s something between the boys but my amazing and devilish friend came up with the idea...he wants me to act a little weird and see if Carter really doesn’t feel jealousy at all. I decided it was better to film it so he wouldn’t be capable of denying it. He’s sleeping as I said before and I’ve distanced myself since yesterday, I don’t know if he already noticed it but yeah..let’s go” she turned around to start paying full attention to the preparation of breakfast. 

Y/n was halfway done when she faced the camera again.

“So we usually have the ‘breakfast-pre-game’ together whenever we can, but today I’m calling Trav and Nolan to join us…”

The next record was y/n pacing in the kitchen while sending some messages on her cellphone. When the duo was already there TK gave her a bear hug and murmured “let’s go for it, Hartsy girl”. She laughed and went to hug Nolan, who didn’t know about the prank. 

“Where’s Carter?” he asked.

“Sleeping, can you wake him up while I set the table, please?” 

Nolan noded going for the stairs and Travis started setting the table while y/n moved the camera to a better angle. When Carter and Nolan showed up he was still in his sleeping sweatpants and with his hair a total mess. 

“Morning” he mumbled to his friends going directly to his girl and wrapping his arms around her.

“Morning, sleepyhead” she teased.

“Why you didn’t wake me up?” his calm breath lingering on her neck almost made her forget about the plan. 

“I did, I just send Nolan to do it” y/n answered pretending to be confused with his question. On these days she was the one to wake him up and she did it with kisses, depending on the mood even some morning sex. 

Carter left one last kiss on her shoulder before they head to the table. 

“What’s up with the juice, babe?” Carter asks while sitting beside her. 

“Oh, Travis didn’t want chocolate milk so I made him orange juice…” here we go, she thought. 

“God, you’re so sassy, TK” Nolan rolled his eyes glancing at his friend.

“You see?! He comes to have breakfast at my house and wants to choose what to eat” the goalie goes along while TK just grins.

“It’s ok, Carter, he didn’t ask for it, I just wanted to make sure he is one hundred percent spoiled since it’s a game day...” she speaks and then pauses pretending she said the wrong thing. “Not only him, but you guys, of course…” 

Travis tried to suppress the giggle, that fucker! she was a great actress. 

The meal went along with TK always carrying the subject to y/n witch made Carter glance at him every once in a while. She would for sure zoom his face in the editing process.

…

“Hey, lovely pals, it’s afternoon now, Carter is already at the rink and I’m getting changed. I’m going with Travis jersey today and we’re expecting a big win so I have an excuse to film the boys leaving the locker room and get a good view of Carter’s reaction.” 

Y/n keeps the camera on her face while showing some makeup tricks and it was not long before Ryanne was knocking at her door. They met way before y/n started dating Carter, back when she was starting her friendship with Nolan, he was the one saying that the two would get along pretty well...and he wasn’t wrong. 

“Why are you wearing TK’s jersey?!” was the first thing she said when the door was open. 

“Hi, Rya, I’m doing pretty good, thank you for asking!” Y/n’s words packed with irony were responsible for both of their laughs. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just...very weird. Like I look at your face and my mind goes straight for a #79…” she jokes.

Y/n rolls her eyes slightly at her friend and let her enter “I’ll just grab my purse and we can go!”. 

Not even 10 minutes later they were already in a cab making the way to the arena. Y/n take advance of the time to explain to her friend everything while making sure she won’t let herself slip, such as sheer too loudly for Carter or forget about everything once he left the locker room with wet hair and rosy cheeks pursuing her body for a warm hug.

And that’s exactly what Ryanne does once the game starts and y/n is on her feet holding tight to her water bottle. The thing is, the Colombian girl was very competitive being raised in a home where the weekends were specially for soccer games and her father got her a jersey even before she was born. She was so used to diving deep into everything she did, especially if it was about cheering for a team. And well, living in Philadelphia and dating a hockey player made her role to cheer as loud as possible. It was her team and her boyfriend after all. 

The game went better than expected and thanks to Ryanne she was able to hold herself together. 

“So I bet this is the hardest part…” Ryanne stated holding y/n’s camera and prepared to film everything. “That’s why I’m praying for TK or even Nolan gets here first…” y/n sighed.

It was not long before the three boys come all together laughing and talking about something y/n predicted as the game. 

“Hey, babe” Carter greeted burying his head in the crook of her neck and breathing deeply. 

“Good game, Hart” she smiled hugging him back but shorter than the usual. And only when she went to hug the other two players he notices the different numbers printed on the jersey. His lips twitched and his brows furrowed, Ryanne tried to suppress a giggle before Claude finally leaving the locker room. 

“Nolan I hope deep down in my heart that you washed this hair with shampoo, please” she joked. 

“For your information, I always wash it with shampoo…” he shoves her lightly before hugging her by the shoulders. “He’s lying, y/n, last time I went to his house he was using soap to wash this damn birds nest.” Travis grabbed her hand bringing her closer to him.

“Hey! Great game, by the way, Trav! I loved that last pass!!!!” and that’s it, that’s precisely how she usually does with Carter, praising everything he does during the match time, always. Giving him advice and hyping him up. 

Carter chose to let it go while they started to make their way to a bar to celebrate as they did every possible time. 

At the bar, Carter kept his distance while y/n danced around with Ryanne and Travis,

He should be happy since his team won and he did an amazing job keeping every puck away from the net, but something was bothering him and he knew exactly what it was once his eyes found his girlfriend one more time that night. 

Something in the way she did not bother to stay close or even tells him how good he played was giving an uncomfortable vibe. Not that she should always do that, but habitually that’s what they up to, and the sex after too, so when y/n brush him off going for a cup of water in the kitchen he knows something is really wrong.

They just got home from the celebration, she was barefoot looking for a glass in the cabinet.

“Y/n what’s wrong?” he approached not knowing how to start that conversation. “What do you mean?” she asked, a confused look on her face. 

“I mean, why are you wearing another player jersey…??” 

“Oh...I just wanted to support the team in general, you know?!” she shrugged. “I need to go to sleep now. I’m exhausted, sorry. TK danced too much tonight…” she giggles, walking to their shared room and leaving Carter behind. Knowing damn well that she planted a jealousy seed in his mind. 

...

Two days and more distance later she was recording a video about her playlists in the bedroom when Carter got home from practice. 

“Hey, missed you” he muttered undoing his tie. 

“Hi, Carter” she grinned, not the big bright smile he’s used to when he got home, but at least it’s something considering she’s been almost ignoring his the last days “I’m filming a video” she explains. 

“Not gonna interrupt” he left a kiss on her forehead and went for the closet to change, coming back minutes later with his grey sweatpants and no shirt on. Y/n knew what he was trying to do and being as competitive as she is she choose to make a game out of it. 

“...and so there’s a lot of Post Malone’s songs, as you guys expected, and some Spanish as well because hell yeah I’m here for praising my own language…” she’s trying to focus on the camera in front of her when the bed dips, Carter is laying in the bed. 

Sometimes he used to do it, but usually, he would wear a shirt or something and try to be as invisible as possible, just wanting to be closer.

“You can keep going, I’m just gonna...watch” he whispers smiling and laying his head comfortably at the pillows. 

She rolled her eyes and went back to talking with the device when his hands found hers. The long and calloused fingers threading and holding to her strongly but still somehow soft. She felt his adoration look and could not keep her eyes from founding his and her lips from mirroring him and smiling.   

Carter was this contagious. 

Like some kind of speel.

It was hard to resist when he started being so soft and loving around her. 

And that’s exactly how he managed to lay her beside him and finally get the deep kiss he’s been seeking since three days ago. His hands found her waist bringing her closer and slotting one of his legs between hers. Y/n’s hands went to his soft hair and pushed it lightly, part of her wanting to separate their mouths, the other just expecting for what he did next: he moaned into her mouth. He melted every time she pushed his hair and she knew it. 

“Babe, please…” he spoke sinking his head in the crook of her neck, kissing that spot.

“Not today, Carter” she tried to resist, departing their bodies. 

He huffed but nodded his head. “Can I at least eat…” he started looking for her legs and she gasped interrupting his naughty question. “The camera is still on” she tried to pretend that this was the big deal, but in reality, she would not be able to hear his full question and deny it. “It’s not like you are on live, puff” he joked and she tried to stay serious. “Wait...are you on live?!” his eyes went wide and y/n didn’t resist the laugh. “I’m not on Live, calm down.” 

“Fine, but are you sure?! Are we ok?!” he asked sitting when she did the same. 

Y/n turned her head to the nightstand pretending to look for something while answering “yeah, we’re just fine” 

“So does that mean we can do something?! I just want your attention, love” and there he was all soft again.

“I’m just...not in the mood, Carter” she mumbled. “Not even for kisses?! Cuddles?!” She shook her head and he sighed. “Fine. Can I at least just be here watching you??” he asked this time not looking at her but drawing imaginary patterns in the mattress. She felt a pang on her heart but went for the answer she knew was going to make he thinks something was different “yeah, whatever”.  

And just like that, she kept trying to go on with the video while Carter was laying beside her and watching every move until he fell asleep. Still, he kept the adoration look, she knew it, she felt it. 

…

The Flyers were playing again and just like the last game y/n went wearing TK’s jersey. But only this time the game wasn’t so good as the last one. The team failed shamefully and even TK gave up from the prank for some time after leaving the locker room. This time the hug y/n gave him was well needed. Consequently, when she was comforting him, it was not part of the jealous-game anymore, but for Carter, it all seemed the same obviously. “You did great, Trav. Sometimes we just can’t control everything and that’s ok” he hugged her strongly before letting go. 

Hart just noded for his two buddies, Nolan and TK, before heading for the parking lot, not going for his usual hug or kiss after loss or victory. 

“You don’t want to hug me or anything?” she asked once they reached the parking lot.

He sighed. He looked tired. “I...I guess Travis needed the hug more than I did.” she furrows her brows. “Wait a second..are you jealous?” she asked and he shrugged before entering the car. 

“You’re ok?!” y/n asked as soon as she got inside the car. He nodded starting to drive in complete silence. She knew better than to give him his space after a loss, but usually, he wanted her around, he would not want to talk during a certain hour, but he definitely wanted to hug her or at least have her close.

This time it was different. 

And it kept being different during the whole ride home.

He was giving the silent treatment. 

She almost forgot to turn the camera on when they arrived home, but when she felt the tension she knew it was the moment he probably was going to snap. 

“Y/n…” he called already inside the apartment. “Can we talk…?” 

“Is it about the game?! Of course, we can talk…” she pretended not to be aware. Carter shook his head. “It’s...about a subject completely different.” He was undoing his tie while walking to sit beside her on the couch. Somehow it seemed like he was too nervous about it, so he just rose and started pacing in the middle of the living room.

“Oh, go ahead. What is it about?” 

He sighs.

The passe goes on.

“I’ve been noticing lately what your...friendship with Travis started to change...to develop…” she tried to open her mouth and comment, but he shook his head again. “Just...let me finish ok?!” his voice was not angry, it was calm...like he wasn’t that angry like he was just...hurt. And so he went on “And I love you… that’s why I just want to see you happy. So...if you’re not feeling the same anymore, if it’s something I did or said, or it’s nothing at all just you falling out of love with me...just...let me know. I do trust you with all my heart, and I know you would never cheat and I know you don’t want to hurt me too” he took a deep breath before starting again. “So...what I want to say is that if you’re starting to like Travis, tell me now, don’t bring it to me out of the blue-”

He’s so deep into his ranting that he did not notice she’s snickering with her two palms covering her face. When he did, he stops himself. “Oh- no, don’t cry, babe. It’s not your fault, feelings happen...and I’m not blaming you…” she was about to finally crack a laugh, but when she found his sad eyes she just couldn’t.

“What’s so funny?!” He’s clueless. 

“It’s not it, Carter...it’s just...you love me so much. This is a whole level of maturity and affection...I was not expecting. I thought you would be jealous and snap at me, get angry, I don’t know. I’m just in shock.” 

“I was not that angry because it’s not like we choose to fall in love you know?! We just do…” he says apparently deep into his thoughts. “But if I could choose I would go for you anyway.” there’s this small smile in the corner of his lips. 

“I’m so sorry I was so distant lately. But...I don’t love him. I love you” she whispers. “I’m really really sorry about this week.”

“so…?” 

“It was a prank, Travis idea, I got curious...I did not imagine it would get this far. I’m sorry I make you felt like I did not love you…” she hugs him and feels when his body relaxes into the embrace. He was relieved.

She stood up and went to the camera behind an ornament in the coffee table. 

“This is the moment you tell us how it felt. Take it easy on TK, he’s not the greatest actor, we could’ve come up with something better...” she joked sitting in front of her boyfriend. Carter chuckles admiring her face behind the camera. 

“Actually, I do love him, but as a friend” y/n adds before turning the lens a little and kissing his lips.

“That I can deal with.” 

[imagineaworlds]

I Love You (Part Eleven) -- Aaron Hotchner

Written By: @desperately-bisexual​

Request: None.

Warnings: Murder. Kidnapping. Literally everything Criminal Minds.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Greenaway!Reader

Word Count: 11063

Timeline: Season 2 Episode 14. Right after part eight.

I guess I was somewhat relieved that Hotch and I let out some steam before going to the party, because his plans of what would come after had to come to a screeching halt when we were called into work for a case. Everyone was disappointed to be leaving so soon, but when the job called, we went. That was the deal. Always. So we all jumped in our cars and headed out to Quantico.

At the office, I went straight for the coffee pot and started to make a fresh brew. JJ, Garcia, and Morgan were all tipsy— if not drunk— and the best way to sober them up was coffee, food, and lots of water. So as I went to make the coffee, Morgan raided his secret stash of snacks, and Emily bought water bottles for everyone from the vending machine. By the time I got back to the boardroom with everyone’s drinks, Gideon was back from his night off and was sitting comfortably in his chair like he hadn’t left at all.

The team was all joking about Morgan’s dance moves, he was trying to deflect by pointing out yet again that Hotch and I were late to the party, and I deflected by asking where Gideon was. He told us that he had been at the Smithsonian with an old friend of his. I recalled Hotch mentioning something to me about Gideon going to D.C for the weekend, but I didn’t think he would just be lounging around in the Smithsonian all night. How the hell does one even go about doing that?

JJ stormed into the boardroom and brushed past me as I sat down next between Hotch and Morgan. She threw an image of a couple up on the TV for us and began to review the case for us. The Kyles had been killed in their Atlanta home shortly after the Super Bowl ended. They were at home, the TV turned on for the big game, until the Unsub broke into their home and killed them in their upstairs bedroom. The curious thing about this case, however, had to do with the police’s unusually fast response time. The Kyles were murdered during the game, and yet, the police got there before the halftime show even started. How?

“One of the Unsubs called the police from inside of the home to warn them that the other was about to murder the victims,” JJ explained. “According to the dispatcher, the first Unsub sounded terrified and was begging for the police’s help, while the other Unsub was telling him that it had to be done and he needed to hang up the phone.” She pressed a button on the TV remote and it pulled up a crime scene photo. “The second Unsub, identified as Raphael, was the one to kill the two victims. When the police arrived, both Unsubs were gone, but they had left this on the bed,” she pressed a button again. The TV showed us a zoomed in image of a bible page that the Unsubs had left at the crime scene. Yes, only one paragraph was specifically highlighted.

“Revelations Chapter 6, Verse 8,” Hotch said. “And I looked in behold a pale horse, and his name that sat upon him was Death, and Hell followed with him.”

“So they’re religiously motivated. Unsubs with a mission don’t usually stop their work after just one or two victims. They go on a spree that leaves a trail of blood in their wake,” I explained, turning away from the TV to get Reid’s back up on my statement.

He nodded. “Yeah, if these guys are using the bible as an excuse to murder, then they’re not going to stop until they think that they’ve cleared the world of all sinners. But sin is relative and fluid… So, technically, everyone’s a sinner.”

“That means they’re going to be looking for another victim and they’re going to kill them soon,” Morgan added.

Hotch picked up his copy of the case file, tapped it on the desk, sighed, and said, “Wheels up in thirty.”

We all let out quiet sighs. This was the job, though, right? It didn’t matter if we were ever promised time off, because the cases always had to come first. The Kyles were brutally murdered in their home while we were out having fun in a bar, and we were upset that we had to fly to Georgia? Something felt off about that to me… But I couldn’t shake the disappointment of not getting one more night alone with Hotch or even the chance to say goodbye to Jack before we would leave. All we could make time for was grabbing our go bags, changing in the bathrooms, then hopefully being able to call Haley on the plane and ask if we could talk to Jack. That was it. But at least we had that when the Kyles didn’t.

On the plane, before taking off, when I was sitting with Morgan in the back, Hotch came over to tell me that he had Jack on the phone. I excused myself to Morgan before going with Hotch over towards the cockpit where we were most likely to have enough privacy— Even though Gideon, Emily, and Spencer were already busy with looking over the case to spend time eavesdropping on me and Hotch.

“Hi, daddy,” Jack said over the phone.

“Hey, bud. Did you watch the game with mom?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah. We lost.”

“We sure did,” Hotch chuckled quietly. Jack didn’t know much about football. He was too young to know how the game was played or why certain things would happen, but he liked it because his dad liked it. “Listen, bud, we’re calling to tell you that we won’t be able to pick you up from school tomorrow. We’ve got to go save the world again.”

“Y/N can’t come get me?”

Hotch looked to me to respond, and I took the opportunity. “I’m sorry, little man, we’re both going to be gone.”

“Hotch, Garcia just sent the police call over,” JJ told us, taking a seat with Morgan on the couch as everyone huddled up. 

We nodded in her direction to let her know we understood and that we were wrapping up our call with Jack. I leaned into Hotch slightly. “We’ll come see you when we get back, though, alright, little man?” I asked, squeezing Hotch’s shoulder. “We love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” Jack said.

“Hotch—” Morgan called.

I shooed my hand at him to tell him to be quiet for just another minute. Hotch hovered his thumb over the hang up button and told Jack “goodnight” and “I love you” one more time before hanging up and burying his phone in his pocket. Hotch and I took seats separate from one another, yet still ensuring that we could see the computer screen. Garcia was waiting patiently for us to appear on her screen before playing the 911 call for us.

The operator answered the call first with the script that she had likely repeated over a million times for various reasons. After her opening script line ended, the first Unsub began speaking. He was calm, yet the fluctuations in his voice revealed a panic or a worry of some kind, but he didn’t rush his words like he was trying to get the cops to show up any sooner than the four minute arrival time they ended up making. He never mentioned Raphael until the end of the call when he finally admitted that Raphael was going to kill the Kyles. When the operator asked for clarification, the second Unsub’s voice could be heard controlling the first Unsub, telling him that he needed to hang up the phone. The first Unsub tried to refuse, but Raphael lowered his voice and used a more demanding tone that ended up working, and the call ended.

I asked Garcia to play the call again and Gideon asked what had caught my attention. When I told him that I was unsure and needed to hear it again to get a better understanding, he gave Garcia the go ahead. I tried to focus on the first Unsub. I knew that the rest of the team was going to be more concerned about Raphael, as he was certainly the disorganized one of the two, but there was something odd about the Unsub’s behavior in comparison to his voice in the call.

The first Unsub was calling the police, which meant that he wanted to help the Kyles somehow. He was arguing with Raphael, but he wasn’t running away, seeking out help from the neighbors, or even trying to physically stop Raphael. If the Unsub felt that he was in danger with Raphael, it would have made sense to call 911, sure, but why not run away? That was the odd part. His physical and verbal reactions to the situation were total contradictions of one another. Was he being forced to be there? Well, if that were the case, then Raphael wouldn’t have given him the chance to call 911. And it sounded like Raphael was standing right there when the first Unsub called the police, so why didn’t he stop it sooner? Did he want the cops to come? Did he want us to come?

The only way I could put together the pieces was to try and make some kind of connection with these guys. They were a typical dominant and submissive pair— or at least they should have been typical, but this was a moment that their dynamic slipped. Why? With me and Hotch, I liked to push back in order to rile him up, to force him into the dominant mindset where he would practically force me into being submissive. That was part of the appeal, part of the fun. If the Unsubs were dominant and submissive personalities, it could have been possible that the first Unsub was calling the police in order to rile up Raphael somehow. Perhaps it was a sexual aspect of the murders. But there was no sign of sexual assault against either victim. So, then… why… Why fight against the dominant and grow submissive when he gets stern if not to please themselves?

When the replay of the call ended, they all looked to me for answers, but I still didn’t have any. My role as the one who could find the smallest of details and make a point of them was failing me in that moment. These Unsubs had warped my definition of a classic dominant and submissive relationship for psychopaths. In past cases, they were almost always the same, but these Unsubs didn’t fit the bill. Something wasn’t right with them. I needed to see the bodies to know more about Raphael in order to know more about the submissive Unsub, too.

Hotch got the idea before I could say anything, like he could read my mind or something. As he was giving everyone their assignments, he told me and Emily that we should head down to the morgue to talk with the coroner, and so that I could get a look at the bodies myself. Hotch told JJ to get more images of the victims and help sort out the victimology, and that Reid, Morgan, and Gideon were going to head to the crime scene to evaluate how Raphael managed to kill two people in under four minutes. When Morgan asked what Hotch would be doing, he answered that he’d be heading down to the police station to sort through old, unsolved cases because this wouldn’t be the first rodeo for a team like this with a very specific M.O and the ability to do it in four minutes.

It all sounded like a viable plan, and we all agreed to our assignments. JJ and Hotch sat together the rest of the flight to review victimology, while Gideon, Morgan, and Reid stayed at the large table to review the crime scene, and Emily and I sat together to look at photos of the victims. I managed to steal the laptop at one point, though, and listened to the 911 call repeatedly with headphones on. There had to be something else I was missing in there. I could sense it. And I just knew that if I gave it a little more time and attention, I would finally be able to put the pieces together.

At the morgue, Emily and I introduced ourselves to the coroner who had just completed whole autopsies on both victims. Emily asked for his professional opinion on what he saw while we were still talking in the hallway outside, but I asked if I could go in and take a look at the bodies for myself. The coroner shrugged and told me to go right ahead, knowing that it was probably just a waste of my time when he could just tell us everything we needed to know. But I just… I needed to see them for myself.

The coroner’s assistant was still cleaning up in the autopsy room when I walked in. Both victims were still laying on separate slabs, but they were covered with new, clean white sheets. The assistant acknowledged my entrance briefly before turning back to his work. I approached the bodies, starting with Mr. Kyle, and pulled away the sheet that was covering his body. The most obvious thing about him was the laceration on his throat, which was likely the cause of death. Looking down, his right arm had a gash running from his wrist to elbow, and his left leg had a similar cut from his crotch to just above the knee. All major arteries. All tactical. All precise. All straight, not jagged like you would expect from an unhinged Unsub like we presumed Raphael to be. Still, there were no bruises or scratches, either, which would have suggested that the first Unsub could have possibly held the victim down while Raphael cut him up. But there was no sign of a struggle. So they did this quickly and efficiently.

I covered Mr. Kyle up again and walked over to Mrs. Kyle to examine her, too. Her neck had been slashed, aswell, and there were identical cuts on her arm and leg. A submissive personality wasn’t likely to be this imitative, even if they were to entirely obey their dominant— which the first Unsub proved that he had doubts about his own loyalty. He wouldn’t have hung up the phone to just go upstairs with Raphael and follow along in a how-to-murder tutorial of sorts. No, Raphael did both of these. But he wasn’t chaotic, enraged, or disorganized, which were all telltale signs of a dominant personality. These murders weren’t abusive in any way. They were meticulous, but they weren’t brutal.

Emily came in with the doctor so that he could show her what they had been discussing outside. They discussed everything I already noticed, but there was something critical that he had overlooked. The cut on the neck was the last thing that Raphael did to the victims. The cuts on the arm and leg were deep and wide— so much so that one would bleed out within minutes if they were left unattended for too long— but they also looked older than the cut on the neck. Raphael must have made the cuts on the arms and legs of the victims while the first Unsub called the police with the intent of having the victims bleed out; but when they were put on a time crunch, Raphael slit their throats and they ran.

“Isn’t that what slaughterhouses do?” Emily questioned.

The coroner nodded, “Precisely.”

“So we’re dealing with Unsubs who have worked in a slaughterhouse.”

“This is rural Georgia… Everyone down here has worked on a farm where they need to have this kind of experience. If you’re trying to narrow down the suspect list based on that career choice, you’ll find that the list won’t shrink down too far.”

Emily sighed and looked at me. There weren’t many answers I had about narrowing the suspect list down, but I had an idea or two about the Unsubs’ dynamic now. And I was sure that I had figured out what happened last night when the Kyles were murdered. All that I needed to confirm my suspicions was Morgan, Reid, and Gideon’s analysis of the crime scene.

At the field office in Atlanta, everyone was already back from their assignments when Emily and I arrived. Hotch and JJ were sitting at a desk with stacks of files almost as tall as them, while Gideon and Morgan were watching a video on a computer, and Reid was examining a separate computer that they had found at the crime scene. Morgan called me over when he saw me and asked Gideon to start the video over. He asked me to just watch the video and tell them what I saw right off the bat— to go with my gut. My thing was to catch things at a first glance, and they really needed me to come through with that.

The first Unsub, the submissive, was sitting in front of a camera, hiding behind a hood in the shadows. We couldn’t see his face, and we could hardly tell his body shape. There was no real way of knowing what this guy looked like, but I knew his voice from the 911 call, and there was no doubt that it was the first Unsub. He was talking about the punishments for sinning. The world was plagued by disgusting creatures who enjoyed sin and invited it into the mundane world in order to prey on the innocent. They were just cleaning the world of these sinners through murder. The Unsub never directly said it, but I got the impression that he saw the sinners— their victims— as demons from Hell.

When someone started speaking from behind the camera, he started quoting another bible passage— just like they had left at the crime scene. But it wasn’t the first Unsub, nor was it Raphael. It was a third Unsub. After reciting the bible, the third Unsub said that we would all pay seven times. Seven victims. The Kyles were the first two, which meant that there were still five more to come. The footage of the first Unsub sitting in the dark cut out and dissolved into the recorded footage of the murders.

“Woah, wait,” I reached between Morgan and Gideon to pause the video. “Where did you guys find this?”

“The video was on that computer,” Morgan pointed to Reid, who was dusting off the fan of a laptop. “We found the computer itself sitting on a sofa.”

“The computer recorded this, not a camera?”

They both shook their heads and I continued the video. They Kyles didn’t seem to notice the computer or that anything was out of place as they stumbled around their bedroom, desperately trying to rid each other of their clothes. So they didn’t notice that a strange computer was sitting on the sofa in their master bedroom, and they didn’t notice that it was recording anything— even though the computer was in clear view and they would have seen it if it weren’t there before. So the Unsubs didn’t bring it with them. They couldn’t have if they had only just got into the house to have time to make the call and murder the Kyles. It was their computer— that was why they didn’t care about it.

As Mr. Kyle stood to take off his shirt, Raphael came into the bedroom, pulled Mr. Kyle to the ground, and started carving. Mrs. Kyle got up from the bed and started running to the bathroom so as to lock herself in and save herself. And then the video ended.

“So?” Morgan asked me.

“The first Unsub was the one who was willing to be filmed,” I started.

“What about it?”

“Well, normally, the submissives like to hide and just obey. The dominants are the ones who are the face of everything because they have the bolder, stronger personalities. But they decided to put the first Unsub on screen.” That was just another odd piece about their dynamic to add to the pile. Great. “And now there’s a third Unsub, which changes everything we know about these guys. The third Unsub, though… It’s something about him and Raphael, something that I noticed about how they talk. In the 911 call, Raphael says ‘he’ and the first Unsub in this video says ‘he’ as, well—”

“It could be referring to God,” Gideon interrupted.

I shook my head insistently, “No, I don’t think so. The third Unsub in this video says ‘we’, not ‘he’. If they were referring to God, all three of them would have said ‘he’, but they didn’t. I think that they were referring to the third Unsub this whole time. Raphael is the dominant but—” A realization hit me. “I actually… I think I might have a profile for them…”

“All three? Already?” Morgan questioned in shock.

“Yeah.”

“You’re sure?” Gideon clarified.

He knew that it was possible for me to have already built part of a case, but not the entire one— especially when we didn’t have more victims yet to compare victimology, and I hadn’t seen the crime scene. But I didn’t need to. I knew how these guys were operating. I knew their dynamic, or hierarchy, if you will. I had it.

“Uh… Guys…” Reid whispered, standing up from the desk he was working at. He moved away from the computer. “I think I figured something out.”

“What? What is it?” Gideon asked.

“Something struck me as odd while watching the video earlier,” he started explaining. “The computer, it belongs to the Kyles. The Unsubs didn’t put it there to film the murders.” That much I knew, but I didn’t get where he was going with it. “They, uh,” he looked back at the computer nervously, “they’re still watching. They hacked the computer.”

“Can they hear us?” I asked with wide eyes. The whole investigation could be going down the drain. If they were listening, they would know that we were onto them.

He shook his head, “No, but they can see everything.”

We all slowly moved towards the computer to get a look as it started beeping. Reid sat back down to see what was going on. Hotch and JJ ran over when Morgan whistled to catch their attention. The screen of the computer turned black, like it had been turned off remotely, then flashed the words: THE ARMIES OF SATAN WILL NOT RISE. And then the computer shut down entirely. Spencer cursed under his breath as he started fidgeting with all of the components of the computer just to try to turn it back on, but to no avail.

Hotch then told Reid to get the computer to Garcia ASAP, but we all had questions about how the Unsubs even did this. So the first resort was to call Garcia for answers. She told us that anyone could control a computer remotely, but it was usually done when a company would help you with tech support. Emily asked the big question of how the Unsubs could still have access after dealing with a customer, if he really was in tech support. She told us that it was entirely possible that the Unsubs could have left a Trojan Horse of some kind that continued to give him access and control of the computer.

“If you have that profile ready, we have to give it now,” Gideon told me. “They could be watching more potential victims right now. They could strike at any time.”

I nodded an agreement and the whole team started moving to the boardroom where we could discuss the profile privately. The lead detective and the local sheriff were both off handling the crime scene clean up, so we decided that it would be best to discuss and build the profile immediately, then JJ would just hand out a written version of it to every nearby precinct.

I stood at the board where we had pinned up all of the crime scene photos and evidence like the bible passage that had been left in the bedroom. Gideon, JJ, Reid, Morgan, and Emily all sat around the table, but Hotch was sitting on a waist high bookshelf in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. They wanted me to start with the first Unsub, then the second, and lastly the third. Sounded easy enough.

“The first Unsub, the one who called the police the night of the murders, he’s our submissive—”

“But there are more than two Unsubs. How can they be submissive and dominant?” Gideon interrogated.

I sighed. Giving the profile sounded easy enough, but actually being able to do it without being interrupted every five seconds was going to be the challenge. “I’ll explain, I promise. The first Unsub is the submissive when it comes to the three of them. He was unsure about what they were doing to the Kyles, but he was quick to listen to Raphael when he told him to put the phone down. He also didn’t kill the victims—”

“How do you know that?”

“When I examined both bodies myself, I determined that both victims had been murdered by the same Unsub. The attacks were precise and aimed to kill painfully, but they weren’t disorganized like you would expect from a dominant—”

“So the first Unsub did kill them?”

“No. I think the third Unsub did. The first Unsub was concerned with calling the police, he wouldn’t have the guts to murder the Kyles himself, but he was also listening to a higher authority, like Raphael. Raphael was downstairs with the first Unsub while he called the police, which meant that he didn’t go back upstairs and kill the Kyles because he was busy commanding the first Unsub. Raphael is the dominant. The reason the first Unsub felt safe enough to call the police is because Raphael isn’t the one he’s scared of. It’s the third Unsub, the abuser. The abuser is the one who has the thirst for blood, and Raphael gives him the opportunity to do so because he keeps the first Unsub out of the way.”

“But wouldn’t the submissive have still been scared of Raphael because he’s the dominant?”

“No. They challenge each other because the Unsub sees it as a game of cat and mouse almost, it gives them a rush of sorts. The abuser is the violent one that the submissive doesn’t want to cross, even if it is just a game. Calling the police was a game for the dominant and submissive, but it put the abuser on edge, which was why he cut the victims’ throats.”

“Normally the submissives don’t like to play around with the dominants. They want to listen and obey out of fear of punishment for misbehaving. Why would they want to play just to get a rush out of it? How could you even come to that assumption?”

I gulped and looked at Hotch quickly. I couldn’t say flat out: “personal experience” because that would raise more questions than we had time for. But not giving them an answer would just discredit my profiles. “I, um…” I cleared my throat and shifted my gaze away from Hotch when I saw him glaring at me to tell me not to say anything. “Based on their behaviors. That’s how I know. The submissive was likely told by the dominant to film that video, but the abuser is the one who wants to get the word of God out to the world, so he interrupted and took over the commentary. The dominant allowed the submissive to call the police, but only let it get to a certain extent before stopping him. The submissive is trying to impress the dominant, but the abuser keeps getting in the way.”

“So the first Unsub is the submissive. He’s the organized one, but also the most apprehensive about their mission. He makes sure that they use forensic countermeasures— such as gloves— to make sure that they’re never caught. The second Unsub, Raphael, is the dominant. He’s also organized, but in a way that plays with the submissive’s behavior. He’s organized for the sake of their dynamic, but disorganized when it comes to the crimes. If he’s trying to give the submissive opportunities to prove himself, then the second Unsub is the one who likely has the technological knowledge to find the victims. The third Unsub is the abuser. He’s the one who wants to get the message out. He doesn’t care how they get there or what else happens with the dominant and submissive, he just cares that they kill the members of Satan’s army.” Reid explained all of that while pouring himself a coffee and moving up to the board to look through the evidence again.

“We get their dynamic. Great. But it doesn’t tell us anything about finding them,” Morgan commented, picking up another copy of one of the crime scene photos.

“Back to the drawing boards, then, with the profiles we now have,” Hotch ordered us.

Gideon and Morgan left to go review something about the crime scene or the video the Unsubs posted to the internet. Emily went to go see if she could help with that or figure out any connection to a farm using the knowledge we gained from the autopsies. Hotch, Reid, JJ, and I all stayed in the boardroom. As Reid sat back down with JJ, Hotch stood from leaning against the short bookshelf and walked over to the board I was standing at. We both turned to face the board and go through everything we knew.

“You need to be more careful when you’re talking about those kinds of things,” Hotch whispered under his breath, but just loud enough for me to hear. “They don’t teach that kind of thinking in the academy, and Gideon knows it.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” I whispered back, pulling the bible page off the board. Forensics had already looked at it, but they didn’t find any fingerprints. “It’s just another profile.”

“A profile that you based on your own life. Don’t think I forgot about how you liked to play last night.”

“I said I was sorry, didn’t I?”

He sucked in a quiet breath past his teeth. “You’ll have to tell me again after this case.”

I was facing him instead of the board now, “Cat and mouse. See?” I smirked. My profile hadn’t been wrong and Hotch’s worry had been misplaced.

My smirk faded as JJ came up to us with a case file. “I think I found something,” she said, handing the file over to Hotch. “Since we couldn’t find any connections with unsolved cases, I started looking at it another way with Reid. We found this report. Someone called the police to report that there was someone watching and trying to get into the Kyles’ house. The witness was walking his dog, and on his way back to his car, he saw a man in dark clothing trying to break into the home.”

“There was only one man?” Hotch questioned. JJ nodded. It was curious that there weren’t three, if it were the Unsubs originally casing the house or even trying to commit the murders earlier. “And the witness?”

“Tobias Hankle. He lives about an hour from here.”

“He didn’t see anything about the suspect?” I asked.

“Nothing but the black clothes.”

Hotch sighed and scratched his stubble. “I mean, it’s certainly a long shot, but we’re not making much progress here. Why don’t you and Reid go talk to Hankle at his home and see if he remembers anything else about that night.”

“Okay,” JJ said, taking the file back from Hotch. Her and Reid collected their things from the table and headed out of the precinct together.

Hotch turned back to me, “You need to find a way to behave yourself during cases.”

“I was proving a point,” I told him.

“And every time you do, all I think about is last night—” He stopped himself. “Just…” He looked around the room just to triple check that we were alone. “Behave.”

“Yes, Sir,” I smirked again and turned back to the board.

The door to the room opened, “Agent Hotchner.” It was the lead detective on the case. He must have just come back from the crime scene. “We got another call. There’s been another murder.”

“Shit…” Hotch groaned.

We drove out to the new crime scene with the rest of the team. When we got there, the sheriff met us outside to give us a run down of what his men found. The Unsubs had called again, but this time only Raphael spoke, not the first Unsub, which was the first unusual thing about this crime scene compared to the last one. The next was the police response time, which was eleven minutes compared to the four prior. The last thing the sheriff told us was that the man who was dead in the upstairs bedroom wasn’t the man who lived in that house. He told us that the Douglas couple lived there, and that Mr. Douglas was away at work, while Mrs. Douglas was supposed to be at home. The man found upstairs was the local handyman, and Mrs. Douglas was nowhere to be found.

“Is he nude?” I asked about the male victim. The sheriff raised a brow at me and slowly nodded, “They were having an affair.”

“Y/N, Emily, go check the body since you guys saw the last ones,” Hotch ordered.

We hurried past our team together and skipped steps on the staircase in order to get to the top floor. The forensics team was just clearing out of the bedroom as Emily and I headed in, putting on the rubber gloves they supplied for us. Just as I had suspected, the victim was naked when he was murdered by our Unsubs. He was laying face down on the ground, but there was blood pooling from his neck, arm, and crotch, just like the other victims.

Emily noticed the computer sitting on the desk and held me back before I could step in front of it. “Don’t look at the camera,” she told me, pointing to the computer. I nodded and we stepped into its field of view together.

We crouched down with our backs to the camera and started to examine the body. Same lacerations, same M.O., but no note. If they were supposed to be messengers from God, then why didn’t they leave anything from the bible this time? Were they scared of fingerprints? Were they in a rush? Why change up the M.O. just when their message was finally being heard?

I grabbed my phone and dialed Garcia. “Speak at once, mere mortal!” she announced in my ear.

“Hey, can you do me a favor? We’ve got another computer in this house with us, and we think it’s streaming right back to the Unsubs. Can you trace it?”

“If it’s connected to the internet, I sure can. I’ll call and let you know what I find.”

“Thanks, Garcia.”

“Now, be gone, mortal!” And she hung up.

I put my phone back in my pocket.

“There’s not much here that we don’t already know,” Emily said. “They didn’t change anything but the bible page. If they were having an affair, one would think that they would have at least ten different pages laying around about adultery.”

Morgan knocked on the door. “Hotch wants to talk outside with everyone.”

Emily and I pushed ourselves to our feet and carefully walked out of the room while making sure to not notice the computer. Garcia would call back in a few minutes with either good or bad news, and I was just praying that it was good news. We needed a new lead or these guys were going to keep getting away with murder.

When we got outside, Hotch asked us if there was anything of importance in the crime scene to take note of, and we both shook our heads. “Fine, so what do we know about these guys?”

“They called the cops, but this time Raphael did it. But why?” Morgan questioned.

“They saw that we were catching onto them because of the computer. We spooked them, so the dominant stepped in to protect the submissive this time around,” I answered.

But as I said it, I realized that it didn’t make much sense in the context of these guys. With me and Hotch, he got protective and defensive about nearly everything that had to do with me, but that was because there was a romantic aspect involved. Psychopaths and sociopaths don’t have the ability to love, and we had proven that the dominant and submissive’s game was to excite each other about the crime, not to protect each other.

I tried to take a step back to look at it from another angle. “Do we know what Raphael said on the phone?”

“‘Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and then that commit adultery’,” Hotch said. “Gideon says that they’re talking about Jezebel. The Unsubs knew that they were having an affair because of the computer again.”

Something was wrong about all of this still. Why did Raphael call, and why did he quote the bible when that was the third Unsub’s purpose? If the submissive wasn’t calling the police, and he wasn’t with the third Unsub out of fear of the violence, then where was he? And how did they take Mrs. Douglas all at the same time? None of the personalities were aligning, that was the problem. If they had, the timeline would have made sense, but it didn’t.

A thought struck me about what could have been happening, but I didn’t have Reid there to give me more information. He was still off with JJ at Tobias Hankle’s house, trying to collect any information about that night he witnessed someone trying to get into the Kyles’ house. But when it came to psychopathic submissives and dominants, they never switched roles. Not like this, at least, which was why something occurred to me, but I just couldn’t be sure without Reid. I didn’t have anyone there to back up or correct my theory. But I had to try, right?

“What if… What if we’re not even dealing with three Unsubs?”

They all looked at me. Hotch was the first to verbalize their confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I think that we’ve been looking at this all wrong. There aren’t three Unsubs. There’s only one.”

“How’s that possible?” Morgan questioned with a slight chuckle.

“Dissociative Personality Disorder— more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder.”

“You mean that there’s one Unsub who believes that he’s three different people?”

I nodded, “The submissive is the one that protects the host, but he got scared, so the dominant came forward this time to protect the submissive. The dominant is the mediator between the submissive and the abuser. He’s the one who tries to protect and entertain the submissive, while also encouraging the abuser’s behavior. The abuser, the third personality, he’s the true psychopath. He’s the one who wants to inflict the pain. Together, they make one man who is three personalities stuck inside of his mind that have been created for different purposes: protection, mediation, and violence.”

“They’re right,” Gideon said to all of us as he stormed out of the house with a bible page in hand. “I found this next to the telephone near the back door, which was unlocked.” He handed the paper to Hotch. “‘Power was given unto them over the fourth part of the Earth. To kill with sword, with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the Earth’,” he quoted from memory. “Raphael is one of the Archangels. Mrs. Douglas is Jezebel. You figure out the rest.”

“He thinks that he’s an Archangel sent by God to cleanse the Earth, that’s why he’s the mediator. He doesn’t want to see the innocent harmed, but he wants to see the sinners suffer. Mrs. Douglas is an adulterer, so he views her as Jezebel.”

“Yeah, well, if Mrs. Douglas is Jezebel, there’s an especially unpleasant death in her future,” Hotch commented.

“How do you mean?”

“Jezebel was eaten alive by dogs.”

My phone started ringing. I answered the call, “Garcia, please tell me you have some good news for me.”

“Unfortunately not, my pretty. There’s been another video uploaded to the internet.”

“You’re joking. Is it the handyman murder?”

“No. Worse. Did you guys have a missing woman you were looking for?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Douglas. Why?”

“Well, you won’t be looking for her anymore.”

“How come?”

“The Unsubs just released a new video of her… being eaten alive by a pack of dogs.”

I looked up at Hotch and Gideon, “We’re too late.”

“I’m sending the video to you guys now. Can you get to a computer?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

I started heading back inside and everyone followed me. I stayed on the phone with Garcia as we all marched back up into the bedroom where the computer was still sitting open. I didn’t care if this poor bastard saw my face. We knew that he couldn’t hear us, Spencer said so himself. I wanted this guy to see me. I wanted him to know that we were onto him.

I pulled up the video Garcia sent over and pressed play. It was the first Unsub on camera again— though, I supposed that if I were indeed correct, then it was our only Unsub on screen,  but it was the submissive personality that was reading from the bible. He was reading a passage about Jezebel’s death, Mrs. Douglas chained up and gagged behind him. Just as he finished reciting it, the Unsub set the dogs upon her.

I went to turn off the video, but the sheriff, who had just entered the room to see what we were looking at, stopped me. We all watched as he stepped closer to the computer to get a better look.

He pointed to the dogs, “I know these dogs— I mean, I know the owner. Those dogs attacked someone a couple of months ago, and I would’ve impounded them, but the victim knew the owner and didn’t want to press charges.”

“Are you sure that those are the same dogs?” Gideon asked.

The sheriff nodded, “As God as my witness.”

“Who’s the owner?”

“Hankle. Tobias Hankle.”

“Wait,” Hotch stepped in, “Tobias Hankle?” The sheriff nodded again. “Shit,” he wiped his hands over his face. “JJ and Spencer drove out there to talk to him. He was the witness who called the cops to tell them that someone was trying to break into the Kyles’ house a few months ago. How far from here is Hankle’s home?”

“About an hour and forty-five minutes.”

“The sun will be down by then. Garcia,” Hotch called to her through my phone, “can you try to get ahold of Reid or JJ?”

“On it,” she hung up immediately to call them.

We all ran back to the cars. Morgan grabbed all of the bulletproof vests from the car before jumping in with us. Hotch immediately floored it with the sirens and lights on the second everyone was in our car. Morgan started passing out our vests, and we put them on as fast as we could, despite the hour and forty-five minute drive that we had ahead of us. I tried to call Garcia to see if she got ahold of either Reid or JJ, but the signal died just as we left the suburbs and started driving the forty-five minutes through middle of nowhere Georgia towards Atlanta, where we would then have another hour to drive out to Hankle’s house.

“Could you get through to them?” Hotch asked after he noticed that I put my phone away. I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have sent them out there. We should have made him come into the station for questioning.”

“You thought he was just a witness, Hotch. You can’t blame yourself.”

“I’m their supervisor. Their safety is my responsibility. I shouldn’t have sent them out there, he repeated as if it would change the situation we were in.

“Y/N’s right, Hotch,” Morgan said. “This isn’t on you.”

Hotch’s grip around the steering wheel tightened. He heard us and he knew that we were right, but he just couldn’t force himself to believe it until we would find Reid and JJ safe and alive.

It was an hour and forty-five minutes of driving to Hankle’s house. An hour and forty-five minutes of worrying about them. An hour and forty-five minutes of Hotch sitting in silence as he ran through every regret he had. And the worst part was, there was nothing I could do to ease his nerves or conscience.

When we arrived at Tobias Hankle’s home, everything suddenly started to make sense about him and the profiles we built. Emily and I had profiled the Unsub as someone who had experience slaughtering animals, and we weren’t far off. Hankle lived on a farm out in the middle of nowhere. There was a house up front, behind it a large barn, and just past that was a vast sea of tall crops that anyone could get lost in.

The black SUV we were riding in slid a bit on the loose dirt path beneath us. The sheriff spread his men out with different assignments, and Hotch did the same for us. Hotch sent me and Morgan to the barn, while Emily, Gideon, and Hotch were all going to check the large house. The sheriff handed one walkie to me and one to Hotch for emergencies.

“You stay with me. The entire time. Got it?” he clarified with me as we started running around the house and towards the barn. I nodded and turned on my flashlight.

We approached the two large doors of the barn and we pressed our backs against the outside walls, just beside the hinges. He held up three fingers and slowly started counting down. When his hand was in a fist, we both pushed our backs off of the walls, turned around, and kicked the doors in. We headed in with our guns and flashlights raised, but we stayed silent as we moved through the dark.

Morgan pointed his flashlight at the carcass of a dog and looked up at me to make sure that I saw it. I nodded. Three dogs killed Mrs. Douglas on the video. One down, two more to go. We continued on through the barn, and I found the next dog. Only one more left. We kept moving and I found the stable to the left where Mrs. Douglas was mauled and eaten alive. The last dog was in there. Each of them had been shot, they hadn’t started eating each other or any other cause of death imaginable for them. Shot.

“Did Hankle kill them after he was done with them?” I questioned while peeking into the stable to take a look at everything. There was no trace of Mrs. Douglas. No bones, no flesh, no limbs, just blood. Blood everywhere. On the wood of the stables, on the mattress that had been put in there, on the hay beneath the mattress. So much blood. But nothing else.

“FBI!” someone called from the stable behind us.

Morgan and I turned with our weapons raised, my finger on the trigger. When I saw JJ staring back at us with her own weapon raised, I lowered mine. She was looking around frantically, not realizing that it was me and Morgan who had found her. Morgan tried to lower his weapon, too, to show that it was just him and that she was going to be alright, but she was still in a panic and couldn’t put two and two together.

“JJ, it’s just us— Morgan and Greenaway,” Morgan said, taking careful steps closer to her.

She slowly lowered her gun, but she still looked at us with wide eyes. “Tobias Hankle is the Unsub.”

“Yeah, we know. Y/N, call an ambulance.”

I stepped away to talk into the comms in order to call for an ambulance. No one on the team responded, so I tried the walkies that the sheriff handed to me before we split off. I called for an ambulance again, and one of the dispatchers responded that they were already sending one, but it was still a few minutes away. I lifted my wrist again for the team comms to ask if anyone had eyes  on Reid, but Emily responded to say that the house was cleared and empty.

“JJ,” I turned back to her, “where’s Reid?”

“I… Um…” She held her head in her palms like she was trying to remember where she last saw him. “We said that we were going to split up. He went around the back, but he never came in.”

Morgan was already on his toes and running out the back of the barn to go find Spencer. I tried yelling after him to tell him to wait up, but he was gone. He was the one who wanted to stay with me and make sure we didn’t split off, but the second he heard that something was wrong with Reid, he was only focused on finding him. Knowing that I couldn’t leave JJ to chase after him, I offered her my hand and we headed out of the barn and towards the cars to wait for the ambulance. Emily, Gideon, and Hotch were talking on the porch of the house with the sheriff about what they found in the house. I opened one of the car doors for JJ and let her sit down while I stood by.

“They just… They tore her apart,” JJ whispered. “There was nothing left of her…” She looked at me. “I had to kill them. The dogs. They were still hungry, even after all of that… And when Reid didn’t come in after hearing the gunshots, I knew that something was wrong, but I was too… I was too paralyzed to go looking for him…”

“This isn’t your fault, JJ. You didn’t know. No one did.”

“We shouldn’t have split up. I told him that we shouldn’t’ve, but he didn’t listen to me.”

The ambulance’s sirens and lights made an appearance for the first time down the road as they came speeding up to the house. I helped JJ back to her feet and led her over to the ambulance just after it parked. The EMTs jumped out of the vehicle and opened up the back so that JJ could sit down again while they checked on her. When she was in safe hands, I took a step away and looked back at the barn to see if Morgan was back with Reid yet, but there was no sign of either of them.

“Morgan!” I called out, running back over to the silent barn. When he didn’t respond from inside, I called over to Emily, and she ran down from the porch to meet me. “Morgan ran into the field to find Reid. They’re not back yet.” She knew what that meant as well as I did, so we started running. We headed around the barn and to the edge of the field. “Morgan! Reid!” No response. “Morgan!” Still nothing. I looked to Emily and we nodded to each other before running into the field together. “Morgan! Reid!” Nothing but the sounds of me and Emily pushing through the tall stalks of wheat. “Derek! Spencer!” Maybe calling them by their first names would catch their attention. Just maybe. “Derek!”

“I’m over here,” he said just to my left. He didn’t scream, but he didn’t whisper it either. He sounded like he had meant to scream, but he seemed defeated somehow. Emily and I changed directions to find him standing in the middle of the field on a small path, his head lowered. “He’s not here,” Morgan whispered, kicking at some of the rocks. “There’s drag marks and blood. But there’s no Reid.”

“Hankle took him?” Emily asked.

“That son of a bitch…”

I walked up to Morgan and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up at me, anger glossing over his eyes. “There’s nothing we can do about it tonight, Morgan,” I told him. “We won’t find him running in the dark like this. We’ll just get turned around ourselves.”

“They’re right,” Emily backed me up. “We need to regroup and profile Hankle if we’re going to find Spencer.”

Morgan nodded understandingly. Emily and I were right. Running around like headless chickens wasn’t going to do Spencer any good, even if Hankle hadn’t taken him and he was just lost. We would send out a search party in the morning, and I was sure that Hotch and the sheriff already closed down every road out of town. If Hankle took Reid, he wasn’t going to get far. But we all just needed to collect ourselves and catch our breaths. We had JJ, and she could help us profile and find Hankle. We were all set to catch him soon. Morgan just needed to hold onto faith.

The three of us headed back to the house. Gideon and Hotch were inside, and JJ was finishing up with the EMTs. No trip to the hospital for her, which was good. She spotted us arriving from the field and pushed past the medics to talk to us. She asked if we found Reid, even though he clearly wasn’t with us. When Morgan walked past her without a word and I couldn’t look at her, she guessed, but Emily finally told her the truth.

I didn’t say another word to JJ before walking past her, too, and heading into Tobias Hankle’s house to talk with the rest of the team about what they found. They were all standing in a computer room on the first floor on the left side of the building. There were more computers and monitors in that one room than I had ever seen in Penelope’s office— and that was saying something. Some were vintage computers from the 80’s, others were brand-spankin’ new. But what mattered was that Tobias Hankle did have all of the computers to watch his potential victims, and he had the technological knowledge to use them in order to hack people. With so many computers and not enough Garcias, she would have to come down to Georgia to help find Reid. This was going to be all hands on deck.

Hotch and Morgan caught me walking into the room before turning back to all of the computers. “I’ve already called Garcia. She’ll be flying down here first thing in the morning,” Hotch said to me, though not facing me. I called it, didn’t I? “Everyone should try to get some sleep. There’s nothing we can do until morning when we can look for Reid and get Garcia here.”

“No,” I insisted, “we need to search this house and figure out if there’s any clue as to where he took Reid.”

“Everyone’s exhausted and shaken up. We won’t be able to build a clear profile with whatever we find.”

“I don’t think that’s the right call—”

“But it’s my call,” he raised his voice, turning to me again.

I doubled down. Emotions were high— especially for him and JJ. They were both putting the blame on themselves, and it was stressing them out. JJ was dealing with it by going into panic mode, while Hotch was handling it with anger. He wasn’t going to listen, but I wasn’t going to just sit around or fall asleep, not while Reid was still out there with that psychopath. He needed our help, and we all knew the statistics of kidnapping victims making it past the first few hours. Reid’s life was on borrowed time, and we needed to find him one way or another. So I turned and stormed out of the computer room to start looking through the bedrooms upstairs.

Hotch was right about one thing, though. We all needed rest and to calm down, and even though my eyelids were growing heavy as my adrenaline began to subside, I wasn’t about to give in. I felt like I was going to topple over on the stairs or pass out in the first bedroom as I walked in, but I just tried to focus my vision on one thing and figure out what I could learn about Tobias Hankle and the other personalities he had fighting for dominance in his mind.

I turned on the bedroom light to help me see and to hopefully help me stay awake. I started with the desk, taking a seat at it to help rest my legs for a moment. He had papers stacked neatly everywhere, but they were all old school assignments from, like, fifth grade. The kind of assignments parents would put on the fridge when they were proud of their kid’s achievements. The kind of assignments that Hotch and I put on the fridge when Jack would bring home an A+. Tobias still had them sitting prominently in his room, however. Why? He was in his mid-thirties. Why hadn’t he gotten rid of them or at least stored them away yet?

I rubbed my eyes and opened one of the drawers. There were toys hiding in there. Little green soldier men and knucklebone— things that a kid would stuff in his drawers after his parents would yell at him to pick up his room. I knew because that was where Jack hid his toys when he was too lazy to put them away and I would have to find them and do it for him later so that he wouldn’t lose them. The only two toys Jack took everywhere with him, though, were the red dinosaur and the green Hot Wheels car. Tobias had similar behavior to Jack in that regard. There was only one stuffed animal on his bed, while the others were neatly placed on a shelf, and the toys in the drawers, and the school assignments on the desk. Tobias’s first personality, the submissive one, was a child. He still saw himself as the young, innocent boy that he was when he was in fifth grade or so.

“What are you doing in here?”

I nearly fell out of the chair at the shock of Hotch sneaking up behind me. After I yelped, I saw that it was just him leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and his face all broody like he was mad at me. He wasn’t wearing his vest anymore, like I was. He was back in his suit jacket and tie, yet he still looked somehow disheveled.

I caught my breath and calmed my racing heart while turning back to the desk. “I’m helping,” I told him, busying my hands with looking through the assignments on the desk.

“I told you that you need to rest.”

“Is Morgan resting? Is Gideon resting? Are you going to rest?”

“Morgan’s already making a pot of coffee…” Hotch admitted.

“Good. I’ll take one.”

“No, you won’t. You need to sleep.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted, smiling over at him to prove my point.

He rolled his eyes. “Your eyes are sunken and half open. You’ll fall asleep at that desk before you can find anything of use.”

“Oh, yeah?” I challenged. I grabbed the stack of papers and opened the drawer again to show him what I had found. “Tobias’s submissive personality is a kid. That’s why he called the cops but was so quick to listen to Raphael.”

Hotch came over and took the papers from me to get a proper look for himself. He flicked through each page, licking his fingers every time he wanted to flip to the next one. “So what does this tell us about where he took Reid?”

I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head slowly. It was good information for a profile, but it wasn’t going to tell us anything about where Tobias took Spencer. Tobias’s submissive personality wouldn’t have been the one to make that decision. He might have known a place, but he wouldn’t have recommended it. Wherever he took Reid had to have been somewhere either Raphael or the abuser personality knew about and knew that no one would be able to find. A stack of school papers, some toys in a drawer, neatly placed stuffed animals, and a perfectly clean room weren’t going to give us the answers we absolutely needed.

Hotch crouched beside me and gently put his hand on my arm. “JJ and Emily are taking the couches downstairs. You need to sleep at some point.”

“No, I don’t.” I couldn’t believe he was already back to this. Spencer was out there somewhere, waiting for us to find him. There wasn’t any time to sleep.

“Yes. You do. You’re not weak if you're just taking care of yourself.”

“I know that.”

“Do you? Because you’re not acting like it. You keep doing reckless things that impact your safety and health all in the name of this job, Y/N. You’re acting like you need to keep proving yourself. You don’t. You’re human if you need to sleep, take a break, cry, feel things— whatever. You’re just like the rest of us and no one’s going to look down on you for getting some rest when you’ve worn yourself out.”

“He needs me, Hotch.”

“He needs us. The best way we can help him is by being on top of our game. You can’t keep going like this. Just take the bed and sleep for a few hours.”

“I don’t want to sleep in this creep’s house.”

“Is that what this is about?”

I nodded. It was part of the reason. While I wanted to help Reid in any way I could as fast as I could, if Hotch was going to send me to bed, he had to know that it wouldn’t be in that house. I would have rather slept on the grass just out front. Anywhere but in that psychopath’s home. It was too unnerving to think about sleeping in one of the beds since all of the couches were taken. It was just too odd.

Hotch grabbed my hand, “Come with me.” He pulled me to my feet and started leading me down stairs and out of the house.

We passed the computer room where Morgan and Gideon were half asleep while trying to find what they could, and JJ and Emily were in the living room, laying down on the couches and talking to each other quietly as they began to wind down for the night. Hotch opened the front door and continued to guide me outside, past the porch, past the grass, and over to the black SUV we had brought.

Hotch let go of my hand so that he could pull the trunk open, then kneel inside so that he could push the backseats down flat to create more space in the trunk. He grabbed the vests that he, Emily, Gideon, and Morgan all peeled off themselves once they knew that there was no threat around the farm, and he threw them up to the front seat. I started pulling all of the velcro straps apart on my vest and pulled it off my body before handing it to Hotch, and he threw it up front with the others.

The trunk was officially cleaned out, but I didn’t understand what for until Hotch told me to climb in. I raised a brow and chuckled. He sat down in the trunk and patted an empty space beside him before telling me to climb in again. My eyes stayed on his as I gave in and crawled in beside him. I turned around to face the open back of the car and sat down, my legs stretched out in front of me. I sighed and let my eyes fall shut just to find a moment of peace and clarity.

It was so quiet and so relaxing. No one would have ever guessed that a place like it would have been home to a psychotic serial killer. But that was how it always went. It was always the person neighbors least expected who always turned out to be the most violent. Tobias was just a boy who didn’t get the help he needed, and so his mental stability spiraled and he became the violent murderer we discovered him to be. Living in seclusion on a farm like that, where the only thing you could hear for miles was the chirping of crickets, it would make anyone go insane after so long. But just spending a night there in the car, with Hotch at my side, it didn’t seem so bad. I couldn’t forget that Reid was out there all alone with Tobias, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was letting him down by giving into the idea of sleep, but I could at least find enough peace in the cool wind passing by the car that I started to grow more tired. We would help Reid in the morning, just as Hotch promised.

“Is this better?” Hotch asked me quietly. I nodded and laid down flat on my back with my eyes shut. I shivered as the wind passed by again. “Are you alright?” he asked, noticing right away. I turned onto my side, now facing Hotch, and pulled my knees up slightly to trap some warmth around my body. He caught on quickly, so he took off his jacket and laid it over me. I instantly felt at home in the strangest of ways, but I didn’t question it because it just felt so nice. “I love you,” he whispered, resting his palm on my thigh.

I put my hand over his, “I love you, too.”

[blazehedgehog]

So rather than attach it to the last (rather large) post thread, I’ll start a new one. If you didn’t catch it on Twitter, friends managed to raise some money through nothing but sheer good will and I ended up booking a stay at the same hotel we should have gotten for free.

I’m starting a new thread because I want to ask a question, but first I want to clarify and provide a better timeline of everything that’s happened. This isn’t exact, but it’s as close as my memory can remember right now:

Late 2019/Early 2020: Whoever owns my apartment complex sells it to a new company in California. The complex is in Nevada. It’s a big apartment complex; it used to be two separate ones that were right next to each other and they merged to create a “project” that houses something like 150-200 units. If you consider families, somewhere in the realm of 300-700 people live here.  

April/May 2020: We get a notice on our door announcing that our new owners want to renovate the complex. Every single unit. It’s such a big ordeal that they have to put in to get funding from the State of Nevada to do it. The initial claim is that they will move us out of our apartment unit in to a new unit for up to a month or two (at no cost to us) while they renovate. More information will come in summer 2020 during a town hall meeting we will attend in person. I expect that with the pandemic starting and “shelter in place” orders going out that there’s no way they’d be dumb enough to go through with any of this. The notice ends with them pleading with people not to take this as a cue to move out. In the months to follow, we spied at least four people who were smart enough to get out before the renovation hit. We considered it, but the housing authority we have to rent through went dead silent the moment the pandemic ramped up and have yet to say even a single word to us (even now).  

Late October/Early November 2020: The town hall meeting finally happens, online, in a Zoom meeting. Three people in California dictate to the 40 or 50 tenants (maybe more) that attend the meeting how this is going to go. Plans have changed: the renovation will take place across ten days. Very tight schedule. In and out as fast as possible. In batches of 4-5 units at a time, going alphabetically across the complex, units will be renovated. New paint, new carpet, new cabinets, new sinks, new toilet, new shower, new appliances, redone balcony. Renovation teams will come in at 8am and work until 5pm. After 5pm, we will be allowed to return to our unit and sleep there. We will be allowed to keep one bed (per person) and one TV, which the renovation team will move out of the way during the day and return to our unit when they leave. We are also told we will be getting a sealable plastic tub to store personal items (toiletries and such) that the renovation team will also handle. We are assured they will be adhering to rigorous sanitization standards, with multiple temperature checks daily, masks, and gloves. During the day, we are free to go wherever, but the complex will be setting up what they call a “hospitality trailer” -- a communal space for everyone currently effected by the renovation to hang out inside, together. There will be port-a-potties and wifi. We’re told meals will also be provided, possibly in the trailer, but details are unspecific. We’re also told some landscaping will be done. All told, between renovating units and landscaping, they say the whole process from beginning to end will take 18 months or more. Tenants in the Zoom call ask questions -- if we don’t want to stay at the hospitality trailer, we’re told we should consider staying with family during the day. They ignore multiple questions from people asking if this will cause the rent to go up.  

December 2020: Renovation begins, starting with apartments in the A block. We’re somewhere near the middle of the alphabet, and going by the ten-days-per-unit estimate, we’re expecting the renovation to hit us around March-ish, maybe even as late as April. I develop an ugly toothache; my face swells up. I do a phone visit with a dentist and he prescribes me antibiotics and schedules me for an appointment on January 18th to pull the tooth.  

Early January 2021: Going to check the mail one day, I notice it feels like they’re spending a long time on the first few sets of units. Then, all of a sudden, renovations surge ahead, and units worryingly close to our letter start putting tarps up over their balconies, signalling they’re either mid-reno, or at least packing.  

January 18th, 2021: Tooth is “fine” (big cavity, no pain) but we discuss options for pulling multiple bad teeth with this problem tooth, since a lot of my upper teeth aren’t in great shape. Will require multiple rounds of surgery to remove them all and set up replacements. First round of surgery is on February 24th. I immediately wonder if we’re going to get called early for renovation and it’ll land simultaneously with the surgery. I try not to think about it.  

January 30th, 2021: We receive a notice that our apartment’s number is due. It’s post-dated, which means the notice is late. We’re supposed to have 45 days notice, and the move-out date listed in the notice is February 23rd. By the 45 day rule, this notice should’ve arrived January 9th. There’s also a degree of confusion: the notice was delivered to our apartment, but the notice is addressed to the apartment below us. Parts of the notice still mention our apartment number. We call the front office for clarification, and they tell us that the notice was indeed meant for the people below us. According to them, we’re in the clear for now. “You’re close...” tells us the person on the phone, “But it’s not your time yet.” We consider preparing early, but it sounds like we have to use the provided packing materials for organizational reasons when the movers come.  

February 5th: I record my Patreon Podcast. I mention the renovation. If you consider 10 days per renovation, based on when the notice was actually delivered, I’m expecting we’re going to get our notice in the next few days.  

February 8th: We get a knock on the door. A man from the front office is checking in with us to see how packing is going. Packing because the notice was actually for us. It was for all four units in this block. We tell him: we called. They said it wasn’t our time yet. He just kind of shrugs and asks if we need boxes. Of course we do. Our 45 day notice has been cut down to less than 14 days. On top of that, we’ve got doctors appointments and things coming up that’s going to eat in to this time. He says everything has to be in the office-provided UHaul boxes. Even if we have items already in cardboard boxes, they have to be specifically repacked in UHaul boxes.  

February 13th: After days of trying to contact my dentist office via email, I finally get a hold of them via text. I try to reschedule my appointment, but the receptionist tells me it’s just another consultation, not surgery. I hope she’s right. The stress of all of this is making it hard to get packing as fast as we need to.  

February 15th: My Mom tells me she’s managed to book an appointment for her first round of covid-19 vaccinations. Unfortunately, it’s on February 23rd, the day we’re being moved out.  

February 16th: We talk to the people below us, an elderly couple. They’re panicking about packing because they have so much stuff. They mention that the front office booked them a hotel for the duration of their renovation. All they needed was a doctor’s note proving they needed it. Given that my 75 year old mother has a doc appointment literally the next day, this seems like extremely good timing. After doing curbside pickup for a grocery order that day, we pass the movers on our way back in as they are loading a unit in to their Ryder truck. None of them that I see are wearing masks or gloves.  

February 17th: Doc visit happens, she implies that he kind of blew her off. She’s had chronic pain in her hands and knees for years, and in particular, the pain in her hands has been getting bad, fast. She wraps her thumb in sports tape because bending it hurts. She used to be a waitress, she used to be a cake decorator, she did data entry for a couple years, and now she’s dabbling with painting. Her carpal tunnel is severe and its accentuated with arthritis. Doctor just kind of shrugs it off, tells her if it gets worse to come back in a few months, even though arthritis can kill people if not treated properly. Still, he writes her a cursory note for the apartment front office. She talks to them and they’re very glad she contacted them about this; it sounds like the kind of thing that’s only available to people who ask, since presumably the owners don’t want to shell out $900,000+ rooming the entire complex in a hotel. Either way, we’re excited; maybe this renovation won’t be so bad. They tell us the name of the hotel and where its located.  

February 18th: While doing laundry in anticipation of packing things up for the hotel/renovation, we happen to catch someone in the laundry room who just got back in to her apartment after her reno finished. She tells us a horror story: everything they told us in the Zoom meeting was a lie. They are renovating way more than 4 units at a time, they aren’t going alphabetically anymore, and she theorizes they’re going with a cheaper renovation team because half of her apartment straight up wasn’t done. The new tile was cheap plastic, which was already gouged by the time she got there. No new fridge, no new shower or tub, no new toilet. “Those will be happening this summer,” she tells us. Sinks got replaced, but the new sinks are apparently bigger than the old ones, leaving less counter space (a particular problem in the bathroom). Carpets were new, but already a dirty mess because of the movers. She had to go around and pick up nails stuck in the carpet that were left behind by the renovators. Since they didn’t take the fridge, she got to keep her food in there, which was important for her because she had special dietary food that needed to be refrigerated. The bad news? Some of that food was stolen. She had a broom and a dust pan stolen, too. She mentions how poor communication has been. We mention the hotel, and she lights up. She didn’t stay in her apartment either, they put her up in the hotel, too. So at least there’s that silver lining. Though she regrets it, because they damaged her TV while she was away. She finally helps clarify the food situation for us, too: we’ll be receiving a “food voucher” to pay for our meals, whatever that means.  

February 19th: My Mom was supposed to call the front office to confirm we got the hotel, but in all the confusion, she didn’t get around to it. We’ll have to wait the entire weekend to get confirmation. But if the elderly couple below us got a room, and the lady we spoke to at laundry got a room, it sounds like we’re a lock.  

February 22nd: The front office checks in on us again, shrugs their shoulders at how behind we are on packing, and offers us more boxes. They only give us large boxes; we need small, medium and especially rolls of packing tape. They mention they’ll have more later once they open the storage unit, but we never get any. Across this entire ordeal, we’ve only gotten a single roll of packing tape. We bought several rolls of our own after being tired of waiting. Front office guy says our fridge is being replaced, but we can still keep food in our old one and we’ll just “come in and change it out.” Whatever that means. Later, after getting off the phone, we learn we were rejected for the hotel. The doctor’s note wasn’t good enough and the head office in California denied our request. My Mom tries to contact her doctor again to get a more detailed note, but he doesn’t return her call. We’re going to be living out of the car for the next ten days. We talk about protesting this; by stopping packing right now and refusing to leave, but eventually decide that would be a bad idea. We don’t want to risk the movers breaking any of our things. A couple friends start spreading around my paypal.me link in the hopes of raising money for us to stay at a hotel. They raise a little over $200, but it’s hard to justify spending that on a hotel.  

February 23rd, Morning: By this point, we’re running on empty. No sleep, physically exhausted, stressed out of our minds. Both of us on the verge of tears several times. With everything going on, we’re a little over halfway done packing and there’s no time left. We quickly move from “pack everything” to “pack what’s important so the movers don’t have to touch it.” Whatever we can’t finish, the movers will pack for us. At 7:30am the movers arrive, and they knock on the door at 8am. They are very polite. They are all wearing masks and gloves. We tell them they are nowhere near ready, and they offer to do our unit last. We do the best we can and leave the rest to them. On our way out, we talk to the elderly couple that lives below us, who claim the moving truck won’t be enough to hold everything in their apartment. It’s a big truck and a small apartment. I find that hard to believe. We go park somewhere and doze in the car until my Mom’s vaccination appointment at 10am. More friends, some of them with very large followings, start spreading the paypal.me link around. Momentum begins to build.  

February 23rd, Midday: We get to the vaccination place only to realize we forgot some things at the apartment. We quickly jog back across town and plan to ask them if it’s okay if we can go in to the apartment and retrieve it. When we get there, they’re still unloading the couple below us, and I notice they aren’t just taking UHaul boxes, but regular cardboard boxes, too. Given it’s been almost two hours, this might be second truckful, maybe even the third. I grab the stuff we’re missing and we head back to the vaccination park. Afterwards, we hang out at my brother’s just in case my mom has an allergic reaction to the vaccine and she needs help. She’s fine, and by the time we’re through there, it’s getting to be time to head back to our apartment for the night at 5pm. Before we leave my brother’s, I use their wifi to check my Paypal account. I joke, “I’m worried that I’ll open my account and it’ll say $2000.” Combined with the little bit of money I already had in my Paypal, the donations have pushed my account close to $2200. I burst out laughing. “YOU WANNA GO GET A HOTEL?!” I shout. We agree we’ll spend the night in the unit tonight and decide what we’ll take with us to the hotel in the morning.  

February 23rd, Evening: It’s close to 6pm and the movers are still there. They were supposed to clock out almost an hour ago. I browse Tripadvisor and Expedia in the parking lot and decide to just book the same hotel they dangled in front of our faces, since reviews specifically point out it’s clean and has extremely good quarantine practices. Expedia lets me pay with Paypal directly, but there’s a problem where it won’t connect to my Paypal account. As I go to transfer the money out of my Paypal and finish booking the hotel, the wifi dies. The movers just unplugged our modem and packed it up. They probably weren’t supposed to do that, and they picked the worst time, too. We spend the next 45 minutes driving around town trying to find free wifi so I can book this hotel. We end up parking at my brother’s place and leeching his wifi from the driveway. Hotel booked, check-in is at 3pm on the 24th. For now, it’s back to the apartment to decide what to take with us.  

February 23rd, Night: Upon getting back to the apartment around 7pm, we find it’s... a disaster area. They spent so long unloading all the other units, they did not have time to finish packing and unloading what was left in our unit. There’s garbage everywhere, it’s mixed in with the stuff we want to keep, some of it’s broken, it’s horrible. It looks like they just swept everything off the tables on to the floor. TV remotes and mail are spread out all over the place. They didn’t leave us any lamps, so the only lights in the apartment are the front door light, the kitchen light, and the bathroom light. They might have left us our mattresses, but they didn’t leave us any pillows or blankets. Still, we spent the better part of the night sorting through the “trash” and separating it out in to the stuff we wanted to keep. We pack up most of the apartment with whatever materials the movers left behind, but we eventually run out of boxes and tape. We still managed to pack 99.9% of what was left. From 7pm to 2:30am.  

February 24th, Morning: At 7:30am I'm woken up by the movers pulling up. I can hear them joking in the parking lot about who gets the honor of being called "papi" and cracking rude jokes about "assuming gender." They probably think nobody's around to hear them. We ask them for more time so we can wake up and get dressed. As we're loading up the car with stuff to take to the hotel, we overhear the movers complaining about how they are being made to wait because we were supposed to be out of here by 8, and it's close to 9. My Mom gives them an earful about how little time we had to pack compared to how long we should've had. "That's been happening to a lot of people here." one of them tells her. My whole body hurts after days of little sleep and packing extremely heavy boxes. I’ve had a throbbing headache for almost 48 hours. With the dentist appointment at 3pm that afternoon, we go to a park and I doze in the car for another five hours.   

February 24th, Afternoon: Dentist appointment goes smoothly; they offer to start surgery, but I explain to them what happened with the renovation and they are perfectly fine postponing until a later date. By now, my feet hurt where the soles of my shoes have been rubbing. My ankles and knees are hurting from being crunched up inside a car for two days. My back hurts from all the lifting. I’m beyond miserable and realize there’s no way I could bare to spend 10 days living in this car. Thankfully, with the dentist appointment out of the way, it’s check in time. The hotel room is nice, but given I’ve never stayed in a hotel before, I don’t have much of a comparison. But when I fall asleep that night, I sleep harder and longer than I have in years.  

February 25th: The elderly couple that lived below us at the apartment are here at the same hotel we are, and we talk to them. Turns out, the lady has the same doctor as my Mom, and they were rejected from his note, too. The approval they got for the hotel came from her husband’s doctor, who wrote an extremely detailed note about his oxygen needs. They mention that people living in our complex with disabilities weren’t housed here and they don’t know where they are or what happened to them. They also claim that the food provision stuff from the apartment front office is apparently some kind of a $45/day meal credit we get at the end of the renovation. But again, it’s still not clear, and the apartment itself has never clarified. That night, we return to the apartment again to raid our fridge for stuff to bring to the hotel. Now, if you remember, we were supposed to be able to sleep at the apartment every night. The apartment we returned to was in such a state that it would have been impossible to sleep in. No sinks, no toilets, no stove, no running water of any kind, and all of the outlets stripped down. Literally the only thing we could have done was sleep there; nothing else was possible. And even then, remember: no bedding. No pillows, no blankets, and it’s still winter out there.  

Update on things I forgot: Also on the 25th, elderly couple in the unit below us also told of how the movers had thrown their $950 couch outside and left it in the dirt for multiple days, asking if it was “trash” because one of the washable seat covers had a single pet stain on it. (When we visited the apartment that night to raid the fridge, we even saw it) Not only that, but last year, our bathroom tub had been leaking in to one of their closets. They had to shut our water off for several days and fix the pipes. Apparently this caused black mold in their apartment that wasn’t discovered until they started hauling boxes out. Upon bringing it up with the renovation team, they got told “there’s black mold everywhere! it’s in the grass! it’s fine!” The husband went in to take pictures of the black mold, but by the time he got over there with the camera, the renovation team had already painted over it. Apparently another tenant on the other side of the complex had mold problems so bad that she’s been paid to stay at this hotel for more than a month already while they deal with it.

Which brings us, roughly, to today.

Now, the question I mentioned way back at the top: what are my options here, legally? A lot of friends have told me up and down that this is either illegal, or should be illegal, but I have no idea where to start with any of this stuff and frankly I’m a little gun shy. I don’t know what Nevada housing law is like, what renters rights are, and I don’t want to risk being evicted. But I also know that the threat of being evicted is also what keeps people complacent.

All I really know is that basically everything they originally told us was a lie, and they never informed us of most of these changes. As for the rest, well... just read for yourself.

Whatever you know, I’d like to know.

[megbox]

2020 Year in Review

Previous Posts: (2019) (2018) (2017) (2016) (2015) (2014) (2013) (2012) (2011) 

2020 is a weird year because as the world goes through something collectively extremely traumatic and that is radically changing the structure of our lives, our workplaces, the way we connect socially, our mental health… our response to disease…. SO MUCH ABOUT THE WORLD…. And yet the day-to-day of living in a pandemic is so… mundane. I am privileged enough to have that opinion. I have stayed securely employed and it is privilege for my main reaction to something as intense as this pandemic to be boredom. But really, 2020 was a year of absences. It was a year spent largely alone, in my own company. It was a year that forced me to rest. It was a year that made me feel so terribly lonely but also forced me to get acquainted with myself and enjoy my own company in a new way. And it was a year of running. 

I would also like to thank Connor for making this post happen by reminding me to do it and not to break tradition. 

January & February 

I am combining these months because they were not altogether all that memorable. My resolutions, as I noted on Twitter on January 2, were to 1) Keep running and 2) Learn how to make fresh pasta dough. I can safely say – mission accomplished on both fronts. 

On January 14, I had the privilege of presenting a suicide intervention lecture to students at the medical school where my brother goes. By that time, I’d done a million of these presentations so nerves aren’t really a factor (imagine that! Me, no longer remotely afraid of public speaking…), but this one meant a little extra to me. My brother is so highly accomplished, and I am so proud of him, and I enjoyed having an opportunity to show him what I do and make him proud of me. I wore my favourite dress and did my hair all nice and he described it later as “exceptional.” It was a really, really good feeling. The first weekend of February, Ali and I had planned to go to Jasper. We wanted to go for a hike or two, and get super stoned and go to the planetarium. A huge blizzard hit Alberta just before we were supposed to leave, so we ended up having a staycation here in Calgary. We rented a hotel room, went swimming, drank wine, went to Japanese Village, had drinks in the lounge and then later to a punk rock band roulette night at the Palomino and finally crawled into our giant hotel bed and fell asleep to Remember the Titans… of all movies. It was the kind of night where you simultaneously feel 18 and 35 years old. 

March 

March was when the pandemic really started to become real. I don’t know exactly why, but I did not take the threat of coronavirus very seriously until the last minute. My coworkers would whisper about it in the hallways and I just rolled my eyes. But then, people started deciding they would work from home, the number of us in the office dwindled. The vibe was bad. Nobody could really focus. They held meetings at 8am and 4pm every day just for COVID-19 updates and we all waited with bated breath for them to finally tell us to go home and not come back. I really feel like I didn’t acknowledge the true implications of this virus until we got the official work from home order, and I had to tell my boss, my laptop at home is too old to run this software, I need a work tablet. My first official work from home day was March 23, 2020. I don’t remember much about that time except that the general sense of panic and anxiety made my job a lot busier, and it is hard to do a job like mine from home because it is hard to counsel or reassure clients through anxieties that are hitting you just as hard. I coped with wine, a lot of running, and listening to Ben Gibbard’s afternoon live streams where he would play acoustic versions of Death Cab songs and other covers. He played New Slang by the Shins one night and I burst into tears. I also coped with teaching myself how to make fresh pasta dough, and enjoying what was, at that point in the pandemic, the novelty and fun of Zoom. 

April 

In the absence of being able to have a party for my birthday, I decided to be obnoxious and do a “challenge” on my Instagram story. I asked my friends to record a distance run and/or walked and send it to me as a birthday present. My actual birthday ended up being a cold and windy and pretty miserable day. I ran 12km myself, came back home and watched both Magic Mike and Magic Mike XXL, and then went to my parents’ to celebrate both Scott and I’s birthdays with our family. My friends dropped off presents to my door and drove past my house and honked and I felt very loved and appreciated. I drank a lot of Prosecco with my brother and we listened to Kacey Musgraves. 

It was also in April that I become “acquainted” with my neighborhood running nemesis. I put acquainted in apostrophes because I have never actually spoken to him. On one fateful run in April, I happened to catch up to him on my regular route. This was at the height of the COVID fear and so, while I would usually just pass someone on the sidewalk, I went out into the street. He saw me out of the corner of his eye and SPED UP. WHICH IS SUCH BAD RUNNER ETIQUETTE LIKE DUDE I’M IN THE ROAD LET ME PASS YOU. And then we ended up in this like, all-out 100m-finals-at-the-motherfucking-Olympics sprint challenge when all I was trying to do was go for a leisurely training run. And then I finally passed him, turned a corner and had to like collapse on to my hands and knees to catch my breath. Since then, I see this man running all the time. Sometimes while I am also running, sometimes from my car when I am driving through my neighborhood. He’s like… 16. And we are very competitive with one another. I hope to one day actually say hello to him. I both hate that guy and have to thank him for the motivation. 

I ran my first half marathon on April 13, 2020. I was very hungover because I had stayed up quite late with someone on Zoom the night before on a virtual “first date” that had gone much better than anticipated. I don’t know why but I woke up the next morning in such a good mood that I decided I would go for a long, slow run. I got to 18km and figured, what’s 3.1 more? And so, I did it. The first thing I did upon finishing was call my mom. The second thing I did was contemplate calling an Uber to drive me the 2km left to my house. The other notable thing in April is that Maddy moved back from Australia, begrudgingly and a LOT earlier than planned, because of COVID. 

May

May was kind of a blur. It was the first month of the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee, which I signed up for while coming off of the high of actually running a half marathon all by myself. The GVRAT was fucking awesome. It was created by Lazarus Lake, of Barkley Marathons fame. The ask is to run 1022.68km between May 1 and August 31, an average of about 8.3km per day. Well, you could run, walk, or hike. This is the actual distance it would take you to cover the state of Tennessee. Myself and about 20,000 other weirdos from around the world signed up for this challenge. I figured I would never get a chance to run in a Lazarus Lake race for real, and being home all the time opened up a lot more opportunity for training. It was one of the very best things I did for myself in 2020. So May involved a lot of running, because I was fresh and naïve and fully intended to be ahead of the curve. I was running about 10-12 per day, sometimes more, and not taking any rest days. 

In between these runs, I spent a lot of time going on long, ambling quarantine walks with Maddy. We would either go for a long walk or she would come over and we would get absolutely hammered in my backyard playing beer pong just to pass the time. We would send snapchats to our exes and make TikToks like 18 year olds. I know we never really said it out loud but having eachother during this time made these months bearable. We were lamenting the loss of a summer, and Maddy’s time in Australia, and all of the expectations we had for ourselves. We were watching our friends in relationships move in together or get closer due to the quarantine. We needed companionship, and stupid things to laugh about, and love, and distraction. And I can genuinely say I would not have gotten through this quarantine period if it weren’t for the nights I spent shooting Pink Whitney and dancing to Party in the USA in my living room with her. 

May 13th was my one year anniversary of working at the university. It felt good to have accomplished so many things in that time, and have moved up already in my job, and to have a full-time, permanent contract.

And May 16th was when I ran my second half-marathon as part of a virtual challenge put on by a friend of a friend. My parents came and sat in lawn chairs in the park while I did loops. They cheered me on and filled my water bottle for me when I ran out. They’re my number one supporters and I love having a family that does that kind of shit for me in the face of something arbitrary like a virtual half marathon challenge. I knocked 7 minutes (!) off my original time. Amazing what not being hungover can do for your fitness levels. 

June 

I don’t remember many important things about June, other than Maddy moving to Banff. It was depressing but I was also happy for her and happy to have an excuse to go out there and visit. I went the very first weekend after she moved. Halfway through June I seriously contemplated quitting the GVRAT. My shins were bruised, I was dreading every single run, and I could not fathom doing it for 2.5 more months. I was dragging behind in the standings and losing my motivation. 

I spent a lot of time with friends reading in parks. Sometimes, often, with wine. I met a stranger in Canmore Park and ended up kissing him. He was lovely. 

Ali and I had one really good day in June where we went to the Farmer’s Market and then came back to her place and watched Ru Paul’s drag race for like eight straight hours. It was one of those days where we hadn’t seen each other in so long and you just feel totally high off of friendship and absolutely everything is funny and you just can’t stop laughing. I vividly remember it as one of the best days of the year. 

July

Again, July kind of passed in a blur. I did a lot of hiking, and a lot of running… keeping up with the GVRAT. I hiked Picklejar Lakes, Castle Mountain, Little Beehive Lookout. 

I went to Banff for a weekend to hang out with Maddy. We had a predictably wild weekend with her roommates and friends. We had dinner at Chili’s (hell yeah) and then went to High Rollers for beers and bowling. The “thing to do” at that point for all of these Banff people was to meet at the “rec grounds” aka public firepits and drink. The police would generally leave you alone so long as you weren’t being rowdy. I sat next to an Australian named Josh at a picnic table and later took him back to my hotel room and he gave me the world’s most unbelievable obvious hickey. Maddy and I sweat out the tequila shots the next day with a long ass hike, and then had a nap before her brother came and took us climbing at the Sunshine slabs – an activity I was not very good at but I wanted to be good at. It was the kind of weekend where you feel like, okay, I definitely indulged my wild side. And you drive home just like totally exhausted but smiling. I sent Maddy’s brother a voice note on my way into town thanking him for taking us climbing and saying it was nice to see him.

August

Okay – August was actually really eventful. Like most of the year’s events happened in August, honestly. A lot of running and hiking. I did Ha Ling Peak for the first time, and we did a 30km hike to Aylmer Pass one day that was a fricken GRIND. I spent the long weekend in Saskatchewan. We went to a cidery, and I ran laps around my Dodo’s acreage, and then we got to visit Wakaw Lake and reunite with our old next-door neighbours. We took the boat out and went tubing and lit fireworks and had an amazing dinner and honestly it was like reliving my childhood in the best, best, best way. I fell asleep on the car ride home. 

I went camping with Ali in Sylvan Lake. We got ice cream and cooked fish tacos over the campfire. She told me that Cody had a date planned for the day they took possession of their house, that she wondered if he might ask her to marry him but didn’t want to get her hopes up in case it didn’t happen and ruin what otherwise was supposed to be a celebratory day. Spoiler – he did ask her to marry him  I was running when she called me. I was listening to Epsilon by Kygo, and now when I hear that song I always think of them. I stopped my watch and just openly bawled on the street out of happiness for them. 

Steven successfully defended his master’s thesis. We went camping in Waterton to celebrate with Matt, Kennedy, Regan, Scott, and Rie. They brought cake. We did a sunrise hike. I slept in the back of my Ford Escape. 

On August 27, Ollie passed away. It was both expected and unexpected. He had been having some issues with seizures. The vet didn’t think it was anything to be too concerned about, he was old and it wasn’t uncommon for them to happen. It happened suddenly. I had a terrible sleep that night, and woke up in a cold sweat somewhere between 3 and 4 am. In the morning, my mom called me and told me the news. He had a giant seizure in the night and was crying and yelping. They woke up and took him to the emergency vet, they made the executive call to put him down to prevent any further suffering. He died right around the time I woke up in the middle of the night. I like to think that was his way of saying goodbye, maybe. I cried all day. Well, let’s be honest, I cried all week. I burst into tears at the mere thought of him. He was such a good and lovely dog. He was so loved by us. He had a good life. It is always sad when we lose pets so early. They bring so much joy to our lives, and still when I go to my parents’ place the first thing I want to do is call for him or pet him. I hope he is running around in whatever the pet afterlife is. I miss him. 

And on August 31, I ran my last kilometre of the GVRAT. I finished with 733.78 run, 83.18 hiked, and 205.09 walked. 

September

September was a nice break from running. I got to start coming to campus one day a week, on Thursdays, which was good for my mental health and work productivity. I got to spend September long in Vernon with Maeghan and Madison at Michael’s family’s cabin. They took us boating and made us meals and didn’t judge us for drinking margaritas with Michael’s sister literally all day. It was the best. It was the epitome of every summer weekend you dream about. I was so happy I got to go. 

I met a boy in September. It’s always September, isn’t it? It feels weird to write about him. Like, that makes him significant. But. He is significant. And I met him in September. And it was unexpected. Last minute. And essentially not a day has gone by since that day in September that I have not thought about him.

I also joined a Calgary Sport and Social Club team with my friends for softball and it started in September. We played two games and then I tore my hamstring running from second to third base. I tore… my hamstring…. Running like 30 metres…. After a summer of literally running 10+ km every day. I… it was the worst day ever. Softball itself was amazing and so fun even though I really do suck at the sport but highly recommend Rec League C-level beer league softball with all of your best friends. There’s just no way that isn’t fun. 

October 

A lot of pouting about my hamstring, I went to two physio sessions and then decided to just start running again. I’m bad. I’m a bad example. Don’t do what I do… but also…. It worked. 

I went to Victoria to visit Sydney over the Thanksgiving weekend. We went to a Thanskgiving potluck party at my old coworker’s place. It was a nice experience to be the new people at a party, to have a room full of new people to meet and who ask you questions about your life. We got really drunk and they tried setting Sydney up with one of their roommate’s brothers, and gave us lipstick to try, and poured us tequila shots. We had such an amazing meal. It was honestly so fun. We laughed in the cab the whole way back about how we were going to need to debrief that evening HARD the next morning. We watched a lot of All Gas No Brakes, and went for dinner and brunch and I limped up Mount Doug with my hamstring. It was a very very chill weekend, like we spent a lot of time just lounging at Sydney’s apartment and doing nothing. Because that is the kind of friends we are. It was so relaxing and lovely. I was sad to leave. 

Karla, my roommate, left for New York at the end of October. Her aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and she and her mom made the executive move to go there to basically be with her for the end of her life. She wasn’t going to be back until December. I was happy, because it’s nice to have a place to myself, but also sad because Karla is lovely and I knew it was going to be a stressful situation for her. 

November / December

I am combining these two months because they have also been largely uneventful. In fact… I don’t know if I could really tell you anything significant that happened. We’ve been in a lockdown. I’ve spent my time playing piano, watching Netflix, listening to podcasts, basically doing all of the things I usually do when I’m bored. Lots of Among Us. Lots of outdoor things… skating… more running. We’ve been in a lockdown since early December. Time has dragged on since then. I spent Christmas with my parents. Scott and Rie stayed isolated, because Scott is in and out of the hospital for school. My mom and I watched shitty Christmas Hallmark movies and made fun of the guys who star in them. We drank a LOT on Christmas Eve and both spent Christmas with a wicked hangover. My dad and I ate edibles and I was launched into the stratosphere. I spent New Year’s Eve with Boy from September. We played beer pong, and card games, and he tried to use a coat hangover to pick the lock on the mysterious room that my landlord keeps locked. We spent most of the night kissing, honestly. I was happy to spend the last moments of the year with him.

2021: 

Honestly... at this point... who really knows? 

[nkp1981]

Somewhere in Africa in the year 2062:

They all had their own missions in life, but sometimes two missions collide, and they are always grateful for the help no matter what.

“So, Sudan, Barcelona and then Rome?” Joe asked, who was leaning up against the only tree in the area and was peeling the last apple, he had. “Just admit it!! You want to see how far they have come with Sagrada Família.” Nicky replied, who was laying on the ground with the binoculars and was trying to figure out where the best place would be for a surprise attack. “That is second on my list, Habibi.” Joe said not hiding what his true attentions were and Nicky felt how Joe was looking intensely on his ass before he once again concentrated on counting how many people there were in the convoy. “Don’t know if I should feel flattered, that you just put me before a church, that they haven't finished yet and probably never will be.” Nicky replied and looked to his left, where someone caught his attention, so he zoomed in on the person. “You will always be my favorite piece of art, Nicolo. The finest piece in the entire world” Joe said and wished that they soon were finished with this mission, so he could get Nicky out of all the clothes. “Could I ask you to concentrate on things in front of you?” Nicky asked. “What do you think I'm already doing!!” Joe replayed with laughter in his voice. “A bit further ahead of you!!” Nicky sighed over his hopeless lover. “It’s a hard thing you’re asking about, since you know that I love to admire a great piece of art for hours.” Joe replied with a smirk, while he fed Nicky half of the apple before he laid down on the ground next to Nicky. “I’ll make it up to you later.” Nicky promised and gave Joe a smile, that made him once again fall in love with Nicky. “I’ll keep you to that promise, so what am I looking for?” Joe wanted to know and took the binoculars, while Nicky took his rifle. “Look to your left at the jeep and you’ll see a familiar face.” Nicky said in a tone, that meant he was rethinking their original plan. “Is that Nile? I thought she was working out in Saudi Arabia.” Joe asked surprised when he found the person Nicky had talked about. “If you had paid more attention the last time, she called, you would know, she said Dubai, but knowing Nile, she is already planning on how to get the civilians away from the convoy.” Nicky replied and looked at every move Nile made through the rifle’s telescopic sight. “Do you think you can signal her, that we also are here?” Joe wanted to know and looked at the convoy, who had moved into the ravine. “Give me the laser.” Nicky said and when Joe handed it to Nicky, he caressed the warm hand. “Tell me your plan, Nicolo.” Joe said in the same trusting tone, Nicky loved. “The soldiers aren’t the problem. They’re just big boys, who have never held a gun, so let’s concentrate on our target, Nile and get the civilians to safety. You jump down and work your way towards Nile, while I will make so much noise that they think you have brought an army with you. Give me the blanks.” Nicky explained and Joe sat up, where he handed the blanks, before he got the last weapons ready. “I don’t need an army, I got you.” Joe replied, which made Nicky grateful, that Joe still had that kind of faith in him after all that time. “Thanks, mio amato!” Nicky said and gave Joe a smile, before looking for the right moment to signal Nile, while Joe got the last things ready.

Nicky was right about that Nile was thinking about if the ravine was the right place for making an escape. When she looked up briefly to look at the surroundings one of the soldiers shouted, that she should look at the ground or she would be shot. Not long after they passed through a piece of road with shadows, where Nile saw a red dot on the ground and she smiled, when she got the message that simply said “Joe, behind, stone” And she kicked a stone as a reply, which made Nicky sure off, she had understood the message.

“Be careful.” Nicky said and looked up at Joe, who kneeled and kissed him. “Likewise. Love you.” Joe replied and leaned his forehead against Nicky’s, while saying the usual prayer. “Love you too.” Was Nicky last response, before he once again took the rifle, and as Joe started to jump down towards the bottom of the ravine as silent as he could, while Nicky followed him through the telescopic sight on the rifle.

When Joe had reached the ravine, he held up his thumb as a sign to Nicky, that he was ready. Then Nicky quickly signaled to Nile, who kicked another stone, before he shot at the front jeep’s tire, which made the whole convoy stop and Joe sneaked up on the first soldier and it was first at the third soldier, that they noticed Joe, but before the soldiers could start firing at Joe, Nicky started to shoot at their feet, which was enough to scatter them all, because as predicted, they thought, Joe had brought with him an army. In the middle Nile got all the civilians to safety behind the truck before she helped Joe with the rest of soldiers. “Glad to see you.” Joe said and gave her a smile, before throwing her a gun. “Likewise, and thanks for the help. So, what brings you here?” Nile wanted to know. “Him? We have been tracking him for weeks. And you?” Joe replied and pointed at a man, who was hiding behind the jeep. “I’m trying to get those civilians home.” Nile replied and shot towards a soldier, who was heading for the truck. “Blanks?” Nile asked, when she hit him, and he ran away together with his comrade. “Talk with Nicky. It was his brilliant idea.” Joe replied with a smirk and watched as their target was being corralled straight towards Joe thanks to Nicky. When the target saw Joe, he looked like he had seen a ghost, while Joe looked like the cat, who finally got the cream and knocked him out. Then Joe took a steep to his right when someone fired at the ground. “Did Nicky just shoot at you?” Nile asked surprised. “It was just a smart reply from his side. Don’t worry, we have an agreement about not killing each other.” Joe replied and looked up at Nicky, who was making his way down. “I don’t want to know more.” Nile muttered, while shaking her head. “You do know, I did say brilliant.” Joe said, who was tying up their target, when Nicky finally joined them. “I know.” Nicky replied and pulled Nile in for a hug. “Hey, beautiful girl. How are you doing?” Nicky asked with a smile. “Better and thanks for the help. I guess you were right about destiny.” Nile replied grateful and returned the smile. “Could I ask you to look at one of the girls. I think she has broken her arm?” Nile asked. “Sure things. Joe, you drive, so see if you can find an officer jacket.” Nicky said. “Love it, when you’re giving orders.” Joe replied and gave Nicky a wink, before Nicky looked at the girl’s arm.

While Nile and Nicky got the civilians up in the truck, Joe looked through the jeep for an officer jacket and as he was taking it on, he saw that their target was starting to move around. “Just so you know, after what you did, I have no reservations about putting a couple of holes in you if you move again.” Joe said calmly and gagged the target, before throwing him down on the truck's floor in the front and slammed the door. “We should get going.” Nicky said and gave Joe’s hand a squeeze, before they got moving.

“So, this is the last part of your mission?” Nicky wanted to know as he was cleaning the rope burns on the civilian’s wrists. “I still need to have a conversation with the slave trader.” Nile replied and handed out the food Nicky had given her. “You sound more and more like Andy. She would be so proud of you like we’re.” Nicky said, which made Nile blush a bit. “Just trying to make a difference in the world.” She replied. “You’re, never doubt it, Nile and if you need our help let’s know.” Nicky said. “And your guys? What are you doing out here?” Nile wanted to know. “It was supposedly to be a quick job: catch a drug dealer and deliver him to the Sudanese, but when we wanted to extract him, that idiot had the entire house filled with unstable chemicals, and when he saw us, he blew up the entire house, so we had to take a couple of days off to recover, because I was standing closest to the explosion and lost my hearing, which only fueled Joe’s wish for revenge, that he accepted a reduce payment for him.” Nicky explained. “It’s good that some things never change, when it comes to you, Joe.” Nile said, who finally understood, why Joe was looking so proud back in the ravine. “But back to you, how are you planning on getting them home?” Nicky wanted to know. “Got a plane waiting for us.” Nile replied. “And he can be trusted?” Nicky asked in a big brother tone, that Nile had come to appreciate during the years. “I accidentally saved a pilot and his cargo last year, so we made a deal: he’ll help me, and I won’t tell about his cargo.” Nile replied and laughed when she saw the look of concern on Nicky’s face. “Don’t worry, Nicky. All that man is smuggling is bad booze and melted chocolate, because his air condition doesn’t work.” Nile said, which calmed Nicky a bit.

When they reached the airstrip, they got the civilians aboard the plane before Nile hugged them both. “See you both in Rome in two weeks, right? Can’t wait to get a decent pizza.” She said with a hungry look in her eyes. “And thanks for all the help again.” She added. “Don’t mention it, kiddo.” Joe said and gave her a wink, before she ran towards the plane. “We should burn the truck.” Nicky suggested as they watched the plane disappear in the distance. “And also this jacket. I think it's filled with fleas.” Joe complained and took it off, but it didn’t help on the itching. “You can’t expect that everyone in the world has the same hygienic standards as you have.” Nicky replied. “There should be a law about that.” Joe said as the last thing, before they drove out of the town.

While Joe was dealing with the truck, Nicky removed the gag from their target to give him some water. “Listen Gringo. I’ll pay you a lot of money if you let me go.” The target offered Nicky, who just shook his head. “Did he just try to bribe me?” Nicky asked and looked at Joe, who slapped the target. “He’ not a Gringo, believe me I’ve checked.”  Joe said, who still found it irritating, that some people thought Nicky was an American. “You’re an disgrace to any Muslim..” More did the target not get to say, before Nicky gagged him once again. “We have heard that rant so many times that I’m tired of it” He said in old Italic, because he knew that the target wouldn’t understand them  and looked at Joe, who pulled him for a kiss. “Me too, so Sudan, Barcelona and then Rome?” Joe asked and Nicky nodded, before they started to search for another vehicle.

my creation

[baepop]

PRIVATE // 5

You find out about a secret that Jennie and Jungkook had been sharing.

Word Count: 6k

Pairing: Jungkook x You x Jennie

Genre: Angst, Light Fluff

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12

“Jungkook...nngh…Jungkook!” The boy who was making marks on your collar bones stopped to look up at you. His lips, tongue, and teeth had been working their way down from your ear lobe, kissing and biting at the sensitive skin, getting you all kinds of flustered. It was hard to get him to stop, you definitely didn’t want him to, but you had been trying to get your point across all afternoon. Thankfully, your tone of voice told Jungkook that you were serious and that you weren’t just moaning his name. He looked up at you questioningly, and you smiled once your eyes had met, “I was being serious! This has to stop.”

Jungkook grinned back at you as he plopped himself on the grass beside you. “Why? I thought it was fun for the both of us.” He took one of your curls between his fingers and began pulling it just to let it spring free in the way he loved so much. You had grown quite used to his company over the last few weeks, becoming more and more comfortable to just be yourself around him.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely fun…” You took his finger and playfully bit the tip to show him exactly what you meant, instantly reverting his attention back to your lips. “But midterms are over, and we really should try to keep our hookups indoors, and NOT while I’m getting paid to tutor.”

“But it’s more fun this way, you’re like my little on-call escort.” Jungkook laughed as you pushed him so hard that he toppled over.

“I hate you. Stop requesting tutoring sessions!” No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t keep the playful undertone out of your voice nor the edge of your lips from curving upwards.

Jungkook stopped laughing and sat upright again. “But then how will I get you to meet me? You’re the worst texter ever.” The brunette pouted which instantly made you bite your lip and roll your eyes.

“I promise to answer your texts,” you placed your hand over your heart as if taking an oath, “…when I’m not busy.”

“You’re always busy!”

“Yeah, it’s called being a working senior! But anyway, now that spring break is here, I’ll have way more free time, especially since Jennie seems to be preoccupied these days…” You tongued the inside of your cheek, becoming visibly upset. Jungkook quickly changed the subject.

“I want you to do something for me,” he said as he cupped your chin and brought your eyes to his. You stared at him questioningly. “Come see me play tomorrow. Our team is finally done scrims and we have our first home game this Saturday. I want to see your cute ass cheering for me on the bleachers.”

You couldn’t help but blush. It all felt much like a high school romance, which would normally make you cringe, if it wasn’t for your huge crush on Jeon Jungkook. You had all but forgotten he was on a sports team. If you were being honest, you hadn’t bothered to learn much about him, yet he was always asking you about your favorite things, places, and people. The realization made you feel a little guilty, so you immediately agreed to go, especially since you happened to be off work.

You and Jungkook had decided to meet on the campus quad that afternoon since the weather was nice. Not to mention, it was a ghost town with everyone going on vacation or visiting home for the week. Since Jungkook’s family lived close to campus, it wasn’t an inconvenient trip for him to come to you. You lived in your own apartment, so you had the option to stay put. It was nice, only having to worry about going to work for a week. And it’s not like things were all too different. Instead of Jennie occupying your time, it was Jungkook. Although you two had agreed to date and keep your options open, things quickly headed into relationship territory. You thought the constant hanging out, PDA, and romantic gestures would annoy you, but it never did. It was all so natural with Jungkook that you found yourself not shying away from the idea of being his girlfriend. You practically already were.

“You think I’m cute now? Just wait until you see me in one of your jersey’s.” You scrunched your nose playfully.

“Who said I was giving you one of my jersey’s?” Jungkook tried to take a bite out of his sandwich but failed as you pushed him for the second time. This time, you didn’t hold back your laughter.

As you rode the shuttle to work later that evening, you scrolled through your text messages. Jungkook had texted you but you hadn’t yet opened it yet, choosing instead to linger in Jennie’s messages. The last time you had heard from her was during midterms week. You two had texted back and forth a few times trying to find a time to hang out that fit in each other’s schedule but ultimately letting the plans die. Jennie had never been this out of your reach before, much less this busy, that you knew of. It irritated you that you seemed to no longer be on her radar, despite everything that happened between you two. You doubted that she was avoiding you, since she never struck you as the type to be a coward. She seemed genuinely busy these days, you just weren’t sure with what. You pondered whether to try and nail down some plans or just let things be. You missed her, and you wanted answers, but you didn’t want to risk losing her completely if the conversation went south. You sighed and put your phone away, letting your head rest on the back of your seat. If it was anyone else, you’d have confronted them long ago, maybe even blocked their number and moved on with your life. But you couldn’t be like that with Jennie, anyone but her.

Before your stop, you decided to throw caution to the wind and ask Jennie to meet you for drinks Saturday night via text message.

The next day you slept in later than normal and awoke to messages from Jungkook asking you where you were. The last one was sent 20 minutes prior. His game was going to start soon, and you weren’t even there. You jumped out of bed with a start and immediately began brushing your teeth while putting clothes on simultaneously. Your hair was knotted from tossing and turning all night, so you settled on putting it in a ponytail. You threw Jungkook’s jersey on over a pair of light blue jeans and converses before snatching your phone, keys, and wallet from your nightstand and bolting out of the door. Luckily, the field was within walking distance of your apartment, so you jogged the whole way there, hoping you didn’t miss too much. As the field came into view, you could see people filing into the bleachers and the players lounging in their respective dugouts.

Only a few spots were empty on the bleachers now, so you scanned them to see where would be best to sit. You immediately noticed a familiar face in the crowd. You were never one to forget a face, much less the one of someone you thoroughly disliked. Your facial expression soured as you recognized Jisoo sitting in the middle of the bleachers wearing one of Jungkook’s jersey’s too. Just as you noticed what she was wearing, the girl’s head snapped in your direction as if feeling your eyes burning holes on her side. She immediately recognized you, grimacing at the realization that Jungkook had invited you too. You gave her the sweetest smile you could muster before making your way to her, determined not to let her stop you from enjoying Jungkook’s game. Jisoo rolled her eyes and scooted over so you could have a place to sit.

“Did the game start yet?” You asked her as you took a seat next to her.

Jisoo rolled her eyes and flipped her hair, looking straight ahead instead of at you. “Obviously not.”

You immediately regretted your decision to sit next to her but knew you couldn’t leave now. With a deep breath, you turned to her and said, “Look, I don’t like you and you don’t like me, for whatever reason. But we’re both here for Jungkook, so let’s just support him in silence. Cool?”

Jisoo stared at her manicured fingernails instead of addressing you, so you took that as your answer. Soon, the players filed out into the field. The opposing team was batting first, so you searched the different positions on the field for Jungkook. You immediately noticed his shiny brown hair bobbing up and down as he jogged to the pitcher’s mound. As he kicked the sand off the stand, he looked out into the crowd and searched for a familiar face. You immediately jumped up and began flailing your arms in a silly dance to get his attention. He noticed you at once and looked back down at his cleats, a crooked smile forming on his face that could be seen even from where you stood.

Jisoo sucked her teeth and pulled you back down to your seat. “Stop distracting him.”

The game started at once, with everyone on your side of the field dead silent as Jungkook prepared to pitch for the first batter. He leaned forward, letting the ball rest inside his worn-out mitt behind his back. He then gracefully turned to the side, hoisted his leg up in the air and thrusted his body forward as the ball zoomed out of his grasp at 90mph. The ball hit the center of his catcher’s glove, prompting the umpire to raise his right arm and signal the first strike of the game. Everyone simultaneously let out the breaths they were holding, as the competing fans on the other side of the field straightened in their seats.

Jungkook was an amazing pitcher, but you couldn’t say you were surprised. The more you got to know him, the more you realized just how good he was at everything he did. Everything seemed to come natural to him. Sometimes it made you jealous, but it mostly had you in awe of the boy, much like you were at that very moment. The second batter was nearly on strike three and still no one had reached a base. Some of Jungkook’s teammates were yawning or looking away from the batter, having full trust that Jungkook would pitch a perfect round. At the pitch of the last ball, the batter swung prematurely and sent the ball clean between first and second base. The right and center fielders sprinted toward the ball that had touched ground yards past the sand but unfortunately, the batter was able to sprint through first base before the first baseman got hold of the ball.

You hadn’t realized how into the game you were until you unclenched your fists and noticed the crescents your nails had dug into your palms. You looked over at Jisoo and noticed she was equally as engrossed in the game as you were.

Jungkook was able to strike out the next two batters in a row, not letting any of the opposing players reach home base by the end of the top inning. As Jungkook’s team shuffled off the field and into the dugout to begin batting, you jumped up in your seat once more and began hollering and dancing to get Jungkook’s attention again. He immediately looked towards you and began laughing and bowing at your praise. Everyone on the bleachers knew you were with him by then, throwing side looks at your antics, but you didn’t care because you were so proud of your not-boyfriend.

“Why did you sit next to me if you were going to be this obnoxious?” Jisoo complained after you sat back down.

“Why did you come if you were going to be this dry?” You retorted which garnered yet another eye roll from the boy’s cousin. However, you had to admit that your getting under her skin like this was quite amusing. She was never a pleasant person around you, so you saw no point in trying to make her comfortable with your presence.

As you sat back down, you decided to peak at the time on your phone and noticed Jennie had texted you back. You immediately swiped to open her text.

12:26 pm – I’ll have time for drinks after 7’o cock. Meet me downtown, Bailey’s?

You typed a quick message before putting your phone away.

1:41 pm – OK

After sitting through the bottom of the first inning, you were disheartened to realize Jungkook would not be batting at all. They had a pinch hitter bat for him instead, no doubt to preserve his arm for the rest of the game. You weren’t too bored though since you could feel the butterflies in your stomach at finally having a talk with Jennie tonight.

Before you knew it, the game was over and Jungkook’s team had won by a landslide. As the players took turns high fiving the losing team, you and Jisoo climbed down from the bleachers and began walking toward the dugout. Jungkook came out a few minutes later with his duffle bag in tow. You ran toward him and caught him off guard as you pounced on him, wrapping your arms around his neck. He immediately embraced your figure and planted a firm kiss on your lips.

“Hey you.” He looked at you and smiled.

“Hey.” You nuzzled into his neck. After he placed you back on the ground you asked, “When did we become this gross?”

Jungkook laughed and responded, “I don’t know, but I love it.” He took your hand in his and began walking toward his cousin, who was busying herself on her phone instead of observing your PDA.

“Ready?” Jungkook looked to Jisoo whom only stared back at him as if trying to tell him something without speaking.

You looked between them before cutting the silence. “What are we doing?”

“We,” Jisoo pointed in between the three of you, “are not doing anything. Jungkook and I are getting lunch.”

Jungkook let out an exasperated sigh, “Jay, please don’t be like this.”

“No, look it’s totally fine! I don’t want to be anywhere that I’m not wanted anyway.” You gave Jungkook a smile and injected a sweetness into your tone that said everything really is fine, but deep down you just didn’t know how much more of his cousin’s rudeness you could tolerate.

“No y/n, it’s not fine. You’re important to me just like she is to me and if you guys can’t even be in the same room together then it’s going to keep driving me mad. Please come? My treat.” Jungkook gave your hand and affectionate squeeze, urging you to accept his invitation, and you did, earning an exasperated sigh from the ice queen herself.

As the three of you walked towards the parking lot, Jungkook shoulder bumped Jisoo and asked, “Can I borrow some money so I can pay for this lunch now?” You and Jungkook laughed obnoxiously by yourselves.

As you made your way to Bailey’s, you felt your stomach doing flips. You hated the way meeting Jennie suddenly became anxiety-inducing, but you couldn’t help the way the situation made you feel. Something that was once so effortless was now causing you strain. Not knowing what your future held nor what to expect was what bothered you the most. After your rejection, it seemed Jennie held all the cards in her hand, leaving your friendship in a weird place.

You frowned as you realized it took all this happening for you to realize just how much she meant to you. You’d definitely try to be a better friend, if she was still interested in being friends that was.

Your uber turned onto the bar’s street and you immediately noticed Jennie’s ride stalling out front. She must have just gotten here too. You had your driver park behind the blacked-out vehicle before exiting and thanking him for the ride. As you approached the passenger side of the car, the first thing you noticed was Jennie’s hair covering her face as she stared at her phone distractedly. You smiled and rolled your eyes, deciding to surprise her with a text.

7:05 pm – I can see you in there, get out here you bum!!

You couldn’t see much through the tinted window but received a text back seconds later.

7:05 pm – ??? What are you talking about?

It seemed she still didn’t realize you were outside the car, so you decided to knock on the window. As it lowered, you realized Jennie wasn’t in there after all. You had come face to face with an older woman with jet black hair similar to hers.

“Oh…sorry! I think I have the…” You backed away to analyze the car, wondering if you had mistaken it for Jennie’s, “…the wrong car?”

The woman smiled to herself as if enjoying a private joke then looked at you for a moment before finally responding, “You’re Jennie’s friend. y/n, is it?” You simply stared at her in utter confusion. Suddenly you heard the doors unlocking before she continued, “I’m Jennie’s mother. Please, join me. We have much to discuss.”

You circled the back of the car to enter through the other side. You had no idea why Jennie’s mom was meeting you instead. Hell, Jennie had never even spoken about the woman during your entire time as friends. As you silenced Jennie’s incoming calls and texts, you quickly surmised that she had no idea her mother had come to meet you, nor that you two even had plans in the first place. Whatever she needed to discuss with you, however, must have been important if she was willing to hijack your rendezvous.

Your hands grew clammy as you sat adjacent to the older woman, waiting for her to initiate conversation. She busied herself with the contents of her purse as the silence grew pregnant with all the questions you needed answered. At least now you were getting an idea of what your best friend had been so busy with for the past week. Suddenly, Jennie’s mom produced a small photographed wrapped in clear plastic from her purse and handed it to you. You looked at her as you received it, waiting to get some sort of explanation, but she only sat there waiting for you to analyze the picture.

“Um,” you began to speak, but all of your words died in your throat as you realized who was in the photograph. You’d recognize the faint scar on that cheek and those big bright eyes anywhere. He was wearing the tailored suit you had picked out for him, smiling big for the camera. You cleared your throat, determined to find out what the heck was going on. “Why do you have a picture of Jungkook in your bag?”

Once more, the older woman stared at you for a beat too long with pity in her gaze before responding, “Jennie’s getting married to him. She told me you and Jungkook are…close. I was hoping we could have a chat and hopefully come to an understanding.”

You weren’t sure how it was possible for someone to speak so many words and still not make any sense. It was as if her sentences entered through one ear and exited as encrypted text through the other. You couldn’t help the hysterical laugh that bubbled up inside you.

“I’m sorry, what?” You chuckled, but she found no humor in what she had said.

“Look, we’re both here for the same purpose. We both care about Jennie. But right now, she has certain obligations to fulfill for her family, and it’s proving to be a challenge for her. Since you two are best friends, I was hoping you could help make this easier for her.”

Your fingers instinctively tightened around the photograph and your voice shook despite how hard tried to keep it leveled. “How would I make this easier exactly?”

Her mother sensed the tension in your voice and offered a reassuring smile. “I know you two are having a bit of a spat right now, but I was hoping you could nudge Jennie in the right direction. I know how much she values your opinion.” She tried her best to sound sweet, but you didn’t miss how her face soured towards the end of her sentence.

“I don’t think it’s my place to suggest someone make such an important decision, and to be quite honest, it’s not yours either.” You expected your blunt response to make her angry, but her eye contact hadn’t faltered in the slightest.

“I don’t expect you to understand the kind of sacrifices one has to make for their family, given your upbringing.” You winced at her words, realizing she knew more about you than you had initially thought. “But it appears you misunderstand. Jennie has already agreed to it and so has the young man in the photograph. I was simply hoping you could give them your blessing, to make the transition as seamless as possible. After all, you are very important to them.”

You felt tears springing at the corners of your eyes but before you could rebuttal, she reached over and unlocked the door for you, effectively ending your conversation. You swallowed thickly and exited the vehicle. Once the door closed abruptly, Jennie’s driver sped off down the street leaving you at the front of Bailey’s, sniffling and clutching a picture of your not-boyfriend. You rubbed your eyes furiously and looked around to see if anyone had spotted you, fully realizing how weird the scene had probably looked. You stared at the transparent doors of the bar, observing the rowdy social scene that took place just beyond, unable to make sense of what just happened.

The feeling of numbness gave way to immense pain, and you started to cry. You squatted on the sidewalk with your head between your legs as you sobbed uncontrollably for a while, letting yourself feel the full extent of your emotions. All you could think about was how Jungkook and Jennie were suddenly getting married and you were expected to give them your blessing. The mere thought shattered your heart in pieces. You were so worried about losing either of them that you hadn’t thought about the possibility of having none of them, and to be betrayed like this was something you’d never in a million years expect from either of them.

You suddenly felt a hand on your shoulder, causing your head to snap up amidst tears and hiccups. Through watery eyes you were able to make out Yoongi’s concerned face staring down at you.

“C’mon, get up. Let’s go home.” Yoongi grabbed your elbow and hoisted you off the ground, not wanting anyone to see you in such a mess.

You wiped your nose and nodded as you both set off towards the shuttle stop. Yoongi hadn’t said a word the entire time, choosing simply to rub circles into your back and let your head rest in the crook of his neck to shield your face from perturbed onlookers. By the time you two were on the shuttle, you had thought you were done crying, but a fresh wave of pain washed over you at the realization of why exactly Jennie had been avoiding you, and your small sniffles turned into full-on sobs. Your fingers weakly clutched at Yoongi’s white t-shirt, causing wrinkles, but he didn’t mind.

The shuttle had reached his house in a handful of stops, so he hugged you tightly to his chest and helped you off the seat and off the bus. You immediately recognized the outside of his house once your feet hit the pavement, so you bolted through the front doors and b-lined it towards Yoongi’s bedroom. However, before you could reach his bedroom door, you heard a familiar voice coming from the kitchen.

“Yoongi? It’s about goddamn time! You were taking so long to get home I had to come in here and make myself a sandwich! You want one?”

You slapped your hands over your nose and mouth, unwilling to make a sound and let Jungkook know you were there. You definitely weren’t ready to see him yet. Knowing he was just on the other side of that wall ushered in a fresh wave of tears. You looked back and watched as Yoongi came in through the door behind you, so you sprinted the rest of the way to his room and shut the door.

“Yoongi? I said do you want a sandwich.” Jungkook peeked his head around the wall to see what all the commotion was about. Yoongi stared back at him and then at his closing door, realizing Jungkook was probably the reason why you were so upset. Why am I always in the middle of these things!?

Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose before responding, “Uh…yeah, sure. What are you doing here?” He headed into the kitchen to distract the boy from going into his room.

Jungkook busied himself with spreading mayonnaise over a couple slices of bread at the counter. Yoongi folded his arms and observed his friend from the doorway who seemed oddly nervous and frantic.

“…I couldn’t tell her. I’m such a pussy dude.” Jungkook stacked the final slice over the folded deli meats then took a big bite before continuing as he chewed, “We spent all afternoon together and I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I even had Jisoo there for backup and still, nothing. I mean, how does someone say that aloud to the person they care about? Hey Y/N, I really enjoy spending time together, and by the way, I’m getting engaged to your best friend!” Jungkook groaned and sank against the counter swallowing his food. Yoongi pursed his lips, wondering if he should stop him from spilling the beans but figured you might kill him if he stopped Jungkook from talking.

From the other side of the wall, you could hear everything that was going on. You sat on the hardwood floor, hugging your knees to your chest and drawing ragged breaths. It was true. It was all true and everyone knew but you. You shut your eyes and tried to cry as quietly as possible, feeling like the stupidest person in the world.

Yoongi entered the kitchen and took his sandwich off the counter, biting into it and chewing thoughtfully. “Have you spoken to Jennie?”

“Nah, that’s the weirdest part about all of this. I haven’t said two words to the girl after fighting at your party, but now we’re expected to act all sweet to each other at some proposal dinner. Just thinking about being friendly with that girl let alone romantic with her enrages me. I still hate her for pulling that stunt.”

Yoongi nodded, listening to the situation before proposing, “Why don’t you reach out to her anyway? Just so you’re both on the same page that is. I get that you guys don’t want to be problematic to your parents, but you’re not actually going through with it right? I mean…that would be crazy, right?”

Jungkook nodded solemnly. “Yeah. I really should…but our parents are calling all the shots here. I tried to tell them that Jennie’s crazy and that I already like someone else, but that didn’t go so well. My hands are seriously tied…I just don’t want Y/N to hate me.”

“So don’t give her a reason to hate you then. Transparency is the number one rule of relationships.” Yoongi gave Jungkook a stern look, to which the boy replied with a scoff.

“Don’t tell me you’re reading those self-help books again?” Jungkook chuckled as he finished his sandwich.

“Don’t knock my books man, they really do help! Anyway, you should probably get going.” Jungkook observed his friend who seemed oddly anxious and in a hurry for him to go. He stood straight up and crossed his arms over his chest with a quirk in his eyebrow.

“Why? I was hoping we could get a few rounds of Smash Bros in.”

“Just…cause.” Yoongi mentally kicked himself as he struggled to come up with a lie to get Jungkook out of his house. The taller boy eyed the blonde suspiciously then looked around. As silence filled the house, Yoongi’s floorboards slightly creaking in his bedroom could be heard from the kitchen. The boys’ eyes immediately met. Jungkook’s eyebrows shot up and his mouth gaped in a half-surprised, half-amused expression while Yoongi’s nostrils flared with nervousness.

“Yoongi, you dog! Look man, that’s all you had to say! I’ll be out of your hair.” Jungkook laughed as he zipped up his jacket and wiggled his eyebrows at the blushing boy.

“Yeah, yeah. Just shut up and consider what I said.”

Jungkook nodded and ruffled his older friend’s head which he knew he hated, before heading to the front door. Jungkook looked back towards Yoongi’s room with curiosity and noticed the slightly ajar door close just as his eyes briefly met with Yoongi’s guest. Hm, must be shy. As Jungkook reached the front door, Yoongi immediately let out a breath of relief. However, the relief was short-lived, since just as Jungkook reached for the doorknob, it wiggled then the door burst open into the living space nearly knocking the brunette back. Jennie made her way into Yoongi’s house barely acknowledging Jungkook at the entrance who was nursing his bruised nose.

“Yoongi! Yoongi where are you? We have a problem!” Jennie called out around the house searching for her friend. Your breathing stopped completely as you recognized Jennie’s voice. As she made a 360 around the room looking for Yoongi, her eyes landed on Jungkook. “Oh, it’s you.” She sneered.

“Well, that’s no way to speak to your fiancé is it?” Jungkook remarked dryly to which Jennie made a sound of disgust and rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, Yoongi bumped his head against the wall three times before making his way to his friends, realizing what a shit show they were causing without even knowing it.

Jennie continued calling out for Yoongi as she headed towards his bedroom. Just as her hand tightened around the doorknob, Yoongi appeared from the kitchen and addressed his newest guest, “Hey Jen, what’s up?” Your heartbeat pounded loudly in your ears as you prepared yourself to see her come into the room, but she never did.

“There you are! I said we have a problem! I think she knows.”

Jungkook’s eyes bulged out yet Yoongi couldn’t help but roll his own. “You don’t say...”

Jungkook snapped out of it, “What do you mean she knows? There’s no way she knows, I just saw her this afternoon.”

Jennie barely turned over her shoulder to address Jungkook, “Yeah well, I think my mom may have spilled the beans tonight,” she turned back to Yoongi with desperation in her eyes. “Have you seen her at all? She’s not picking up her phone and she’s not at her apartment. I’m freaking out right now!”

Yoongi swallowed thickly as he observed Jungkook grasping at the hair on his head and Jennie chewing on her bottom lip. He figured you could hear everything from where you were, and if you didn’t come out then he’d know you didn’t want to see them.

“Well? Have you?” Jennie rushed the blonde into spitting it out.

“Uh…no I haven’t…seen her lately. Are you sure she’s not at the café?”

Jennie sighed heavily, “The café closes early on weekends! Ugh, you’re absolutely no help,” she turned toward Jungkook who seemed to be too in shock to speak and sucked her teeth, “don’t be late tomorrow! And if you hear from Y/N, let me know. She should hear about this properly from her best friend.” Jennie shoved past Jungkook and exited Yoongi’s home, leaving the two men staring at each other.

Jungkook finally let out the breath he was holding in, “Fuuuuuck. She’s gonna kill me dude.”

“Yeah, she probably will. But at least then you won’t have to marry Jennie!” Yoongi offered Jungkook some humor but his friend was already too busy dialing your number.

“I gotta go find her man. I’ll see you later.” Jungkook left through the front door with the phone to his ear but would only listen to endless ringing since you had already silenced your phone.

Yoongi hunched over with his hands on his knees and let out a deep breath. Sheesh. After locking the door, he decided to check up on you in his room.

He quickly noticed you sitting on his bed biting your nails. Your cheeks were still wet, but at least you weren’t crying anymore. You hadn’t acknowledged Yoongi’s presence in the room, so he closed the door behind him and took his jacket off, hanging it on the safety hook on the door.

“So, you knew the entire time?” Yoongi heard your voice calm and small behind him, but his blood instantly ran cold. Fuck.

Yoongi slowly turned around and his tired but worried eyes met your puffy dull ones. You appeared calm, but he knew what you looked like when you were furious, and this was it. “I was hoping we didn’t have to dwell on that just yet.” Yoongi hadn’t finished his sentence before objects from his room began flying at his face. “Y/N! Stop! Please! Can we just talk about this?!”

“You had plenty of time to talk. Now I’m fucking mad!” You yelled at your friend as your hands reached for anything they could grab around you. First his pillows flew towards him, then his entire pop figure collection, then his favorite speaker. Yoongi caught the speaker but then tossed it aside as he watched you reach for his autographed baseball.

“Y/N! Stop!” Yoongi grabbed your arm before you could throw the ball at him and pinned you down on the bed. You struggled against his might, but when you realized you couldn’t overpower him, your eyes became glassy and you began sniffling again.

Yoongi sighed and sat back, feeling defeated. “Oh not again. Please stop crying Y/N. It’s weirding me out. You never cry.” His words made you cry harder, so he released your hands so you could cry into them. Yoongi continued, “I know this looks really bad right now. I mean…it is pretty bad, but I didn’t know the whole time, believe me. Jungkook told me after as his parents broke the news to him. Jennie told me earlier today, and they both wanted to be the ones to tell you, so I couldn’t say anything either way. Before you go asking me, I don’t know very many details, I swear. With all that being said, you have every right to be pissed.” Yoongi reached down and removed your hands from your face. Your eyelashes were dewy and your nose was bright red. It broke his heart to see you this upset. “I’m really sorry Y/N.”

Yoongi climbed off of you and you turned on your side toward the wall. He decided to just let you be as he readied himself to take a shower and get into comfier clothes. When he came back into his room while toweling his wet hair, you had already cried yourself to sleep. He pulled the covers over your still body then decided he’d better sleep on the couch tonight. However, as Yoongi grabbed an extra pillow, your tired voice stopped him in his tracks, “Where’s the proposal dinner taking place?”

“Y/N…”

“I’ve already made up my mind Yoongi, I’m going.”

[mobius-prime]

269. Sonic Universe #2

The Shadow Saga (Part 2 of 4): Time & Again

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

So, do you remember how way back when we got the single-issue incomplete "adaption" of Sonic Adventure 2, I mentioned that the events of the incident would be clarified by Ian Flynn in a later issue? Well, this is the one! Interspersed within the events of the modern story are flashbacks to what happened during Sonic Adventure 2, heavily modified to fit within the comic's world. However, I've elected to tackle the modern half of the story first, and explore Sonic Adventure 2 afterward, mostly because though Ian seems to be trying to draw parallels between the latter story and the former, they don't really… work all that well, nowhere near the level that they did in the first arc of KtE anyway.

The modern story opens with Shadow approaching the Freedom Fighters' camp not far from the Eggdome in the middle of the night, waking Sonic up to invite him along to a little bonus mission.

I mean, while I can understand wanting to invite Sonic on a mission against Eggman, 1. he's already on one, and 2. you'd think Shadow would realize he'd need some sleep before the final battle against his arch-nemesis. What, you can't handle this alone, Shadow? Well, as it turns out he's not actually alone, as Sonic reaches the rendezvous point first (zooming off ahead of Shadow, of course), and finds Rouge waiting for him. Apparently, Eggman's been working on a sneaky plan to turn a telescope in the city into a massive laser capable of wiping the Freedom Fighters' little camp off the map, shield or no… as well as half of the rest of the city. Sonic thinks this is overkill even for someone like Eggman, but as Shadow catches up he explains that GUN doesn't quite think so.

To be fair, Sonic, you haven't been seeing the behind-the-scenes insane ramblings of his that Snively's been subject to recently. They break into the laser control room, and Sonic and Shadow deal with the smaller security lasers while Rouge hacks into the control system, trying to disable the thing. The cannon is already moving into position to fire, and worse still, the console then fries itself, Rouge having accidentally triggered a self-destruct command. Sonic and Shadow try to destroy the cannon directly, but no amount of spindashing or Chaos Spear-ing will pierce its armor, so Rouge suggests going for the bolts holding it in place, hoping it might throw off the shot.

Brilliant job, guys! Shadow, seeing no other choice, removes his inhibitor rings and climbs onto the top of the cannon just as it begins to fire. He uses all of his power to force the shot to misfire outwards instead of straight ahead, wrecking the barrel but saving the Freedom Fighters. This is really the only place where the parallels Ian tries to draw make sense, as then we see a flashback of him using his power a year ago to force the ARK back into orbit, and subsequently falling back into the atmosphere.

Aww, look at 'em! As the sun begins to rise, the three walk back towards the camp, and Sonic asks if they want in on the invasion. Shadow refuses, saying that he believes this is Sonic's fight considering how long he's been fighting against Eggman. As Sonic leaves, Rouge smirks at Shadow, and remarks on how far their relationship has come from before. Shadow, of course, has to defend his ego and insists he merely respects Sonic, to which Rouge teases him even more about how of course he can't admit he's made a friend.

Now, time to take a look at what their relationship used to be like, in the very-condensed Adaption 2.0 of Sonic Adventure 2! Instead of following exactly how it's portrayed in this issue, I'm just going to explain how exactly everything went down starting from the beginning, relying on context clues from this issue and previous ones. In case you've forgotten, during the events of the incident, both Tails and Knuckles were otherwise occupied, Amy was chilling in Mercia with Rob, and basically no one was even aware of where Sonic was at the time, as he was apprehended while sneaking back into Knothole while he was still supposed to be confined there. StH#98 covered what happened leading up to his arrest and subsequent breakout, but naturally, after the GUN truck chase he was rearrested and taken to Prison Island. Meanwhile, of course, Shadow had been released from his pod by Eggman, stolen a Chaos Emerald from Station Square, and presumably explained how the ARK's Eclipse Cannon worked to Eggman. Like in the game, Rouge also showed up at this point to offer her support in procuring more Chaos Emeralds - though as you might remember, at this point in the comic's history the emeralds still hadn't been combined into their distinct seven forms yet, so the Eclipse Cannon only required seven random emeralds to fire. Conspicuously missing is the entire plot point about Rouge stealing the Master Emerald from Knuckles, and the both of them subsequently searching for its shattered remnants all over the world, but if we're being quite honest the entire story still makes perfect sense without Knuckles and the Master Emerald, which I suppose is lucky for Ian trying to make sense out of all of this.

The point at which this issue actually starts recapping prior events begins on Prison Island after Sonic had broken out of prison once again - without the help of Amy or anyone else, mind you, since once again, they were all elsewhere at time. Really, this version of events is so stripped-down precisely because half of the game cast is missing, which is why the events of the game were able to fit into a single day despite several days passing in the game itself. Sonic and Shadow had their famous "faker" exchange in the forest and began fighting each other, with Rouge's voice coming over Shadow's communicator and informing them she'd found the remaining six Chaos Emeralds they'd need. At that point, Eggman reminded Shadow the whole island was about to blow, and at the same time Rouge called for help as she'd found herself stuck inside the vault. When Sonic heard Eggman tell Shadow to leave her and that they'd come back later to "dig the emeralds out of the ashes," he was outraged and offered Shadow a truce so they could rescue Rouge together. Shadow accepted, and they raced back to the facility as the timer counted down, with Shadow Chaos Control-ing them off the island and into the desert just before the place exploded.

See, while I understand where Ian is going with this, I really don't like his rewrite of Shadow's motivations here. For those not familiar, in the game, Shadow makes the decision to go back for Rouge entirely on his own, because the thought of her dying alone in the facility made him flash back to Maria's death. Later on, when she tries to talk to him about how he saved her, he avoids her questions, giving a similar excuse to this one, but with it being pretty obvious that that's not the case, as he hasn't stopped thinking about Maria since the mission. Here, Ian makes it seem like Shadow actually didn't care and indeed was only after the Chaos Emeralds, and he only went to the trouble of rescuing her thanks to Sonic's suggestion. However, I understand why this was kind of necessary - with his main allies elsewhere, Sonic needed someone to ally with for the next part of the plot. He ended up teaming up with Rouge, who was quite offended at Shadow's attitude, to break into the pyramid containing Eggman's base, and she piloted the space shuttle within up to the ARK. As I've pointed out before, at no point in the comic is it even slightly hinted that Eggman broke the moon in half as he does in the game - the only indication we have of such an event would be in StH#197, when Sonic recognizes Mobius from orbit by its half-destroyed moon, but in all fairness, the issue doesn't actually state the reason why the moon is broken. Remember, it's canon that Mobius has one hundred moons - that wasn't even retconned! Ian just made up a story behind it and put it in the Complete Sonic Comic Encyclopedia afterwards, but with one hundred whole-ass moons, it's entirely probable that at least one got bodied at some point in the planet's history, and Sonic just happened to recognize that particular one as he was reentering the planet's atmosphere. But anyway, once Sonic and Rouge made it up to the ARK, Sonic and Shadow quickly got into a fight on the catwalks outside the station, presumably while Eggman slotted the emeralds into their positions in the cannon.

*sigh* One of the biggest problems I have with the preboot is its handling of Shadow's entire story. I don't think Shadow ever got an actual chance to shine from his initial appearance until StH#171, when he had his whole "This is who I am" moment after exploring Gerald's digital diary. Everything about him, his entire backstory, was horribly neglected compared to his actually very rich and deep character arc from the games. This, above, is exactly what I'm talking about. In the game, it's implied that Shadow actually wins his final fight against Sonic (though Sonic obviously doesn't die from it), and then once the Eclipse Cannon is up and running, he moves into one of the ARK's observation rooms to quietly reflect on the past and watch the station crash into the planet. He doesn't snap out of it until Amy enters the room and her subsequent words trigger a flashback of Maria's real final wish. Furthermore, he's the only person in the cast who doesn't actually see the video of Gerald's execution or read his final diary entry. In other words, in the game, he comes back to his right mind organically, by remembering what his purpose is, while in the comic he apparently just got to watch a video telling him outright why he's wrong without him actually having to do the thinking that brings him back to reality. Seeing as Shadow is my favorite character in the entire franchise, this brushing-aside of one of the most important moments in his character arc irks me a little. But then again, I will still acknowledge that Ian wasn't really left a lot to work with here, and if anything the fault lies more with Karl Bollers and Kenders carelessly brushing past Sonic Adventure 2 in favor of their ongoing story about Robotropolis getting nuked or whatever.

Anyway, in the end, Shadow and Sonic went to the ARK's internal chamber that housed the Biolizard, and when it fused with the ARK to bring it crashing down to earth anyway, he and Sonic went Super and defeated it out in space, just like in the game. The game actually doesn't give a very clear reason why Shadow fell from orbit while Sonic was fine, but in the comic, it's shown that the act of teleporting the ARK back into orbit exhausted all his energy, resulting in the loss of his Super form early. As one of the above images shows, Sonic actually reached for him but was unable to catch him in time, hence his remark of not wanting to go through that again (even though realistically a fall from a five-story cannon is hardly going to do the same damage to Shadow as a fall from orbit). And that's it! As I said, the comic's adaption is incredibly stripped-down from the events of the game, but with so much of the cast missing, it kind of had to be. While I don't agree with all of Ian's decisions on how to adapt the circumstances while still retaining the basic gist of the story, I understand his ultimate conclusions, and in the end, they do work pretty well given how different the history of the world is in the comics versus the game. And despite Shadow not having a clear history with Rouge in the comics as he does in the games, Ian's finally saw fit to bring them together as a team in this issue, and they remain as such for the rest of the comic, including through the reboot.

But - hey, speaking of which, remember another adaption that was missing a few key plot points? Say… the first Sonic Adventure? Remember how the conclusion of Gamma's entire character arc was totally forgotten about and ignored? That would seem to imply that he's still out there somewhere… I wonder what he's up to nowadays. And for that matter, with the entirety of Sonic Heroes missing from the comics' timeline, where the heck is Omega in all this? Does he even exist? Gee, I wonder if we'll ever get to see these two important robot characters in the comic - like, say, next issue?

[somethingjustsouthofbrilliance]

Too Weak to Fly (chapter 2)

Don’t know if I should be tagging anyone on this or not.🤷‍♀️ All stories are cross-posted on AO3 if you happen to miss anything.

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

“Lucky I taught’ya… t’drive…”

 Crowley sits slumped against the passenger side door, head resting against the glass as he watches Aziraphale from under half-lowered eyelids, and Aziraphale tightens his grip on the steering wheel to distract himself from the way those eyelids flutter, struggling to stay open even at half-mast, from the dark stain spreading steadily across the leather upholstery behind the demon’s back, from the pained struggle of each breath, each panted out word…

 “Lucky...”

 The idea to give Aziraphale driving lessons was blurted out by Crowley one night over the third bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, two years into their post-Armageddon existence.  “It’ll be fun, angel, you’ll see,” he had slurred drunkenly, and Aziraphale was just drunk enough to agree. They did have fun, in fact – once Aziraphale got over his fear of wrapping Crowley’s cherished automobile around the nearest tree (and once Crowely got over his fear of the same), and it turned out to be a rather pleasant bonding experience for the two of them.

 He thinks back to Crowley’s sudden boneless weight in his arms, to the sticky wetness of Crowley’s blood on his fingers, to the agonized cry that tore out of the demon’s throat when Aziraphale threw them both into the waiting Bentley, his panicked brain thinking of nothing else but to get them both out of there, now, now, now….

 “Not ssssure disss…sscorporating ‘n’a car crash… ssss’any better, angel…”

 The carefully disguised tension in the slurred out words cuts off the swirling stream of frenzied thoughts, and he blinks, forcing his attention back to the here and now, to the scenery along the side of the road that’s zooming by much faster than he had intended.  Briefly he glances down at the needle of the speedometer, frowning when he finds it pushing well past 100.  Perhaps he really should slow down before they crash and find themselves discorporated after all.

 He eases his foot slightly off the gas pedal, forces his fingers to relax a fraction from the death grip they have on the steering wheel.

 “I’ve seen you go quite a bit faster than that, dear boy,” he deflects primly, keeping his gaze trained on the roadway ahead, careful not to look at Crowley’s pale (so frighteningly pale) face. “And, given our current circumstances, the sooner we get to our destination, the better.”

 He can feel Crowley’s gaze on him, silent and scrutinizing, and he wriggles his shoulders, disguising the uncomfortable urge to squirm under the need to shift his grip on the wheel.

 “What’ssss the destination?”

 The words are quiet, unconcerned, but there’s a tone to them that tells Aziraphale that Crowey knows the answer, or, at least suspects.  In any case, there’s no point in hiding it.

 “Tadfield,” he murmurs, shooting the demon a furtive, sideways glance.

 There’s another beat of silence, then Crowley’s hand reaches for him, ice-cold fingers brushing along his wrist before it falls limply back down to rest on the seat between them.

“Pull over.”

 “I rather think not, my dear.  We don’t really have time to–”

 “Pull… over, angel.”  There’s a harshness to Crowley’s voice, an emphatic insistence dampened only slightly by the strained edge of pain that tinges the words.

 Aziraphale complies.

 “Crowley,” he begins, twisting in his seat to face the demon.  And, oh, it’s a mistake, a big, big mistake. Because now he can’t help but note it all – the minute twitches of the jaw muscles tightened almost beyond their limit, the alarming gray of the sweat-dotted skin, the fevered intensity of the pain-glazed, weary gaze.  And he can’t help the way his needless heart clenches in fear.

 “Ssss’a bad idea.” The demon pauses, bone-dry lips parted as he drags in a breath that seems somehow to require an extraordinary amount of effort. “You know it is.”

 “It’s the best option we’ve got, Crowley,” Aziraphale rolls out his argument, hurriedly, trying his best to keep the building panic out of his voice.  “Anathema’s a witch, a hereditary one.  She has the ability to see energy patterns within living things, and that means she should be able to influence them.  She may not be able to heal you outright, but, with my guidance, she might, at least, stop further damage and, perhaps, mend your corporation enough for you to last until we get our powers back.”

 There’s a twist to Crowley’s mouth – worried and unhappy, disappointed almost.  Disappointed in him, Aziraphale realizes with a start.

 “They are human, angel,” he breathes out finally, disappointment spilling into his gaze when he adds a pointed, quieter, “and they have kidssss now.”

 Ah, yes, the kids. Twin boys and a girl three years their junior.  He and Crowley have been invited down to Tadfield for every significant celebratory occasion involving the newest offspring in the great Nutter line, and Crowley has proudly embraced the title of “unca Cowly” that had been bestowed upon him by the youngest Device during their last visit.  

 “I have not forgotten,” Aziraphale insists, frowning at the silent reproach in the demon’s stare. And he hasn’t, despite the near-overwhelming panic that has gripped him the moment that Crowley collapsed in his arms in front of the bookshop, and that has only grown since in light of the demon’s rapidly worsening condition.

“I haven’t, my dear. But… well….” He twists in his seat, throwing a worried glance at the road behind them, searching for any sign of their pursuers.  The road has been empty so far, but that meant nothing. Those people have already tracked them down before; they will do so again – it’s only a matter of time. Time they can’t afford to waste.  

He looks back at Crowley, who has sagged even further into the seat in the few short minutes that they’ve been talking, his paper-thin eyelids drooping down to leave a barely perceptible slit of yellow.

“Do you have another suggestion?” he asks, even though he knows he shouldn’t, that it’s a terrifically bad idea to give a desperate, injured demon a chance to voice a likely equally desperate plan.

He’s right, of course. And when Crowley laboriously raises his gaze back to him, divulging his plan on a rattle of an exhale, Aziraphale feels as though ichor itself has turned ice-cold in his veins.

 “You let me out here and you leave.”

 He can’t even muster a breath to respond, too numb with the horror and shock of it, before Crowley ploughs on, resolute.

 “You leave, angel.  Get… get out of London and–”

 “And what, Crowley?” Aziraphale snaps, having found his voice again.  “What?! I run off and leave you behind to die? That’s your plan?”

 “Yesssss.”

 There’s a quiet, unruffled certainty in the demon’s voice, a calm acceptance of the doomed that makes the river of cold inside Aziraphale crackle and break, splitting off into a myriad of razor-sharp icicles that spear and stab straight through his heart.

 “That’s not going to happen.”

Aziraphale turns away from him, hands clenching once more around the wheel because he’s shaking so hard he feels as if he would come apart if he has nothing to hold on to.  He’s surprised his voice was as steady as it had sounded in his ears.

There’s an odd sort of pressure in his chest, like an iron fist squeezing around his corporation’s heart and lungs.  Almost as if he’s been shot along with Crowley, although he knows that to not be true. It’s uncomfortable, painful even. It makes it hard for him to take a breath.  Makes his eyes water for some inexplicable reason.  He gasps, blinking harshly to clear the watery veil that washes out the road in front of them.

“I’m… I’m not–”

 “They’re coming, angel. And I can dissstract them.” Cold fingers brush his wrist again, tentative, apologetic almost.  “Long enough for you to–”

 “NO!”

 He rounds on Crowley, trembling with fear and fury.  Dimly he thinks that if he still had his powers, the whirlwind of emotions he feels right now would have had him virtually blazing with Grace; that he could have hurt Crowley even more; that his lack of powers was probably a blessing now that he can barely control the extent of his outburst.

 He forces himself to breathe, to let go of the steering wheel long enough to grasp Crowley’s hand – his true, his only anchor.  His grip is painful, he knows that much.  Can see it from the way Crowley flinches minutely, his eyebrows tightening with discomfort.  But the demon makes no move to pull away, stays perfectly still beside him, yellow eyes watching him with a knowing sorrow.

 “I’m not… leaving you, Crowley,” he says finally, when he feels steady enough to do so.  “You can’t ask me that.” He takes another breath, swallows harshly against a threatening prickle of tears.  “I will call Anathema, explain the situation to her.  They’ll be warned of our coming, they can get the children out of the house, take any other necessary precautions.  But Crowley…” His voice trembles again, forcing him to stop.  He presses his lips together, his grip on Crowley’s hand tightening involuntarily as he struggles once more to steady himself. “She’s the only chance we’ve got,” he breathes out, his eyes filling once again, “the only chance you’ve got, and I…”

 “Angel…”  

 Crowley’s voice is soft, so, so unbearably soft and regretful, like he’s already accepted this, has given up.  It makes Aziraphale want to scream.

He reaches out with his other hand instead, places it reverently against the gaunt pale cheek.

 “I’m not letting you die, Crowley,” he tells him with all the fervor he’s capable of.  “Not after everything we’ve been through.  Not with everything I still want to… to experience with you.” He stumbles once more, his breath hitching.  Leans across the seat to press his dry, trembling lips against the demon’s.  

“I can’t lose you,” he whispers, desperate, urgent.  “Do you understand? I… I can’t…”

 There’s a feeble movement against his palm, a nod, a ghost of a breath, “I underssstand.”

---------

Back to Chapter 1

[hardeepcox]

Visa Run #3

 Before I start this, I want to add that during Visa Run#2 my dad, Poomi and I found May at the Foxzee’s bargirl place. Business was dead though because of Chinese New Year and actually it felt pretty awkward. I also want to add May had acquired a laugh that seemed more like a maniacal cackle, true story. Seems hilarious now though oh my god. May and I had been messaging every now and then so we stayed somewhat in touch, but when we met this time the atmosphere just felt really awkward. She told me how less fat I now looked and then invited me to play pool. She destroyed me in the first game. We had a re-match, and the bar boss then told her to let me win (thanks for the intel Poomi [he understands Thai]). Dude I am so bad at pool that I actually sunk the 8 ball too early and managed to lose again. I give up at pool, another awkward beer later, I can hear Poomi’s soul faintly saying “true…. yup….” (this is his catch phrase and also the mantra that I mentally tell myself to be chill). He’s bored, and honestly so am I and my dad. We end up spending that night roaming around and drinking beer in random places, pretty chill.

  Okay the ACTUAL Visa Run #3

This was my third and final visa run thus far. And for some reason I found myself going to Bangkok ALONE.

 The dumbass company that I work for (whose name I won’t say but rhymes with ee em gee) said we had to go to a capital city to get our new visas, we couldn’t go to the Cambodian border and get new visas like literally every other English teacher in the city. This then became my one shot at exploring Bangkok again on my own and getting to know this city better.

 Day 1 The first stupid thing I did.

 I didn’t know that there was a metro train going straight from the Suvarnabhumi airport in Bangkok to my hotel, so I got stuck in multiple cabs during rush hour, got sent to the wrong address, and walked for over an hour while dragging my carry-on luggage. Yeah it sucked but dammit it looked so cool. After walking under and over a sketchy bridge or two, I finally got to my hotel. Damn it actually looked pretty nice, well on the outside at least. I definitely killed a few roaches in my room that night. I only had 2 nights so I planned to make the most of it.

 The second stupid thing I did.

I went to the one place that I had only heard about in legends… Nana Plaza. I was now experienced in the partying ways of Thailand, these guys don’t fuck around. I took a Grab motorbike taxi to the place, and the driver drops me off right outside the beginning of a street full of bars. They seem to be stemming from this big place that looks like an outdoor shopping center at your local suburban neighborhood, except for all of the stores were replaced with strip-clubs. Read that again, and nope I am actually not exaggerating. Imagine an outdoors shopping center where you would expect to see Baby Gap, Auntie Annes, Toys r Us Express, Hallmark, CVS Pharmacy, and a local tae-kwon-do dojo, but they have all been replaced by strip-clubs. Yeah and lots of red colored lights. I took a lap around the bar in the center, and the music was absolutely pumping in every single one of the surrounding rooms. I walked up to the second floor, and it got a bit more intense. I think or at least it seemed to me like this floor was the ladyboy floor. Two ladyboys would stand by the entrance to the bars and hit you with something, like a small whip or something. Not my thing, if you’re into this kind of stuff, well then hey you do you bro. Nana’s Plaza is a bit much for me at the moment so I step out to see some of the smaller local bars. My method of choosing which bar to enter first is to listen for the one that starts playing reggaeton first. A couple beers later I’m kinda tipsy, so I go BACK into Nana’s Plaza. I somehow stumble straight in and a lady tries to pull my arm. “Real girls here in this bar” she says. I reply, “what about that bar straight ahead?” She goes “I don’t know.” My drunk logic says this person is trying to reverse-psychology my ass, I’m going straight into the ‘I don’t know room,’ fuck it. She lady is surprised while I zoom past her into this unknown abyss.

I walk into this room, and I see a stage with a pole with a bunch of girls dancing. I take a seat right in front of them, which I usually refer to as the “splash-zone.” I sit down and order a local beer, probably a Chang, and suddenly all the girls that were dancing began to line-up in a horizontal line in front me and give me the sad puppy eyes. They want me to choose one to sit next to me. I go “hey actually I just wanna drink my beer.” They try to look even sadder and bummed out. I try to ignore them. After a couple awkward sips of my beer I figure well I guess I’m supposed to actually choose one in this place. So I pick the one that I think is the hottest. She’s happy that I chose her and she sits on my left. Immediately she grabs my left hand, puts it over shoulder, under her bra, and suddenly I’m holding her boob. I was like damn that was quick uhh I’ll just keep chillin and sipping on my beer. She tells me she’s a university student, and some point makes a comment that I find confusing. I don’t remember what she said, but my response to that was “wait…. Is this a ladyboy bar?” She says yep and laughs her ass off. I go “wait so all those hot girls on-stage are actually dudes?” She says yep. I go “ohhhh… okay then cheers!” And we have a beer. I look across the room and I notice that the bartenders are also ladyboys, but not the kind that look like supermodels. They are just regular dudes, with guts, who want to be women. At that point I realize that being a ladyboy is not necessarily just about transforming yourself into a supermodel, some dudes just want to be chicks. And hey I can respect that. You do you bro. Anyways, my ladyboy then says, “hey I have milk too.” I say, “shut up no you don’t.” She goes, “wanna see?” I reply, “um fuck YES.” The ladyboy pulls down her bra, squeezes her nipple, and a few drops of white liquid come out. I’m like “duuddeeee that’s fucking awesome!” and I give her a high-five. She asks me, “wanna taste?” I say “dude fuck youuu” and we are hysterically laughing our asses off. Then she decides to take it up a notch and asks me if I wanna take her back to my place for 3000 baht. I say nah sorry I’m not into that. She replys, “oh it’s your first time? Okay then half price.” I say, “nahh sorry I’m not down.” Eventually she gives up and start to go back with the rest of the ladyboys. Before she leaves she says “can I get a tip?” I had already paid for the beers so I was like, “why?” But I just want to leave so I give her a 100 baht so she can go away. She then says, “can I have 200 baht more? I want to buy food.” I say “uh hell no.” She smiles and slithers back into the darkness. And I proceed to get the hell out of that place.

 The third stupid thing I did.

 I was hungry, and I was determined to eat some mozzarella chicken at Family Mart. I walked around Bangkok drunk as hell, through random streets, looking for a Family Mart. I find nothing but back to back 7-elevens and I am so incredibly annoyed. I eventually give up and get some basil rice with chicken at a 7-eleven. After over an hour of roaming around the city and looking for Family Mart, I hail a street taxi and head back to the hotel. Day 1, complete.

 Funny enough… in the morning I walk outside my hotel and there is a fucking Family Mart literally across the street. I scurry my way across the street and go into Family Mart, mozzarella chicken here I come! I then realize, they only serve this dish in Vietnamese Family Mart… not Thai Family Mart… fuck me.

 Damn Bangkok, you always find a way to surprise me you sly bastard.

 *I forgot to mention that earlier during Day 1, I had to stop by the Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok to get a new Visa. This was the whole reason of me being in Bangkok in the first place. The office which handles Visa applications is literally a hole in the wall, literally dude. And what’s funny is that it’s located in a reallyyyy nice part of town. It honestly felt like Northwest Washington DC, but of course the hole in the wall just felt like an actual hole.*

  Day 2

 I decide to explore the city on foot. As I stroll around, I see my hotel is located on Sukhumvit 71, near a Muslim community on one side and a bargirl community on the other side. Super interesting, I hadn’t seen this often in Asia except for in some streets near Ben Thanh Market in Ho Chi Minh City. I ordered a coffee, I think the lady was a Thai Muslim and she was super nice. But of course… no coffee will ever compare to Vietnamese coffee, the best in the fucking world. I only drink milk-coffee, for some reason it tastes like home. I explore a bit more and I notice the metro station is literally next to my hotel. Jesus I’m an idiot, but okay lesson learned. Anyways I can walk for hours, so I keep going like the energizer bunny. I get some spicy Thai food near a gas station, it was like spicy garlic chicken with rice, veggies, and a fried egg on top. Dope. I crushed it. My mouth was on fire and I was craving caffeine again so I walked to a nearby coffee shop and sipped on some damn good local coffee. I used the coffee shop’s wifi and I called a Grab taxi to take me to Sukhumvit road near the Hilton to reminisce the good old times I had previously had with my dad, Paper, and later on Poomi. I get there and I am walking for hours again, enjoying every second of it. I get lost, and suddenly come across different streets that I have seen before during my previous trips. I am absolutely loving this, downtown Bangkok is becoming more and more familiar. Also keep in mind that I am eating random foods along the way. Damn downtown Bangkok is amazing, I estimate it’s about 20 years ahead of Ho Chi Minh City in regards to development. Sky train, subway, and advanced technology every step of the way. As I continue roaming around I start to feel tired and I think about going back home, also I’m full. SUDDENLY. I find myself resting on a walking bridge in between two shopping malls, and I see a fucking TACO BELL! Dude! My first Taco Bell outside of the US! I rushed in there and ordered a taco combo meal with beef. So full but so worth it. I decided to keep walking so I could burn at least 2% of the calories I had been consuming that day. It starts getting dark out, and I can feel the vibe of the city changing. When the lights go out in this concrete jungle, the night beings come out to chill. I only have this evening left in this trip so I decide to make the most of it, let’s go to Soi Cowboy!

 I start walking towards Soi Cowboy on foot (soi means “side street” in Thai), and now it’s dark. Tons of working girls are sitting on the sidewalks, all trying to get your attention. The streets definitely feel more intense than in the morning and afternoon. I keep walking and walking, and eventually I make it! I start walking towards Soi Cowboy and along the way there is a little bar next to the street playing some rock music that catches my attention. I decide to keep this spot in mind. I walk into Soi Cowboy. This shit feels really intense when you go alone, and the strippers or ladyboys are out on the street pulling people into their bars. I decide that I had enough of this shit last night, I’m going back to that street bar I just walked by. I walk to the street bar, get a chair, and start sipping on a Chang beer. Two older ladies are working there and letting the customers choose the songs. Dude if you let me DJ at a bar you KNOW I’m gonna play reggaeton, 100% chance. One lady has good English so we are chatting, the other lady doesn’t speak much English so she sits behind me and starts massaging my shoulders. This lady massaged my entire upper body while I sat there that night, I never even asked for a massage. These ladies are bar-ladies, so they will ask you to buy them drinks. I figure ah hell why not, it’s my last night and I am actually having a good time! We must have been like 4 or 5 beers in when the massage lady says, “hey choose any bottle and I’ll buy you a shot.” I know what’s going down… these ladies are trying to get me to blackout! I, having much experience in blacking out, have an idea. Most Asian girls that I’ve met don’t know much about the strength of liquor/spirits, whatever you want to call it. I look at the options: vodka, tequila, gin, absinthe, jagermeister, you know… the classics! Somehow, I notice a lonely bottle of Malibu, this is a fruity flavored rum with a relatively low alcohol percentage. These ladies don’t know the difference between Malibu and Jose Cuervo, so I order a bitch shot of coconut Malibu and gulp it down. The ladies then expected me to blackout any minute…. Any minute now….. umm…. Anyyyy minute now?! Nope. I was just tipsy and feeling good! So I decide okay I’ll call it a night, time to call Grab. I get the bill it was about 3000 baht! Ouch, but I had a good time so it’s cool. Then the lady with good English asks me, “would you like to take my friend home?” She was referring to the massage lady, who by the way had already digivolved a couple decades ago. I kindly refused. Then, the massage lady asks me for a tip, she had massaged me over an hour non-stop. By now I was tipsy, but I remembered the ladyboy last night asking me for a tip at Nana’s Plaza twice, and this time I was like aw helll nooo. I didn’t tip the massage lady and she was angry as hell, she wouldn’t even say goodbye to me. I called a Grab bike, and he was out there waiting for me in a crowd full of cabs trying to pick-up other drunk, idiot foreigners. Cab drivers of different ages would stand in my way as I walked to my Grab driver, and me being a drunk asshole was actually shoving them to the side! Haven’t done that ever before or since, but I think I was just drunkenly annoyed at people trying to constantly scam me. I finally find my Grab driver and I hop on.

A slight drizzle begins and I don’t have a raincoat, but damn does it feel amazing. As the motorbike speeds up, the light rain hits my face harder. I open my arms wide like wings and I feel like Leonardo Dicaprio in Titanic. I survived day 2, and the next day I had to catch a flight back to Vietnam with a new Visa. Success!

I was supposed to visit Thailand again in June, but yeah goddamn coronavirus hit so… that’s not gonna happen. Until next time Thailand!

[courtofsapphiresandshadows]

Chapter Fourteen- Nesta

Nesta expected Sasha’s training to be difficult, however she didn’t think it would involve all of this running.

They had been running for 15 minutes, both Nesta and Estelle keeping pace behind Sasha. Every morning for the past week, the trio had risen early in the morning to go for a 20 minute run. “It’s for conditioning”, Sasha had told them, a small smirk on her lips. “You’ll thank me later”.

How it would help her, Nesta was yet to find out. The only thing she has gotten out of this was sore muscles and a raging appetite.

Sasha thankfully slowed down to a walk, glancing over her shoulders to check up on the two. “I’m going to end the run early- I have something else planned for today.”

Nesta and Estelle exchanged a look. “Are we carrying rocks again?” Estelle wondering out loud between gasps of air. While the younger Illyrian was definitely stronger than Nesta, she lacked the endurance that Nesta, as a high fae, had. “I really hope not.”

She could merely nod her head in agreement. The workout they did yesterday had left Nesta with scrapes on her hands and knees, not to mention arms that felt like gelatin. “I don’t think she would repeat the same workout twice in one week”, Nesta told her, “but knowing Sasha, I wouldn’t put it past her.”

Someone chuckled- Sasha had been listening in to their conversation. “Glad to see that you enjoyed yesterday- I’ll make sure to use it again.”

Hiding a groan, Nesta followed Sasha to a clearing in the forest. Rows of weapons were laid neatly on a cloth, a target erected on a tree. “I know it’s nothing like the ring that Rhysand has, but at least it’s in the shade”, Sasha commented, before popping open her canteen and drinking deeply.

“I think it’s perfect.” Nesta, not that she dared admit it, loved to train, especially when it was just Estelle and Sasha to watch her. She still hadn’t told Cassian where she disappeared to every morning- not that he had the time to care. Once again, he was too busy with Ironcrest to bug her. It was a relief for her to not have to deal with Cassian, but a small part of her worried for him. Wondered if he was able to get enough sleep at night.

“Nesta?” Estelle called out to her. She must’ve gotten too lost in her thoughts to realize that they had been waiting on her. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired”, she assured, shooting them a small smile. “What are we doing today, Sasha?”

The redhead grinned. “I think it’s time to introduce you two to some blades.” She flipped a knife in her hand, the metal glinting brightly in the sun. “When it comes to arming yourself, you should choose something that works with your strengths- if you’re strong, use something that you can pack a punch with.” Grunting slightly, she hefted a large battle axe, and handed it to Estelle, who nearly dropped it.

“If you’re quick and nimble, and not scared of getting too close to combat, a dagger might work well for you. However, if you favor being farther away-” the knife that was in her hand zipped in the air, before hitting the target behind them, “then a bow or throwing knives might suit your fancy.”

Estelle dragged the axe back to the other weapons, grunting slightly before dropping it. “And do you have any ideas on what weapon we should pick?”

Sasha stroked her red braid, thinking to herself. “I have ideas”, she admitted, “but you should be comfortable with a variety of weapons, not just one.”

Nesta eyed the axe on the ground. “Do we have to use that?”

Surprisingly, she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank the Mother- I have no idea how to use battle axes.”

“Then why did you bring it out?” Nesta asked incredulously. That axe looked heavy- why would Sasha drag it all the way out here if she didn’t plan on using it?

Sasha shrugged her shoulders. “I had one, and I didn’t know if you all wanted to use it.” She then waved her hand over the axe, muttering something as the axe faded away. “No need to have it here, in that case.”

Estelle picked up a sword, examining the blade. “Will we learn how to use swords?” She asked, although she was holding the weapon rather uncomfortably. “I mean, many Illyrian warriors use them.” That was true- almost all of the warriors Nesta had seen were using swords and nothing else. Azriel was one of the few Illyrians who was seen with some sort of dagger.

“We’ll learn how to use swords later, after you all master some other sort of weapon- it’s to make sure you don’t rely to heavily on your sword, even though they’re useful”, she informed them, before picking up two more knives, handing them over to Nesta and Estelle. “Shall we get started?”

Throwing knives were harder than they looked. Despite Sasha’s assurance that it had taken her awhile to master them, it wasn’t encouraging when Nesta’s knives soared over or landed just before the target. ‘I definitely prefer the workout from yesterday’, she thought to herself gloomily as she picked up her knives embedded in the dirt. ‘At least I wouldn’t embarrass myself so much.’

Estelle was having the same luck. “This is no easy task”, she commented under her breath, before whipping the knife at the target once more. However, the small throwing knife veered left, and went straight into the forest beyond. Letting out a deep sigh, she began her march of humiliation to retrieve the knife, leaving Nesta and Sasha by themselves.

“How long did it really take you to master throwing knives?” Nesta asked her as the redhead embedded another knife into the center of the target.

Sasha paused for a minute, before throwing another knife. “A week or so. I had practiced for hours a day, and often put what I learned into practice.” She then shot a grin at her. “Would you believe me if I told you that I used Aegan as a target once?”

Nesta snorted. “No way. And I’m guessing that she gave you that scar on your face?”

“Oh no, that was from somewhere else, however she did give me this one”, she said, lifting up her shirt to reveal a scar that raced across her abdomen. “When we first met, I threw a knife at her, either out of sheer boredom or out of curiosity, I don’t remember, but if I knew that one, I would miss completely, and two, she was fast to react, I would’ve kept my knife to myself.”

Nesta stared at the scar for a little longer, before looking up at Sasha once more. “I assume you two hated each other at first?”

Sasha laughed. “Oh, very much so. For a month, we both tried killing each other, before finally getting along. I think her mother was partially to thank for that.” She rolled her shirt back down. “Anyway, how did you get into Velaris in the first place? If you don’t mind me asking.”

The murky waters of the cauldron raced through her mind, chills racing up her body. “As you probably know, I was made High Fae a few years ago. My sister was already turned, so she invited me to live with her. That is, until she kicked me out and made me live in the Illyrian Mountains.”

Sasha cocked her head, looking at her quizzically. It might’ve been Nesta’s imagination, but she swore that she felt something hot skim over her body, before retreating quickly. Sasha’s eyes were wide. “You were gifted by the Cauldron?”

“How did you know that?”

Before she could answer, Estelle came trudging back, her legs muddy. “Sorry, I got stuck in the mud while looking for this knife.” She held up the pristine blade. “Who knew something so shiny could be so hard to find?”

Sasha rolled her eyes, smiling, as she plucked the blade out of Estelle’s hand. “How about we practice that throw one more time?” Her dark eyes met Nesta’s once, before glancing away. “Practice makes perfect, after all.”

The day ended with Nesta hitting the outer rim of the target, and Estelle deciding that throwing knives were not for her. After packing up, the three of them hiked back through the forest, Sasha and Estelle taking the lead with Nesta not far behind.

A strong autumn wind cooled her body, a quiet, blissful sigh escaping her nose. Nesta had come to enjoy taking walks in the woods. The chirping birds, the rustle of leaves- it was enough to focus her mind elsewhere, to almost ignore the things that were eating her away. Almost.

“Have you heard from Aegan recently?” Nesta heard Estelle ask innocently, as they reached the treeline. “Is she doing any better?”

“She’s the same as always, although I do think that she’s started to eat more”, Sasha reported, a small smile on her lips. “Yes, I do think that she’s beginning to get better.” She glanced over at Nesta, her smile instantly disappearing as she shook her head. No, Aegan was not getting better. Why lie to Estelle, she didn’t understand. Many of Sasha’s motives were confusing as is.

Estelle smiled brightly. “Oh good! I’m just worried that she’s all by herself up in those mountains” she commented, walking on ahead. The poor girl was too naive to see the truth, that it would probably take years for her to get over what happened to her.

A dark figure zoomed overhead, before disappearing. “What was that?” Nesta asked, squinting her eyes to try to see what it was.

Sasha followed her gaze, her dark eyes narrowing slightly. “Azriel.”

~Aegan’s POV~

A strong wind tore through Aegan’s thin sweater as she sat on top of a high ridge, overlooking the war camp she had been spying on. No one had dared to venture outside- it was hard enough living in any Illyrian war camp. But during harsh blizzards such as these… Aegan sighed, watching her breath condense in front of her. It didn’t surprise her that Ironcrest had canceled any training for the day. Instead, each warrior would find themselves welcomed to a roaring fire and a warm bed.

Not that Aegan could say the same. She hadn’t bothered to light any sort of fireplace throughout the week, even as the cabin’s temperature dropped to a point where the frost had crept up the walls. Regardless, she felt nothing, save for the strange power that was burning her alive. It was enough to keep out winter’s harsh breath, as well as her shadows. It was coming to a point where Aegan had started to miss their constant nagging- it would’ve been nice to have some sort of company.

She shut her eyes briefly, snowflakes brushing against her face. It was peaceful where she was. Aegan knew that it wouldn’t last, at least not until Azriel returned from Velaris. She had gotten a letter from him, courtesy of Sasha. He wouldn’t return until the blizzards had passed- knowing Illyria’s harsh winter, that could be weeks away.

Something tickled her check. Aegan?

She cracked open an eye. One of her shadows hovered right in front of her face, completely unaffected by the harsh wind. “There you are”, she muttered to it, watching it weave its way through her fingers. “Where are the others?”

Here, it whispered to her, as more shadows began to twist their way around her. We watch your back. We help you spy.

“I haven’t seen you at all this week, my monosyllabic friends. I was growing worried.”

Some of the shadows paused, before floating closer to her. We learn. We help with new thing.

She blinked. “What do you mean?”

The roar of her new power was the only answer she got. Her shadows instantly disappeared, and she felt it slowly shrink down in response. The burning lingered, but it wasn’t as strong as it was before.

Releasing a frustrated sob, Aegan flopped into the snow, rubbing a gloved hand over her face. “What is going on with me?”

.

.

.

Aegan was finishing up her notes for the day when she heard the door unlock.

She set her pen down, quietly unsheathing one of her swords. Hybern troops have been drifting closer and closer to the house, and while they haven’t checked the house yet, Aegan knew that it was only a matter of time.

A shadow danced across her desk, before disappearing behind Azriel. He stood in the doorway, still cladded in his Illyrian leathers.

“May I help you?” She asked, sheathing her sword with a sigh.

The shadowsinger glanced at all of the notes on her desk. “I see you’ve been busy.”

“No shit”, she commented lowly, gathering all of the papers in her arms. “Ever since you left, there has been quite a bit of activity at Ironcrest- influx of new soldiers, build up of arms- and by the looks of things, it’s only going to increase.”

Azriel sat on the corner of her bed, leaning forward slightly. “Tell me more about these new soldiers.”

Flipping through the pages in her arms, Aegan found the one she was looking for. Holding it close to her face, she read aloud; “day ten: camp seems normal today except for the soldiers that seemingly appeared overnight. I do not recognize any of them. Will do a fly by over other camps to see if their numbers had changed once Azriel gets back.” She paused slightly, glancing over at Azriel. His face revealed nothing. She continued to read.

“Day eleven: more troops sighted near the edge of camp. None are Illyrian. Best guess that they are Hybern soldiers. Confirms Sasha’s observation.”

Azriel gently took the page away from her, and skimmed it over again. “I pray this information is false”, he muttered, before handing it back over to her. “Tomorrow, I’ll head out to the other camps, to see if I can spot anything out of the ordinary. You’ll stay here.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What?”

The Spymaster leaned back, staring her down. “You’ve been working hard for the last week- you deserve a break, Aegan. Besides, you look ill”, he pointed out.

Anger riled up in her, but a quick glance at the small mirror on the wall made her agree with him. Dark eyebags sagged her tired eyes, a thin layer of sweat forming on her skin. Yes, she looked ill, but it wasn’t sickness that was causing her to look like this.

Still, she let out a sigh- the only sign that she’d given in to his wishes. Azriel stood back up, and took the rest of papers from her arms, touching her gently on the shoulder. “Go get some rest, Aegan.”

“Well, this is new”, she grumbled, shrugging off his touch but standing up to go to bed nevertheless. As soon as she reached the foot of her bed, her knees buckled violently. The last thing she heard was Azriel shouting her name, as she crumpled to the floor.

.

.

.

“How long has she been like this?”

“She’s been wasting away ever since she stepped foot in these mountains, shadowsinger. Didn’t think you were that blind.”

Aegan cracked open her eyes, squinting at the sudden influx of light. Her head pounding, she glanced around her room. Somehow, she had tucked herself in bed. And discarded her Illyrian armor?

Someone knocked gently on the doorframe. Azriel and Sasha stood in the doorway, both of them looking intently at her.

“Do you two usually stare at people while they sleep?” She joked groggily, trying to push herself up into a sitting position. Sasha immediately rushed over, and gently laid her back down.

“Easy there, Aegan”, she whispered. “Azriel going to get you something to drink and eat, and I’m going to check you over, okay?”

She blinked, slightly dazed, before croaking out a “yes”. The two watched the spymaster disappear from the doorway, his footsteps abnormally silent against the old floorboards.

Sasha immediately placed her hands on each sides of Aegan’s face. “What the hell were you doing this week?” The redhead growled, her soft disposition replaced with its usual fiery one- Sasha was never a gentle motherly figure afterall.

“I took notes, drank, took some more notes…” Aegan drawled, her eyes barely focusing on her friend’s face. “Maybe I’m just really hungover.”

Sasha let out a growl of frustration. “You’re hungover, starving, sleep deprived- should I go on? Aegan, you need to take care of yourself!”

“I couldn’t”, she responded, her voice too quiet for her own liking. “I tried eating, sleeping, but I just couldn’t.” Aegan rubbed her eyes tiredly. “Everytime I tried eating, I nearly threw up. Everytime I tried going to bed, I couldn’t fall asleep. Believe me, I did try, but-” She let out a loose sob. “What’s wrong with me, Sasha? I’m- I’m so scared-”

Her friend scooped her up gently in her arms as another sob racked through her body. Thankfully, they were quiet- she would rather die than for Azriel to see her crying. The power inside of her burned intensely, threatening to burst out of her skin.

Sasha placed a cool hand on her forehead, a faint glow on her skin. “Relax”, she whispered, as faint tendrils of her magic raced over Aegan’s body. “Now, tell me what’s bothering you.”

She took a deep breath, forcing the thing back. “It’s this power that started developing recently- I’m not sure where it came from, but it’s been burning me alive ever since.”

“I see”, Sasha muttered, her eyes shut in concentration. “I think I might be able to help.”

The thing screamed at her to deny her aid, but she couldn’t stop the feeling of hope. “Please”, was all she could say, gripping onto her hand tightly. “Make it go away.”

Something sharp and hot slid into her skin, Aegan gritting her teeth to keep herself from yelping in pain. It wrapped around the thing, and with a sharp tug, ripped it away. Before she could thank Sasha, fatigue and hunger slammed into her. Sasha held her hand, as her world faded to darkness once more.

WAIT! Before you click away, I was brought aware of a petition regarding the Hulu adaptation of the Throne of Glass Books. Many of y’all probably have read it (if you haven’t, they’re really good books!), but we haven’t heard any news about production whatsoever. So, a petition had been created to promote the continued production of this series! Click here if you want to sign! 

Love you all, and happy Pride!

@callie-bear15

@thisgryffindorlllyrian

@nestaarcheronwillkillme

@dreamworld-1997

@rairrai

@deezrmuhsheeple​

@my-fan-side

@homicidalbaker

[hallodraws]

Spells & Spiders (Part 2) | Peter Parker x Male!Reader

Wordcount: 1,846

Genre: Male!Witch!Reader x Peter Parker/Spider-Man | The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina x Marvel (MCU) AU Summary: “When Dr. Strange informs Tony that an unknown power seems to be rising in Greendale, Peter is sent on his first solo mission under the Avengers to locate the source. Thinking it could potentially be a weapon (or even an Infinity stone brought to Earth), it’s agreed that Peter will go undercover to infiltrate the town to avoid drawing attention. While arriving in a new town brings with it new friends and new opportunities - the town of Greendale houses something far darker than anything the Avengers are prepared for.”

Warnings: None

Author’s Notes: I’m back at it with the writing! Sorry, it’s taken so long to get updates for any of my stories, I’ve kinda been going through some rough stuff the past couple of weeks. I’m okay though, and I’m so glad everyone enjoyed the first chapter of this fic. I had a lot of fun with this part (and I’m just glad to finally have Peter make his appearance) ♡ Also, if you’d like to be on the tag list, just say so in a comment below!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 20th, OF THIS YEAR  

Peter sat impatiently in the back of Happy's limousine, tightly clutching the backpack Mr. Stark instructed him to bring. He hadn't given Peter any explanation for packing a bag, merely telling him to bring whatever he felt was necessary for an extended mission out of the city. Peter wasn't sure what that meant per se, so he might have packed a little more on the heavy side. He couldn't help it, he was excited.

It wasn't too long ago that Peter told Mr. Stark that he wished to lay low - continuing just to be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man for a while. While Mr. Stark was happy to oblige to Peter's wishes, that by no means meant he was off the table team-wise. Things were reasonably silent from Mr. Stark after that, but it didn't last long. He never dreamed that Mr. Stark would be contacting him so soon - for his own personal assignment no less!

"So what's this mission about, Happy?" Peter happily piped from the back seat. Happy simply rolled his eyes, glancing at the boy through the rear view window.

"No clue, kid," he sighed, returning his gaze to the road, "I'm just a chauffeur after all."

"Aww, Happy. You're more than that!" Peter laughed, "C'mon, you're Mr. Stark's best friend. He must've told you something. Please, I'm dying here!" his constant pleas made Happy chuckle under his breath. He quickly hid his smile and sighed again as he pulled the car through the gates of the Compound.

"Really, kid. I don't know. If I did, I'd tell ya. But I don't. So stop begging." He brought the car to the front of the Facility, slowly bringing it to a halt at the base of the stairs.

"Well, thanks for the ride anyway, Happy." Peter could barely contain himself at this point, feeling as though he might literally jump from the car. He reached for the door to exit, only to realize it remained locked. Peter attempted to unlock the door himself but found the red button unable to be switched. He looked up, prepared to inform Happy of the malfunction - that is until he noticed Happy's finger pressed firmly against the 'lock' function. He turned to face the boy.

"Listen up," Happy removed his finger, instead using it to wave in Peter's face, "Just because this is your first official mission under the Avengers, don't let it get to your head. Take the utmost precaution and be careful. I don't plan on giving your Aunt any bad news while you're gone." The corners of Peter's mouth turned up into a toothy grin. Whether Happy wanted to admit it or not, he cared about Peter - and that made him feel good.

"Thanks, Happy. I will. I promise." and with a simple nod shared between the two, Peter finally opened his door, exiting the vehicle.

He looked at the entrance of the Facility, the stairway gently illuminated on this chilly October night. It didn't take long for Happy to drive away, leaving Peter alone at the base of the steps. On a night like this - with not a soul around - Peter found it hard not to be at least a little creeped out. Hero or not, Peter had a bad relationship with scary situations. Halloween wasn't exactly his favorite holiday, and even the mere thought about being alone in the dark gave him goosebumps. So without haste, he hurried up the concrete steps, through the swinging doors, and into the warm, comforting light of the Compound lobby.

Inside was surprisingly just as empty as it was outside. It was reasonably late after all, but Peter couldn't remember a time when the building seemed so quiet. Mr. Stark said to meet in his office. Lucky for him, he knew his way around by now and went straight for the elevator. The cheesy music that accompanied his journey upwards to Mr. Stark's office lightened the mood a bit. Peter didn't want to show it, but he was nervous. The call from Mr. Stark just seemed so out of the blue, and the lack of details regarding his mission made Peter more worried now than excited. He wondered where all that confidence he had in the car went. Peter wanted to show everyone that he was capable of anything - but now he was finding it difficult to assure himself of those claims. As the elevator reached the final stretch on its journey upward, Peter did his best to shake off these feelings.

With a gentle ding, the door opened into Mr. Starks office. Peter made his way into the room, still to this day mesmerized by its size. Finally, his eyes transfixed to the large glass windows ahead. There stood three men - Mr. Stark, Dr. Strange, and Mr. Wong. Peter didn't realize the other two men would be here, and while he usually enjoyed seeing familiar faces at the Compound, their presence made Peter worry just a bit more when it came to the details of his mission. He didn't have long to think about it, as the three soon took notice of him.

"Ah, kid! You're finally here." Mr. Stark waved Peter over to the windows. The other two men gave soft, almost nonexistent smiles as Peter slowly stepped towards them.

"Y-Yeah, Sorry it took so long. I wasn't really sure what to bring." Peter found his nerves rising to the surface as he stuttered. He tried to calm himself.

"No sweat, kid." Mr. Stark assured the boy, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. It wasn't much, but it was enough to silence the doubts in Peter's head - if only for a moment.

"You ready to get going?" Dr. Strange finally spoke.

"Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Noone's told me where I'm going yet. What is this mission?" Peter sputtered out without thinking, his concerns now on full display. Wong looked to Mr. Stark with a raised eyebrow.

"You didn't inform him about his assignment?" Wong spoke with a tad bit of annoyance in his voice. Mr. Stark quietly chuckled and lightly pushed Peter towards the two.

"I felt you two would do a better job at explaining." With a final pat on the back, Mr. Stark left the windows, maneuvering his way to the other side of his office. Strange stepped closer to Peter, silently demanding his attention. Peter couldn't help but be at least a little intimidated by the man.

"Well, Peter. You're going to going on a little trip... out of state." Strange began.

"Out of state? Where exactly am I--" Peter tried to ask, but Wong was quick with a response.

"A town called Greendale," With a flick of his wrist, a sparkling image of a town shimmered into existence and floated before them. Peter was left breathless. He'd seen Strange and Wong showcase their magic from time to time, but it never ceased to amaze him.

"You will be going to into the town, undetected and undercover." Strange now took control of the astral image, zooming inward to a particular sign. It read 'Let Greendale cast a spell on you!' - the irony of seeing such a sign through magic made Peter chuckle to himself.

"We have reason to believe something powerful is residing in Greendale." Wong waved his hands and just like that the town flickered away into nothingness - snapping Peter out of his head.

"W-Wait... I don't understand," Peter turned to face the men, "If you guys know there's something wrong, can't you use your magic to just see what it is?"

"That's just it," Strange turned to his colleague, a twinge of concern in his eyes, "We can't."

"Our spells won't locate anything. We can sense there's a rise in power, but it's as if something is blocking us from the source," Wong turned away, looking out the window, "Such power is rather troubling, to say the least." Peter couldn't help but feel the two men felt defeated in a way. As powerful as they are - their magic couldn't do anything.

"That's where you come in, kid." Tony spoke from across the room, walking over with an envelope in his hand, "You're going to infiltrate the town, go to the school, speak to the townsfolk, and report anything suspicious back to headquarters."

"Suspicious?" The word worried Peter a bit.

"Relax. It could be anything," Strange placed a calming hand on Peter's shoulder, gently turning the boy to face him, "An individual coming into their powers, a weapon of some sort... or even a potential infinity stone. It's unlikely, but we don't know the location of all the stones just yet."

"Here," Now it was Mr. Stark who turned Peter to face him, albeit a little less gentle than Dr. Strange, "This is for you. It's cash - a lot of it. There's a card in there too. It should help with your food and housing during your stay."

"I-I mean--" Peter tried to get a word in, but Mr. Stark wasn't listening, placing the envelope into Peter's backpack.

"I've already signed all the paperwork - forged obviously - and tomorrow morning you're going to be attending your first day at Baxter High."

"I still have to go to school?!" Peter finally got his chance to speak. The three men quietly chuckled to themselves.

"Noone gossips quite like teenagers," Strange smirked as he stepped behind the boy, "Trust me, it's good for your cover." Without any further details on the subject, Strange stretched his hand outward over Peter's shoulder. His hand motioned in small circles as sparks materialized from the air. They formed a circle of light - and at its center was the sign he had seen earlier. This was his portal to Greendale - it was certainly faster than a car ride.

"First order of business is to find where you'll be staying," Tony stepped between Peter and the portal, "Find a hotel, get comfortable, and report in once you're situated."

"Yes, Mr. Stark," Peter put his worries aside, now standing tall with a bright smile, "I won't let you guys down."

"Good luck." the three men said in unison. Peter took a deep breath and without looking back stepped forward through the ring of light. The temperature immediately changed around him, the cold autumn air now enveloping him. Before he could turn around to say goodbye, he could feel the light from the portal fade away into the darkness of the night. He was alone now, and Peter couldn't help but find his nerves betraying him once more.

The sounds of the woods around him were so much different than that of the city. It was almost peaceful in a sense, but not quite enough to calm him just yet. He looked up; there it was - 'Let Greendale cast a spell on you!'. Beside the sign was a road, likely into town. With one final gulp, Peter wasted no time - beginning his journey down the road into unfamiliar territory.

PREVIOUS ▶ PART 1 NEXT ▶ in progress

[emeraldwaves]

Title:  Tee Time Pairing:  KuroTsuki Rating: G Word Count:  3,572 Read on Ao3 Summary: When Kuroo and Tsukishima fight about trivial things, there is only one way to solve their problems.

For @its-love-u-asshole because she’s the best and deserves all the fluffy Kurotsuki!!! Thanks to @liziscribbles for betaing this!

The tension was palpable, angry sparks zapping through the air.

"I'm telling you," Kuroo insisted.

"You can tell me all your want, doesn't mean I'll listen," Tsukishima was quick to retort.

Kuroo wished he could remember exactly how they had gotten to this place. It was rare for Kuroo to find himself fighting with his boyfriend.

He couldn't pinpoint when it got so intense, but it most likely started when Tsukishima pulled out The Good Dinosaur and declared it to be the best Pixar movie.

"The... Good Dinosaur..." Kuroo sputtered. Did anyone else even remember that film existed? "Babe... I think your bias is showing..."

Look, it was on brand for Tsukishima, Kuroo could agree with that for sure. But...

"No, it has nothing to do with my... appreciation for dinosaurs."

Kuroo raised an eyebrow, clearly finding that difficult to believe. Tsukishima simply clicked his tongue. "Okay, that is a small part of it... " He rolled his eyes. "Okay then, what is the best Pixar movie in your opinion? I swear if you tell me Cars, we're getting a divorce."

"Pfft! No, not that! It's Toy Story. The trilogy is amazing and wraps up nicely!" Kuroo nodded sagely. It was the obvious right answer, even with the uncertainty of Toy Story 4 looming on the horizon. "Plus, there's a dinosaur in it, so that can satisfy your dino needs."

Tsukishima's face fell. "Eh, Toy Story? It's okay, I guess."

"Okay?! Just okay?!"

Kuroo decided that response was far worse than anyone saying Cars was their favorite Pixar movie.

And so now, here they were, arguing.

"Babe," Kuroo urged. "It's okay to be wrong."

"Are you giving yourself a pep talk?" Tsukishima snorted, folding his arms over his chest.

Kuroo sighed, tilting his head back and forth. "Well... it seems we've come to an impasse."

"Mmm..." Tsukishima nodded, turning towards the window to check the weather. It was a nice enough day for it...

Yes, it was rare that Kuroo found himself fighting with his boyfriend, but when they did fight, there was only one good way to solve their problems...

"Two for a round of mini-golf please," Kuroo smirked, slamming his money on the kiosk desk and looking up at Terushima Yuuji.

The idiot had been working at the mini-golf course for the past few months, but not because he wanted or needed a job. Currently, he was being punished for diving into the mini-golf pond when he missed a hole-in-one on the final hole. It had been funny at the time, but Terushima certainly wasn't laughing now. Not when he was forced to dress in the stuffy Putt-Putt Castle green polo shirt, and deal with dumbasses like Kuroo and Tsukishima.

However, he still regretted not finishing first in that epic game. He would beat Futakuchi one of these days. He swore on the ugly green polo shirt, or so he declared passionately to Kuroo when he was drunk one night.

Currently however Terushima was trapped in the kiosk, staring at the two guys in front of him. He raised his eyebrow. "So, what did you two dorkwads fight about this time?"

Terushima was more than familiar with how Kuroo and Tsukishima worked. They would fight about something fairly inconsequential (because when did they ever fight about something real), and then they would show up to play a round of mini-golf to determine who was correct in the fight.

It wasn't a very sound solution and usually resulted in one them being disgruntled for the rest of the night, until they started making out and all would eventually be forgotten. The road to the make out session was long, yes, but hey, they had fun along the way.

"This beautiful idiot seems to think The Good Dinosaur is the best Pixar movie of all time." Kuroo snorted, gesturing to his less than happy boyfriend.

Terushima folded his arms. "Wait... what movie is that? I don't think I even saw it."

"'Course you didn't," Tsukishima clicked his tongue. He sighed heavily, as if explaining this movie to Terushima was the biggest burden the blond ever faced. "It's the movie about the dinosaur-"

"I mean, I assumed! Is he good too?" Terushima smirked, leaning over the counter of the kiosk.

"You know what-"

"Okay, okay, I'll try and check it out! What did Kuroo say his favorite was?"

"Toy Story. The correct answer," Kuroo insisted.

"Okay, so, you're both wrong. Up is obviously the best Pixar movie-"

Kuroo rolled his eyes. "Wrong."

"Basic," Tsukishima clicked his tongue.

Of course, Terushima would like Up. In fact, he probably cried like a baby in Futakuchi's arms at the beginning of the movie, and Terushima probably quoted Dug's 'I have just met you and I love you' line to Futakuchi on a regular basis.

"Hey, at least I didn't say Cars," Terushima muttered.

"Fair enough," Tsukishima nodded. It was good they could all agree about one thing at least. What self-respecting person over the age of ten would actually say Cars is their favorite Pixar movie?

"Can you just give us the clubs man?" Kuroo asked, leaning against the kiosk.

"I mean, you are holding up the line," Terushima said, glancing to the empty spots behind Kuroo and Tsukishima. He reached behind him and pulled out the tallest golf clubs they had (which were still pretty short). "Here you go. What color balls you want?"

"Heh," Kuroo smirked but Tsukishima nudged him.

"Orange," he said.

"Red for me!" Kuroo reached forward to grab the red ball off the counter and they started on the path.

"Good luck!" Terushima called out. "I hope you have fun watching The Good Dinosaur later!"

"Hey! I have the power of god and Toy Story on my side! To infinity and beyond!" Kuroo called out, zooming towards the first hole. He didn't need to look at his boyfriend to know his face was probably bright red.

Putt-Putt Castle was what one would expect from a mini-golf course. It was medieval themed, so of course, one hole had a castle, one had a windmill, there were scattered decorations of knights, horses, and princesses, and one hole even had what was now a deformed wizard after someone threw their golf club right through the dude's head. Kuroo was happy he missed witnessing that.

There was a large pond in the middle and the course looped around it. It led up to a tall waterfall and there was one hole that hooked around the water and led them back down to the beginning of the course.

They both knew the course by heart.

In fact, they shared their first kiss up by the waterfall. There was a small lookout point on at the top hole. It overlooked the small pond and water fountain. During one of their spats, Kuroo took Tsukishima over there and kissed him. He couldn't really remember why they were arguing at the time (that was usually how these mini-golf challenges went) but he did remember how beautiful Tsukishima pale skin looked in the moonlight that night, the glowing lights on the waterfall reflecting off his skin.

Even now, with his angry, furrowed brow, Tsukishima looked beautiful. Unfair.

"Should we flip to see who goes first?" Kuroo asked and Tsukishima nodded, pulling a coin from his pocket.

"I call tails," he said, and flipped it up, letting the coin land on the ground. Heads.

"Oh, ho, ho look who's off to a good start!" Kuroo smirked, leaning forward on his golf club.

"You say that every time and then you end up losing," Tsukishima scoffed.

"Listen, sometimes, I can't stand looking at your beautiful face pouting all the time, so I let you win." He wiggled his butt and placed his red ball on the green, getting ready to aim.

"Sure. I'm sure that's what it is," the blond snorted, looking at him in disbelief.

The first hole was simple. Probably to help little kids think they could handle this course no problem. It wasn't exactly challenging, but there were a few evil holes.

"You ready for this expert putt?" Kuroo asked.

"Please, go ahead," Tsukishima said, pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"There's a way to putt perfectly, Kei," he smirked, tapping the putter against the ground.

"Enlighten me," he muttered, voice falling flat.

"First, you gotta really line everything up." Kuroo held the putter up and aimed the handle directly towards the hole. "Then you gotta imagine the curve of the ball from where you hit it. It's all geometry babe."

"Right," Tsukishima snorted.

"Here goes," he said. He drew back the putter and tapped it forward, so the ball curved slightly to the right. The landed towards the back of the hole, pressed against one of the bricks. Of course, he missed the hole completely, but Kuroo shrugged his shoulders back. "Tada."

"What is 'tada'?" Tsukishima asked, raising his eyebrow.

"This is exactly what I planned!" Kuroo said, walking down the course to stand by the ball.

"It is? You planned to have it close to the wall?" he asked, a playful lilt in his voice.

"Uh huh! This spot is optimal for putting!"

"Yes, next to the wall," Tsukishima nodded, his eyebrow quirked. He leaned down, placing down the orange ball on the green. Tsukishima glanced at the hole and gently moved the putter back, tapping the ball down the course. It rolled mostly straight, though it curved, ending just a few inches away from the hole.

"Nice try," Kuroo smirked, shooting finger guns at him.

Tsukishima walked up to his ball and stared flatly at Kuroo while he gently tapped it in. "At least I'm not next to the wall."

In the end, Kuroo got a three while Tsukishima walked away with a two.

The first few holes were mostly simple, and Kuroo and Tsukishima stayed close in score. On hole two, Kuroo scored a two and Tsukishima scored a three, but later on they both scored two and then Tsukishima pulled ahead when Kuroo accidentally hit his ball into a tiny sand trap.

Though Kuroo noticed Tsukishima did seem quieter than normal. Even when they fought, mini-golf always cheered them up. However, Tsukishima didn't even seem to care about Kuroo's competitive quips.

Then came hole number seven, the three-hole hole. It was famous for being cursed, since the three holes which ultimately led to the final hole were unpredictable. For awhile, everyone believed if one were to hit it down the left hole, it would guarantee an automatic hole-in-one. However, that theory was quickly debunked a few games later when hitting it to the left actually got the ball the furthest away from the final hole.

Kuroo was convinced it changed on a daily basis, but it was probably more about the angle and velocity at which he hit his ball. Why ruin magic with math?

"I wonder which one is special today..." Kuroo tapped his chin.

"Who knows," Tsukishima shrugged. "But you're going first, so test one out for me."

"What!?" Kuroo blinked. "Maybe I won't tell you where the ball lands," he snorted.

"I'll go look myself then."

Kuroo twisted his lips, frowning at his boyfriend. If Tsukishima won this, it meant he would have to sit and actually watch The Good Dinosaur again. Of course, getting to see Tsukishima looking all cute and happy while they watched the movie would probably make it worth it, but Kuroo's pride was also on the line.

He placed the ball down and decided to aim towards the right. With Kuroo's horrid luck, the ball bounced against a tiny pebble he must not have seen and awkwardly swerved towards the middle hole. It went down the tube and eventually spit back out on the other side.

Kuroo dashed towards the other side side of the green, watching as his ball rolled out of the middle hole and down towards the main hole. Kuroo's eyes widened as the ball stopped right before the hole, just an inch away. "Dammit!" he yelled and suddenly Tsukishima was peering over his shoulder.

"Seems the middle is good today."

"Oi!" Kuroo snorted. "If you knock my ball away... we will get that divorce."

"Sure," Tsukishima shrugged at the very empty threat.

Gently he tapped his ball forward, watching as it rolled down the middle slot. He walked casually forward, watching as it pressed against Kuroo's ball.

"Aw babe," Kuroo said, leaning towards Tsukishima. "Our balls are kissing-"

Tsukishima immediately pushed Kuroo's face out of the way as he tapped his ball in, not touching Kuroo's.

"Well," Kuroo frowned, hitting his own in immediately afterwards. "At least you didn't ruin my shot."

Tsukishima scoffed. "Of course not. I'm playing fair," he smirked, "and winning." He grabbed the score card from Kuroo to enter their numbers.

"For now," Kuroo smirked, climbing up the stairs towards the next hole.

They began to climb the stairs to head up to the tall waterfall hole. Hole number thirteen. Though Kuroo honestly considered it to be a lucky hole, since he usually got to steal a kiss or two up there, especially if the place wasn't busy.

At the top, Kuroo immediately bounded over to the lookout point. "C'mon Kei! C'mere!" he smiled and held his hand out to him.

Tsukishima frowned. "I'm winning. I want to keep winning. Stop trying to distract me."

"Eh!?" Kuroo pouted. Normally Tsukishima would always let Kuroo kiss him here, but today he didn't seem to be in the mood.

Maybe he was more upset than Kuroo realized.

"It's your turn," Tsukishima said, and Kuroo blinked, nodding as he stepped over to the course. He placed his ball down and smirked as he tapped it, letting it roll down the long hill. If anyone got a hole-in-one on this course, they won 5 bucks and a free game of mini-golf. It was rare that it ever happened, though once Kuroo's uncle had won. He gave it to Kuroo instead.

He turned towards Tsukishima, a playful glint in his eye. He wanted him to have fun, even if this had all come about because of a silly fight.

Dashing down the hill, he ran down the green instead of taking the stairs. As a kid, he always did this, but as an adult, well... he still usually did. He laughed when he got the to bottom, looking at how both of their balls seemed to be far from the hole.

"Neither of us were close. I really could've used that free game!" Kuroo said, he said, snapping his fingers.

"I think you can afford mini-golf," Tsukishima said, walking down the steps.

Something didn't feel right, and Kuroo was determined to get to the bottom of it. "Hey... Kei... are you okay? You seem... I dunno... actually mad?"

"Hm..." Tsukishima muttered, tapping his putter against the ground. "I'm not mad."

"Yeah, right," Kuroo snorted. He slowly stepped forward, taking Tsukishima's hands in his own. "Look, I think I know you well enough by now to know something isn't right. I mean even when we have these silly fights, we both have fun doing this. This is the best part of our 'arguments!'"

A small smiled appeared on Tsukishima's face. "Yeah... it is the best part. Especially when you're losing like this."

"Hey! Shut up! Don't change the subject! Are you really upset that I teased you about The Good Dinosaur?"

Tsukishima immediately looked down, shrugged his shoulder, and retreated into himself, like when he was dealing with something too painful to admit. He'd gotten much better at speaking his mind, but sometimes...

"Kei..." Kuroo whispered, cupping his cheeks. He turned the blond's face to meet his, staring into his golden eyes. "I love you... and no matter what you say, I'm not going to actually judge you or anything. I'm never serious about teasing you when it comes to things that are important to you."

"The more I thought about you hating it the more... frustrated I got," he admitted finally.

"First off, I don't hate it, and second off, why? You never care when I don't like something. I mean we have these... joke arguments but..."

"I know but..." he trailed off. Tsukishima's cheeks flushed, his face bright red. He bit down on his lip and sighed. "In... The Good Dinosaur... the two main characters, Arlo and Spot don't have to talk to connect. They find comfort in each other, despite being... so different. And that's how... I feel about you. You make me feel comfortable... you remind me of... family."

Kuroo immediately pressed his lips against Tsukishima's; he couldn't help it. Of course Tsukishima would feel upset about Kuroo not realizing how this movie could relate to Tsukishima's own feelings! It was personal; it held more depth than other movies they had fought about.

Kuroo brushed his thumbs over Tsukishima's pale cheeks, and held him so close, not caring they were practically making out on the mini-golf course.

"Also..." Tsukishima breathed. "I really do like dinosaurs."

Kuroo chuckled softly, pressing his forehead to Tsukishima's. "I know you do, Kei."

Kuroo didn't want to pull back, but they did have a mini-golf game to finish. "How about no matter who wins, we go home and watch The Good Dinosaur?"

Tsukishima smirked. "Maybe we could watch Toy Story after it."

"I sure as hell wouldn't mind that! But first, I gotta kick your ass," he smirked.

"In your dreams," Tsukishima said, moving away from him to tap the ball in one more time.

Things began to feel normal as they made their way through the back nine. Kuroo was happy to see Tsukishima cheering up, back to his competitively playful self. Of course the final, eighteenth hole, loomed on the horizon.

The spinning arms of the windmill slowly rotated. It was next to impossible to get a hole-in-one on the final hole, since the spinning arms usually hit the ball back, blocking it from getting it in on the first try.

Kuroo and Tsukishima were tied now, and Kuroo supposed ending things on a tie would make sense, since they already agreed to watch both movies.

"Alright, time to meet my end," Kuroo muttered, letting the ball drop on the course. It bounced once and he stopped it with his foot. His technique of holding the putter up and aiming carefully had now been replaced by a much faster technique of whacking the ball and hoping it went somewhere.

He slammed his putter against the red ball, watching as it hit the windmill, rolling immediately back to him. "Dammit!" he cursed and behind him he heard Tsukishima snicker. "Don't laugh! You're gonna have to do this in a minute!"

"Mhm..." Tsukishima snorted again.

Kuroo hit at the ball a few more times before he finally slipped by one of the arms, hearing the red ball clatter as it returned to the main kiosk. "Hah! Only took 4 tries! Good luck," he smirked.

Tsukishima slowly leaned down to place his ball at the edge of the green. (Kuroo would've been lying if he said he didn't check out Tsukishima's ass every time). He adjusted his stance and watched as the windmill moved around and around, very intent on watching the rotation.

Finally he nodded his head and swung, his ball passing by and down into the slot. A hole-in-one! "I beat you," he smirked, leaning on his club.

Kuroo's eyes were wide. "Absolute... mad lad!" he breathed, cheering as he ran over to Tsukishima. He wrapped his arms around him and kissed his cheek. "I can't even be mad because you just defeated the 18th hole windmill and holy shit, I... am so proud!" he said, pretending to wipe a tear away.

Tsukishima clicked his tongue, a smile pulling across his lips. "C'mon... let's get out of here," he chuckled, tugging his overly-excited boyfriend back to where Terushima looked bored out of his mind in the kiosk.

"So... who won?" he asked.

"Kei!" Kuroo said, slinging his arm around Tsukishima's neck. "But... we decided to watch both movies anyway." He kissed Tsukishima's cheek.

"And you're both disgusting again," Terushima snorted, taking the golf clubs back from them. "I'm supposed to tell you it's half-off if you play a second round, but I have a feeling you're just gonna go home."

"Yeah," Tsukishima said, a small smile on his lips. "I think we're good. See you."

"You're just saying that cause you won!" Kuroo snorted, waving goodbye to Terushima as they walked back towards the parking. Really he was happy to go home. Mini-golf was always fun, but spending quality time snuggled up to Tsukishima on their couch was his favorite thing.

"You didn't actually think you were going to win?" Tsukishima asked.

Kuroo could only shrug. "I dunno, maybe this was gonna be my time to shine."

"I'll let you believe that," Tsukishima said.

"Aren't I lucky?" Kuroo chuckled, nuzzling his cheek.

"You're embarrassing, that's for sure," Tsukishima snorted, pushing his face away. "But... I guess that's what happens when you're family..." he muttered, lacing their hands together, holding them behind his back.

"I love you, Kei. And I'm ready to watch dinosaur movies all night."

Tsukishima's eyes widened. "Does this mean we can watch The Land Before Time too?"

"Hell yes!" Kuroo smirked.

Honestly, if it meant something to Tsukishima and made him smile, Kuroo would've watched any movie he wanted.