#tomorrow is his 13th day of hospitalization

[singlethread]

Veterinary medicine has so many downsides but also I’ve been getting to watch this dog slowly learn how to walk again and it’s been so fucking rewarding it makes me 🥺🥺🥺🥺

[canonicallyobserving911]

Buck & Eddie: The 13th episode of each season

The 13th episode of each season has included very important moments regarding Buck and Eddie’s relationship.  Moments were included of them comforting each other, Eddie inviting Buck to go on a lunch date, Eddie encouraging someone else to tell the person they wanted to be with they love them, them almost losing each other forever and them being vulnerable in front of each other when they had never allowed anyone else to see that side of them before. The moments they’ve shared were always front and center and some of those moments happened between them while they were dating other people. Therefore, these pivotal moments within their relationship shouldn’t be ignored because it’s all part of their journey to becoming a CANON couple.

2x13 “Fight or Flight”

Buck’s sister Maddie had been taken by her estranged husband Doug and he was visibly upset.  He was trying to fix it when he swiped Chimney’s iPhone from the crime scene so the police could quickly find her but he ended up being reprimanded by Athena.  This was one of the worst moments in his life and even though his found dad, Bobby was there to offer him support, there was only one person who could give him the support he needed and that was Eddie!

Reminder, Buck was in a relationship but his girlfriend was nowhere to be found.  Eddie was there to comfort and offer him the support he needed during one of the most stressful times in his life.  Also, Maddie raised Buck which means to him it probably felt like his mother had been taken instead of it just feeling like his sister was missing.

Here’s the thing, the show could have easily set it up where Buck’s girlfriend was there for him but they didn’t.  When Buck found Chimney lying on the ground, it appears he had just returned home from what may have been a date.  He was dressed in a nice army green button-down shirt and a pair of slacks so it’s possible he had just returned from being on a date with her but she wasn’t at the hospital.  Eddie was there for him and not long after he arrived, he found Buck so he could be there to support and comfort him.

When Eddie introduced himself to Michael, the things they didn’t say to each other were LOUDER than the things they did.  Eddie said, “We haven’t met but I love you... Eddie” and he extended his hand. Michael shook his hand and replied, “Michael... pleasure.”  Their handshake was VERY LOUD and so were their non-verbal interactions 👀👀.

Eddie’s estranged wife had recently returned after having been gone for almost two years and she brought Christopher to the hospital so Eddie could spend time with him.  Then Eddie told her she could leave if she had something else to do because she had already brought his son there to be with him and he even highlighted the fact that Christopher was the most important.  After she said she was good with being there with him, he skeptically looked at her and then he looked down like he really didn’t want her there. Reminder, this happened a few months after he told her he didn’t know if he could trust her.  Also his conversation with her at the hospital happened after he had already talked to Buck👀👀.

3x13 “Pinned”

Eddie teased Buck when he used the wrong word to describe a specific skeletal body part and Buck responded, “You can’t just let me enjoy the win”.  Bobby spoke up and said, “Good job Buck.” to encourage him but Eddie looked over his shoulder at Buck.  Their banter was in full effect and this happened right after 3x12 “Fools” when they spent a Buckley-Diaz Family Day at the park so Christopher could ride the adaptable skateboard Buck and Eddie built for him.

Eddie told Chimney, “I get taking things slow but tomorrow isn’t promised to anyone.  So, if you love her... tell her”.  His words to Chimney appear to have been foreshadowing for something he would have to remind himself of in the future since it seems like he will probably be the one to confess his love to Buck especially now that he almost lost him again in 6x10 “In a Flash”.  He was encouraging his friend to tell one of the Buckley siblings he loves her. Well Eddie’s in love with a Buckley sibling too and this happened after he and Buck had that sexually tense exchange during The Kitchen Scene while they made heart eyes at each other in 3x9 “Fallout” and right before he changed his will and named Buck to be Christopher’s legal guardian in 3x15 “Eddie Begins”.

Eddie casually asked Buck out on a lunch date.  When they arrived at the hospital to help Hen and Chimney unload the dad who had shot a nail into his heart, Eddie said, “Wanna grab a bite after we drop ‘em?” and Buck agreed. Eddie was slick with the ask and Buck readily agreed which means it probably wasn’t the first time and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.

4x13 “Suspicion”

Eddie was shot by a sniper while he stood only a few feet in front of Buck.  Up to that point, it was the most PIVOTAL moment within their relationship because they almost lost each other forever.  Their hearts were on full display especially after Eddie’s blood splattered all over Buck’s face and clothes and they spent several seconds staring at each other until Eddie hit the ground.

Buck went into a catatonic state of shock after he watched the love of his life fall down and his mental state had been affected so much that he couldn’t move.  If it hadn’t been for Captain Jeshan Mehta tackling him to the ground, it’s possible he could have been shot too because the bullet hit the side of the firetruck where Buck was standing.  Reminder, Eddie was in a relationship but Buck is THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE, therefore the love they have for each other could no longer be ignored. Please note this happened exactly one year after Eddie changed his will.

Eddie reached for Buck while he was on the ground lying in a pool of his own blood.  In that moment, the only person Eddie could see was Buck.

Eddie met Buck’s eyes and Buck met his, then they had one of their silent conversations.

Buck kept his eyes locked with Eddie’s until Eddie went unconscious and prior to Eddie closing his eyes, neither of them looked at anyone or anything else.  Buck didn’t take his eyes off of Eddie until after Eddie closed his eyes and then he came out of his catatonic state. After that Buck Army rolled underneath the firetruck so he could save him.

5x13 “Fear-O-Phobia”

Buck’s breath hitched in his throat after he broke down Eddie’s bedroom door and his fear was palpable.  He didn’t know if he was going to find Eddie’s dead body, therefore when he called Eddie’s name, his voice was filled with a quiet panic and he could hardly breathe.  Eddie didn’t make any noise because he didn’t want their son to hear him and he didn’t make a sound until after he heard Buck calling for him.

Buck rushed over to Eddie’s side after he heard him crying and Eddie allowed himself to be the most vulnerable he’d ever been in his life. Prior to that night, he had never allowed anyone to see him cry like that including his deceased wife or his ex-girlfriend but he allowed Buck to see every single piece of him including the broken ones.

Reminder, Buck was in a relationship and she had just moved in with him a few days earlier but his number one priority was to be there for Eddie and their son.  He stayed with them for several days even after Eddie returned to therapy (related post linked here).

6x13 “Mixed Feelings”

Based on the sneak peek video of Buck and Eddie participating in a low stakes’ poker game, it appears 6x13 could be another pivotal moment within their relationship especially since Eddie recited the exact amount of time down to the second of how long Buck was dead after he was struck by lightning.  It was three minutes and seventeen seconds which just so happens to be the same amount of time that elapsed after Eddie was shot by a sniper (timed post of The Shooting linked here).

How did Eddie get Buck to agree to go to the poker game?  Did he ask him out on a date like he did in 3x13?  What else will happen between Buck and Eddie in 6x13 that will strengthen their relationship and take it to the next level?  Will there be more pivotal moments of Buck and Eddie’s relationship included in 6x13 that will finally lead to them becoming a CANON couple?  There are only a few hours left until the episode airs but based on previous season’s 13th episodes, it’s very likely these questions will be answered.

[plussizefantasia]

Spookifying

Flufftober Day 27: Decoration

Tony Stark x reader

Word Count: 0.9k

AN: Thank you to @unholyhuntress for letting me know that my post hadn't gone out today. Tumblr deleted my qued posts, I uploaded this as soon as I could.

I can't believe we have less than a week left. As always, Reblogs and Feedback is really appreciated. See y'all tomorrow.

divider credit @royallaesthetics

On October 1st, you decided that you’d try to play a fun little prank on Tony. You had moved in together a few months before and Halloween was going to be one of the first major holidays that you’d celebrate while living together. It was also the first one that you could decorate for.

Tony was not the one who decorated his suite, he had hired an interior designer to design pretty much the whole compound. And while it looked very nice, it wasn’t very personal. Everything was modern and sleek. Blacks and whites and the same shade of blue ran throughout the entire space. It looked straight out of a magazine, but it didn’t look like a home.

So for Halloween, you decided that you would decorate. Without Tony. But you figured it would be too obvious if you did all the decorating at once. That is why, once a day since the first of the month you’ve taken a piece of decor and replaced it. At first, it was small things, you swapped out a random bowl of rocks that was sitting on the bookshelf with a little foam pumpkin. You swapped the towel hanging in the kitchen and even took down one of the paintings in the living room and swapped it with a framed Friday the 13th movie poster. You swapped out boring white candles for ones in pumpkin jars that smelled like cinnamon apples. 

You figured that Tony would’ve said something by now. At first, it was fun sneaking around and swapping decor, hoping that when Tony noticed it would be a fun laugh, and then the two of you could decorate the rest of the house together. But he hadn’t said anything, he hadn’t even looked at any of the new decor when you two were spending time together.

You didn’t know what to think. Was he just really oblivious? Did he not care? Was he annoyed that you had swapped things but just didn’t want to say anything? You decided that you would pull out the big guns today and hopefully, he would finally say something.

Tony drank a lot of coffee, but he always drank it from the same mug. It was an Iron Man-branded mug that he was given by a little boy when he visited the children’s hospital for a charity event. He cherishes it, he gets grumpy when it's not clean. And you stole it. You replaced it with a mug that looks like a jack-o-lantern. It even lights up.

You camped out by the island counter, perched on one of the stools that surrounded the side sipped from your own ghost-shaped mug, and waited for Tony to emerge from your room and come to the kitchen.

He walked out in a pair of sweatpants and a Black AC/DC tee shirt that had seen better years. A pair of slippers adorned his feet and his hair was still a little wet in front of the shower. He walked past you, placing a kiss in greeting on the side of your head and running his hand across your lower back as he turned the counter of the floating counter and towards the coffee machine. 

You were practically buzzing with excitement as you watched him open the cabinet that held your cups and mugs. He blindly grabbed for the mug that was in the same spot it always was and placed it under the spout that the coffee would come from as soon as the machine finished warming the water. 

As he placed it down though you watched him do a double-take. He shot his head back up to the cabinet and turned his head left and right, scanning all the drinkware inside. He searched for his mug for about a minute before he turned towards you.

“Very funny sweetheart. Where is my mug.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You took another sip out of your own mug.

‘You think I haven't noticed what you’ve been doing?” He asked, walking back around the counter and stopping right in front of you, he took a step forward, forcing your legs apart and sliding in between them. “You think I didn’t notice on day one, that there was a bright orange pumpkin on my bookshelf? You think I haven’t noticed you sneaking around and spookifying my place?” As he questioned you, he pushed his face even closer to yours. You couldn’t really think not when he was so close to you, crowding you being. Filling all of your senses with just him.

“Our place.” was the only response you could come up with.

“Where. Is. My. Mug?” Tony asked, pacing kisses on your lips in between each word. Eventually, he pulled back and you could see the soft smile on his face. Now that he wasn’t the only thing you could see or smell, the rest of your brain started to come back online.

“Wait. You noticed? You noticed and you didn’t say anything? Tones I was seriously beginning to doubt your observational skills.” You were incredulous. He had known the whole time? “Why didn’t you say anything?” You asked him.

“Because you were having so much fun. Sneaking around, thinking you were getting away with it. Sweetheart, you were so happy, I didn’t want to burst your bubble.”

“That is sweet. But I’m not going to lie I’m still a little upset.”

“Well we can’t have that, can we?” He adopted a stupidly handsome pout and looked into your eyes, “What can I do, sweetheart I don’t want you upset.”

You smiled widely. “Well Halloween isn’t for a few more days, and I have a lot more decorations hidden in my office. Help me put them up?” And he did. The two of you spent the rest of the day decorating the suite, watching spooky movies in the background, and laughing together. 

[whoslaurapalmer]

you can do readmores on mobile???? since when??????? goddamn!!!!!!!!!!!

so my mom is like probably fine and honestly she's been doing really well since her surgery in September and healing up really nicely!!!!! and after the surgery she gets 3 more rounds of chemo and then she's on ⭐️maintenance⭐️ for 2 years which is Not Chemo so her hair grows back which I am, very much looking forward to. anyway she was supposed to have a treatment today (the first of the 3rd round) but they called yesterday and said "you know you don't have to come in tomorrow, right?" and we were like. what. why did no one tell us until now. so now she doesn't have her third round until January 12th which is also my brother's birthday and I don't know if she'll be home from the office in time without rushing around and she keeps saying that we can do my brothers birthday on the 13th and he won't mind but //i// mind!!!!!!!! I just. Love my birthday. And I think all birthdays should be special. And I want his to be special too 😟

so anyway my mom is as you might expect just from seeing my anxiety, also a very anxious person (where else would I get it from.) and she keeps a lot of tension in her stomach so being told she didn't have a treatment today ONLY YESTERDAY clearly threw her whole system off and today her stomach really hurt and it got to the point where she decided to go to the emergency room (which she never does so it was not a lightly made decision) and asked my aunt to drive her and i came too bc my mom wanted me to so that's where I've been all afternoon!!!!!! sitting in my aunts car in the parking lot of the hospital, alternately reading and crying!!!!!!!! and I mean she's probably fine!!!!!! there's no reason she wouldn't be!!!!!! it's probably just gas stuck somewhere, because she's been doing so well otherwise and her cancer numbers on her blood work are FIFTEEN!!!!!!!! IN THE NORMAL NORMAL RANGE FOR A HUMAN BEING!!!!!!!! THERE IS MOST LIKELY NOTHING TERRIBLY WRONG!!!!!!! SHE JUST HAS A LOT OF ANXIETY AND A SENSITIVE STOMACH!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT ELSE CAN I THINK!!!!!!!!!!!! but they have to do all the tests and stuff that people do at the emergency room including a CT scan and that takes, an age, and like, no I don't want to go home!! I don't mind sitting in the parking lot!!!!! I really dont!!!!!!! I am a seasoned waiting room player and that involves waiting in cars, too!!!!!! I brought Stuff!!!!!!! but I probably should bc it's not like I can DO anything sitting in the car and she's probably just worrying about me sitting out here (although it's a very mild 55 degrees today, quite frankly would've been a great day for a walk I tell you what.) and I probably should just let my aunt drive me home so I can, be home and eat dinner and let my aunt stay here bc who knows how long they will have to be here!! but I don't know if I want to!!!!!! BUT I MEAN IT'S NOT LIKE ANYTHING IS GONNA GO REALLY WRONG, RIGHT??????? ALSO I NEED A STUPID TISSUE AND I DONT KNOW WHY I DONT HAVE ANY IN THIS HONESTLY ENORMOUS PURSE SO I HAVE TO KEEP WIPING MY NOSE ON MY MASK WHICH AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE IS GROSS!!!! (I'm not WEARING it while ALONE in the car but I wore it while my aunt was driving and when she comes out to ask how I am.) I don't know. I don't know if I feel lonely sitting out here so much as just upset. It's not even 4:30 yet and the lights are coming on in the parking lot. and I didn't text my brother to tell him bc why worry him??? Someone should be having a decent fucking afternoon!!!!!!!!!

also --

every nurse that passes by my mom, apparently: oh! you're shaking, are you cold? can I get you a blanket?

my mom: NO

my aunt: she's not cold!! just anxious!!!!!!!

[prnanayarquah]

Government should fix the deplorable roads at Abura - Dr. Minta Nyarku

New Post has been published on https://plugzafrica.com/government-should-fix-the-deplorable-roads-at-abura-dr-minta-nyarku/

Government should fix the deplorable roads at Abura - Dr. Minta Nyarku

On Sunday, 13th August 2023, the Member of Parliament for Cape Coast North Constituency, Dr Kwamena Minta Nyarku joined some inhabitants of Abura to fill potholes on the Abura/Academy road.

According to the MP, all his efforts to get the Department of Urban Roads to repair the road have not seen the light of day.

“As the MP I cannot sit unconcerned. I had to buy 3 trips of chippings to fill the potholes on this stretch to ease the stress of the people since the Urban Roads told me the road hasn’t been budgeted for”, the MP indicated.

He explained that the road leads to the only Nursing Training and Senior High School within the enclave, Christ The King Academy and also links to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital “and I had to do something to help my constituents. The road is in a very bad state, and the Government must come to our aid, “he shared.

According to Ragga as he is commonly known, they began the filling of the potholes in the morning “but we had to return at about 4:30 pm to continue with the work since he had to attend to other engagements”, he indicated.

  The interesting aspect of the whole Communal Labour organized by the Cape Coast North MP, especially the evening session, was the active participation of ladies. Interestingly, many female Teaching Assistants and some students from the University of Cape Coast joined the MP to fill the potholes more than men. That was an impressive spectacle to behold.

Speaking to one of the students on the sideline of the MP’s Communal Labour, she indicated, “We campaigned for him to win the elections. I’m a student on campus but had to be here to help our MP get this activity completed, “she revealed.

Ragga took the opportunity to thank all those who came to support his communal activity in filling the potholes. “We shall be here tomorrow at 4 pm to complete the entire work,” he told the gathering. The MP was accompanied by some party executives in his constituency as well as other residents of Abura.

[theretirementstory]

Good afternoon, yes “The Trainee Solicitor”and his girlfriend arrived last weekend and although I had to go into hospital on the 13th we still had a good few days together. It was wonderful to see him and to meet the young lady who is making him so happy. To say it was an emotional time is an understatement and other photos taken after this show two people trying to control their tears.

Well as I said, it was hospital for me Tuesday to Friday for my second round of treatment. I took food in with me so that I wasn’t hungry if I couldn’t eat the stuff they serve up to me, I have always been quite a picky eater especially where meat is concerned and anything that looks a little bit suspect won’t go anywhere near my mouth. Apart from that my treatment was a breeze this time, no sickness and I kept an eye on the fluids I was being given to ensure that there were no problems with the flow, as there had been last time. The only visitors I had were my son and his girlfriend, not that it mattered as I had a couple of books to read, and read them I did!

So what have I done since I got home on Friday, well I have inspected the garden, watered the vegetables, fruit and flowers. The radish I planted on Monday were sprouting by Friday, no sign of the spring onions or whatever else I planted. The transplanted beetroot look as if they may have taken.

I asked the doctor about driving my car and she said there was no reason not too, so Saturday morning I was up bright and early to drive to the supermarket to do my own shopping. I was very pleased with myself but I have noticed that if I touch anything cold the nerves in my hands go absolutely crazy, it’s like little electric shocks up my hands and arms. Peripheral neuropathy the bane of my life, it’s been with me since my treatment nine years ago, I had hoped it would not affect me so badly this time but it’s not to be it seems. Anyway, standing in the queue with my hands tucked under my armpits for warmth may have looked funny to other people but it had the desired effect. I am going to have to invest in a pair of gloves to pick up cooler items, I can’t be having this tingling pain.

Today, I have been cooking up ratatouille and savoury mince to have this evening. I have been given a protein mix to take once a day, obviously they are wanting to “build me up” for the remaining treatments. I have noticed though that I am feeling hungry too (not sure why) so I will get back to eating good wholesome food.

Here is an excerpt from “All In June” by William Henry Davies

“Till to my garden back I come,

Where bumble-bees for hours and hours

Sit on their soft, fat, velvet bums,

To wriggle out of hollow flowers.”

I thought it was quite appropriate as my garden is what I miss most when I am in hospital. Just a little bit more gardening news, I was going to try and sort out the pots containing the alstroemerias as they haven’t started to show any signs of life. I don’t know how I manage to lose them over the winter but I will try to investigate that tomorrow. My beautiful hibiscus from last year has been another casualty of the winter and I really must clear the pot, it currently has some little yellow violas flowering at its base and I don’t want to lose those as they are so pleasing on the eye.

To everyone who messages to find out how I am, I want to say a big thank you. It can be quite difficult to reply straight away but I do get round to it eventually, but this is just to say thanks for taking time from your day to think of me.

Hopefully there will be more to talk about next week, not all about hospital and treatments.

Until then, have a great week, I intend too!

[unusualindigo]

A Knight and his Squire, Chapter 3

AD 2206, 5/9, 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi – Faye-Ling Clinic

Litchi Faye-Ling amethyst eyes peer down thoughtfully into her mug of oolong tea. Orient Town has been quieter as of late, and she can’t help but feel that something is coming. With a weary sigh, she picks up the mug and takes a deep drink to clear her thoughts of worry.

Linhua is out at the market to get some herbs and supplies. Platinum is helping Asa with something in the Kaka Village. She’s been all by her lonesome for a while now. She sets down her mug, mulling over the day's events and reviewing her schedule for tomorrow. Then, she hears a knock come upon the entrance door.

Raising a curious brow, she rises to her feet and makes her way through the hall. The afternoon sun paints the silhouette of a tall, well-built man on the other side of the door.

With her brow furrowing, Litchi opens the door cautiously. She hums, “Can I help y—"

Kagura greets her with a cocksure grin. “Hey there, Doctor. Got some time for little old me?”

Litchi’s eyes harden ever so slightly as she opens the door further with a frown. She hasn’t seen the man in years, and wonders what it is he wants. There’s only one way for her to be sure. “Colonel Mutsuki, please, come in.”

---------

Litchi watches Kagura closely as he leisurely sips his own mug of tea. He’s only told her that his business here is important. Despite her hospitality, she can’t help but feel a little impatient. Rarely does a visit from a member of the Library mean anything good.

Kagura, sensing her waning patience, finishes his drink with a sigh. “Guess it’s about time we get down to business.” His expression sobers into something more serious. “It’s about Clover.”

Litchi’s eyes widen slightly at the mention of Carl’s name. She’d been trying to keep tabs on the boy she knew, but he’s been careful to cover his tracks. It’s been months since the last sighting. She tenses. “Has something happened to him?”

Kagura’s expression softens slightly at the worry in her eyes. “Nothing serious. I caught up to him when he dropped off his latest bounty in Yabiko. We had a little bet, and I won.”

Litchi blinks, frown deepening as her confusion grows. “What do you mean by ‘a bet,’ Colonel?”

Kagura raises a hand placatingly. “Nothing too bad. Just that he has to let me set him up on a date, is all.”

Litchi immediately sees where this is going, and glares sternly. “What are you saying?”

Kagura gives her a winning smile. “Well, Clover’s lonely, so I figured that a nice night out with a beautiful woman would be just what the doctor ordered. So, whaddya say?”

Litchi gives him an unimpressed frown, and Kagura’s grin falters for a split second.

She huffs, “Colonel, what exactly are you playing at?”

Kagura’s eyes grow serious as he loses the playful smirk. He sighs, “Alright. Guess there’s no point in trying to sugarcoat things.” He locks gazes again. “Kokonoe’s been tailing Clover.”

Litchi’s eyes fill with worry. If the professor is looking into Carl, things must be getting serious.

Kagura continues, “The best thing I could do for him is get him back in touch with you. But the kid’s been ducking everyone for years now. I figured that setting up a date with Luna would be a good way to get a foot in the door, so to speak.”

Litchi nods, beginning to understand the game Kagura is playing. “Alright. But what if Luna isn’t willing to go along with this plan of yours?”

Kagura tenses as his gaze hardens. “Then I’m going to have to find someone else to play the part. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that though. This is our best shot at getting him back into the fold.”

Lichi hums thoughtfully, then nods again. “I’ll see what I can do.”

---------

Luna glares harshly at Kagura. “Hell. No.”

Kagura, undeterred by her harsh words and harsher eyes, hums, “C’mon, Luna, it’ll be worth your while, I swear.”

He shoots her what he must think is a winning smile.

Her hand fists angrily into her blue-lined teal skirt as she glares even harder. He’s been trying to win her over for about half-an-hour now, and it’s really getting on her nerves. Her staff, Arma Reboare: Muchourin, gleams promisingly in the light of the setting sun.

Her hackles rise. “Look, I ain’t a science experiment. And I don’t owe him anything, neither.”

He sighs, “Look, he’s not going to do anything. You guys are going to be safe, trust me.”

Sena’s soothing voice interjects into their shared mind. “He’s not lying. And Carl did help us back then…”

Exasperated, Luna sighs, “I just said we don’t owe him anything, Sena.”

He thoughtfully hums, “I’m not saying that we do, just that… Maybe we’ve been reading him wrong. He hasn’t come after anyone who didn’t have a bounty on their head since…”

He trials off, uncomfortable thinking about that incident.

She grouses, “Yeah, that’s kinda why I wanna keep it that way.”

---------

Kagura hums as he watches Platinum’s eyes go blank. Luna and Sena must be having their own little conversation. That suits him just fine, as it gives him some time to think of his next pitch.

Maybe if he tries to sweeten the pot with some good old-fashioned rest and relaxation. A high-quality spa, some money to throw down at the club scene… Yeah, that should work out just fine. “Note to self: hide this from Hibiki. This is for the good of the Librarium, after all.”

Platinum growls as they uncross their legs to lean forward. Their massive tails of ginger-blonde hair sway dangerously. Their emerald eyes are alight with Luna’s fierce fire as she glares.

Kagura merely gives her a playful smirk, humming lowly at the absolute vision she makes.

Luna takes a deep breath, shuts her eyes, and huffs out a visible breath. Then she stares at him with an angry pout. “Fine. Let’s say I believe you, why should I give up my Saturday night to hang out with some iceberg?”

She raises an imperious brow, and he raises a challenging one in return.

He hums, “How about the best digs money can buy and a VIP class to every club in Ookoto?”

She blinks, clearly taken aback. “What the—” She shakes her head, staring at him skeptically. “Are you serious?”

He nods, smirk widening. He’s got her now. Now he’ll just make sure his arrow lands true. “One-hundred percent, babe. I’ve already got reservations at the best restaurant in Ookoto. Plus, I can get you into Ikaruga’s best hot spring spa. All you have to do is say the word.”

Her eyes are an open book. The conflict between her mistrust of him and her love of pampering clearly going all out in her head.

He quietly huffs in satisfaction as he waits for her yes. His understanding of women never fails.

Then Platinum’s eyes flash for a moment. When they open again, they’re softer, but harder to read. Sena’s taken hold.

Sena smiles sweetly as he chirps, “I’ll do it! Just let Carl know that I don’t kiss on the first date.”

Kagura blinks bemusedly, but then smirks wider. “Alright. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Sena hops to his feet with a cocky grin, eyes flashing occasionally. Luna must be pretty pissed. “Alright, just let me get my stuff so we can head out!”

Kagura holds up a hand, smiling placatingly. “Whoa, whoa. No need to rush, my man. I gotta take care of some other stuff, so we’ll head out tomorrow morning. Sound good?”

Sena deflates minutely, impatiently huffing, “Oh, alright.” He eyes Kagura severely. “But it’d better be early. We’ve needed a vacation for a while, so don’t keep us waiting.”

Kagura smiles reassuringly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He rises to his feet with a hum. “Lemme get started, and just make sure you’re ready, okay?”

Sena hums, giving him an unreadable look, then grabs Muchorin and runs toward the bedrooms.

Kagura sighs, making his way back to spread the happy news.

---------

Litchi sighs when she sees Sena make his way toward the entrance. She can't stop worrying, despite knowing that Sena can look after himself just fine. Even knowing that Kagura will be there keep him safe doesn't put her at ease.

Sena catches Litchi staring and smiles softly, his heart-shaped pupils twinkling sympathetically. Playfully, he twirls for her. “How do I look?”

The differences between Sena and Luna’s apparel are surprisingly distinct. Sena wears teal shorts with blue cuffs in place of Luna’s skirt. His chest is also a lot flatter, due to the binder he wears. Rather than wearing his hair in pigtails, he ties it into a single bushy ponytail instead. It reminds Litchi of a sweet dog that used to live nearby.

The ensemble is simple, but adorably effective.

Litchi hums, “You look as cute as you always do, Sena.” Her expression is somber as she asks, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Sena’s expression sobers into something pensive. “I think Carl at least deserves a chance to explain himself.”

Platinum’s eyes flash.

Luna shoots Litchi a cocksure grin. “Hell, even if Sena’s wrong, we can always just clobber some sense into him!”

Litchi huffs, not able to help the small smile tugging at her lips. They really are incorrigible. Still…

A knock on the door interrupts her train of thought, and Litchi rises to her feet to pull Luna into an embrace. “Please, keep each other safe.”

Luna hugs back, huffing. “Don’t worry, if that little creep tries anything, he’ll go splat before the mighty Luna.”

Litchi doesn’t see the change, but feels the hug become gentler.

Sena sighs, “I doubt it’ll come to that.” He pulls away to kiss Litchi on the cheek. “Don’t worry, Litchi, we’ll be just fine.”

He turns to grab his things and meet Kagura outside, waving behind him as he goes. “We’ll see you later!”

As she watches him go, Litchi’s worry grows, and she can’t help the sad frown that takes hold. Her thoughts turn to Carl, and the man he’s become. She’s heard some terrible rumors. Without a way to contact him without scaring him off, she has no idea which, if any, are true. “Oh, Sena…”

Litchi makes her way to the bedrooms to check on Linhua and ready the clinic for the day. She hopes with all her might that they’ll come back to her safely.

[starpros-sunshine]

I've done two and a half hours of math non-stop my brain is so dead I went down to get a drink and then proceeded to stand in the middle of the kitchen for a whole minute before remembering I actually already had something upstairs.

I still have to come up with a short sketch for ethics about a situation in which Platons cave parable could be seen in the modern world. Someone please shove me down a flight of stairs so I best case scenario get a concussion and don't have to show up tomorrow.

[be-with-me-so-happily]

Summary: Y/N applies to be a styling intern for the One Direction crew during the Where We Are tour. As she gets better at her job and closer to the band and crew (especially Harry Styles), some of her dreams seem to be coming true, but so are some of her fears.

A/N: This one is a bit heavy. I got a little emotional writing it, to be honest, and have been nervous to post it. Please make sure to read the warnings before reading the chapter.

Warnings: Some language, alcohol consumption, short excerpt of sexual & physical assault, trip to a hospital

~~~~~

CHAPTER - 6

WE WILL FIND A WAY THROUGH THE DARK

Sept 13th, 2014 - Concert Day

It's the last day of the L.A. shows. You have decided to go after what you want. You want Harry. The problem is, you haven't seen or spoken to him since the day you left his house. Of course, you gave him space while he was in London, and figured he was busy with his family when he came back… but you kind of thought you'd see him here at the venue for the shows. There's three of them, for crying out loud.

You can't help wondering if he's avoiding you. You wouldn't really blame him. It hurts, you can't avoid that anymore, and you're feeling pretty defeated at this point.

[By trying not to mess up what you have, you've ruined the chance to get what you really want. And that's why you usually never try in the first place]

So, you put all your energy and focus into your work. It's what you've been best at, right?

As you check the dressing room to make sure everything is set up for this last L.A. show, Niall comes bounding into the room.

"Hey Superstar!" He smiles.

"What's up bud?" You say, giving the best smile you can manage.

"I haven't been able to catch up with ya!"

"I know, these past few days have been a bit wild." You acknowledge.

"Today has been pretty fun though!!" He exclaims.

It's his birthday, and you know that, but you like messing with him a bit.

"Eh, it's been fine I guess."

He pouts a little. You turn around to grab the pack of his favorite beer and some fun socks that you had been hiding, then swing back around to face him. You hold up his presents.

"Sorry it's not much bud, but happy birthday!!"

"You cheeky… thank you love. You know me. S'perfect!" He exclaims and hugs you tightly.

"Oh! I came in here to invite you to my party. It's short notice, and in Vegas, but I feel like you're one of my good friends and I want ya to come."

You freeze for a minute. You've wanted to see Harry this whole time, but now you're also slightly scared to confront him and confess your feelings.

"It's gonna be me, Liam, and Zayn. The band boys and their girls… a couple of other friends… Oh, and Natalie said she'd go if you do."

So, no Harry. As scared as you just were, you are slightly disappointed now, but maybe it's better that he isn't going. You can have a nice distraction from the emotional turmoil you've been having. You don't like feeling this way, so a trip could help you reset.

"Okay bud, I'll be there for you!"

"Wooo!" He says as he throws up his arms triumphantly.

"Imma try and get some flights together for ya for tomorrow, since it's so last minute."

"Tomorrow? For goodness sakes Niall!" You laugh.

"I'm twenty-one now!! Living it up baby!" He raises both his arms again, lets out one final "wooo" and heads out to see Lou for his hair.

~~~~~

The guys flood the dressing room all together, making it a bit more chaotic than usual. Harry, however, got ready somewhere else. [Yep, definitely feels like he's avoiding you]

You're feeling the hurt bubble up again, so you head to catering and see if you can score a smoothie.

Drink in hand, you make your way to the common room. As jumbled as your brain feels, you still love watching the shows. You can't help but feel a sense of joy when you watch them. You still sing and dance to all the songs, it never gets old.

But as the encore begins and the boys start singing 'Right Now", your chest starts getting tight and tears start forming. This has never happened before. You look at Natalie, "I need to go, I don't feel good at all."

"Let's go back to the dressing room." She ushers you out and walks back with you. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. Once the song started, my chest started hurting. I must be sick" You decide.

Natalie chuckles, "or you might be feeling upset over the Harry thing?"

You shake your head. "That's pathetic."

Natalie lets out a mild chuckle and you give her a warning look. "No Y/N, that's called heartache."

"Pathetic." You roll your eyes.

[You usually don't let feelings control you… you can't let them control you]

You both fall silent and finish your clean-up/tear down duties. Sarah and Jade come in a few minutes later as the show has ended. Sarah's saying, "Best Song Ever was something else tonight" as they start to help you.

Jade adds, "I think that might be my favorite song!"

Sarah replies, "I think mine is… Little Black Dress!" Then she laughs. "Kind of fitting for a stylist intern right?" Everyone chuckles.

Natalie contributes to the conversation. "Mine has to be Alive, for sure." [That's fitting for her. She doesn't hold back and lives her life]

There's silence, and when you look up you realize they are staring at you, waiting for your answer.

"Oh, um… my favorite song?... 'Right Now'…" you sigh.

"That one makes me super emotional. Feels almost like a yearning for someone you don't have." Jade states.

"I guess." You clear your throat and instantly drop your eyes down towards the floor. [How ironic that it's your favorite song]

~~~~~

Sept 14th, 2014

Niall had managed to get the original flights for you and Natalie switched to ones for Vegas. Sarah and Jade are headed to Phoenix for the show in a few days. You'll meet them there later tomorrow. Sarah is definitely a little jealous that she wasn't invited, but you and Natalie are a lot closer to the guys than she is. That's just how it is.

You've packed and made sure that the house is clean, and head to the airport with Natalie.

You're determined to focus on the excitement of experiencing Vegas for the first time and celebrate Niall's (and Liam's) birthdays. It's about them, and you love them, so you'll be the best friend you can be. Natalie, and a margarita or two always helps with that.

~~~~~

"Okay… is this too much?" Natalie asks, turning around to model her full-sequined gold dress with a plunging neckline.

"It's Vegas honey! Nothing is too much here!"

"I'm just trying to match your hotness level…" she exclaims, giving you a once over and then winking.

You look in the mirror at yourself. You're in a dark striped multicolored bodycon 'bandage' dress where the pattern wraps around your body.at different angles. You've paired it with some strappy gold heels and thick gold hoops. You look sexy. You feel sexy.

"We are a pair of babes!"

You meet the guys at their suite. Niall was sweet enough to get you one too, something you'll try hard to repay, so their room was just down the hall.

Liam opens the door and gasps. "Hell! Boys!! We won't need security tonight, because these ladies will be drawing all the attention!"

You both laugh and roll your eyes. "Happy birthdays boys!" You yell as you enter the room.

You give them hugs and they offer you both a shot. "Oh no… this is going to be a very entertaining night."

"It's Vegas baby!" Yells Niall. And you all head down to the club.

~~~~~

You don't ever consider having "perks" of interning with One Direction, but you've gotta admit that it is definitely nice to be able to walk right into the club and be taken to a VIP area. It's not as crowded as the dance floor below. A waitress comes to take your drink order and you're free to start this party!

A few more margaritas have been consumed, but you don't care. You're not trying to conceal any feelings this time… in fact, you're trying to forget them altogether… and so there's a freedom over you to just let loose and have fun.

"Happy birthday boys!!!!" Someone shouts, and you all cheer!

You dance with Natalie and the other girls of the group to every song that plays. You sing along, and make up words when you don't know them. You're laughing, taking selfies, and joking around with the guys. It's one of the best nights- trying to top the rooftop party.

One of the girls leans over to you while you're all standing against the railing. "There's a guy down there who hasn't taken his eyes off of you since we got up here."

You look down and see a good-looking guy glance your way and raise his glass. He's tall, dark features, with a thin wide smile.

"He could be checking out Zayn for all we know," you burst out laughing.

"No, no. Any move you make, his eyes follow."

Not that you're looking for anything, but it's nice to feel desired at this moment.

At some point, Liam decides he wants to go down to the dance floor and attempt to break dance. The girls are eager to follow so they can document this potentially embarrassing display. They convince you to make your way down as well, and encourage you to talk to the guy at the bar. You're easily convinced given the amount of margaritas in you.

You start off by watching Liam, laughing at some of his moves, but impressed with some others. You're glad you're witnessing this in person. You grab Natalie for safety, and confidence, and head over to the bar. Not surprisingly, the guy quickly makes his way over to you.

"Hi there! Can I buy you ladies a drink?"

Natalie, not one to turn a free one down, immediately orders two more margaritas.

"Have you been having fun up there?" He points to the VIP section.

"Yeah, having a great time actually."

Natalie hands you the margarita, winks, and just stands next to you, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

The guy starts to talk about his job and asks you about yours. You are enjoying the conversation, plus he is really handsome. Then he asks if you want to dance. You're trying to be bold so you agree. He takes your hand and leads the way. Natalie stays at the bar, giving you a thumbs up when you turn to look at her.

"I just have to say, that dress is amazing on you." He looks up and down and bites his lips a little.

For a split second, you wonder why you weren't blushing.

It's going well and you're enjoying yourself. He dances behind you with his hands on your hips, and you can feel him getting excited. It's not the most comfortable moment, so you turn to dance with him face to face. He pulls you in closer and rests his face in your neck, lightly pressing his lips on your skin. His hands are suddenly moving over your ass. You attempt to pull back slightly, thinking he's just a bit drunk and being a bit too forward, but he grabs you tighter and tries to crash his lips onto yours. You attempt to pull away again.

"Hey!" You try to yell over the music.

"Come on!" He says. "You're hot and I know you think I am!" Then he turns you back around and grinds on your ass.

You start to panic, searching desperately for Natalie. Thankfully she sees what's happening and is trying to push her way to you. She waves for the guys and gets their attention.

"Please. Please let me go!"

"You want this." He protests.

When you continue to squirm out of his grip, he pushes you. At that exact moment, Liam appears, grabs the guy, and pushes him away.

"What's wrong with you mate?" He looks at you. "Are you okay darling?" You're shaking and a bit in shock.

The guy lunges at Liam and they start to fight. Security rushes over. You instinctively try to get in the middle and break it up, but he is still swinging at Liam. You suddenly get knocked to the floor and your head hits the ground.

~~~~~

You wake up in a private room of a hospital. You turn to see Natalie sitting in the chair, typing away on her phone. She notices your movements and snaps her head up.

"Oh thank goodness Y/N!" She yelps.

"Why am I here? Is Liam okay?" You ask.

"He's alright, but he broke his arm. The doctor says you have a mild concussion."

You hold back tears and hang your head. "This is all my fault! I'm so fucking stupid!"

"Y/N! This is not your fault!! That asshole should have never put his hands on you!"

"I shouldn't have had that much to drink. I shouldn't have gone down to the bar. I shouldn't have agreed to dance with him." You gripe and add, "I shouldn't have gone to Vegas!"

You suddenly feel the throbbing pain on your head. "Oh god!" You bellow.

"You hit your head when you fell honey. You blacked out." Natalie explains.

Just then, Niall and Zayn. "Hey Superstar. I'm so glad you're alright."

"Shit, Niall..." you cry out, "I'm so sorry for ruining your party! I'm so sorry!"

"Don't do that." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry this happened."

Now you shake your head. "Is Liam okay?"

Zayn answers. "He'll be right. Don't worry. We just want you to be alright." He comes and holds your hand.

You're so grateful to have people who care about you so much.

A doctor walks in and explains that you'll be in some pain and you'll need to rest up for about a week or so.

[So not only did you ruin the celebration, but now you're inconveniencing Amelia and the styling team. This right here is why you don't make bold moves]

Zayn leaves to check on Liam. Natalie calls Amelia to give her the news. Amelia insists that you go back to L.A. and stay with friends to rest and to not come back until you are feeling one hundred percent better. "Not a moment sooner!" You hear her demand.

Niall looks over to Natalie. "Are you going back with Y/N tomorrow?"

"Of course I am! But… I'll probably need to help out at the show in Phoenix the next day." She looks at you. "I'm so sorry honey." She looks at Niall then back at you, speaking as vaguely as possible… "is there anywhere you can stay?"

Niall steps out to answer a call.

You shake your head. "No. My mom is dealing with enough, and Sam is in school. I don't want him distracted with worry. Please don't even tell them. I'll just stay at a hotel or something."

Niall walks back in. "Harry is on his way."

"What? Niall! No!" You yell.

"What? What's wrong?"

Your head starts throbbing even more. "Call him back, he doesn't need to come."

"Yeah that's not happening." He chuckles.

"This is getting so much worse." You complain.

[On top of everything, they're having Harry come to get you? As if he hasn't dealt with enough from you…]

You have to hold back tears, you don't want to break down. You debate telling Niall what happened. You look over at Natalie and she understands exactly what you want. She takes Niall outside of the room to fill in him on what's happened between the two of you. You can trust him.

Your body decides to shut down and you fall asleep.

~~~~~

Sept 15th, 2014

Whispers fill the room. You wake up but don't immediately open your eyes, curious about what's being said.

"She feels bad enough." You hear Natalie say.

"I honestly don't care. It's the best solution." A familiar voice responds. You can't make it out yet.

"She's gonna fight you on it." Natalie adds.

"Again, don't care. I'm doing this." The voice replies. You choose to open your eyes.

You see Natalie straight in front of your hospital bed, as expected. You shift your eyes to the second voice and feel as if you could pass out again. It's Harry.

[He shouldn't be here. There isn't any reason for him to be here]

Natalie notices you're awake. "Hey honey, feel any better?" All you can do is shrug.

You're just staring at Harry. You can't really tell if his expression is of concern or annoyance.

"Hey. I-" he starts, but you interrupt him.

"You didn't need to come. I'm fine."

He frowns. "You're not fine. I'm here now so…"

Natalie interrupts quickly, "the doctor said you'll be discharged soon. I'll go find him to let him know you're awake." She leaves the two of you alone in the room.

Harry moves to the chair and scoots it closer to the bed. "I can't believe that asshole grabbed you."

You don't know what to say. You are still shocked that he is there. Nia really shouldn't have called him.

"Glad Liam gave him what he deserved." He adds.

"Aren't you the one who tries to extend kindness to everyone?"

He clears his throat. "Umm… so when you can leave, we'll get to the airport and take the jet back to L.A."

You lower your head down as much as possible. You feel like you're inconveniencing so many people.

"And the car will be there to take us to my place."

Your head immediately snaps back up. "What? No no no. I can't let you do that. You definitely don't need to do that."

He frowns again. "You need someone to help you while you recover." His phone rings. "It's my mum, I'm gonna have them stay at a hotel so you can have some privacy."

Natalie walks back in with the doctor.

You pinch the bridge of your nose and try not to cry. "This is too much!"

"Does your head hurt?" She worries.

"Yeah." You sigh. "But not from the concussion."

~~~~~

Harry didn't let you argue. You got on the jet with him, and Natalie, and he was constantly making sure you were comfortable.

He offers you one of the biggest guest rooms and Natalie helps you to get settled.

"You know, this isn't the worst thing in the world…" she mentions.

"Oh yeah? How so?" You roll your eyes, not believing she had a good point.

"Maybe this is a chance for you to recover physically… and maybe even emotionally…"

"Natalie Vettle. Philosopher." You roll your eyes again and laugh.

"Sorry that I have to leave you." She gives you a hug. "I love you. I'll see you back there soon, m'kay?"

"Hopefully sooner rather than later." You smirk.

You unpack a few clothes and toiletries, and just sit with your eyes closes and back against the headboard when you hear a knock on the door. "Come in."

"I'm going to order dinner. Would you like some?" Harry asks.

"That would actually be great, thank you."

"Natalie told me your favorite comfort food is spaghetti with meat sauce, so I was thinking Italian." He says proudly with a small smile.

[Mental note- scorn her for that later]

"Perfect. Thank you."

~~~~~

Once dinner has arrived, you make your way to the kitchen where the food is set up.

"My mum and sister are at a hotel. So, feel free to get comfortable." He encourages.

"Thank you." That seems to be all you can say at the moment, and you sit on one of the stools.

There's silence while you eat. It's not comfortable like last time. How are you supposed to be comfortable in this situation? Last time you were here… the last time that you saw him… you had kissed so passionately and then completely rejected him. He doesn't deserve that. And you don't deserve the kindness he is showing.

You take the last small bites of the spaghetti.

"Please don't feel like you have to go out of your way for me, Harry."

"I don't. I want to help."

"Thank you." You say, once again.

"Anytime. Never a question." He responds, a small smirk appearing.

[He's too good. Way too good. Why did you walk away from having this good thing in your life?]

You don't mean to, but you let out a very audible sigh. You start to feel those pesky feelings bubble up again. If you stay on the stool much longer, you might cry. And the way he is looking at you with such care and concern is not helping you keep it together.

"I might go back to the room if that's okay. My head is killing me."

"Of course, whatever makes you comfortable here, Sun-" he quickly stops himself. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"I probably won't stop saying 'thank you' Harry." You sigh. "I'm sorry they made you do this."

"What?"

"I can't thank you enough, I'm really grateful."

"No… what was that about 'them' making me do this?"

"Well… Niall calling you to come get me and have me stay here."

He looks absolutely shocked."Y/N, nobody made me do this."

Now it's your turn to say, "what?"

"No one made me do this. Niall texted me telling me what happened. I called him and told him I was coming."

You feel a lump in your throat. You think there's some tears forming, betraying you. You can only manage a whisper. "Why?"

He furrows his brow. "You shouldn't be alone right now, and I couldn't stand the fact…" He pauses and clears his throat. "I just wanted to help out."

[Tears are coming, please not now. Not now]

There's silence for a minute or two. You are staring down at your feet.

He gets up and hesitantly walks over to you. You don't look up until his feet are almost touching yours.

"Would you be comfortable if I gave you a hug?" He gently asks. He's too good. He's too caring. You don't deserve this.

But you nod, and he wraps his arms around you, so tenderly. He's too good, and he's too caring. You really don't deserve this.

"Get some rest, m'kay?" He rests his chin on top of your head and you can feel his heart beating fast. You wonder if he can feel yours doing the same thing. "Please let me know if you need anything. I want to help."

[Little does he know how much this hug is doing that for you]

~~~~~

Sept 20th, 2014

It was really difficult to accept his help. You still felt so guilty- for how you treated him ipn the first place, and for how nice he is being despite that.

If he was ever out of the house, he would occasionally text you to check in or see if he could bring anything back for you. The most surprising, thoughtful, and guilt-inducing gesture was that he came back to L.A. for a couple of days after the guys had a show in Arizona. You almost burst into tears.

He was being so good to you. You had more awesome conversations at times, watched some movies, and ate a lot of spaghetti. You didn't deserve this, but you were thoroughly enjoying it, and happy that you didn't have to think about that night in Vegas.

[Stop, stop, stop. Hold it together. He's just being a nice guy, and maybe even just a good friend]

The guys had an event in Vegas tonight for iHeartRadio. You told Amelia you would be fine to go, which you really were, but you're still recovering, according to the doctor who is being annoyingly cautious. You suppose it's best, but you are anxious to get back on tour and doing your job. So, you had to do the next best thing and watch it on TV.

An hour after it ended, you get a text from Natalie.

:natalie: hey sweetie, missed you tonight. how are you feeling?

:you: i'm good, better. the show looked good tonight.

:natalie: it was fun. the guys miss you.

:you: tell them i miss them too

:natalie: harry has been on edge all day, please come back soon so he can get off my back about checking in :)

:you: sorry he's being too much, but the doctor said about another week :(

:natalie: i love him, but i might kill him

:you: don't do that, their entire fandom would bring you down

:natalie: fine. i love you.

:you: i love you too. tell the guys the same.

:natalie: especially harry? ;)

:you: i'm summoning the fans

~~~~~

Sept 30th, 2014 - Music Video

You get up early, for the first time since you got to Harry's house.

You are excited, because the doctor cleared you to go back to work, which is perfect timing, because everyone is back in L.A. to shoot a music video. Apparently it's going to be really elaborate and you can't wait to get back to work.

When you finally arrive, your brain is overwhelmed by the outrageous set.

There are so many people, but Natalie and the girls instantly spot you and run over. Amelia follows shortly after. "Hey lady! Welcome back!" She reminds you to take a break whenever you need it, especially since there will be so much going on. You assure her you are fine, but also assure her that you'll let her know if you do.

She suddenly looks slightly past you with a big smirk on her face. "Come to the trailer in about 10 minutes so we can go over things."

You feel a presence behind you and instantly turn around. Harry is standing there, bouncing in place, with a huge smile spread across his face.

"Yay. You're back!" He reaches half way for a hug, but waits until you give him permission with a nod, and wraps his arms around you.

He whispers, "feels better that you're here." As he pulls away, he coughs, grins, and adds, "I know you can pull something fun for me to wear."

"Feel better that I'm finally out of your house?" You joke. "Thank you, again."

The set is chaotic. So many things are happening. You help Harry pick out his outfit. You both like this cheetah print coat and he commented "it's warm, and I'm going to be wearing a coat, seems right." And you laugh, and he adds, "but I'm glad you're here to persuade me to be bolder."

~~~~~

It was a long, but spectacular day. The music video wraps up with a giant rain scene and everyone is drenched.

Amelia asks you to grab Harry's coat to pack up, so you head to his trailer, and knock on the door.

"Come in," so you enter, but immediately stop in your tracks. Harry is standing there shirtless, with his hair in a bun, and still dripping wet. You unintentionally gasp and he turns around.

He chuckles and shows off those damn, deep dimples.

You try to form words. "Umm… Amelia… I- I just need the coat." [Keep it professional damnit!]

He smirks again. "M'kay love, gimme one second."

He puts in his cross necklace, and hands you the coat. As you reach for it, you accidentally grab his hand with it. You feel like you're not breathing at this point, so you just blurt out "neat" and run out.

Natalie sees you and laughs. "You good girlie?"

You shake your head, "must be the effects from the concussion… my heart is racing and I feel flushed."

Natalie laughs again. "Yeah, Y/N, probably not the concussion.

"I can't let my feelings do this. This can't happen again Natalie."

"I think it already is sweetie."

~~~~~

Series Masterlist || Chapter 5 || Chapter 7

Taglist: @watermelonsugacry @tw1nflamebruis3

[sencire]

If I Could Turn Back Time

Workaholic Clarke has one major regret. It’s deep and won’t heal and it has been haunting her for years. And every time she thinks about Lexa, it all comes back to her. One night, part way into drowning her musings on missed chances in a bottle of expensive red wine, Clarke is interrupted by the unexpected appearance of an unexpected guest in a very unlikely place, offering her a glimpse at something she thought she would never have: a second chance.

Read on ao3

As soon as the door falls shut behind her, Clarke lets her bag slide from her shoulder and lazily watches it drop to the floor. She tosses her keys onto the sideboard where it crashes down at a respectful distance to the wooden bowl where she had planned on aiming it. For a second, Clarke considers a groan but working one up seems too difficult right now. She’ll clean it all up later. Or tomorrow. Shrugging off her coat, she lets it fall to the floor next to her bag, then picks up the paper bag containing her take-out dinner and makes her way into the kitchen.

Two minutes later, she is seated on a high stool at her breakfast bar, staring out the window while slowly chewing on her very delicious but lonely tandoori chicken. Her back hurts, her shoulders are killing her and she has a hard time keeping her eyes open but the comfort food feels good. She can’t remember her last proper meal, some time between last Thursday and a few 24 hour shifts at the hospital, she figures. What day is it anyway? She swallows and reaches for her phone to check. Ah, the date is Friday, the 13th. Go figure.

Lucky I’m not superstitious, Clarke tells herself. I’m just stupid.

On duty for a week straight until her mother finally sent her home tonight after finding her asleep on a chair in a patient’s room. Fuck. This is the life.

Her phone buzzes in her hand, startling her a little more awake again.

“O,” she groans after accepting the call.

“Was that my name or the sound of defeat?”

There’s muffled talking and music in the background. “Both. I am so tired, I can’t think anymore.”

“I have just the prescription for that,” her friend’s voice chirps into her ear. “I’m at the bar with Raven, Wells and a few others. Come join us! You need to get out.”

“I just got in,” Clarke groans, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “I am not going out again. No way in hell.”

“Clarkey, come on! You need to go out every now and then. When’s the last time you got laid?”

“I get laid every night, O.”

“In your dreams!”

You don’t know how true that is, Clarke thinks. In her dreams. And not every night. But every so often … and it’s always–

“Are you coming or not?”

“Another time. Tell the others I said hi. Have fun. Have a drink for me. Or two.”

“You sad woman! Sleep if you must. But you do need a life. There’s this guy here that you said was cute the last time you went out with us last century. He’s alone.” Octavia makes an effort to put special emphasis onto that one word. “Alone like you, Clarke. Work can’t make up for a hottie in bed, you know. Your past may have been bleak, but your future looks really dire.”

“Leave it, O.” The laughter in the background makes her cringe. Maybe she’d go if she wasn’t quite so tired. But tonight, no way. 

Octavia means well, Clarke knows that. All her friends do. Which is why Clarke promised herself to try and see them more often. She really has but it seems work always gets in the way. It’s important work, saving lives, and that makes her work meaningful, so much more meaningful than anything else in her life. She’s good at her job and she enjoys it. Mostly. She rolls her head, a feeble attempt at easing some of the tension in her shoulders. As the youngest and most promising surgeon at the hospital, as a woman and as the head surgeon’s daughter, she has to work harder too. Her mother sure doesn’t make it easy for her.

Or maybe that’s just making up excuses. A wave or tiredness washes over her as she puts down the phone, and she pushes the plate of food away, half full still, to pull the wine glass closer. She takes a sip, enjoying the warm, heavy taste that fills her mouth. Maybe she does need to get railed. Mentally scrolling through her embarrassingly short list of possible candidates, she quickly ticks them off as not what she wants. Niylah? Too intense. Finn? Too stupid. The cute nurse that was giving her the looks last night? What was her name? But no, Clarke sighs quietly, she’s too tired tonight. Too tired for anything.

She downs the last of the wine in her glass, mindlessly staring at the dark window in front of her. She can see a reflection of herself, can make out the dark circles under her eyes and yes, she looks as tired as she feels. She’ll have a hot shower and crawl into bed, by herself, warming the sheets up on her own, falling asleep right away. There is only one person she would want there with her anyway. And Lexa is gone.

~ Years ago, the day before Clarke’s 18th birthday ~

Clarke picks up the phone again to call her friend once more. Lexa promised to be there and help bake the cookies for the birthday party the next day. It’s a new recipe they wanted to try out together. Like they do everything together and always have.

It’s just a ruse though because Clarke has something important to tell Lexa. Sweet, beautiful, smart Lexa, her childhood friend. Her friend for so many years, there isn’t a single secret left between them. And the one who makes her heart beat so fast, it makes her gasp. It hasn’t always been like this. But it is now and if there is one thing Clarke knows for sure, it is that she wants more of this. And she needs Lexa to know. When Clarke called her earlier, Lexa hadn’t picked up. With the cookies baking, she dials the number again. It starts to ring and her heart beats up in her throat.

This time, Lexa picks up.

“Hey,” Clarke says hesitantly, hearing someone giggle in the background. “I thought you wanted to come over.”

Lexa is quiet for a moment. “It’s not a good time, Clarke. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“But you promised!”

“Yeah, I know.” Lexa sounds distracted and Clarke frowns.

“Is Costia with you?”

She’s seen them together. She’s watched them grow closer. It hurts.

“Yeah, Costia is here,” Lexa says slowly and then, quietly, turned away from the phone, “Stop it, let me talk to her.”

“But I need you to come over!” Clarke almost shouts. I have to tell you that I love you. I have to tell you that you can’t be with her because you have to be with me.

“I’m not your property, Clarke,” Lexa snaps, her tone unusually harsh. “I can’t jump every time you want me to.”

Costia giggles again and Clarke imagines her trying to pull Lexa closer. Also imagines her punching Costia’s face.

It was all the time before. It was always you and me. What’s happening?

Anger flares up in her chest, the burn of rising tears stinging in her eyes. Doesn’t Lexa know this is important? It’s her 18th birthday tomorrow and Clarke doesn’t want to let another day pass having these feelings. But it’s the anger that makes it out first, pushing all other feelings out of its way.

“Suit yourself,” Clarke growls. “Don’t bother. We’re done.” She sends the phone flying into the corner of the kitchen counter and storms out of the room. Her dad calls after her from the living room but she doesn’t stop until she has reached her room and the door slams shut behind her. By now, her tears are flowing freely. If Lexa doesn’t want her, she doesn’t want Lexa either.

The letter is written quickly. And taken to the mailbox at the street corner within 20 minutes. A little over the top perhaps, to post a handwritten letter, but fitting.

 ~ Present Day ~

Clarke regrets the letter to this day. She shouldn’t have been so angry. Maybe they’d still had a chance, if only she had tried. They had grown up together, inseparable, best friends, up until Lexa had suddenly looked very different to her. Up until Clarke had wanted to kiss her but had never had the nerve to say anything. Then came the day of her 18th birthday, the day she had chosen to tell Lexa the truth. And the day she cut Lexa out of her life. Tears well up in her eyes suddenly and she blinks them away, wiping at them roughly before reaching for the wine bottle.

Just as she tilts it to fill her glass a second time, a loud thud outside on the balcony startles her into spilling the red liquid on the white counter.

“Ah, fuck. What the hell?”

Tall windows line the entire wall, the view unspoilt, one of the perks of living high up with no nosy neighbors close by. The light from the kitchen allows her to see a few inches of the balcony floor but not far. It’s quiet again but Clarke is sure the sound came from out there. A bird maybe, that flew into the window? It happened. She sets down the bottle, ignoring the red puddle for the moment, and slips off her chair. She grabs the baseball bat from the corner and cautiously makes her way to the sliding door. Opening it a crack, she listens. There’s a shuffling sound to her left and she opens the door wider to peak out. Not sure what she expected but a person lying face down in the corner of her balcony most definitely wasn’t it.

“Uh, hello?” Clarke steps outside, the doctor taking over right away, and she rushes over to the unmoving figure. Getting into a crouch, she puts her hand on the person’s back.

“Are you okay?”

“Woah,” is the reply and the person turns onto their back. It’s a young man. Clarke has never seen him before. “That was a bit rough.” He moves to sit up and smiles sweetly at her. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you.”

Confused, Clarke looks around. They’re on the 20th floor of the building, there’s no way he could have climbed up here. Unless he flew, but she sees no wings. The roof is another four floors up, no ladders or balconies there either, no dangling ropes, no parachutes. Where the hell did he come from? It’s like he fell from the sky.

“Where did you come from?” she asks him and she lifts the bat slightly as he gets up and dusts himself off even though there’s not a speck of dirt on his bright white clothes.

“We need to talk.” He grabs her arm, ignoring the weapon in her hand and pushes her firmly towards the balcony door. “Let’s do that inside. You’ll be cold out here.”

For a reason Clarke doesn’t understand, even though her inner voice tells her to knock him out, she just nods. He seems nice, has a friendly smile and gentle manners, and there's nothing threatening about him. He steps inside and she follows him, watching him take in the spilled wine on the breakfast bar.

He tuts softly and turns, hands clasped in front of his chest. In the light, Clarke can finally take a good look at him. His young face is framed by dark, unruly curls that give him something mischievous, the impression deepening with the small smile playing around his lips. He’s wearing a crisp white shirt, tucked into crisp white pants and clean, brand new, white sneakers. His skin looks soft, a slight golden glow to it. He’s pretty. Everything about him is pretty, from the curls on his head to the perfectly manicured fingernails. Perfect. That’s what he is. Perfect. Clarke finally lowers the bat.

“Okay. So…don’t freak out now,” he starts and lifts his chin a little. “I’m Anael. Your guardian angel.”

[regulusblacksdiery]

Friday 13th December 1974

Dear Diary,

Today is Friday 13th which means bad luck day - and I have definitely had some bad luck. For the first time since third year started, we had to work in pairs in Ancient Runes and I was working with Dolohov because he sits next to me and it was just torture. He kept getting annoyed at me whenever I said anything and kept acting like he knew more than me about the subject so I interjected because I know I’m very good at Ancient Runes and he swore at me (he said the f word!!) so I stood up for myself and told him he isn’t allowed to talk to me that way. His response was yet another rude swear word. Anyway the rest of the class went somewhat like that so I was really annoyed. 

Then after class I tripped on my way down for lunch and fell down a flight of stairs.  I ended up in the hospital wing. 

Then my luck got WORSE because just GUESS who was in the bed next to mine in the hospital wing? Yes, you guessed it... Potter. I didn’t even ask him what he did to wind up in the hospital wing - most likely something really stupid. But he wouldn’t shut up the whole time I was in the hospital wing. His voice is one of those voices that gives you a headache. I wanted to sleep off my pain but all I could hear was his irritating voice.

Barty came to visit me in the hospital wing and brought me flowers. It was a nice gesture except he bought poisonous plants by accident (HOW?) and I had to get an emergency antidote because all my airways started closing up due to the poison. Potter laughed at me. Barty felt really bad and he was crying because he felt responsible for “almost killing” me. He was being dramatic. I didn’t almost die.

But anyway, I’m back in my dorm now after this traumatic day. I hope my luck goes back to normal tomorrow.

-RAB

[thecandywrites]

The Beginning of Stormbreaker Part 1

So, my treat to myself, for Orctober this year. Is going back to Heaven and Fire, how Warchief Drad and Warchieftess Rhosland got to be the head of the clan. Now there is an overview of this story that is in Of Heaven and Fire. But I wanted a chance to really tell this story that would explain a lot about Brock and his upbringing through his parent’s eyes. 

So lets go around and introduce people shall we? Top row from left to right. Top left- Tar, next to him, Orcoth, Middle- Esri. Over towards the right- Sarg.  

Next row down, Shadi, middle- Our Gurl, our Queen- Rhosland. 

Bottom row, left bottom corner, Baka, and then to the right Drad. handsome, handsome Drad. 

The Beginning Of Clan Stormbreaker

Part 1

Rhosland was washing the pearls she had collected that day from the oysters and other shellfish she and her sister had gotten while her mother was cooking yet another seafood stew with the meat from the shellfish while Esri took what meager tools she had to carve and shape the shells, shaving off the ugly sides and shaping up the pretty sides of the shells into jewelry for the Warchief’s eldest son Tar and his two wives Baka and Shadi since they were both due to give birth in the next couple of weeks since Tar's other brother's wives and even Tar’s sisters had already given birth in the last few months and all the previous births had produced daughters and Tar's wives were the clan's last hope for a male heir this year. 

However Rhosland took the fact that all of the pearls collected not just today but all summer were green or a pale yellowish green as an omen of the opposite since in orcish culture, green was associated with girls, because green signified the goddess Angja, the goddess of fertility and her primary colors were black- signifying black, fertile soil and green- the color of rich foliage and food. Red was associated with males, and specifically Zighorh, the god of war and the battlefield- since orcs were a warring species and red signified the color of blood that the male would spill onto the ground, making it extra rich and fertile which in turn would be a blessing for Angja. 

Rhos and her twin sister Esri had even searched far and wide for pearls that would either hopefully be white which was neutral, or any shade of pink or red. But all they had found all summer was green pearls and thus all their gifts to the new mothers in the warchief’s family had been green, which was appropriate, but disappointing and all Rhosland could feel as she washed these was dread because if Shadi and Baka gave birth to daughters again, she knew Tar would get another wife, as his brothers had done, while their wives were still healing from the births and therefore could not give or receive carnal pleasure, had taken more wives and whether those wives were with child, was still too soon to tell but it had stirred quite a bit of contempt between the elder wives and the new.   

Shadi and Baka were supposed to be birthing males for their husband Tar, they had done all kinds of rather bizarre rituals and ceremonies so that they believed that they had conceived sons and would succeed where their sisters in law had failed and Tar would finally have at least one, if not two male heirs to continue his lineage after the last five years of having only daughters by Shadi and the last three years of just having daughters by Baka and he was getting desperate to have a son besides his combined eight daughters, all of whom he did not care for at all and was beginning to take offense that his wives had only given him daughters so far while others in the clan were having sons, everyone except himself and his brothers and other sisters.

Tar’s father, the Clan Chief- Zash was equally desperate for at least one of his five sons to have a son themselves because his shaman had foretold that the Skull Screamer Clan would die under a lone Clan Chieftess or even a Warchieftess. So male heirs to continue the clan was of paramount importance. 

Once Rhosland would be done washing the pearls, she would need to sort them and arrange them by size and hue of color and would be using a special needle to pierce each one to go on thread or cords for a necklace or earrings before there was a knock on the door before Rhosland’s mother Shari left the cooking fire to answer it to find Tar there. 

“Well hello! Welcome Warlord Tar.” Shari greeted him respectfully. 

“Thank you Shari, is Rosey here?” He asked hopefully as Rhosland looked at her mother’s back with disgust, she hated that nickname almost as much as she hated the man that gave it to her, who was her current caller and suitor and has been after her for the last thirteen years of her already 18 year old life and she had been repulsed by him since childhood, and into her teens and now into adulthood. 

“Yes, she’s here, won’t you come in, we’re making a seafood stew for dinner, won’t you stay and have some with us?” She offered hospitably before she showed him in as Rhosland quickly tried to wipe her disgust off her face and put on a pleasant, respectful smile when he came into their mud brick hut and smiled at Rhosland as Esri was just grateful he wasn’t here for her this time as she stayed in the corner and paused in her working to keep from making any noise or movement and therefore attract any attention, wanting to blend in with the walls. 

“I’d love to, the smell is what drew me. Did Rosey make it?” He asked. 

“Of course!” Shari answered as Rhos had just rinsed the soapy water off of her hands and got up from the washing basin where the pearls were, grateful the soapy suds on the surface of the water concealed what was in it. 

“Rosey has always made the best stews.” Tar praised as Rhos begrudgingly took her own meager wooden bowl filled it for him and handed him her own wooden spoon so he could eat the stew her mother had spent the last several hours making as he sat down and helped himself and quickly scarfed it down and then had seconds and then thirds so that he ate over two thirds of it all by himself and of course most of the meat in it, leaving some broth and chunks of vegetables behind.  

“Oh it’s amazing. Well this is a good sign, the day after tomorrow, we will be going on a raid and I came by to inform you all that when we come back successfully, my father is stepping down and making me Clan Chief's Warchief, and my wives should be delivering sons to me in the next couple of weeks and I wanted to inform you that when I come back, I will give you all the spoils that I will be taking on the raid and it should be more than enough gold especially to give you Shari- for supplies for a proper house that I and my captains and commanders will make for you so that you can live in a proper house of timbers instead of a house of mud and mud bricks because no mother in law of a Clan Chief Warcheif should ever live in a mud house.” He announced and Rhos felt like she was being put into a coffin and Tar was the one driving the nails of the lid in as panic and dread filled her as she looked pleadingly at her mother to please decline the offer but her mother’s own excited smile told her that her own mother would not rescue her from this fate this time. 

“Oh that’s wonderful, of course Clan Chief Warchief Tar, which of my daughters will you be taking?” Shari asked as Esri practically shrunk down as Rhos was too frozen in fear to move, much less blink or breathe. 

“Why Rosey of course since she is the eldest twin because she is by far the prettiest in the clan, but if I am to elevate her I must also elevate your whole family and then once your house is built, then I will happily take Esri after that.” He answered happily. 

“Oh happy day, may you know nothing but victory on the battlefield then!” Shari offered as she elbowed her eldest daughter as Rhos offered a polite smile but inwardly she was panicking. 

“Well I know you’ll be successful, you should take your Rosey home with you so that she can be with child before you go!” Shari suggested as she tried to push Rhosland towards Tar but Rhos was rooted into the ground she was standing on. 

“No!” Rhosland blurted in a booming voice as Shari and Tar both looked surprised by her objection. 

“Please, no, Clan Chief Warchief Tar, I would hate to aggrieve your wives who are due to give birth soon and I would hate to give them any reason to be jealous of me and chance them going into labor too soon and something bad happening to your future sons. I think it would be best if we waited until you’re back and my mother’s house is built to her comfort and by then your sons will be born and your current wives will still be healing and will not be able to receive their pleasure from you at that time so you’ll need us then.” Rhosland offered desperately grasping at anything she could think of to give him a reason not to take her right then and there. 

“Oh that’s a good point, yes, for now,” Tar said before he forced a kiss onto her lips as Rhosland forced herself not to bite his face and endured it before he did the same to Esri before he left and they both quickly wiped his kisses off their lips as spit out onto the ground in disgust.  

“What is wrong with you girls?” Shari asked her daughters. 

“He has no affection for me outside of feeding him or draping him and his family with pearls.” Rhosland bit out hatefully as she washed her bowl and spoon so that she wouldn’t taste any more of him than she absolutely had to. 

“And he is selfish for claiming both of us at the same time and eating most of our dinner.” Esri complained.

“But you two would only be only the third and fourth wives of the Clan Chief Warchief who would be second only to his father, your father in law, the richest and most powerful family in the whole clan, it’s not like you would be the sixth and seventh or 12th and 13th or anything. And he promised to elevate our whole family, that means that all of us would be taken care of and all we have is what’s around us which isn’t much of anything. Why must you fight this so insistently?” Shari urged her daughters as Esri and Rhosland both shared a meaningful look. 

“Esri? It’s getting to be fall, we need to go on a hunting and gathering trip, try to get something for the winter, we should leave first thing tomorrow and since Tar is going to Rush Fang which is to the Southeast, let’s go in the opposite direction, Northwest, over in the neutral land between us and Hurricane Breaker, they would take no quarrel with two women gathering and fishing there, especially unarmed ones.” Rhos pleaded with her younger twin sister who nodded yes emphatically.

Then Rhos gave herself a third of what was left of the seafood stew and quickly ate it then left again to go for a walk to cool her head and try to see the positives instead of feeling like she was going to die as she found a little stream near the estuary and sat on one of the rocks on the shore and stuck her feet into the cooling waters and just cried into her hands, surrounded by a cocoon of tall marsh grass as her crystal tears came flooding out of her eyes as she did her best to catch them all and put them into her little and mostly empty coin purse. 

Meanwhile Drad was feeling panic grip his own chest as Tar was proudly bragging in the town hall about his latest soon to be conquests of “his Rosey”, and after he would come back, he was going to actually be taking both Rosey and Esri, as he continued to eat the roasted wild boar on the spit as Drad and his brother Sarg both looked guiltily and worriedly at each other before Drad could hear no more of it and got up and left, and went to his house and got his old bow and set of arrows. Since he had just made himself a new bow with new arrows just for this raid and went looking for Rhos, letting his heart lead him to her and found Rhos sobbing in the thick tall grasses that the little streams flowed through and knew just by the sounds, it was Rhos and it broke his heart to hear her be so upset as he wanted nothing more than to go to her and soothe her hurt and take her far away from here.

Because Rhos had made it abundantly clear to everyone that she was not interested in Tar since childhood and Drad had loved her from afar ever since they were toddlers and was just waiting on Tar to lose interest so he could move in on her himself because she was not just the most beautiful woman in the clan in his eyes but the most excellent one as well. 

She danced with more grace than any water sprite and sang better than any singer and played wonderful music on any instrument she picked up and she was a natural healer and had healed Tar and himself and their warband on so many previous occasions and even though she was in one of the poorest families in the clan and lived in a mud and mud brick hut, it was always clean as were her clothes and her person. She was also the most humble, unassuming, discrete, modest and meek and mild but didn’t let others trample on her either.

But she had dignity and grace and self respect and he held her in such high esteem and always took her excellent council when he sought it and they had always been good friends and he had always been attracted to her and he knew in his bones that she must have felt the same way at least a little bit, because she looked at him differently than she looked at anyone else. Because she had admitted to him that she had always admired him and especially the loving and caring way he treated his own mother and the other elders in the clan and always treated her with respect and dignity even though she was of a lower station and class than him. 

She smiled more at him than anyone else, she laughed with him more than anyone else and she sought out his company just as much as he sought hers and they got along amazingly and had so much natural chemistry but because of Tar, he couldn’t claim her as his own and thankfully no one else could either and vowed he would never marry unless she did. And now that she was officially betrothed to Tar, he felt he was going to swear off women forever because if he could not have Rhosland, no other would do. 

He had even flirted with the idea of swearing off the clan and taking her away and start a new clan or join another. They would be alienated from the rest of their families but they would have each other because right now, even at his position of First Commander of Captains to Tar as Tar was Warlord of his own warband, it didn’t matter as much as losing Rhos to Tar and he resented Tar more in this moment than ever had before. And he felt if he didn't at least make an effort now, he was going to regret it forever. 

“Rhos?” He called out as he was a little ways away and saw her head bolt up but the tears were streaking down her face as she tried to use her sleeves to wipe them away after she put the crystal tears away. 

“Who’s there?” She asked. 

“It’s just me, Drad.” He answered before he came over and saw that she was curled in on herself as her hair was down to cover her face, that gorgeous gold neck tattoo on the back of her neck glimmering and shimmering in the sea of green and tan seagrasses as her dark curly hair was a curtain of soft black silk. 

“I take it you’ve heard “the news”.” Rhos croaked as even more tears welled in her eyes. 

“I have, I’m sorry.” Drad offered as he came and sat down next to her and took his boots off to put his feet in the water with her and smiled sadly at their wavy reflections in the water side by side, wishing he could capture this as being one of the few moments they could be together.  

“That’s a weird way to say “congratulations”,” Rhos tried to tease as she tried to wipe her new tears away and force herself not to cry and was failing miserably. 

“If those were happy tears, I would be offering congratulations, but since they are clearly not, I will offer my apologies and sympathies.” Drad stated simply. 

“Please don’t say anything…” Rhos tried pleading.

“About what to who? I take it he didn’t give you a choice this time.” Drad gathered. 

“No he did not, neither did my mother, he offered her more than she could refuse. He offered her all the spoils of the raid you’re all going on so that she could buy enough wood for a timber house and have all of his commanders and captains help build it for her, because ‘no mother in law to a warchief should live in a mud house’.” Rhos paraphrased in a condescending tone as Drad frowned deeply and if only he had known that that was her mother’s price, he would have done that for her a decade ago when he was building his own house for himself. 

Orcs aged quickly, they were considered grunt sized at 10 or 11 which for them were their teenage years, adults by 12 or 13, fully mature by 15 and middle aged by 17 or 18 and getting old past 20. But because Rhos was only half orc she grew and matured at a much much slower rate, being a child still at 13, barely a teenager at 14 through 17 and only in the last year had she seemed to physically mature and “finish” growing up, just in the last year, finally getting her last big growth spurt so that she wasn’t less than half the size of everyone else, she was now only about 20% smaller than everyone else, getting that final growth spurt at 17 instead of at 12 for all the other orcs, which is why Tar had not claimed or mated with her yet cause she had been too young and way too small before now, but with her finally getting that last growth spurt and her previously barely budded breasts getting larger growing fuller along with her hips too so that her shape was now perfect and voluptuous even though she was still on the petite side, that must have been what Tar had been waiting on as was Rhosland’s own mother as well it seemed. But for Drad, for her to take so long to mature as a child, teen and young adult, that meant that, provided no one killed her off and cut her life short- she would live much longer as would her children after her because obviously whatever her father was- was also something that lived long too and such a long life would surely lend to stability.  

“So what will you do?” Drad asked. 

“Esri and I are going on a hunting and gathering trip, I’ve heard Tar talking about going to raid Rush Fangs, so my sister and I will go in the opposite direction, over towards Hurricane Breaker since there’s another estuary that’s neutral land between us that might have some good fish or shellfish in it or even some game, last winter we all froze so if we could get a deer hide, at least we would get leather for decent boots this year, or if not, I can still hold out hope that a bear will come and eat me so I won’t have to marry Tar.” Rhos answered as she looked at their shared reflection and sadly much preferred this reflection to Tar’s ugly face and even more hideous personality.  

“Then take this, I hope it serves you as well as it has me.” Drad offered his bow and arrow and even his good hunting knife to her. 

“Why are you giving me this?” Rhos asked suspiciously as she looked at them but made no move to take them. 

“Because you’ll need it. I just got done making myself a new bow with new arrows, I have no need for it and you do. It’s not that I’m at all happy about your match with Tar, because I’m not. And I’m not condoning it or celebrating it or encouraging it in any way because you have never liked him and always made it abundantly clear that you never wanted him and you’re being forced into it and it’s wrong and I’m sorry. But you shouldn’t give up hope, not yet anyway. There’s still a dangerous raid between now and then. Plus Tar could always fail in the raid or fall to his death in a sink hole or something on the way there and he hasn’t come back successfully yet and he hasn’t mated with you yet so there’s still hope that you won’t have to go through with it. So take the bow and arrows, and use them and show Zash, Tar, Shadi and Baka that you’re not one to mess with or dominate and they are the ones who will have to watch out for you. And if anyone else asks though you can always say it’s a gift. Aren’t new brides supposed to receive gifts from the future Warcheif’s family and stuff? And if you do face off against a bear and can kill it, Tar’s wives might think twice before being domineering or aggressive towards you.” Drad tried to console, wishing he had the balls and the guts to say more but his hands were figuratively tied at this point, had been all his life. Because once a Warlord even claimed a woman in name, all others were forbidden from taking her and Tar had had his eye on Rhosland since they were kids and she had managed to keep Tar at bay until now because of her slow maturity rate. 

“Thank you Drad.” Rhosland thanked him as she took his gift and put the bow and it’s quiver of arrows into her lap and put the knife in its sheath on her belt. 

“You’re welcome Rhosland.” He answered as he gave her a lopsided grin because even when she was in pain, she was beautiful. 

“You’re not going to be calling me ‘Rosey’ too?” Rhos asked, trying to be teasing but all that came out was bitterness and resentment. 

“Nope, because that’s not your name. It’s either Rhosland or Rhos. You’ve never liked that particular nickname so I would never use it because you don’t like it. Because even though you’re prettier than any flower I’ve seen around here, you definitely don’t smell like a rose, you smell like creek water or river water or seawater most of the time.” Drad tried to tease her which got her to laugh away the last of her tears. 

“Thanks, I appreciate your honesty. Well I wouldn’t say no to any rose scented soap if anyone ever found any.” Rhos hinted as she gave him a fond, adoring, appreciative smile. 

“I’ll keep on the lookout then.” Drad offered as he returned her smile. 

“Rosey! Rhosland! Where are you?!” They heard Tar’s wives Shadi and Baka hollered for her. 

“Oh for fuck’s sakes.” Rhosland growled under her breath before she stood up. 

“Over here.” Rhos waived them over as both of them waddled over, their heavily pregnant bellies wavering with their steps on the uneven land. 

“Shouldn’t both of you be in bed?” Rhos asked as she closed the distance between them and met them halfway to keep them from seeing Drad alone with her to keep Drad out of trouble.  

“No, Tar told us to go ahead and give you welcome gifts, so here.” Shadi spat particularly hatefully as she pulled off her own pearl necklace that Rhos had made her as tribute instead of accepting the last attempt Tar had made to try and marry Rhos and put it over Rhos’ neck but used it to pull Rhos closer. 

“If you ever come between Tar and I, I will see to it that you never leave the water and sleep with the fish you’re so fond of swimming with- permanently.” Shadi growled as Drad was still sitting in the grasses and just shook his lowered head in shame. If only Tar could hear that as Baka did the same as Drad wanted to burst out of the grasses and confront them but stayed where he was because he didn’t want to make trouble for Rhos. 

“Why do you have Drad’s old bow?” Baka asked Rhos after Rhos had assured and reassured them that she would never dream of coming between them and their husband. 

“Because as Tar’s First Commander, he wanted to be the first to offer me a present for joining the warchief’s family. I’m also going on a hunting and gathering trip tomorrow, and he didn’t want me to lose my life to a bear or whatever.” Rhosland explained. 

“Well then there’s still hope. Don’t forget if you shoot down deer, to save all the tenderloins for Tar and all the backstraps for us and all the roasts for our sons.” Baka and Shadi smiled smugly as they each tenderly rubbed their heavily pregnant bellies before they turned around and walked each other back before Rhos made an ugly face at their backs and walked back to where Drad was still sitting and waiting. 

“That was a really nice warm reception.” Drad sarcastically quipped. 

“Oh you heard that, did you? Well no point in saying you did. Tar would believe them over you. Because they are the mothers to his children.” Rhos sighed tiredly as she slumped back into her spot she had previously taken up, her shoulders sagging in defeat. 

“And that’s exactly why I didn’t want to marry Tar because he has such lovely wives, how could I possibly compare?” Rhosland sarcastically quipped right back which got Drad to bark a laugh. 

“Yeah, they’re real sweethearts.” Drad muttered before he made a gagging noise which made Rhosland laugh. 

“Well I can tell you what, no son of mine would ever court or marry a daughter of theirs on the off chance they would turn out anything like their mothers.” Drad muttered lowly as he leaned over to her so he could say that softly so the whole world wouldn’t hear him. 

“Me either.” Rhosland shook her head no. 

“Thanks for the gifts though. I will put them to good use, good luck on your raid Drad, I hope you come back safe, if not for my sake, then at least for your mothers.” Rhosland offered before she left him be and walked back home, much happier and more at peace than she came to the marsh feeling. If only she could marry Drad instead. 

Meanwhile Esri had left the house and walked in the opposite direction to do the same thing as Sarg found her already in the stream, staying under for way longer than normal, almost as if she was trying to drown herself as her own crystal tears fell to the bottom of the stream before she noticed he was on the shore and came up for air. 

“I don’t see any...shellfish in this stream, so...what are you diving for?” Sarg asked awkwardly. 

“For practice, to exercise my lungs to make sure I can keep staying under the water’s surface long enough to catch them.” Esri easily excused as she swam over to the edge and got out and sat on stream’s edge but simply sat there and sulked before Sarg came over and sat beside her. 

“Have you heard the news?” Esri asked with a huff. 

“About your impending betrothal to Tar? Yeah, the fucker won’t stop bragging about it. I’m sorry, I know you didn’t want this.” Sarg answered. 

“That pig came and ate almost all of our dinner, told my mother that he was going to be giving her all the spoils from the raid so that she could get a timber house and then tried to take Rhosland tonight and will be taking me when he gets back. Thankfully Rhos bought us some time and we’re going away on a hunting trip tomorrow in the marsh between us and Hurricane Breaker while you guys go to Rush Fang. If my sister and I had been able to sell those god damn pearl necklaces instead of having to give them as tribute we would have been able to buy axes and cut down our own trees to make ourselves a timber house. But instead everything we have that’s good, Tar and his wives and the rest of the Warchief’s family just help themselves to and call it “tribute”. It’s not fair. I don’t want to be Tar’s fourth wife, or any wife to anyone in the Warchief’s family period, which is just another slave in his house and neither does Rhos, but Tar is Warlord and is so entitled and no one dares to go against him.” Esri complained as she scanned the area to make sure no one else was around to hear her as she sniffed and hugged her knees.

Sarg felt like an idiot for not realizing how much worse off they were than he realized and if he would have just traded a carved shell totem for an ax. Her mother wouldn’t be so desperate to give her daughters away for just one raid’s worth of goods for such a simple thing as a house of timbers. He should have done that years ago. He should have spoken up and said something years ago. And because he waited, he was losing her altogether because just being friends was all he could manage until now and just like Drad had been waiting for Rhos, he had been waiting for Esri and now that Tar was taking her, he had never felt more anger or resentment towards Tar. Because Tar and all of his brothers were just being greedy now in their quests for sons. 

“You’re right, it isn’t fair. What if…” Sarg began before he stopped himself. 

“What if what?” Esri asked curiously. 

“What if I don’t go raiding, and instead go with you on this hunting and gathering trip? That’s still a dangerous area, I’ve seen bears over there. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Sarg offered. 

“If you were to do that, Tar would demote you or pug you and call you a traitor for not supporting him. Plus your mother depends on what you and Drad bring home especially since your father died. Your mother is a widow just like mine. At least your mother had sons instead of daughters to help take care of her and go on raids and support her in the clan. It’s not worth the backlash.” Esri gently argued. 

“I appreciate the thought though.” Esri offered as she reached over and squeezed his hand as he gently held her hand, wishing he could be holding all of her and just about the time he was mentally saying ‘fuck it’ and would be throwing the hierarchy of the clan out the window and take her anyway because he wanted her more than he wanted his place as Drad’s First Captain in Tar’s warband, he wanted to spend these last moments giving Esri the greatest pleasure he could because he knew for a fact that Tar was a shitty lover and Esri deserved to recieve so much more than he could ever give her before they heard Shadi and Baka hollering for Esri. 

“Stay here,” Esri whispered to Sarg before she let go of his hand and got up and waived them over and went over to them so they didn’t need to go too far and see that she was alone with Sarg and possibly get him in trouble. 

“Ugh! Why are you always wet? You’re betrothed to the Warlord and future Clan Chief Warchief, you can’t go around with your clothes sucked to your body, it’s inappropriate and unseemly or do you just like to walk around like a whore?” They chastized her as Esri bit back her argument because she didn’t want to start anything with them especially if she was going to be sharing a roof with them. 

“Why are you here? Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” Esri asked. 

“Yes we should but Tar insisted that we needed to give you bride gifts, so here, the totems you made for us. I’m sure they’ll be just as prosperous to you as they have been to us.” They said as they grabbed her wrists roughly and put the leather ties that had the carved shell totems on them and tied them to her wrists.

“If you ever get between Tar and I, I will see to it that you carve your own fingers off.” Shadi hissed. 

“And I’ll see to it that you go swimming and never come back up for air if you ever come between Tar and I either.” Baka growled before the two of them left and went back home, happy that they had dealt with Esri and Rhosland and made their points in private and if Rhosland and Esri were smart, they would never say a word about it to anyone. 

Sadly, once a betrothal gift was given, the potential bride was never allowed to sell or trade it or else it was seen as bad luck. 

Sarg though was practically seething in the grasses as he obediently hadn’t moved but had heard the whole interchange. If only Tar had been there to hear it but he also knew that if he tried to say anything Baka and Shadi would most likely kill him themselves and get away with it too because any word said against a Warlordess or Warchieftess was seen as disrespectful.

“Is it too much to hope that they get eaten by wolves?” Sarg offered to Esri when she came back and sat back down in her original spot. 

“Is it too much to hope I get eaten by a bear so I don't have to marry Tar? Probably. So don’t invite bad luck or ill fates, they will reap what they have sewn soon enough.” Esri countered even though the thought did bring her delight, except that they were both pregnant and no baby deserved to die or suffer on account of their mother.

“But they are spoiled brats!” Sarg argued. 

“I know they are, and I have to be subordinate to them because they are the first and second wives. I can’t afford to offend them or give them any cause to treat me any worse than they already do. Besides, it would be a bad reflection on my own mother who has suffered from their own mothers. Too much is at stake. Just...good night Sarg, I hope your raid goes well and you come back home safely, especially for your mother’s sake.” Esri offered before she got back up and went back home only to find that word had spread to the whole village and every family had come to give their “bride gifts” as suddenly their little mud hut was full of food and goods for the first time in their lives as Esri began going through it and taking what would be useful to Rhos and herself and packed it into the rowboat to use on their trip as their mother was so happy and at ease to finally get something instead of always giving when she had so little to give. 

“Where did you…?” Shari asked when she saw Rhosland come home with the bow and the quiver of arrows around her back. 

“Drad gave me the bow and arrows and the hunting knife, as my bride gifts, also just in case we run into a bear or something, we have a fighting chance.” Rhosland readily defended. 

“Oh good, that will be very helpful.” Esri smiled happily.  

“It will be.” Rhosland readily agreed as her mother was telling her girls who had given what to them before she started making bread dough to rise overnight so she could bake it first thing in the morning as Esri was getting things packed up and loaded up into their little row boat with two mismatched oars.  

Meanwhile Sarg and Drad had met back up and brain stormed about what they could do and how they could help Rhos and Esri and were now buying two special stone timber axes from the blacksmith since Sarg had already bought a really good fishing net from the best net weaver and extra fishing lines with hooks on them for fishing and special poles for them to be tied to as they did their best to think of things that Esri and Rhos would need and like to use on their hunting and foraging trip to make it as easy and successful as they could since all the other men in the raiding parties and warbands were in the clan hall eating and drinking and not noticing their absence at all, before they seemed to be satisfied that what they had managed to collect would be good enough for Rhosland and Esri before Sarg went home since he still lived with his mother, being the younger son while Drad was on his way to his own home and found a wounded shaman stumbling into the clan village and immediately came over to help him. 

“Do you know anyone here?” Drad asked as he helped carry this elderly man down the village’s main road. 

“Oh I know you are Drad, son of Grat and Wolvish, and that in less than a week’s time you will mate and pairbond to the most beautiful woman your eyes have ever been on and she will bear you many children, the first of which will be a son.” He answered before Drad brought the shaman to his own home that he had built for himself, it was basically a one room hut of timbers, it wasn’t much but it was all he had and all he needed because he was a bachelor. It had the basics, a stone firepit that had a chimney of stones up around it in the middle surrounded by a bed on one side, a kitchen on the other and on the back wall was where he stored his clothes and armor and weapons. 

“How do you know that?” Drad asked as he helped the shaman into his chair at his little table in his kitchen.  

“I saw a vision of you and knew I had to make my way here to you, to tell you myself, but my hip has long since been injured for many years and the path to get here was much more tiring than I thought it would be.” He answered. 

“So...how can I help you?” Drad asked. 

“If you will allow me to rest for a short time, and permit me to stay here while you raid. I shall adopt you as my honorary son since my own sons have left this world without me.” He offered. 

“Of course, you’re more than welcome to stay. What is your name?” Drad asked him. 

“My name is Orcoth.” The shaman stated. 

“Well my name is Drad, First…” Drad began.

“Oh yes, First Commander of Captains under Warlord Tar Skull Screamer, first born son of Clan Chief Zash and Clan Chieftess Zorba.” Orcoth finished for him. 

“So what is the beautiful woman’s name?” Drad asked Orcoth curiously. 

“You already know her name. Here, the rose scented soap you promised her in your heart. She will be better to you than seven wives and is smarter than seven wisemen because you have already discerned that the other half of her that is not orcish, is in fact a very special being, known for long lives, extraordinary gifts and wisdom beyond age and experience. Her natural instincts are enhanced, as is her intellect. She will be best for you as your only wife, and as long as you treat her as the cherished companion she is and not a slave, you will make her happy and capture her heart and loyalty forever and she will see to it that you not only prosper, but live longer than any other orc you have ever heard of, for you know she is a long lifer, and being paired with her, will lengthen your own life considerably. Her betrothal gifts will be beyond perfection and without equal and they will set the standard until your own daughter in law sets a new standard of perfection when she gives betrothal gifts to your son- in time of course.” Orcoth offered as he pulled a bar of rose scented soap from his satchel and handed it to Drad whose eyes got wide as he took it reverently and sniffed it as his pupils got wide and smiled when the scent was something he had never smelled before but it smelled better than anything else he had ever smelled in his life.   

“When you come back from the raid, build her a house where you find the wild roses growing, whose scent is in the soap- so that she can make her own from now on.” Orcoth advised as Drad took the bar of soap and wrapped it in the nicest piece of cloth he had, wanting to get at least some silk to wrap it up in for her as he felt so happy and pleased that Rhosland, the most beautiful woman he had ever known was going to be his wife and would be courting him and giving him courting gifts as he knew that this would be the first of hopefully many courting gifts they would exchange in the future. 

“How do you know such things, are you a mage or a shaman of some kind? Practice some kind of magic?” Drad asked. 

“I am a shaman.” Orcoth confirmed as Drad noticed that Orcoth’s eyes were that of dragons and could plainly see that Orcoth was wearing dragon wool. 

“Then since your sons have left you, will you take me as your adopted son since my father has left me also?” Drad requested. 

“Of course, that is why I came Son.” Orcoth smiled proudly as she clasped Drad on the shoulder and gave him a proud smile. 

“Thank you, I am especially honored to have you as my father then. I will take your council all my days.” Drad promised. 

“And you will reap the benefits of it. When you go raiding, there will be a very thick fog, where it will be almost impossible to find your way through, death will be all around you but will not take your life, follow the scent of the smoking venison and smoking fish, it will lead you to safety and will be your salvation.” Orcoth advised. 

“Thank you father, I will do as you say.” Drad vowed. 

“Good, so what will we be having for dinner Son?” Orcoth asked curiously before Drad immediately got to work feeding Orcoth what he had, giving Orcoth the better and greater portions which Orcoth appreciated before Drad put Orcoth in his own bed and took his camping roll and rolled it out onto his own floor to sleep as Orcoth waited until Drad was asleep before giving him a sweet prophetic dream of Drad’s house that he and Rhos were going to be building together and the family that they would be having in it and the happiness that would be found in his own home. All the peace, joy, love and contentment he would have in it and how handsome his sons would be, especially his eldest son, how smart and amazing and great he would be, but always saying that he was only following in his father’s footsteps and how proud Drad would be of him and how he would look quite a bit like his mother as he set a spell to give Rhosland the same dream while giving Sarg a similar dream about Esri and gave to Esri - Sarg’s dream as well along with giving Drad and Sarg’s mother Grat a dream of her own so that she would know what to do while they were gone on the raid.

[gfpt-comic]

So. Here goes nothing... (1/?)

(Major spoilers for the comic, but since it won’t update anymore (besides PERHAPS some random comic strips/excerpts without context every now and then, but don’t count on it), I guess it doesn’t matter.)

If you read my answer to the ask posted earlier, you probably know what this post is about. I’ll make a list of every important point I wanted to tackle in the comic, in multiple sections. Be prepared for the long post that awaits you below the cut.

Summary of what was left of Chapter 2

Following their first appearance at the beginning of the chapter, Lolph and Dundgren try to question Blendin, who is staying at a hospital and is still under intense care. They discuss what exactly happened to Blendin in the first place: he was assigned what was supposed to be a routine mission to solve a minor time anomaly in the 21st century, but his time machine exploded when he tried to operate it and he was gravely injured. Dundgren mentions that any normal time device should hardly cause this much damage when malfunctioning, suggesting that Blendin’s level of incompetence is so incredibly high, it somehow managed to make something that shouldn’t be able to explode blow up in his face. On the other hand, Lolph starts to wonder if, exactly because it should be impossible, the accident may have had a reason other than just Blendin’s incompetence. Unfortunately, the accident had consequences so grave on Blendin’s physical health, it seemingly also took a toll on his sanity and questioning him only leaves them with esoteric sentences of dubious credibility.

Blendin: “This is very nice of you… to visit me. There isn’t much time left. I was starting to feel alone, before everything disappears.” Blendin: “Time Baby will succeed… He will free us from this time.”

July 13, 2012 again: back in the gift shop of the Mystery Shack, Wendy and Soos have captured Bill and tied him up to a chair. Wendy starts interrogating him, asking him who or what he is-- throwing in her multiple guesses: the Shapeshifter she defeated with Dipper in the bunker, a paper clone... She doesn’t suspect demon possession or a switch-because-of-the-carpet scenario, however. Bill just keeps trying to break free with little success, without answering; and soon, Stan interrupts them when he enters the gift shop as well, followed by the dozen of tourists he took during his latest tour. Wendy and Soos manage to evade Stan’s obvious questions by pretending they were making a new attraction.

Back in Mabel’s Dreamscape, Mabel encourages Dipper to have some fun with Bill’s powers, but he is scared of messing up because of just how powerful he is; having seen Bill’s powers both in the Mindscape/Dreamscape and in Weirdmageddon when he witnessed the alternate timelines, Dipper knows just how far those powers can go and he isn’t sure he can control them. Still, after some teasing Mabel starts a snowball fight with the surrounding ice cream, and gradually the twins have more and more fun starting with the ice cream, then with the tricks Dipper starts to use. When they take a break, Mabel points out that nothing bad happened, and Dipper grows a bit more confident that he can use Bill’s powers in a way that isn’t dangerous.

Dipper: “I guess it’s easy to do exactly what you want when it literally happens in your mind... Huh.”

Dipper notices it’s almost noon, and Mabel remembers that she was supposed to meet William at Greasy’s Diner for lunch. Mabel is unseasy upon thinking of talking to him again after what happened the day before, and Dipper confirms by showing William’s current whereabouts through a peephole that William seems about as worried as she is. Mabel takes a deep breath, makes sure that she will be able to see Dipper whenever she needs (during the night for sure, perhaps earlier if she asks for it). Still, just before Dipper wakes her up... She has a favor to ask him.

Mabel: “Now that you can do lots of magic stuff and all... Could you do something for me?”

Back in the gift shop, the tourists have left and Bill was untied due to Stan’s confusion over the situation. However, he is forced to stay inside and is stuck sitting by Wendy’s side behind the cashier desk. When Mabel goes through the gift shop to go to the Diner, everyone notices that she made a new sweater -- one with a pine tree symbol on it, no less. Bill is enraged but can’t stop her from leaving.

William has his first face reveal. He is a blonde 13-year-old, and is already waiting worriedly at Greasy’s Diner when Mabel arrives. He immediately apologizes for what happened on the day before.

William: “About yesterday, I... I’m sorry I said your brother was a bad influence. That was uncalled for.”

Mabel: “Yes. Yes it was.”

William is genuinely apologetic, but soon it is revealed that the reason why he thought Dipper and the Mystery Shack were a bad influence was because he doesn’t believe at all in the supernatural. Even if Mabel told him about her adventures, he assumed they were just stories she made up while playing in the Mystery Shack’s museum and never believed them to be true. Mabel tries to convince him by showing him some episodes of Dipper’s “Guide to the Unexplained” -- a series of videos he used to make and post online at the beginning of their summer break upon arriving in Gravity Falls, but stopped making altogether after Summerween. Sadly, the episodes made up until then did not revolve around exceptionally weird anomalies, and aren’t enough to convince William. The only thing William admits to being strange is the fact that every inhabitant of Gravity Falls is “out of their minds.”

Exasperated by William’s absurdly high levels of skepticism, Mabel eventually dares him to go on a forest expedition with her, Candy and Grenda on the next day, just so they can show him pretty much anything in the forest that is out of the ordinary. William strongly refuses and tries to dissuade her to go into the forest at all; he has been personally forbidden by his mother from going anywhere near the forest, and he has also read on the local news that there is currently a predator of unknown origin or species on the loose, which has been notably attacking sheep from the nearby farm. Mabel teases him about the fact that he believes that this creature is real, and suggests that it might be a werewolf for example; but William doesn’t take her seriously, especially because the creature is supposed to fly.

And... This is the part where my script starts getting wonky. I’ve been trying to fill the holes, but sadly it’s proven to be quite difficult, especially now that I know I won’t be drawing it in comic form anyway. Still, the main plot should be precise enough! The holes are mainly just “there should be some filler and/or foreshadowing to what’s coming here”, with little more than just prompts for what could be happening.

Back in the Mystery Shack’s gift shop, Wendy tries to sneakily question Bill, but when Stan asks them where Mabel went and Bill tells him she skipped her restocking duty so she could spend time with William at the Diner, Stan asks him to get her back. Bill happily takes this opportunity to slip out of the Mystery Shack, and have an excuse to bother Mabel at the same time.

Eventually, William is obligated to accept Mabel’s terms and intends on coming so he can at least make sure that the girls won’t put themselves in danger upon visiting the forest on their own.

Bill arrives at the Diner. William, thinking he is meeting Dipper again, tries to make amends for the things he said the previous day and says that he earnestly thinks they can start again on the right foot; Bill sadistically mocks him instead, all the while pretending to be Dipper, just so he can ruin Mabel’s hopes of reconciling William and Dipper. Bill finishes Mabel by forcing her to leave, saying that Stan expects her to work at the gift shop like she was supposed to since the beginning.

Mabel gone, William and Bill start to have a tense conversation; well, tense on William’s part, while Bill is mostly just having a blast driving William mad. The old fanfic that was the first “draft” version of the story has this chapter, which gathers most of the jokes I intended to keep, and at least some of the plot points. I’ll put a warning for awkward English, though. Oh and also, apparently in the old version it was July 3rd and not July 13th, so in the comic the “tomorrow is July 4th so the forest trip can’t happen anyway” excuse wouldn’t work.

About the Quetzalcoatlus thing: here, have some fun dinosaur size comparisons & history following my latest research on what the pterodactyl from S1E18: Land Before Swine.

William: “And how would you even know all that?”

Bill: “Because I ate Leonardo da Vinci.”

William: “. . .”

William: “… It must have been some VERY cryptic way for you to say that it was one of those conspiracy things mentioned in the old book supposedly written by a genius that you keep reading passionately every day. Right?”

Bill: “Oh, so your brain CAN work sometimes!”

Bill gets bit by a soothquito. His bite marks spell “FHOASE CORECULLY“

Upon leaving the Diner, they both see someone being kidnapped by a member of the Blindeye Society. William insists they immediately go warn the police, but Blubs and Durland prove to be ineffective as ever. Bill slips in one or two facts about the secret society, but William dismisses them completely as other random insane things Bill just happens to say all the time for trolling purposes.

Mabel is back in the Mystery Shack and starts her restocking duty, but her mind is clearly elsewhere. She starts mumbling to herself, but is interrupted by the decapitated head of Larry King who just happened to be in the vents nearby. Mabel isn’t surprised at all to see he survived, and when Larry King starts "interviewing” her about the issues she was mumbling about, she complies. Some time later, while Soos is cleaning up the floor, he overhears Mabel complaining about Bill being a jerk on purpose and making Dipper seem like a terrible person, and ends up hearing pretty much the whole story that way, without Mabel knowing. Soos proceeds to tell Wendy what he heard, helping them putting two and two together-- all the while understanding why Mabel didn’t warn them, and why they should stay silent as well. They decide not to tell Mabel they know her secret; but when Bill comes back later, just as Wendy’s shift was about to end, she has just one thing to tell him:

Wendy: “Tomorrow 6PM. My place.”

Night time; Bill is annoyed, but not very surprised by the fact that Soos is sleeping with him  for the night, in the room on the ground floor where Dipper had relocated. Bill is at least glad he no longer has to pretend to be Dipper around Wendy and him.

Soos proceeds to ask Bill what his intentions were; not just in the present times now that the switch occurred, but also before it.

Soos: “So you really are that triangle guy from two weeks ago?”

Soos: “Now that I'm thinking about it… A lot of things happened two weeks ago. That's when it began to get all wrong. Well, it was already wrong before that, but… That's really when you came that everything started to get all weird and… bad.“

Soos: “It all started because of that Summerween night. What did you want with us?”

Soos: “Why did you tell Dipper that Gideon summoned you?”

Bill: “It was just a job. Jobs are boring. There’s no fun in it if nobody’s trying to stop you.”

Bill: “Oh, and you wanna know the best part? If you’d taken Shooting Star along with you instead of going just the two of you, perhaps you would’ve had an opportunity to beat me.”

Soos: What did you do with Gideon two weeks ago? Dipper and I knew it wasn’t a coincidence that those government guys showed up just the next day. 

Bill: “Something that neither Pine Tree nor I want anybody to find out, I bet. Also if I were to tell you, you'd either faint or spend the next fourteen hours trying to explain it all to Red. Funny, but not worth it.”

Soos is disturbed by Bill’s attitude, because of course he tries to both troll and traumatize at once, and given how Soos was already terrified of Bill because of the Summerween night (”I’ve had nightmares for weeks!” from an earlier comic page), it doesn’t help. Soos tries to ask Bill about the deal he made with Gideon -- more specifically, he asks what Bill wanted in return for stealing the code from Stan’s mind. However, Bill doesn’t answer and instead opens the bedroom door to reveal that Mabel was trying to eavesdrop.

Mabel was mostly there to make sure that everything was alright, and deduces that Bill hadn't slept at all during the first night and that he intends to never sleep at all, even after she tells him that humans need sleep to survive. Thankfully she came prepared with a “surprise gift from Candy and Grenda”, and sprays Bill with Fairy Dust.

Mabel: “There’s probably enough in that bag to knock out a gremloblin in an instant, so I think he’s good for the night. :p”

Once Bill is asleep, Dipper takes this chance to come to his Dreamscape and talk to him one-on-one; and, he is not happy at how Bill treated Mabel so far. Still, after a certain point the conversation gets to a more pressing topic.

Bill: “You saw it happen, didn’t you?”

Bill: “Weirdmageddon. You saw it, right?”

Dipper: “. . .”

Bill: “Oh-ho, even better! There’s a timeline in which YOU make it happen, isn’t there?”

Dipper: “That’s not gonna happen.”

Bill: “Look kid, take it from me. The more you try to actively prevent a specific outcome, the more likely you usually make it happen.”

Dipper: “You can’t make something happen if you specifically stop everything that can lead to it from happening first.”

Dipper: “Even if it includes lying to Mabel…  I saw it. If she learns there’s a way to get me a physical form, she’ll try anything to make it happen and disregard the consequences. I bet she trusts me to keep things under control, but everything else? There’s just... There’s too many variables. We can’t let her know anything about the portal. Or Weirdmageddon.”

Bill: “Well, that doesn’t change anything from my original plan anyway.”

Bill: “So you’re just gonna stay in the Nightmare Realm forever, is that it?”

Dipper: “That’s not much of a plan so far, but that’s still an effective way to save the world.”

Bill: “Don’t mess with me. You DO know that if you don’t make your way to another dimension eventually, you’re just going to die, right?”

Dipper: “... W-what are you talking about?”

Bill: “Wait. You REALLY didn’t figure that out yet?”

Bill: “The Nightmare Realm is unstable. It’s just gonna collapse one of these days, destroy everything in it. Could be in a billion years. Could be tomorrow.”

After leaving Bill’s Dreamscape, Dipper decides to visit Wendy’s and tell her everything. He confirms her doubts, tells her the whole story with the carpet... And he tells her about Weirdmageddon and what Bill just told him about the Nightmare Realm.

Dipper: “I mean, it’s better this way for everyone, and of course I’m not gonna go with Bill’s original plan to destroy the laws of physics or whatever, but… I-I just don’t wanna die, you know?”

Wendy: “Don’t worry. We’ll find a way.”

> Summary of chapters 3 and 4

[completely-noone]

Tomorrow, the 13th of January, is the five year anniversary of the day I tried to commit suicide. Ironically, it’s also the day I’m going to reach 18 months sober of self harm for the first time.

These are both, to me, phenomenally ginormous achievements, and I have no one to share them with irl. So I figured I’d share it with the internet simply for the sake of giving good news to someone’s timeline.

Five years ago I genuinely felt as thought if I had to wake up one more morning and keep living the way my life was going that I was going to snap. I felt like a pressure cooker that had been left on overnight.

I woke up that morning, not necessarily a unique morning actually, it was identical to every other morning, but for some reason I was woken by my mother and there was one set thought in my mind.

I can’t do this anymore.

It was another few hours before anything happened. (I was fine, didn’t even need to go to the hospital, the school nurse handled it and my mom drove me home.)

My mother, the nurse, and my counselor grilled me in the office for an hour. Asking invasive questions, nitpicking my behaviors, pointing out jewelry choices and judging every move I made.

On the way home my mother barely spoke to me. I begged her to say something but she had nothing. Lager I heard her screaming on the phone with my father.

I spent the weekend with him, and he was unusually gentle with me. My father is quite a hard man, very rough and sometimes violent. But for this weekend he was kind and kept asking me all kinds of questions and listening to me when I said I didn’t want to answer them, unlike everyone else.

The school gave my parents an ultimatum. I wasn’t allowed back on campus until I spoke to a therapist. I was taken to my pediatrician first, and I was honest with him.

It took weeks but we found a therapist and I started seeing her weekly.

Around this time, (the week before this incident actually) I had begun self harming. It was gradually becoming more and more harmful and constant and addictive.

I began to isolate myself both at school and at home. I stopped attending family movie night, instead hiding in my room as soon as I got home, and at school I would slump in the back of class with my head down doodling on notebooks and absently scratching my arms.

I had a group of friends who knew absolutely none of this. I only saw them at lunch time, never after school aside from the rare birthday party or mall trip. I’m not much of a social outing person.

Even when I was with them I would sit quietly and let them do all the talking. They didn’t seem to notice.

I tried to quit self harm dozens of times. Normally I’d make it 80 days or so, then I’d fall off the “wagon” and start up again, feeling disgusted with myself. One time I made it 250 days. It was one of the greatest days of my life.

School got worse instead of better. In eleventh grade I began to have full on breakdowns on the way to school every single morning. My mother had no choice but to send me, despite me begging her not to. I would sob the whole way to class, sometimes even panic attacks.

One day, I found myself late to first period, (of no fault of my own) and instead of showing up late, I simply slumped down the wall outside the classroom and broke down crying.

An administrator was nearby handing out late passes and happened to notice me. He asked if I intended to go to class, and I was honest and said no. So he told me he’d rather I ditch in the safety of his office than out in the cold where others might bother me.

This man is genuinely one of the most impactful people I’ve ever known.

I followed him back to his office and he sat me down, offering me a tissue and asking me why I didn’t want to go to class. I immediately found myself opening up to him. He gave me a lot of inspirational mumbo jumbo and told me I could stay in his office until I felt ready to leave.

Day after day I found myself having meltdowns and heading straight for his office. It became the only safe place for me on campus. He welcomed me with a smile and sometimes a snack or two, gave me tasks so I wouldn’t be slacking, and let me care for his goldfish.

We had many wonderful talks, I made friends with campus security, who used his office as their lunch room, and I took probably a dozen naps in there. It got to the point where my parents would drop me off and I wouldn’t even think about class, I would just walk straight to his office.

I must’ve missed months of classes. No other administration ever harassed me, but I’m sure they knew of the situation seeing as my teachers must’ve noticed when I went missing for three months. My own parents never found out. The school never called them, and I wasn’t going to tell them.

I eventually came up with the idea of taking a test to get my GED, because at this point I was never going to graduate. My administrator friend talked with me quite a bit about this plan, but eventually backed me.

My counselor canceled my fifth and sixth periods to give me as much of a break as she could, and she tried to convince me to stay. But I was so beyond done.

I was back there. I was a pressure cooker again. I couldn’t breathe most days, it was like my entire body weighed as much as a pickup truck. I was so fucking exhausted.

I know for 100% certain that if they hadn’t let me take that test and graduate early I would’ve killed myself.

I was sat down in a very pinkly decorated room with the school therapist and my highly tense divorced parents to discuss my future in education.

I ended up breaking down and just begging and trying to make the situation clear without outright threatening suicide but honestly that’s what it had come to. My mother took one look at me and understood, and she swayed my dad. And that was it.

I aced the test first try, and I was done. I was free of my first hell.

Now all I had to do was escape my father. Like I said, my father is a hard man. Barely two months after graduating I moved out of his house and started living with my mother full time. My sisters soon followed.

Two years later we moved to a different state, leaving my father behind in our home town. (Although he still calls me three times a day and sends care packages every two weeks despite us asking him to stop.)

I continued to try and quit self harm, but kept failing.

On March 11th, 2020 I was in the Emergency Room for suicidal ideation. I don’t count it as an attempt because I didn’t take anything or harm myself but I was going to.

I called 911 on myself out of fear and a police officer drove me to the hospital. I was kept in a room with a very pretty mural on the wall, and eventually and very annoying woman came and spoke to me. I gave her the skinny on how awful my life is and she told me I either tell my mom my secrets or she’ll forcefully section me.

This was a double trigger for me. Being forced to reveal personal information is very triggering for me because I’m an extremely private person. I don’t tell anyone anything unless I have to or want to. Especially deeply personal secrets.

And being forcefully sectioned was possibly the worst thing she could’ve said. I have an intense fear of being locked up, ordered around, imprisoned, behind locked doors, or anything alike. It stems from childhood trauma and it’s very intense.

So I told my mom my shit, somehow getting away with not telling her about the self harm, and I was discharged home.

This changed nothing about my life or my relationship with my mother.

On June 13th, 2020 I self harmed for the last time. Not sure what made it stick this time. I just sort of decided that I was done with it.

On December 9th, 2020 I was in the ER again for the same reason. My mother drove me this time but didn’t stay. This was one of the worst nights of my life. And I don’t say that lightly.

I was put in a normal room but every single thing was taken from the room, machines, tools, even chairs. I was ordered to change out of my clothes and into these paper shirt and shorts and the classic “grippy socks”. My necklace which means everything to me was taken, my bracelets, my rings, my anklet, my backpack, my phone, my stuffed bunny for fucks sake.

A very blunt and emotionless man came and asked me questions about my life and my childhood and why I was feeling this way. And then he left and they placed a different man outside the glass window wall to simply watch me. He just sat there and stared at me.

I began to have a panic attack. Worst one I’ve ver had. I was hyperventilating to the point that my vision began to fade away and I was choking. What did the doctors do about me suffocating? Nothing. This man continued to stare at me.

I waved him into the room and begged, yes, I had to beg, for my stuffed bunny back. And he gave me a very judge mental glare as if I was annoying him, before returning with my bunny, who I keep in my bag at all times in case of panic.

The panic continued to elevate and I considered asking them to put me to sleep, before that thought freaked me out, so I once again begged for my phone so I could call my mother. They did not give me my phone, they gave me a hospital landline. And the man stepped inside the room to listen to my call.

I begged my mom to come get me, saying I don’t care what you do just get them to let me go. She called the hospital and convinced them to let me leave. I didn’t sleep for a week.

On June 13th, 2021 I became a year sober for the first time. I was overwhelmingly proud of myself. I ordered a brass coin with the number 1 etched on it from Etsy so I’d have something solid to hold onto when the urge came.

And now it’s nearly January 13th, 2022. Five years from that suicide attempt. And I’m nearly 18 months sober.

Five years later and I’m still alive. Who knew?

I still struggle with it, a lot. But I figure if I can sit through what I have in the last five years and be here to type this than I can sit through anything because I assure you, it doesn’t go lower than here.

So anyway, I’m proud of myself. Happy January 13th.

[theretirementstory]

Hello, it’s been a while! So let me bring you up to date. I spent 4 weeks in the hospital and was allowed home on 2 June, I was so relieved to be going home but all wasn’t plain sailing. Being a Friday mid morning when it was confirmed, there were no taxis available to collect me. I was asked if a friend could pick me up but a 70 mile round trip wasn’t something I would have liked to do, however, when I rang a friend she straight away said she would pick me up. Then I was being badgered, what time would I be leaving my room……. for heavens sake I had no idea what time my friend had left home! Anyway when she appeared I just burst into tears. That was over a week ago and I would like to say that I have been well since I got back……. I was for three days but after an injection on Monday I suffered for the next three plus days, honestly it’s only today that I feel anywhere near better and guess what …….. another injection is due tomorrow 😩. Then I am back into hospital on the 13th possibly for three or four nights for my next round of treatment 😊.

So to yesterday, “The Trainee Solicitor” arrived with his girlfriend. Although I won’t have a huge amount of time with them it is lovely for them to be here. We have all enjoyed being in the garden today (although I was clearing dead flowers for the composter). They are looking forward to a relaxing time (and as we are all either absorbed in books (or me typing this) it is great.

It has been a hectic and stressful time for them both, as “ The Trainee Solicitor” was best man at his friends wedding on Wednesday, he was back at work on Friday then on an early flight to me on Saturday.

I haven’t driven my car (no good if you need to be near home all the time) but this morning I drove it out of the garage. Was confused because I couldn’t really see through the rear view mirror and I felt as if I just had my nose above the steering wheel, now why was that I asked my son and his reply really surprised me “ it’s because you have lost so much weight Mum and it’s gone from your buttocks too” well that would explain it I suppose.

We are now experiencing an orage, we are battened down but wow it’s exciting. Something has toppled onto the patio but at the moment we are not investigating.

“The Daddy” has been to the Lake District for an overnight stay in his “tent box”. It has proven to be a very useful addition to his car and it means that he can be “free as a bird” just for a night if he wants to be which is a great feeling.

Life throws us lots of curved balls, as my sons and I have experienced this year, but you just have to “square those shoulders “ and get on with it. Nobody said life would be easy and we understand that.

So no poem today mainly because I haven’t looked for one. With any luck “normal service” will resume next week.

Oh I forgot to mention my garden, pea pods aplenty are on the pea plants and the broad beans are getting pods on. I had bolted radish and rocket (not tasty), lettuce has grown well and the beetroot is coming on. The three tomato plants were looking a bit “sad “ but I have been talking to them and with any luck we will have lovely juicy red tomatoes later in the year. I missed my garden and am just so happy to have been home and seen how well the produce has done without me. My strawberry plants yielded 6 strawberries the other day, they were delicious.

Have a great week until next week.

[vierran45]

[Case File Compendium chapter 150]

Xie Qingcheng forgot about his date meeting with He Yu, because Chen Man’s grandfather wanted more information and assurances that CM was going to be cured of RN-13. XQC got to the theatre several hours after the meeting time and found HY sitting in the rain on the verge of a flareup.

Aww, HY thought XQC was with CM, because his locator showed that XQC had been in the hospital. He thinks he no longer has a special connection with XQC, because now CM, too, has been infected with RN-13. And, of course, he has always been jealous of CM, even though XQC only thinks of CM as a friend and a younger brother. Then again, unlike HY, he isn’t aware of CM’s feelings for him, so HY fears that CM will take his place in XQC’s life.

Ouch! It’s the day before HY’s birthday and since XQC didn’t show up like he’d promised, he is revisiting his 13th birthday when he hallucinated Xie Xue coming to wish him happy birthday. He thinks this is another hallucination and XQC isn’t real. He’s in so much pain and I’m getting teary as well.

HY’s pain and desperation is making XQC really think about what HY means to him. ”He didn't know when He Yu had eroded his life so deep that when he looked back, he no longer thought that any of the world could replace He Yu's position.” Yeah, yeah, he’s still thinking that he doesn’t like men or need love in his life, but it’s already too late. HY has wormed his way into XQC’s heart and is there to stay.

Screaming!!! XQC ”took the initiative to hug He Yu” and apologised to him. But this only reinforces HY’s fears that this is all another hallucination, because XQC has never voluntarily hugged him, even when HY was begging for it. He really is a total mess here! But in the end he doesn’t care anymore if everything is an illusion or not.

This was a really painful chapter and XQC didn’t even yet get to tell HY about his health. Also, when is XQC going to fully admit to himself he’s in love with HY? Looking forward to more pain to come.

Heh, Meatbun reminded readers to visit Twitter tomorrow and we all know what means…