#uuuuugh. this is the worst >.< how many times i wish i wish i wish

[anyu-blue]

My kitties love me so much 💙

Lots of blah and personal stuff going here based on my day. Might delete later, but for now I shouldn't bottle it up. Tmi following.

Worked long and hard enough that my socks adhered to my feet tonight and that was mildly skin- crawling... And in that time- a contributing factor for sure was- a guy I went to high school with came in.. again.. as customers do, but honestly.. not all of them are quite so.. yeah. Loves to go off about how 'pretty' I've become compared to how I was in highschool. I accept the compliment gladly as it is... But I would appreciate it being given without the extra bits... Which are fairly insulting if not to me, to his GF whom I hope has a good head on her shoulders...

I'm flattered he would leave his GF for me because I'm that 'pretty'. I'm flattered he thinks I deserve a good man and a decent life. Truly even I cannot help the color that rises to my cheeks when served such compliments on my natural beauty as a woman- there's never any makeup in the way. Ever.

I appreciate his compliments as shallow as that possibly makes him.

But all the same.. he is the type of guy I cannot dissuade.. he's another to add to my list. And God damn if I don't feel absolutely guilty for that.

Why should I? Why should I feel guilty for turning them down?

I don't really.. not for that is it is on the surface... My guilt lays under the surface...

I attract men as I am- no trying, no searching, no interest, generally- and each one I turn down again and again and again...

And I'd be lying if each time it doesn't cross my mind... "What a waste."

A waste of their time. A waste of their interest. A waste of all that I have naturally right at this moment.

I feel sorry for the way I am. GUILTY. Oh so guilty for it...

I so desperately wanted to be normal. To have my own children, naturally. To contribute properly to society in such ways... And yet I have jumped up and clinged even more desperately to any and every reason to avoid it so so easily. Too young. Not enough finances. Too much pain (cyst). Oh look a twisted organ and more pain (cystS).

...

But I know the reason why. I didn't for a while, and I did not understand it for even longer.. but I do now. And guys like that make me hate myself for it. Such a waste.

But goddamn it!! I shouldn't hate myself!! I don't WANT to. I am NOT a waste. Certainly not to society; I contribute my fair share.

*sigh*

...

But here we are. Compliments in, offers turned down, lies and excuses upheld...

I'd be lying if I said saying it out loud doesn't freak me out. I'd be lying if I said writing it down, thinking it, or knowing it doesn't freak me the hell out. I want to be RIGHT... To be CORRECT... To be... Just.. natural. Normal. But I'm not.

I don't want to be a waste of a body... I don't want to be this... Wrong.

Better yet, I don't want to be PERCEIVED as wrong.

I'm so tired of it. I'm tired of being afraid of it. I'm tried of being more comfortable basically lying to those I love and trust in favor of never being rejected.. of being 'safe' psychically and emotionally. I'm so tired of them seeing this THING that's all wrong when it can be made right and could be loved just the same or even more.

I'm tired of lying without ever saying a word.

Look.. I'm nb. There we go. Easy peasy. Easy as pie. There it is. Whatever.

And damn it all if I don't Absolutely DESPISE all that word means for me and everyone else in the world who uses it. I hate saying it. I don't WANT to BE it (in the sense that I am somehow 'wrong' or 'broken' cuz I'm not). But I am.

Time and Time and Time again I reject these men.. even a few I am attracted to.. but if I were ever to tell them why.. I could die. What the fuck is wrong with them?

Luckily I have a few that don't want to kill me or be all nasty about it... But all the same literally every one of them is like 'I'll be with you before all that!!'

Dude.. seriously. No. Thank you, I'm flattered you like me as I am, but no. It doesn't work like that. You can't accept me for all I am, most definitely definitely not happening. Thank you.

More than anything, I'm just me. I generally act according to how I'm expected to because that's how I was raised and I have a fairly soft personality anyway... But I'm just me.

I'm afraid of saying it to almost everyone, but.. honestly, if there's one thing I can't wait to be when I grow up, it's being a wise-cracking old fool. I can't wait. They're my favorite people. I wanna be that when I grow up.

A soft, genuine, wise-cracking, old grandpa. Yeah. That's me.

I mean I'm a lovely young woman right now- intelligent and capable to boot- but it's just not me.. you know? It's my skin... A shell of sorts. It's totally my body, don't get me wrong, but it's not me. I'm me, and always going to be me, but people don't see it yet.

... ugh.. my head hurts XP

But oh well... At least I know my kitties will always love me. Heck I sighed while eating earlier just thinking about writing this up and apparently it was too hard. Kizzy was like *boop* immediately at my side. Got up from his sitty place in the kitchen as soon as I did and was at my side mowing, purring, and bonking me with his head. He's a smart kitty. He's a good kitty. He's my bubbies. He's also just now decided my shin is a great body pillow. Silly kitty cat XD ow. You heavy dude.

But to him I'm me. And I'm always going to be me to him. And I'm always going to be the one who gives him the best scritches and his treats and his loves.

I'm me to Whisper too. Though.. she's more of a spaz and just kinda does her own thing. She still trusts me more than anyone else in the house. I'm always going to be me to her too.

I'm me to my kitties, I love them so much, and they love me very much.

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 14

This chapter on AO3 can be found here.

Chapter 14 - Interesting History

“Hey.”

Rex waved off the kid who tried to poke him and continued his nap.

The kid knew just what to say to wake Rex up. “I beat you, Rex Raptor. Give me your rarest card.”

“Waaaaah!” The dino duelist was now awake. “No, you can’t have my Serpent Night Dragon! ...Oh, Espa Roba. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Well, of course! I’m just one of many students who has this ancient history class.”

Rex looked around. Unlike his freshman comp class, this classroom was a great hall, with every seat taken. “There has to be at least 100 students here!”

“Try 300. Then again, class does start in five minutes.”

“Aww, man…” Rex stretched until he felt fully awake. “At least I got some rest for myself and the little one.”

“What do you mean?”

At this point, Rex was used to telling everyone and got quite tired of it. “I’m intersexed. Oh, and I’m five months pregnant, by the way.” He showed off his baby bump.

“That’s a bit hard to believe.” 

“Not as hard to believe as your phony psychic powers.” Rex felt another kick. “See, even my kid thinks so.”

“Pssh, whatever.”

“By the way, how are things?”

Somehow, Espa knew what Rex was talking about. “I-If it’s about Mako, then… uh… we…”

“That was actually more of a general ‘how are things.’ But I’m glad things are working out for you.”

“...We did it once.”

“Whaaaat? You did? When?”

“It was last night, in the back of his car. In a deserted church parking lot, mind you. And even though it was the first time for both of us, he was rather good at it. It hardly even hurt.” Espa’s face turned as red as a cherry. “...I can’t believe I’m telling the worst duelist in all of Domino City this. Though I haven’t confessed to Mako yet.”

Rex turned serious for once, and gave Espa a consolation pat on the back. “Well, my man, you’ve already taken a great first step. You’re adorable as heck. How could he not fall for you?”

“Th-Thanks, I suppose.” Espa turned around when he heard the door open. “Lookit, the professor just arrived. He’s one of the most popular professors at this university, so I think you’ll like this class.”

“Is he now? Oh!” Rex immediately recognized Dr. Saurus. “I know him! I’ve dueled him before!”

“Did you win?”

“O-Of course I did!”

“Hahaha, yeah right.”

“Shaddap! The professor’s about to start talking.”

“Hello, hello!” Dr. Saurus struck a pose before starting up the lecture hall’s smartboard.

“He’s just as goofy as my freshman comp professor,” Rex laughed.

“Yeah, about that,” Espa began. “You know that part when our high school counselors said that ‘your college professors are serious and won’t accept silly behaviour?’ Bullshit. Especially at Domino City University.”

“Then I really think I’ll like it here.” Rex kicked back and took out his laptop to take notes. Not that he really expected to take any on the first day of school.

“Hello, class, and welcome to ancient history. I’m your professor, Dr. Spinos Saurus. My father is from Greece, but when he was young, he moved to Japan, where he met my mother. But just recently, they moved back to Greece.”

“I was wondering where he got that funny name,” Rex thought aloud.

“I am not only a professor at this esteemed university, I am also a leading paleontologist. Our first unit will cover the formation of the universe, and how dinosaurs came to be.”

“That is siiiiiick! Dinos for the win!” Rex got up without thinking and dabbed.

“My, my.” Spinos chuckled. “I’m glad someone’s passionate about my class. I just hope that he can study better than he duels.”

“Daaaamn, you just got roasted by a professor on the first day.” Espa couldn’t stop laughing.

“Twice.” Rex huffed. His face quickly changed from a pout to a smile, however. After skimming the class syllabus, Spinos spoke about the Big Bang. Rex didn’t have much interest in history before, as his teachers in high school bored him to tears. But this new teacher made history so interesting, Rex wished he could take better notes. I need to learn how to type without looking at the keys.

The dinosaur duelist never thought he would, but he was genuinely upset when class ended. He was even more upset when he tried to catch up with Spinos as he left, but couldn’t. About fifty other students wanted to have a word with him, even when the professor insisted he had to travel to an archaeological site that day. But that didn’t stop him from noticing Rex in the crowd and saying, “You’re that kid I dueled. How’s it goin’?”

“Awesome! I really liked today’s lecture, by the way. You should teach the teachers at my old high school how to actually be fun.”

“Young man, if I could clone myself to be in multiple places at once, I would. Right after I revive a Brachiosaurus, of course.”

“Hey, my name isn’t ‘young man!’” Rex put his hands on his hips. “I’m Rex Raptor, the son of Ptera Raptor, and don’t you forget it!”

“Did you say ‘Ptera Raptor?’” Spinos’ eyes suddenly opened wide. “So that was her in the hospital…”

“What, do you know my mom?”

“You… could say that.” Spinos squirmed at the mention of Ptera’s name, but still showed kindness towards Rex. “Anyway, if you want to duel me or come to an archaeological site with me, you’re more than welcome to.”

“For real?!” Rex jumped excitedly, until a hard kick from his baby brought him down to Earth. “Ouch… I’d love to join you today, but Mom would have a fit if I did. I’ll try to convince her to let me go with you one day.”

“Y-Yeah… Have a good day, then.” So spoke Spinos as he left the scene.

“That was a little weird… Dr. Saurus seems really nice to me, but doesn’t want to talk about Mom.” Since Ptera wouldn’t come until Weevil’s last class ended, Rex decided to spend the next couple of hours absentmindedly perusing the library shelves. 

The bug duelist would find him sleeping in front of a school computer. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up. Or I’m going to carry you like a princess all the way to Ptera’s car.”

“No, you won’t. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t walk. Or did you forget I was the top athlete at Domino High School?” Rex stumbled as he got up. “Oww!”

“Uh-huh.”

Rex didn’t want to admit it, but his ankles had been hurting ever since Spinos’ class ended. “Shut up, bug boy! I wanna go home, and I’m sure you do too!”

After a walk that involved two trips to the loo, Rex and Weevil finally arrived at the car loop to an energetic Ptera. “So, how did the first day go, boys?”

“Pretty well,” answered Weevil. “Although my calculus teacher cut right to the chase. No introduction, no syllabus go-over, not even an icebreaker. Just straight into the integrals.”

“Uuuuugh! That word!” Rex curled up into a ball. 

“So I take it your first day didn’t go as planned?”

“Oh, it went fine. Mostly because Weevil and I had freshman comp together.”

“That reminds me!” Weevil exclaimed and turned to Adelaide. “Adelaide, I saw Mother in my freshman comp class. She’s one of my classmates. Apparently, she’s working to be a doctor!”

“C-Camellia… She’s here in Domino City? I’m glad…”

“Mrs. Raptor, I would love to invite her over sometime, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course! I’d love to meet your mother.”

“Ooh, Mom!” Rex spoke up. “I have this super-awesome professor for ancient history! Not only that, but he loves dinosaurs too!”

“He… He does?” Ptera’s good mood faded in an instant.

“Yeah! His name is Dr. Spinos Saurus! He’s also a leading paleontologist and even invited me to go with him to archaeological sites! Please, Mom, can I go?”

As she pulled into the driveway of the mobile home, Ptera slammed on the brakes.

“Ow!” Rex rubbed his belly. “Did you forget that I’m with child?”

“Absolutely not!” Ptera scowled at her son when all four of them were out of the car. “You are to stay away from that man, understood?”

“But Mom, he’s my professor. It’s kind of hard to stay away from him.”

Ptera gritted her teeth. “At the very least, you are not to hang out with him.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Rex looked perplexed.

“Rex… Did you notice what that man looked like?”

“He had a goatee and a really shaggy moustache. He also had wild brown hair and indigo eyes. ...Now that you mention it, he looks like me. Mom… Don’t tell me… Dr. Saurus is-”

“That vile, disgusting man is your father, who abandoned us almost 20 years ago.”

[awed-frog]

SPN Meme

I was tagged by @chiisana-sukima, whose answers were very interesting. I’m not sure mine are going to be as entertaining, but here goes.

what season did you start watching supernatural? At the very beginning.

who was the first character you fell in love with? Sam.

who was a character that you hated at first but grew to love? Don’t punch me, but - John. I still don’t like him as a person, but I think he’s a truly fascinating character, and the new backstory we’ve had about him in S12 makes me wish I could write a story about the beginning of this whole mess - from his point of view.

which character would you most want to be in a long-term relationship with? Oh, I’m happy with my current partner. ;)

if you could go on just one date with one character, which one would you choose? Probably Cas. I’d love to talk to him about stuff.

what would you do on the date? Picnic by a lake?

which character would you most want to be like? Uuuuhm, no one? Man, people are so damaged on that show. 

which character would you most like to see brought back from the dead? Bobby. His arc was very well done, but I get this feeling Bobby was never allowed to be more than a parent on the show - that glimpse of a domestic life with Ellen we had in S6 was heartbreaking. I’d like to see what Bobby would do with his life if he were free to live it for himself, so to speak, instead of being responsible for two boys, an angel, and the whole universe. He always seemed interesting to me.

which character would you most like to punch? Metatron?

who is your absolute favorite character? Dean.

which “big bad” do you think was the worst? Amara. I found that storyline inconsistent and mostly boring, and her sudden change of heart at the end not really all that believable.

which character are you most like? Probably Jody? I’m normally the mom friend, so.

what death hit you the hardest? Of the big ones, Crowley’s. It was done so sloppily - the character deserved better. Plus, I can’t help but feeling that, particularly if put together with Eileen’s murder, it foreshadows dark things for the end of the show, and that worries me.

what season finale hit you the hardest? Swan Song was probably the best finale - in a way, the show could have ended there (without Sam’s resurrection) and it would have been a near-perfect story. But the one that truly gutted me emotionally was Sacrifice - that image of Dean standing there with his dying brother, and the angels falling - just, wow. 

what are your ten all-time favorite episodes? The usual ones, I guess. Changing Channels, Baby, Steve Yockey’s, most of season 11. 

what’s been your favorite season? Season 11. Or season 8. It’s a tie.

who is your favorite angel? Duh, Cas. Also Balthazar.

who’s your favorite demon? Crowley, of course. Though I miss Meg.

who’s your favorite evil character? Probably Ketch. But Lucifer was also fun in the very beginning.

do you have any supernatural ships? Destiel and Saileen (and now an AU world is canon, you’ll pry that one out of my cold dead hands).  

who’s your favorite supporting actor? Richard Speight Jr. Loved his take on Gabriel.

what’s your favorite quote from the show? Oh, there’s so many...one of my absolute favourite is Bobby’s Kids ain't supposed to be grateful. They're supposed to eat your food and break your heart, ya selfish dick!  

if you could cast one famous actor in an episode of spn, who would you chose? At the moment, I’m experiencing a mild case of Paul Dano hysteria, so probably him - that guy can play everything. And I’m still waiting for John Barrowman to play Baby. Oh, and it’d be fun to have Dean meet Harrison Ford - and by fun I mean, incredibly embarrassing.

if you could write your own episode, what kind of creature would you like to see included? Maybe a centaur. I love Greek stuff.

who’s your favorite girl that dean’s hooked up with? Lisa.

who’s your favorite girl that sam’s hooked up with? Werewolf Madison.

what are some of your favorite convention moments? I don’t watch con videos.

  28. if you were going to guest star (or be a recurring guest star) on         spn, how would you want your character described?

         If I have to be myself, I think I’d have to be a translator hopefully helping them out with something not too goreish and maybe related to ancient Greece? And if I could be anyone, well, I loved Dorothy’s vibe - the Amelia Earhart type, sassy and dangerous and good with whips.  

  29. what do you hope to see in the next season?

       A consistent narrative, mostly. It’s really annoying how some episodes are magnificent and some are barely watchable. Also, the end of queerbaiting. Just - do something with Dean, or don’t. Stop being so insulting with that. Oh, and more characters. This story doesn’t really work anymore if it focuses only on the two of them. They’re grown men, ffs. They have friends, people they love. They long for something more. Just let them have it.

  30-40. if you had to choose…

bobby or john? Bobby

bela or ruby? Bela

jess or madison? Jess

jo or lisa? Jo

charlie or kevin? Charlie

balthazar or ash? Balthazr

cas or crowley? Uuuuugh, I can’t. Both.

ben or claire? Claire

jody or donna? Jody

sam or dean? Dean

I don’t know who’s done this already - I’m tagging @grey2510, @treefrogie84, @hazeldomain, @mittensmorgul, @welkinalauda and @thriae5. Have fun!

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names” - Shrimpshipping fanfic Chapter 14

This chapter on AO3 can be found here.

Chapter 14 - Interesting History

“Hey.”

Rex waved off the kid who tried to poke him and continued his nap. “Ugh, leave me alone…” He continued to snore so loudly that nearby students stared at him in disgust, hoping that he would wake up, if only to shut up. “Mom, cook me some more… takoyaki, will ya?”

The kid knew just what to say to wake Rex up. He leaned in close and whispered with a smirk, “I beat you, Rex Raptor. Give me your rarest card.”

“Waaaaah!” The dino duelist was now awake. “No, you can’t have my Serpent Night Dragon! ...Oh, Espa Roba. Fancy meeting you here.”

“Well, of course! I’m just one of many students who has this ancient history class.”

Rex looked around. Unlike his freshman comp class, this classroom was a great hall, with every seat taken. And with that many students there, it got loud enough to really awaken him. In comparison to the seating area, the stage was broad and empty, save for a few impatient T.A.s that played on their phones after they finished setting up the lesson. “There has to be at least 100 students here!”

“Try 300. Then again, class does start in five minutes.”

“Aww, man…” Rex stretched until he felt fully awake. “At least I got some rest for myself and the little one.”

“What do you mean?”

At this point, Rex was used to telling everyone, but that didn’t make him any less proud with each announcement. “I’m intersex. Oh, and I’m 22 weeks pregnant, by the way.” He showed off his baby bump.

“That’s a bit hard to believe. And you let Weevil top you?” Espa closed his eyes halfway and raised his eyebrows. “Interesting, because he doesn’t strike me as a top at all. He’s way cuter than you’ll ever be. Nope, I’m not buying it.”

“It’s not as hard to believe as your phony psychic powers.” Rex felt another kick. “See, even my kid thinks so. And you don’t have to lecture me on how cute he is.” Rex waggled his eyebrows. “Believe me, I know. ”

“Pssh, whatever.”

“By the way, how are things?”

Somehow, Espa knew what Rex was talking about - or so the faux psychic thought. “I-If it’s about Mako, then… uh… we…” he stuttered, unlike his sly manner of speech from before.

“That was actually more of a general ‘how are things.’ But I’m glad things are working out for you. You know, Weeves and I saw you two at the café, and let me tell you, you guys look cute together. So are you an item yet, or what?” 

Espa’s legs fidgeted. “...We did it once.”

“Whaaaat? You did? When?” Rex curled up into a ball, much like a kindergartener excited for storytime might. "And where?"

“It was last night, in the back of his car - a white 2004 Toyota Camry, if I might add. In a deserted church parking lot, mind you. And even though it was the first time for both of us, he was rather good at it. It hardly even hurt.” Espa’s face turned as red as a cherry. “...I can’t believe I’m telling the worst duelist in all of Domino City this. Though I haven’t confessed to Mako yet.”

Rex turned serious for once, and gave Espa a consolation pat on the back. “Well, my man, you’ve already taken a great first step. You’re adorable as heck, and you're a smart, talented duelist. How could he not fall for you?”

“Th-Thanks, I suppose.”

“Speaking of, I saw Mako today at the club fair. He was looking for you, wanting to apologize for… something.”

“H-He was?” Espa sounded even more flustered. “Oh, great… I bet he didn’t enjoy it at all… Gods, I’m so bad.”

“No, no. It was more like… He was the shy one. He sounded like he was concerned for you. But it’s good to know you’re feeling okay. When Weeves and I did it for the first time, he told me his ass hurt like hell the next day. So consider yourself lucky.”

“Tee hee…” Espa snapped out of his sour mood. “If that’s the case, then I’m glad I’m not your boyfriend. You sound awful in bed. You didn't even use lube, did ya?”

"Th-That's none of your-" Rex didn't want to divulge that he and Weevil lost their virginity to each other in Pharaoh Atem's palace hospital - the most unromantic of settings, if he had to be honest. "Well, no. We didn't have any at the time. But I can assure you that things are better in that arena now." With his pregnancy going on, Rex hadn't thought about having sex with Weevil lately, let alone talked about it. He had never thought about doing it while pregnant, but he had to admit that he wanted to give it a try.

"Who knew we would talk like this?" Espa chuckled.

“Not me, that's for sure. Anyway, you should visit us at club sometime. We meet tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t. Not tomorrow, anyway. Babysitting duty for my brothers and all that. Maybe another time.” Espa turned to the door, and the entry of a scruffy-looking, short man silenced everyone. “Lookit, the professor just arrived. He’s one of the most popular professors at this university, so I think you’ll like this class.”

“Is he now? Oh!” Rex immediately recognized Dr. Saurus. “I know him! I’ve dueled him before!”

“Did you win?”

“O-Of course I did!”

“Hahaha, yeah right.”

“Shaddap! The professor’s about to start talking.”

“Hello, hello!” Dr. Saurus struck a pose.

“He’s just as goofy as my freshman comp professor,” Rex laughed.

“Yeah, about that,” Espa began. “You know that part when our high school counselors said that ‘your college professors are serious and won’t accept silly behaviour?’ Boloney. Especially at Domino City University.”

“Then I really think I’ll like it here.” Rex kicked back and took out his laptop to take notes. Not that he really expected to take any on the first day of school.

“Hello, class, and welcome to ancient history. I’m your professor, Dr. Spinos Saurus. My father is from Greece, but when he was young, he moved to Japan, where he met my mother. But just recently, they moved back to Greece.”

“I was wondering where he got that funny name,” Rex thought aloud. In a not-so-diverse city like Domino, he was pleasantly surprised to see more hafus other than himself, Ptera, and Weevil. Then again, with how many people this popular university had, it stood to reason.

“I am not only a professor at this esteemed university, I am also a leading paleontologist. Our first unit will cover the formation of the universe, and how dinosaurs came to be.”

“That is siiiiiick! Dinos for the win!” Rex got up without thinking and dabbed.

“My, my.” Spinos chuckled. “I’m glad someone’s passionate about my class. I just hope that he can study better than he duels.”

“Daaaang, you just got roasted by a professor on the first day.” Espa couldn’t stop laughing.

“Twice.” Rex huffed. His face quickly changed from a pout to a smile, however. After skimming the class syllabus, Spinos spoke about the Big Bang. Rex didn’t have much interest in history before, as his teachers in high school bored him to tears. But this new teacher made history so interesting, Rex wished he could take better notes. I need to learn how to type without looking at the keys.

The dinosaur duelist never thought he would, but he was genuinely upset when class ended. He was even more upset when he tried to catch up with Spinos as he left, but couldn’t. About fifty other students wanted to have a word with him, even when the professor insisted he had to travel to an archaeological site that day. But that didn’t stop him from noticing Rex in the crowd and saying, “You’re that kid I dueled. How’s it goin’?”

“Awesome! I really liked today’s lecture, by the way. You should teach the teachers at my old high school how to actually be fun.”

“Young man, if I could clone myself to be in multiple places at once, I would. Right after I revive a Brachiosaurus, of course.”

“Hey, my name isn’t ‘young man!’” Rex put his hands on his hips. “I’m Rex Raptor, the son of Ptera Raptor, and don’t you forget it!”

“Did you say ‘Ptera Raptor?’” Spinos’ eyes suddenly opened wide. “So that was her in the hospital…”

“What, do you know my mom?”

“You… could say that.” Spinos squirmed at the mention of Ptera’s name, but still showed kindness towards Rex. “Anyway, if you want to duel me or come to an archaeological site with me, you’re more than welcome to.”

“For real?!” Rex jumped excitedly, until a hard kick from his baby brought him down to Earth. “Ouch… I’d love to join you today, but Mom would have a fit if I did. I’ll try to convince her to let me go with you one day.”

“Y-Yeah… Have a good day, then.” So spoke Spinos as he left the scene.

“That was a little weird… Dr. Saurus seems really nice to me, but doesn’t want to talk about Mom.” Since Ptera wouldn’t come until Weevil’s last class ended, Rex decided to spend the next couple of hours absentmindedly perusing the library shelves. That absentminded perusing, however, soon turned into a checkout consisting of five large books about dinosaurs and a limited edition of Jurassic Park.

The bug duelist would find him sleeping in front of a school computer, with a YouTube video called “How to Stomp Your Foes with Dinosaur Cards” on the screen. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up. Or I’m going to carry you like a princess all the way to Ptera’s car.”

“No, you won’t. Just because I’m pregnant doesn’t mean I can’t walk. Or did you forget I was the top athlete at Domino High School?” Rex stumbled as he got up. “Oww!”

“Uh-huh.”

Rex didn’t want to admit it, but his ankles had been hurting ever since Spinos’ class ended, and his back hurt even more. “Shut up, bug boy! I wanna go home, and I’m sure you do too!”

After a walk that involved two trips to the loo, Rex and Weevil finally arrived at the car loop to an energetic Ptera. “So, how did the first day go, boys?”

“Pretty well,” answered Weevil. “Although my calculus teacher cut right to the chase. No introduction, no syllabus go-over, not even an icebreaker. Just straight into the integrals.”

“Uuuuugh! That word!” Rex curled up into a ball. 

“So I take it your first day didn’t go as planned?”

“Oh, it went fine. Mostly because Weevil and I had freshman comp together." Rex turned to Weevil and whispered. "Turns out Espa Roba is in my ancient history class. And he did it with Mako. Don't ask me how, but our conversation went on such a tangent that he got me to think about... um, pregnant sex."

"Well, well." Weevil liked the sound of it. "Sure, as long as you don't stress yourself or the baby."

"Hehehe..." Rex let Weevil curl into him further. "You know I won't."

“Oh, yeah." Weevil turned his head to Adelaide. “Adelaide, I saw Mother in my freshman comp class. She’s one of my classmates. Apparently, she’s working to be a doctor!”

“C-Camellia… She’s here in Domino City? I’m glad…”

“Mrs. Raptor, I would love to invite her over sometime, if that’s okay with you.”

“Of course! I’d love to meet your mother.”

“Ooh, Mom!” Rex spoke up. “I have this super-awesome professor for ancient history! Not only that, but he loves dinosaurs too!”

“He… He does?” Ptera’s good mood faded in an instant.

“Yeah! His name is Dr. Spinos Saurus! He’s also a leading paleontologist and even invited me to go with him to archaeological sites! Please, Mom, can I go?”

As she pulled into the driveway of the mobile home, Ptera slammed on the brakes.

“Ow!” Rex rubbed his belly. “Did you forget that I’m with child?”

“Absolutely not!” Ptera scowled at her son when all four of them were out of the car. “You are to stay away from that pendejo, understood?”

“But Mom, he’s my professor. It’s kind of hard to stay away from him.”

Ptera gritted her teeth. “At the very least, you are not to hang out with him.”

“What’s gotten into you?” Rex looked perplexed.

“Rex… Did you notice what that man looked like?”

“He had a goatee and a really shaggy moustache. He also had wild brown hair and indigo eyes. ...Now that you mention it, he looks like me. Mom… Don’t tell me… Dr. Saurus is-”

“That vile, disgusting man is your father, who abandoned us almost 20 years ago.”