#we never met up cause he was always too sick and blah blah

[cybercanadian]

also have 2 dick appointments tomorrow 🫣

[cloveroctobers]

Any Graham/MC friendship headcanons?

OR

Carl/MC relationship headcanons if the other one is too difficult?x

Graham/MC friendship

Probably has him under “fishman ham 🎣” in their contacts — or at least I would lol

idk there wasn’t much interaction in the house since they weren’t each other’s type therefore there was little social to no scenes (which I think is kinda dumb because you can still be friends with someone if you don’t choose to go the romantic route yet he’s not that much of a fan fav so maybe that’s why? They also had a lot of characters so maybe that’s it too? Anyways) unless mc was going after marisol or considered a friend of hers? I’m not too sure on the still carrying feelings towards marisol if she’s with graham route so that’s based off pure assumption

If mc did start a friendship while he was with marisol and they still had feelings towards marisol then it wouldn’t happen until some months after the show or when/if marisol broke up with him (I made it canon that ultimately they do split but yeah)

so let’s say mc began a friendship while he’s dating marisol and mc has no romantic feelings towards marisol then?

They’d probably bond over some shit-talking cause I view graham as someone who can and WILL talk his shit

Mc and graham are on different time lengths majority of the time since graham is always up at the crack of ass out on his boat to snatch the catch of the day

He sends selfies on his boat—again at the crack of ass

“lemme know if you find aquaman! B safe uglie”

“i AM YOUR own personal gorgeous aquaman 😏 x”

“Don’t ever disrespect Jason momoa again in ur life !!!”

“U disrespect my wife Wunmi Mosaku”

“No I disrespect YOU. She doesn’t want u.”

“She wnted Jordan Patrick smith on tht show.”

“🥱🤫🖐🏽...I don’t blame her but only if he has the beard.”

“yew n ur got damn beards 😒”

Loves his seafood...I think that’s a given

“Can we eat something else, please!”

“...My Omama (grandmother) made her famous dressed crab.”

I decided against making hcs of graham before along with some others but ultimately thought he be of German background?

Not the greatest at speaking but understands the spoken language and ofc the curse words and insults are his favs + teaches mc some

I feel like he’s rough handed and has no issue bumping hips, elbowing, and putting mc into headlocks—basically treating his bestie like anyone of his bros really but he does that with anyone (including his omama, who laughs sending a punch with her knuckles against his forearm. It’s more of a gentle firm grip but they do this in greeting?)

Has no issue lugging mc around like some fish in a net?

like if there’s a severe rainstorm in his hometown of Devon and mc is the type to hate rain and they have a long way to get back to the car after hanging on the sandy beach all day, he’ll throw them over his shoulder like it’s nothing and stalk his way back up the cliffs to get back muttering “I’m getting real sick of Der mist!”

“Blah blah blah, you love me. Kiss my arse.”

“I could drop you on ya head, I’m sure that’s happened before.”

Then comes the hits, pinches, and jabs

Convinces mc to get random tattoos that he may or may not have doodled when they’re drunk off their asses

The next morning, “graham...what the f—

“Ah, now you look like me!” He ruffles mc’s hair from behind as they’re staring at their reflection in horror, “except I’d never get face tatts.” He whistles in slight disapproval

Mc might have to choke him and ask Gary to help dispose of the body in the ocean

Mc helps trim his beard instead since they almost cut off the entire patch left on top of his head “you look a bit like a beet or a mandrake from Harry Potter. Just cut the shit off or grow it all out, you’re embarrassing me.”

“Whatever happened to my body, my choice?”

“...that doesn’t apply to you. I’m your friend, I love you, and I’m trying to help you.”

“Oh, Piss off!”

Lots of middle fingers are used and hugs

Messy car, messy office, the only thing that’s neat is his hair/beard and his work ethic when it comes to the fish

He’s comes to mc when marisol dumps him and he’s hammered so that either = mad af or sad as hell sometimes it’s a little bit of both depending on how much he’s had

“Who do I have to fight? Or do you want to hug it out?”

“I kinda wanna slow dance to snow patrol.”

And you know it’s bad when graham openly wants to listen to snow patrol in the early afternoon instead of jelly roll or some shit

Hey, whatever the heartbroken fisherman wants he gets. That’s mc’s bud so they do what they can to make graham feel best...even if that means stepped on toes—He’s not the best dancer

I do get single dad vibes from him or at least uncle graham, he’s got a 3 year old son/nephew named Roy and he speaks so highly of the mother of his child/nephew who struggles with addiction but he’s on extremely good terms with her family

You adore Roy, who much like his daddy/uncle loves the water and sailboats

Mc will post captions about how thankful they are to have met graham due to some mess of a reality tv show whereas graham will post embarrassing pics that he secretly took of them and say things like “mc suxx a lot of the time 💘

“Text me when you get home bitch!” Type of friend too, cause if he can send you selfies so early in the day that he’s on the water at work then mc can txt him to let him know that they’re home after a night out, coming from work, etc...if they both are aware that the other was out

[medea10]

My Review of Trigun

How did I get into this anime? Let’s just say this was one of those animes that used to air on Saturday nights back in the day that I would every now and then come across while waiting for either Full Metal Alchemist, InuYasha, or Cowboy Bebop to air. But I never did watch a full episode or know a damn thing about this anime. So I’m just jumping into this anime blindfolded. All I know is that this was Johnny Yong Bosch’s first anime role.

Who is Vash the Stampede?

A frequent question that comes up throughout the series! Rumor has it that he wears a long, red trench coat and sports a Mohawk hairstyle. Some say he’s a notorious lecher. Many recount him shooting up their villages to a pile of rubble just for the heck of it. He has quite the reputation as he has a $$60,000,000,000 bounty on his head and is often known as the “Humanoid Typhoon”.

In reality, Vash the Stampede is…a bit of a dingus. He just happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and things kinda get out of hand. But that doesn’t stop two insurance agents (Milly Thompson and Meryl Stryfe) from following him around to confirm Vash’s identity and keep his actions to a minimum. At first, it’s hard to tell if he’s a stupid-genius or just flighty and gets lucky one too many times. But when shit goes down, don’t be surprised when you see this doofus get serious.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Okay, what sad company did this use to belong to, Geneon, Bandai, or ADV Films? Oh, Geneon! That means good voice actors from L.A. put in really shitty roles. On the contrary, this was a fairly decent English dub. And on a severely positive note, this was indeed Johnny Yong Bosch’s very first anime role (and a main role at that). This was like fresh off his time as a Power Ranger! And I gotta give props for giving this guy a chance at voice acting. This role was the launching point to what has been a very successful career for Bosch. As for the sub, let’s just say I’m happy any time I get to hear Hiromi Tsuru in something besides Dragon Ball. Here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

JAPANESE CAST: *Vash is played by Masaya Onosaka (known for Bill on Pokemon, Isaac on Baccano, Jadeite on Sailor Moon, Kero on Cardcaptor Sakura, Leeron on Gurren Lagann, France on Hetalia, and Spandam on One Piece)

*Meryl is played by Hiromi Tsuru (known for Bulma on DBZ, Ukyo on Ranma ½, Yubel on YGO GX, and Mika on Gravitation) [R.I.P.]

*Milly is played by Satsuki Yukino (known for Kagome on InuYasha, Mion/Shion on Higurashi, Tae on Gintama, Amakata on Free!, Hiiragi on Natsume Yuujinchou, Mutsumi on Love Hina, and Yoruichi on Bleach)

ENGLISH CAST: *Vash is played by Johnny Yong Bosch (known for Ichigo on Bleach, Lelouch on Code Geass, Makoto on Free!, Izaya on Durarara, Artemis on Sailor Moon redub, Koizumi on Haruhi Suzumiya, and Yukio on Blue Exorcist)

*Meryl is played by Dorothy Elias-Fahn (known for Kaoru on Rurouni Kenshin, Naru on Love Hina, Tomoe on Rozen Maiden, Hakuei on Magi, Houki on Fushigi Yugi, and Amane on Tenchi Muyo GXP)

*Milly is played by Lia Sargent (known for Dorothy on The Big O and Judy on Cowboy Bebop)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Milly! I don’t need a reason, it’s Milly!

SHIPPING: I didn’t really start thinking about shipping until more than halfway into this series. I thought there might be something between Vash and Meryl, but then again maybe not! Then I saw the backstory of Vash’s “younger days” and falling for the one woman who showed him compassion.

Yes, this is the same woman we consistently see in Vash’s flashbacks, Rem. Ooh boy, it’s one of those stories! So yeah, never mind my thinking with Vash x Meryl ever happening. I feel like Vash will mourn Rem’s death for a long time that I don’t think the whole thing with Meryl will ever work.

And as for Wolfwood x Milly…

FUUUUUUUCK! WHY DID YOU RUIN THIS CUTE COUPLE?!

MILLY WAS HEART-BROKEN!

…At least she got to have one night of passion with Wolfy-boy before the unthinkable happened.

THAT DARN CAT: If you watched this series, you might have noticed a little black cat spotted in nearly every episode. It’s there in the opening theme. It’s there in random places throughout the series. It’s there in the ending theme. What’s up with this cat? Well, there are a lot of theories surrounding this particular cat (or Kuroneko). Some say it’s really Rem inside that cat since you see it in literally every episode around Vash. Others say it’s because the creator of Trigun wanted to just mess with your minds with the kitty walking around in random places and towns. Seriously, it will always appear in every new town Vash and the gang comes across! As an avid cat enthusiast, I’m fine with whatever the result. Just as long as no harm comes to the little Kuroneko.

HALFWAY POINT: Halfway into the series we notice something more when it comes to Mr. Vash the Stampede. First of all, those horrifying scars all over his body! Second, that mysterious girl he often thinks about. I mean, we see flashes of her in the opening sequence. And third, the reason why he never kills. Vash has the ability of causing so much damage when pushed to a breaking point. One of the many reasons why he’s known as the “humanoid typhoon”! And that was perfectly shown when Vash chases the residents out of a town (so there would be no casualties), totally demolished the town during a fight, and made an indent on the moon!

But the story takes a sharp-left turn into WTF territory when we learn about WHAT exactly Vash is. Vash is a plant. Vash also has a brother named Knives. And while Vash has a mentality that all beings have a right to live, Knives has a “kill them all and let God sort them out” point of view. Now the existence of Vash and Knives came with a lot of controversy, especially in the ship that they were on. But that girl who Vash cares for, Rem cared for them regardless of what they were. Rem had high hopes for a peaceful world with coexistence. Too bad Knives had other motives and killed her.

ENDING TO TV SERIES: Vash has tried so hard to keep Milly, Meryl, and Wolfwood out of harm’s way. He knows there are some pretty bad people after him, including his polar-opposite brother, Knives. Vash hates death and wants to save as many people as humanly possible. He doesn’t want to see any more needless death. Probably from his flashbacks and losing Rem! Unfortunately, this doesn’t go so well.

I can see how iconic this death was now after witnessing it. Wolfwood, the priest who would hook up with Vash every now and then when they’re up against some ruffians, now finds himself in a crucial decision. He gets orders that he must eliminate Vash. And Wolfwood ends up dying instead in a very dramatic death scene. God-damn! And just that scene where Milly is sobbing freakin’ eats you up inside.

At least she had one night of passion before the unfortunate happened!

Vash hates the thought of having to kill anyone. But he might not have a choice if Knives is coming after him and even hires a powerful foe from a previous episode and the guy that killed Wolfwood to take you out. Once Vash met up with Knives, he winds up having some pretty sick flashbacks of Knives. But our homeboy was able to take out Knives, the desert area gets water, and…

I’m gonna have to read the fucking manga for more, right?

Tap dancing fuck!

BADLANDS RUMBLE: 12 years after the series ended, Japan decides to release a side-story in the form of a movie, bringing back our favorite characters like Vash, Wolfwood, Milly, and Meryl. And yes, reuniting the cast…in Japan.

By 2010, Geneon was as good as dead and FUNimation licensed Trigun. In short, they managed to get Johnny Young Bosch to reprise his role as Vash the Stampede. But everyone else was replaced. And surprisingly, the people they got to do Wolfwood and Milly were pretty freakin’ close to their original voices. Meryl’s voice, come on I know Luci Christian any-damn-where! Vash helps a young lady take out a big-bad guy (who turns out to be his father). And it has the feel of the original series where it’s set in a western town with lots of booze and shoot-em-ups! It’s an interesting side-story to the Trigun trilogy.

Trigun was a pretty good anime. I mean, not one of my favorites, but I can definitely see a lot of people sticking by this classic. Maybe you can chalk up my blah attitude to the fact that I’m not fond of westerns and I kinda took it out on Trigun. Or the fact that there was so much more that the anime could have covered before the end and the ending kinda felt off to me! Like I thought I was expecting more. But I suppose that’s what mangas are for. To be honest, the stories that really grabbed my attention were the back-stories with Vash and Knives and Wolfwood’s final episode.

*sniffles* At least Milly got one night of passion before he died!

If you would like to check out Trigun, all the episodes are available through FUNimation and Hulu (in both Japanese and English). And if you really like the anime, why not purchase the hard copies? Both the series and movie are available for home video.

Okay, that took me a while, but I’m glad to finish Trigun. What’s next on the FUNimation list?

EEHHHHHEEEHHHE

Fuck is that supposed to mean? What is that? Is that even in English?

YOU WILL BE HORRIBLY MUTILATED: The Isekai

Do you mean Re:Zero? That’s great…but that review’s not ready yet. And it probably won’t be until after April 2021! So let’s cast caution to the wind and pick another FUNimation licensed anime.

You’re watching Sarazanmai next. It’s best if you don’t ask questions.

Sarazanmai? The fuck does that even mean?!

OH. MY. GOD.

[littlekatleaf]

Buried in a burning flame is love and its decisive pain (9 of 10)

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Part 6  Part 7  Part 8

As Junkrat followed Roadhog into the cabin, he hunched into his jacket. Wished he could just disappear, but had to face the consequences of his cock up. Always rushing in… Shut it, told the voice. Her voice. Wished he knew how it worked, so he could turn it off. Head throbbed like Rein’d been at it with his hammer. Pressed the heels of his hands against his eye sockets. Mech hand’s chill felt good, but the pressure did fuck all to relieve the headache. Worse, though, was the disorientation of seeing her alive and in the flesh all these years later, when he’d almost convinced himself she’d been a figment of his imagination, a piece of fever dream from the infection after losing his limbs. 

“Fawkes.” Morrison’s voice burst through the sat comm, sharp and grating - clearly ready to give him a gobful. 

Junkrat startled. “Yeah.” Everyone else’d fucked off. Even Roadie’d left him to the dressing down. Some bodyguard he was.

“How can I impress upon you the seriousness of the situation? You ignored my orders…”

“Pig’s arse!” Feeling like shit or not, wasn’t about to take it without an argument. “Ya just asked where Lena was, an’ assumed I’d send her. Said the device needed retrieval, didn’t specify by who.” 

A long pause. Not even a sigh. Then, “Technically you are correct. However…” Morrison’s voice buzzed in his ears like a mozzie. Everything feeling fuzzy again and his chest ached where she’d hit him with whatever her light shit was. And his fuckin’ nose was itching. Absolutely not gonna start sneezing in the middle of Morrison’s big speech. He scrubbed at his nose with his wrist and held his breath.

Lena passed the doorway and mimicked Morrison’s ‘blah blah blah’ face. To Junkrat’s disappointment she didn’t interrupt, just kept walking. Had to swallow inopportune giggles else it’d just give him more shit to bitch about. Sheila was right  - dipstick always ran on at the mouth. And if he didn’t shut up soon, Junkrat was pretty sure he was going to fall asleep leaning against the wall. Instead, he interrupted.

“Look, I know I fucked it up. Lena made it abundantly clear. How ‘bout we skip the yellin’ and go right to the punishment?” 

“I am not your father, Fawkes.” “Fuckin’ right ya ain’t.”

“But I am the commander. You’ve been with us long enough to know how we work. Yet you continue to operate as you’d been, as though Rutledge is the only one you can trust.”

“Goes without sayin’, don’t it?” Junkrat shrugged. “Least I know long as Roadie gets his dosh he’s gonna be there when I need him. Ain’t gonna go jack on me. Can’t exactly trust a bloke gives you a choice between workin’ for a clandestine organization and the lock up.” 

Morrison sighed, rubbed a hand over his scarred face, then surprised Junkrat with a small chuckle. “You’ve got a point. But the choice is still yours, Fawkes. If you are dissatisfied with your responsibilities --  if you feel you are overly burdened by the opportunity to turn the tide toward good -- Lena will deliver you to the authorities in London.”

“Call that a choice,” he grumbled, but the possibility caught his attention. Might be able to convince her to drop him off far enough from a cop shop to have a chance of escape. Could claim he jumped her. Hell, could actually jump her - and how disturbing was it that wasn’t his first thought? You know what happens when you let your guard down, Jamison. When you start to trust. Whatever they might tell you… you know the truth.

He did know the truth. All too well. “Gotta talk about it with Roadie.”

“This offer isn't for him. Just you.”

Junkrat frowned. “Ya gonna keep my... bodyguard?” Swallowed back the other thought, other wish. Why wouldn’t they? Here’s the opportunity they’ve been waiting for - prune your dead weight, as they’ve wanted from the beginning. And Rutledge can return to his beloved quiet.

“We need people who are committed to the cause. For all of Rutledge’s… lack of perspicacity when it comes to your jobs, he’s demonstrated more than enough dedication in his life before you.”

Well well. I wonder what, exactly, Jack knows about him that you, for all your years together, do not. Junkrat ground his teeth. He don’t know nothing ‘bout Roadhog. Nothing. 

Unless he did. The idea sank to the pit of his stomach where it sat like lead. Didn’t care that Roadie had a life before him - because of course he did - but the idea that he might have talked about it with Morrison, of all people, and that they might have some common ground, besides being old grey-haired dills. Pissed him off. Of course they have things in common, you utter child. You are not exactly the pinnacle of intelligent conversation. Rutledge is far more than he’s ever let on to you. 

Let that pass. Who gave two shits about ‘intelligent’? Thing he hated was Roadhog’d shared something about his past, about who he was. About things that mattered. And he hadn’t shared them with Junkrat. 

Junkrat’d never pressed him about the time before they met. He’d heard rumors, of course, everyone in Junkertown’d heard about Roadhog, Queen’s biggest, cruelest, most blood-thirsty enforcer… But in their years together Junkrat had begun to realize that some of the rumors were just that and nothing more.  Not to say Roadhog wasn’t any of those things - he was all of them. When he needed to be. Junkrat knew Roadhog, knew Roadie… but Rutledge… Mako… he didn’t know. And Morrison… fuckin’ Morrison… did.

“...Fawkes?”

Junkrat blinked. Shit. He’d apparently kept talking and seemed to be waiting for an answer. But couldn’t for the life of him figure what. Took a breath to answer anyway, and suddenly the sneezes he’d been fighting off burst out. “H’gnxt! … H’gnxt!” Just managed to pinch them back, maybe the comm’d miss the sound? And maybe Morrison’d dozed off too, not to see.

“Ah. Lena mentioned you were ill.”

Of fucking course. Junkrat scowled, muscles tightening along his back. Wanted to argue it, but suddenly felt like more trouble than was worth. Especially since Lena’d already said. So he sighed, and muffled the following coughs into his sleeve. “Yeah.”

“We can revisit this when you recover.” Morrison’s voice changed. While it wasn’t warm, exactly, it had lost the edge and bordered on kind. “Do you need Angela to check in?” His eyes narrowed, like he’d be able to read the truth of what Rat said through the screen.

“Nah, I’ll be right. Just gotta sleep.” No call to bring out the big guns, so to speak. Like her name implied, Mercy was the epitome of compassion, but she was still a doctor. Still a scientist, at bottom. Last thing he needed was poking and prodding.

“Very well.” A pause, then, “Let me know if you decide to take the offer.” 

The comm connection dropped and Junkrat sagged back against the wall. Fuck. Was all fucked up. Didn’t even need her voice tellin’ him it was his fault. Course it was. Needed to fix it, but how? Had no idea where she’d scarpered off to with the bomb. 

What about Morrison’s offer? He’d sounded serious, like it was honest. Maybe that was the solution - let Roadie stay here, help the do-gooders. Forget this… whatever it was between them. And he could… what? Serve his time? Go back to his old life? Without Roadie… what was his old life? He rubbed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose. Couldn’t think through the bloody fog in his brain. Sleep would help, but damn - getting to the bedroom felt like a lot of fucking work at the moment. He closed his eyes. Maybe a short nap right here.

“Didn’t think Morrison would actually kill you,” Lucio said, startling him back to himself. “And through the sat comm no less.”

Junkrat snorted. “Still alive, but was a close thing.” He sighed, stretched in an attempt to work the aches out of his body. “Don’t mean to be an arse but I gotta lie down. Bloody fuckin’ knackered.” 

“It’s all good. You got meds? There’s stuff in my kit if you don’t.” Lucio hesitated, like he wasn’t sure of how Junkrat would take his words. “And Hana made me promise to tell you that the bed offer was honest.”

Junkrat raised a brow and was rewarded as Lucio’s cheeks darkened in a blush.

“Just for a nap. We’re gonna be busy.”

The other brow joined the first and Lucio smacked his arm. 

“Playing video games, asshole.” They laughed together until Junkrat shuddered into a sneeze.

“Huh-r’isssh! Isshew! Fuck.” He sniffed. “I'm disgusting. Not gonna get plague germs in yer bed. Comfortable where I am.”

“Saúde.” Lucio put an arm around him. “You’re not disgusting.”

Junkrat looked at him over the tissues he was using to blow his nose. Then wrenched forward with yet another sneeze.

Lucio laughed. “Okay -- you are disgusting but it’s fine. It’s just the way it is sometimes.”

“Glad to provide amusement.” But even though he pouted, the warmth and weight of Lucio’s arm around him settled his churning thoughts and without really meaning to, he found himself leaning into Lucio. He sighed. “Any chance yer sonic amplifier could get rid of this fuckin’ disease?”

Lucio shook his head. “Doesn’t work that way, unfortunately.  It’s only a stopgap measure - keep someone going until their own body can do the work. Sorry, man.”

“Nah, no worries. Sorta figured.” 

“Sucks that you’re sick on Christmas.”

Junkrat bit back a groan. Shit - forgot. Christmas. The surprise. Wished he’d chosen an inside sort of thing, but sleep’d take the edge off, least enough to get through the rest of the evening. “It’s a hell of a Christmas gift.”  He squinted at the clock. “Would ya mind waking me in a couple of hours?”

“Sure…?”

“Don’t want to end up sleeping straight through - got the fireworks to set off.”

“You sure you still want to do that? It’s gonna be freezing.”

“Not exactly a Christmas prezzy if it’s not on Christmas, is it.” Didn’t want to admit Lucio’s point. He shivered just thinking of going back outside. But the explosions would be worth it. And these were gonna be bloody fantastic. Worked on ‘em way too hard for way too long to be put off by the fuckin’ wog.

“If you’re sure…”

“Thanks, mate.” Pushed himself away from the wall, away from the disquieting comfort of Lucio’s arm and made his unsteady way back to the bedroom. 

Where he was disgruntled to find Roadhog sitting on the cot, clearly waiting for him.“Can’t believe you left me to Morrison’s tender mercy.” Even as he spoke, realized it came out more pissy than he intended, but better to be on offense than defense.

Roadhog, of course, just looked at him. Waited.

“Had to give me shit for fuckin up. An’ not trusting them.” Shook his head. “Can ya believe that? Blackmails us to join Overwatch and then is all up in arms because you’re the only one I trust. Like I’m going to depend on any of them when they’re only keeping us around for the demolition.”

Roadhog huffed what sounded suspiciously like disagreement but didn’t say anything.

“Practically killed me. Had to have Lucio rescue me.”

“Sounds like a job for a healer.” Roadhog’s shrug was visible in his voice.

Junkrat surprised himself with a laugh. “All right, ya got a point.” Still shivering, wrapped his arms around himself. “Would ya move; really need a lie down.”

“Take the bed.”

“But ya ain’t gonna fit on that tiny thing.” Gestured at the cot with his chin so he didn’t have to let got of himself.

“I’m not going to sleep in the middle of the day. And you’re sick. Need to rest. Take the bed.” Roadie’s voice was firm, not up for argument. Which was, truth be told, fine with Junkrat. Every aching muscle in his body longed for the comfort of a real mattress. No springs poking him in the side.

“Thanks.” Shrugged out of his jacket and flopped onto the mattress gracelessly. Everything fucking hurt. His muscles, his bones, his hair, his eyeballs. Even his missing limbs. However the hell that worked. Taking off the prosthetics felt like too much work, only to have to put them back on again in a couple of hours. He curled onto his side, wrapping the blankets tight around himself until he was cocooned, and waited for sleep.

And waited. He rolled over, hoping to ease the ache in his back, but laying on his stomach hurt his chest. Rolled back. Waited. He was still fucking cold. Shoulda left the jacket on. His head throbbed in time with the beating of his heart. And he kept feeling like he needed to sneeze, but the urge left off just before explosion. 

The room was quiet, ‘cept for Roadhog’s breathing, his own sniffling, and every now and again a page turning. From elsewhere in the cabin a murmur of voices, one of Hana’s video games, music. Lena’s voice, pitched and exited, chased by the darker alto of Emily. Once Mei laughed. Life going on. 

Without you. Yeah, and? They clearly don’t need you. They are happy without you. Don’t need them either. Perfectly fine here with Roadie. But even as he thought it, the cot squeaked, then Roadhog’s boots crossed the room and the door clicked open and shut.

You were saying? Laughter in the voice. 

Fuck off. Didn’t mean anything, Roadie leaving him here. Or maybe it did. Maybe it meant he’d tied himself up in knots for nothing. Made things other than they were. Always doing that - chasing imaginings, random sparks. Could be one of those times. Snow falling behind his closed eyes, cold seeping through his jacket, his pants, and Roadhog’s non-answer to his question, ‘really don’t think now’s a good time’. Never a good time to tell someone they weren’t nothing more than a job. ‘Specially when they’d clearly confused the bit of comfort they’d taken in each other for something else. Something more. 

Shut up, told himself - brain, voice, all. Tugged the blankets over his head. Maybe it would block everything out.

His fitful doze broke when a hand cupped his forehead. Didn’t need to open his eyes - knew the size of it, the callouses, the slight smell of leather and smoke. Roadie. Tried not to think about how good it felt, cool and dry against his own damp heat. “What,” he asked, still half asleep. Voice came out a croak. Cleared his throat, tried again. “What ya want?”

“Lucio said you wanted to be woken. Sent some… Tylenol? Looks like paracetamol or something.” Rattle of pills in a bottle, then clunk of a mug being put on the nightstand. “Mei brewed you a medicinal tea. Smells like moldy leaves, but she swears her Mum always cured her with it.” Another clink, spoon against bowl. “Lena made you soup - chicken noodle, apparently. Less likely to taste like bog water, but I haven’t tried it myself. Presumably she’s a better cook than you. Hana sent a couple fingers of whiskey to wash down the tea. And Satya knitted you this. Said you don’t need to kill anyone?”

Junkrat forced open his eyes to find Roadhog holding up a single mitten, knitted in garish orange and yellow, head tilted questioningly. He coughed a laugh, muffling it in his sleeve. “She knows how much I hate the cold.” Not gonna go into it, not even with Roadie. He sat up carefully, waiting to see which of his body parts protested the movement. All of them. Meds better take the edge off or this was gonna suck. He clenched his muscles against a shiver. The rectangle of window was black - sun had gone down while he slept. 

Junkrat shook a handful of pills from the bottle but before he could swallow them all, Roadhog was taking some away. “Oi, what’s the deal?”

“Just two.”

“I wanna feel better faster.”

“Not how it works.”

Junkrat grumbled but gulped two down with the horrible tea Mei gave him. Nearly gagged on it. “Guess she ain’t forgiven me for the bodgy crack,” he said ruefully. Taste on his tongue like compost. The whiskey burned off the taste - and several layers of the skin of his throat as well. Coughed to clear the sting. 

Luckily the soup Lena’d made was better than anything he ever managed. Couldn’t taste much, but the heat was soothing to his throat, the noodles soft but not slimy, and even though he couldn’t finish the whole bowl, it settled comfortably in his stomach and he felt warm for the first time in ages. Too bad he was gonna have to go out again. The meds had driven the headache back to a dull throb and when he pushed himself up to stand, he felt solid. He pulled his jacket back on, then tugged on the mitten from Satya - the wool surprisingly soft and not as itchy as usual. 

“Oddest mitten I’ve ever seen,” Roadie pointed out as Junkrat wriggled his fingers. She’d ended the hand part at his knuckles.

“Nah, it’s genius. Can still work with the wires an’ all.” 

[beanie-beebo-writes]

Faith Pt.II

Category: Oneshot; genfic

Summary: Another life saved, another lost. Day in and day out it's the same for the Winchesters. Continuation of the episode from s1, Faith

In the life of a hunter, you couldn't have connections. Ties to the normal civilian life meant putting others at risk. Sam and Dean knew this, but nothing would stop them from feeling connected to the people they saved. Every once in a while, an opening would come up between hunts. Giving them the perfect opportunity to catch up on the lives of those they saved, however they could. Usually it was through local papers; it was safer that way. Calling meant the connection would still be there, and opened the possibility of a blossoming partnership.

One early summer afternoon, Sam and Dean had settled back into their chintzy motel room. Their previous hunt had consisted of nothing more than a measly vamp infestation, but still nonetheless grueling. It was enough to make Dean want to sleep for a few days after a nice, hot shower.

"I wish more hunts were this easy." Dean said, plopping onto the nearest bed.

"Yeah, you're telling me." Sam said, failing to observe Dean was on his bed. "Alright, I don't know about you, but I need a shower. I can still smell that last vamp we took out, perfume included."

"Bathroom's all yours. I need a breather, maybe a nap. Just don't use up all the hot water, Frieda." Dean said.

Sam rolled his eyes before shutting the bathroom door with a huff. Dean gave himself an approving nudge on the shoulder and smirked.

"Dean 1, Sam 0." Dean muttered to himself triumphantly.

He momentarily began to doze, but it wasn't long before his thoughts got the better of him. It had now been almost two months since his father chose to sacrifice his own life for Dean. He still couldn't wrap his head around it all, of what exactly happened and why his father seemingly gave up so easily. He wondered exactly what could have been going through his mind when he did what he did. There were so many unanswered questions, ones he would probably never get the answers for. The likely deal his father made to save him was just as much of a knee-jerk choice as Sam going to that faith healer that one time. How desperate was his father to make such a choice?

Dean still remembered the look on Sam's face when he found out his brother had drawn the short straw, from that hunt not too long ago. He never was good at hiding how he really felt, not from Dean anyway. The hurt shone brightly in his younger brother's unshed tears, and it was obvious the only reason Sam brought him to the faith healer was out of desperation. But deciphering his father's true intent was like trying to focus a laser on a minnow in murky water.

Had Death whispered in his ear, or was he really so far out of options? Dean paused as the image of the reaper coming after him in Nebraska came to him. He shuddered as the memory clashed with his father's final moments.

Dean opened his eyes and sat up, suddenly feeling sick. A knot formed in his stomach for a completely different reason as a face wedged itself to the front of his mind.

He almost reluctantly opened up Sam's laptop and went through Ford City's past few obituary sections in the local papers.

There had been so much going on, he hadn't recently checked in on any previous hunt survivors. Guilt seeped deep into his heart. Last time they had talked, she had months left to live.

Sure enough, in the second most recent newspaper was Layla's face, sticking out like a sore thumb.

"Layla Rourke; beloved daughter, niece, granddaughter, and friend to many passed away Thursday, June 29th 2006. Services will be held Friday, July 7th at Munderloh Funeral Home from 1pm to 3pm and 5pm to 7pm."

Dean's stomach dropped. Another name to add to the list of the people who he didn't save, once again. He almost wanted to laugh, the last conversation they ever had, involved faith. Where was this so-called God now? Where was He whenever good people needed it most? It was easier to believe that a God never existed than to get his hopes crushed every time a life drained away, at his stupid expense nonetheless. Yet, the people who still believed, got their hopes crushed in the end. Dean only wished he knew how to feel.

"Hey, you okay?"

Dean turned around to a fully dressed Sam, fresh out of the shower.

"Uh, do you remember Layla? The chick who was at that faith healing session?" Dean asked.

Sam huffed in amusement. "Yeah, I definitely remember. Why?"

"She uh, her funeral is this week." Dean said.

"Oh.." Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wow, um. I'm sorry to hear that."

"I think I'm gonna head up to Nebraska, you good for a few days?" Dean asked.

"You sure you don't want me to come with? I'll be fine, but I know how much that last conversation…" Sam trailed off.

Dean clenched his jaw. "I need to do this by myself, Sam. I'll be fine."

"Alright, just let me know if anything comes up." Sam said. "I know you don't want to talk about it, but-"

"You're always there, blah blah. I know. Enough touchy feely crap, I'm headed out." Dean retorted.

"And Dean?"

Dean turned around, a hard glare set in his eyes.

"Just be careful."

Dean slammed the hotel door behind him in frustration, roared the Impala's engine, and sped off towards Ford City.

Dean pulls into a decent sized parking lot, thankfully while all the other grievers seem to be heading away for intermission. He takes a swig of whiskey and exhales roughly before heading inside the nearly empty funeral home to pay his respects. After finding his way to the correct viewing room, he comes across a shorter woman standing by the casket, blocking his view of Layla. He hangs off to the side out of sight, waiting until she is ready to leave the room.

"You can come up, if you wish. I won't be too long." She says.

"It's alright. You take your time." Dean says.

"You're not bothering me, hun. I don't bite." She responds.

He takes up the invitation; Dean figures it probably wouldn't hurt to give her some company.

"She really was something, wasn't she?" Dean asks.

She sniffles lightly. "Layla truly was one of a kind. One of the brightest souls I have ever had the blessing to come across."

Dean nods, taking in Layla's peaceful presence.

Brief pause. "How did you know her?" The woman asks.

"Layla.. She was kind to me even when I didn't deserve it. Even when I was for some reason chosen to be saved over her, she never held it against me. I think she even had faith for me."

"Yeah, that sounds like Layla. She didn't have a mean bone in her body. I'm Jamie, by the way; Layla's aunt."

"Nice to meet you; I'm Dean. Sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, same to you."

Another brief silence.

"You know, I may not know you, but I can tell you're worth more than you think." Jamie says.

"Sorry, but you are highly mistaken." Dean replies.

"Layla, she was a person of good faith. She only kept you around, if she felt your intentions were good. She may have been kind to everyone, but if you knew her, you also knew she wasn't one to condone ill intentions. If she had faith in or for you, you are a good person."

Dean didn't have an answer; his eyes focused on Layla.

"Did you come far?" She asks to break the tension.

"Uh, yeah," Dean finally glances back into Jamie's direction momentarily. "I was originally working in Jersey this weekend."

"Hm, now if you weren't a good person, then why did you come all this way for her?"

He stares at Layla's portrait next to the casket. He knows Jamie was trying to make a good point. Although, that point didn't condone everything he had done.

"It was nice meeting you Dean, take care." And with that she walks away, leaving Dean alone with Layla.

For a few moments, he didn't even know what to say. What could he even say? One of the last times they had been together, he stopped her from being healed. He felt so dirty, standing here when he clearly felt he shouldn't have been. It's not like his brother couldn't kill Azazel without him. Yeah, Sam would be broken without his brother, but not incapable. He would have Bobby at least. Sam survived college without him, he could have survived Dean pulling the short straw.

"Hi Layla.." Dean's voice begins to waver. "I bet I'm the last person you wanted to hear from, but.. I'm here anyway. I couldn't not say goodbye.."

Dean plays with the denim of his jeans awkwardly.

"Listen, about what happened months ago.. I need you to understand, I never wanted this to happen to you. The reason I was healed...wasn't God. Although, I'm sure if you were here, you would say so anyway. My brother brought me to Roy because... he was desperate. And.. He made a mistake. I mean, I guess if he didn't find Roy, we never would have met and I would have never saved those people.."

Dean pauses and glances behind him, making sure he was still alone.

"My brother and I, we hunt things..Unnatural things. I'm not going to explain everything but, if you were to follow us for a day, maybe you would understand. And what healed me, was something.. not natural. And God.. He wouldn't condone what it was. Now, I know I couldn't save you. But there hasn't been a day that has gone by, that I haven't regretted that. Hell, if anything, I would have traded my life for yours in a heartbeat."

Tears begin to sting his eyeline.

"Layla I.. I wish things could have been different for you. I'm sorry." He sniffled. "I know your Aunt Jamie was saying all these things about me being a good person, but.. If I was a good person, I would have let you be saved, even if it was unnatural. But me being me, I hunted the unnatural thing before you could get that chance."

Dean pauses to collect himself.

"Yeah.." He whispers to no one in particular.

He gives her a final farewell, shoves his hands deeper into his pockets, and somberly heads outside. Just after he walks out the double doors, a paper smacks him in the face causing him to flail briefly. After gathering himself, he holds out the paper to observe.. a poster appreciating the troops. "Thank you, for putting your life on the line. You are our hero."

Suddenly he looks up, feeling as if he has eyes on him. Standing across the parking lot in a beautiful, rose colored dress is Layla, smiling. Before Dean could think of what to do, she disappears.

Dean/Jensen tags: @akshi8278​

[s3r-en-d1p-ity]

Ego // Sweet Pea (part 1)

first imagine for sweets <33333 did this in honor of Riverdale s4 coming out ehehehehe also this is from the pov of sCaRLEtT bc I really like that name eheheh

As a serpent, she had an ego just like all of the other members. When Scarlett Calahan’s dad died the day she turned 13, FP was quick to follow James Callahan’s (known as JC) orders and she became a serpent.

Only, Joaquin, FP and Jughead were the only ones who knew that her dad died. FP told all the Serpents that he was diagnosed with alzheimer and that he should be left alone.

Scarlett had an amazing group of friends, until that fateful day. Her, Fangs, Sweet Pea, Joaquin, and Toni were that group of friends that everyone wished they had. When JC died, she moved to the Northside, enrolled in Riverdale High for freshman year, and abandoned her group of friends. She was taken under the wing by Fred Andrews, per se FP’s request. Because her and Archie were the same age, they got along quite nicely. Archie wasn’t bothered that she came off as rude sometimes, or that she had a massive ego and was quite the pessimist. He was, however, bothered by the fact that she was a Serpent.

“I just don't understand,” Archie had shrugged one day, sitting on his bed doing homework while Scarlett sat across from him, staring at that stupid football poster on his wall. “How could you be apart of a gang that’s so... violent?” He had said it like he was disgusted. And he was. Disgusted that a girl he was so in love with was in a gang, full of drugs, murders, and thieves.

“Dad’s request, Arch. I don’t mind, though. It makes me feel like I’m in control of something.”

She continued to show up to Serpent meetings and sometimes special occasions, if necessary. She fit in nicely in the corner, observing. On rare occasions, Tall Boy noticed her and gave her a smile.

Of course, even after she moved to the Northside, Joaquin was always in contact with her. On Fridays, when he wasn’t at the Wyrm, he’d climb up to her window and she’d tell him about her week. Sometimes during meetings he’d slip in the back with her.

At school, she didn’t have very many friends. Archie and Jughead, of course, but they all usually stayed clear of each other during school. Betty was very much creeped out by Scarlett, so that meant Kevin was too even though he was dating her best friend.

By the middle of sophomore year, everyone had found out that Scarlett was a serpent. She didn’t bother to hide her serpent jacket, and wore it to school. Josie started talking to her more, probably to use her as a charity case.

Cheryl, who was okay with her before, began the shaming as soon as she found out. All Scarlett could do was clench her fists and squeeze her eyes shut to avoid a fight, but one too many times that didn’t work.

One by one, everything crashed. She was accused of Jason Blossom’s death, found out her best friend and FP were partly responsible for Jason’s death, found out Mustang was found dead in a bathtub, and Joaquin had to wish her a tearful goodbye before he left town for good. Fred was shot, she spent days in the hospital, and the Black Hood was born.

“So, a little birdie told me today was your first day at Southside High? How’d that go?” Scarlett asked, finding Jughead typing on his computer at Pop’s.

Jughead looked up, smiling at Scarlett. “It was... interesting. Place is a shit show, I feel bad for all of them.” Jughead shrugged. Scarlett laughed softly, not expecting anything more from the Southside.

“Yeah? How was lunch? No Ghoulies messed with you, right?” Scarlett piled on the questions, narrowing her eyes. Jughead snorted, shaking his head.

“Sat alone. This girl named... Toni Topaz? You probably know her. Anyways, she showed me around and invited me to sit with her and the serpents since my dad’s one. I said no, and blah blah blah. Day went on and I met uh... some very interesting people.” Jughead explained.

“Yeah?” She raised her eyebrows. “Yeah. I know Toni. Who’d you meet?” Toni had since brushed her off after she left the Southside. She remembers one time, just a few months after she cut them off, she was walking back to the trailer park to talk to FP, and Toni slammed her against the wall and slapped her.

“You think you’re so cool, ditching us for Northsiders huh? Were we really that bad? Stupid bitch, you may be a serpent by tattoo now but you’ll never be a serpent by heart.”

“This one guy, he asked me about you. His name’s Fangs I think? He seemed like he genuinely cared. Then, Toni cut him off before I could say anything and told him to shut up. This other guy, Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. Sweet Pea’s a real jerk, got mad at me because I wouldn’t hang out with them after school.” Jughead said.

Her heart jumped at the mention of Sweet Pea. She’d always had a huge crush on him when they were younger, and even now sometimes she found it hard to get him off her mind. She hadn’t talked to him or seen him since before she left unexpectedly. On another note, The fact that Fangs asked about her too surprised her.

Her phone dinged, and she picked it up only to find Fred messaging her that Archie was going to be with friends tonight and that he was almost done making dinner if she wanted some.

“Hey, Jug, I gotta go. But... will you do me a favor?” She asked, sliding her phone in to her pocket. Jughead hummed in response, looking up at her. “Tomorrow, you know, if Sweet Pea gets his head out of his ass, would you ask him about me?”

Jughead furrowed his eyebrows, but nodded nonetheless. I waved goodbye to him and then left, hopping on my motorcycle and going home, thoughts of Sweet Pea in my head.

Not but a few days later, Archie’s video of the Red Circle spread around and the red dot painted on white t-shirts everywhere began to make her feel sick. She had voiced her opinion to Archie, who completely brushed it off. The first red Circle meeting was held at their house, where Scarlett stayed in the kitchen and did her homework, since she had nothing better to do. She also just wanted to eavesdrop on them.

Then, there were people at the door. Veronica walked in to the kitchen, breaking Scarlett from her trance. “Um, Scarlett? Your... buddies are here. And I think they want to cause trouble.”

Cause trouble my ass, Scarlett thought. If only Archie could use his brain, this wouldn’t be happening right now. She got up, walking down the hallway to where everyone was crowded around the front door.

She pushed past everyone, joining Archie. “No, Scarlett-” Archie started, but was cut off by a tall black haired hottie she didn’t recognize.

“Calahan? This is the fucking idiot you’re living with? I thought Jones was lying.” He scoffed. Then, she recognized him.

“Sweet Pea?” She mumbled. He stared at her for a second, then looked back at Archie.

Before she knew it, they were all outside. She watched, with slight pride. She’d never doubt the Serpents’ pride.

After a while, she began to feel like something was going to go wrong. She saw Dilton bend down, pulling something out of his pocket.

“Oh hell no.” She grumbled. She ran over to him, tackling him to the ground. Then, she groaned in pain and felt Dilton do the same. The knife had sliced them both. Then, a gunshot rang out. She sat up in pain, seeing Veronica with a gun in the air and the Serpents racing away in their bikes.

Dilton was helped up by Reggie, and Archie grabbed her and helped her inside. Scarlett could tell Archie was pissed, so she didn't say anything to him when he stormed out of her room.

“Did you guys really jump Dilton Doiley and Scarlett? She’s a fucking serpent.” Jughead stormed out to the courtyard at Southside High during lunch. He approached Toni, Fangs, and Sweet Pea who all looked at each other.

“Where’d you hear that from, Jones?” Toni scoffed, crossing her arms.

“Archie.” Jughead responded plainly, looking between all of them.

“No,” Fangs shook his head. “The idiot stabbed himself, and when Scarlett tried to stop him from stabbing Sweet Pea, he stabbed her too.” 

Sweet Pea’s eyebrows raised in surprise, unaware of this. Of course, somewhere down inside his black heart, he had a soft spot for Scarlett. That spot was covered by a hard shell though, especially after she left them for some stupid Northsiders and thought she could remain a serpent.

“Um.. speaking of Scarlett... How is she?” Toni asked carefully. Jughead sighed, shrugging. “No one really knows these days. Not even me or Archie. Used to talk to Joaquin, but ever since he left... not really.” He explained.

“She was still talking to Joaquin? He never said anything about her.” Fangs said, looking at his friends. Toni shrugged, confused too.

“Um.. she’s coming to my trial tonight. If you guys wanted to see her.” Jughead added. Toni nodded and looked at Fangs. Sweet Pea only scoffed, mumbling something under his breath.

Scarlett found herself standing in the corner at the Wyrm, like always. Just this time, she didn’t have Joaquin making unnecessary, hilarious side comments. As  if someone was reading her mind, a tall figure appeared next to her. “Didn’t know you actually came to events like these.” Sweet Pea scoffed. She rolled her eyes.

“I’m a serpent, whether you like it or not, Sweet Pea.” She snapped back, not bothering to look at him, and lose her whole I’m-a-bad-girl facade.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Calahan.” The tall boy replied. He stepped closer to her, and she only straightened her posture to show him she was just as tough as him. “You may think you’re a serpent because of your jacket, or your tattoo, but you’ll never be a serpent by heart. How could you be, if you ditch the people that need you the most? Your own family? If you never show up to the meetings, mingle with the enemies, you could never be a serpent.” Sweet Pea said, in his slow, deep, intimidating voice.

Scarlett snickered, stepping closer to him. They were chest to chest. “Honey, you’ve got me all wrong. I’ve been here the whole time. Maybe not the same school, but I’ve been at all the meetings, all of the important events, hell, I was there when you were initiated, I was there when Toni was, I was there when Fangs was. You just didn’t see me. And, don’t assume things if you don’t know the whole story. You think you know shit, but you don’t. Get your head out of your ass.”

“I should be the one saying that to you, Calahan. You think you’re hot shit, prancing around with the Bulldogs, pretending you don’t know us. You ditched us for crying out loud! And not once did you explain, or even say bye! This is the first time I’ve seen you in 3 years, for gods sake!” He yelled.

I rolled my eyes, pushing past him and walking out of the bar. I could hear his footsteps behind me, and before I knew it, I was being turned around and my lips were pressed against the one person I’ve been dreaming of kissing since second grade.

i think this is really bad ahahahah i didn’t edit it oops

[flowerpowell]

The Boy Next Door (Colt x MC / Logan x MC ???)

PART ELEVEN

A/N: I dont even know why I’m putting Logan x MC in the title at this point lol. Anyway, I thought I needed a break from writing this but I got so many sweet af messages from some of you that I wanted to continue it. Thank you so much! I’d love to hear your feedback cause it motives me to write more! Characters belong to Pixelberry.

Rating: PG-18 (nothing explicit but just in case)

Word count: 1375

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @lovehugsandcandy @desiree-0816 @walkerduchess @liamzigmichael4ever @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @hellomynameisdevi @client-327 @badchoicesposts @blackcatkita @pixel-thirsty @drakeismyweakness @donutsgirl36 @miss-raleigh-carrera @i-bloody-love-drake-walker @lovemychoices @mrskaneko 

“We... what?”

“Never had sex. Slept together. Hooked up. Fu--”

“Hold up,” Ellie stopped him, “hold up.”

Ellie walked over to Colt’s bed and sat down, trying to calm down. She took a few deep breaths while Colt was studying her.

“When I asked you about that night, you said I enjoyed myself,” she blushed at the memory. “You said I was good as for a first-timer. You made me believe we did sleep together. You lied!”

“I lied,” he nodded and Ellie wanted to punch him.

“But... why?” She was confused. She didn’t understand. Nothing made sense. Nothing.

“Ellie... just drop it, okay? I lied, I’m bad person blah blah blah. You’re not pregnant with my child so go celebrate.” He opened the door for her to leave.

“No.”

“What?” He turned to her confused.

“I’m not leaving this room until you explain why you lied.”

“Ellie...” Colt ran his hand through his hair.

“I’m listening.”

“I just,” he sighed, “I know it didn’t mean anything to you and I knew you got back with Logan right away. You seemed like you didn’t care so I wanted to hurt you the way it hurt me. Your indifference, I mean. So I made you believe we did it, just so you could regret it and feel awful. I know it was immature but I didn’t want to be the only one who felt bad,” he shrugged and turned away from her as if ashamed of his own confession. “It’s stupid. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not stupid,” Ellie got up and slowly approached him. “I-I understand. I actually thought you didn’t care. When I woke up alone and you were gone I thought you left me... again.”

“I never,” he turned to her only to take a step back when he realized how close they were, “I never left you. I just... I needed to think. I’ve seen you and Logan, how you act around each other, how you always wrap your arms around him, how he kisses your forehead. I wanted that too. But I know I couldn’t have it. And when I saw you and Logan kissing... I knew I wouldn’t ever have it. That’s just the way it is.”

“Colt... I thought you regretted it and that’s why you left.”

“I didn’t... I thought you regretted it.”

“I didn’t.” Her confession must have surprised him because his eyes widened as he turned to lock his eyes with hers. She chuckled. “I regretted doing it because I was mad at Logan. But I didn’t regret doing it with you. If that makes sense.”

He sat quiet as if thinking about what she said before she broke the silence again.

“Colt? What exactly happened then? If we hadn’t done it... why was I naked in your bed?” She asked when she realized something. Colt Kaneko saw me naked. Oh my gosh.

“We kissed,” he shrugged, “you tried to kiss me everywhere possible. Before we made it onto my bed, you already ripped all of your clothes and you took off mine.”

“You let me undress you??? Why didn’t you stop me??” She asked trying to cover her extremely red cheeks.

“Why would I? It was entertaining.”

Well, that’s embarrassing.

“So why exactly we didn’t...?”

“You weren’t completely sober, you know? And besides, at some point, you started crying. And I just couldn’t. I’m not a monster,” he added quietly. “So I just tried to calm you down as you cried yourself to sleep. And that’s the whole story.”

I don’t know what’s worse... The fact that Colt saw me naked or the fact that I was too drunk to remember him naked.

“Colt, I am so, so sorry, I... I can find a new apartement and move out and gosh, I can’t even, I--” She started hyperventilating. I dragged Colt to his bedroom. I ripped my clothes off. I undressed Colt. When we were making out I started crying like a baby. That’s it. I’m moving to Alaska. Or Australia. Or Cordonia. No one ever heard of Cordonia, I’ll be safe there.

“Hey, Ellie, Ellie. It’s okay. You were drunk and missing Logan, s’all good.”

“No I-- I don’t know... I just... Logan and I and then you and I--”she mumbled.

“Ellie. It’s okay. Nothing happened.”

“Everything happened,” she was almost crying. “Colt, do you have feelings for me?”

Gosh, woman, when will you stop embarrassing yourself. I wonder how much the tickets to Cordonia are...

“Ellie...”

“I just... I don’t know, sometimes I feel like you like me and then sometimes you’re a jerk again and I don’t know.”

“I don’t hate you, okay?” he turned his face away from her.

“But do you like me?”

Stoooop, Ellie, stooooop for crying out loud!!!

Cordonia sounds more and more amazing with every second!

“I don’t have any feelings. Not just for you, I mean, I don’t have any feelings. I don’t know how to like someone and how to care for someone. So there’s your answer. Take it or leave it.”

“But...”

Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!!!

“I’ll take it,” she gulped before extending her hand for him to shake. “Friends again?”

“Geez, if you make us wear friendship bracelets I’m kicking you out,” he rolled his eyes and shook her hand. She shoved him playfully and he laughed.

She felt so much better. She wasn’t pregnant, she never slept with Colt so she still could experience her first time and Colt and her were on good terms again.

Life’s pretty cool.

~~~~

Life’s awful.

Ellie was running to her class, almost late because Logan didn’t wake her up. He always kissed her goodbye and Ellie knew it was time to get up. Not today, though. He was long gone when she rolled out of bed and realized she should have got up half an hour earlier.

Even though Ellie’s sickness was pretty much gone, which only proved how much stress affected her, she still felt sick when Logan was nearby. She really needed to tell him soon.

But soon wasn’t today.

On the other hand, her relations with Colt were better than ever. They joked together, watched movies together when Logan worked, and Colt even smiled at her once or twice.

Ok, maybe life isn’t THAT awful.

She was almost out of breath when she ran into the university hall and collided with someone. One of the professors, she assumed.

“Oof, I’m so sorry!” she kneeled down to collect the papers that fell out of the professor’s hand.

“It’s okay, you probably have classes with Prof. Ashton, he hates latecommers,” the woman smiled warmly at her.

So not all professors are bad here! Huh.

“I actually do! I overslept a little,” she admitted and the woman nodded.

“I understand. I’m actually late too and it’s my first day working here. If you show me where’s the dean’s office I promise I’ll write Mr Ashton a note saying it was my fault you were late,” she winked at her. Ellie laughed.

“I’d appreciate that! Where did you work before?” she asked when they were walking down the stairs to the dean’s office.

“At Cambridge, in England. But I graduated from here actually. This is my hometown and I’m so happy to be back.”

“Cambridge? Wow, my boyfriend wants me to go to London with him and Cambridge was on my list of universities I could transfer to.”

“Really? I have many friends there, if you’re interested I could help you with teh paperwork.”

Ellie looked at the woman wondering whether it would be too inappropriate to hug her in the middle of the hall. She was the best professor Ellie ever met and she started wondering if she would ever have classes with her.

I hope yes.

“My name is Ellie Wheeler, by the way. And you’re...?”

I need check what classes she has so maybe I could take hers instead of Ashton’s. This guy is a freak.

“Oh right! Sorry, I’m professor Annya Kaneko.”

[nshah2]

First Part of Story Lolz: The first step into the cavern isn’t that dark. People believe it is but they’re just intimidated by the dark green moss that grows around it along with the spiky vines. Marie Jane? The Marie who likes to switch between Mary because it makes her feel chic? Oh she was just flabbergasted to the even proposition of stepping one Louis Vuitton, red high-heel in there. Even so, she was curious about the bright side of the cavern, as much of an oxymoron of that statement is. Everyone is.

Alex Lyres, skinny jeans and long sleeves, brown skin or hairy arms, one of the two, that is unsuspecting of outside analyzing, and depressed green eyes. They  fell silent in front of the cavern, walked in slowly in a trance of the great things that awaited, pushing away the wispy spider webs and teething bats. I hope she doesn’t get lost.

Kamila Civet, she ran. She ran straight in, we hardly saw her anymore. She’s addicted to the cavern, she likes to run through all of it. She can’t handle the darkness though, it pushes her out with sharp black nails, sometimes it only used two, sometimes it used all.

The cavern does terrible things, it made me lose what was alread lost.

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

Chapter 1:

A tip of a black word that could have meant to be blue grazes me everytime I step out of my house. Ten thousand words clutter the pages of others' mother tongues, so you can imagine the scars that yielded me weak to the eye of the majority. Fading away into the deepest shadow of Oaktown High seemed to cloak me with the power of moving through the halls without being at a sword's end, or at least at one I could see. I had grown comfortable with this lifestyle because it’s all I knew along with the wrappers of mistakes in my closet. But please do not play the chorus of slow violin notes because I am not my paragraph, I am my essay. 

I couldn’t say the same about Mary Jane.

Gaggles of laughter follow her tall figure, swaying with her long blonde hair. Skinny arms wrapped around the shoulders of her companions whose skin is as unblemished as their reputation.  Longing stares from the girls and boys who smile for status. An idolized individual that excelled at whatever you did not. “Okay, okay, listen!” Samia Davenport tries to reason, “Ignore the fact he’s a ginger. He’s cute.” Mary squeezes Samia’s face and squeals, “My little babushka is growing up. She likes men who aren’t on reality T.V too!” Samia swats her arm away, trying not to laugh. “Oh shut up, don’t deny that Dave Hansen is absolutely my soulmate.” Dave Hansen? Interesting, stupid choice. The boy who spread a rumor about you being homeless in eighth grade? The boy who chopped your hair off in ninth! The boy who smirks and everything feels like a blissful high, a serenity of happiness flooding through your brain. Too bad he likes Maya, who dismissed half of his heart with a slur that demolished him into succumbing to a camp which told him, be Christian, not you. 

They’re idiots for craving such expensive baggage because they know they can’t have it, though I can’t fault them. I’ve -however- learned to push my credit card back into my pocket and tame my legs to walk out of the store. 

Mary nods with disinterest as she eyes Ms. Alejandras classroom. “Wait up, okay?” She grinned at Samia  and rushed in the door. “Ms! Ms. Alehandra, I was wondering if I could obtain some extra credit?” 

“Mary, just turn in your missing assignments . I’ll give you 50% for each.” 

“I lost all the papers.” 

“I can print new ones.” 

I watch the exchange with dancing pupils, careful to not let my shadow get into the light. Mary has fists furrowed into small pockets with inching frustration poking out of them.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

Tapping on the linoleum floor, 1, 2, 3, 4…

“It’s uneven. It has to be 0-5, 5-10, 15-20. Right now if I do an extra credit assignment it’ll finally be 0-5.”

“Does it have to be in 5s?”

“More satisfying in 5s ma’am.”

Ms. Alejandra adjusts her long brown pencil skirt and touches Mary’s shoulder. “Read a book after you complete your missing assignments and then talk to Dr. Vienna.”

 

Mary sighs, she nods a quiet thank you and walks away with red fists and a crippling smile. “Did you get the extra credit?” Samia asks. Mary laughs , “No, that idiot was like ‘oh just talk to Dr. Vienna after you do it. Like oh cause he always helps, blah, blah.”

Dr. Vienna, the man who thought if you met him or his staff every night at 8:00 pm to get your daily fix of yellow, blue, pink, or green you could be cured from your worries. I mean, he’s not wrong. But yellow turns to blue and blue to pink and pink to green and then thousands of green clutter a controlled mind.  

“What did you say?” Samia asks.

“I was just like ‘Yeah, sure, whatever haha.”

“I would have just cleaned her room right then and there, just ignore her and start cleaning.”

“Oh, if only.”

A familiar buzz sounds through the halls. A calling for lost luggage, they want to keep alive. Too bad our owners aren’t coming to pick us up any time soon. Airport security was a hassle enough the first time.

Most of us groan and walk to  the assigned seats and watch the numbers. Dr. Vienna sits with the ones who watch too carefully. “Don’t you wish you were like them?” Says the blonde girl next to me, tapping my shoulder. “No Kamila, I don’t.” She rolls her eyes, “Well then you're crazy, imagine how easy it is for them. I can’t believe some of these girls came voluntarily. It’s like being Albert Einstein and then going to a camp that teaches you to be dumb.” Kamila eyes her cheesy potato cubes and boiled egg on veggies. She stuffs all of it in her pocket, one egg slice, one cube, one veggie at a time. Staring, being mesmerized by the girls who grasp control over uncontrollable behaviors. I want to tap her shoulder like she did to me but I know she’s so much more cluttered than me, she would trip over all her the mess in her brain to think that’s pretty. Mary walks to our table with her plate of food, a lunch of one cookie, one apple, two pieces of lean fish, a salad, and a baked potato. “Just be balanced.” Mary said, smiling shiny white teeth. “Do you really want to go into the cavern just to look like that? They’re miserable.” Kamila glared back, “Oh please Mary. All 5’8 of you would want to sit there and look like that. Everyone does.” Mary sits down, “Of course everyone does. But it’s not worth it. Besides, the cavern is so gross and if you go the wrong way you are done forever. You don’t even get to be them. “

Kamila scowled in disgust, “Ugh you know nothing! I already did, I got lost too but I’m going to go back and find my way in.” Mary laughed, “Kamila, you're going to go in there and never get out. You're going to want to keep going. But you won’t be able to. It’s like a cigarette, you’ll be addicted.” 

“What’s the cavern?” I popped in. They looked at me with shock.

 “You don’t know what the cavern is? It’s literally why almost everyone is in here. What are you in for then?” 

“My parents got sick of having a kid who doesn’t know how to love them.” My flat response. It didn’t even feel like I spoke, I just opened my mouth and the words fell into place. The ones I was hoping would never come out. 

“Oh.” They said in unison, eyes wary of the girl they once thought was innocent. Would it be better if I had gone into the cavern first? Got addicted to it, whatever ‘it’ may be.” Uneasily Mary explained, “If you haven’t gone into the cavern, it’s best you only know it by its code name. It’s not actually a cavern.” 

Kamila joined in, “I came in here for other reasons too, then I learned about it and started. You need something to distract you here. I mean but if you haven’t started it, find something else.”

“Just tell me what it is.”

They both looked at eachother, they seemed indecisive. Should we tell her? I could practically hear the words they looked at each other with. It couldn’t be that problematic, could it? “I’m sure I’ve heard of worse.” They both shook their heads. “It’s not that you haven’t.”

Kamila tried to explain.

“It’s just that you can’t try it once and be done. If you try it, you're done for. It’s not murder obviously, it’s...it’s like everything bad on this world is labeled in colors. Blue for normal, green for normal but you're slipping, orange for hey this is getting bad, and red for you messed up. The cavern pushes you to orange right? But then you like it so you keep going and slip down to red. Then it's like...it takes all of it’s rocks and barricades you with them. The oxygen is slowly slipping away, you know you will die. But in your mind that's worth it so you either die or someone pulls you out.  Hardly ever does anyone pull you out though.”

  

Chapter 2:

All week I had been curious to what the cavern was, jumping at any chance to pull the answer out of unsuspecting victims. Yet they always hushed me and pointed at a staff member or harshly whispered something along the lines of “if you don’t know you don’t need to. I shouldn’t be talking about this here.” Yet in every location I could find with every set of people available, the answer was always the same. Actually that's a false statement, as time went on the answers became more general and specific at the same time. The cavern was so wide, it had such an in depth storyline but from physical appearances it was normal and forgettable. The cavern came off as a stranger to me, a human I did not know who has a story that would make me cry if I read it.

 “Mama used to say that my eyes were a gift from the desert, that they were a sandy brown drought. “

That’s cute.” Commented Kamila. “My Mom used to call me a little bird. Since my legs used to be really skinny and I liked to wear my halloween costume wings like almost every day.”

“Did I say that out loud?” I ask.

“Yeah, you do that a lot, ponder quietly with a mysterious look on your face and then randomly drop in the crumble of words in your head.”

“Oh.”

           I’m pretty sure Mom used to say something like that. That my eyes seemed to get lost in the colourful realm, speechless to the greenery of new ideas and scenarios. I guess the cavern was a new scenario. I had spent two years at Oakwood, never once did the word cavern actually mean anything to me than the base definition. I suspected it was a hangout for teens to maybe drink or smoke, that’s why they called it addicting. But Mom also used to say “Your never far off from the truth once you make an assumption, your penny isn’t in the fairy’s hand but it’s going down the well, it’s getting closer.” It could be about smoking or drinking, but then they would have used another example to compare it to.  Reverse psychology? No, in the span of a few seconds they wouldn’t have been intellectual enough to corroborate such an intricate plan, unless they did... But they aren’t exactly top of the chain in terms of intelligence.

No, they certainly weren’t. One blank page could hold wiser knowledge than their  brains could ever learn in their lifetime. Maybe the way they mindlessly transferred their thoughts onto a piece of a paper got them an A, but they have no street smarts. A ratio that didn’t match Mary's agenda would throw her off her high horse into the dirt. If Kamila spoke a word everyone didn’t agree with she would resort back to the deep depths of her mind, not caring about the cobwebs and dirty floor. Everyone in this school is like this, stubborn, selfish brats who didn’t realise that sticking your nose in a book doesn’t make you a genius. It makes you an average person who gets a teacher's signature on her report card with a happy face sticker. Wow, good on you, a happy face, that’s going to get you through life? A happy face? 

“Little Madam, the one in the blue dress? Oh where is she, is she sticking out because of her oh so obvious dress? Or the fact that she isn’t hearing anything I’m saying?”

Everyone laughs with pasted smiles for an objective. Everyone knows Ms. Alejandra picks favorites. It’s all objective. Even her damn joke is objective, a power move, calling everyone out and making them laugh about it. Keep laughing, I’m not a clone.

Definitely not a clone of her favorites right now.

“Yes, Ma’am?” I speak, keeping my dignity upheld.

She sighs with annoyance, “Can you tell me what I was just explaining about chain rules?”

Chain rules, chain rules, chain rules...She must have just been covering it today, that fatuous fool Kamila was correct. The cavern was good for distracting you.

“I’m not sure.” I say, my voice felt like a particularly bad day on the ground near the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines.

Another sigh, this time with actual disappointed eyes. Did she expect me to know the complications of a couple of Xs and numbers labeled under-

“The derivative of f(g(x)) . g’(x) will always be f'(g(x))⋅g'(x).”

Everyone turned around to the raised hand and straight face of Alex Lyres. A matty mess of short, dirty blonde hair, bangs almost cocealing the never turned off glare in her green eyes.  Her limbs were long and skinny and danced in the wind every Friday where administrators let her be `recreational”.  

Alex Lyres who sits at the table with Dr. Vienna every day and goes to him personally for three green ones every night. She speaks seldom but when she does her words dive into your mind and almost as quickly as they come in, evaporate. She would know about the cavern, she was at the table Kamila admired specifically because people who were there  went in the cavern. Or should I say, went in too deep. But I’d have to rephrase my wording into a more casual conversation. You don’t just light a candle in a monster accompanied by darkness, you wait for the perfect time. 

Tick, Tock.

Tick, Tock.

Tick, Tock.

One-Forty. Two-a clock.

The bell dings its warning signs and Alex lifts her legs off the seat. In quick movements she makes her way to her bedroom. The teacher gives her that stern ‘what do you think you're doing’ look and she starts to slow down, hanging her head a little lower. 

“Alex! Hey!”

She looks around, uncomfortable that her name has been brought into the spotlight. Don’t worry Alex, give me the answers and the switch gets clicked off.

It gives her a chance though, a chance to slide her feet across the marble floor, static building in her soft teddy bear socks. 

“Alex, hey can I ask you something?”

“Sure, um…?”

I disregard her blank stare, notioning me to give out my name. My name has never been uttered in the walls of this wretched place and it never will. I won’t give it that power. 

“How do you do it?”

It’s like her facial features immediately morphed into a sweaty recognition about what I’m about to say.

“How do I do what?”

“Y’know…” I push, “How do you do the...cavern?”

She looks at me for a couple of seconds before shaking her head and storming away. I chase after her which isn’t hard because she speeds with caution. Why? We aren’t allowed to run in the halls but we can speed walk. She’s not going to get in trouble for speed walking.

“Yeah, I am.”

“I said that aloud?” I really need to stop doing that.

“No, I can just see it in your face. You're confused on why  I look so cautious. Yeah, I will get in trouble if I’m going ‘above average speed’ or whatever.”

My hand instinctively goes to grab my chin, I pause indecisively. It’s extra but it’s what you're supposed to do when you're confused. “Why?”

“Why do you think?” She snaps.

“I don’t know, why are you specific?”

“Not just me, everyone else in the cavern.”

My mind jumps back to the main objective and I robotically  move myself into a more sympathetic position. Arms crossed with pouty eyes, “Why wouldn’t they let you run just because you’ve been in the cavern?”

“Again, why do you think?”

“I don’t know?”

She looks at me up and down with quizzing eyes, her disbelief is obvious. I’m not sure what I did wrong, I guess I really need more information. 

Her eyes widened with shock, “Oh my god, are you that one girl who's trying to find the cavern? Oh, my friends told me you would try to find me, just forget about it!” 

I don’t care about much at all. The world is a blank page I’d like to keep clean, showing interesting written words I can not erase. If I try, the eraser marks will clutter what could have been a precise story of nothing. If I don’t care, nothing happens which is easier than risking your life for a second of happiness that will wash away. Yet, now, there are no warm arms to welcome me into a hug. No one is waiting for the three special words from me anymore. My desire from others has faded away to a past sentence no one will ever flip a page back to again. No one wants me, I have no purpose. It would make the three years pass a little bit faster, maybe once I’m out I can prove I am still deserving of those arms.

I’m not playing by a script anymore, the stage has disappeared. Emotions come rushing back as the dam has broken with that one phrase. I can’t forget about it, I can’t be denied again. Just give me something to latch onto, please.

My voice cracks and eyes water, alien sobs escape my cracked lips. Alex watches as I fall to the ground. I can’t understand why I’m crying. I don’t know what’s going on. I just know that I still feel no matter how much I want to deny. Suddenly I feel those warm arms I’ve been longing for since the first day I stepped foot into Oakwood. Alex cloaks me in kindness while I stare blankly at the dizzy walls. “Are you okay?” Alex asks.

“No.” I reply.

Alex sighs and pulls me up, “I...do you consider yourself-like...doomed? Do you think of yourself as a time bomb?”

“No, that’s idiotic.”

She looks at me with eyes that are confused, “When you get out of here, you have hope?”

I’m about to say yes, yes of course I do. I don’t even deserve to be here, I didn’t do anything. I’m fine, I-

The strong glass walls reinforced with thick creamy clay blocks  show me a reflection of a stranger. I can’t speak for her.

“I don’t know.”

“Ok.”

Alex starts walking down the hall so I follow, feeling sheepish and insecure. What just happened? Her dorm room  is void of decoration and sound, an echoless big room. 

She motions for me to go in, so I do. 

“You want to know what the cavern is?”

“Yes, obviously.”

“Ok, choose.”

She lays out three items on her bed, “Choose one.”

There is a toothbrush, a jug, and a box with cloth inside.

“How did you get this all? The toothbrush isn’t used right?”

“On my rare free days, I collect what I can.”

“You hid this? I’ve heard of smuggling phones, but a humongous jug?”

“You’d be surprised what siblings can smuggle in for you when they're giving you ‘clothes’?”

I look at the random items, “What is the point of these? What are you trying to prove, just tell me!”

She looks at me with annoyance, “Do you want to do this my way or get someone else's help. Trust me, if you really want to know you're going to do it my way. No one is as sadistic as I am to help you.”

Chapter 3:

I took the toothbrush, unsure of the faith that comes with it. I already have one so it just lies in my cabinet drawer, waiting for it’s mysterious day to arrive. I’m not sure really what or how this will lead me to the cavern. I’ve been trying it out though, in every situation I can’t really find a way to use it. So, again, my only choice is to hint a subtle lie, a little dancing shadow among the white imperial clouds. I hinder my speed from each class so Kamila’s wistful, disorganized eyes can zero in on me. Her being, well her, she’s obviously going to ‘casually’ speed up to me so she can initiate a conversation about her busy schedule. I’ll listen, or at least pretend to, while she goes on about being so tired her eyes nearly popped out from studying so she couldn’t get that one math page done and can she copy mine? 

That’s boring and I don’t have time though.

“Hey! Were you waiting up for me?” Kamila asks, tapping my shoulder.

“You can copy my math page Kamila.” I say dryly, she's not the only one who's tired from studying. 

“Excuse me?” She asks, tone offended. She walks in front of me and places her hands on her hips. “Why would you think I need that?”

“Why else would you be talking to me?” I ask, did I misread why she always sped up to me in the hallways? I’m not in any clubs, I don’t think I can help her with advice for that.

“What the hell do you mean? ‘Cause you're my friend?” Her structure relaxes a little bit, seeing my face soften into a concerned look. I wrinkled my nose a little more so I look less offensive and more defensive. ‘Slouch a bit, look down. She’s mad.’ I think to myself. It’s working.

Then the words set in and I stop for a second. The definition of a friend is a person you have a bond of mutual affection with.

“‘I’m not affectionate towards you.” I say.

Kamila looks at me with that studying eyes of hers, “Yeah, so?”

“Then we aren’t friends.”

“Yeah, but-”

“There is no “but”, that’s the exact definition of friend.”

She sighs with frustration, “Do you like garlic bread?”

“What does that have to do with-”

“Do you?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

She pulls out a dictionary from her satchel, “The definition of  like is to have love, respect, and admiration for something. Tell me, do you admire garlic bread?”

“To be honest, food is quite neutral as a whole to me-”

Her face looked tired and annoyed so I cut it off.

“No, I don’t admire garlic bread.”

Her face transforms from drowsy monday to a bright sunday morning, “Exactly!” With that, she strided off with her red sneakers bouncing off the marble floor through the endless hallways. I never got to ask her about the toothbrush.

Why are people so complicated? I don’t understand any of them. Why doesn’t anyone want anything from me here?

[cole-cliffxrd-art]

Draco Malfoy one shot

I threw myself down onto the couch, infuriated. After a long day of studying and being ridiculed by the most annoying human I’ve met in this goddamn school I was ready for a break. The common room was unusually quiet at the moment probably due to there being a big quidditch game between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor this afternoon. I was usually keen to watch Gryffindor get their asses smashed out on the pitch but due to being so tired I wasn’t in the mood for it.

I splayed myself out on the dark leather, flipping open one of my spell books to write some more annotations from Flitwick’s class today. We learnt how to cast some easy charms today but I wouldn’t like how to forget them soon. My mind wandered off to that infuriating blonde boy and how he was messing with my notes earlier today. Grabbing them in the hallway from my arms and holding them above my head.

If I could’ve cursed him in that moment I would’ve. Such a shame its banned from Hogwarts. I could’ve hexed that shit eating grin off of that prick. I rolled my eyes and tried to focus back on my spell book. In that moment all the candles blew out as a breeze came from the newly opened door to the common room. I groaned, I couldn’t be bothered to try and light them again, maybe one of the house elves might come by later and re-light them. It was dark now, dark enough that I couldn’t read my page but the iridescent light from the lake cast a lowly glow over the room.

I wanted to call out the idiot who let the breeze in but as the footsteps neared I recognised the sound. The clack of the black dress shoes against the floor is what got me. Most people wear soft soled shoes or even sandals in the summer but no, this uptight bastard wore hard heeled shoes all year round. I ignored him in the hopes of him being deterred. “Lumos” I lit my wand and continued to take notes and scrawl over my book until it was once more ripped from my hands.

“What do you want Malfoy?” I snapped, lurching myself from my comfortable position on the couch to stand up and get in his face...well chest as I couldn’t quite reach his face. I threw my quill to the ground with my books for effect.

He laughed, finding my anger amusing. I really shouldn’t give him the time of day considering. “Nothing, Just was wondering why a Mudblood like you would be so interested in your spell book.” I rolled my eyes, here it was again. This same argument. Blah blah blah only Purebloods should be allowed into Hogwarts let alone Slytherin, how dare they let anyone else in. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit.

“Why aren’t you at the game?” I tried to change the subject in attempts to distract him so I could grab my book from those long slender fingers of his.

This seemed to work, a small smirk crept across his face as he thought. “Now usually I would love to see Potter get hit by a few bludgers, whether it be rain or sunshine but I got bored. I notice you aren’t at the game either though?”

I retreated, trying to gather up some of my books from the floor along with my quill. “Thought I could get some studying in, seeing as someone kept distracting me today with his increasingly obnoxious remarks and actions.” I looked up to glare at the blonde boy for a moment before going to reach for my last book. A foot stopped me, pressing down onto my transfiguration book - wedging it down onto the hard stone floor.

“Move,” I gave his foot a shove - dropping my other books in the process.

This seemed to amuse him more. I really shouldn’t humour him in such way. “Oh,” he raised an eyebrow. “You were distracted by me?”

I laughed, “don’t flatter yourself Draco. You’re pretty fucking annoying.”

“I’m pretty?”

Ugh, I cant win with him. I never can, he’s a lost hope. “No prettier than any muggle.” I bit back, grabbing my book harshly from under his foot. He slipped backwards and fell to the floor. His face turned from shock to anguish to anger within a matter of a few seconds.

Draco crawled forwards quickly, shoving me back too. My wand cluttered to the floor and the light went out. I scrambled for it but was grabbed by my ankle and pulled backwards. “Fucking Mudblood, take that back.” I looked up at him, fire overtook his shining silver eyes. I took a swing at his pale face but his hand caught me. “Don’t” he warned harshly.

I went still, panting from the quick movements from before, what was even happening? Many of my fights with him had never ended up getting as physical as this. His hand slipped down my wrist - pressing it to the floor as his body hovered over mine. His hand squeezed mine harshly to the point that a pain sprung out from my wrist. I yelped out in pain. “Draco, you’re hurting me.” I looked worriedly up into those anguished eyes of his. I expected to see anger radiating through them, but instead a brief flash of concern washed over his sharp features.

His hand softened on mine and he pulled back. I didn’t expect an apology from him, he wouldn’t stoop that low. I scampered away from him, grabbing my books quickly and shuffling them together. I quickly skirted off to my room, leaving him sitting on the floor in the common room.

x x x

“Go away Draco,” I yelled behind me as I walked around a corner, one corridor to another. I’d just finished divination class with Professor Trelawney and of course that idiot tried to talk to me on the tower staircase.

I basically ran down the stairs, trying to get as far away from that Slytherin as I could. My care of magical creatures class in ten minutes could wait, I had to ditch the blonde haired silver eyed boy first. I raced down the stairs to the dungeons, hoping to wait him out in my bedroom. The footsteps behind me got louder and louder. I slammed the common room door in his face, leaning my back against it. The look of hurt that I’d just seen a brief flash of in that moment where I’d shut the door confused me. What was he trying to do?

I took a step away from the door, giving myself a moment before I let it swing open. He stepped through slowly and cautiously, watching my movements as if he were wondering if I’d attack him again. I looked around the common room, it was eerily quiet again. Great now I was left alone with this git. I sighed and walked towards the couches, with him in tow. I dropped my satchel containing my books and orb from divination to the ground before leaning against the armrest. I crossed my arms for effect.

“What do you want Draco?” I signed again, a long sigh. I was tired of all this, I hope he knew that.

He threw his hands up in the air, he looked as defeated as I felt. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m sick of keeping up this false pretence.”

I dropped my arms from my chest. “What?”

He moved forwards slightly, just slight enough for me to recognise that there wasn’t much space between us. “I just want you to stop hating me.” Draco whispered. He put one hand on my shoulder causing shocks to move through my body.

I looked up at his pale face, seeing the slight pink tint to his cheeks, his platinum hair was messy and falling into his eyes. My eyes trailed down to his chest. His shirt was wider open than usual, his tie loose around his neck. I could see a small freckle upon his collarbone that was protruding out sharply. I had to admit his sharp jawline was elegant in a way, such a shame it was connected to an irritating person.

“I don’t hate you,” I whispered back. I didn’t know why we were whispering, nobody was in the common room, they were probably all at class - like we should be. His eyes lit up at my comment. “I just wish you’d give up on all this Mudblood shit and annoying me, I didn’t choose my parents, just like you didn’t choose yours. You must know hoe that feels.”

He nodded. I knew his story, there was always talks in Slytherin of Deatheaters and who’s parents are one, were one, gonna be one. Draco’s parents famously are Deatheaters and he’s expected to be one, whether or not he likes it. He hung his head lowly for a moment - thinking about what I said before looking into my eyes again. He brushed my red hair from my face before resting his other hand on my waist.

“I know.” He sounded so quiet, his voice cracked and that was it for me. I moved forwards in attempts to soothe the boy, but I awkwardly elbowed him in the ribs and knocked my face into his. His hand flew up to my face to stop me from falling any further into him, moving away from me his lips brushed against mine. My eyes went wide as so did his.

“Ah fuck,” he pulled away and I leant back further onto the couch, hoping to cease to exist somehow. Could I just obliterate myself now and here? Fuck.

I wiped my lips with my middle and index fingers, feeling the warmth that irradiated from them now. “I’m sorry,” I looked up at Draco, knowing he wouldn’t apologise. But I felt genuinely bad for elbowing him before.

“I’m not.” He rushed forwards once more, cupping my face with his hands and slamming his lips against mine. Shocks went off in every which way of my body as I settled into the kiss. I wrapped my arms around his back, pulling the boy closer to me. His fingers moved, grasping at my shirt and pulling my tie free, dipping his hands underneath the fabric and pushing it up.

I grasped at his hair, entangling my fingers in it as I moved my mouth against his. He wrapped his arms under my legs and pulled them out from under me, I instinctively wrapped them around his hips, holding on for dear life as he swung me around. He settled on the couch next to us leaning back comfortably as he began to pepper kisses down my throat. I shifted my legs and began to straddle him, lifting myself off of the couch slightly.

I kissed his forehead as it passed my lips, Draco’s sliver hair gleamed with a green tint from the light. He pulled away and mischievously grinned up at me. “I can’t believe I’m making out with a Mudblood.” There was a humorous tone to his voice so I took it as a shitty joke.

“Shut up Draco,” I said with a smile and moved my head down once more to kiss him.

[sieben9]

“hyperion heights” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

::plays “New Season” from Galavant::

…look, I’ve got the thing stuck in my head, and I thought I’d share.

I liked the episode? I think? There’s a lot of set-up and not a whole bunch of plot, but I think I like the things that were set up. And the characters definitely got off to a strong start (with one little problem I’ll get to later), so that’s always a plus for me.

More under the cut.

OK, so the flashback was a good, solid foundation for further conflict. Henry and Cinderella had some solid chemistry, and the twist to her particular version of this tale was one I did not see coming.

murderous Disney princess in a poofy dress on a motorcycle is definitely a Look™

I have to say, getting in a traffic collision with your future partner is... actually very on-brand for every single part of Henry’s family. Glad to see you’re keeping traditions alive, pal. (And yes, that explicitly includes Regina, who found her first girlfriend through breaking and entering.)

And it’s ...let’s say “nice” to see that Lady Tremaine, in whatever universe we see her, still continues to be The Worst. More on that below, but I found it interesting that one mainstay of OUaT seems to be that no, she’s horrible to all her children and not just her stepdaughter. It’s just different kinds of terribleness. I’m also wondering if Cinderella just has the one step-sister in this version (I know for a fact that there are some out there where that’s the case) or if it’s a plot point. And if there really is only one sister, the next question is: where is she? Did something horrible happen? And if so, was it the result of her mother’s terribleness or (part of) the cause? So many questions, so little time~

…can you tell I’m loving this bit? I mean, I hate her guts, but she intrigues me, which is always great. (Me? Latching on to a villain? What a strange thing to happen.)

The closing shot for the flashback plotline is very promising, with Henry deciding that no, home can wait, the strange lady who punched him in the face and almost framed him for murder needs help, first. …you know, I can’t even tell which part of his family he gets it from, because they are all completely bananas.

you grew up great, buddy

Also, just as a closing question: does he have a magic motorcycle? Is that why it doesn’t need fuelling up in however long it’s been since he left Storybrooke? Just asking.

I mentioned my one problem with the modern-day cast at the top, and I’ll just get right into it: my biggest problem at this point is not comparing everyone’s “roles” to the original cast configuration. Like, “Roni” doing Snow’s job (even if her temper is very different from Mary Margaret’s). Henry isn’t Emma, even if he’s the “new guy in town”, and Lucy isn’t Henry, even if she clearly inherited his “little shit” genes. (I love her so much, but how her mother manages her on her own, I will never know. Victoria Belfrey sure as hell isn’t Regina, because Regina would never treat any child of hers this way, thank you very much. In fact, I wonder if she and Cora went to the same school for being a terrible mom together. That’s the level of “I do not like this person” I’m on.

Still, the Hyperion Heights people seem like a good bunch, and I look forward to seeing more of them.

Henry is a lovable fuck-up who thinks he made up the entirety of the show so far and managed to squeeze it all into one book. My guy. I know what the transfer rate from TV to prose is. You could never fit that in one volume.

at least not that one. that’s... what? 600 pages, tops?

And is it just me or did his particular role in the curse take a fucking dark turn? Because it’s bad enough to separate everyone from their loved ones, but giving the guy fake memories of his wife and child burning to death in a house fire? Just… wow. Please let the poor man remember soon because this will be haunting me until then.

Speaking of things that will haunt me…

They didn’t recognise each other and I was not prepared for the complete gut-punch that was. They were sitting there, looking at each other, and they didn’t know. Guh! (And yes, I am 100% convinced that Roni is, in fact, Roni and not Regina, because she might have kept up the pretence for a good enough reason, but she’d never have kept that good a poker face; I also doubt she would have given her son and his not-quite-date strong liquor at before 4pm)

Special mention goes to Henry’s line of “imagine if I were to walk in here and say that I’m your son”, because yeah, imagine you doing that. To anyone. What a crazy thing, right? (

And while I’m on the topic of Roni…

I love her so much. Everything about her. Her attitude, the way she moves, the Looks™ she gives people, her voice… Yeah, I may not be entirely objective on the topic, why do you ask. I am also looking forward immensely to seeing her butt heads with Belfrey. Because of reasons.

this scene is 95% of the reasons

I also wrote in my notes “so the villain this season is gentrification?” and honestly, I don’t think I was that far off. There’s definitely a strong theme of class in this set-up, and I hope the writers carry that through at least a little.

A quick rundown of the other characters, while I’m at it:

I like Jacinda well enough, although her main character trait at the moment seems to be “really, really stressed out”. Which is fair. She’s a single mom with Belfrey as her only family connection. Her scene with Henry in the bar and with Lucy at the well was extremely adorable, though, so I’m optimistic as for future developments. (And Cinderella bought her some goodwill because she was determined and vulnerable and scared and generally amazing in all the right ways. I liked that version of her, and it’s been established that your cursed self hardly puts your best traits on display.) I definitely smiled when she made that wish at the well.

Good on you, not giving up hope. (And I immensely appreciated the way it was set parallel to Henry finally writing that first sentence of his.)

I’m… not 100% sure who her roommate is meant to be, which is going to irk me until I am, but I can live with a little mystery in my life *g*

I have no idea what Weaver’s deal is, but I really hope he isn’t awake this one time around.

please take that man’s head out of the water

Rumple as a police officer is… uh, a special kind of hilarious. A really terrible one, too. And now he’s partnered up with not-Hook, which, to coin a phrase, I’m sure they’ll all laugh themselves sick about some day. I’m interested in seeing what his connection with not-Alice is. Both in the modern-day plot and in the flashbacks, because there’s usually some kind of interplay between the two storylines.

Rogers is… not on screen that much. He seems nice. Which is already a better opinion than I had of uncursed!Hook, and that is a crying shame because they’re all bound to wake up at some point. Still, I’m holding out hope. People have said good things about Hook in this season.

Apart from all that, there’s also an implied mystery in this season that I really like, and it’s “who, exactly, cast the curse?”

I mean, it’s clear that the show is setting up Lady Tremaine as the Big Bad, but 1) I’m not new here, I know how much these writers love their villain fake-outs, and 2) I get the feeling that her whole “magic can be taken away blah blah” speech might be meant to give a hint that it’s not, in fact, her.

god, I hate her so much already; it’s delightful

Which leaves the question of “OK, then who?” and I… have a few thoughts. Which I will keep to myself until at least three episodes in because I doubt that we’ve met all parties involved at this point.

In short: on strength of its characters alone, I am cautiously excited for this new season. Bring it on!

And, because it didn’t fit anywhere else:

The keychain made it through!

[swanqueeneverafter]

What Dreams May Come, Pt. 3

A New Realm. Night. (Henry gallops along the forest path toward the place he first met Ella.) Henry: "Cinderella! (Dismounts:) Cinderella, I'm here! Cinderella?! (Horse neighs:) Yeah, I know. I was crazy to think she'd come. (Horse whinnies:) Ah, you get it. (At that moment, Henry's cellphone buzzes. Taking it out of his pocket, he sees the alarm set for midnight and, sure enough, the portal home opens before him. Sighs:) All right, time to go home. (To the horse:) Thanks for the ride." (Stepping forward, Henry enters the portal and vanishes.) Kingdom of Valencia. The Next Day. (King Richard sits upon the throne of Valencia, Gareth stood by his side as the Chef enters the room, noisily wheeling in a tray of food.) Chef: “A midday snack, My King?” King Richard: “Come up here. (Cautiously, the Chef climbs the dais:) What happened to the other chef? Looked just like you, but... older, more wrinkly.” Chef: “My father?” King Richard: “Right. What happened to him?” Chef: “You had him killed, sir.” King Richard: “Hmm?” Chef: “Your mutton was too rare.” King Richard: “Well, that doesn't sound like me.” Chef: “You killed his father before him. Your family has killed the last four generations of chefs in my family. It's not a great job, My King.” King Richard: (Despondently:) “I'm such a bully. I'm under a terrible amount of pressure. You have to understand that.” Chef: “Oh, it's fine, My King. Don't worry about it.” King Richard: “Oh, Gareth, I try so hard to please her. I invade a kingdom for a jewel, I respect her vow of chastity, and yet ever since Madelena saw that man fight off all my guards, she compares me to him and I have to hear it over and over again: ♪ Be a man! ♪ ♪ Be a man! ♪ ♪ Blah, blah, blah, blah, be a man! ♪ (Stands:) ♪ I want her, need her, crave her, yes, it's true. ♪ (Steps down from the dais:) ♪ But now she is not the only thing I desperately want to do. ♪ (Is suddenly flanked by two guards.) ♪ I want to shoot him with a crossbow ♪ ♪ I want to stab him in the eye ♪ (Begins dancing with a random courtier:) ♪ I want to liberate his head from his neck ♪ ♪ And then punt the bloody wreck sky high ♪ (Moves on to dance alone:) ♪ I want to hurl him out a window ♪ ♪ And shove explosives where the sun don't shine ♪ ♪ Want to skewer him with swords ♪ ♪ Then slowly twist them ♪ ♪ All around his reproductive system ♪ ♪ Won't that be divine? ♪ ♪ Then she'll be mine ♪ Gareth: (Bellowing at everyone gathered in the throne room:) “Everybody sing!” Guards: ♪ Ahh ♪ ♪ And then you'll do it every evening ♪ King Richard: ♪ Sweet God, at last! ♪ Guards: ♪ In every room on every floor ♪ King Richard: ♪ Till I can't do it anymore ♪ Gareth: ♪ And with no hero distracting your bride ♪ King Richard: ♪ We could start a genocidal war ♪ Guards & Courtiers: ♪ Yay, we're gonna go to... ♪ Wait, what?! King Richard: ♪ I'll get back to all my hobbies ♪ ♪ Like raising taxes and tormenting the poor ♪ Guards: ♪ Crush those poor! ♪ King Richard: (Begins dancing with the Chef:) ♪ Won't that be divine? ♪ (Tosses him aside.) Guards & Courtiers: ♪ Ahh ♪ King Richard: ♪ And she'll be mine ♪ Guards & Courtiers: ♪ Ia la la la ♪ King Richard: ♪ Just mine, all mine ♪ Guards & Courtiers: ♪ Ia la la la ♪ King Richard: ♪ Mine, all mine, all mine! ♪ (Everyone in the room is dancing, Richard with Gareth, the courtiers and guards form a large circle to give the song its big finish.) King Richard: (Seating himself back upon the throne:) “Well, that was ripping!”

Storybrooke. Swan-Mills House. Morning. (As the morning sun makes its way across the sky and its rays trickle through the bedroom window, Emma slowly opens her eyes. Squinting, she lifts her head briefly before remembering it’s the weekend. Just as she’s about to roll over however, Emma hears noises coming from the bathroom. Lifting the covers and stepping out of bed, Emma makes her way over to the bathroom door. Listening outside for a moment, she relaxes slightly when the sound of the shower running is heard. Waiting outside with her hand hovering over the door handle for a full minute, Emma gently knocks on the door before entering. The sight that greets her causes the blonde’s heart to ache. Sitting on the floor of the shower, knees drawn up to her chest, is Regina. Despite the falling water, Emma can tell the brunette is crying.) Emma: (Softly:) “Regina?” Regina: (Sniffling:) “Why does it have to be so hard?” Emma: (Nods:) “I know. I know.” Regina: “I eat what I like, I get sick. Then I eat what I’m ‘supposed to’ and I get sick. I work less: sick. I stop work completely: sick. But even that would be bearable if I could just get a damn full night’s sleep.” Emma: (Stepping into the shower to turn off the water, Emma then takes her wife’s hand and lowers herself to sit across from her on the tiled floor:) “Do you want to go see Doctor Whale?” Regina: (Shaking her head:) “No. You heard what he said last time.” Emma: “When you threatened to rip his arm off and beat him with it?” Regina: (Lowering her head to her knees:) “Yeah. I know that what’s happening is amazing and I already love this baby more than I can say-“ Emma: “But it’d be nice if she would cut you some slack, huh?” Regina: (Raising her head:) “Yeah. If it was just a little easier, just by a tiny amount.” Emma: (Nodding:) “That’d be great.” (Moving onto her knees, Emma pulls her wife in for a warm embrace.) Regina: (Sighs:) “Soon you won’t even be able to wrap your arms around me and then my misery will be complete.” Emma: “Shh. I’ll always be able to wrap my arms around you. (Teasing:) Or parts of you, at least.” Regina: (With a rueful smile:) “Some prize I am, huh?” Emma: (Gently lifting Regina’s chin to meet her gaze:) “You are lovelier this morning than you have ever been. I only wish there were a way I could make you feel better.” Regina: “Just hold me a little longer?” Emma: “I’m not going anywhere, ever.” Swan-Mills House. Upstairs Hallway. A Few Minutes Earlier. (Having returned home, Henry is attempting to reach his room without waking his parents when he overhears their conversation. Realising he may have a way to help his moms, Henry decides to share his secret with them.)

A New Realm. Valencia. (Queen Madelena looks on disgusted as King Richard is being fed like a child by the Chef.) Chef: (Holding up a spoonful:) “Catapult at the ready.” (Richard opens his mouth and the Chef feeds him.) King Richard: (Clapping:) “Mm mm mm!” Chef: “More? (Richard nods:) Which… (Richard points to something on the plate and the Chef scoops it up for him:) This one, this one?” King Richard: “Mm. Mm-hmm.” Chef: (Holding up the spoon once more:) “This one's coming on horseback.” Gareth: (Watching from his position by the window:) “Chef! Why don't you let the king feed himself in front of his wife? She's watching.” Chef: (Despite this, continues feeding the king:) “Open your drawbridge! Here comes the cannonball!” King Richard: (Chews for a moment:) “Ohh! Ew! There's fat on this piece. I don't like it. Take it out.” Chef: “All right. All right.” (When the Chef reaches into the king’s mouth to remove the offending piece of food, Madelena has seen enough.) Queen Madelena: (Stands:) “Right. Okay. Well... (Clears throat:) That's going to do it for me.” King Richard: “But, darling, you've barely touched your roast peacock.” Queen Madelena: “Chef, be a doll and shove a few more cannonballs down my husband's throat. I'm growing weary of his voice.” (She leaves.) King Richard: “Never start a marriage with a kidnapping. Both of you promise me that right now.” Gareth: “Yeah, we promise, My King.” Chef: “Rock-solid advice, My King.” King Richard: “Still, it’s fine. I'm sure once I kill that hero that took down my guards in front of her, she'll change her tune. (Neither Gareth or the Chef will meet his eye:) What's with the awkward silence?” Gareth: “Uh, it's...” King Richard: “What?” Gareth: “No, it's nothing.” King Richard: “Speak.” Gareth: “Well, um, I just think... And I say this very respectfully, Sire... You got to man up. You got to butch up for her a little bit.” King Richard: “Me?” Gareth: “Yeah!” King Richard: (Laughing, stands:) “I'm sorry, Gareth. I am Mr. Butch! (Throws down his napkin and notices something:) Oh, poop! I got gravy on my tummy flowers. (Gasps:) Oh, my God. You're right.” Gareth: (Nods:) “Come with me, Sire.” Storybrooke. Swan-Mills House. Kitchen. (Regina and Emma are making breakfast together when Henry enters the room.) Henry: "Hey guys." Emma: "Hey." Regina: "Good morning, Henry." Henry: (Cautiously:) "How's everyone feeling?" (Emma and Regina glance at each other before answering.) Emma: "Great." Regina: "Couldn't be better. Happy to see you in a better mood." Henry: "Yeah, about that. I know I haven't been the best son lately and I'm sorry. But I want to make it up to you both." Emma: "Henry, that's not necessary we just-" Henry: "No, please, let me get this out." Regina: (Concerned:) "Is everything all right?" Henry: (Nods:) "Yeah, or it will be. Could you please both sit?" (Henry pulls out a chair for Regina who takes a seat while Emma brings over the pan containing the pancakes and places it on the chopping block before sitting down.) Emma: "What is it, Henry? You know you can tell us anything." Henry: (Takes a deep breath:) "Okay, the reason I've been all distracted lately is because I've found something awesome. Better than any video game or travelling across Europe could ever be." Regina: "Okay..." Henry: "And I want you guys to share in it too. I think it could be just what you guys are looking for." Emma: "Well wait, what is it you think we're looking for?" Henry: (Hesitates:) "I heard you both earlier. I didn't mean to eavesdrop but... (Looks to Regina:) I heard what you're going through and I really think this could help." Regina: "What are you talking about, Henry?" Henry: "Oh it's way too difficult to explain, I'll have to show you." Emma: "Great. But first, breakfast." Regina: (Nods:) "I'm famished." Henry: (Smiles:) "Cool."

A New Realm. Valencia. (King Richard opens the doors to Gareth’s chambers and walks inside.) King Richard: (Looking around:) “Holy cow! This is your room?! (Sniffs:) What’s that smell?” Gareth: “Testosterone.” King Richard: (Sniffs again:) “Mmm. Musky.” Gareth: “Look, if you want your wife to respect you, you've got to earn her respect. You need to man up.” King Richard: (Sighs:) “I wouldn't even know where to begin.” Gareth: “Well, it just so happens you're talking to the professor in the art of manhood. And I'm gonna give you a makeover.” King Richard: “Gareth, I cannot thank you enough. Come here, you!” Gareth: (Warningly:) “Hey, I've only ever hugged one man in my life, and it was the day my father died. (Sighs:) I squeezed that rotten bastard to death.” King Richard: “Right. We'll hug later. Good talk.” The Enchanted Forest. (Henry leads his parents into Xanax’s Laboratory.) Emma: “Hmm. This is… cozy.” Regina: “It’s an attic.” Xanax: “Excuse me, madam, but this is my laboratory.” Regina: (To Emma:) “It’s an attic.” Henry: “Moms, may I present, Xanax the magician.” Xanax: (Grunts, getting to his feet:) “Actually, I'm not legally allowed to call myself a magician anymore 'cause of the whole... (Sighs:) Thing. Don't worry about it. Think of me as a spiritual guide. I'm allowed to... Call myself that. Anyone can. It's meaningless.” Regina: (Taking Henry aside:) “Henry, this is the place you’ve been spending your time? (Looking around:) I think I’m getting an infection just by standing here.” Toad: “Ribbit.” Emma: (Pointing to the man sitting on the floor:) “Who’s that?” Xanax: “It’s Toad. He’s cool.” Toad: “Ribbit.” Xanax: (Chuckles:) “Don't ask. (At Emma’s concerned look:) He was a toad. I did a spell... turned him into a human-ish... Type thing. So, uh, yeah. I flipped it.” (Laughs.) Regina: “Oh dear lord.” Xanax: (Walking towards a table:) “Anyway, Henry, to what do I owe the pleasure of meeting your, quite frankly, stunning parents?” Henry: “Well, it’s no big deal, I just wanted to show them what you do. What you can do for them.” Xanax: “And what seems to be the problem?” Regina: (Before Henry can continue:) “Are you a licensed… whatever you are?” Xanax: (Chuckles:) “Does it look like I’m licensed to do anything?” Regina: “Henry-” Henry: “Mom, it’s fine, trust me. (To Xanax:) My mom is kinda having trouble sleeping at night… complications due to pregnancy.” Regina: (Chiding:) “Henry.” Henry: “It’s okay.” Xanax: “Yeah, I can see that. If these are your parents, who’s the father?” Emma: “I am.” Xanax: (Thinks a moment:) “Oh! You’re that Emma and Regina. The queen and the savior? The ones who united the realms with true love’s kiss.” Regina: “Clearly our reputation proceeds us.” Xanax: (Chuckles:) “Oh, you ain’t kidding. Because of you, my business has skyrocketed.” Henry: “I thought I was your only customer?” Xanax: “Well, yeah, that’s what I mean. Before you, I didn’t have any.”

Emma: (Squeezing Regina’s hand before she can say anything:) “Let’s just see if he can help, okay?” Regina: (Sighs:) “Fine.” Xanax: “Xanax can help anything.” Emma: “Wonderful.” Xanax: (Burps loudly:) “Bit of wind there. Ooh. Right. Let's get you started.” Regina: (As Xanax starts mixing ingredients into a cauldron:) “This is a... Kind of disgusting little workstation, isn't it?” Xanax: “Did you see the toilet? It's basically a window. And by ‘window,’ I mean ‘hole’... in the wall. It works. (Pick up another ingredient:) One of them. Oh. Toad spotted it. (Waving the item teasingly:) You'd love that, wouldn't you? (Chuckles:) That goes in. Ready. Let's do this. (Xanax ladles the mixture into a bowl which bubbles with smoke:) Oooooooooooh. Now the magic words. (Picking up a wand:) Abracadabra. Alakazam. (Mumbling:) Habrazamdabra, flanimal ham. Try that now. It's all magic.” Emma: “You realise we know actual magic, right?” Regina: “You gave my son this potion?” Henry: “Many times. Moms, please. Just try it.” Regina: (Sighs. To Xanax:) “So, we just... Drink that down?” Xanax: “Yeah.” Emma: (Picking up the bowl, sniffing it:) “Ooh. That is…” Regina: “Pungent.” Xanax: “Yeah, that’ll be the anus.” Regina: “Oh, God.” Emma: “Oh, what the hell.” (Emma takes a sip of the potion then hands it to Regina who reluctantly does the same.) Xanax: “Excellent. Now, if you’ll all take your places on the floor.” Regina: “What?” Henry: “Relax, it’s all part of it.” Emma: (As she helps Regina onto the floor:) “What are you waiting for?” Henry: “Oh, I’m not going with you guys, I have my own place to be.” Xanax: (Cutting in:) “Welcome ladies, to your journey. There's bottles of water in easy reach. Please stay hydrated. And no kissing.” Regina: “Of course. Wait. What?” Xanax: “Oh... Shouldn't be an issue. But it has happened in the past, so I made a blanket rule... no kissing. (Chuckles:) Okay. Everyone ready?” Toad: “Ribbit.” Xanax: ♪ Close your eyes, open your mind ♪ ♪ Your journey's about to begin ♪ Regina: (Lifting her head off the pillows:) “He’s singing. Why is he singing? (Panicked:) No one mentioned anything about singing.” Henry: (Winces:) “Ah, yeah, I should’ve told you that randomly breaking into song can be a side-effect.” Regina: “Henry!” Xanax: ♪ Relax your karma and try not to barf ♪ ♪ As the universe starts to spin ♪ ♪ Hocus-pocus, expealadocious ♪ ♪ Set your aura free ♪ ♪ Petrificus totalis, drink deeply from the chalice ♪ ♪ Tell us what you see-e-e-e-e-e ♪ (As the room spins and both Emma and Regina succumb to the potions effects, a door appears at their feet.) Regina: (Sitting up quickly:) “I see a door!” Xanax: (Standing beside the door:) “Go through it! (Helping each other up, Emma and Regina hold hands and make their way through the door together. As they enter:) That’s magic!”

[danyka-fendyr]

As the Raven Flies: Part 9

Honestly, I’m too tired to do a proper intro so...blah blah blah, something self-detrimental, probably a heavy heaping of praise for Dream because I literally never shut up about her, and definitely something about how I’m the worst mixed into an apology for being like this and having the world’s flakiest fic schedule. Awkward closing comment.

Taglist: @dreamwritesimagines @rhabakoli @disengagefrmreality @superwolfchild-fan

Wordcount: 1910

Chapter 9: In which, Vivien does not want to just say goodnight and go.

Vivien tried not to think of the answer to the pressing questions of her guardians as they discussed who might have tried to kill them. She tried to shove the answers down deep inside her, hopefully, to never be found again. Even as she drowned, she tried to swallow the idea coming into her mind. But finally, after eliminating most other possibilities, Karen said the words she had been dreading.

“I don’t think it would have been anyone for Vivien. Nobody knows who she is. As a vigilante, I mean.”

Vivien took a shaky breath. Briefly, she wished that James was here. She pushed that completely useless thought aside, trying to pretend to herself that her hand wasn’t itching to hold someone else’s and that he hadn’t been the first person to come to mind.

“What if it was someone who knew me?” she whispered.

“Knew you as Diviner?” Karen frowned, worry about Vivien’s secret identity flooding her features.

“No.” Silence. “What if...what if it was someone coming for me. Someone who wasn’t very experienced with explosives. Someone who wanted to make me afraid. Someone who didn’t care about Diviner. Just wanted to hurt me.”

Gosh, why did she wish James was here so badly?

“Who would want to hurt you, Vivien?” Frank’s voice was a low rumble, laced with danger and some dark fury she had only seen flickers of so far.

“Karen,” Vivien didn’t look at her. “Did you ever read the newspaper clippings about how my family died.”

Karen was silent for a moment, that clever mind of hers working, putting pieces together faster than anyone else Vivien knew. “I wasn’t going to out of respect for you, but I just thought...”

“It’s alright. It’s public information.”

“They said terrible things about you,” Karen said quietly. 

She sounded so sad.

“I know.”

“What does your family have to do with any of this?” Frank asked.

Vivien didn’t answer, and neither did Karen because she was still thinking. Her brain working overtime, practically humming. Then, she gasped, the sound of a mental key unlocking.

“But he’s in jail,” she whispered.

“We should probably double-check that,” Vivien said, trying to pull up whatever was left of the bravado lying in tatters at her feet.

“Who is in jail?” Frank leaned forward on the couch, twisting his body to see both of their faces better.

“My brother,” Vivien said, hating the way the word sounded rolling off her tongue.

“I need to go make a phone call,” Karen said.

She sounded afraid. That was not comforting to Vivien. Not in the slightest bit.

Karen sat up, heading into the kitchen. Vivien could hear her pacing, her voice quiet as she spoke on the phone in panicked whispers and murmured words. She could feel her own panic growing, like a forest fire sparking up in her chest, rising higher and higher up into her throat, choking her, making her wish she could vomit up those flames.

When Karen walked out of the lousy excuse for a kitchen, her face was all the answer Vivien could have ever needed. It was pale, features all gaping wide with shock and fright. Vivien was going to be sick.

“Last night,” Karen whispered. 

“Why didn’t we hear about it on the news?” Frank asked.

He sounded like he was underwater.

“They’re trying to keep it quiet. They’re afraid of the panic it could cause if they let people know he’s loose, supposedly. I think they’re more afraid for their worthless reputation.”

Vivien’s vision swam in front of her eyes, and the whole room felt like it was tilting. She was so dizzy, the fear filling her up faster than she knew what to do with it. Pure, undiluted terror stripping her down to only her basest instincts. Self-control out the window, she texted James, even though the letters were swimming in front of her eyes. She needed him here. She could barely piece together why, but she just knew she needed his smiles and his warmth and the way he always got her to smile back and she had to smile, had to feel something other than this terror, because it was making her so cold. Icy little fingers clamping down on every piece of light in her life and dragging her down with the r panicked, malice-filled little whispers of that night.

There had been so much blood. Everywhere she had turned, blood. Someone was screaming. Screaming so loud, so earth-shattering, that even now Vivien couldn’t comprehend the agony behind it. The pain of it was blinding, white-hot, tearing her apart more than any knife could. It was her voice screaming, echoing through her own mind, a high keening sound barreling up from the depths of her memory.

It might have made it out into the room with Karen and Frank if she hadn’t passed out before she got the opportunity to draw enough breath for that kind of scream.

She came to slowly, her breathing easier than it had been before. That was the first thing she had noticed. She had forgotten to breathe after hearing...the news.

The next thing she noticed was her hand. It was warm, and she realized it was warm because someone else was holding it. She looked down to the larger, calloused hand holding her own, then trailed her eyes up the arm to see the boy attached to it. 

He looked tired, dark circles under his eyes nearly matching his inky hair. He also looked worried for her, something she had gotten used to from everyone else since the incident, but somehow had yet to get used to from him.

She flinched at the thought of that night, and his eyes cleared as he looked at her.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay,” he whispered, pushing back pieces of her hair and talking to her so gently she might have thought she was a wounded animal.

She had seen him help an actual wounded animal once. They had been hanging out at a park once since Karen said she needed to do something fun for the sake of doing something fun, and they stumbled across a baby bird that looked like it had fallen out of its nest and gotten lucky with only a hurt fledgling wing. James had treated that bird much the same way he treated her now, with the same gentle touches and quiet voice, except he seemed to care a lot more now.

Her breathing was already picking up again, thinking about what she had learned. She wanted to go back to sleep. To be knocked out for eternity and a day, if it meant she wouldn’t have to deal with her reality right now. She wanted to take James and lock herself away for a million years.

He shifted out of the chair he had dragged into her room so that he could sit by her bed, crawling in next to her and gathering her into his arms. He was warmer than her, and she realized she was shaking like a leaf, though not with the cold. She was just shaking, her hands trembling violently.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you. You’re okay,” he mumbled, holding her tight to his chest.

“I can’t...I can’t stop,” she said breathlessly, staring at her hands.

“I know. Just breathe, Vivien. Just breathe,” he told her.

He took one of her hands, placing it over his heart, where his own chest fell in a steady rise and fall. She concentrated on that, trying to match it, trying to mimic his pace. Slowly, her shaking stopped, and James pushed the hair out of her face again. 

“I’m going to go get you some juice. You’re in shock. You need to drink it to help your body cope. Do you understand?”

Vivien nodded, lacking the energy to snap at him, to tell him that she could understand simple instructions.

He came back with a glass of apple juice, and Vivien drank it all slowly. The house was quiet enough that she got the feeling Karen and Frank were sleeping, but she asked anyway.

James nodded. “They didn’t want to go to sleep. They were trying to insist they watch over you, but I volunteered. Promised them I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you. Not that I had any other choice what with Frank putting a knife to my throat.”

Normally she would have laughed, been angry. Instead, she just stared at her empty juice cup.

“I’m sorry.” The words were deeply sad.

“It’s okay. He’ll warm up to me eventually.”

“Will he though?” The corners of her mouth started to turn up a little in a smile.

“He will. I’m going to work on him. Everyone succumbs to my charm eventually. Even you and you are a very hard to please woman, Vivien.”

“I think my demands are perfectly reasonable.” This was easy. This banter was nice and familiar.

“Are you going to be okay?” He asked.

“I don’t know. I don’t feel okay.”

“I know.”

She leaned back into him, and he let her, body adjusting to accommodate for hers. She was smaller than him, and so it was easy to fit herself into his side and lean her head against the place where his shoulder met his chest, the muscle holding the two together smooth and perfectly fitted to cradle her head. Even if it hadn’t been, James’ hand still stroking her hair would have supported her head.

“I can’t stop...I can’t stop thinking about it. I can’t stop going back there.”

His breathing hitched like he was in pain. Maybe he was, but she couldn’t see his face to know. A second later, his voice answered the question for her.

“You should try to sleep some more,” he said. It wasn’t the cloistering sweetness of sympathy in his voice, but pain, bright and clear. Pain because he hated that this was happening to her. “It will make you feel better.”

“Okay.” She swallowed. “You should...you should go home and get some rest. I’m sorry I made you come here for no reason.” 

He stiffened at that, moving her so that she faced him and could see the seriousness in his bright blue eyes, see how much he meant every word.

“If I had a way to know every time when you were in trouble, when you were hurt, I would come Vivien. Every time. I didn’t come here for no reason. I came here to help you, and I would have come even if you’d told me there was nothing I could to make it better. I would have come just to try. So don’t think that I’m not here of my own free will.”

She nodded slowly, let him know she understood. Then he kissed her forehead softly, and she let her eyes close, let herself feel safe for a heartbeat.

“I should go, though. But I’ll be back early tomorrow. As soon as I can get out of the house. And before school. I’ll drive you in if you want to go, okay?”

She nodded, wishing with everything in her that he could stay as he slipped out of her bed, letting her lay down and curl up on her side.

“Goodnight,” he said.

She mumbled the word back as he walked away, and she could have sworn he seemed reluctant as he flicked the light switch and left.

[fuckyeahalexjo]

can you please do a fic where alex tells jo how he became an intern at the hospital by writing an essay saying that he had testicular cancer?

The wind seemed to be picking up again as Jo nestled closer to Alex. Her hand ran up and down his chest as she nuzzled his jaw line with her nose, occasionally placing kisses on his neck. He chuckled low in his chest, “I need another minute.”

Jo ran her leg up between his, her foot pressing up again his calf as she moaned, “You said that five minutes ago. What happened to the second honeymoon?”

He chuckled louder this time and bent to kiss her hair, “Jo, some married couples don’t have this much sex in an entire year. I’m getting old, I need a break.” He pulled back to see her looking at him with doe eyes, her hand inching lower as he rolled his eyes at her, “You’re gonna be the death of me.”

“But what a way to go right?” When he gave her patient grin, she rolled her eyes at him and started to get out of the bed, “Guess I should check the weather.”

Alex reached for her arm and pulled on her playfully, “You don’t have to go.” Jo turned to smirk at his exaggerated pleading, “I mean, we could just lay here and talk for a bit.”

Her brows knotted in question, “Talk about what?”

“I dunno. We just…we don’t get many days like this and I’m sure there are…things. You know…”

Jo sighed as she lay back down, “What is it?”

“Why are you mad?” he asked as he propped himself up on his elbow.

Jo laughed up at him as she laid flat on her back, his eyes wide at her reaction, “I wasn’t mad. You just seem to have something specific in mind so spit it out already.”

“It’s just…why don’t we each tell the other something we don’t know. You know…just to pass the time,” he suggested timidly, his eyebrows raised pleadingly.

“Ooookay,” Jo agreed hesitantly, still not convinced about his motives. “I hate carrot cake.”

“I already knew that.”

“Okay, I hate carrot cake cause it’s the last thing I ate before I got sick this one time. Stupid stuff came out through my nose. It was terrible.”

Alex gazed at her in disbelief, “Wow, I feel like I know you so much better now.”

She looked on in surprise as he lay back down, seemingly agitated, “Alex? Alex, come on. What did you want me to say?”

“Something….meaningful.” Jo propped up on her elbow to be able to look at him better and arched a brow in question. She could see his walls crumbling as he sighed and rubbed his face, “It’s just…Linc pops up and you’re all ‘he’s like a brother’ and you’ve never mentioned him once. It just sometimes feels like there are these huge gaps with you that I know nothing about.”

“Wow, okay. Well to start with, I have mentioned Linc before. Maybe I didn’t use his name or maybe I did and you just didn’t latch onto it.”

Alex shook his head, “No, no I would have remembered…”

“I told you about spilling the coffee on that rude woman right? When I was waitressing?” When Alex nodded slowly, “Yeah, Linc’s all in that story. Maybe I didn’t call him by name and only called him my friend, buddy, or fellow peon, but I talked about him. But come on Alex, you can’t possibly expect to know every detail of my life before you.” When Alex sighed and averted his eyes, Jo bit her lip anxiously, “Is this about Paul? Deep down? You’re scared of what secret may be next?”

At this, his head snapped around to show a look of complete surprise, “What? No!”

“It’s not that big of a jump. To be honest, it always amazed me that you took that so well, but maybe you just shoved it down and it’s been festering?” He continued to look at her in bewilderment as Jo reached for a shirt to put on, “It’s fine.”

“Jo, Jo wait,” he tried to stop her, but kept himself from touching her, instead rolling out of bed on his side and throwing on some boxers, “Stop for a second will you?”

Jo pulled up a pair of athletic shorts as she looked at him in amusement, “Where exactly am I going to go in this big of a wind storm?” When he gave a lopsided grin she shrugged and went to the refrigerator, “I’d just prefer to not talk about him while naked if you don’t mind. You want a beer?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he tossed over his shoulder as he went back to his closet to pull out a shirt and jeans, “And for the record, I don’t…I don’t dwell on that, I guess for lack of a better way of putting it.”

Jo snorted as she sat his beer on the coffee table and curled up on the cushions, her back to the arm of the chair, “I would hope not, it’d make you crazy. Besides, you’d have to be a pretty big asshole to pursue me to start things up again if that was bothering you. And you’re not an asshole.”

“Good to know my wife does not think I’m an asshole,” he smiled at her as he plopped down on the couch at her feet before becoming serious, “But like I’ve said before: if my mom had had the chance to get out, I would want her to take it. I will never fault you for that and I understand why you did what you did.”

Jo gave a small smile of appreciation. The pause lingered for a moment before she quirked a brow, “But…”

“You recognized his voice in passing in a busy hallway while arguing with me,” he tried to explain with his palms in the air and his voice rising in pitch, “It’s just weird to me that you’ve never mentioned him, that’s all.”

Jo took a drink from her beer as she tried to not laugh, “Do you want me to bring Lexie Grey into this?”

“What does Lexie have to do with anything?”

“Oh come on, Alex. Your best friend’s sister, who died tragically right before I stepped foot into the hospital, who was your roommate, who you dated….”

“Okay, but it wasn’t like that…,” Alex protested as he took her feet into his lap to rub them mindlessly.

“But still, we were dating what…? A year? Two? And that was after we spent almost a year hanging out every night and you never mentioned her. Hell, I didn’t even know Grey had another sister.”

“That’s different!”

“How?”

Alex shook his head as he stumbled for the words, “We’ve been together four? Five years? And you say he was like a brother, right?”

“And like I said, I’ve mentioned him before. You never mentioned Lexie. But it doesn’t matter, my point is you can’t know every single thing about me. You want to know about every single person I’ve ever met? That’s dozens of foster homes, hundreds of foster siblings, probably thousands of teachers and coaches and church and synagogue members and neighbors and coworkers and classmates. There’s no way I would ever be able to tell you about everyone I’ve ever met.”

Alex sighed and readjusted to be angled more towards her, “Okay, hit me.”

Her eyebrows shot up as she stared at him over the beer that she had just raised to her lips, “What?”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” When the silence stretched, he let out a breath and leaned back further into the cushions as his hands continued to massage her feet, “Fine, I’ll start. Did I ever tell you how I got into the internship program?”

Jo’s eyes danced in amusement as she scooted herself closer, “No, but this sounds promising.”

“For my application, I explained away my bad grades by saying I had a…uh…medical issue that kept me from attending class. My…well all of my family had issues and I really had a hard time making it to all my classes and paying attention when I did go, so I…um…said…well….”

Jo chuckled at him, “Oh my God, what?!”

Alex grunted to himself as he tried to stand, “You know what, this was a bad idea. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“The carrot cake was a catalyst,” Jo interjected quickly to keep him from getting up, having grown excited by the chance to learn more about her husband. Alex stared at her with wide piercing eyes, waiting for her to continue, “I was getting poisoned by a foster parent. I think…maybe she put too much in it. It…it made me sick quicker than the other things. I think that’s why I remember it best.”

Alex looked at her sorrowfully, “Munchausen by Proxy?”

She shrugged nonchalantly, “Medical subsidy. I think she already didn’t like me, so watching me suffer was a plus, but if I had some strange unknown illness, it was worth more.” She shrugged again, “It turned out alright.”

Alex shook his head sadly, but kept his emotions in check to match her blasé mood, “Is that why you have no ass?”

Jo laughed and shoved him on the shoulder playfully, “I don’t recall hearing any complaints before, Mister.”

“Oh no, no complaints at all,” he responded with a smug grin causing her to shake her head in amusement.

“So what did your essay say?”

Alex took a long drink from his bottle, “That I had testicular cancer and…well…”

Jo began choking on her beer, “Wait, wait, you’d rather the world think you were down one ball than to say that your family had issues you had to handle? Seriously?”

Alex shrugged, “At the time I thought it was less embarrassing, besides I thought the medical side of it would score points. You know, explain why I was wanting to go into surgery because of my tragic health crisis, blah, blah, blah.”

She smiled warmly at him and shook her head, “So what did lead you to surgery other than the pride of being badass? Or was that the only reason?”

“Oh no,” he interjected playfully, “It’s your turn again.”

[weakeninghope]

The (love) story we wrote together

Rating: Teen

AO3 link here

Summary:    He didn't think it was important, it was just a random insult written on his desk, easy to erase -which he did when he saw it- (written in a horrible penmanship, if he had to add something) and he probably knew the culprit. It was most likely Yut-Lung, an underclassman who had his diva-like eyes on Ash for some reason. Well, Ash did know the reason. Turns out Ash Lynx here was the top student in his high school year, with an IQ over 200, he was even smarter than his upperclassmen, and Yut-Lung was jealous, because he was the smartest in his class, but he was still way behind Ash, and that asshole hated losing.

Notes: It's been a long time!! I'm here again hehe this time I'm here with something I read on otpprompts about messaging a person using a table and writing to them and I thought it could be a cute idea for Asheiji.This is my gift to postingpebbles aka @eijis-okuumura on tumblr for the @bananafishvalentines! I hope you enjoy this <3!! Sorry if anything feels weird, this spent two weeks sitting on my drafts because I couldn’t ffind the time or the inspiration to end it, but I did my best anyway ;;;;

I hope everyone likes this, comments and kudos are much appreciated ;;

I'm weakeninghope on tumblr and Shirotxpoison on twitter btw, you can contact me if you want *^* See you soon!

fic under the cut!

The first time it happened, Ash just brushed it off.

 –

 He didn't think it was important, it was just a random insult written on his desk, easy to erase -which he did when he saw it- (written in a horrible penmanship, if he had to add something) and he probably knew the culprit. It was most likely Yut-Lung, an underclassman who had his diva-like eyes on Ash for some reason. Well, Ash did know the reason. Turns out Ash Lynx here was the top student in his high school year, with an IQ over 200, he was even smarter than his upperclassmen, and Yut-Lung was jealous, because he was the smartest in his class, but he was still way behind Ash, and that asshole hated losing.

 Well, too bad for him.

 Ash just hoped it was a one time thing, though, he had enough with Yut-Lung calling him a nerd or making fun of his glasses when they crossed ways in the corridors, he didn't want someone to dirty his desk, the only place besides the high school library where he could be by himself and all right, reading a book or writing stories like his brother had been teaching him ever since he was a brat. The blond just wanted silence, he had already a bunch of reasons for punching the hell out of Yut-Lung and his followers, but if he got expelled that would cause trouble to him in the end.

 And he wouldn't be able to see him.

 That's right. Ash Lynx, 17 years old, the lone wolf, the smartass, had a crush on an upperclassman. He didn't even know his name, he just knew how every time they crossed ways on the corridor to commute classes (there was a course that his crush and the other third year students did on Ash's class) their gazes would cross and Ash would stare agape at those black eyes, that apparently looking silky hair... damn, Ash was enhanced even by their height difference. The boy was slightly shorter.

 Oh, he would have to tip-toe if they were to kiss...

 Damn, snap out of it! Ash thought. He would often space out in class thinking about him, even though every time the teacher asked a question, Ash always got the answer right. But he was constantly spacing out thinking about that boy, even if he didn't even know his name. Sometimes, he would even fantasize with the boy sitting in his desk, being able to be in the same place as he was, even if just for a moment...

 Maybe that was too much.

 Whatever.

 Those bastards better not touch Ash's desk again if they didn't want to be taught a lesson. Ash was a tidy person, and besides that, he hated trash and that “nerd” written in his desk was that, trash. The letters forming the word were ugly as fuck, it wasn't even nice to your eyes, reading that shit. Moreover, weren't desks supposed to be clean? Like, if you don't keep them clean, weren't you supposed to be on detention?

 It turns out that he was wrong.

 –

The second time it happened, Ash was angry.

–

  That time, there were various insults in his desk, those bastards went beyond the classic, recurrent “nerd”, they wrote “asshole” “bastard” “nerd”, “loner”. That last one was written in a puffy, boring penmanship, which Ash identified as Yut-Lung's. Ash had a keen eye for identifying kinds of penmanship, and he had seen Yut-Lung's once, enough for Ash to recognize it forever.

 Instead of staying put like he always did, Ash decided to take action. That winter day in the middle of January, shivering by the cold but with his blood boiling, Ash launched himself at Yut-Lung; he knew where his class was.

 “What the fuck are you doing to my desk?” Ash shouted straight to Yut-Lung’s face.

 “Me? I wouldn't dare doing anything to the genius of this institution.” Yut-Lung replied.

 “The first time you used your lackeys and now you wrote in it yourself. Don't play dumb. Well, you don't have to “play”. You are dumb.” Ash yelled.

 Yut-Lung got angry at that, his face went red and he jerked his arm, grabbing Ash's.

 “You pretentious bastard! I'm tired of you trying to be superior!” Yut-Lung cried, his voice echoing in the hallways.

 “No one's talking about superiority you asshole! I just want you to stop fucking with my desk!” Ash shouted. Having arrived at that point, a lot of people were gathered around them. That highschool loved rumors and fights, huh. Ash just wanted those fuckers to stop messing with him. So what if he was a loner? It was better than to mingle with people like Yut-Lung.  

 (even though Ash would love to mingle with people like his crush)

 Then, Yut-Lung ran away with tears in his eyes. A few minutes after that, he came back with a teacher, and Ash got expelled. Oh well, it looks like it was bound to happen, eventually.

 That day, when he got home, Griffin asked him about what had happened.

 “Got into trouble?” He kindly asked.

 “I'm sick and tired of Yut-Lung.” Ash said.

 “Didn't I told you to ignore him?” Griffin asked in return.

 “I do ignore him! But this time he started writing insults on my desk!” Ash shouted, furrowing his eyebrows.

 “And instead of insulting him couldn't you just erase the insults and keep living your life? I mean, he's an underclassman, he isn't even your classmate.”

 “But I bet he stalks me. He knows in which classes I study. He knows where I sit and he writes stuff in my desk, Griff. And I don't like people sitting in my desk.”

 “Then you won't like the period in which you have to swap classes between those people in third year.”

 Ash's heart skipped a bit. He suddenly got flustered and even blushed a little bit. Griff raised an eyebrow.

 “So there's someone you like in third year? Oh, Ash... Youth is so plentiful...” Griffin acted, putting a hand in his forehead and raising his voice, like he was performing something dramatic.

 Ash remained silent, but Griffin kept going nevertheless.

 “So now you're over Kelly Momsen? The girl you liked when you were 14 years old?” Griffin asked. How the hell did he know about Kelly?

 “Shut up. I don't think about her anymore. We grew apart and that's it. But at least at that time I didn't have to worry about assholes insulting me in my desk.” Ash stated.

 “Well, use those three days to think about you've done and blah blah blah and all the things you know you'd have to do but you won't do. But please don't call one of the favorite pupils “an asshole” in front of the whole class, got it?” Griffin said, winking an eye to Ash, which made clear that he wasn't angry. Griff wasn't angry most of the time, he knew Ash had his reasons.

 Instead of doing what Griffin told him, Ash used his time off the school to think about his crush, to think about how now they wouldn't be looking at each other when commuting classes, which was a shame. But they'd eventually see each other again, so it wasn't that bad.

 And they did, they saw each other again when Ash returned to school the following monday.

 But then it happened again.

 --

 The third time it happened, Ash was tired of this shit already.

 –

 That looked like it was Yut-Lung's revenge, because besides from insults there was stuff like “you'll pay for this” written on his desk. Instead of ignoring it like Griff said, Ash chose to reply that time. He used all the remaining space in his desk to scribble a big, SHUT UP, with the best penmanship he could manage, because he wanted to make Yut-Lung angry, if he were to tell the truth.

 The day after that, he expected to encounter another insult as he sat in his chair (which was right by the window, he could see the snow falling), but what he found instead was a clean desk, only his “shut up” remained. That, and a reply to his comment in a penmanship he had never seen before. It was simple, not much could be said about it, but it still looked cute and attractive.

 That's some nice penmanship.

 And then Ash had a crazy idea. He knew the handwriting of all his classmates by heart, so it had to be someone from another class, or someone from another high school year.

 From another school year.

 His heart skipped a beat.

 There was a possibility. There was a class which was conducted in that room, and his crush attended to that course.

 What if...?

 No, no, wishful thinking.

 But still, he replied something.

 Can't say that about yours, though

 He didn't mean it in a bad way, though, he hoped the receiver of the message got it, it wasn't a threat, or something bad, he just wanted to... start a conversation. For the first time in his life since he met Shorter, his best friend, who was in another class and they didn't coincide in any subject.

 That night, Ash went to sleep thinking about the receiver of the message. What kind of person could they be? They looked like a nice person, erasing those insults. But a little bit nosy too, they minded another person's business after all. However, Ash wasn't... entirely dissatisfied with what happened. Suddenly, all of Ash's class periods didn't matter; he was only focused on the one in which he could talk, well, write, to the person sitting on his desk.

 And so he fell sound asleep hearing the sound of the pouring rain as he thought about the mysterious person.

 The following day, Ash found a clean desk again, with only a single sentence written on it.

 Thank you, thank you. I try to write as well as I can. It's not my speciality, though.

Ash wondered if someone had written insults on his desk again and that kind person had cleaned them off as they did last time, but instead of giving it much thought, he just replied the message.

 What is your speciality, then?

 He swirled the pencil around his fingers, thinking about tomorrow and the answer he'd receive. The days were slowly going by and each day, he exchanged a line with the secret person he was writing to.

 I am on the pole-vaulting team. They wrote one day. Ash slowly imagined his crush in the pole-vaulting team; his crush training, wearing gym shorts, sweating as he ran, his taut muscles exposed for him to see... damn... did he seriously had to think of this?

 It was inevitable, every time he commuted classes and saw the boy, he would look at him as if he knew something Ash wasn't aware of, meanwhile Ash secretly dreamed about the desk person being him.

 If it was really him, he had to work on improving his handwriting though.

 That's nice. I write. Ash replied. My brother taught me, he is a novelist and I love his stories. He really enjoyed Griff's books and stories, he wasn't lying. If Griff was here though, he would probably say that that look like a classic shoujo manga story and that Ash was head over heels for his crush and that the person on the desk was probably interested in  Ash.

 At times like those were when Ash's heart seemed to stop; what if they were really the same person?

 Anyway, he didn't want to worry about that, everything was going smoothly with the receiver, they spent a few days exchanging life stories, anecdotes; and their penmanship was slowly getting better. Ash was starting to love it. Besides from that, every time he crossed ways in the corridor with the boy from third year, he would smile at Ash; a knowing smile. Ash was way too flustered by that, it couldn't be true that he was losing his cool demeanor.

 But he did.

 That's great. By the way, would you like us to meet?

 Boom.

 Ash's head exploded. Of course he wanted to meet them. He had spent an entire month talking to that person, he desperately wanted to know who they were so he could finally know if they were his crush or they were another person. He needed confirmation and he needed it as soon as possible, so he answered that he was okay with it.

 Okay, let’s meet tomorrow by the gym, at lunchtime.

 He hoped he hadn’t sounded rude, but since it was written everything seemed more serious. Deep inside, Ash was afraid of the person not showing up. He had abandonment issues ever since his mother went out of the picture when he was born, and his father neglected both him and Griffin, but that person seemed pretty gentle, right? They would definitely show up, right?

 Yeah, right.

 Ash went to the gym as he said and spent an entire hour waiting, only for uselessly acknowledging that he had kept his hopes up and that he should just give up. He should have never started this to begin with. Who the hell starts a friendship or whatever with someone you’ve never seen?

 That day nothing was written on the table when commuting classes either, and his crush was missing too. Good, February 13th couldn’t get any worse.

 What Ash didn’t know though, was that Yut-Lung had planned it all out. He knew who the person writing those messages was and successfully entertained its subject, Eiji Okumura, so that he couldn’t meet Ash.

 --

 Eiji was so tired. He had spent an entire hour going over his paperwork of the student council and he couldn’t even get a second to sneak out of the student council room to go meet the person he was scribbling with. He didn’t dislike Yut-Lung, but he had to admit that what he did was kind of unfortunate and that he could have waited or could have asked Eiji for his help another day.

 He had to make it up to that person because he didn’t want them to think that Eiji had left them alone.

 That was when Eiji got an idea. That day was February 13th, so the next one was Valentines Day. He could make chocolate for them and tell them to meet in the gym that afternoon, because truth be told, Eiji had a little crush on that person. Was it weird, to like someone you haven’t even seen?

 Eiji shrugged and kept going over his paperwork. He didn’t know if it was normal or not, but it was happening. That person had… nice handwriting; and there was something in the way they spoke that was strangely captivating.

 As captivating as his underclassman, the blond one he kept eyeing when he went into his classroom. Well, Eiji supposed he had to say goodbye to them now, his heart already had an owner.

 Eiji was determined to finish that and to go home to make the chocolate, and this time, he would sign it with his name. It was time to be brave.

 You’ve got this, Eiji. You’ve gone to worse hardships than having to help with the student council paperwork. You’re in the pole vaulting team and you’re doing pretty well. You will ace this.

 --

 The next morning, when the time in which he usually read messages from the person at the other side of the table (which sounded pretty weird, he was really communicating with someone via a table) arrived, Ash found a pretty pleasant surprise.

 Chocolate.

 Oh my god today is Valentines Day. Ash thought.

 Oh my god there’s a note attached to the chocolate. Ash thought. His heartbeat increased. He felt his face grow hot.

 With slightly shaky hands, Ash started reading the note. And then he froze.

 The handwriting.

 It was from the nice penmanship person.

  “It’s me. I’m sorry for not showing up yesterday, I had to help the student council with some paper work. I hope you like this in compensation for what happened. Let’s meet today at 5PM near the gym, if you’d like?

 Eiji Okumura.”

 A name.

 Oh my god the person he had been talking with had finally identified themselves. They weren’t a blurry ghost in Ash’s mind anymore. And today he was going to meet them, but he wanted to do a little investigation, and Shorter was going to help him.

 At lunchtime, he went to look for his friend and told him what had happened.

 “Do you remember the person I was talking to?” Ash asked while looking at Shorter, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Via your table.” His friend deadpanned.

 “Yes.” Ash answered.

 “I still can’t believe you’ve spent a month talking to someone via a fucking table, Ash.” Shorter stated while pointing at Ash.

 “Shut up and listen to me.” Ash grabbed his hand and put it back to its place. Shorter was a bit annoying sometimes.

 “Aye aye, sir.” Shorter motioned, sailor-like.

 “They’ve given me this” Ash held the wrapped box of chocolates in front of Shorter’s eyes. “And sign this note. Eiji Okumura. We need to find out how his face looks like.”

 “You’re talking to the master of figuring out how people’s faces look like”

 “That’s why I’ve come to talk to you”

 “You flatter me.”

 “Let’s go to where the teacher have the data on the students. If we rummage through the computer will find data on the people from third year. And you said he was on the pole vaulting team? We could find something out.”

 And so they did. Shorter entertained the teachers while Ash went inside the faculty room only to find out that the table person was actually his crush.

 Eiji Okumura.

 The boy he had spent so much time dreaming about.

 The boy he imagined in tight shorts running-

 Focus.

 Rummaging through a computer that doesn’t belong to you sent a strange thrill to Ash, knowing he had done something he shouldn’t have, but he had a goal in his mind.

 The rest of the day went by pretty boringly, he was way to flustered and nervous about the encounter with his crush to think about anything else.

 Until the time to meet arrived, and Ash grabbed a pen and went to the gym. Eiji was waiting for him, and without saying anything, he went to where he was and wrote “it’s me” on his hand.

 Eiji then reacted, blushed to the tip of his ears and confessed something. And they started confessing their lives out.

 “To be honest, I have a crush on you.” Eiji confessed.

 “To be honest I’ve been in love with you since I entered this high school.” Ash followed.

 “To be honest I’ve been looking at you when we crossed ways in the corridor.” Eiji continued.

 “To be honest I’ve imagined you in your sport clothes running and thought you were pretty handsome-“ Ash blurted out. Shit! He wasn’t supposed to say that! “Forget what I said.”

 “What if I don’t want to.” Eiji said, approaching Ash and grabbing his hand. It was warm.

 “Well, you’re the upperclassman here.” Ash admitted, his fierce green eyes piercing Eiji’s adorable black ones. “But I’ll make you forget.” He finished.

 “Oh, how?” Eiji asked.

 Ash then closed the distance between them with a kiss. It was fast, harsh and imperfect, a bump of lips more than a kiss, the rim of his glasses smashed Eiji’s nose.

 “That was a terrible kiss.” Eiji chuckled.

 “Want to prove if you can do it better?” Ash taunted.

 And then Eiji shut him up with a kiss and his pen fell, rolling on the floor.

 “Wait!” Ash exclaimed when they parted “I need that to talk to a very special person!” He said.

 “You’re terrible.” Eiji laughed.

 And everything seemed to be all right. Ash was undeniably happy.

 Yut-Lung, who had seen the development of what was happening, on the other hand, wasn’t as happy.

 But honestly,

 Fuck him.

[problematiq]

@reneetaleenaisnotvicious it’s just a place full of assholes.

in the last couple of weeks, i had to explain to them why you can’t use the n-word when you’re not black, thinking it was common knowledge, only to be met with “well, it’s not universally agreed upon” (like, no shit, of course white people won’t agree that they can’t use it and since when does every single person have to agree that something is wrong in order for it to be wrong?) and “saying i can’t say the n-word is reverse racism”, causing me to dig into 2012 discourse on how reverse racism isn’t real.

people will defend the actions of every single human being billie joe has ever had contact with. the allegations of the former (jewish) employer against kat von d about her writing an antisemitic note to him are dismissed as “just a cry for attention from an unhappy employee” even though experts have concluded that it was 99% her handwriting - but yeah, kat von d never said she wrote it, so it must just be fake, since we all know and trust her??

in the discussion over billie’s collaboration with morrissey, people have defended that dude at every turn so they could feel better about their collaboration and completely dismissed everyone who showed concern or disappointment with it. i’m not gonna list everything morrissey has done and i’m not gonna debate it with anyone anymore since i’ve seriously had it up to here with that topic, but the gist of it is that morrissey is a racist UKIP supporter who said that “chinese people are a subspecies”. people have routinely and adamantly attempted to downplay the racism and rationalize his fucked up behavior, saying “well maybe billie just didn’t know about what he did, why should you research everything your collab partner has done” which turned to “morrissey not a racist, he’s just a dumb idiot with no influence who wants attention” which turned into “he’s not even a ukip supporter” which turned into “well actually ukip / nigel farage aren’t even xenophobic if you think about it”. then, a user on the forum who is half-chinese voiced her disappointment in the forum for defending that scumbag tooth and nail and said she was done with the forum and wouldn’t visit anymore. people backpedaled a bit but still tried to tell her that it’s “not really that bad” and “there are worse forms of racism you should focus on” like lmfao really? so that’s when i said “you know what fuck y’all” and left the forum too and with that, the green day fandom really because i am sick and tired of people worshipping the ground billie walks on like fucking catholics, incapable of criticising him or admitting any flaws or mistakes.

for some reason i decided to join the discord server for the old gdc people who used the chat a lot because i thought, maybe i don’t have to cut contact to everyone and can still enjoy talking to people about my favorite band?? and for a while we had fun and i really liked them.

so on april 1st, they announced that the forum would be shut down forever by the end of the week because it was too much work and too expensive to continue keeping it up or whatever. of course only gullible people believed it and nobody else really took it seriously while the mod team desperately tried to convince everyone that it was not an april fools joke like “omgz i’m so sad” and “i dont understand why everyone would think THIS IS A JOKE wow i am so UPSET” and it was ridiculous really because they tried so hard with the joke and nobody bought it.

so then someone posted the link to the discord server in the forum so more and more people joined and i was like “oh” because suddenly every person i hated on the forum and who was the reason I left gdc in the first place joined the discord server, even the gdc mods (who can all suck a fucking dick). those people don’t like me either so it already felt restricting to post there and i was getting pissed that i joined there first and then they all came and forced me to communicate with them again. and i’m serious, i’m fucking done with that place and i want nothing to do with these people either.

then on april 2nd (AFTER april fools) the site was down but some people still didn’t believe it was gone forever because WHY WOULD THEY? that april fools joke was a fucking pathetic attempt to upset the community who loved the forum, and they were salty nobody gave a shit so they had to take extreme measures. i would’ve been happy to believe it and see the forum fucking rot but other people who had found friends and loved the community were genuinely upset about this (one person even started a gofundme).

then, some minor mod joined the discord and complained about us “talking shit” about the mods because it was all the admin’s fault and he gave us some bullshit story about how he was angry with him too, that the admin had given the mods a chance to back up their shit before they closed or even gave them an opportunity to take over the forum but nobody wanted to blah blah blah and some shit about green day’s management wanting to restrict the forum because people were talking about their private lives or that they had planned a dookie tour but it was cancelled because of trés baby or some shit??? whatever. and i believed it because he was convincing and not someone who usually lies and trolls people but who put in a lot of work into the media section and would have been upset if it were gone, so i was actually sorta understanding towards him.

then a couple of hours later the site was back online, the admin made some stupid joke about “lololool i’m a mastermind you can go fuck yourselves i’m so happy with myself!111!!”, they made a social media post about it having just been an april fools joke while directly quoting something i said on the discord server, and that one unimportant mod who lied to us and some other dumbass mod i’ve always hated posted on the discord that they “had a lot of fun lying to us” and how fucking hilarious our reactions were or whatever and how good it was to see how many people cared about gdc like???

and i was fucking mad because I HAD LEFT THAT PLACE!!!!! i had literally left that place and they come to the place i kinda found refuge hin after leaving that shithole (a place i actually liked being on and where i had fun to communicate with the other members and could actually see myself staying and maybe not leaving the fandom entirely), infiltrate it with their fucking presence and make it my fucking business what happened to GDC, lie to me and everyone and laugh to themselves about the things i said or how they had fooled us. so they ruined everything for me again just so they could have a laugh and i’m not kidding when i say i hate every single fucking person who keeps this dumpsterfire running with a passion. and what’s almost more frustrating is how every single person who was mad at them for the joke now runs back to them like “oh wow that was a mean joke but now i’m just happy i can be back, i’m ready to put this behind me” lmfao.

i don’t give a shit about the forum, I. LEFT. i want nothing to do with them, i don’t want them around me, i don’t want them to talk to me or about me. i want them to ignore my fucking existence and leave me THE FUCK alone. and now i can’t even visit the discord anymore because they don’t even have the fucking decency to leave the server after their bullshit stunt. so thanks for fucking nothing you absolute dumbass fucking dick-eating pieces of horseshit.

[jhelenoftrek]

Relaunch Universe. Taking into account their conversations from Architects of Infinity, what does your JC "happily ever after" look like. Since her time hanging out with Gretchen in Indiana after returning from the continuum, I cant get the vision of KJ mucking about in the dirt, living a (somewhat) simpler life, and what the crew might think, seeing her/him/them together in that light. Additionally, how would it change the JC dynamic to finally be together fully out of the command experience?

Note: Minimal spoilers for ‘Architects ofInfinity’ here as well as ‘Eternal Tide’.

Ooh.  Okay. I’ve been sitting on this question a few days, thinking this through,cause it’s a great question.  Before I forget, thanks @sunkistlynnki for the ask!!  I never just get stuff out of the blue, but I certainly welcome it.

I think, A of I conversation or not, my “happilyever after” has always been the same.  I’mvery much in agreement with K. Beyer when it comes to their level of commitmentand how that should be portrayed.

I love that vision of KJreturning to some roots, physically and metaphorically.  Wouldn’t it be lovely to see her justplanting flowers and petting dogs and eating Chakotay’s cooking everynight?  That’s what she deserves,right?  But would she really behappy?  Eh… maybe for a littlewhile?  But this is the woman that tamedthe Borg!  She not only survived the DQ, shegot her crew home in 7 years, instead of 70. She explored all that shit and metall those lovely new alien people and LEARNED so much… she craves thatadventure and science and now, POWER that comes with being an Admiral – she mightnot admit it, but she’s high on those little admiral bars on her collar.  I’m sorry, but all of that drive and hard-earnedaccomplishments aren’t going to fall away because she’s got him in her bed.  We get a glimpse of how stir-crazy she is in “Night”with very little to do, I think after a while on the farm she’d be just as stircrazy and trapped again, and they both know it.

Him, on the other hand,he’s given up Starfleet how many times now? I think he’d honestly jump at the chance to be done with duty.  I know what he says in Eternal Tide about howimportant it is to keep exploring the DQ to protect the AQ/BQ and how it’s worthall their deaths to do so, but if Full Circle Fleet is recalled, I think he’dgive it up in a heartbeat. (Just like Beyer wrote in A of I).

I guess, I see themmeeting somewhere in that boring, realistic middle ground.  KJ as basically a desk Admiral – maybe ateaching one, or an advisor of some kind that lets her leave to negotiate blahbity-blahfrom time to time.  And Chakotay as anadjunct professor, instructor, occasional-shuttle-crasher, ‘oh-shit-we’re-short-on-Captains-can-you-do-this-mission-guy’.  If he does end up a professor, please dearSpirits don’t let him teach archeology.  Givethe man a Tactical class, ffs.  But atnight and on weekends they both find themselves transporting home to the familyfarm or some little cabin in the middle of nowhere and having amazing sex and tendingto the tomatoes until Monday.

Once they’ve finally hadenough, or if they get pushed out by the next generation in like 15-20 years,they’d probably retire fully and just travel around, but danger and intriguewould always follow them.  KJ is a magnetfor it, especially when she’s not looking.

I think the crew – especiallythe original Voyager crew – would bevery happy for them in whatever capacity they show their love.  I envision scuttlebutt to be like we see inmost fics “thank goodness it’s about fricking time��.  But, there’d be those who would be concerned,especially the officers that don’t know them as well.  Because for the time that they’re still bothin command, I’m sorry but that’s a HUGE conflict of interest.  It makes ME uncomfortable and I’m not on oneof those ships. We’ve spent 7 seasons hearing about how it’s not appropriate tohave ‘that kind’ of relationship due to the high-possibility of tough decisionsand BAM.  Here we are.  After how we (the audience and his closefriends) know how deeply and devastatingly he feels for her and vice-versa, areeither one of them gonna make that tough call? Yeah… probably will.  But it’sgonna suck nuts.  People are going to gethurt, no doubt.

Ok, the final part ofthe question.  How would settling downaffect the JC dynamic.  GREATLY.  And yet, not much. (are you sick of me yet?)  Let’s face it, these two have only ever really knowneach other in the command setting - him under her, him as advisor but herwith the final say.  That’d be a tough dynamic to get out of.  BUT also, Beyer hasdone a wonderful job of making them equals in their personal relationship – certainlynot without continual reminder and work as it should be.  Like Tom and B’Elanna, they keep clawingtowards the middle, one making up for the other and just always drawing theother back in.  (spoiler alert from this marriedlady, that’s love, folks.  That’s howreal relationships succeed, it’s fucking work).

It’d be a choppy year, Ithink, when she hangs up the uniform completely.  They’d have to compromise a lot and try prettyhard to find a new normal.  She’d be atad restless, he’d be too calm and it’d get under her skin.  She’d prod at him just a bit and he’d take ituntil he shouldn’t anymore.  They would,for sure, succeed. KJ doesn’t fail and certainly not at this.  But eeeeevery once in a while Chakotay’s gonnahave to be like “Kathryn, you can’t pull rank on me anymore,” just to kinda reestablishthat there is no pecking order.

Then she’d bat hereyelashes at him and sidle up to him and run her fingers through his hair andbe like, “But Chakotay, I really want Chinese for dinner.”

Eggrolls would be on thetable by 1800.