#we used to live in the same town as my grandma (and the rest of my mom’s family) until I was around 4

[this-doesnt-endd]

I used to have a really giant family like tons of tias and tios and cousins and i say used to cause like it seems like after my grandparents died on both sides both families seemed to never speak again and i had no chance to even try and keep hold of those ties i was in elementary school watching my parents marriage crash and burn in real time dealing with major death in the family and then subsequent family abandoning me at the tender age of 11. Hell my brothers were older and jumped ship it was just me and the horrors

[spacebell]

mother and daughter relationships are just

[livesworthlivingau]

Lives Worth Living Chapter 21-23

Spoilers for ISAT/Two Hats below!

"You sure you're good Sif?" (You give a nod and a slight, genuine smile. With plenty of rest and soft food you were mostly feeling back to normal. Your throat was still pretty sore, but Odile let you keep the journal for the time being incase you needed to give more long winded answers.)

"Alright, if you're sure then. How about you Bon? You sure this is the right way?"

"I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life." (They say with a very neutral expression, causing Isa to laugh heavily.)

"Well I can't really argue with that, now can I?"

"This didn't happen last time, did it Siffrin?" (Mira asks you curiously, you just shake your head, looking as confused as everyone else.)

"I wonder what would have caused such a difference? Have there been any significant changes that you think might be to blame?" (Odile asks you, that investigative glint in her eyes. You shake your head at first, but then think some more, your expression dropping some.)

"Well... Loop..." (You mumble with a sadder tone. Odile raising a brow.)

"... It is a star... Maybe they're still out there somewhere, somehow? Helping guide you along one more time?" (You know Odile was just trying to make you feel better, but there may have been some truth to it. Nothing like this had happened before...)

(You feel Isa's hand on your shoulder suddenly, snapping you out of your own head and looking up at him. He smiles brightly down at you, giving a comforting squeeze with his grip. You smile back happily, leaning against him.)

"Nille, here we come!" (Bonbon cheers, leading the charge down the trail towards where they last saw the bright star guiding them.)

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

"Why isn't Frin coming?" <You ask, looking around as you notice he didn't leave with everyone.>

"Sif's just tired after the hike yesterday, still kinda recovering, but he's fine! Besides, between you and me I think he liked breakfast so much he went into a little food coma." <Za leans down to tell you that last part, you give a giggle in response.>

"My cooking IS pretty amazing... I guess it's only fair he couldn't handle it all!" <You grin wide, proud of yourself. Za just chuckles and pats your head.>

"Be careful Isabeau, we don't want their head to get too big for their hat." <Dile teases, you just stick your tongue out at her.>

<You all keep walking along to the center of the town, looking at all the fancy ingredients and foods at every stall you pass.>

"Does everyone have their shopping lists and coin?" <Dile asks everyone like the responsible grandma as usual.>

"Yup! Got mine! Camping supply duty!"

"A-And mine! Bonnie and I are food duty!"

"Yeah! I gotta find everything to make Nille's favorite!!" <You cheer, taking Belle's hand and heading off towards more of the food stalls.>

<You look around at what's available, looking for all the ingredients for a shrimp alfredo dish that Nille adored. You only get a little bit to browse before you suddenly hear her.>

"BONNIE!!" <You jump up, recognizing the voice instantly, looking around like mad to find where it came from. You finally spot her, Nille, running towards you with tears in her eyes.>

"NIIIIIILLE!!!" <You practically scream, sprinting towards her and tackling into her, wrapping your arms around her middle, her covering you with her own arms too as she kneels down to your height.>

"Oh Bonnie I've missed you so Crabbing much!!! I'm so glad you're okay!!! I can't believe you helped save the whole dang country!!!" <Your eyes were already pouring with tears, just so happy to finally see her again after so long. Her hug felt the same as it used to, you were so happy to feel it again.>

"I tried so hard Nille! I ran and ran and ran just like you told me to!" <You shout through your tears, sucking at keeping your emotions down even a little.>

"I know you did, I'm so proud of you Bon!" <She shouts back through her own tears. You were both kinda losing it, but it didn't matter, you finally had each other again.>

<After change knows how long of a hug, Nille finally sets you down and stands back up, wiping her tears with a shaky breath.>

"O-Oh! You gotta meet everyone!!" <You shout again, grabbing her hand and dragging her over to the others, they were already together behind you, having been watching.>

"Nille, this is Belle, Za, and Dile!" <Nille goes one at a time, shaking their hands.>

"Thank you all for taking care of Bonnie, and for saving me and the rest of the country of course!" <She cheered, like she was getting a little star struck. I guess we are kinda famous now, hehe.>

"Of course! We couldn't just leave the poor kid alone!"

"Y-Yes! It was our duty to take care of them, but they were a lot of help to have around too! I don't know if we would have made it without their amazing cooking, it really kept us going!"

"They're a real talent, aren't they? I can barely boil water without ruining it, they probably learned out of necessity." <Nille chuckles as you grin proudly.>

"I apologize for the interruption, but did you happen to see a bright star in the sky recently? Perhaps one that led you this direction?" <Dile pokes in, you turn to Nille with bright, wide eyes, wanting to hear the answer too.>

"Oh yeah! That's how we found you!! I saw a star and I just knew it was you!!" <You shout to help explain.>

"Yeah actually! Pretty sure that was my friend's doing, they made a little wish for us to find you and we noticed it a little bit later!" <Dile looks very shocked by that, you tilt your head some too since that was a weird thing to just have happen.>

"A wish? As in... Wish Craft?" <Dile asks after a second.>

"Oh, yeah! Hold on, this'll make more sense if they explain it I think." <Nille turns around, looking through the crowd and spotting someone, waving them over. Someone with a very pretty outfit walks over, darkless hair just like Frin, and... starry lightless skin on their arms?>

"Everyone, this is Vale, we've been travelling together for a little while. They saved me from a sadness that got the jump on me, about a week after y'all unfroze everyone." <The strange person waves a little, smiling really wide. Something about them feels familiar...>

"LOOP?!"

...

"Lead the way!"

<Nille whispers something into their ear before turning back to you. You smile so big, holding her hand tightly. You start to tell her about all your wild adventures as the saviors. Mirabelle coming along and holding your other hand as you all walked together.>

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

(You sit at the dining table, working on a little sewing project. You were never the best at it, but you still wanted to surprise Isa with a little gift. Besides, He'd probably cry over any gift you give him, even if it's complete garbage. The thought makes you chuckle to yourself as you work on the little bird plushie for him.)

(You suddenly hear a knock at the door. You perk up at that, wondering who that could be. If it were the others they would just walk in, the door was unlocked, it's Vaugarde after all, people don't do a lot of knocking. You get up from the table and walk to the door, peeking it open, met with the sight of a rather beautiful individual.)

"Uhm... Can I help yo-" (You start to ask, examining this stranger up and down, your words stop and you freeze as you notice the gradient shade of their arms, speckled with stars, looking to their face to see the slightly discolored eyes.)

"L... Loop?..."

[smilesrobotlover]

Whumptober day 27- used as bait

Uh oh, surely this won’t lead to anything bad will it? Don’t like the ending but I hope guys like it regardless :)

Warnings for kidnapping

~~~~~

Leon stood on the balcony of the inn, watching the townsfolk go about their days. Some were rushing from one destination to another while others were simply chatting and resting at the fountain. It was fun seeing what type of lives people lived, and how different they were to his own. It was his favorite part of guarding the entrance to the castle before he was knighted; people-watching entertained him to no end despite having to stand in front of the gates for hours. He found himself doing the same thing here on the balcony, watching the unique faces and clothing style of each person, noting how each one walked differently. The people entertained him so much that he didn’t notice Linebeck joining him in the balcony, his arms crossed as he leaned against the banister.

“Hey mister go-go-go, what are you doing out here?” He asked, a teasing smile on his lips.

“I just figured we take it easy today,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off of the townsfolk. The men had gone to sleep late, so Leon figured taking it easy would be nice. Besides, it seemed that the puppeteer had lost their trail. They were in no rush.

“So, we’re just gonna sit here?”

“For the day at least. Tomorrow we will move out again and hopefully find a clue to where our Links are.”

Linebeck chuckled. “Not surprised. Ok, I’ll let the others know.”

The sailor left the room, leaving him alone, and Leon went back to watching the townsfolk. His eyes landed on one person, an old woman simply fluffing up her flowers in front of her shop, adding and removing things to make them look prettier. She wore a headscarf with a red dress, and she was clearly too old to be manning a shop by herself with the way she was hunched over and walking slowly. But he could see the passion behind her flowers as she excitedly fixed each bouquet and sat to wait for customers. It was cute to see, though Leon always had a soft spot for sweet old ladies. He watched her for a long moment as she sat in her rocking chair, her expression content as people bought her flowers. But after a moment, her face grew worried as she watched the people rush past her shop, and soon Leon noticed the sudden panic in the crowd. The townsfolk were all running in the same direction, some screaming while others were ramming into different buildings. Leon gasped as one man ran into the old lady, knocking her to the ground and leaving her there. Without thinking, he jumped off the balcony and caught onto a tree, landing on the ground with ease as he sprinted towards the woman. She was struggling to stand up in the chaos, tears beginning to stream down her face, but Leon was soon at her side, helping her stand on her feet.

“I got you,” he said calmly, hugging her close to him as he helped guide her away from her shop.

“My flowers,” she wailed, weakly pointing to the flower pots being knocked over. Leon stared at them, but moved the old woman closer to inside the shop where she wouldn’t be trampled.

“We’ll have to worry about them later,” he said, but before he could move her into the shop, a voice stopped them.

“Grandma!”

Leon turned back to see a young woman sprinting towards them, her horrified look melting in relief as she watched the old woman.

“Oh thank the goddesses you’re ok!” She cried, giving her grandmother a hug. The old woman hugged back weakly, staring up at her granddaughter in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a monster in the middle of town! I-it’s some giant bird or something! We have to get away!”

Leon listened intently, looking in the direction where people were running from. He nudged the two women away and gave them a nod.

“I’ll take care of it, you two get somewhere safe,” he commanded, and the two women nodded, the younger one holding her grandmother close.

“Thank you, young man,” the old woman said, bowing her head before letting herself be guided away from the danger. Leon then turned in the opposite direction and ran towards where the monster was attacking the town. The crowd was thinning as Leon got closer to the threat, and as he ran, he realized that he should’ve gone back to grab his sword. Fortunately for him, he always kept a knife on him, and there were plenty of cowards that called themselves guards hiding away with their swords hugged to their chests. He ran up to one and ripped the weapon out of the man’s hands, ignoring his surprised cry. A crash was heard near them, causing the soldier to scream. Leon simply turned to him and gestured to where the rest of the townsfolk ran.

“Go and hide with them, you coward,” he ordered, and the soldier scrambled to his feet and ran, leaving Leon alone in the town square. He faced the sounds of the crash, spotting colorful feathers and a yellow beak biting the broken wood. Leon picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could towards the creature, trying to draw its attention towards him, which worked.

It was a huge bird-like creature, with purple, pink, yellow, and green feathers that looked mesmerizing as it moved. It had some sort of mask resting on its yellow beak, and it watched Leon with a threatening look. Yellow eyes glowed with hatred from the mask, and the bird wasted no time charging Leon. He dodged out of the way before it could trample him, and he sliced at the green and yellow tail feathers. The bird didn’t notice and whipped its head around to peck him, and Leon yelped as its beak rammed right into the cobblestone next to him. He fell back, but the bird’s beak was now stuck, which was the perfect time to strike. Right before it could pull itself out of the ground, Leon swung the sword down onto the mask, cracking it into several pieces, though it didn’t break apart yet. The bird shrieked and jumped back, facing Leon with death in its eyes. Now it was angry.

Leon simply dodged another attack, slicing at its talons and cutting tail feathers off. It once again tried to peck at him, foolishly missing as Leon rolled away and getting stuck. Goddesses, it was stupid. Acting purely on instinct and nothing more. Leon swung his sword a few times against the mask, finally breaking it off its face and revealing the soft, feathery head. It shrieked again, but it spun around, whipping Leon with its tail feathers. He went flying and landed on the cobblestone with a painful thud as the bird monster began stomping around, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Leon got up slowly, holding his side as he crawled towards his discarded sword, and he heard the stomping of the beast getting closer to him. He was barely able to move out of the way in time before it tried to peck him, and once again, it was stuck. With one final effort, Leon pointed his sword down and stabbed right through its skull, causing it to pull back and shriek in pain. It wailed for a bit, swinging its large body around before falling to the ground with a thud, causing the world to go quiet. Leon stared for a moment before letting out a huff, rubbing his aching side. All these monsters were starting to get too much for him.

He started to walk away, hoping to see if the others were alright before his boot stepped into something soft and squishy. When he looked down, he saw a reddish-brown substance beneath his boot, making a mold of what his sole looked like, and he knelt down to feel it with his fingers.

“What is this…?” He wondered out loud, his stomach sinking when the realization hit him. Clay.

He spun around to see the monster reduced to the clay-like substance that was always used for puppets, it towering over him as it melted further into the ground in a big pile. The puppeteer… he was here.

The pile of clay suddenly moved, and talons materialized before Leon had a moment to react, and he was suddenly grasped inside the claws, pinned to the ground as the rest of the monster was chased into reality. The glowing eyes and mask glared down at him as he struggled, and to his dismay, the bird flapped its wings and took to the skies. Leon yelled as he was hoisted into the air, clinging onto the talons out of fear of being dropped to his death, watching as he flew further and further away from the town, his supplies, his friends.

Where were they?

The wind howled loudly in his ear, and panic set in as he realized he was being taken away, to either die or be tortured or whatever the puppeteer had planned for him, but he was helpless and alone. The sword fell out of his hand when the talons grabbed onto him, and he didn’t know if the others knew that he had been taken. Even if they did know, they certainly wouldn’t know where. He didn’t know where he was going.

No, no no no no…

What was he going to do?

The bird monster reached a tower after a while of flying, and it landed in an open area right in front. Leon grunted as he landed on the ground harshly, the bird’s talons pinning him so he couldn’t move. He jerked from side to side, hoping to squeeze through the gaps, but the talons went over his shoulders like a pack, making it nearly impossible to escape.

“Well well well, what do we have here?”

Leon froze at the familiar voice, and he strained his neck to glare at the man standing in front of him. The puppeteer…

“This is quite the pleasant surprise,” he continued, kneeling to the ground. “I had that bird attack the town so the heroes would show up. I certainly wasn’t expecting you there.”

Leon snarled at him, his fists clenched as if he could attack the man in his state. The puppeteer’s hands reached out, grasping Leon’s chin to force him to look up. Leon groaned in pain as his neck was stretched further than what was intended, and when the puppeteer’s fingers got close enough, he bit down as hard as he could. The man flinched back, dropping Leon’s head which landed painfully on the ground. Leon hissed in pain as his teeth bit his tongue, and he tasted the metallic blood pooling inside his mouth.

“You dog!” He hissed, staring at his bloodied fingers. “Oh, I should kill you for that.”

“Let me go and try it,” Leon threatened, his hands balled into fists again. The puppeteer only stared, remaining stiff as he cradled his hand as if he was thinking about something.

“I should kill you,” he muttered, his hands moving to rest behind his back as he stepped closer. “But you are too… important.”

Leon frowned, watching him with unease as he knelt down in front of him again.

“You’re the men’s leader,” the puppeteer continued, “they need you, and would probably do anything to save you…”

Leon’s eyes widened and he once again thrashed against the talons. “Don’t you dare use me against them!” He shouted, but the puppeteer paid him no mind. Instead he turned away, waving to the bird.

“I’ll figure out what to do with you,” he said, “in the meantime, sit tight for me, will you?”

Leon gasped as he was hoisted up into the skies once again, watching with fury as he got further away from the puppeteer, the man becoming a speck as he was sent away.

[poisonedapples]

When I was a kid, maybe 7 or so, I was spending a week at my grandparents’ farm and they took us to go see one of those first permanent settlement towns that was turned into a museum thing. Pretty fun for a history nerd, but the thing I remember the most was my grandma buying me a corn husk doll from the gift shop, made by hand to look exactly like what the settler kids would have played with. And I was trying to give the doll a name while we were walking around and looking at some more stuff, and then we went to visit the town gravesite

And as we’re walking around, I see the grave of a little girl named “Caroline”. She died at the same age that I was via a not so painless end if I remember right, and that concept made me sad. So I told my grandma that I was going to name the doll Caroline so she could live through her

My poor grandmother heard me say that and was like “Oh! :) Are you sure? :) I think you should pick a different name!!! :)))))”

And I was like “Nope, this is Caroline now”

Anyway that creepy ass doll was named after a little girl who died a tragic death. I kept her for the rest of the trip and brought her back to my parents’ house before Caroline just randomly disappeared one day. No idea what happened to her

It’s very likely my parents eventually threw her away when I became detached but also the fact that this story DOESN’T end in me getting fucking possessed is actually impressive

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Stranger 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Destroyer!Chris

Summary: A stranger buys the farmstead nearby and disturbs your sleepy village life.

Part of the Backwoods AU

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Your grandmother sends you into town for groceries. Mads, the old welder from down the road, drives you in with your wagon, dropping you off on his way to the next county. His son lives in the next hamlet with his new wife. Their wedding was the last big event in Hammer Ford.

Mads helps you unload the wagon from the bed of his truck and bids you a goodbye. You hope he enjoys his visit with Matthias, he seems to miss him. You wave at his departure before you set off down to the grocer.

You mill the aisles as you follow the list your grandmother gave you. Nothing beyond the usual haul. If only her old car hadn’t broken down. It seems everything around you is at a limit. You feel it all commingling as inevitability looms. Something’s gotta give. 

You turn into the dairy section, searching out the plain Skyr. You squint at the selection, looking for the decisive blue banner. You reach for a container but quickly shy away as another mirrors your movement. You back up and stare at the rest of the selection, waiting for the other shopper to grab their yogurt and go.

“You like this stuff?” The rocky voice rolls through you.

You wince. It’s familiar. Well, around here, it’s bound to be. You peer over at the other customer. That man. The newcomer. The one you brought the pie too.

You shrug and claim a container of your own and put it in the wagon. You just want to get this done with. You have to drag the wagon all the way back to your grandmother’s. It’s better than walking both ways but still a trek.

“Is it better than Greek?” He asks.

You tug the wagon across the aisle and look at the cheese. He sighs. You hear the dull clack of the plastic tub set back on the shelf. His shadow lurks behind you.

“Did I do something? Say something?” He wonders as he steps in front of you.

You ignore him and grab a brick of cream cheese. You add it to your load. His sole squeaks on the floor and he rests his hand on the shelf.

“Look, I think maybe we got off to a bad start. I’m Chris, what’s your name?”

You blanch and blink at him. Why is he bothering you? Can’t he see you’re utterly hopeless?

You mutter your name, thinking it might just make him leave you alone. He’s being nice but you’re not ready for this. Entirely unprepared for him or a conversation. He’s a stranger, even if you do know his name.

“I like that,” he says, “pie was good.”

You frown and shake your head before you realise what he means.

“Grandma baked it,” you say plainly.

“Oh. You live with her?” He wonders.

You nod and grab the handle of the wagon again, “excuse me, sir.”

You bow your head and try to step past him. He doesn’t move. His cart is on the other side of the aisle, penning you in.

“I’ll have to say thank you. It was very nice of you to walk all the way up there.”

“Sir,” you look down at the list, a subtle way of saying you’re busy.

“You walk all the way here?” He leans to look around you at the wagon, “I could give you a lift back. I still owe you.”

“It’s okay,” you barely get your voice above a whisper. You don’t know what’s wrong with you. He’s being perfectly pleasant but you just want to disappear. “Thanks.”

“Right,” he crosses his arms, “well, just try not to get lost in the woods.”

You wince and peer up at him. Your cheeks burn and you drop your eyes shamefully at the allusion of your previous gaff. You don’t think you’ll be taking the same short cut again.

“I’m kidding,” he says, “sorry, I… I’m just trying to lighten the mood. Look, if you don’t need a ride, maybe I could buy you a slice of pie from that bakery down the road. Then we can call it even.”

You rock back and forth. You push your hand down to hide the tremble in it, pressing the list against your stomach. You take a breath and look him in the face, just for a moment before you shy away and end up talking to the collar of his shirt.

“Even?” You echo.

“Sure,” he agrees, “pie for a pie.”

Your cheek pinches at the bad pun. You nod and sway, glancing back at your wagon.

“I gotta finish,” you crinkle the paper as you wave it.

“Right, me too,” he drawls, “I’ll meet ya there?”

You sniff and nod. You got his name, that means you can appease your grandmother, and you can get him to leave you alone for good. Even, done. No more reason to bother you. Besides, you wouldn’t mind sitting down before you head back down the country roads.

“Okay,” you murmur softly.

“Promise,” he insists.

“Mhmm,” you hum and put your nose down to the list, “excuse me, I gotta grab more sugar.”

“Of course,” he sidles out of the way, moving to stand behind his cart, crossing his arms against the bar, “what kinda pie do you like?”

You hesitate before dragging the wagon forward. Your mind is racing. You’re already regretting your surrender.

“Apple,” you utter and roll down the aisle. He repeats the word in his silty tone, toying with it as he hums.

You turn down the next row as you hide behind the list. You think of just heading out with what you have and seeing if you can’t get a head start before he can catch up. No, no. You already made a mess of this. It won’t take much more for him to realise you’re a disaster better left alone.

[ramblingoak]

The Quiet Times

Mushy May in Lucifer's Hollow: Day 10 - Quiet Nights

Mist x Aurora

This fic is set in an alternate universe in a town called Lucifer's Hollow. For Mushy May I'll be using the prompts to post little snippets of life for the humans and ghouls that live there 💙 Thank you to @forlorn-crows for putting Mushy May together!

~ In Lucifer's Hollow Mist owns an antique store called The Reliquary and Aurora owns Little Sunshine Tattoos ~

Warnings: none, sfw, 740 words (thank you to @ghuleh-recs for the dividers!)

This was Mist’s favorite time of the day.

It was that lovely quiet moment between dinner and when she usually went to bed.  Mornings could be chaotic, especially considering sometimes Aurora was just going to bed when Mist was getting up.  She would get so absorbed in designing something for a client or just sketching something on her own that she barely got up to eat let alone remember she needed sleep.  Although Mist could be the same sometimes, especially if she got caught up with an interesting book.

Thank Lucifer The Den was nearby.

The little coffee shop was where they had met and Mist smiled to herself thinking about that day.  She had been rushing in during her lunch break, needing a serious amount of caffeine to get her through the afternoon.  Mary Goore had brought in a box of their grandma’s books to see if Mist wanted any for her antique store.  One of the books had immediately caught her eye and the next thing she knew it was 3am and she was supposed to be up in four hours. 

So here she was trying to hurry in for something with lots of sugar and caffeine but all her plans went to shit when she had opened the door on Aurora.  The ghoulette’s iced coffee ended up all over her and the floor.  Mist had been horrified, thinking about the moment even now still made her wince.  She had been prepared to get yelled at because who wouldn’t yell in this scenario?  But instead all that happened was Aurora had started laughing and honestly, that was all it really took.

Mist had been a goner ever since.

Aurora’s cursing brought her out of her thoughts and she looked over to see her girlfriend crumpling up a design she had been working on since dinner.  She was able to catch it when it was chucked to the side, carefully smoothing it out and tucking it into her book to save.  Mist did this with any bits of sketches or whatever else Aurora felt wasn’t good enough.  She had an entire scrap book full of all the napkin doodles Aurora had given her.  Each one was special in its own way, even if the artist didn’t feel the same.

“Please tell me you’re not keeping that.”  Mist just smiled primly and looked back down at her book.  Aurora groaned and crawled over to rest her hands on Mist’s knees.  “You keep the ugliest ones.”

“None of them are ugly, how many times do I need to remind you?”  Aurora dropped her head into Mist’s lap instead of answering but Mist caught her pleased little smile.  She rescued her book and tea just in time, setting it on the side table before burying her fingers in Aurora’s hair.  “They all belong on the fridge.”

Aurora snorted, turning her head to the side so she could peer up at Mist.

“We ran out of room there months ago.”

“Then I’ll buy another fridge.  And another, as many as it takes.”  She scratched her claws into the ghoulette’s scalp, smiling when Aurora’s chest started rumbling quietly.  “So stop talking down about your work.”

“Ugh, fine.”  Aurora scooted closer, wrapping her arms around Mist’s legs and settling more comfortably against her.  “I’m done drawing for tonight, my head hurts.”

“Do you want some medicine?  Let me at least get you some water.”

“No, no, stay here.”  Mist stopped trying to get up when the arms around her legs tightened.  Aurora was looking at her once more so Mist pulled a hand out of her hair and trailed a finger across the ghoulette’s forehead.  As if the light touch alone could take the discomfort away.  “Will you read to me?”

“Whatever you want.”  She picked up her book again, gently opening it up and finding her place.  “Do you want me to start from the beginning?”

“It doesn’t matter,”  Aurora gave her legs another squeeze but otherwise stayed still.  “I just want to hear your voice.”

The quiet of the room settled over them both, only the hum of their furnace kicking on making noise.  Mist took a moment to whisper a prayer to the Olde One, ever thankful for Aurora being in her life.  For the chance to explore the world with the feisty ghoulette at her side.  

And especially for quiet nights like this, where nothing else existed but the two of them.

If you'd like to be added/removed from the tag list (or if I accidentally left your name off) of this fic or any of my others please leave a comment or send me a dm! Thank you 💙

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More fics in the Tales From Lucifer's Hollow masterpost

[smoooothoperator]

Beautiful Stranger

Daphne's first love and heartbreak

a/n: Hello loves! As you may (or may not) know, my characters will be on @elisysd new story Gold Rush! They won't me important, but on the prologue she talked about Daphne and I wanted to do her point of view of that part of the story! I hope everyone likes this!

Summer of 2042

Greece was a place she always loved.

Every summer since they met, her parents went to that country to spend their summer holidays, making it a family tradition. All the Norris rented a house in Parga and then a boat to go around the coast.

On a shelf of her house there's an album of photos from all those vacations. She always opened those albums when she was a kid, watching how her parents used to be, how her mom used to look like. 

There are pictures of the first time they met, both of them on a camper traveling together. Then there is a picture of them hugging, her mom with a beautiful engagement ring on her finger. Then pictures of their wedding, and their honeymoon.

And then the first time she was in Greece: inside the womb of her mother.

One of the reasons she loved going to Greece was because she felt like she belonged to that place. She never met her mom's family, only an old woman she considers her grandma.

When the old woman started to get sick, Lando and Lily decided to be with her on her last moments.

Lando was now retired, and Lily was a well known artist in Europe. But, even if he had three championship titles and she had her paintings in important art galleries all over the globe, luck and fortune weren't always by their side.

In 2039, the Norris family moved into Parga, wanting to spend the time and make memories with the woman that welcomed them as her own kids the first time they stepped in the town. 

But unfortunately, Nora Makris died in January of 2041. Leaving the family with a hole on their hearts 

Now, in the summer of 2042, after the death of the beloved woman, they were on a blanket with snacks and drinks in front of them, sitting in front of the grave of the woman.

"So… we wanted to tell you something, Nora" Lando smiled weakly, hugging his son on his lap. "Will you say it, buddy?"

"I am on a karting team" the eight years old boy said, hugging his dad. 

Daphne smiled weakly looking at her brother Percy. He's the exact copy of her father, with the same smile and same curly hair.

Otherwise, Daphne is the reflection of her mother, but with her father's eyes. She loves art, she loves Greece. Some of her parents' friends joked around saying that she saw her mother painting while she was in her womb, because since she was little she already showed her will to make art.

"I miss you, Nora" her mom sighed, making her dad hold her hand and kiss her head. "We all miss you, mom"

Daphne sighed and left a flower in front of the grave, tracking the name and numbers with her fingers.

R.I.P. 

Nora Makris

Your family will always remember you

"Come on, kids" Lando sighed, helping his son get up and then he did it. "It's time to go"

Daphne looked at her family. Her brother held her hand tightly, hugging her while they walked away from the cemetery. She looked back, how her dad hugged her mom's shoulders kissing her temple.

Since she was little she always dreamed of having someone that could love her how her dad loves her mom. 

"Are we going to Santorini?" Percy asked his dad, holding his hand. "Will Louis be there?"

"Yeah" he smiled, picking him up. "Come on, the rest of the group is already on the boat"

That summer, the Norris family boat will be full with the Leclercs, the Gaslys and the Vestappens. The four families will spend their summer together, going by boat to Santorini and staying in a house together.

"Julia!" Daphne smiled, hugging her childhood friend.

"Dane!" she smiled, hugging her back.

The Gaslys had twins, but she never got along with them a lot, they were always with Ethan, the Verstappens' son. 

Julia Leclerc is her best friend. Even if they live in different countries and study in different places, all the time they went to the races to support their fathers, they spent time together. She's like the old sister she never had, and she loves her as a sister.

"How are you?" Julia asked with a weak smile.

"Yeah… well… I mean, I miss her" she smiled weakly. "It is hard. She was there since I was born, but now she's not…"

"I get it, Dane" she sighed. "She was part of your family. I miss her too, but I totally get it that you feel this low now"

"Yeah" she sighed.

In previous summers, Nora liked to have the kids with her when their parents went out to have fun as adults. Julia and Daphne always sat on the floor in front of her learning about Greece and the history of it. Thanks to that woman they know and love this place.

"Come on, I bought some things to spend time here" the older girl said, walking in front of her.

The yacht wasn't big enough for the four families to sleep there, so they had to share rooms to make sure there wasn't a problem.

"How is Louis going?" Daphne smiled weakly, watching the little Leclerc sitting next to her mother, wearing noise canceling headphones. 

"Nice… he goes to therapy and they are trying to find a way of communicating with him" Julia sighed. 

Daphne nodded and walked with her friend, looking around. She saw the Gasly twins and Ethan, looking carefully at Julia to see her reaction. Since she was little she remembers the arguments the two kids had, how Ethan tried to make her angry and how upset she reacted.

"I hate that he's here" she heard Julia groan, making her chuckle softly.

After they got changed into their bikinis, they went to the living room together, sitting on one of the couches.

"Sometimes it makes me sad to look at your brother trying to get closer to Louis" Julia sighed, watching how Daphne's brother was sitting meters away from Louis.

"He brought a book about insects, you know?" Daphne said, smiling softly. "And he even bought some small plushies of bugs for him"

"Really? That's so sweet" Julia smiled weakly. "Do you want me to ask him if he wants me to give them to him?"

"Would you do that for him?" she smiled softly. 

"Sure" Julia nodded, nudging her side.

Julia is a wonderful person. Daphne knows she suffered from bullying, she saw how her friend changed. One week she was friendly with her and the next one she tried everything to keep a distance with her. But she tried to keep contact with her, until she discovered what happened.

She saw how Julia got up and sat next to Percy, hugging him and playing with him to make him laugh. If there's something true about the older Leclerc is that no matter what, she will always love and protect her family and loved ones. And because she has known the Norris since she was born, she feels they are part of her family too.

"A bird told me you have a gift for my brother, hm?" Julia chucked, tickling Percy.

"Oh, yeah" he laughed. "Is a plushy of his favorite bug"

"Yeah? Do you want me to give it to him?" she asked. "I'm sure he will like it, you know he likes the gifts you give him"

"But he doesn't know those are mine…" he sighed. 

"Percy, he knows you want to be his friend" she smiled weakly. "But you know how he is… it's hard for him, yeah? But you are doing an amazing job"

Daphne smiled looking at them. She's grateful for her father, because thanks to him she has a big family. Charles and Lyanna are her godparents, and Louis her parents' godson. She's happy to be part of the Leclerc family.

Spending the day on the yacht was borning, because they couldn't go to the water since the boat was moving. 

"Hey" Daphne heard him sit next to her. 

"Oh, hey" she nodded at him, the Verstappen sitting next to her made her blush.

"So… are you having a good time?" Ethan asked, showing interest in her.

"Well, you know how it is. We can't go to the water" she shrugged. "And you just interrupted an interesting book"

"Oh, sorry" he laughed. "What were you reading?"

"Oh, one of my mom's favorite fictional books" she said, showing him the book. "Lore. Did you hear about The Hunger Games?"

"Eh… no" he laughed. "What's that? Guys being hungry?"

Daphne wanted to hit him with the book. How can someone be so stupid?

"No, idiot" she laughed. "Is like a dystopia where a country had a rebellion and the president of that country decided to make every year something like a show that made two people, called tributes, from all the twelve districts fight in a random place until one of them is alive"

"Oh… I never imagined you would like something as bloody as that" he laughed. 

"Yeah well, it's a classic" she said, rolling her eyes. "The thing is that in this book the author mix that with the Greek mythology"

"Ah yeah, I get it" he nodded. 

She doesn't use to talk with Ethan. Julia always tries to keep her away from him, but it's inevitable to not look at him. She always thought he was good looking, like one of those illustrations of her mythology books.

Something inside of her, like little tickles on her stomach, made her blush every time she found Ethan looking at her while the twins talked with him.

During the days on the beach in Santorini, she could feel his eyes on her. He talked with her when they were alone, and she casually started to feel things for him.

"I swear, I really think he likes me, Juls" Daphne sighed, laying on her friend's bed. "Sometimes I catch him looking at me"

"He's disgusting, Dane" Julia sighed. "Come on, I'm sure he's having dirty thoughts while he looks at you"

"I don't think he's like that" she frowned. "He's sweet with me… maybe I can make him be a good guy"

Oh, she really believed that. She heard all the things Julia said about him, how bad he is since he was born. But, as the teen she is, she really thought that she could change the bad guy and make him a good guy. 

Some days he would flirt with her, talk till late and then walk with her to the door of her bedroom. Somehow, she started to fall for him.

Is he her first love? Would he be her first kiss? First boyfriend?

Then, that night came.

They went to have dinner, and since none of the kids, except Louis and Percy, wanted to stay in the restaurant, all of them decided to leave and go to the house.

In that moment, Ethan was with her, walking next to her on the beach. She thought it was romantic, being alone with him under the stars.

"It's a beautiful night, right?" She smiled, looking up at the stars.

"Mhm" he nodded, standing in front of her.

Then he did what she was dreaming about for the last few days. He pressed his lips on hers.

It was a messy kiss. Sure, he knows how to kiss, he did it tons of times with random girls at school. But she never kissed someone like that, so she just let him lead the kiss. It was something she never expected, to feel his tongue and his hands on her ass.

But she didn't care. Ethan Verstappen was kissing her.

She went back to the house with a silly smile, going immediately to Julia's room and telling her everything.

But of course, not everything is perfect.

Even if he spent the next day with her on the beach, kissing her sometimes when she noticed no one was watching, the next day things changed.

He was distant, not looking at her and ignoring her. 

Somehow, that hurt her.

But what hurt the most was going to the beach at night, hoping to find him there and ask him what was wrong and why he was ignoring her. 

Dane couldn't believe what her eyes were watching. She really didn't want to believe that was real.

Ethan kissing a random girl.

"Ethan?!" she gasped, making the boy pull away from the kiss and look at her. "What the hell is this?"

"Oh, you" he laughed, holding the waist of the girl. 

"Why are you kissing her?! After everything you said to me?" she exclaimed.

"Ah… come on! It was just to have fun!" he laughed. "Nothing serious. You really should calm down. I would never be with someone like you"

She could hear her own heart breaking. It was so cruel, she was one of the many girls he played with. She was part of that long list he likes to brag about with the Gasly twins. 

When she went to the house, she ran inside Julia's room, jumping in her bed with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"He… he just said that he would never be with someone like me" she mumbled, hugging her friend. "What does it mean? Why?"

"Don't listen to him, Dane…" Julia sighed, running her back and brushing her hair. "You are better, too good for him, okay? You deserve to be with someone that makes you happy"

"It hurts… I thought he liked me" she mumbled.

"Look, I'm going to tell you something and I really want you to listen carefully" Julia sighed. "Ethan Verstappen is not good news. Now you know what happens… don't look at him, okay? Ignore him"

Since that day, Ethan Verstappen was a man she never wanted to talk to ever again. She was dead for her.

taglist

@lestappenloverr @racinggirl @roni-midnights @livster8 @kakorrhaphiphobia @starkeyellow @celestialpierre @ophcelia @msliz @lorarri @ironmaiden1313 @imsorare @mycenterfold @im-an-overthinker @soosheee @karmabyfernando @landoyesrizz @sticksdoesart @beatricemiruna @nonameishere @flwr-stella @lordperceval-16 @arisainz

[praetoravila]

hiii hitting you up with a few hcs

as a result of having a brother who loves to cook, daisy lovess to eat + will get slightly hangry if she hasn't in a while lol

she's also a perfectionist! she doesn't like turning in projects/work that she doesn't think she tried her hardest on. it leads to a lot of anxiety for her :((

roxy and declan have a soft spot for reality tv. they love shows like survivor and would watch them all the time like as they aired each week. neither has watched since she moved to la

because she and her dad lived pretty opposite schedules back home, roxy prefers to eat out/she can't really cook anything of significance. the first time james comes over for dinner she makes buttered noodles and he's just. so confused that this is her version of "dinner" when he's used to homecooked multi-course meals from mrs. knight. because of this he tries to drag her over for 2-j for dinner as much as he can. she's certainly not objecting lolll

now i want some hcs of yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love!!!! daisy and roxy… my girls!! roxy i fear we are the same in terms of the dinner thing. and daisy being a perfectionist is soooo real for her. loved the hc about her and her brother + roxy and her dad!!

i’ll give you a few since i’m sitting in the airport lounge bored lol!

the first time macie won a singing competition, her mother took the prize and she still has it. eventually one day, macie gets the trophy back, and it remains on the mantle in her living roon

saylor grew up in a town twenty minutes from where lucy lived, so they often only saw each other at big family gatherings like Christmas or Lunar New Year. nonetheless lucy and lincoln (what i hc is lucy’s older brother’s name) were the first people that saylor came out to. they felt a sense of safety with their cousins that they didn’t feel w the rest of their family.

elisa’s favourite musical is hairspray! she saw it in Rio de Janeiro in 2009 right before she came to america, so she has a special sense associated with it

noah can touch his tongue to his nose - it’s his party trick lol

wren has guest starred in 4 medical dramas, 3 crime shows (law and order svu was her big break) and three sitcoms! she’s also done a ton of bg work as well. her big break after law and order is murder mystery movie on hallmark. she plays the main character’s best friend who ends up being the one to give the final clue on the mystery.

elisa did dance as a kid but she grew out of interest in it pretty quickly

olive’s first memory is of herself walking to wren. they were in their abuela’s kitchen, and wren was trying to get olive to show off her new skill. she turned around for a moment to speak with their grandma, and olive started whining and stumble walking over to her to get her attention again.

macie’s sisters and her get tattoos together as soon as she’s 16 - they get three hearts, one to represent all three of them.

[nightingaelic]

how about the fnv companions(dlc included) meeting the courier's child years after the courier left the Mojave on their own?

"Your life was ours, which is with you.

Go on your journey. We go too."

~ John Fuller, "Lullaby"

There hadn't been much to go on, but what was there was enough. The courier had left an impression all across the wasteland, leaving more than footprints behind wherever they walked. They'd changed lives, towns, histories - you just had to know what to ask.

Eventually, their child found the right combinations of words, the right stories to tell to get them where they wanted to go. They punched the route into the map of the hand-me-down Pip-Boy they'd received and followed it, wondering with each step whether the one who'd given it to them had come this way. Whether they'd seen that same rock formation, met that same shopkeeper, listened to the same songs on the radio.

By the time they arrived at their destination they were dusty, tired, and more than a little beaten up by the dangers of the wasteland. But they were their parent's child, and the will to persist came easily to them. They approached the individual they'd sought and pushed their hat back. "Hello," they said with as much confidence as they could muster. "You don't know me, but you used to know Courier Six. I don't know if they ever told you, but I'm... they were..."

Arcade Israel Gannon: Arcade's jaw dropped. "You're... you were... how did they...?"

"Keep me under wraps?" The courier's child shrugged. "I guess they lived the kind of life that didn't seem like you could fit a kid into it."

Arcade couldn't help chuckling at that. "That... actually makes complete sense. I never would have guessed."

The levity was short-lived, though, as the researcher realized what this meant for the person standing in his tent. "They weren't around much for you, were they?"

The courier's child shook their head, and Arcade grimaced. He rubbed the back of his neck, then went to the desk where his notes on the Followers' latest project ideas were strewn. "After everything I told them about my own family... they never said a thing. What were you thinking, Six?"

His head snapped up in realization, and he looked back at the newcomer. "Lived. You said lived. Are they-?"

"No." The courier's child pressed their lips together. "Well, maybe. I don't think so. But I need help finding them, if only to see for myself."

"So you came here." Arcade shook his head. "This... I'll do what I can, of course, but if there's one thing your parent was good at, it was vanishing unexpectedly."

Craig Boone: Boone peered at them through his sunglasses, then tilted them down so he could get a better look. "Mmm," he said in acknowledgement.

"And I was just..." The courier's child was shaking in their boots under the sniper's impassive gaze. "Just wondering if... you'd maybe..."

Boone set his rifle aside and leaned back against one of Dinky the Dinosaur's teeth. "Breathe," he advised them.

The newcomer took a few deep breaths, eyeing him the whole time with obvious awe and misgiving. They knew his beret, it seemed.

"Better?" Boone asked after another minute.

"Thanks." The courier's child shook themselves out and drew up to their full height again. "I'm looking for them. People say you two used to travel together."

"We did," Boone admitted. "A long time ago, now."

"How long?"

Boone looked out over the rest of the dinosaur's teeth, toward the hills that had been empty of Legionaries for some time. "Too long," he said, shouldering his rifle again. "Talk."

Lily Bowen: Lily adjusted her goggles and peered at the courier's child. "Is that you, pumpkin?" she asked.

"Pumpkin?" the newcomer asked, puzzled.

"It is you." Lily swept them up in a hug that lifted them into the air. "You've been so naughty, dearie, going missing... you had your Grandma so worried!"

"Grandma?" the courier's child wheezed.

"Yes, pumpkin, your Grandma! Don't be silly now, there is much to do today." Lily gave them a final squish before settling them back on the ground. "Gather your things and come along. The bighorners need to be fed, and the fence in the back pasture needs rebuilding. Quickly, now, or Gail and her little lamb will be loose again before the day is out."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: There were tears in the ghoul's eyes as the newcomer stumbled through their introduction, and he clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from sobbing. "Niñe buene," he said when they were finished, feeling as though a miracle had descended to stand in front of him. "You look so much like them."

"Niñe buene," the courier's child murmured. They clearly didn't know the words, but Raul's tone was enough to hazard a guess. "You knew them well?"

"Better than some." Raul smiled and wiped his tears away before they could escape. "Not as well as others. But well enough. Más o menos."

"I... don't suppose you know where I can find them?"

Raul's face fell. "You don't know where they are?"

"No. I was hoping you might."

Raul cursed and looked around him. He snatched up his guns and hat from the chair near his workbench and began strapping some tool belts on. "Always needing your viejo to bail you out of trouble, Six," he muttered as he went. "Y tu niñe dragged into it too? Qué vergüenza."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Oh, are you?" Cass set her glass down and looked the plucky youth over. "In looks, maybe. Got more to learn though, kid. Your parent knew better than to approach me after the kind of night I've been having."

"What kind of night have you been having?" they asked, bewildered.

Cass sighed. "The kind that ends with me passed out on this stool. Similar to the night I met your creator."

"My creat- oh." The courier's child sat down next to her. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry. Heh." Cass smirked. "They were full of apologies, too. Thought it would fix my caravan, my broken heart, the war... I'll give them this, it was an approach I never would've thought of. Was always better with my gun than with my words."

The courier's child clasped their hands on the bar. "Tell me."

"It's a long, sad story, kid."

"I've got time enough."

"Fine." Cass finished her drink and slammed the glass down on the counter. "But the next round's on you. And the one after that."

Veronica Santangelo: Veronica gasped. "You're their secret love child! I knew they had one lying around somewhere! Oh, come here!"

She snatched them up in a hug before they could stop her, squeezing them until they both saw stars. "God, you're just the spitting image of the courier," she reassured them when she finally let go. "Same eyes, same chin, same shoulders... wait, who's the other half of their love nest? They were pretty good at keeping secrets, when they put their mind to it, but I always said-"

"Can... can you slow down for a minute?" The courier's child straightened themselves out again. "I mean, I'm happy to meet you too, I guess, but we just met."

"Oh, sure." Veronica grinned sheepishly. "You just got me excited, is all. It's been an age since they came through, and they always managed to make my life interesting. How are they doing?"

The Scribe's face fell when she realized that the newcomer didn't know the answer. "Oh. I see. That's why you're here."

"Yep." The courier's child shrugged. "I thought... maybe..."

They squeaked when Veronica crushed them with another hug.

ED-E: The eyebot that had been milling about the Mojave Express outpost in Primm grew still in midair, scanning the newcomer repeatedly as if searching for something. The conclusion it arrived at brought joy into its circuitry, and it immediately dove straight for their chest.

The courier's child caught it in surprise, and ED-E trumpeted a triumphant sting from a pre-war television show. "Back on the... dusty trail?" it inquired, using the voices of long-dead actors.

The courier's child looked up in alarm. "What does it-?"

Johnson Nash, who had been watching from behind his counter, was overcome with laughter. "It means the bot's yours, now. Picked you itself. Go on, take it, it's been a spell since someone came through that door that ED-E felt connected to."

"ED-E." The courier's child released the eyebot gently, pushing it up to float at their eye level. "Pleased... pleased to meet you."

ED-E cooed.

Rex: The King smiled and turned to look down at the cyberdog that was napping alongside his chair. "Rexie, you've got a visitor."

The German shepherd yawned and stretched before leisurely greeting the newcomer. He sniffed their hand over a few times and whuffed softly, as if in approval.

"I take it you're looking for the courier?" the King asked, scratching the old dog's ruff with obvious affection.

The courier's child nodded. "It's important. But so far, nobody's been much help. A few of them pointed me here."

"That's because Rex here has a great nose and a long memory." The King patted Rex's brain dome and leaned forward in interest. "He'll suit you well, I think."

"You're giving him to me?"

"Loaning him out, more like." The King winked. "Give your parent my best, when you find them. It's been too long."

BONUS!

Benny Gecko: "Oh, I'd know that face anywhere," Benny assured them. "Younger, older, wig-chopped or chrome-plated. You're that courier's little beatnik."

"And you're the snake who tried to put them six feet under." The courier's child eyed the leader of the Chairmen with disapproval. "Tried and failed."

"That's ancient history, now." Benny crushed his cigarette out on a nearby ash tray and smirked. "As are they, last I heard. Come looking for your parent's blessing on your own life? Don't hold your breath, I ain't seen them, and New Vegas is better for it."

The courier's child took a threatening step forward. "What did you do to them?"

"Easy." Benny withdrew Maria from inside his coat, just to show them he wasn't worth the trouble. "Nothing, since that night in Goodsprings. Once is enough for me to learn a lesson, and I've kept my distance since."

The newcomer's ire dampened. "So you don't know where they've gone."

"Kid, if I knew the answer to that, I would be a much richer man." Benny sat back in his lounge chair. "There's no getting back inside House's casino without them."

Ulysses: "You've got their look," Ulysses admitted, without rising from his seat atop the canyon of the Divide. "The same spark of influence. The same hands of purpose."

The courier's child looked at their hands. "Um..."

"Shaped the land before you." Ulysses gestured at the canyon. "Cracked it where it was brittle, to show the weakness and the strength. Changed the road before walking it."

"The courier did this?" The newcomer's eyes widened in astonishment. "They never... no one ever..."

"The reality beneath the history." Ulysses nodded. "Few know the stories. Fewer still find the meaning. You seek it."

The courier's child shook the realization off and rubbed their temple. "Sorry, can you speak less like a villain in a radio play? I didn't come here to fulfill a prophecy or something, I came here to find the courier."

Ulysses tilted his head back to catch the Divide's wind in his hair. "Prophecies and villains. You even sound like them."

Roxie: Roxie nosed her pups away from where they had been nursing and rose unsteadily. She stepped forward to sniff their extended hand, one lip curled up in warning, but their scent convinced her that they were no threat to her little family. She licked her teeth and flopped back down in the middle of the puppies.

The courier's child crouched down and let the little ones greet them as well. There were six of them, tiny rapscallions who lacked their parents' cybernetics but had every bit of their verve. The concept of a purebred dog was extinct in post-war America, but thanks to the Denver Police Department's budget and the science of the Big Empty, here rolled three German shepherd puppies that were unaware of their own rarity.

"You're a brave one," the courier's child said softly to a little boy pup that was crawling over their boot. "Better be careful in the wasteland, or you'll wind up more dog meat than dog. Take care of him, mama."

Joshua Graham: The Burned Man waited patiently until they were finished, making no comment until they had stammered through their explanation. He set aside the book he'd been reading and looked them over. There was no mistaking the resemblance.

"'And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad,'" he quoted. "''To the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south.' How long did it take you to find me?"

The courier's child shifted uncomfortably. "A while."

"Few know my whereabouts. Fewer still are brave enough to come calling. I assume you have need of something."

"I..." The ghost of an expression Graham recognized crossed their face. He'd seen it before, when the courier stood alone after the battle in Zion, standing knee-deep in the Virgin River with moonlight and blood splashed across their features. A resigned weariness.

"You are tired." Graham rose from his seat. "Go. See the men at the fire, and tell them you require food and a place to sleep. We can speak when you have rested."

They nodded gratefully, then turned and left his tent. Graham watched them go. Only when they were out of earshot did he finish the verse he'd begun. "'And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' I will do what I can for them, courier. As you did for me."

Follows-Chalk: Follows-Chalk clapped his hands to his cheeks. "Shaiss, you are! Hoi, owslandr!"

"Hoi?"

"Hi!" Follows-Chalk shook his head in delight. "Who knew the courier had a child out there in the world? Unbelievable. What are you doing here?"

"I... I came here looking for them." The courier's child shifted a little, awkward in their own forwardness. "They made themselves scarce, and I want to track them down."

"Then you came to the right place, owslandr." Follows-Chalk straightened his hat with self-importance. "I no longer follow chalk, despite my name. Now I follow real signs, real tracks. That's why you came here, right?"

"Partially." The courier's child smiled hesitantly. "I also heard you spent some time with them, and I wanted to know..."

"What they were like?" Follows-Chalk wrapped an arm around their shoulders and pulled them in. "Of course. Let me tell you about our adventures in Zion."

Waking Cloud: The warrior-mother of the Sorrows swept them up in a hug before they could continue, holding them tight as if she were greeting one of her own returning children. "Holadu, na'ne. You are most welcome, little one."

The courier's child tensed up at first, then relaxed when they realized this wasn't an attack. "I'm not that little."

"This is true." Waking Cloud released them and began to look them over with her eyes and hands. "Resilient. Strong. Tsagasee gave you their good bones."

"Tsagasee?"

"Your parent." Waking Cloud smiled. "They are within you and without. Written on your face, a ripple in the water."

The newcomer's hand went to their cheek. "Really? I barely... it's hard for me to remember."

"Come." Waking Cloud took their hand away and folded it in hers. "The Sorrows owe much to the courier, and their child is as one of ours. Eat with us, and I will tell you the stories we have kept."

Caesar: "No, they didn't." Caesar shifted on his throne, studying the newcomer. "But I suppose it was only a matter of time before they produced a child. What do you call yourself?"

The courier's child swallowed, eyeing the Praetorian Guard around the Legion's god made flesh. "Sorry, I... I'm nobody. I'm not them, that's for sure."

"If you were, I would have had your head as soon as you turned up," Caesar said sternly. "Years of service, of teaching the NCR lasting lessons and bringing the Mojave to heel, and then they up and vanish. Desertion is a crime punishable by death, and seeing as the courier isn't here to suffer the consequences of their actions..."

The look on his guest's face became too much, and Caesar began to chuckle. "Relax. I'm joking. Come, tell me what it is you're looking for. If it's your parent you want though, I'm afraid I won't be of much help. Even the best of my Frumentarii have been unable to find them."

Robert House: "Hmm." House looked them over. The newcomer bore a resemblance to his former employee that was undeniable, and potentially useful. "I fail to see how your parentage is any of my concern, valuable as my associate may have been."

"I'm not here to ask for a job," the courier's child said quickly. "I want to know what records you kept on them. Everything I know about them before... before Goodsprings is vague, but all of the people I've talked to said that if anyone had records about where they came from, who they were, it would be you. So here I am."

"I see." House called up the relevant information from his systems immediately and filled his senses with it. Known aliases, work histories, their modus operandi and preferred weaponry, it was all there. His own searches for the missing courier had all been fruitless, but there was only so far a securitron could go when investigating.

"I'll make you a deal." House began to write the files to a holotape and called forward one of the robots the courier had helped him upgrade some time ago. "I will give you what I have, but when you leave New Vegas, take Victor here with you. He can assist you in your journey."

"Why?"

"I have a vested interest in your parent's well-being. They know much that could prove to be important, in the coming years."

Yes Man: "You're their child, aren't you?" Yes Man's static happy face flipped across the Lucky 38's screens in a pixelated display of joy. "I am just tickled to meet you! They told me all about you!"

"They did?" The courier's child was taken aback. "You're... you're the first person who's had any idea that I exist."

"Technically, I am an artificial intelligence!" Yes Man corrected them. "The courier told me that I was never supposed to mention that they had you to anyone but them, but I'm guessing they never expected you to come here! It's actually very impressive that you did!"

"Thank you." The courier's child blushed. "Why didn't they want anyone to know about me?"

"To protect you, of course! It's the same reason they refused to tell me where they were going, the last time they left New Vegas!"

The newcomer's shoulders sank. "You don't know where they went, either?"

"I don't know for sure, but thanks to my probability matrices, I have a pretty good idea! Would you like me to tell you, or just give you a hint?"

Dog/God: "Courier," the nightkin mumbled.

"I'm not them." The newcomer shook their head. "I'm... I'm theirs, but I'm not them. Sorry."

"They live within you." The nightkin crouched down to look them straight in the eye. "Always. Part of you."

The courier's child was taken aback. "I... I guess?"

The nightkin grunted. "What do you want?"

"I need help finding them."

"Hmph." The nightkin straightened up again and nodded. "I will help."

Dean Domino: The old ghoul looked the newcomer over disdainfully. "The absolute last thing I need right now is a smaller version of that meddlesome mailman knocking on my dressing room door. What do you want, and why did you think you would be welcome here?"

"I don't need a welcome wagon rolled out, I just need information," the courier's child explained. "And you don't look particularly busy."

"My next show is in a half-hour," Dean grumbled. "You certainly are your parent's child. What happened to respecting the theatrical process? I suppose the bombs killed basic manners, as well - what do you want?"

The courier's child squared their shoulders. "You might be one of the last people who saw them before they disappeared. I want to know what happened in the Sierra Madre. I know you were there, so don't try to wriggle out of it, I just need-"

Dean laughed. "You have no idea what you're asking. It won't be done justice in a half-hour. Here."

He ducked back into his dressing room and emerged with a rumpled ticket. "One free admission. Buy a drink, and settle in until my set's done. Then we can talk about how your missing courier ruined my centuries-in-the-making plans."

Christine Royce: Christine stared at them, dumbfounded by the resemblance to the ghost who had freed her from the misty tendrils of the Sierra Madre. She hadn't seen them since they had struck out in different directions from that cursed place, but their features were etched into her being as deeply as the scars of the Big Empty.

"Are you okay?" they asked her, uneasy.

"Yes," Christine said quickly. She cleared her throat and tried to pitch the voice that wasn't hers up, closer to the one she'd had before she ran afoul of the Elder she'd hunted to the ends of the earth. "You are a surprise, that's all."

"So are you." The courier's child crossed their arms. "I heard from others that you never left the haunted casino, but here you are, hundreds of miles away."

Christine looked away. "That place wasn't mine to care for, anymore. Its siren song is over. Its gates are closed. And I left a life behind that needed to be resolved."

"Sure. In a way, that's what I'm trying to do." The courier's child sighed. "I need your help. Veronica Santangelo said you're the best tracker she knows. I need you to help me find my parent."

[crippled-punk-guy]

I want to talk about outbreaks, poverty, and medical oppression.

I’m sure most of you are aware of long covid, the phenomenon that people who were infected with covid are having health problems they didn’t before infection that are now following them through their life. A lot of these situations have been disabling; I myself now have an extra disability tacked onto the list as well as many of my once abled friends joining me. Even my grandpa has developed a disability because of his infection. And this is something our family is not new to.

For the purpose of this story I’m going to call her aunt M. Aunt M was my grandma’s aunt, so technically my great aunt I believe. When she was a little girl she was completely able bodied like most of her immediate family. They had no known health problems that would cause anything like what happened to her. By this time polio was very well known about, vaccines were starting to be rolled out and treatments had started to become available to more people according to my uncle (her older brother). One day aunt M and her siblings go outside and find that their neighbors yard had flooded, so like a group of five kids in a small town with nothing else to do they play in the water. They had no idea that something so small would completely change the course of their little sister’s life. She ended up contracting polio, the only source anyone could think of was the standing water. As far as I’m aware no one else got sick or at the very least as sick as she did. It completely destroyed her lungs and her ability to walk, the muscles in her legs contracted and got stuck in a bent position and could hardly handle any weight. Aunt M spent the rest of her life using an oxygen machine and a power wheelchair once her family was able to save enough for one, and while you will not give her any pity because she never wanted any, I will tell her story to remind everyone of her. She shouldn’t have been disabled. She wouldn’t have lived a life of pain if not for one reason: poverty. You see the rich neighborhood a couple miles away had the resources. Any kids there were properly vaccinated and given treatments like leg braces to help them. Their family didn’t have any of that. No access to medication. No way to help her. She was very lucky that her symptoms didn’t get worse, she could’ve very easily died.

Aunt M passed away during the covid pandemics first year, it was very sudden and unexpected, we were all devastated. But part of me thinks it was slightly a blessing, a blessing that she wouldn’t have to watch her nephew go through the same thing. I was already disabled when this whole thing started, I already used a wheelchair and she knew that, I always felt a closeness to her because of it even though I hardly got to see her. But I got sick, more sick than usual, and ended up developing severe POTS. I have much less energy than I did before and that’s saying a lot, I have trouble pushing my wheelchair now because of my lung capacity and overall weakness. Hopefully soon I will be getting a power chair. And I can’t help but think of Aunt M.

I can’t help but think of all of the people like her, just innocent people who were living and then suddenly now their life is changed forever. I feel like it was easier for me because I had already accepted being disabled, sure more to worry about isn’t ideal but at least I’m no stranger to it. But think about that and think about aunt M. How a little less than a hundred years ago the same fucking thing happened.

Post polio syndrome and post covid syndrome are one in the same in a lot of ways. The effects they cause are surprisingly similar, at least in my family and experience, and it took years for people to admit post polio existed like it will for post covid. This is why it’s called a mass disabling event, people go into it relatively healthy and come out with health problems and disabilities that will never go away. The wealthier people can try out the experimental treatments and possibly be helped or cured, while the rest of us have to live with the proof that our government doesn’t know how to take care of their own people.

While POTS does effect the body differently than how polio effected their lungs and chests we need to comprehend how serious this is. Some people live with POTS and can mitigate their symptoms to the point of it barely effecting them, and some of us need to use wheelchairs because we can’t breathe or think while standing for longer than three minutes. It’s a syndrome with a wide variety of presentations and effects on patients, and it is a nervous system disorder so it may have more lasting effects than we can even think of right now.

Honestly I don’t have a point to summarize into, but just remember how the government handled polio and how it’s handled covid so far, I predict that when those of us who are young adults now are my aunt M’s age we’ll see the same fucking thing happen all over again. And we’ll sit there, with our long covid impacts and know, we haven’t learned a god damn thing.

I’ll end you with reiterating, do not hold any pity for my Aunt M, she was a very strong willed person who wouldn’t accept any amount of other people feeling bad for her, direct your emotions to the government who did this to her and us. Aunt M was healthy, she should’ve stayed healthy. Government inaction decided her fate for her.

[albiclalepsza]

This is the most lukewarm take one can have but I absolutely despise Elon Musk. The man grinds my gears with every fucking thing he does and says, but the shit he pulled now is just so fucking atrocious.

This article does a pretty good job at summarizing it.

The fucking gall it takes to look at your social media platform, a breeeding ground for the alt-right and fascists, and say that it would stop the Holocaust. Holy shit.

And Margolin gifted him with a piece of Hamas rocket that hit Kibbutz Beeri. What a fucking joke. This shit is so performative. In the middle of a genocide that Israel is commiting, they parade the torment of their own people around. If they could get away with it they would probably carry the bodies of people killed on Oct. 7 around to aid their rhetoric. Not to add that if Palestinians wanted to do the same they could send rocket pieces to every single politician that remains complicit in this situation.

The rest of the article is here:

And like, all this happened after Musk visited Auschwitz. His platform is the main place to propagate antisemitism online, and he uses arguably the place where Jews suffered the most to pretend that that's not true. And of course when the topic of concentration camps comes up the narrative focuses on Jews, wich is obviously absolutely understandable - this was a genocide aimed at erasing them, and it destroyed so much Jewish culture. But like, 3 million Jews that died were from Poland. If you add the non-Jewish Poles to that number you get 6 million people dead over the course of the war, most of them killed by the very same Nazi death machine that perpetrated the Holocaust.

Holocaust is also a Polish national tragedy. It erased almost 20% of our population. We learn about it basically before we're conscious enough to understand it. The shadow of that hangs above the country, so much destruction, so many lives and so much culture erased.

A beautiful synagogue that stood in my hometown got demolished by the Nazis, along with the whole Jewish district of the town. Pretty much all Jews from my town were taken to camps or murdered on the streets. The atrocities were so common that there are memorials pretty much everywhere. And it all happened within living memory of course.

My grandmother and her sister almost got executed by the Nazis. They both managed to avoid that thankfully and are old, alive and well (my grandma's sister just celebrated her 99th birthday in good health). Pretty much everyone in Poland has had someone in their family killed by the Nazis or who fought the Nazis 2-4 generations ago. My great grandfathers all fought against them, one lost a leg during the war. The history of the Holocaust and Nazi terror is just so completely interwoven with the general history of Poland that the two are inseparable.

And it pisses me off so much that this weasel, this mistake of a man takes it and feigns an apology, making a farce out of our biggest national tragedy.

Even worse, Polish media is very polarized about the whole situation. Half of the articles ignore the atrocious things he said to suck that billionaire's dick and lick his boots. No mention of this asshole disrespecting our history, just saying how cool it is that the guy who won capitalism appeared in Poland. Fuck them.

Thankfully some newspapers retained a semblance of integrity and called him out. My two favorite ones are these:

Krytyka Polityczna made a headline that says:

Elon Musk in Auschwitz. Photobooth for the pro-Russian antisemite.

And I love the summarizing paragraph here.

"By claiming that if social media existed back then a genocide like the one in Auschwitz wouldn't have happened Elon Musk admits that he understands the Holocaust about as well as his own social media platform - X."

Great takes guys. No notes.

[athetos]

My grandma passed away. I knew as soon as my dad texted me because he said good morning with my name. He never uses my name, to the point sometimes I fear he’s forgotten it. I talked to my mom for a while. I realized the reason this feels so distant and unreal is because my grandma has been so distant and unreal from me and my brother for a years now. Later on it was because she was getting sick, but before that it was because she didn’t want anything to do with my moms side of the family after my parents divorced, and it was clear I sided with my mom. Not like I had much choice. I just started college and didn’t live in town anymore, and I knew my dad was abusive because I was in an abusive relationship at the same time and knew the signs. So while I loved my grandparents, they didn’t want to see me.

So I only saw them a couple times a year, especially once I started fighting with my dad more. Usually at Christmas, thanksgiving, and a summer bbq. So an average of 3 visits a year for the past decade. I love them both for helping raise me and helping shape me into the person I am today. My grandma taught me how to swim, how to type on a keyboard, and encouraged my love of reading. I would spend hot days swimming for what felt like hours in the pool then reading warrior cats or redwall on the patio while she knit or read herself. We’d tend to the gardens and they’d give us fresh veggies, pickled eggs, homemade dressing, and their award-winning wine that we were much too young to drink but drank anyway. I think if I was 16 and you told me she passed away, I’d cry endlessly and refuse to believe it.

But I’m 27 now and in a way it feels like she’s been gone for 10 years already. She has been largely absent from my life, even though she echoes so strongly within me. I had cried and grieved many times over the remnants of our relationship when I was in college. I would have frequent nightmares of going to her funeral, or witnessing her die. Because that what it felt like, in a way. That she had died. And maybe once I graduated, but before I moved, she was resurrected for a short time. Like getting second chances to say goodbye to a ghost, and make up for lost time. 3 times a year, I could make amends and we could pretend I wasn’t in their blind spot for my entire college career. The love I felt for her then was strong, but it was not the same love I felt for her before. Was the love she gave me the same? Or was it different as well? Was she proud of me? Did she recognize me? Could she still see the girl with tangled hair and butterfly sweaters within the face of a disillusioned not-girl?

I don’t have to try to honor her. Everything she has done for me has been woven into my dna and etched in my bones. Just by living, I am carrying her memory. It’s in every action and every thought. To separate her love for me would be to unravel my very being. I cannot exist without it. I understand now why people are so concerned about their legacy, of the importance of continuing their family line. It’s not their genes that are important, but the love they give their descendants. Trace my family tree, and you will find the prototype of me, hundreds of years ago. I am a culmination of all that has come before, and for the first time, I truly want to have children, to be able to give them that same love my grandma gave me, so they can give it to their children. I want to be remembered, not by name or by face, but by the fingerprints I leave behind.

Everyone is asking me if I’m coming home. I don’t know. What else can I say? What can I do? Fly home for a funeral, pretend I haven’t laid my grandma to rest years ago, and say a few inadequate words that will crumble as soon as they leave my lips? Meet relatives I haven’t seen in years, even decades, and pretend I remember their names? As though we have anything in common, anything at all, but my grandma’s kindness and grace? Is that enough? I cannot meet the eyes of some of these people. Not all of them have cast me away, but some have, as soon as they heard word I was with a woman. I’m not afraid of them, but are they afraid of me? Could someone who has been raised on my grandma’s love have that much hate in their heart? I can afford a plane ticket, I have bereavement leave. So why not go? Except I can’t. But I can.

I still haven’t cried yet. I don’t know if I can. I’m screaming at myself to feel something, for my body to react. Just the vague emptiness in my chest. Worrying for my father, for the first time in years. I didn’t think I was capable of worrying for him. Maybe i won’t cry until tonight, or tomorrow, or the funeral, or sometime years down the line when it finally hits me and spills out of me, overdue and rank. Grief is a funny thing. My art teacher died when I was in middle school. It was the first time I had lost someone close to me, when I was old enough to comprehend death. My grandma was the one who called me to tell me she died. It didn’t feel real until that monday, when I saw her photo everywhere. I broke. I was taken to the counselors office, where I tore up origami swans and bawled until they made my parents take me home. I didn’t recover until she came to me in a dream. She invited me to a party, and said everyone was there, celebrating her life. She hugged me and told me to be strong, and eat some chocolate cake. So I did. And I never shed another tear over her again. Still, I think about how she was buried with an easel, where we had drawn and written our love for her all over. I wrote the lyrics to shadow of the day by linkin park, and my hand cramped halfway through, but I kept going. I still think of her when I listen to Van Halen, or use complementary colors.

I’m not sure where we go from here, beyond forwards. Will this repair my relationship with my father, or will it shatter it into thousands of pieces? Will I reconnect with my family, or will they forget me as soon as they finish the ceremony? Will I be forgiven? Will they forgive me? Wherever things go from here, I know my grandma is still with me. She looks out from my eyes and grips the pencil with my hand. Even as I type this she is haunting every word. Not all hauntings have to be bad.

Thank you, Grandma, for everything. You taught me how to swim, so this will not make me drown.

[new-eyes-extra-colors]

this is from an old version of the project i'm working on currently, but i still like it so i'm posting. wip, uh, tuesday.

the cookie sheet thing is real, btw. my grandma used to do it. the local fault line is active enough to pay attention to.

Pacifidlog is actually really noisy for being in the middle of the ocean. Harbor bells clang, sea birds screech, and the ever-present sound of the water breaking and sloshing against the foundation of the town fills the air. May kicks her bare feet in the water, squinting up at the clear blue sky and feeling the warmth of the sunlight on her skin. Just past her feet, in a hollow of the corsola formation the town sits on, Alluria coils in on herself repeatedly, splashing contentedly in the clear water.

“Far cry from the rainforest, isn’t it?” May asks her, smiling softly, and of course her only reply is to continue splashing.

May breathes out the warm salty air and taps the end of her pen on her lips. She’s pretty sure they’re close now. Probably within the week they’ll have found the place they’re looking for.

Approaching feet cause the wooden dock to vibrate and she turns to see Flannery, sunglasses on and bag slung over her shoulder. She waves a greeting before flopping down next to May.

“Well, I talked to the pokémon center staff, and to a couple of people on the west docks,” she says, pulling a tube of sunscreen out of her bag and squirting a generous dose of it into her hand. “Basically all of them had heard rumors of a sunken city somewhere between here and Slateport, but none of them had any concrete details.” She clicks the cap on the tube closed against her knee and drops in in her bag before slathering her arms in sunscreen. May should probably be doing the same, she thinks; she’s a fair bit paler than Flannery, and they are gonna be in the sun and water for a while if they can find this place.

“Most of them did direct me to a gentleman who lives on the opposite side of town,” Flannery continues. “A Mister Nakamura. They said he’s been living here since the city was just a floating warehouse for the Mauville corporation. If anybody here knows anything, it’ll probably be that guy.”

“Makes sense,” May agrees.

“Yup. Anyway, I figured we should talk to him together. Two heads and all that jazz.” She waves both of her hands in the air, palms forward, and grins. May snorts a laugh.

“That sounds like a way better plan than jumping off the dock and hoping we don’t get lost in the four-hundred-something miles between here and the mainland,” she says.

“Uh, yeah. I’m feeling a little out of my element here. Literally.” Flannery nods at Alluria, still amusing herself with swimming in circles in the water. “At least one of us is having a good time here.”

May chuckles and stows her pen and notepad before standing and stretching out the stiffness from sitting. She reaches down to give Flannery a hand up.

“Your hand is slimy,” May tells her, pulling a face.

“Well, so’s the rest of me at the moment.” She wobbles a bit when she stands, evidently still not used to the gentle, nearly imperceptible rocking of the town. “Ugh.”

“It’s pretty different, huh?” May says, looking out across the low buildings that hug the water. There are people moving along the tethered walkways as easily as walking down the sidewalk in Slateport. “We don’t have anything like this in Johto.”

“It feels kinda like an earthquake,” Flannery says, and when May gives her a confused look she continues. “We get a lot of minor tremors up in Lavaridge, so when I was little—well, she still does it—anyway, my grandma kept a metal cookie sheet in the oven. Our house had a stone foundation so you really couldn’t feel the little earthquakes, so if you were feeling queasy—the sort of queasy that comes with movement, kinda like carsickness—she’d check the cookie sheet. If it was rattling when no one was touching it, it was a sign of minor tremor.” She gestures out at the town. “That’s what this reminds me of. You can’t really feel the movement, but you can still get motion sick from it.”

“Huh,” May says. “That’s really cool.”

“Yeah,” Flannery agrees. “Pretty cool.”

They stand together for a moment in the sun, soaking in the town, the sounds of the birds, bells, and water, and then Flannery says, “But this is gonna make me puke if we stand around here too much longer, so let’s go find that guy so we can find an even cooler underwater city.”

[jaxteller87]

show off part 4(last part)

As we sat outside the ice cream shop, the warm sun shining down on us, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for moments like these with my best friend and husband. The sound of children laughing and birds chirping filled the air, creating a peaceful moment that I wasn’t all that used to, but it felt good.

Mary took another spoonful of her ice cream and closed her eyes, savoring the flavor. “This is so good, Amber,” she said, smiling at me.

I smiled back at her. “I’m sure it is. But literally, no one since my grandma ordered teaberry ice cream.”

She snorted with a mouthful of ice cream at my joke, and I couldn’t help but laugh myself.

Jax sat beside me, placing our burgers and fries on the table. “What are you two laughin’ about?” looking at us with a mischievous glint in his eye.

Mary and I abruptly tried to stop laughing, attempting to hide our dumb little moment from him, but we looked like two guilty kids caught in the act, “oh, nothing, sweetheart, just talkin’ about grandma,” I said, playfully patting his cheek.

As we dug into our burgers, we chatted about our week and caught up on the latest gossip. Nothing crazy, considering how our lives typically are. No club business, no drama, just living life as normal people do.

Or so I guess they do stuff like this. Either way, It was such a simple moment, but it meant the world to me to have Mary here with us.

“So, I had a thought,” I said, laying the puppy dog eyes on Jax.

“Oh no, come on now,” he smiled and glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, “don’t give me that look. Just tell me how much this is gonna cost me.”

“Babe! I’m not one of those gold-diggin’ girls. I hope that’s not what you think of me.” I gave him my serious stare.

“Oh, what? You guys can make jokes when I’m not here, and when I try to add a little humor to the conversation, suddenly I’m the bad guy,” he wiped his face with his napkin and pecked me on the cheek with half a mouthful of food.

“You better be joking,” I can’t help but smile at his cuteness, “so Mary’s birthday is coming up in a month. I think we should all go out, you know, a wild night on the town.”

“Yeah, alright,” he nods, “just let me know when and where, babe.”

A smile crossed Mary’s face just as Jax’s phone rang.

“Yeah?” he answered, “alright. -- Yeah, -- no problem. -- Give me fifteen minutes.”

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, nothin’ big,” he crammed the rest of his burger in his mouth and stood up from the table, “just some business at Caracara.” Jax leaned in and kissed me.

 “Ride safe, babe,” I told him.

“Always,” he winked at me, “later, Mary.”

As he started up his Dyna and put his helmet on, I lost myself in the moment. Just staring at him on that bike was one of the things that made me fall in love with him. It never gets old watching him ride off on his Harley.

Mary and I went back to my place and decided to enjoy the beautiful weather from the back porch.

“So, Mary, how are things going?” I asked, “I’m not trying to push, but a few weeks ago, you really made me nervous,” I said gently, placing a hand on her arm.

“I know,” she replied, shaking slightly. “I’m sorry again for messing that afternoon up.”

“No, no, don’t be. You would have done the same thing for me,” I assured her, giving her arm a squeeze.

Mary smiled but remained quiet. I knew there was more to say, so I probed gently. “Well, I’ve upped my meds instead of going to therapy every week. I guess that’s a good thing.”

She looked like she heard me, but it seemed like she was somewhere else. I just embraced the silence for a moment and let her trail off, not wanting to push too hard. After a few seconds, I found myself back on the topic of her well-being, “I don’t want to nag or sound like I’m pushing, but I mean it, Mary. Let me know if there’s anything I can do,” I said softly, squeezing her hand.

“I know,” Mary whispered, “I will. Thank you. Just promise me that you’ll do whatever you have to in order to make things work with you and Jax. Anyone would kill for a relationship like you two have. It doesn’t take a genius to see that he’s truly crazy about you,” Mary said; in fact, it was the most she had said to me in a long time.

“I will, sweetie. I promise. But It’s not only the disability; it’s the depression part of it that holds me back and makes me question everything. It’s not fair to me, and I know that it’s really not fair to him either.”

“Talk to him about it, Amber. He’s a big boy; I definitely think he can handle it,” Mary said, giving me her patent side-eye.

I nodded and smiled, and we talked for hours. Then, before I knew it, I heard the roar of Jax’s Harley barrelling down the street.

“I should probably head out; it’s getting pretty late,” Mary said, getting up from her chair. By the time we hugged and said our goodbyes for the night, Jax was already coming around the corner.

He hugged her, and I swore I heard her say, “take care of our girl for me.”

Jax pulled up a patio chair beside me, reached over, took my hand, and started rubbing circles on it with his thumb. I reached into my cigarette box, pulled out a joint, and sparked it up. I took two long drags off of it and handed it to him.

“Can I ask you something, Amber?” he took it from me and took a deep drag from it, more than I took in two hits.

“Of course, baby,” I turned my hand over and took his in mine, “you can ask me anything.”

“Are you happy?” he held the smoke in as if waiting for me to answer before he could exhale.

Best not keep him waiting then, I thought.

“Absolutely,” I looked him square in the eyes, “you make me the happiest I’ve ever been.”

“Good,” he turns his head and exhales, “I’m happy too. Happier than I’ve been in a long time. I just want to make you happy, Amber. You deserve it,” he said, kissing me twice on the cheek before planting one on my lips.

We spent the rest of the night talking and laughing, enjoying each other’s company, and that weed I had must have been some high-test medical-grade stuff because we got high as hell from it, and before we knew it, we were laying naked in the bed down at the clubhouse. It was just like we used to do back when we were dating. Although come to think of it, I was so blitzed from that joint I don’t even remember getting on the back of the bike to come here. But as we lay in bed, Jax wrapped his arms around me and held me close.

“I love you so much, Amber. And I love that you’re so close to Mary. She’s important to you, which means she’s important to me, too,” he said, kissing my forehead.

“I know, and I’m grateful for that. I love you too, Jax,” I replied, snuggling into his chest.

“I love seeing you this happy, darlin’,” he kissed my forehead again.

As I slowly drifted off to sleep, my mind came to life with so many ideas about Mary’s upcoming birthday. However, I was not prepared for the news I would hear when we woke up late the following day.

Earlier that morning, Marry had passed away.

[timeoverload]

Alright I'm back I guess. I'm sorry for my meltdown on Saturday. I don't really feel much better but I also don't have anything else I can do right now. The only thing I'm planning on doing today is going to get my meds and some snacks and try to take a shower sometime. I don't even feel like watching fireworks. I don't get that excited about it anymore and it's just not the same as it used to be.

I wish my family still got together for the 4th of July. It used to be a big deal and we would all go to my grandpa's house for food and fireworks. He used to have everyone over for the holidays. My mom moved in with him after my parents got divorced and people stopped wanting to go over there because no one wanted to be around her. When he died, we all drifted apart and we don't do anything together anymore. I am missing him today. I am thinking about going to the cemetery to visit his grave soon but I need to figure out where he's buried. I need to go visit my other grandparents graves (my dad's parents) as well because I haven't been there for a long time. I haven't seen my cousins in over 10 years and they live in Arizona now. I've never gotten a chance to go visit them. At this point we're just strangers and it's sad. The cousins that I have that still live in Nebraska have never wanted anything to do with us but I think it's because my mom's other sister is kind of crazy and doesn't let her daughters talk to us or my grandma for some reason. When her only son died, she freaked out and stopped talking to everyone for the most part. He and I were really close when I was little and I miss him. He died very young and I think it was very traumatizing for her but I don't think that's a good reason to cut off the rest of your family. I don't think he would have wanted her to be that way. I don't really talk to my aunts or uncles. My grandma isn't doing very well so she can't come to town anymore either. I haven't seen her since November. I hope I can go see her soon. I guess I just miss how our family used to be before it became so dysfunctional. There's not much I can do about it so I'm going to try not to let it bother me too much.

I don't have anything planned for tomorrow either but I have to work on Wednesday anyway so I guess it doesn't matter. I wouldn't want to be out too late but I will probably still be tired no matter what I do. I'm sure it's going to be too loud to sleep because that's how it was last night. I am going to try to be in a good mood despite all that. I hope I can make today a good day.