#weirdly grim to talk to my mom about where she would like to be buried

[covertleathers]

pepe

[withyounct]

What’s wrong kid? (7)

Reader x Single dad!Jaehyun

Genre: Fluff

Words: 4k

Prompt: You notice a child crying at a school playground. You decide to see what’s up and meet an extremely stressed/extremely handsome father.

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A/n: Sorry that this took forever... Enjoy!

Fall flew by faster than you would have ever hoped, and the cold desolate winter reared its head your way. You loved the winter. It was a magical time where you could wear all the sweaters you wanted, drink all the special flavored coffee drinks with Jaemin you could stomach, and frolic around the snow with Mark.

Winter however, brought unbearable stress and pain with her. Mid-terms lightly rustled you up while finals tried to kill you. The week leading up to it you were permanently stuck in the library. Living on the 9th floor designated for all sciences surrounded by rows of books and rivers of silent tears. You were on your tenth breakdown of the week; too tired to even quiet down your loud sobs that rang through the floor when Kun found you.

You looked up at your roommate with tear filled eyes and broke out another sob. His condition wasn’t quite like yours, but you could see that the stress was getting to him too. Wordlessly, he sat down on the floor next to you, taking the book that was in your shaking hands, and leaned your head on his shoulder.

“Please sleep.”

You woke up on the library floor alone wrapped in one of Kun’s old sweaters. Sitting up, you found a box of snacks both healthy and unhealthy with a note from Ten.

Kun told me where to find you. I didn’t want to wake you, so here’s a present! I know Kun is the pep talk one, but you’re one of the smartest individuals that I’ve ever met, so don’t stress too much. It’ll ruin your pretty face. – Your fav mom friend <3

“I can’t believe you came into the genetics final looking like the grim reapers bride and made a fucking A.” Yangyang groaned.

“She was legit crying while taking the English one, but was the first done.” Haechan picked up a fry and threw it at you.

“Y/n dramatic nature when it comes to tests doesn’t matter, we’re free!” Jaemin beamed. “What are our holiday plans?”

“I'm stealing Yangyang and we’re going to China with my family.” Renjun informed with a vey happy Yangyang nodding. The rest added that they were doing their regular holiday shenanigans and spending Christmas day with family. You usually spent the days leading to Christmas with them and Christmas morning with Lucas’s family since you went over there a lot as a child.

“What about you Ms. Taken? What plans do you and Jaehyun have?” Jaemin leaned in a smirk ever evident on his face.

“What plans?” You asked confused. Their collective faces fell, and every side conversation was silenced.

“Okay he has to die. What do you mean ‘what plans’? He hasn’t asked you to spend your first Christmas together with him?” There were only handful of times you’ve seen Jeno genuinely upset in all the years that you knew him, and it surprised you every time.

“We haven’t had the conversation. We’ve both been busy.” You murmured playing with your food, unable to look at your friends.

“Well my family and I would love to have you over if plans don’t pan out.” Lucas reassured while swinging his foot with yours.

“Thanks Lucas.”

You were helping Hyunjin put up lights in the living room after dinner. She still had a week left in school, but was through the roof excited for the holidays. It didn’t take much convincing on her part to make you buy stuff early and help her. She batted her lashes, pouted, and suddenly you were ready to sign away your life to her.

You were pinning the last string when she asked you what you were doing for Christmas.

“I don’t know.” You answered honestly, jumping down from the chair you were standing on. She looked at you confused and tilted her head. You had to bite back a giggle at how much she resembled a little puppy.

“Will you like to spend it with us?” She asked cutely twiddling her fingers.” Daddy wants to ask you, but he's shy.” She told.

“Is that so?” You laughed, kneeling so you were eye level with her. She nodded and looked at you with worry in her eyes as if you would say no.

“Hyunjin, I would love nothing more than to spend Christmas with you and Jaehyun.” You smiled, lightly petting her head. Before you had the time to react she threw herself on you and knocked you onto the floor. You tightened your grasp on her, so she didn’t hit the floor. She pulled up and kissed you on the cheek. Looking down at her smiling face, your heart melted at how happy she was.

You pushed yourself off the floor with her still in hand and the two of you continued to decorate the room. The task seemed to be too daunting for one day and after a few hours Hyunjin started to get tired. You glanced at your phone and decided to call it a day and got her ready for bed. She was out before the first book was finished and you stayed a bit longer petting her while she slept. From your place on the bed, you heard the front door open. Carefully, you exited the room and ventured into the living room.

You were greeted with the presence of Jaehyun being supported by Taeyong and Yuta while they dragged his swaying figure. The three stopped and looked up at your confused face.

“We just had dinner with the other head honchos and shareholders because the university project finished and was revealed successfully.” Yuta informed.

“They kept pouring Jaehyun drinks, so he's incredibly drunk.” Taeyong finished. Jaehyun very cutely raised one fist into the air and yelled in victory. Your chuckling at his cute antics grabbed his attention and his face lit up. He sloppily pushed off his friends and pulled you into a bone crushing hug.

“We did it.” He slurred, kissing all over your face. You giggled, but put no effort in pulling away.

“Yes, you did. Renjun snuck me into the building and it was amazing.” You confessed between the kisses Jaehyun was painting your lips. You held his face still for a second and turned to his friends. “Thank you for bringing him home safe. I got the rest.”

Yuta had to physically stop Taeyong from taking pictures and drag him out the house. You heard a ‘but they’re so cute!’ before the door was closed. You took a second to really observe Jaehyun; how his face and ears had a slight red hue to it and how even though you were supporting him up he was still swaying.

You sat him down on the couch and his lips were on yours again. Laughing into the kiss you pulled away and started to undo his tie, which proved difficult since he refused to be more than two centimeters away from you.

“Jaehyun. Give me a second please.” You asked softly. He pouted, but stopped regardless. You quickly pulled off the tie and kissed him as thanks. He pulled you onto his lap and buried his face into your neck.

“We should get you to bed.” You sighed as he placed sloppy kisses around the back of your neck.

“No, don’t leave me.” He mumbled as he tightened his hold on you. You slightly shifted so you were sitting sideways on him and carded your fingers through his already messed up hair.

“I'm not going anywhere.” He leaned his head on your chest as you continued, and you saw his breathing level out. You stayed like this longer than necessary as you watched him dozed off.

There was a calm wave that washed over you in the quiet of the room, the only noise filling it being yours and Jaehyun’s soft breathing. You were lost in the background hum when a thought ran through your mind.  You looked down at him. He was peacefully drifting off on you, lips curled up in a small smile, and hands tightly wrapped around you with no wants of letting go. Your heart did something it never did before and it scared you a little.

Glancing at the led clock across the room and realizing that it was well after midnight, you shook Jaehyun awake and convinced him to let you drag him to his room. After several close calls and sorrys on your part, you sat Jaehyun down on his bed. You stood up to catch your breath and scanned the room. You walked into his closet and picked out a random t-shirt and returned back to him.

Kneeling in front of him, you started to unbutton his dress shirt. It was weirdly intimate, and you glanced up to find him smirking in his drunken state. You quickly finished, flicked him on the forehead, and threw his shirt at him. As he pulled on his shirt you contemplated your options. You had no intentions of staying the night. You and Haechan had plans in the morning, but Jaehyun’s ‘don’t leave me’ played in your head. Quickly deciding against going home, you told Jaehyun that you were going to take a shower and would be right back. You got back a muffled okay as he wormed his way under the covers.

You took the shortest shower of your life and stole one of Jaehyun’s shirts to change in. You set an alarm for the morning and found your usual place under the covers next to Jaehyun. You expected him to be asleep, but was proven wrong when arms wrapped around you.

“You smell like me.” He whispered eyes still closed.

“I think you meant to internally monologue that, but yeah I used your body wash.” He let out a weak laugh and kissed your forehead.

“Love you, goodnight.” He kissed your forehead one more time before pulling you to his chest.

“Goodnight.”

Curses filtered out your mouth at how loud your alarm rang. Scrambling to the side table you practically threw your phone across the room. You buried your face in your pillow and softly groaned. The arm that was still on you moved and you saw Jaehyun stir awake.

“Ugh my head.” He whined moving his hand to cover his eyes.

“Morning handsome.” You chimed.  His head cocked to the side and the surprised was evident on his face.

“Whoa y/n.”

He told you that the last thing he remembered from yesterday was getting into Taeyong’s car. You nodded and informed that Taeyong drove him home and Yuta brought his car. Nothing much happened after, but Taeyong probably has blackmail photos of him now.

A string of apologies spilled out and you hushed them with a kiss.

“Don’t worry, you’re a very cute drunk.” You laughed. “Hyunjin outed you by the way. Christmas?” You waited for the confusion to turn to horror.

“She betrayed me.” There was a comical level of disbelief behind the statement that was followed by a visually nervous movement of the lips. “So, um you probably already said yes because who could say no to her, but if you’re not doing anything would you like to spend the holiday with us?” He asked shyer than he need to be.

You held your chin as if you were giving it some thought before breaking out into a smile.

“I would love to.”

You told Jaehyun to stay in bed and not leave until you said he could while you went to go make breakfast with Hyunjin. Her constant excitement when she sees you in the morning had to be one of your favorite things ever. After she was done brushing her teeth and washing her face, you gave her a piggyback ride to the kitchen. You told her that you needed her art expertise for the breakfast plans of the morning. While you were making pancakes, she was getting the colored icing assorted. You gave her one and she got started drawing a building. She took her time and was meticulous about every detail, so you took your time making the rest of breakfast and decided to try your hand at making Jaehyun’s coffee with the French press no one touched.

Hyunjin announced that she was done, and you applaud her on her work. You topped it off with ‘Congratulations’ written around it and Hyunjin went to retrieve her father. You just finished setting the table when they walked in. Hyunjin ran to you and you both screamed ‘surprised’.

Jaehyun had to hold a hand over his mouth to stop the chuckled that came out. He removed it and a smile was plastered wide. He walked over to you both and scooped his daughter up, kissing her cheek before placing one on your lips.

“How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful and beautiful girls?” The love that poured out the statement made your insides go soft.

Breakfast was filled with its usual banner along with Jaehyun whining about the great betrayal his daughter inflicted on him. You were laughing at how cutely Hyunjin called her dad a softie when you got a text from Haechan.

‘Eta 15 mins.’

“Oh shi- snap I gotta go.” You hissed. You placed your plate in the sink before kissing both Hyunjin and Jaehyun on the cheek. Jaehyun yelled that he was off, so he would pick up Hyunjin. You yelled okay before leaving and hopping in your car.

“Wow twenty minutes late. I thought you stood me up.” Haechan deadpanned while handing you the matcha latte he bought you.

“Sorry. I had to run home to change.” You said apologetically. Haechan sighed, but wrapped his arm around yours regardless.

“Forgiven. Let’s go we have shopping to do.”

You both did your annual Christmas shopping together every year. You both agreed long ago that doing it early and getting it out the way was adulting at its best and became a yearly ritual. You were browsing a store Haechan pulled you into when a yellow polaroid camera caught your attention.

“New hobby?”

“No. Hyunjin said some time ago that she wanted to start taking pictures.” You smiled. “Jaemin might have some competition.”

After another hour of shopping you decided to stop for snacks. You told Haechan about Hyunjin inviting you for Christmas and drunk Jaehyun over your shared cinnabons. As you recounted the night you saw the look in his eyes soften.

“I know me and the guys make you happy, but I’ve never seen you this happy before Y/n. I'm not going to lie other than Lucas, I was probably the most worried about you and Jaehyun, but I'm glad you guys are a thing.” He confessed. Your eyes widened at how sentimental he was since it was out of character for him.

“Thanks. That means a lot.” Your eyes matched his and the air around you was disgustingly sweet.

“Okay gross. Come on we have more shit to buy.” He cleared his throat, tossed the trash, and pulled you to the next store.

 “Someone’s gotta die.” You sighed as you looked at the pile of wrapped boxes in front of you. You spent way more than you needed and refused to look at your bank account. While you sat on the floor and ponder on what friends you could possibly kill to spend less, Ten and a dying Kun walked into the apartment.

“Y/n do me a favor and kill Ten. When I feel my feet again I’ll hide the body.” Kun panted stepping over boxes and crashing onto the couch. You looked between the two and thought about it; Ten’s gift was pretty expensive, before deciding against it.

“What happened?”

“I tricked Kun into going to an intense Zumba class with me.” Ten said proudly.

“You probably shouldn’t be so mean to the person who makes the majority of your food.” You laughed picking up another box to wrap.

“It’s cool. He loves me too much to actually kill me.” Ten waved off.  

“No, I don’t.” Came a muffled reply from Kun, who had his face into the cushion.

You let them do their usual back and forth banner and continued your task. Ten picked though a few boxes and you informed him that you weren’t keeping his or Kun’s in the apartment, so to keep his hands off.

“What did you get Jaehyun and Hyunjin?” Ten asked.

“I got Hyunjin a camera.” You pointed at a small box to his left. “But I didn’t get Jaehyun anything because I don’t know what to get him.” You sighed putting the last wrapped box in the pile.

“Well you still have time. Ask his friends.” Kun offered. You glanced down at your phone and decided that since it was still early in the day that you would make a stop. You turned and kissed Kun’s forehead before jumping to your feet.

“Thanks, favorite mom friend.” You sang and saw the look of betrayal on Ten’s face. “Going out, I’ll be back later. Ten stop trying to kill Kun please.”

When you got in your car you looked down at your outfit and pondered on if you should change. It was similar to the one you wore the first time you entered the corporate building, just winter approved. Shrugging, you turned on the engine and drove. The seriousness of your mission might have been conveyed as confidence as you walked through the lobby and flashed your badge without looking at the receptionist. When you arrived at the top floor Jaehyun’s secretary, who thought you were the cutest thing, told you that they were hiding out in conference room two.

Knocking only once you entered the room and was welcomed with shocked faces. You walked up to the round table and sat yourself down. The atmosphere was tense and ominous.

“I need your help.” You stated simply.

“This is terrifying. Please continue.” Sicheng implored. You glanced at them and pouted, successfully ending the tension.

“I need help figuring out what to get Jaehyun for Christmas.” You whined slipping down in your chair.

“You could have texted.” Johnny snickered.

“I have a lot of time on my hands today.” You waved him off.

“Sorry Y/n we’re not much help.” Taeyong sighed. “Jaehyun never really wants anything. It’s a struggle every year for us.”

“One year I asked him what he wanted and he said my love. I almost punched him in the face, Johnny had to hold me back.” Doyoung rubbed his temples obviously irritated.

You groaned and let your head hit the marble table. You were a bit disappointed that they didn’t have an answer for you, but happy that you weren’t the only one suffering. You were thinking about possible gifts to get him whilst visualizing how scared Johnny must have been when he had to hold a rage filled Doyoung back, when Taeil offered some advice.

“Simple is best when it comes to Jaehyun. He's the type that prefers to give than receive.”

You left as disheartened as you came and groaned at how slow the day was going by. Since you didn’t have anything better to do you drove to Jaehyun’s place and waited for him and Hyunjin to get back.

It was a weird feeling, letting yourself into the empty house. Bored, you went around turning on all the lights you and Hyunjin put up and went to get coffee and hot chocolate brewing for them since it was freezing outside. You made yourself tea and took a seat on one of the stools. You were mindlessly browsing through amazon when the front door opened.

“Y/n!” Hyunjin called when she entered the kitchen. She was submerged in her puffer jacket and looked like a marshmallow.

“Hyunjin!” You yelled back, getting down from your chair to help her out the jacket. “Jaehyun!” You yelled when he entered the kitchen as well. He laughed at your silliness and sent Hyunjin to change out of her uniform. You told her that you would have her hot chocolate ready for her when she came back.

“How was your day?” Jaehyun asked as he handed you the bag of marshmallows. You told him about the shopping adventure and confessed that you stopped at his office to ask the guys about ideas for a gift for him, but turned out with nothing. So, deciding to cut out the middleman you asked Jaehyun what he wanted for Christmas.

“Umm, I don’t really want anything.” He declared after giving it some serious thought.

You saw why Doyoung almost punched him.

“Hyunjin, sweetie!” You shouted, turning to go find her. She had just exited her room when you scooped her up.

“What should I get your dad for Christmas?” You asked as you slowly traveled down the hall.

She thought about it with the same serious matter as her father before confidently saying she didn’t know. You stopped dead in your tracks and fake wept into her chest.

“Oh no.” She said and started petting your head. “He doesn’t like getting gifts, so when I ask he says my love is enough.” She pouted. You wiped your fake tear and told her that was very cute.

“What do you want?” She questioned suddenly as you continued down the hall.

“All the kisses on the cheek in the world.” You said with no hesitation.

“I can do that!” She smiled and gave you an early gift. You melted at how cute she was.

Jaehyun had her drink ready on the table when you arrived back in the kitchen, you placed her down and she ran to it. Jaehyun handed you a cup that he prepared for you and you thanked him.

“Did you get any help from the bean?” He smirked.

“You’re enjoying my suffering a bit too much. I might mess around and get you nothing.” You threatened.

“That would be preferred.” He retorted sipping on his coffee. Thoroughly done with him, you placed down your drink and did the same to his before chasing him. With the help of Hyunjin you cornered him and hung onto him. Hyunjin returned back to her drink feeling parched while you hugged Jaehyun.

“Give me something to go on.” You mumbled softly into his chest.

“God why are you so cute.” He smiled. “Okay. Something practical and simple that I could use daily if I wanted too, but has a hint of you.” He smoothed out your back.

“Thanks, I can work with that.”

“Christmas sex.” Jaemin announced. You and your friends were hanging out at Mark and Haechan’s apartment for the evening; surrounded by assorted snacks and Mark’s playlist softly playing in the background. You were laying down, head resting on Lucas’ back.

“Jaemin isn’t allowed to speak for the duration of the night.” You declared.

“I got to agree with him though.” Haechan added.

“And just like that Haechan has lost the ability to speak.” You sighed. “I had that thought for half a second before I murdered it.” You confessed.

“There’s one thought you haven’t brutally murdered yet.” Mark said. You shifted your head to look at him and bit your lip.

“Yeah.” You muttered. “But other things have to go with it.”

“Not necessarily true; it’s more about the moment than anything else.” Jeno advised.

There was a collection of confused faces and Mark and Jeno told them if they didn’t know then not to worry about it.

You stared at the ceiling as your mind ran around letting the side conversation fade.

“Okay. Haechan lets go.” You sprung up suddenly and dragged him out the apartment before anyone could ask.

“Y/n what the hell?” Haechan had his best ‘I'm judging face’ on as you held up ties.

“Navy or black?” You asked.

“You dragged me to the Men’s Warehouse to get the lamest gift ever and you expect me to help you.” He hissed. You looked at him and nodded.

“Navy.” He sighed putting the black one back on its rack.

You smiled and went to find an associate.

The older gentleman was very kind and patient with you as you drew the design for a tie clip that you wanted to special order.

A simple gold bar with a moon crescent on the end.

[magiccallie]

So I wrote down my thoughts as i watched through most of Season 2 of Scooby Doo Mystery Inc, and would like to share them, major spoilers below cut

Notes of Season 2 of Scooby Mystery Inc Shout out to this jock bully(?) who upon encountering a monster threatening a girl, did no hesitate to take on said monster, recuse said girl, and protect her as they escape Fred really needs to talk to someone about his new parents, who are now living in his house with him???? The house of the man who took him from them?????? Bronson might not be exactly straight looking at how he acted around the old mayor vs the new one, but *shrugs* Jock Strikes again, is this gunna be the twist? That''s a really douchy twist to pull a stunt like this Love how-I mean this is just the plan. He wanted girls too so he set up the same scenario. Is this extra set up by the parents to get him to trust them that is some next level douchery/ Scratch that on Bronson, omg Oh shit starting with a furry attack this is going to be a weird episode the gang's meta knowledge coupled with their sure willingness to go along with tropes and shit makes for great dialogue oh *oh* this is the episode where we get a peak to see just how big the picture is, love the lore building. knew this episode was gunna be good is that a demon? the furry isnt the mosnter??? ummm...weve been getting hints, are things getting real? so we've established motive for why someone whould want this plavce closed, but actually tangent but dont a lot of these monsters that they encounter seem like, weirdly powerful and mobile for costumes oh there's the furry that red aura is a...the things that happen around it are something deeper it seems. fascinating. is the red just representative of fire hallucinations? those seemed a bit real in effect for hallucinations... this guy, like my manager, needs to hire a little more staff occult magic book falls from the library to gang, and no one is as concerned as they should be nazi robot nazi robot get BJ on the phone Cassidy is the kinda retired PC that the players can strive to be Shit is getting real quick isnt it. Wait is that a seal. does Cassidy die? I know about a certain other death that makes me sad, but i dont want Cassidy to die too this episode is a rollercoaster of odd events weird hologram disguise for Paraclese is nifty Seeing the tragic fate of past groups is...well obviously sad oh dear, she does die huh its super low key, but it plays at the terrifying corrupting ordeal of the eldritchstuff really well with the lore notes bear troubles oh that badge...is that where they buried him? that's...kinda grim they have stealth suits and killer nazi robots? why have the evil guys not won yet? there is a bomb and they are not evacuating. There is a BOMB and they are not evacuating oh the bear can talk, how dare i assume that a bear is incapable of speech the bear is a twunk, scratch that, still a bear, is...he doing a christiphor walkin impersonation? aaand that’s enough for tonight, starting fresh later We're back, 13 more episodes oh so were getting into why i don’t like astrology Enigma machine omg. sorry, im a sucker for bits like that i wanna have long white hair too, i could rock that look How does Paraclese still have an accent after all these years? It is like destiny's Rasputin and just a stubborn superiority complex? something about visiting villains you can talk to in a prison is-ohp thats just all of um huh, cameo episode- err, anyways, it just paints a delightful scene about the relationship of the protags and antags and villainy as a whole in the world well this is horrific, throw some brownish red stuff around and it would be a silent hill scene update: still gay Thirteen more episodes and they have the disk...that does not bode well for what is going to happen the writer's willingness to reference other hannah barbara characters/shows is great oooo anticaptilism, BF is scoring points excuse me???? cyborg dragon girl???? he cant even call her by her name through most of the episode wtf??????? see now im at the point i gotta ask, is this a real ghost thing, or a fake ghost thing? ah i understand now youd think he would be more willing to explain to th-there we go so the animal companians are more suceptible, but they all have the risk Paraclese talking about these cattle is every gm talking about their homebrew monsters omg writers wth was that conclusion for the cattle im dying sk-ska zombies. ska. zombies. i can pick it up oh like the dancing plauge but worse, nifty these ghosts are rude boys, like, thats actually one of their names. And just caught that it the band name is skatastic oh they mentioned the dancing plauge, thank you wtf 101 the 'lighthearted' tone of this episode speaks dark tidings about the horrors to come aaah, hex girls, omg oh damn, update again: still hella gay bards duels be like, but for real loving this more and more young me is crazy about having the hex girls interact with a magicy thing like the disks, the rest of me is concerned at the events that are taking place scooby agrees, and his dog girl friend...well that was something Ricky displaying increasing regrets is not going to do good things for his lifeespectancy ohp then he drags in the other two well, i didnt see that coming for the criminal identity this little girl just had her mom ditch her for a stranger that robbed them, the heck i should probably eat dinner at some point, or like, anything at somepoint... calling it now, this guy is a circus performer/stunt driver, and if he is the random hired british poolboy it is a fake accent he's lureing women away with emotional intemacy. thats funny in itself, btu that they accept so readily still isnt normal oh and apparently kinks, lured with kinks so hes going to be the librarian dude then?? maybe? k, so at least i got that o.o O.O, well, that was quite the lead up and explanation food on plate, depresso in heart, ready to continue so they have to know right? like, this is a planned trap since Fred is 'the only one who knows where it is' doesnt explain Fred though, or how the fake acts "jeepies you found my scarf" oh there it is, they are after the info from him and its all fake, not some hell vision to show why he has to suceed Fred knew first? good on him plastic surgery, holy crap, next level villainy here holy shit they're all in puragoty thanks to the corrpution?????? Going back to early about the horrifying nature of all this. it is just so immensly sad watching them go through these bits. Cool, but sad. Velma demonstrating why thinking and understanding are not always good in eldritch horror games so he's got a guilt complex? heart felt talk with Mayor Dad awwww, poor Velma doesnt think she's pretty guessing...well id say the wife of Enrique but that seems too easy some how, stiill shes the only offered suspect beside Enrique himself thus far *deep sigh* i will never guess any culprit i bother to write down correctly would be a real move of the writers to Uzumaki the town two day deadline given, props to velma for having the foresight to model the disks in a digital format incase theyre lost mad max mystery machine sounds like a doom metal synth wave fusion song things are going too well... How many giant evil doors will this lair have? alchemy. of course. should have guessed. is...is this the episode where Marcie...oh no oh at least shes trying good on her, she's going down in style and flame... oh. ya know, even knowing it was coming and talking it up a sentence before, not a happy event this is a nifty dungeon last episode, hell of an opening/recap wh-what fghaseguk this went batshit didnt it. i wish i had the willingness to write at unhinged as these writers one more media that i am surpised didnt end in a poly relationship this climax is eerily familiar to the live action movies at times and then they all died and went to heaven aww Rickee and Cassidy *and* Velma and Marcie, aww, my heart will heart to think about that one for long, but awwwww Miskatonik University, or however the heck it is said. i thought it was going to be a one off joke but wasn't expecting that.

[thewriteboy]

The Plight of Muse Hill

Chapter Three: Sick Day

Around Noon on December 22, Elliot Joycer’s mother came into his room with something in one closed hand. Her face was a grim mask upon which concern and exhaustion were evident. It promised the very worst. Elliot wished he could disappear.

He had woken an hour earlier to muffled voices. Shouting voices. His head had throbbed, worse then than it did now, and one eye was swollen shut; but the pain in his head had been no match for that in his ankle, which had not abated in the slightest. There had been a glass of water on his nightstand, where there had been room made for a coaster (amidst the untidy clutter of knick-knacks and assorted school papers with no better home) on which the glass had been set and he had gulped it with abandon, without pausing between gulps for air until it was gone, and had regretted doing so immediately afterwards for there was no pitcher for refills and he had felt as though he’d just drunk an entire glass of water without taking a breath.

In the time since, he had lain in bed while assessing his condition, all the while trying to block out the shouting voices. His head hurt (check), but that was going away (check); his ankle was killing him (check), was it sprained (maybe); swollen eye (check. Definitely a shiner); his mouth and good eye were dry (check. NOTE: drink more water). He peeked under his blanket at his ankle and instantly dropped the cover again, a little startled, when he saw the hugeness of the swelling and the deep purpleness of the large bruises. Try as he might to remember how he had come across his injuries, he found he had no memory of the experience.

When his mom came in, she placed two pills on his nightstand, eyed his empty glass, picked it up, and went to the bathroom in the hall to refill it. He heard the water turn on. Elliot wondered about his parents argument --the aforementioned shouting which had stopped shortly before his mom had entered his room. He knew his father always went to work around lunch time. Usually he didn’t much care anymore because the arguments were so frequent that he was past listening, that he had practically trained himself to block them out -- partly out of courtesy, but also because he couldn’t think of anything he wanted to hear less than his parents when they were annoyed at each other. And annoyance was exactly what it was, as the arguments were almost always over trivial things; once he had overheard them screaming at one another about which way their toilet paper should go on the dispenser (over, his father had conceded at length). This time, however, Elliot thought their argument had been more than bickering; and he’d have only needed one chance to guess what it was about.

When Elliot’s mother returned she handed him the now full glass along with the two pills she had set on his nightstand. The look of concern she’d worn earlier was now gone and replaced by nothing, her face was unreadable. Elliot didn’t see disappointment, anger, or disgust --those, he knew, would be saved for later, and they would bring Hell with them when they showed up. Anger and disgust would be on their way back out within minutes of their arrival, but disappointment would be a long-term guest.

She placed a hand on his forehead when he had downed the pills and almost all the water, and, satisfied he wasn't running a fever, sat down on the edge of his mattress. Elliot’s stomach felt weirdly hollow.

“El,” She started, then stopped; he wondered what she would say next, he knew there would be hell to pay, but didn’t know whether it would be sooner or later. He Hoped it would be sooner, to get it out of the way. She sighed, though, and began again, “Are you okay?”

The answer to this was tricky; one because he wasn’t sure -- he had no idea what had happened and he couldn’t be certain if he was okay -- and two because he didn’t know how much she knew. He nodded.

“Do you want to talk?”

“No.”

“Well. We will have to talk, but not right now. Are you hurt? Other than your eye?”

“My ankle. I think It’s messed up real bad.”

“Which one?”

“The left.”

She untucked the duvet on Elliot’s left side and raised the covers until his left leg was exposed. She gasped, and none too quietly, either. More light was shining on it now than when he had peeked, and he was appalled to see that what he had thought were purple bruises were black ones like fresh tattoos. What was most startling, though, was that they didn’t lighten at the edges like most bruises, but were solid blots of ink. “Oh, that looks awful!” She exclaimed, but not before clapping her hand over her mouth, only barely muffling what she said. She unclamped, “Oh, Sweetie, if I had seen that last night…! We’ve got to get ice on that right away! And elevate that foot!”

She hurried away, stomping down the stairs at a speed which he had never heard her take them. And it was unbelievable how soon she was ascending the stairs again, at barely a fraction slower than she had descended them. She had a bag full of ice wrapped in a hand towel, which she set on his bed. Then she yanked a pillow out from behind his head as there were plenty there, and was visibly afraid to touch his foot, but soldiered through with minimal agitation to the ankle and had the pillow underneath in no time. She placed the ice pack on top of his lower leg, and it fairly wrapped around the leg until the sides met pillow, effectively covering the important parts. All the while, Elliot’s mother uttered a profusion of fragmented word-slush, which sufficed to get the point across even though she kept starting over and repeating herself. This went on even after Elliot was situated and continued until he spoke up to soothe her.

“Don’t worry? Don’t Worry! We should have taken you to the hospital as soon as they brought you home! Don’t worry? Elliot Joycer, policemen found you half buried in the snow a mile outside of town! You weren’t hardly breathing! What the freezing hell were you doing out there, young man, in the woods? And how in God’s name did you get beat up like this, forest-effing-parkour?” She was pacing the clothes-strewn floor of his room, stopping now and again to emphasize her point with a nasty glare; here she paused for longer in front of Elliot’s desk -- which held his laptop, desktop lamp, more homeless knick knacks, and a scattered host of, presumably, more school papers, but no working space -- facing away from him and looking out the window into the backyard. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do, Mister.”

For a pregnant moment of dead air, Elliot could bring himself to do no more than stare at the  posters on the wall opposite his bed. His mother turned and wheeled his desk chair to his bedside and sat in it, her chin resting on her fists and her elbows resting on her knees. “What happened?” Frantic was gone now and A stony facade was left. She was an impartial judge. This, Elliot could talk to. Usually. Usually, Elliot could talk to the impartial judge, but he had nothing to say now. No way to explain.

“What do you mean, you don’t know!? First you sneak out at night, and now, what, amnesia? You don’t know what happened yesterday? This isn’t like you, El. Oooh boy, you’d better start talking fast. I am this close to -- oooh child, I’m at the end of my rope. El, are you on drugs?” This startled them both; it did enough damage to pause her for a beat, but then she said the words parents supposedly have since the beginning of time, but which he had never heard any parents say in real life, “where did I go wrong with you?.”

That was the end of it. She stood, fuming her anger (check) and left the room, enrobed in righteous disgust (check). She slammed his door as soon as she crossed its threshold.

A full hour ensued in which he could not think of anything but the episode with his mother, but eventually, after taking the two tylenol and downing the second glass of water, he drifted off and slept until somebody nudged him awake. When he opened his eyes he was relieved to see it wasn’t his mom, but his best friend, Jeremy. Elliot was surprised his mom let him visit today.

Elliot hated for Jeremy to see him like this, and he knew he wouldn’t be much fun right now, but Jeremy’s presence was welcome, all the same.

“Dude, El, you look like shit!” Jeremy said, grinning. Elliot grinned back, the first smile he’d put on all day.

Jeremy brought a little light with him and it served to brighten Elliot’s day considerably. They talked for a while at the beginning of the visit. Jeremy, jokes aside, expressed concern about Elliot’s well-being, but left what had happened to him alone mostly, for now. All the normal subjects came up: the latest movies they were itching to see, music, girls, every syllable of gossip either of them had heard in the past week, celebrities, etc. For the last two and a half hours they watched The Matrix together for perhaps the sixteenth time.

Jeremy was sitting in Elliot’s desk chair next to Elliot’s sickbed, a big bowl of popcorn between them. Towards the end of the movie, Elliot reached without looking into the bowl, fishing for the last few edible pieces and touched hands with Jeremy. Immediately Elliot was overwhelmed, there was no denying that that contact ignited something inside him, passed an electric current through him. Jeremy pulled his hand away, but didn’t say anything. Elliot was silent as well, at first. He sat there for a minute and contemplated the feeling, then tried to dismiss it entirely. But the feeling stayed. It gnawed on his mind until he couldn’t think straight and it consumed him.

He had dropped the popcorn he’d fished out of the bowl, but he brought his hand to his mouth and bit down anyway. And his teeth met flesh and dug in, leaving bleeding imprints between his thumb and index finger. Elliot stared at his own hand for a moment, befuddled by what he’d just done, until his intentions made themselves clear to him.

“Hey, dude. Jeremy.”

Jeremy was more interested in the movie.

“Jeremy!”

“What?”

Elliot showed his bitemarks. Dark red blood, much too dark red, was streaming into his palm and down his arm, “I dare you to drink this,” he had a mischievous grin on and a bright gleam in his eye.

“No way, man, that’s sick!”

“Come, on man, just a little.”

“That’s disgusting! You need to bandage that up.”

But he wasn’t playing anymore, “I said drink it. Drink my fucking blood!”

Jeremy was standing now, backing away without realizing it. “This isn’t funny, El. Stop messing around.” Jeremy saw the look on Elliot’s face, though, and didn’t say another word. The look he saw wasn’t one of mock ferocity, but the look of a remorseless killer.

The boy lunged at Jeremy and grabbed his shirt with both hands, and then shoved him so hard he landed with a thud on the floor. The boy was on top of him in an instant, rubbing his right palm over Jeremy’s tightly closed mouth. Jeremy fought back and they struggled at an impasse for a while until Elmer Fudd’s resolve outlasted Jeremy’s and it was over. The remorseless killer was gone now, satiated, it seemed, now that it had gotten it’s way.

“Elliot, what the hell is wrong with you?”

At the sound of his name, Elliot took on a distinctly puzzled look, as though he’d been slapped in the face. One look at Jeremy’s blood smeared face was enough to make his hand start hurting. He examined his hand and blurted, “Did you bite me? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Are you kidding me right now? Screw you, El, I’m going home,” and he stormed out without another word.

Bewildered, Elliot crawled to his bed, poignantly aware of the pain coming from his ankle. He had left a towel on the floor and it was within reach, so he grabbed it and wrapped a corner of it around his hand. He heard the bathroom sink turn on. He pulled himself onto his bed and tucked himself back in. Elliots mind was reeling. He was confused, he thought he must have blacked out or lost time. He pondered this until he heard feet coming towards his bedroom.

Jeremy walked back in, tossed a giant band-aid, the kind one might use on a skint knee, on his lap with a disgusted look, “Here, asshole,”then he hauled back and further blackened Elliot’s much abused left eye. Jeremy was gone again, and the front door slammed shut before Elliot stopped seeing stars and the room around him came into focus.

Elliot turned the events he could remember of the last few days over and over in his mind. Nothing made sense. Bruised ankle, swollen eye, bleeding hand, the horrified look on his best friend’s bloody face; no matter what explanation he came up with, he couldn’t make the pieces form the picture on the puzzle box. He went on like this, his mind spinning round and round like it was buffering, until he couldn’t take it any longer. He finally unwrapped the band-aid and put it on his hand. When he was done his eyes were welling up and his throat burned, and after hiding the towel under his bed, he shoved his face into his pillow and let out a sob, the first of many.

Not long after, his father came home from work early, in time to take him to the doctor.

The ride to the doctor’s office was a tense one, and Elliot stared out the passenger window the whole way. He was despondent -- something he had seldom ever been around his father -- and he instinctively tried to make himself small, which he was too tall for, so he ended up slouching. Bad posture, he knew, never translated into ‘I’m sorry’ very well (not a good look, buddy, he could imagine his dad saying if it were anyone but him Elliot was slouching in front of), but he could not bring himself to sit up.

It turned out to be a bad sprain, a really bad one. Not a surprise to Dad, on account of the face Elliot was making when he helped him get out of the car. The doctor, after staring at length at the ink blots on the ankle, gave him an ankle brace (not one made of fabric, but one made of rigid plastic with sturdy straps) and a pair of crutches, as well as a prescription for painkillers. The visit wasn’t covered entirely by insurance, and the out-of-pocket expense earned Elliot a harsh look from his father, which Elliot was sure he probably deserved.

When Elliot was back in bed, with the TV on and a greasy burger in his lap, he relaxed the most he had all day. He’d started to feel better on the ride home. His dad had cracked a joke or two to cheer him up before turning into the McDonald’s drive-thru; and the joking did its job admirably, not because it was comedy gold, but because he was sure his mom had filled his dad in, in detail, about the situation, and it relieved him that all the cards were on the table and things were still going to be all right. A couple jokes and a burger were far more comforting than a lecture (i.e. I’m not angry, just disappointed. Or We all make mistakes, we just have to learn from them. See also: No matter what, I’ll always love you, son, but).

Towards the end of his burger, a scene towards the start of a Bugs Bunny cartoon in which Bugs and Daffy were arguing over whose turn it was to get hunted presented Elliot with a dazed moment laden with deja vu. This was different from Deja vu, in truth, more compelling. This feeling had him floored, heart suddenly hammering against his ribcage, and he grasped helplessly for a second before he got it. He’d seen this episode before, of course. Silly Goose. He took the last bite of his burger, satisfied.

Elliot snuck out of his house that night, crutchless and not feeling the drowsiness of the painkillers, nor feeling the pain in his left ankle, not taking the slightest notice of his limp.