#when i saw the four items i thought to myself that i was a genius lol | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

leahseclipse · 4 years ago

Text

Dear diary

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Summary: When Spencer happens to find a diary in the library, he becomes more curious about the owner of it, wanting to find them, and possibly know them better than with a few words.

Warnings: None that I can think of; just two idiots (soon to be) in love, sorry, some moments are so cheesy (but it's so cute I couldn’t not do it)

Category: Fluff

Word count: 8.4k

A/N: Here’s the fic I’ve been working on for like...one month?? I’ve taken part in the fic swap organized by @imagining-in-the-margins , and wrote that fic for @sunlight-moonrise :)!!! It really was awesome to take part in it and I can’t wait to do others ones!! Go check out their fics as well, they’re really awesome :)

I usually like to stay in places like the libraries I go to, the ambience is my favorite part about it, it’s pretty calm (nice deduction genius, you’re in a library, so of course it’s going to be calm), the people that I see there are quite friendly, I’ve had the occasion of speaking with some of them, and mostly, it allows me to discover new stuff instead of reading the same books for a whole week.

When I do that, I’m either really bored, or the book just happens to be one I like to read without being bored after a few pages, or even after reading it for the 100th time.

But, I guess that going to the library was a good choice, the other option that I considered before deciding to go outside was to stay all day in my secluded apartment, probably on the couch or wherever I sit, either reading or watching tv.

It’s not that I’m lazy, I just like to do simple things like these, I’m not usually into group activities, that actually involves social stuff.

Most of the time, Penelope forces me to participate because I never decide to join on my own.

Right now, I think I just prefer to stay alone, it’s been a few hours since I came in, so I’m not really in the mood to be other people, maybe later I guess.

Although, I still found it weird not to have any message or call, it still was strangely calm. It rarely occurred.

I know, in this case, I should relax, as there is, nothing, absolutely, nothing, going on, but I can’t help but think that my phone is gonna start to vibrate at any second when I had just managed to find peace, -that I’m not close to finding- if I keep thinking of all of it happening.

I just sighed as I opened the book I had been holding for the past hour; I haven’t even reached the half of it because of all of the thinking I’ve done since I stepped in the library.

I had nothing to do at this moment, so might as well use the time I have to go to a place I appreciate.

I’ve always liked going to these, for as long as I remember. They’ve always been a place where I felt safe, relaxed, all of my problems would fade away when I’d be in, I always saw it as a shelter against the rough reality that faced me at that time when I was at high school.

I couldn’t really say something without being seen as an annoying brat; I still wonder if it was because they couldn’t accept the fact that a 12 years old was smarter than them, that I was annoying by always managing to find the answer, or because they still couldn’t stand me.

So, I guess that's why I found a real shelter in books.

I’d always read for hours and hours without interruption, at the end of one book, I already wanted to read four more.

They all were nothing but the most interesting words that I constantly appreciated other than the insults of the other students.

I used to be able to forget what was on my mind when I was reading. I still am, but when you have a job that can interrupt your perfect calm moment, things tend to get complicated when you happen to lose your concentration over that.

I also had let myself get distracted by what happened to be around; for example, the rain pouring outside, the drops that would fall down the glass, so, yeah, I...did choose to look at that instead of focusing over a book that was far more interesting.

I also closed my book again for what felt like the millionth time; perhaps it had something to do with my current struggle to focus, I didn’t really know.

It was turning out to be one of those days; my mind would fill with a ton of things, constantly repeating themselves in my head, till I'd feel like it’d explode.

I may be just making up stuff, and I'm just distracted this time, nothing bad.

The small space I was in had some shelves a bit dispersed throughout the room, chairs, and two small tables in the middle. But when I had expected to only see the pamphlets that have always been there, I happened to be confused about the item laying on the pile.

At a glance, it looked like a small notepad of sorts.

I haven't even noticed someone here previously, I didn't even know if someone had come at all.

I tend not to pay attention to my surroundings when I read, or even focus on anything, I just act as if nothing and as if no one was around, it's just what's in front of me and my thoughts.

I have to admit that some exceptions can occur sometimes, such as today, when I chose to focus on a few drops of water, instead of the book that I barely touched since I arrived.

I can even dive in a book as someone is talking and just block what they say and only focus on the words I'm reading, it’s happened...quite a few times now.

It probably is why I haven’t noticed that the person that was previously here had left, nor see the book on the table.

I couldn’t even tell when, because again, I didn’t notice their presence at all.

Perhaps I could find something about the owner of the item in there…? I can't just leave it there, I'll end up regretting it at home and it won't leave my mind.

I had slightly gotten up from my seat so my arm could reach the rectangular-shaped item and sat back when I acquired it.

I did take a look at it, turned it around to search for whatever could be written on the cover, but nothing could be seen, despite that, I searched for a good minute before realizing that I'd probably have to open it to search for a possible name in it to identify the owner.

As I lifted the small string keeping the red notepad open, I found myself with a white page, with a name written on it.

“y/n y/l/n”

I couldn’t really find them with only their name, they could be living in this city, and if they weren’t from here, the whole state.

Would it be right to just give it to one of the employees so that they could pick it up later?

I didn’t really know, the employee could forget it, put it in a corner, and it possibly could end up getting lost, which, I wouldn’t really appreciate, even if I don't know the person at all, so it wouldn’t really change my life.

But still, I’d still feel guilty about that, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for losing their item if it does end up getting lost.

If I went any further, I would, in a way, invade their privacy. Because I doubt they'd want -or appreciate- a stranger going through it if what’s written is personal.

I already went through the ‘give it to the staff’ solution, but, it didn’t seem safe to me, it could end up quite bad as the item can end up getting lost, so, that is definitely something to cross off the list. Even if it could end up not getting lost, I didn’t prefer to take the risk.

I couldn’t ask them about the person, as I didn’t even know them, and hadn’t even seen them around the library.

If I went to the staff standing at the enter like “I’m looking for someone that left a diary, I don’t know anything about them, I just know their name, and they went here.”, it’s literally to no use. A ton of people come in and out, and they just can’t guess. But, I did have their name, I could go up to them and ask…?

But again, what if they forget to give it to the owner when they come in? Or what if they forget they left it there, and don’t know it’s the place they left their diary there? But, was keeping it the best solution after all?

With all of the potential scenarios that could possibly happen, but not happen at the same time, to me, keeping it could possibly be the best solution, I guess.

I don’t really know if the following actions were involuntary, or just curiosity, but I just began slightly wandering through the pages, that even if that wasn’t one of my intentions at all.

I really am a complete stranger, I shouldn’t be doing that at all.

Should I be doing that right now? This isn’t appropriate at all, they wouldn’t appreciate someone going through this, at all.

But, as I went through the pages, I began to find myself more interested about the person, some books that I had read myself had been mentioned, they seemed quite attentive, I could also tell that from the way they were writing, their writing was delicate, way more different from my chicken scratch writing that basically no one could read without having to request my presence to translate the nonsense on the paper.

I shouldn’t be going through this though, I should just close what I identified as a diary after a few pages right now. I don’t know them at all, and they don’t know me either, that isn’t something I would like someone else to do to me, so why was I still reading it?

“Even if I weren’t very happy about the behavior of my shitty boss, y/n would actually like to keep her job, so she keeps her mouth shut and smiles at what he has to say, even if she doesn’t care at all.”

It did...somehow looked like what I would say about Hotch sometimes, because even if we’re good friends, he happens to still be my superior, so we did have some arguments, eventually.

“I...also kind of hate what went on recently, I just got rejected by the guy I had a crush on-”

I closed the diary as soon as I began reading the beginning of the sentence.

Now, I should definitely not be reading that. That’s getting a bit personal over there, and I doubt she’d like that, again.

I had already gone way too far by deciding to go further than the page with her name on it, and now I reached something, that is...really personal and that I shouldn’t have read at all.

Don’t open that again Spencer, you shouldn’t have even begun reading, and now, you shouldn’t be opening it again, if you possibly want to attempt at getting a friendship, and know more about that person.

I don’t know what happened but I just suddenly had the urge to do what I wanted to do when I had taken it: Give it to the staff and hope she manages to get it back.

A part of me did want to respect her privacy, even if it kind of was ruined now, and return it so that I wouldn’t open it again, but another part really wanted to know more about her, and possibly hope to be able to return it myself, because I do want to talk to them after what I had read, I didn’t know a lot of people that knew the books I have read, and to who I could talk to about if I do end up meeting them.

After a while of thinking, I figured I could still ask the staff, her name is in it, and if she happens to come here often, perhaps that could help, I didn’t really know.

I headed to the office near me, as a young man turned his head towards me when I had brought his attention.

“Oh, Spencer. It’s nice to see you there, it’s been a while, busy with work, as always?”

“Yeah, as always. Oh, by the way, I was wondering if you could help me with something; I found this...diary in the table over there, and the only name in it is “y/n y/l/n”, do you happen to know someone with that name, by chance?”

“y/n y/l/n? Uh, I may know someone with that name? Wait.” He said as he stepped away to talk to another employee. “Julia, do you happen to know someone named...y/n y/l/n? Spencer found a diary of hers.”

“y/n? Yeah, she comes in from time to time to grab science books.” She answered as she walked in our direction. “I wished I could go and give it to her, but, I’m really busy right now. You could leave it there though."

“I'd prefer for her to get it in person. So, I could bring it to her, but I don’t really know where she is. Do you...happen to know?” I asked, hoping to get a helpful answer.

“I think she works at uh…that craft shop at the end of the street, I saw her sometimes. You could see if she’s there, and if she’s not, you can leave it to the blond and tall guy, he’s the owner, so he’ll give it to her when she's back.” Julia said.

“Okay, uh...thanks for the help. See you later.” I gave them a small wave, as I headed to the exit, walking down the street on my way to the place that had been mentioned in the conversation.

I didn’t come here often as I don’t necessarily build stuff, but I walked in front of it often, so I just knew it was there, nothing much.

The front of the store was colored with black paint along with small yellow lights, it stood out a bit in the street, compared to the shops around. It really made a good first impression for someone that had never come, the way the place was displayed seemed quite welcoming.

When I had made my way into the shop, everyone seemed busy with their tasks, and the shop contained about...five, six people, I’d say.

I took a minute observing the surroundings, I didn’t really have anything to notice or say, except that the shop was nice, it was nicely organized, small signs to help the customers find what they needed were displayed, the shelves were in order, the products seemed to be good brands, and it really was various.

It wasn’t until a soft voice had brought my attention; as I turned towards the source of the voice.

“Hi, do you...need help, with something?” The girl asked with a small smile on her face.

“Oh um...I’m looking for...someone named...y/n y/l/n? I found something that belongs to her and the employees at the library where I found it said I could find her here, and that if she wasn’t there, I could give it to a blond and tall guy, who’s apparently the owner.” I explained as I held out the object firmly in my hand.

“Yeah, she’s in the back, give me a minute, I’ll get her.” She said as she left to the back of the shop, leaving me to awkwardly stand there while I waited for them to return.

It didn’t take as much time as I thought it would, in no time, she was back with a girl walking behind her.

“As said, I brought her there. I’ll leave you two, I gotta get back to the storage.” She gave a pat on the shoulder of her colleague, as she disappeared in the corner.

“I was told that you had...found something that may belong to me?” The girl, supposedly y/n, said.

“Y-yeah, I found...that, at the library.” I stuttered as I handed her the diary. She hadn’t fully realized what I handed her at first, but her face quickly showed a surprised and relieved expression on it.

“Oh, you found it there? I, I swore that I took it with me when I left for work, I was in a hurry, so I guess I forgot it, thanks."

“Probably, it was on one of the tables, I didn’t want it to end up lost, or whatever else could happen, so, I took it, hoping I might find who it might belong to. I was lucky they knew you at the library. And lucky that your name was in it. I...opened it to find out who it could belong to since the cover didn’t have a name on it. I...really felt kinda bad for opening it though.”

“Oh, just- leave it, it’s not really a big deal, you didn’t do a crime or anything. You kinda had to open it in the first place so you could know who it belonged to. I wouldn’t have been delighted by that at first, but I’m glad you found it.”

“I thought you’d react differently, I wouldn’t have liked the idea of someone going through my stuff either. I just don't feel comfortable sharing my stuff with other people.”

“You did nothing wrong there, you just wanted me to help me, that’s all. You don’t have to worry about making me angry or anything. But, don’t worry, I understand, I don’t even let my own mother see anything, I like her a lot, but I still like to keep stuff for myself, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m glad. At least everything is in order. I should uh...probably let you work, I don’t want you to be in trouble or anything because I kept you busy about something not work-related at all.”

“No, it’s ok. The boss isn’t around, and we don’t have many customers, it’s a calm day.” She said as she stepped closer. “Don’t tell anyone, but I actually prefer when it’s like that, I don’t work a lot and it’s better when there’s not a lot of people, I hate social interactions.”

“I get you, I also prefer that; but, unfortunately, talking to people is part of my job, and I don't think my boss would appreciate me taking a vow of silence."

“Same there, wish I could. Especially….when I get annoying customers.” She admitted, in a quiet voice. “So, you see.”

“I see, yeah.” I agreed as I felt a buzzing in my pocket.

Come on, now?

“Shit...I have to go, um...have a nice day. I hope you don’t get in trouble because of the long chat we had.”

“It’s ok, don’t worry- wait!” She interrupted before I could exit. “As you know my name, could I...know yours?”

“Oh, It’s uh...Spencer Reid."

“Well then, uh...bye, Spencer.” She said, as I waved awkwardly when I stepped out.

Well, that sure was...an experience.

It wasn't the best I ever had, as I was basically only rambling, but, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be on the way.

She kind of was like me, social interactions weren't her thing, so we kind of understood each other, I'd say.

So, if I happened to be awkward, I'm sure she understood why.

Well, to me, it basically was because of that, and...a bit because of her.

I really wanted to know more about her, the bit that I read about her in the diary (before the sentence that I certainly shouldn't have read), she just seemed...like an really great person. The kind of person that’d make you want to know more about her, really.

But, we were nothing more than strangers; knowing someone's name and a few details about them doesn't mean that all of a sudden, you know them.

I just found her diary, nothing more.

So...why do all of a sudden, I want to know more about her?

I happened to find objects for other people, but I never wanted to pursue the exchange that I had with them.

Maybe I should just let it slide away. I don't even know if any of that will end up fine.

I don't even know if she'll find the fact that I want to know more about her creepy or nice.

It's not everyday that a guy who found something for you suddenly wants to know more.

Maybe it's just me, maybe it's just fine, and I'm just persuading myself that it's weird while it's not.

I just...guess we'll see.

I don’t think she’ll react badly.

And...as I predicted, I haven't stopped thinking of her once in a while.

Every time I didn't think of something; she'd appear.

Why did a complete stranger occupy my mind more than others I've met before? I did remember the people I've met, but I never thought of them as much as her.

Did a diary and a few sentences really take that much for her to stay stuck in my thoughts?

I'm sure she forgot about me since, I just gave her diary back, she exchanged a few sentences with me, and that was it.

I couldn’t even let it slide away as I previously told.

I don’t even know if I could see her again one day.

I do want to, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t even know if she’s from around, and if she doesn’t happen to be, I don’t want to be seen as a creep if I happen to walk around.

Yeah, that was a bit weird to say, but I’m just saying what she or anyone else would possibly think of that, if I ever were to do it.

Maybe she’ll come to the library again?

If she comes again, I hope it’ll be when we both happen to be free, because if that happens when I’m on a case, or when she’s at work, it’s gonna be...really complicated.

I just don’t really want to directly come to the store, what if she’s not here? What if she finds me weird? I just...prefer to meet her again outside of work, in a more appropriate place, where I’ll probably feel less pressured about a conversation.

Again, yeah, it’s weird, I admit it, but, I just wouldn’t really want to directly go where she works, the majority of the scenarios that I made up, and that are filled with the fears I have about them, they’re not the greatest ones to be honest. They’re very likely not about to happen considering how ridiculous they are, but I just prefer to do it another way that won’t include a ton of ridiculous scenarios.

I seriously have no idea of why I’m acting like this, there is literally, absolutely, not anything. She’s literally the sweetest person I’ve met, she acknowledged my awkwardness, the fact that I didn’t like social interactions a lot (because most of the time, they end up in me rambling, and the person I’m talking to, is not understanding a single word of what I say the whole time, and is pretending to, to not offend me), she really was nice, and there was apparently no reason for her to find me weird in any way.

I think that I really was making up things, and being a bit dramatic.

I don’t think it’ll be that bad.

I just have to see things on the positive side, next time I’ll see her, it’ll be okay, I’ll try to not look nervous as hell, or even make the conversation weird, and everything will be absolutely fine.

I just have to stop worrying about things that aren’t things to worry about at all and go with it.

Because honestly, what could possibly go wrong?

I'm just trying to convince myself something wrong will definitely happen, when it simply won't.

We'll have a completely normal talk, without any inconvenience, and maybe see each other again, that's it.

Next time I'll see her will be a good day, I have to focus on that and absolutely not on the list (that's….oddly large) of what could possibly go wrong.

But eventually, the next few days went…better than I expected them to be, surprisingly.

I did almost stop thinking about all of the stuff that would make our future interaction bad, and really weird, refraining me from ever talking again considering how embarrassed I would be if I'd turned out this way so…yeah, keep the positive thoughts coming Spencer.

The week had gone...okay-ish, I’d say.

In a way, we were busy, but at the same time, not really, it was pretty calm compared to many of these chaotic days we all hope won’t appear soon.

I had indeed tried to stop stressing about what had been on my mind for a while, but I hadn’t quite stopped thinking about her. It’s weird that she stayed on my mind more than I thought she would.

I would have never forgotten her, but thinking about her, basically most of the time, I wouldn’t have gone that far.

Even if the week had been calm, I haven’t found the motivation or time to get myself to the library as I was supposed to. I just hoped she would be there when I would finally decide myself to go, that way I’d perhaps have a chance to get to talk to her, I just hope it will go well, I want to.

Wanting to know a stranger I read a few words about isn’t part of my habits, but I just want to try to get to know her. I don’t want to regret it later and blame myself because I haven’t been able to gather even a bit of courage to approach her.

I’m sure she’ll be okay with it, she seemed pretty nice when we had exchanged a few words, it didn’t seem like she wanted to leave, found me weird, she seemed pretty calm and open to me.

So, I think the next time I’ll see her will be fine.

Next time will be better, I just have to gather some courage, and it’ll be totally fine.

There won’t be any problems.

Don’t ask how, but I somehow found myself going to the library on a free day instead of staying in my apartment all day to either read the entirety of my shelf or watch whatever comes to mind, so, basically, sit on the same spot all day and only getting up when I need to do something.

It’s pretty basic, Morgan often teases me a bit about it, saying that I could try to meet people, find love, go outside and all of these things...that only interests himself and no one else.

It’s not that I’m against all of that, it’s just that...I’m not at ease with it in general.

That’s not really part of my list of favorite things, and if I had to explain more in depth, I prefer spending a whole afternoon watching Doctor Who or even doing paperwork if I’m really bored, rather than go outside and regret it five minutes later because if I’m with other people, I can’t go and have to stand there awkwardly till everyone decides to go back home.

I don’t completely hate talking and being with other people, because I’m literally surrounded by them at work and whenever I usually go to like the library, the coffee shop and etc, but you get it, I have a preference for staying alone sometimes, it depends I’d say.

Because sometimes, it happens that I’m in the mood to be with other people without having the need to go five minutes after we gathered around.

I think it happens with most people, I hope that I’m not the only one that constantly switches their socialization mode on and off every two minutes because they can’t decide whether they want to ignore people and stay in their bubble, or talk with people and interact more than they usually would.

Today, I think that I was between the two, I did appreciate being alone in my thoughts without having to engage a conversation I’m not interested in, or simply engage a conversation in which I’ll force myself to talk to not upset the other person, but, I did wanted to see a person, I did get here in hopes to see someone, her.

I think that, as I just realized, and admitted to myself, I did come here in hopes to bump into her, and eventually talk.

It would be nice to see her, at least I would have a reason to be here because...I truly have no idea why I came, I tried to make up an excuse like: "I need to get that book.", but it turns out that I already read it, and as long as I can remember, I don’t think I’ve enjoyed it as much as any other I’ve read more than my brain can recall.

But, I don’t really know what I was supposed to do right now, I didn’t even come here to read, so what was I supposed to do? Take a seat somewhere, and if she comes, pretend to read, and when she approaches; ‘oh I didn’t see you there!’.

I just wouldn't see myself telling that when I’d be saying the exact opposite, if she does come, I’m only gonna see her, and only her.

I can’t pretend that I didn’t see her at all, it wouldn’t be true at all, and would kind of be rude, because I’d, in a way, pretend to ignore her, when I could just gather some courage to talk to her.

I have no idea when did I get so nervous about talking to someone, I basically do that all the time with my work, so, why am I acting like that?

I just have to approach her when I’ll see her, and ask basics things for when you start a conversation, and just, talk about other subjects to make the conversation going.

And now...I just realized it sound like I’m making a plan or something, I’m planning off what I want to do, and it’s kind of weird.

You can’t really plan how a discussion goes, unless a subject to make it start is there, for example, in a meeting, in a class, or even for me, at work when I’m on case, but now, with y/n, the conversation will probably go from start, it’ll just be going with the flow, with what we both think, it won’t have a head start; but at the same time, I have no idea what I’m gonna talk about, and, as I said, I can’t plan what I’m gonna talk about either.

Since when did I question myself about that?

I usually don’t do it, I don’t even question myself and just start the conversation without even thinking of what I’m going to talk about, there isn’t really supposed to be a problem in general, but, I don’t really know, we barely know each other and don’t really know how to act, talk, so the other won’t feel embarrassed, I wouldn’t want to talk about stuff she thinks weird or hates, that would kind of make a bad impression, especially if I want to form a friendship with her.

I really have to stop, I’ve been rambling in my head for god knows how long, and it seriously won’t make things with her better, only worse.

We started off pretty fine, so, I prefer to keep it that way, we’ll know what to talk about, and make the conversation good, so that we’ll just pursue it without even planning stuff.

I do it everyday, it’s totally not complicated, and last time we talked, I didn’t even stress about that, I just thought about knowing her more, so I could ask about her interests, how was her day, and eventually, some books, it could be a good way to start.

I’m just going to wander around it, and just, hope she’ll come by, I guess.

I didn’t even think that she could be there, because when someone comes in, you don’t particularly look right away at the enter, unless you’re actually expecting someone you know to come in, but, I didn’t even know if she even hoped or know I’d come here, I have just came here, and that’s it, it didn’t necessarily mean that I was from around.

I did try to pay attention to my surroundings this time, it wasn’t an habit of mine when I happened to be in my thoughts, but I didn’t really want to bump into someone, it’s a bit of an awkward situation, only if it’s just a small ‘sorry’ before each goes in separate ways.

It also was in case she happened to be here as I previously told myself when I had made my way in.

I think that it kind of was a way to cheer myself up and get over the fact that she might not come as I hoped for the past days.

All I could possibly do was to remain in high spirits, and just accept what will happen, it’s really not like I can force the universe to bring her here, or text her, we didn’t even knew each other enough to be able to maintain contact, and even if a long connection wasn’t needed for it, it would have been way too weird to give her diary back and ask her number, to me.

Most people don’t hesitate and just go straight, probably telling themselves they don’t have anything to lose, but that doesn’t really seem to be my case at the moment, I’m like...not really close to it. The proof is right here, I didn’t even do it.

I would just like to see her again, I wasn’t able to say anything much last time, and I’d really like to talk to her more, I don’t know why, I can’t seem to forget her like that, she’s not like most strangers I’ve before, she really is different, but at the same time, I relate to her a lot because of our similar tastes, and the way she was when I had last seen her, she was a bit, shy, but did seem to overcome it as much as she could.

I think that, if she paid attention, she must have sort of noticed it with me as well.

The short interaction doesn’t mean much as I only saw her once, and it didn’t necessarily mean that she really acted this way in general, or just when she was with me, but the small chat we had was enough for me to tell so.

I don’t know if not having the courage to directly go to her workplace wasn’t dumb from me, it literally was as simple as if she came here, I could have went there, but at the same time, if she wasn’t there, or if she found it weird, I can’t seem to think it could happened like that, while it simply could have been totally not awkward at all, and she would have been nice, I’m just making up ridiculous scenarios that she wouldn’t do, she didn’t seem like someone mean at all.

In resume, I literally came here in hopes to see someone that I hope won’t find me weird because I’m there, and will not assume I’m hanging around to bump into her or anything else, because that's literally something I’m gonna have trouble to answer to without feeling embarrassed.

I guess I'm just gonna walk by the aisles, maybe I'll find something to keep myself occupied while I wait.

"—the diary? Yeah, I got it back, it's uh…a guy named Spencer that came to the shop to give it back to me."

Wait, is it…

"Oh, yeah. I know him, he comes here pretty often. I’m glad, he really seemed concerned and determined to find who it belonged to."

That voice is Julia’s, I’m not sure about the first that I heard.

"Thankfully you were here. You did contribute too."

It could be her.

"No, it's nothing, I just happened to be there."

"You did help, so, accept my gratitude."

She did mention my name, it could be her.

"Okay, thank you." Julia said.

"I prefer that."

"You're really acting like— give me a second please!" Julia said, as she gave me a glance that was so fast that I think that she didn't have time to recognize me.

After that, just as I glanced at her, the girl she conversed with turned her head behind her, probably out of pure curiosity.

"Oh, you're here. It's been a while." Y/N seemed surprised, but delighted to see me.

"Oh, sorry...I didn't see it was you, I barely glanced at you." Julia apologized.

"It's no problem…really." I said, eyes wide as I kept my gaze on y/n.

"Did you need something?" Julia asked.

"Me? Oh, no, I just uh...heard y/n and came here, but uh…thanks for asking Julia."

"Are you okay?" Y/N asked, her brows furrowed.

"Y-yeah, I am. Totally. 100%.”

"Okay, uh…” She hesitated, giving Julia a glance. “We're gonna do something. Since you've been coming longer than me, you could help me find new books that you like and that I might too, is it ok?" She said, as I glanced between her and Julia, as if I was looking for an answer.

"Sure, let's uh...search."

"Let's search!" Y/N exclaimed, in a playful tone as she put her hand on my right shoulder, slightly pushing me further in the alley to get me to move before I even got to think of walking by myself.

Once we had disappeared from Julia’s sight, she looked at me, taking a look around as she gave me a small smile.

“I didn’t actually want you to search books with me, it was mainly so that we could exit this embarrassing situation.” Y/N said, slighty bouncing on her feet. “What were you up to here? Are you on a day off?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. For once, I don’t have anything to do; Same for you…?”

“Yeah, I worked a lot and replaced people, so they allowed me to have one day or two. By the way, were you up to? Hoping to see someone?”

"Someone? No, I uh, definitely wasn't hanging around here hoping to bump into you or anything..."

“I never asked if it was me, but apparently, I have a feeling you really were hanging around to see me.”

“Maybe I did…?”

“I thought you would have forgotten me by then. I’m glad it’s not the case, I still thought about the ‘diary incident’ from the last day.”

“I didn’t, and yeah, I thought about it too.”

“I actually wanted to find you back, but when I came, I didn’t see you.”

“I...also did that. I could have gone to your workplace, but I...wasn’t sure. So, I just hoped to see you here I guess, I hope you don’t lose anything else, because I won’t be able to contact you, and I’ll have to go to where you work, hoping I don’t make a fool out of myself.”

“That won’t happen if I have yours.” She said, as she took her phone out of the back pocket of her bag, handing it to me. It took me a few seconds to realize what just went on before I took the phone out of her left hand, nervously typing my number, erasing it a million times when I typed the wrong number; after a few tries, I gave it back to her.

“That way you’ll be able to find me, even if I didn’t lose something.”

“Did we basically meet because you lost something?”

“Basically, yeah. Losing it wasn’t as bad as I thought.”

“I’m kinda glad that you did in a way.”

“Really? I didn’t think so, I just...didn’t think you’d pay such attention to it, it just was a small interaction, after all.”

“I couldn’t just do that, I couldn’t pretend to not pay attention to that, to resume the whole situation, you left your diary in the library and I wanted to figure out who you were.....and when I read it, it was different from most people I’ve met, I know that I shouldn't have read it at all, and that was completely inappropriate to do from me, but, as I read, not the entirety of course, because that would possibly qualify me as a weird person coming from you, or anyone that knows that I’m a complete stranger, but I really had the need to learn more from you that with just a few words, if...that seems clear, and totally not weird, because that’s...not what I’m trying to be. So, yeah.”

“I get it, yeah. I didn’t think you were weird at all though. You kinda reminded me of myself in a way, I’m always afraid that the person I’m talking to is bored and doesn’t dare to tell it because they’re afraid of hurting my feelings. I’m glad you didn’t find the small chat we had uninteresting, or annoying, you know, not something that made you waste your time.”

“Oh, it’s nothing, don’t worry, I really liked talking with you.”

“How about we have other conversations then? We could have one now, you could help me pick out books, I’m kind of bored of reading the same ones. How is that?”

“Yeah, sounds great, yeah.”

“I guess uh...lead the way?”

“Oh, yeah- I’ll lead the way.” I said, as we both walked towards the staircase leading to another section of the place, and although we only walked for just a minute, it felt like less, I didn’t stop staring at her that I almost tripped over the last step.

“What was on your mind? You almost fell down.”

“I uh...just got lost in my thoughts, for a bit. You know, thinking about books...and stuff.”

“Just books?”

“Yep’, just books, totally nothing else.”

“If you say so.” She said, with an amused tone.

“I’m telling the truth!”

“Your tone was saying otherwise.”

“My tone...how?”

“You sounded nothing but suspicious. Kind of obvious if we look at your face too.”

“I wasn’t aware of that.”

“Now you know genius.”

“Genius? What’s that nickname?”

“I don’t know, it suits you.”

“And what’s your nickname? The-girl-that-forgets-her-stuff?”

“It was an accident, I only did it once!”

“You might do it, you gave me your number to call you in case you lose stuff.”

“No; it’s also so we can talk, that’s all.”

“Just that?”

“Yeah, just that. Now stop talking and show me books, you told me you’d help me, so do it now.”

“That wasn’t asked politely, try again.”

“Are you serious…?” She let out a laugh.

“Yes, why?” I answered, throwing her a smile and raising my eyebrows, as her smile dropped.

“Ugh...fine. Could you please help me to find new books, Spencer?”

“Now that’s better. Yes, I’ll help you.”

“I can’t believe that, we've known each other since one week or I don’t know how much and you’re already mistreating me.”

“I didn’t mistreat you, I just learned good manners to you, that’s all.”

“Good manners? Am I gonna have to talk to you like that whenever we’ll talk?”

“Exactly.”

“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“You could have just said yes or no. Turns out you’re not the genius I thought you were.”

“What do you mean? Is there specific characteristics that define geniuses or what?”

“Yeah, and you seem totally not like it.”

“Hey! It’s not true, you don’t even know anything about me.”

“Oh yeah, and what do you have to call yourself a genius?”

“Uh, I don’t usually like to talk about it as it is mostly seen as me bragging about it by some people; but I currently have three PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering and two BAs in Psychology and Sociology, and I’m also working on getting a third BA in Philosophy.”

“Did you say everything or...do you have more or something? Because I...kind of regret basically saying you were not smart.”

“Three more things…?”

“Okay, are they short or long ones?”

“The sentence is short, but once you know the meaning, they’re not so short...all of a sudden.”

“What are they?”

“Well, an IQ of 187...eidetic memory, and...I can also read 20,000 words per minute.”

“Okay...now I get the beforehand explanation.” She said, as she walked up to an alley, raising her arm at the column the book she must have chosen was.

Well, she didn’t...quite reach it, only with the tip of her fingers. I don’t usually do that, but...I did have some fun watching her struggling, I think she knew she couldn’t reach it, but was trying anyway.

“Here, let me help.” I sighed, as I walked up behind her, raising my hand above her head to take the book.

Ok, is my life a Christmas movie or what now? Not to say that I find it annoying, not at all, but it sounds very cliché to me.

The girl can’t reach out something, so a guy comes out of nowhere to help, they begin to talk, and bam, they’re together one week later, just by magic.

“Thanks, but I could have reached it…”

“In ten years, maybe.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever grow anymore at my age.”

“Why? What are you, 52?”

"No! I’m 25.”

“We’re not that far at all then, we’re the same age. I figured you were younger though, you don’t have an adult face.”

“I do.”

“Is your face that convincing for you to be able to get alcohol without the cashier asking for your ID?”

“Whether I have an adult face or not, you always have to show it.”

“I don’t.”

“Fine, I have a baby face.”

“I was waiting for you to admit it, didn’t take as long as I expected it would.”

“I’m just admitting it now so you don’t bug me with it till I actually decide to.”

“I wouldn’t have dared to do it, don’t lie.”

“I know you would have done it, if not, thought about it.” She admitted.

“I can’t deny it.”

“I knew it. Who’s the genius now?”

“Your IQ didn’t go up because you made me admit something.”

“I like to say it did go up a bit.”

“Okay, a bit. If you think so.”

“I do think so.”

“Okay, genius #2.”

“It’s not the best position for a smart girl like me, but I’ll accept it anyway.”

“Read these books if you say that you’re smart then.” I said, as I dropped two science books in her arms.

“I didn’t come here to read science now, so, no thanks.” She shoved the books back where I had taken them, scoffing.

“I’m trying to make you smarter, why don’t you accept my help?”

“I am smart, I don’t need help.”

“You sure? You did lose your diary.”

“It was an accident, don’t go and tell me you never forgot stuff somewhere.”

“I did, but I realized it before leaving the room at least.”

“Okay, what do you want me to admit?”

“That I’m uh...smart?”

“You’ll have to take me out on a date for that.”

“A date…? Like, a real one?”

“I thought you proved yourself to be smart enough to figure that out.” She smirked at me.

“I am! I just...got surprised by it.”

“Why? Nobody asks you on dates?”

“Not really.”

“Then that explains why I guess.”

“Explains what exactly?”

“That you never went on one, you ask if it was a real one. Of course it is.”

“I just...didn’t expect that. I don’t go out of my apartment expecting a girl is going to ask me out, especially a…”

“A what?”

“...a good looking one, it’s not everyday that I get to talk to girls that pretty.”

“Oh, thanks, I guess.”

“I really mean it. It wouldn’t have been correct for me to not say it, that’s probably why I sounded so awkward back at the shop.”

“I didn’t know it was because of me. I don’t meet guys that get intimidated by me often, they just casually talk with me whether I know them or not, you’re the first one that said that to me.”

“Well, let me say something, they’re all idiots. I don’t understand how anyone could talk to you that way. That might seem weird or creepy, whatever...but, if I had been there when guys were rude to you, whether I knew you or not, I would have helped you, the boyfriend, friend, cousin technique, you know...Okay, that was a weird thing to say.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay. I would have done and said the same thing. You’re really nice.”

“Oh, it’s no problem.”

“So, you’re still up for the date?”

“Y-yeah, totally.”

“Okay. Do you uh...want to hang out a bit more…? If you don’t have anything else to do, I don’t feel like going home right now.”

“No, I don’t have anything to do.”

“What about...we stay here till the closure?” She asked.

“Even better; till they kick us out.”

“Till they kick us out.” She repeated.

After that, we really did stay till they had to tell us themselves that the place was about to close soon for the day. We did go out after, even if we didn’t plan on, and we just walked around, not even bothering about how far we’d go.

I would be lying if I said that we both got to our respective apartments at a decent hour, because, we actually said goodbye to the other at almost 2AM, when basically everyone got home, the streets were empty, only a few people were there, but not enough for the streets to be crowded.

I wish we would have stayed a bit more, I really felt at ease with her, so, deciding it finally was time to go was hard to do, because to me, time went by way too fast.

I do hope we’ll get to see each other more often (if both of our workplaces allow us to, of course), I just can’t wait to know more about her.

Although, now that all of that happened within a few weeks, changing more than I expected in my life, but, I think that from now on;

I’ll have a reason to pay more attention to my surroundings.

#Criminal Minds Fanfiction #criminal minds fic #criminal minds #cm fic #cbs #criminal minds spencer reid #spencer reid fic #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler fic #cm x reader #cm fandom #mgg #dr reid #cm fluff

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ackermela · 2 years ago

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LEVIHAN PROMPT: First time seeing the Ocean

(I posted it on my personal blog so I'm re-posting my word vomit here hehe)

The sun was up and brightly shining its light among the crashing waves of the sea. This is a very new sight to the Scouts who just got their first taste of the atmosphere just outside the walls. Getting out and actually seeing salty water in a large or rather humongous amount was probably a fever dream to them. It might have never occurred to them that this moment was something they will be experiencing.

Levi stood on the side, making sure he’s not one to get involved into some hot mess just in case. He’s used to “babysit” the cadets, even the ones leading the troop like him. Although this is something that makes him sigh out his signature “tch” and putting on his ever-stoic facial expression, deep inside it makes him smile seeing the kids grow up and see that there’s still something waiting to be explored. After all, with the circumstances they went through, he thought to himself that the kids and others Scouts deserve this indulgence.

“Oi, Four-eyes! What in the world just you think you’re doing, huh?”, Levi exclaimed with that pissed off but concerned tone he has when addressing the nerd four-eyes, or rather his nerd four-eyes. Hange seemed to be collecting what looked like seashells and other things found in the ocean that took her attention. “What?! I just found this stuff, Levi! I need to get some specimen myself so I can test it and see if we can use it for healing ourselves or if it can be used in weaponry. Don’t be such an oldie! I can handle this myself so stop nagging me, will you?”, Hange Zoe answered in her most carefree manner. She’s a nerd, yes. No one can contest her curiosity and intelligence among the whole nation of Paradis. With this, she has developed a lot of items the Scouts are mainly using as they engage in their expeditions. Medications that can help stop or minimize the bleeding of any wound? She has it. Weaponry that can save your butt from getting devoured by the Titans? She most definitely got those, heck she even invented arsenals that can destroy Titans with one hit.

With these things being said, it still doesn’t exempt the ever genius Hange from a little disaster when experimenting with things. As she gets to discover the ocean, her curiosity grew more widely than ever before, she kept on checking out the organisms in the water or just the things that look mundane to the normal eye but something that isn’t for her. Hange found dozens of things that she then put in some kind of a pouch. As the curiosity streamed in her being, she noticed a glistening item that was embedded in the sand. Hange went to see what it was and she noticed that the item looked like a shard of glass. While she was doing all those shenanigans, Levi never peeled his eyes off her. He knew that whenever Hange tries to experiment with her discoveries, some things just get out of hand.

“Four-eyes, what is it that you’re checking out right now? Just don’t touch anything that quickly because you do not know damn well if it is poisonous. This thing is new to us.” Levi told Hange with a blank stare. Hange proceeded to show Levi the shard that she just saw. “Look here, shorty. I just saw this shard right here. I thought that we can use this as a cutter of some sort if I just forge it enough to be a hand knife. Y’know, something we can use back in the forest to cut up something.”, some sort of excitement was in Hange’s eyes. It has always been like that. Every single moment she spends discovering something or experimenting with the weirdest of things, Hange was always beaming with excitement. As she was trying to pick up another shard, it accidentally slipped off of her finger and caused her to sustain a cut. “I already freaking told you, Four-eyes. Look, you’re bleeding.” Levi looked at her as if he’s saying ‘I told you so’.

“Nah, that’s nothing. I sustained injuries way severe than that. This will heal in a few days, no biggie.” Hange said confidently. “We are not even sure if those shards were safe in the first place, Hange. That might infect you or whatever.” Levi’s tone became calmer this time, Hange can obviously tell that there’s concern in his eyes. “Wait here. Do not pick up anymore shards.” The man ran back to their supply crate and picked up some wound dressing and some sort of an ointment – which Hange formulated. He bolted like a lightning and came back to where Hange was in what seemed to be like 10 seconds. “Here, let’s wash off the blood from your hand.” He poured a bottle of clean water on Hange’s wound, tended to it carefully as if he’s also treating his own injury and proceeded into binding some fresh gauze over it after he put on a dab of the ointment.

As Levi was cleaning her wound and tending to her needs, Hange can’t help but notice how Levi shifted from the grumpy looking fellow into the softest gentleman in a matter of seconds. She noticed how mild his gaze was, sunlight touching his pale skin and fighting the coldness of his gray eyes. He looked serious when he was doing his thing that Hange didn’t even notice how a small smile formed in her plump lips. She smiled like an idiot – as Levi would say. She felt how soft Levi’s hands were even though it has been through a lot of work ever since he was a child living in the underground. It felt like she was holding onto her softest pillow during the most tiresome of expedition nights. Giving her the assurance and peace of having a good night’s rest. The way Levi handled her injured hand was spotless. When she felt like he was nearly finished, she jerked her hand a little and let out a tiny whimper. She knew damn well her pain tolerance was more than this. “Why? Did I – did I hurt you?” Levi stuttered. Worry was in his atmosphere.

Hange was quick enough to hold on to Levi’s finger before he was able to let go of her hand. She lightly brushed her fingers on his palm. “No, you didn’t. It was just….it was just the wound.” Hange smiled. “Thank you, shorty. I know you I can count on you. I know very well that you’re the first person in here to notice if something wasn’t right with me.” As much as Levi wanted to deny, those words from Hange resounded in this mind more than it should. He tried to hide the flush of redness on his cheeks. “You’re just so clumsy four-eyes.” Levi tried to sound stern again just to hide how much he was caught off-guard with what happened. “No need to be all grumpy again, shorty.” Hange chuckled as she pinched his nose a little. They left the kids exploring the ocean then proceeded to go back to the barracks while Levi held on to the pouch Hange has filled with her specimen from their comrade’s little escapade.

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abstract-kat · 4 years ago

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Samurai Jordan, the Mianite AU This is an AU, and a prologue of sorts that I wrote in a one in a blue moon burst of inspiration. :D

Prologue: A Man, a Myth, and a Legend.

Jordan blinked, his eyes bleary and his vision swaying. He had trouble focusing, the world around him was far too bright for him to make out anything. His limbs felt prickly, a sign of numbness. He wants nothing more than to go back to sleep, but the Gods seem to disagree. A brisk, freezing cold wave crashes onto his back, making him jump. Cold sea water flies in the air as he scrambles away from the edge of the water, further onto the cold beach.

Waking up, alone on a beach after falling through a seemingly endless void, his muscles aching from probably months of sleep. An unfortunately familiar feeling to him.

Jordan presses his back against something in the sand, wiping at his stinging eyes and shivering as saltwater drips down his chin. But then he stops. And reaches back behind himself, towards the object he’s leaned up against.

“Isn’t this…?”

He brings the item- the sword, in front of him, studying it. This was the same sword. He was sure of it.

The Sword of Light.

“Now, how’d you end up here with me?”

Items normally never came with him whenever he crossed dimensions.

Jordan ran his fingers down the metal of the sword, feeling a faint warmth emanating from the metal itself. A weapon that embodied the Light that stood against the Dark, a weapon of purity.

...So why did this one?

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

Jordan screams.

He unsheathes the blade, spinning around, coming face to face with… nobody? Jordan looks to his left, and then to his right, still finding nobody else. He was sure he was alone.

So why does it feel like somebody was breathing down his neck?

“You’re quite the jumpy one aren’t you?”

He swerves on his heels again, trying to pinpoint where the woman’s voice is coming from, when he stops. He recognizes that voice… he thinks.

There’s hesitance to Jordan’s voice, as he calls out, “M’Lady?”

“Do I LOOK like- Wait. No, that joke doesn’t work. Damn it.”

...That isn’t his Lady.

“Real genius aren’t you? For your information, I’m down here sweetie.”

Jordan looks down, past the sword, and into the sand under his shoes. He’s not sure what he should be seeing. His eyes wander up from the sand, to the silver blade in his hands, squinting as the metal catches the light in the golden embellishments in the metal.

“Oh sorry dear, is my dazzling beauty blinding you?”

Jordan’s thoughts halt, and he tilts his sword slightly, studying it, “You’re… the sword?”

“You’re learning!”

He was beginning to grow tired of this sword’s...lip.

“And I’M tired of getting passed around from asshole to asshole, but what can I do?”

Jordan stabs the sword back into the sand, intending to let go, and be on his merry way without a possessed and probably cursed sword that refused to leave his hand.

Why couldn’t he let go?

“Sorry pal, afraid I’m not letting you walk away so easily.”

Jordan’s blood runs cold as he suddenly feels the warmth of the blade against his neck, warmer than it had been before. He can’t make himself let go, nor can he bring the blade away from his own throat. He’s trapped.

“Now who do you work for? Answer quickly boy.”

He can’t form words properly, too many thoughts running through his head all at the same time, most of them unhelpful “W-What?”

“What did I just say?”

“...”

“...Fine. All those who have come into possession of me in the past, have all been thieves and schemers. Men after fame and glory. So what are you after?”

Jordan doesn’t know what to tell this woman….Spirit? Sword?? He doesn’t really remember specific details from what happened before he jumped into the void.

...Except he didn’t jump. Not this time.

Images flash through Jordan’s mind. Memories returning, rapid, harsh, and hurting his head.

Fighting Gandus. The Gods are there. Defeating the Wizard. The Darkness abandoning her. Winning the war. Ianite’s proud smile. ...There’s a sword through Karl’s chest. Watching the life leave his eyes. He drops dead. The culprit is swinging at him now. FIghting another battle. Getting the upper hand. Almost winning. Ianite’s screaming for him. Pushed back into an opening portal. ...Tom’s grin.

“...Did I seriously just sit through you having a flashback?”

Jordan takes a breath, the sword no longer at his throat, and his hand reaches up to rub at the skin. He’s still holding the sword in his other hand.

“Well… At least you’re not trying to pawn me off for a few gold pieces.” “What’s your name?”

“J-Jordan. Jordan Maron.”

“Jordan.” The spirit’s voice addresses him, “I saw three Gods in those memories of yours. Whom do you follow?”

“I am a follower of Balance and Justice. ...Champion of Lady Ianite.”

The spirit is quiet for a moment. Jordan wonders why, until he hears a quiet statement, almost a whisper.

“Champion of Lady Ianite. Goddess of Balance...and Justice.”

The whisper in his ear is a voice he finds so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time.

“Uh…”

He wants to address the spirit, but calling this spirit the Sword of Light feels...wrong. He doesn’t like it.

He finds himself studying the blade once again, tracing the symbols in the metal.

“You are a follower of the Goddess. I suppose I can give you my name.”

Jordan briefly wonders what that means, until he catches sight of the symbols on the blade under his fingers. The golden marks seem to shift and distort, forming something else, something Jordan can comprehend, and he speaks her name aloud.

“...Aianite?”

The name rolls off his tongue before he can realize he’s said it aloud. It sounds like the name of a Goddess. So alike the names of the three Gods he’s grown so familiar with.

But placing that same title to this name feels as right to him as it did when he held Ianite’s gift to him for the first time. The heaviness of the wood, the way his fingers curled around the grip so perfectly. A weapon crafted for him, a bow made for him, perfectly balanced. Like his lady is. Like he is meant to be.

Jordan’s deafened to the softest sound of shifting sands, disturbed by slow, precise footfalls.

“The one and only, dear Champion.” The Goddess tells him.

“...Excuse me?”

Jordan’s head snaps towards the interrupting voice. A deep, hoarse voice. He recognized it. Even if it feels like it’s been a long time since he last heard it.

“Declan?”

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

Jordan recognized this place. How could he not? He had many fond memories of this place. His introduction to it. Building his own little pieces of it. Finding pride in it. Defending it. He knew this was the same place.

Even if it didn’t look like how he remembered it.

“This is… all wrong.” is the only thing Jordan can bring himself to say.

“...I will admit, when you told me stories of this place, it sounded like a fantasy to me.” Declan tells him. “But we both know this isn’t the same future you once described to me.”

Though Declan had not aged, as the vassal of the triumvirate is never meant to, Jordan can tell, the Declan that stands with him is much older than Jordan can possibly imagine.

Jordan sees it in the strands of gray in his unkempt orange hair, in the way his eyes look into the distance, so full of sorrow and exhaustion. The man beside him may not age physically, but the passage of time has still changed him. The man he stands with has seen so much, and he’s so… so tired.

“When you had vanished, Jordan,” Declan began again, “The Gods spoke to me. Told me to hide myself away. To hide from him. The one who had destroyed their trust.”

Jordan hisses, the name, quietly. Anger bubbling in his blood, his grip on the Sword of Light tightening. He feels her concern for him, but he can’t bring himself to calm down. Not knowing what he knows now.

“I was alone. I could not search for help. ...Not yet at least.” Declan continues, undeterred.

“I had to watch everything you all built, everything any of us ever cared for-- And I had to stand by, and watch it all burn. And I had to watch his empire rise.”

The priest walks, guiding Jordan, through a beautiful scene. Pitch black gnarled trees surround the two of them, stretching upward, much taller than Jordan remembered they were when he first walked this path. The golden leaves gently fall, flowing with the breeze, casting faint light from where they come to rest in the grass and the dirt, illuminating the world around the two.

Declan casts his weary gaze on Jordan, “She tried to find you, you should know. You were her champion, and she couldn’t accept you were gone too. She searched as far as she could, but she couldn’t leave the rest of us. Not while he was still around.”

“There was no resistance, once you were gone. While the three of them were scrambled and disorientated, He set his sights on somebody more powerful. The one individual left who truly posed a threat to him and his new patron.”

“...Angrec?” Jordan took a shot in the dark.

“Oh Mother....”

Declan nodded, “Angrec was attacked, and slain by him. The trio had been too slow to react, and it cost them dearly.”

“But before Angrec perished, she passed on some final wisdom to her three children” Declan added on, directly meeting Jordan’s eyes, “She spoke that you were not dead, but that you could not help them. Not yet.

“Declan… I’m one man. I can’t-”

“You will not be alone Jordan.” The Priest interrupts Jordan’s thought.

“...The Gods needed to grow stronger in your absence, and when you would return, all four of their powers would be needed to take down this threat. For good.”

“...All four of their powers?”

“Ianite’s powers, Mianite’s powers, Dianite’s powers…” Declan casts a glance down at the sword at Jordan’s side, “And Aianite’s powers.”

“....You know about Aianite?”

The Priest nods, “Aianite was born the same time Ianite was, the two were twins, inseparable in life.” Declan begins to explain.

“Ianite had domain over Balance, deciding what was fair. My job was to enforce Justice, and right the injustices of the world.”

“Aianite’s strengths lied in physical enforcement while Ianite’s strengths lied in diplomacy. Ianite decided what was balanced and what was fair. Aianite enforced those beliefs” Declan pauses, thinking, “The story of Aianite’s fall, is not one of true victory. She was a casualty when the Darkness was first sealed away. Their enemy could not reign in terror, but Angrec had lost her dear daughter. Angrec didn’t want to lose her, and tried to resurrect her, using her sword as a conduit. It worked, in some way, but not the way she intended.”

“My soul and very quintessence was imbued into my sword. Without me physically there for my siblings, Ianite took over my domain, spreading herself thinner to take up both the mantle of Balance and Justice. Meanwhile, I was gifted to the Champions of Light, meant to be used in times of dire need. I.E. The Darkness’ return. But one of those Champions had lost me along the way, and I had faded from stories, becoming nothing more than a myth to most...”

“History is repeating itself,” Declan says suddenly, snapping Jordan back to attention, “The Darkness once again is threatening the Light, and a Goddess’ blood has been spilt. And now you’ve arrived. A new Champion of the Light.”

He looks up, into the trees, the light of the leaves dancing on his beard, “...A legend was created, during your absence. A man bearing a sword made of pure light would find the three, bring them back into the light, and eradicate the darkness that plagued the home he once knew for good, in his own time, a time too far back for anyone else to follow.”

Declan chuckles, “It’s more straightforward than most legends, but that doesn’t really matter.”

“What does the legend mean? That- The one part. ‘Find the three, bring them back into the light’ ?”

Declan takes a moment to respond to Jordan’s questions, looking back down, towards the ground.

“While you were gone, the three of them banded together, driving off the forces of the Darkness once again. Ianite led their armies, the devoted followers that you all had originally guided to the three of them. Dianite turned to the shadows, spying on the enemy to see what intel he and his followers could gather to give to his sister, creating disarray within the enemy’s forces. He always thrived in Chaos.”

“And Mianite?”

“...Mianite renounced his domain over Order. There was none anymore. Not when they’re at war. He had to take up the mantle of Light, in order to prevent the world from falling entirely. It made the most sense for him, of the three siblings, he was the one who most closely aligned with their dear mother. But the three of them weren’t enough by themselves. ”

“Mianite always was a mama’s boy. ...I can’t imagine how he felt when she died.”

Declan brings his hands together, tapping one outstretched finger, “Dianite has vanished completely, and nobody knows where he’s gone, not even his siblings. They believe that he is fine, and possibly went off the grid to better gather intel. ...He’s always been a little bit unpredictable, but they always worry he’ll get caught by the Darkness.”

He sticks out another finger, “The domain of Light is still new to young Mianite, and he’s inexperienced with it. Angrec could create tools and weapons that did incredible damage to the forces of the Dark. Mianite is still young, and he cannot create weapons of that same caliber of his late mother. He’s trying too hard to be what his mother was, and he can’t. He can never replace Angrec.”

Declan stops, turning to stand in Jordan’s path, forcing him to stop walking as well. He taps his third finger, speaking, “Your Goddess, Lady Ianite is spearheading the efforts to hold the Darkness back. Even as we speak, but… She is not her sister.”

“The Gods are divided, each of them too caught up in their own way of holding back the Darkness.”

Declan breathes a deep sigh, placing a hand on Jordan’s shoulder, “They all need help Jordan, and that is the role you serve in all of this.”

#Mianite AU #Mianite #Captainsparklez #My writing #Samurai Jordan AU #God I am so tired #This is almost 2.5k words #Where is this motivation when I need it to finish my DEGREE

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shadowywerewolfqueen · 4 years ago

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History Project

“Winchester, Novak, you two are the last pair of partners. Alright everybody, you have the rest of the period to determine what your project is going to be on. Remember, you must get it approved by me before you can begin working,” Ms. Harvelle said to her senior AP history class.

Dean sighed at hearing who he got partnered with. Castiel Novak was not the worst person to get partnered with but he wasn’t even close to the top of Dean’s list. Dean looked at Benny, his top choice, and felt a surge of jealousy that he got paired with the school’s genius, Kevin Tran. Benny was guaranteed to get an “A” now. Dean grabbed his bag and walked towards Castiel, who was sitting in the back right corner of the room, like he did in every class. For some odd reason, Cas refused to sit in any other seat.

Dean dropped his backpack on the ground before pulling a chair up and joining Cas at the table. “Hey Castiel, looks like we are partners,” Dean said nonchalantly.

Cas, who was drawing something in his notebook, didn’t look up but nodded his head. “Hello Dean. It seems we are. I’m sorry for that. I know that I wasn’t your first choice.”

“How could you know that?” Dean asked.

Cas glanced up before looking back down at his notebook. “I am the weird kid that nobody wants to work with. I’m sure you would have preferred Benny or Lisa. You probably would have taken Ketch over me.”

Dean grimaced. “Ugh, no! You’re way better than that snotty brit who thinks he knows everything. Honestly, Cas, I don’t mind being partnered with you.”

As he continued to watch Cas, he noticed the other boy suddenly set his pencil down and quietly clap his hands together three times before picking his pencil back up and start drawing again. Dean thought it odd but didn’t say anything; everybody had their eccentricities. He grabbed his pen and notebook from his bag and sat them on the table. “Alright Cas, any ideas on what to do our project on?” He waited for the other student to answer, but Cas just continued to draw in his book. Like before, Cas randomly put his pencil down and then clapped his hands three times. “Uh, Cas, you ok?”

After a few seconds, Cas finally responded. “I am fine. Do you have an idea about a project to do?”

Dean huffed. “That’s what I just asked you. Look, why don’t we look through the list of topics Ms. Harvelle gave us and mark any we would want to do. Then we can compare our choices and see if we have any in common.”

Cas clapped his hands again as he responded. “That sounds like a good idea.” He grabbed his list and started reading through it, never once looking at Dean.

“No wonder people don’t want to work with him,” Dean thought as he started going through the list. He marked off five things: Mongol Empire, Japanese Samurai, Roman Empire, Aztec Empire, and Greek Mythology. “Alright, I’ve got my list, what about you?”

Cas finally looked at Dean as he nodded his head. “My list is complete.” He clapped his hands again before sliding the list to Dean.

Dean looked at Cas’ list and was surprised at how many options on the list he checked off. Out of twenty-five topics, Cas checked off twenty-one. The four that he didn’t check were all the ones Dean had checked on his own list. There was only one choice they had in common: Greek Mythology. “Well, it seems we only have one item in common and that’s Greek mythology. Do you want to do that one since we both checked it off?”

“I think that would be best. What is your favorite topic relating to Greek mythology?” Cas asked as he continued to draw.

Dean could feel anger rising as his classmate kept ignoring him. He was trying to be a good partner and work with Cas and yet the other boy would barely look at him. Dean didn’t expect them to become best friends, but they could at least be civil and work together to get this project done. “Dude, would you look at me when you’re talking to me? I don’t even know if you’re paying me any attention.” Cas clapped again and went right back to his drawing. “And would you quit with the clapping, it’s really annoying!”

It was as if Cas didn’t even hear Dean as he kept on drawing. They sat in silence for a few minutes and when Cas clapped his hands again, Dean barely kept his anger under control. “Did you not hear me? I asked you to stop with the clapping!”

Cas actually looked at him and Dean felt bad when he saw Cas’ bright blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I’m sorry I’m so aggravating to you Dean. If I could stop clapping, I would. If keeping eye contact with people didn’t cause me such anxiety, I would do it more often. Maybe we should just ask Ms. Harvelle if we can do our projects individually. Most of the teachers will make an exception because of my… uh, condition. They don’t want to deal with me either.” Cas dropped his gaze and went back to drawing, clapping his hands a few seconds later.

Dean was shocked at what Cas had just said. What condition did Cas have that would cause him to avoid eye contact and repetitively clap his hands? Even though he was weird and annoying, to think that even Cas’ teachers had been mean to him was heartbreaking. Dean suddenly felt really bad about his outburst. He looked over at Ms. Harvelle and decided he needed to talk to her.

Dean stood up and waited to see if Cas would look up. He noticed the other boy’s shoulders slumped and Cas sped up his drawing but otherwise didn’t move. Dean sighed as he walked over to the teacher. “Uh, Ms. Harvelle, can I speak to you privately for a moment?”

Ms. Harvelle looked up from her computer and smiled as she said, “Of course, Dean. What do you need?”

Dean chewed on his lip and cast a glance in Cas’ direction. The boy was still drawing, not paying anyone else in the room any attention. He looked back at his teacher. “It’s about Cas.”

“If you’re going to ask to work on your own, the answer is no,” she said before Dean could continue.

“Um, that’s not what I was going to ask. I mean, I was going to until Cas said something that was really sad,” Dean replied.

“Oh. What did he say?” She asked with concern.

“He said that he had a condition and most of the teachers didn’t want to deal with him because of it. I know Cas isn’t super popular, but I thought that teachers liked all of their students,” Dean said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Ms. Harvelle snorted. “Trust me Dean, teachers don’t like all of their students. You better not tell anybody I said that, or I’ll never make you one of my special burgers again.”

Dean grinned. “Yes, Aunt Ellen, my lips are sealed. Do you know what condition Cas has?”

She was silent and Dean feared she wouldn’t tell him. After a minute, “I shouldn’t tell you, but I think it will help you understand Castiel a bit better. Castiel is autistic. That’s why he doesn’t retain eye contact very often, why he typically draws, and why he claps every so often. He will also not always answer you when you call him and sometimes has a hard time understanding other’s emotions.”

“Oh man, I really screwed up. I got so mad at him, but I didn’t know. I need to go apologize,” Dean said, his voice full of guilt.

Ellen stood from her seat and put a gentle hand on her adoptive nephew’s shoulder. “Dean don’t beat yourself up. You aren’t the first and sadly you won’t be the last. As you heard Cas say, a lot of his teachers have a hard time accepting him. I just hope from now on, you won’t be so quick to judge others.”

Dean dropped his gaze. “I promise not to. I feel really bad and just hope Cas will still want to work with me.”

Ellen flashed a smile at the teen. “Apologize and make sure he knows that you’re sorry. Honestly, I put you with Cas for a reason. I figured if there was anyone in class who would be willing to understand him and work with him, it would be you. One more tip, even if Cas looks like he’s ignoring you, he’s probably not.”

Dean felt a little better after hearing Ellen’s words. “Thanks, and I promise Cas and I will have an amazing project to turn in.”

Dean walked back to his seat and this time when Cas clapped, he didn’t find it as annoying as before. “Hey Cas, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I acted before. I shouldn’t have gotten mad about things you can’t, uh, control. I promise to be more patient from now on.”

Cas didn’t look at him, but Dean was able to make out the smile that spread across his face. “Thank you, Dean. That means a lot. Does this mean that you want to be my partner?”

“Yeah Cas it does,” Dean replied with a grin. “So, my favorite topic in Greek mythology is the gods and goddesses. What about you?”

Cas nodded. “That’s actually my favorite topic as well. So, what kind of project do you want to do?”

“Alright guys, we’ve got about five minutes before class ends,” Ms. Harvelle warned.

“Hey, how about you come home with me today after school and we can brainstorm some ideas?” Dean offered as he packed his bag up.

“That would be acceptable. I will meet you after school by the gym,” Cas replied as he packed his own backpack up except for his notebook and pencil. While they waited for the bell to ring, he continued to draw in his book.

Dean looked over to see what he was drawing and gasped. “Dude, that’s amazing! How the heck can you draw that with just a pencil? Man, my stick figures are pathetic and here you are drawing a rendition of ‘A Starry Night.’”

Cas glanced at him with a smile before immediately dropping his eyes. “Thank you, Dean. I love drawing and this is my favorite painting, so I decided to try and draw it myself. It’s not as good as Van Gogh’s, but I’m proud of it.”

Dean’s eyes lit up. “That’s it! What if we made a book on the gods and goddesses? You can do the artwork and I could come up with a story? My drawing sucks, but my writing is pretty great.”

Cas nodded, clapping his hands excitedly. “I love that idea! We need to get it approved; I hope Ms. Harvelle will approve it.”

Dean stood from his seat and hurried over to his aunt. He told her their idea and she was very excited about their project. He walked back to Cas; a large smile plastered on his face. “She gave us a very enthusiastic yes! So, we can start working on it today after school, if you still want to come over that is.”

“I would still like to come over. The sooner we get started, the better,” Cas replied right as the bell rang.

The two boys walked out of class together, Cas drawing as he walked. Dean kept an eye out to make sure Castiel didn’t run into anything, but he didn’t need it. The other student avoided every obstacle with ease. They said their goodbyes as they parted ways, Dean going to science and Cas walking towards the art building.

By the end of their project, which they got an “A+” on, Cas had become one of Dean’s best friends. Five years later, Cas was a successful artist and Dean was working on his third book to publish. They were still best friends, but now they were also husbands who loved each other unconditionally.

Tagging: @lonewolf34500 @notwithd @starrynightdeancas @flowersforcas @cockleslovesdestiel

#writersmonth2020 #My writing #destiel #high school #autistic castiel #Dean learns acceptance

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aurora-the-kunoichi · 6 years ago

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So it looks like Tumblr the bitch it is deleted Chapters One and Two of Chance meetings. So I am reposting them per request.

Chance Meetings Chapter Two

Turtles and Reader

The dull throbbing in your head was the first thing you became aware of as consciousness pulled you from the darkness, and the horrible pain of your aching sore throat. Dear god it hurt.

“Hey Donnie, it looks like she’s waking up.” You heard a strange voice just above you. You instantly still your movement and hold your breath. Where were you? Who was that? Who the fuck is Donnie? And why the fuck did your head and throat hurt? Then your fuzzy memory cleared, and it came rushing back to you. The woman in trouble, the three thugs, your near death and rape and turtles. TURTLES!?

Despite the pain, your eyes shot open and you jumped to your feet seeing the massive turtle in blue sitting a few feet from you on a chair. You quickly looked down to see you had been lying on a large makeshift couch. His hands came out and his face showed he was frustrated but still concerned.

“Hey, it’s ok calm down. Donnie!” he called again looking behind him obviously searching for this Donnie of his.

“Who’s Donnie? Who are you? Where am I? What the fuck is going on?!” you rambled off questions keeping your eyes focused on the beautiful blue eyed mutant turtle. “Calm down” you told yourself. They had helped you, if it wasn’t for them you would…… ok you didn’t want to think what would be happening right now if they hadn’t come to your aid. They helped you, that thought alone made you relax a bit sliding back down into the couch. Then the sudden sound of heavy footsteps thundering in the large room you were now in made you hyper sensitive to your surroundings and musty smell. Reluctantly you took your eyes from the turtle and looked around the large cavern littered with graffiti, random pop culture items and tattered pieces of furniture.

“She awake?” a voice came behind you, making you burst from your spot on the couch and land just a few feet from the of the blue turtle, your arms up in defense. There stood the other three large turtles. No longer feeling the effects of the concussion you could see them clearly now. The air shifted behind you making you suddenly aware bright eyes behind you had stood and came into your peripheral making his way to the other mutants. They had to be at the very least 7 ft, ok, ok maybe over 6 ft, each one had a colored mask over their face and looked like they hit the gym daily….and hard.

“She’s still here, that’s a good sign.” The orange one smiled nudging the large red brute standing next to him. Jesus that one was big. His biceps were easily the size of your head. You swallowed hard easing up a bit on your stance. They helped you, they helped you.

“Where is here? W-Who? What? Oh jesus!” You’re stumbling over your words as the tall one in purple hops over the couch and approaches.

“Sit.” He demands quickly, and you obey without question dropping down in the chair bright eyes was occupying a few moments ago. Speaking of bright eyes, you lean over finding him leaning up against the red brute. Both their eyes fixed heavily on you suddenly making what you’re wearing feel see through.

“You’re in the sewers, in our home.”

You can feel your heart beat begin to race when the tall purple one knelt down in front of you, his big brown eyes looking at you inquisitively though his taped together glasses. He had a go-pro strapped to his shoulder and what looked like an ipad on his arm.

“The sewers? That would explain the musty smell I guess.” You crack a smile.

The breath caught in your throat when his three fingered hand came up gripping your chin and his other hand reached up over his glasses and pulled down a weird looking pair of goggles. His large body leaned in closer to you his goggles scanning your vision. With him this close you took in the scent of the turtle, he smelled of oil or grease and salt and vinegar potato chips. The muscles under the green skin of his neck flexed when he swallowed the spit in his mouth. With the close proximity you could hear the click of his tongue when the muscle released from the top of his mouth. Then as quickly as it happened he leaned back and put the goggles back up on his bald green scalp.

“All your vitals look fine. But I have a feeling that headache is still bothering you, isn’t it?”

You nod slowly wanting so badly to reach out and touch his pebbled skin. Jesus whatever made them this way they needed to bottle the shit and sell. Not an ounce of fat on him. Magnificent was the word that kept coming to mind when she looked at them.

“Hey there!” you look to the left of the purple one and see the enthusiastic smile of the orange turtle squatting down next to the other. His eyes were almost as blue as bright eyes over there but his were just a tad darker. His large hand shot out to you in an offered handshake.

Looking to his hand and back to his happy face you take his hand closing your five fingers over his three. It was surprisingly warm, you thought turtles were cold blooded so shouldn’t their skin be cool to the touch?

“The names Michelangelo.” He started, elbowing the purple one away sending him stumbling to his feet with a grumble of annoyance. “I’m the amazingly awesome turtle, I’m a jack of all trades you want it I got it. But you my sugar plum can call me Mikey. And these are my three brothers! This tall drink of water in purple is Donatello and is our resident genius but goes by Donnie. So that answers one of your questions. Boom!” Your hand still gasped in his he pulled you from your seat pointing you to the red brute who has holding himself up on the back of the couch by the tree trunks he called arms and bright eyes with his arms crossed over his chest.

“The turtle in red is Raphael our treasured hothead and undocumented strongest man in the world.” Michelangelo continued giving his brother finger guns and a wink.

“Raph is fine.” The red brute mumbled flexing the corded muscled under his taught green skin.

“And then we have our fearless leader Leonardo. He’s strategic and calculating who can end your life with a snap of his fingers but from the teaching of our master he refrains from that sort of thing. Luckily for the bad guys. We call him..”

“Leo.” You whisper before he can finish.

Leonardo’s blue eyes find yours and they lock just for a moment before you both return your attention back to Michelangelo who was now staring at you in confusion.

“How did you…?” Mikey questioned absentmindedly petting your hand he still held captive in his.

“One of you called him that in the alleyway. Wait? What happened to those guys?” you suddenly became angry. Did they leave them there to wake up and do it again to someone else?

Leonardo took this one as he jumped over the couch sitting down taking up a chunk of real estate with his giant shell, “We know someone in the police department. We called them after we got you out of there just in case they woke up. She took care of them. You might get a call from her, we gave her your number from your phone.”

Looking down by the end of the couch you saw your purse and phone resting on top of it and for some reason you swallowed that easily moving on to your next conundrum. How did they exist? But did you have the right to ask? You had only just met them, and they didn’t owe you anything. You actually owed them something, which brought you out of your own mind.

“Hey um…. I wanted to thank you guys. I don’t know what would have happened if you guys didn’t show up when you did. I know it was stupid of me to go into that alleyway by myself, but I couldn’t leave that woman to those assholes devices. They were going to rape her, and god knows what else. And then they were going to do that to me……” you paused looking down at Mikey’s hands and you finally brought your other hand down to his running a finger down the back of his hand to his wrist. It felt nice.

Mikey arm snaked around your waist pulling you to him, “Hey you did pretty damn good from what we could see. You took out two of them.” Mikey was the smallest of the four, but he still was a bit taller then you, he smelt like a spice rack and something sweet but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

“I agree, you must have some skill? Have you had training?”

You looked over into Leo’s blue eyes as he questioned you. You felt your skin flush when he scooted his butt forward just a little closer to you and his hand brushed against your thigh.

“Yes, I took ninjutsu classes last year after I got mugged. I obviously still have more to learn. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings which let the third guy get the drop on me.”

“Hey, I thought you were pretty damn good for only having a year worth of training. You did better than Mikey his first year.” Raphael finally came into the conversation plopping down next to Leonardo. He leaned back as far as his shell would allow and brought his hands back behind his head. His golden eyes took a quick look up and down your body like he was appraising it for something. You narrowed your eyes at him with a silent warning gaining a sly smile from the big brute.

Suddenly their eyes ripped from you and moved to a body that approached from behind you.

“My sons, have you offered our guest something to drink?”

Someone else was down here? They did speak of a “master” maybe this was him, was he another turtle? Mikey relinquished his hold on you and you turned around slowly to greet him. Your feet stop working as you stare at a large brown rat in a dirty kimono walking upright. His big black eyes seem to look directly in your soul as he approaches with a swish of his long tail. Could this day get any weirder?

Chapter One

#TMNT #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt fanfiction #TMNT TMNT fanfiction #tmnt fandom #tmnt fic #oneshot

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perryavenue · 6 years ago

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Elementary, My Dear Anderson

Chapter Six

For Klaine Advent 2018 Also on AO3

Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five

Day 15: Orange Day 16: Quantity Day 17 Realism Day 18: Stay

Detective Evans leaned back against the headrest of his seat. “Principal Sylvester a thief! Frankly, I didn’t expect it.”

Blaine had been staring at Abrams, the driver, but Evans’s words returned his focus to the matter at hand. He agreed with Evans, but he also knew his Sherlock Holmes stories. A single clue could lead in many different directions.

“My good fellow,” Kurt exclaimed. “It is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of the facts.”

Evans turned to look back at Kurt, a surprised expression on his face. “A fingerprint isn’t a fact?”

Kurt shook his head. “It’s a clue. There are likely others. Let’s say no more about the case until we have examined the crime scene.”

The detective’s car pulled into the parking lot of McKinley High School, home of the award winning New Directions Show Choir. As they exited, Kurt urged that they proceed directly to the display case. Evans nodded in agreement. “I’ll introduce you to Trent, then I’ll go interview those who might provide us with a motive for Sue Sylvester’s actions.”

Kurt shook his head. “No, Detective. Please do that later. Kindly stay with me for now. I think it will be instructive.”

The three men checked in with the security officers inside the main entrance, and then passed through several hallways on their way to the crime scene and Sergeant Trent.

Kurt looked around. “It appears that we have arrived in the midst of classes. If we work quickly, we can conclude our task before the halls become crowded and noisy again.”

Sergeant Trent was waiting for them by the display case.Evans greeted him. “Hello, Trent. Allow me to introduce Mr. Sherlock Holmes and his associate, Dr. Watson.”

Trent shook both men’s hands. “Good morning, gentlemen. It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Holmes.”

Kurt smiled slightly and briefly nodded his head at the acknowledgement. At this point, Blaine was no longer surprised that Trent acted like they had never met before. Instead, he marveled at Kurt, and how he had gotten so many people to buy into his idea. Kurt was a bona fide genius. For whatever reason, he had taken the Sherlock Holmes play and added a certain degree of realism to it by including the people they had known for years. That had to be what this was all about, right? If only Blaine could figure out why!

Evans removed his notebook from his raincoat pocket, and reached inside his suit jacket for a pen. “Anything of interest to report?”

“No sir,” Trent replied. “Students have been curious, but I’ve made sure no one has approached the display case on my watch.”

“Mr. Holmes would like to examine it.”

Trent quickly moved the barricades. “Here you go, sirs. I’ll stay over here, out of your way.”

Kurt motioned for Blaine to join him. Blaine placed the satchel containing all of Kurt’s investigative materials on the floor and opened it. Kurt bent down and retrieved a magnifying glass, a pair of gloves, a tweezer, a quantity of plain fabric squares and several glassine envelopes. He put on the gloves and placed the smaller items in his coat pockets.

Blaine took a notebook and pen from his coat pocket and positioned himself by Kurt’s side. Kurt glanced at him and smiled with amusement. “Why do I suspect that the notes you are about to take will somehow find their way into a story for Strand Magazine?”

Blaine blushed. It felt like it wasn’t the first time they were having this discussion. “Now Holmes, our audience appreciates these sorts of details. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series has become quite popular. Your readers are as fascinated by your methods as I am.”

Kurt preened at the compliment. “Well, then we mustn’t disappoint them. But why your chronicles have become so popular is quite beyond my comprehension.”

Blaine was a bit taken aback by Kurt’s words. Was he joking? Kurt had always admired his writing skills. “My dear Holmes. Despite your modesty, even you must admit that your cases contain some fascinating features that are worthy of writing about.”

Kurt looked a bit chagrined. “I meant no offense. I am exceedingly grateful for the recognition your writings have brought my way. Any small degree of fame I’ve earned is entirely through the efforts of my faithful biographer. So thank you.” Holmes paused and looked at Blaine, a gentle smile on his face. “Shall we proceed?”

“Certainly, Holmes,” Blaine replied, quite touched by Kurt’s remarks. “I appreciate your kind words.” He stood poised over his notebook, ready to record what would follow.

Using the key provided by Trent, Kurt unlocked the display case, and stopped. He turned to Evans.

“Any thoughts on why a hula girl bobble head doll is occupying pride of place where the trophy once stood?”

Blaine looked at the doll, who wore a bright orange floral top along with a traditional grass-like skirt. She was as out of place in the display case as were Kurt and Blaine’s vintage attire next to Evans and Trent.

Evans shrugged. “When I first saw the doll, I thought it might be some kind of joke left by the thief. We brushed it for fingerprints, but found nothing that could be of use.”

Kurt nodded. “It may prove to be helpful later. We’ll move on.”

Kurt leaned into the display case and sniffed. “I detect a faint whiff of chlorine, of a quality similar to what is used in pool cleaner.” Blaine took notes, while Evans and Trent exchanged glances.

“How is it possible that your nose can distinguish between types of chlorine?” Evans asked.

Kurt smiled proudly. “I have made a study of over twenty different types of chlorine products. While some require the use of a chemical reagent to be analyzed precisely, I have trained myself to detect some of the more common types through odor alone.”

Blaine observed the stunned expression on Evans and Trent’s faces. “I never get his limits,” Blaine told them. “He’s made studies on nearly one hundred topics and has committed them to memory.”

Kurt continued to examine the display case. He removed one of the fabric squares from his pocket and gently wiped the surface of the shelf where the trophy had stood. He sniffed the cloth and examined it further with his magnifying glass. “There is some residue from a cleaning product in the spot where the trophy normally sat. You can see the circular outline left by the trophy’s base.”

“Fascinating,” said Evans.

“Elementary,” Kurt replied.

To be continued…

#klaine advent 2018 #klaine advent: orange #klaine advent: quantity #klaine advent: realism #klaine advent: stay #perryavenue fic

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thecjbear · 2 years ago

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A LeviHan prompt. The day they discovered the Ocean.

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iartlife · 6 years ago

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Chapter Six

Pt. III

THE ROOK

Addie was up all night developing the cure. He didn't sleep much anyway. There was no subject to test it on but it should work. If not, the mastermind behind the curse isn't whom he thought it was. At this point all he could do was wait and see what happened.

Elli was still asleep when he got back. He thought it might be nice to make his guest breakfast since he kept her up later than he should have. Nothing was left around that might spoil during his long absences and the freezer was empty so he purchased a few groceries while in town to drop off the concoction he made.

He stared at the items he set on the counter, trying to remember how to cook meat for it to be considered edible by humans. But wasn't fish eaten raw by some anyway? He was pretty sure eggs had different rules as well. Maybe this was a bad idea.

Liam would know, hopefully he was awake. He called him.

"Hello?" He answered. Addie woke him, he could hear it in his voice.

"How long do you need to cook meat?"

"What? Uh, what kind?"

"Salmon."

"I don't know Unc, Google it."

"I left my computer at work."

"On your phone, genius."

"...It does that?"

"Yep. I'm going back to sleep now. Tchüss." Liam hung up.

Addie toyed with the device to figure out how to open the browser. It was fairly simple once he realized the little symbol for it was different than on the computer. He found a breakfast recipe for cooking the fish on the little machine and hummed a tune as he began the meal.

Learning new things was always a joy. He concluded it was a tiny computer that makes phone calls, not a phone calling device that can do other things as he originally thought. No wonder it was so expensive.

He wished she let him take a blood sample. He could do it while she was asleep...no, that's disrespectful. He shan't let his curiosity get the better of him, no matter how much he wanted to know why her magic wasn't consumed once she became a werewolf.

She seemed to have no control of it, though. He wondered if he could help her. She could be his apprentice. After their extended conversation last night he could tell she was definitely interesting enough to spend time with. She was so hungry for knowledge and didn't seem to be afraid of him. Everyone was at the very least uncomfortable around him; even Liam when he wasn't wearing the cursed charm. She even saw Addie's horrific face without screaming and running The first time they met. She did the opposite and chased him.

He was nearly done when Elli emerged from the back of the cabin. Her hair looked wild over her sleepy eyes. When she stopped at the end of the hall, her toes curled on the floor.

"What smells like fish?" She asked groggily.

"Breakfast." He replied, sprinkling cheese on top of the plates of food.

"Is that an omlette?"

"Yes."

"With fish?"

"Yes." He gestured to the table for her to sit.

She shuffled over. He pulled the chair out to seat her and placed her breakfast in front of her.

"What would you like to drink?"

Elli was staring at the food, then looked up at him to ask: "Do you have orange juice?"

"I have everything." He replied, setting a glass next to her plate. He dropped a small rune in the glass then poured water from the pitcher on the table into it. She watched in amazement as the water turned into her drink of choice as the little ricepaper dissolved.

"Is that magic?"

"Practical Alchemy, to be specific." He wrapped his hand around the glass and gave it a nice chill.

"Why is it practical?"

"Because I am not an alchemist, I used a rune."

"The little paper?"

"Correct."

Addie set his plate and tea across from her and sat.

"Would you teach me? I know the werewolf thing is an issue but you said I have magic anyway?"

"I will consider it. Though it would be helpful to know about your affinity first."

"You said you have stuff for that?"

"I do indeed. Perhaps we can check that after breakfast."

He watched Elli sniff her food.

"Its not bad, in my opinion, but my taste is different than most." He said in an attempt to reassure her.

She looked up at him. No verbal response but she did pick up her fork. He did the same and took a bite. This seemed to give her the courage to try hers. She chewed it for a long while but she didn't spit it out. That was promising.

"It's...good, actually. I wasnt sure what to expect, I guess." She smiled at him and they continued to eat.

Elli looked around, now fully awake. "Is this your home?"

"Yes it is."

"It's very clean." She eyed the hallway she emerged from. "Was I in your room?"

"My room is in the basement." Addie nodded to the door next to the hallway that most mistook as a pantry or closet.

She chewed and thought. He wanted to know what she was thinking. "Why?" She prodded.

He thought about not answering, changing the subject even. Addie wanted to learn more about her, not tell her about himself. She was studying him. Perhaps testing him as he was testing her. "Feels more like home." He finally said.

There was a long pause. "Huh." Was her response.

"What are you thinking about?"

Elli let his question hang in the air a moment. "You, you're weird."

"I'm aware." It helped him when someone said so actually, to gauge what was acceptable. What was appropriate talk about and do to go unnoticed. But Elli knew he wasn't human, he was talking to her like he would Liam.

He watched her poke at the remnants on her plate with a fork. Addie couldn't help but ask. "Was it cooked well enough?"

She looked at him. "Yeah, maybe a little overdone, but salmon is difficult like that."

"My apologies, I do not cook much anymore."

"It wasn't bad, I didn't mean-" She paused. "Anymore?"

She was definitely a curious one. "There was a time I had visitors rather frequently. Now I don't bother since it's just myself. Most of the time I just catch something and leave it in the freezer when I'm gone."

She grimaced. "You don't cook it?"

"It tastes much better raw."

Elli sipped her juice. "Have you had any cooked that you like?"

"I can usually stomach it. I have had it many times."

"Why don't you like it?"

"It tastes dull and usually dry."

"Alright, which is your favorite?"

"That's tough," he thought about all the flavors he had tried. "Probably human."

Elli froze. "Is that a joke?"

"I haven't had it in so long, perhaps I've had something better since and not realized it. Memory always tastes better than reality."

She hadn't moved. He should have lied, he should have said mountain lion or shark. Those were very tasty as well, and not uncomfortable for a human to think of eating. She looked frightened. He must have let his guard down from trying to be so honest with her. Stupid. He knew better.

"I uh- I should go." She slowly stood up.

"I have frightened you." Addie stood with her and bowed his head. He wanted to test her, not scare her away. He made a mistake.

"N- um, you ate...people. That's-"

"Wrong, unacceptable, monstrous." He finished for her, still looking down in shame. "I know that now, I did not at the time."

Elli stood there, unmoving. He dared to look up at her. She had a confused expression on her face, but the fear lingered in her eyes.

"It is not often I have the pleasure of conversation with someone else, I occasionally forget what is appropriate to say. Please forgive me."

He watched her gingerly walk over to the front door and slip on her boots. Addie followed her. He held her coat for her, much to her surprise judging by her face. "Shall I walk you back?"

She took a moment as she put her arms through the sleeves. "I think I need to be alone for a while."

"I understand." Addie opened the door for her.

Elli stopped about halfway outside and turned to him. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome, Miss Hughes."

She left.

He stood in the doorway for a while after she left. He desperately hoped she would return. She was so much like Hiram: smart, passionate, curious, full of life. He just ruined a great opportunity for...he didn't even know, they had known eachother for less than twenty-four hours. But she definitely had potential, now wasted because of him.

Time always brought him more interesting people and opportunities, there would be another. He wished it was more often, waiting was the hardest part.

But he wanted this one.

"Γαμημένο ηλίθιο." He swore. Addie slammed his head into the wall next to the door, cracking the stone jaggedly. He watched his blood fill the new crevices on its journey toward the floor. He would have to fix that later.

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MASTER

#gamble chronicles #chapter six #the rook #modern fantasy #addie #elli #elli hughes #why are you so weird addie?#you scare people #you two are so difficult #ugh #*points at elli*#especially you

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higuchimon · 7 years ago

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[fanfic] Breaking Barriers: Chapter 1

Mokuba didn’t always like being ignored. Most people paid far more attention to his brother than they did to him, finding a dragon tamer, the world’s finest duelist – Mokuba did not actually care who the official ‘King of Games’ was, he knew his brother’s skills – and one of the richest people in the entire world to be more interesting than his little brother.

Sometimes that annoyed him. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have his own skills and powers.

Right now, he thoroughly enjoyed being ignored, because he got a front row seat to his brother verbally shredding an idiot who thought he could pull off the little scheme he’d put together.

Honestly, what kind of an idiot walks into big brother’s office and just tells him to hand over all of his dragon records, like they’re some kind of a burden to him?

Mokuba wished he had popcorn right now. But he’d been busy doing some small practicing with his own skills and that required a laptop more than it did a snack. His fingers continued to fly over the keyboard while he paid just enough attention to the man standing in front of his brother to get what information he needed.

Let’s see… His mind reached out to touch the international web. Noah? Are you there?

That was a ridiculous question. Noah was always there, because Noah had nowhere else to be. His attention might not necessarily be on what Mokuba wanted to know, but he would be there.

And he always kept an eye out for Mokuba’s calls anyway. Part o that made Mokuba a trifle nervous: they didn’t have the best history, after all. But today it could be useful.

Yes?

Noah appeared in Mokuba’s mind in the flawless image of who he’d once been: heir to the Kaiba corporation and a young genius with the same gift Mokuba himself had: technopathy. Noah had it on an entirely different level now that he lived in the data world.

We’ve got a small issue, Mokuba said, quite glad that thought and data moved at such speeds. Seto would keep the idiot talking while he and Noah worked out what was going on and figured out how to put a stop to it.

Do tell.

In quick bursts Mokuba passed what they knew on: that this dimwit strolled up through the security features with a couple of small dragons at his heels – already offending Seto since he’d done so without asking so much as a breath of permission to bring strange dragons into his territory – and casually demanding that Seto turn over his dragon records.

It took Noah a few minutes to stop laughing. Once he did, he had a single question.

Does brother intend to throw him out a window?

Technically Noah wasn’t their brother. They didn’t share any blood with one another. But they’d been adopted by his father after Noah’s not-death and legally they were related.

Mokuba sort of suspected that a lack of siblings in his original life was what kept Noah calling them that now. He’d never asked. Some things he didn’t want confirmed.

I think he wants to. That was only a tiny fib. Mokuba knew his big brother very well and from the moment the interloper crossed into Domino City without clearing his dragons, and without being a proper dragon tamer, let alone trying to demand all the records of Seto’s dragons, he’d all but signed his own death warrant.

Not to mention that just being around him made Mokuba’s hackles rise. He wasn’t a dragon himself, but you couldn’t hang around them as much as he and his brother did and not pick up on a few things. Something was really off about this guy and Mokuba wanted him out of the city before anything actually happened.

He tilted his head, bringing his attention back to the somewhat conversation going on between the stranger and his brother.

“They’re nothing but dumb beasts, Kaiba-san, as I’m certain any dragon tamer would agree. Why else would they need to be tamed in the first place?” The stranger smiled a smile that he’d surely practiced a thousand times. Mokuba wanted to wipe it off of his face, and maybe wipe his mouth off his face while he was at it. “Someone with your skills and talents shouldn’t waste his time with brutes like that. I can take them off of your hands.”

“You’ve said the same thing four different ways already and my answer is the same as it was then: no.” Seto tapped one finger on his desk in a particular coded pattern. Mokuba knew what that meant: get security.

That took a grand total of three seconds, since he just had to send a silent text over to that department. Someone would be on the way within a minute: one rule of KaibaCorp was that there were always two security members ready to go up to the boss’s office, no matter what. They didn’t get assigned to anything else when that was their role on the roster.

Not that Seto or Mokuba especially needed the help to defend themselves. Seto had an army of dragons who would gladly eat anyone who annoyed him too much, and if he were feeling in the mood, he could always use a certain tool of his that Mokuba knew he didn’t especially like, but knew how to use. As for Mokuba himself… a technopath of his level had a lot more uses for the internet than just generic porn.

He glanced back to see the results of Noah’s quick search for information on their intruder. There wasn’t much interesting there; he’d come from a perfectly ordinary town, didn’t have any real powers of his own, but an apparent knack for discovering enchanted items. Mokuba thought that should probably count as an actual power, or at least a useful ability. He could’ve made a decent living off that alone.

Then something else caught his eye: the stranger had made a recent trip out of the country, and come back with a couple of items that he insisted were magical, even if no one else could detect anything in them.

The images of what he’d brought flashed up on the screen with little more than a thought turned that way. Mokuba stared at them, a slow scrape of fear creeping its way up his spine.

I don’t like it either. Those are old magic. Almost as old as the Millennium Items.

Mokuba wasn’t going to disagree with Noah. He didn’t know where the magic came from, but from the designs on those images, he could tell they were related to dragons somehow.

There hadn’t always been dragon tamers. Most histories pinpointed their development to somewhere in the last couple of centuries, as dragons began to be more integrated into human society. No one knew where dragons even came from, only that there were on occasion people born in the world who could become dragons. It didn’t come from one’s parents and it didn't always get passed down to one’s children.

There were also dragons who couldn’t become human but there weren’t many dragons who weren’t at least as intelligent as humans, whether or not they could speak in human tongues.

Part of Seto’s duties as a dragon tamer was to learn about dragons, to figure out a way for dragons to live peacefully with others. Sometimes this required knocking heads together. Seto was good at that part of his job.

Part of those duties also included protecting dragons from anyone who wanted to hurt them that the dragons couldn’t somehow manage for themselves. Seto was extremely good at that part of his job.

In the few seconds it took for all of that to warp through Mokuba’s mind, he could see the stranger getting angrier and angrier.

“If you won’t give me what I want, then I’ll just take it myself!”

Mokuba was already on his feet and Seto as well, reaching for something under his desk: the Millennium Rod. Mokuba knew that he didn’t use it except in extreme emergencies, but anything that he considered a threat to KaibaCorp qualified.

If the stranger had intended violence on either Seto or Mokuba, then there would’ve been no contest at all. Seto would’ve had the Rod out on time to stop him and much of what happened afterward wouldn’t have.

Only the stranger moved fast, faster than either of them judged, and a small blue sphere crashed down at his feet, filling the room with a thick, foul smoke that filled their throats and blinded their eyes, and Mokuba couldn’t stop coughing. Nor could Seto; Mokuba could hear him clearly, even through his own coughing.

There were other noises, such as feet moving around and something being thrown here and there, and then Mokuba couldn't keep himself on his feet anymore.

The last thing he found himself fully aware of was Noah’s voice in the back of his mind shouting something he couldn’t understand, and then a horrible pain racked through him, and he couldn’t see or hear anything at all.

“Mokuba. Mokuba!”

It drifted into his mind that Mokuba was him and therefore someone was calling to him. He thought he blinked. He didn’t know for certain. He did know that he tried to wake up and he wasn’t doing a very good job of it.

He groaned somewhere in there. Now he could feel hands on his shoulders, shaking him, and he tried to blink again. This time he did it, and when his eyes opened, he could see a little.

Not much. There weren’t any lights on. That wasn’t right. The KaibaCorp building was designed so that even in a power outage, they had backup generators ready to kick in. There should’ve been something that would give light.

Only there wasn’t. At least not the lights that he expected. As his senses slowly put themselves back together, he realized that what he now saw by were candles, dozens of them set all over.

His big brother prepared for everything.

And now Seto sat near him, staring at him, far more worry than anyone else would see in those blue eyes of his.

“Mokuba?” There was quiet concern in his voice. Mokuba pushed himself up a little, his head spinning a bit still.

“I’m all right,” he tried to reassure Seto. He didn’t think that was absolutely true, but the less his brother had to worry about, the sooner they could get this sorted out. “What happened?”

“It was that idiot. I never did get his name.” Seto snarled the words out, his anger focused on that fool most of all. “I don’t know what that gas of his did other than knock us out, but he ransacked the place looking for my dragon records.”

Mokuba sat up a little more, wincing. He needed something to drink; his throat cracked and parched. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Seto set a bottled water in front of him. He drank it down while hearing the rest of what happened.

“He didn’t find them.” Seto flashed a smile that most of his dragon friends would’ve been very proud of.

Mokuba wasn't surprised. He knew all along where Seto’s records were kept and the stranger hadn’t had a chance of finding them.

He looked around again. This was far too dark for afternoon. He glanced back at Seto, whose thought processes seemed to have followed his own.

“That was a few hours ago. It’s almost midnight.” Seto’s eyes flashed with rage. “He did something to the power system and a few other things before he left, and I can’t figure out how to undo them yet. I don’t think it’s technopathic in nature, but I can’t get any of the lights on or the doors to open. I can’t even get in touch with security.”

Mokuba jerked his head around to where he’d been sitting. His laptop wasn’t where it had been, but he quickly caught sight of it: knocked onto the floor, battered and broken. He could get it repaired or replaced within a day, since it was KaibaCorp issue, but until he did that, or until he could connect to another system or they could get the building systems going again, he didn’t have a connection to anything.

That sent a strong chill of its own all through him. He hadn’t been disconnected for the last three years. Even if he wasn’t using the internet or the systems for anything at all – and he kind of always low-level monitored everything in KaibaCorp for any sort of problems – it was a part of him. This was almost like losing an arm or a leg.

I’ll get it back, though. This was worse than if the power had been knocked out in a storm. Not only did they have the back-ups if that happened, but in that case, he could’ve hooked himself easily into something else to help with repairs.

Now he just had to wait. Kaibas, by blood or by adoption, weren’t very good at waiting.

Seto stood up. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with any of my dragons, but nothing works. It’s like I can’t reach beyond the building itself.”

Mokuba considered that carefully. “Doesn't sound like anything I know of.” He hated not being able to find the instant information on what the situation was. How was he going to help his brother like this?

Seto stared at the black space that had replaced the windows. Normally they had a magnificent view of Domino City. Now Mokuba couldn’t even see the stars, let alone any of the city lights.

That wasn’t right at all. Even with the power out, they should’ve been able to see the stars.

He steadied himself on his feet, taking his time to get more assured of his balance before he headed over to the window. They did have bullet-proof glass there, and shields that could come down in case of certain other threats, but they didn’t look like this.

Like a curtain of nothingness hanging just beyond his touch.

He shuddered at the thought, turning as Seto came up behind him, staring at the emptiness outside as if personally offended by it.

He probably was. Nothing that could get the jump on him like this wouldn’t offend him.

“What about the phone lines?” They needed to try anything and everything they could to get through all of this. The idea of asking for help wasn’t one that came naturally to either of them but sometimes allowances had to be made.

Seto shook his head. “I tried already. They’re not working.”

Something about all of that started to click into place into Mokuba’s head. He stared back at the windows, trying to work it all into a pattern that made sense.

“So we don’t have power, we can’t communicate with the outside, and it almost looks like we’re not even in Domino City anymore,” Mokuba said, each tiny piece fitting into place.

Seto nodded, sharp eyes focused on his brother. Mokuba warmed at the thought that even without his usual connections, Seto counted on him to be useful, to help.

“I think he might’ve done some kind of space twisting.” Mokuba started to gesture towards the remains of his laptop. “Noah and I saw a little about him before that. He had two items he dug up from somewhere out of the country. One could control dragons. I didn’t check on the other one, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what did this.”

He waved all around at that. Seto folded his arms across his chest and stared thoughtfully at everything around them.

“How do we twist it back, then?”

Mokuba considered that carefully before he answered. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”

To Be Continued

Notes: A new chapter will be posted on Friday for the next two weeks. You people wanted to know what the Kaibas did, so now you're going to find out!

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #ygo dm #kaiba seto #kaiba mokuba #au: superheroes #chapters: breaking barriers #series: gifts of power

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lethe-distillery-blog · 6 years ago

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Ninja Shopping

I looked up at where he stood over me, I had chosen to take my place in the cart, you know, because I was lazy. I grinned at him mischievously over the note pad surrounded comfortably by all manner of produce, chips, and I had my head resting on a bag of flour. Before him, I had no idea that something as simple as grocery shopping could be fun. Still though, I was trying to not laugh as we moved through the isles, his eyes alight with mirth but I could see the wariness within the depths. He watched the others around us, aware and anticipating a move, a simple look of recollection and I knew he would bolt. Thankfully, so far tonight, we had been safe. Though that was likely to change in a heartbeat.

"So?" he set a large jar of peanut butter down beside my leg and looked over at me, "what else do we need?" I ticked off the peanut butter and scanned the paper, we were actually doing remarkably well, we only had a few things left. I was still shocked we had managed to get flour especially the big bag that I was looking for. My man was certainly talented.

"Coffee," I thought to myself tapping my lip with the pen I had brought. "I think I saw it two isles to the left, if we hurry, we still might be able to find it there." He grinned and we took off, at a slightly above average speed, certainly didn't want to warn anyone to what we were intent on doing. I did find it amusing though when we turned to the left, opposite of the giant sign above us was trying to tell us, judging by the chuckle I heard, I figured he had caught the irony too.

I found the coffee, a bit further down the aisle than I had seen it last time, but, there it was. We didn't even slow as I reached out and placed it between my legs. The stuff was precious after all, needed to make sure to keep it safe. I checked it off the list. "Chicken, lemons, mushrooms, and rice." I read off the list remaining, out of the thirty-something items we were actually doing really well, and it had only been an hour since we started.

"We might as well look by the produce, hm?" He turned the corner and started towards the back of the store. "Onwards noble steed!" He took off and jumped on the back, much like errant teens do and I couldn't help laughing as we took off at a breakneck speed through past the shelves. I couldn't help it, he just made life so much fun. Something as simple as grocery shopping suddenly turned into a high stakes risky adventure and I would have it no other way, even the last time when we had had to figure out what to make with pasta, milk, limes, and carrots before we had been able to come back the next day.

We slowed as we approached, both of us scanning for victims. "There," I whispered, and he followed my gaze and nodded his head in assent and we closed in. Damn it, it was a couple. An elderly couple actually, they seemed rather cute in their wandering about, just content in the time they were able to share together. It made my heart ache, looking up at the man I loved and imagining us at that age. Would we still be like that? Still so perfectly in love that the mere companionship of one another still meant the world to us? I thought so. I squeezed his hand and smiled at his returning squeeze. I went back to looking for weaknesses and frowning, the woman seemed to stay near the cart, obviously having bad knees given the way she was stumbling slightly.

"Shh," the man's voice was comforting as he set his hand on hers, "it's okay Marie, we can come back tomorrow, it's not supposed to be so damp." I hadn't even thought of it, but given the man's knobby knuckles as he patted her hand and her movements, I knew the culprit. Arthritis. It was the killer of all eventually.

She had the most beautiful smile that went all the way to her brilliant blue eyes, "But Evie is coming over tomorrow, we need to make sure that everything is perfect for her." His smile was kind, but his eyes telegraphed worry for his wife, still, he nodded and gave in and they kept moving in their slow monotonous way. It made my throat tighten. It was what all of us wanted I supposed, a love that lasted forever. I looked up at my chauffeur and shook my head, he nodded his agreement and we turned to go back to produce.

"Excuse me?" I saw the panic flicker across his features for a split second before it died to a form of bored nonchalance, I always envied him that complete control of himself.

"Yeah?" He turned and looked positively perfect in the harsh overhead lights, his hair shining, eyes flashing like precious stones. He even offered a polite, impassive smile to our intruder. It took a well versed and practiced look to see the way he was eyeing the person, looking for any subtleties that showed we busted.

"I just overheard you were looking for coffee," the woman's smile was kind, "it's over that way," she pointed in a general direction, "aisle 13." She flushed, "I, uh, work here." She finished awkwardly.

"Thank you," his smile was positively infectious, the perfect form of innocence, "I thought I saw it over here, but it was just the iced coffee." He indicated the jars of the creamy caffeinated beverages. 'Quick save there Mister.' I thought, smiling as I found chicken and mushrooms, well, would you look at that, one item left. "I'll make sure I go there and take a look, no one needs to see me in the morning without coffee. The woman laughed and agreed and we parted ways.

"All we have left is limes." He laughed and shook his head as we turned to go down to where the coffee was located, to at least pretend that we were going to follow her advice. "I thought we were caught for sure." I breathed as we vaguely looked over the types of coffee they had on display.

"So did I." I murmured back, "people like that tend to notice a lot, luckily for us, she didn't." I nodded in my agreement. The tension was so thick I was pretty sure it was the definition of being able to be cut with a knife. Hell, this was so bad I was sure you could scoop it out like ice cream.

"I think I could survive without a mojito tonight, what about you?" I nodded and we moved towards the registers to pay, we had already gotten so much that the risk was too great to have issues now. Still though, as we neared I found myself smelling flowers and then a bouquet was dropped in front of me. I looked up at him and frowned and he smiled and shrugged, innocent as ever. "I wanted to make you feel special." Like he needed to buy me flowers in order to do that. Still, I knew better and wasn't going to argue.

"Did you find everything you were looking for?" The cashier's voice was feigned smiles, she looked tired. Like she had been there for seven hours and fifty-nine minutes and we were the last that she had to help before going home.

"Yeah, I think so." We exchanged a look as he talked, I would just burst out laughing if I were to try do anything so I let him take lead. "You have quite the selection here." Her smile was the only response and he looked over our selection of produce, and me, "Four bags, if you don't mind." He was always so polite, to everyone, I don't know why it surprised me anymore.

I sighed dramatically as he took my flour pillow but got up with a smile and started to help bag things with him before he went, paid, and came back putting the bags in the cart. This time, I opted for walking beside him on the way out. We were just starting towards the door when a man's loud voice broke through the general murmur. "I did grab coffee!" I looked up to see his face contort and we walked briskly outside.

We had barely made it through the doors before the laughter started. It was loud, uproarious, deep from within the belly laughter that left us both staggering under the weight of it. Finally, we halted by the car and we both had tears streaming down our cheeks as my beloved tried to feign the man's voice. "I did," we broke into laughter again. So loud we had many staring at us as though we were crazy, and who knows, maybe we were but I wouldn't change it for anything. "I told you that grocery shopping with me would never be boring." I rolled my eyes as we finished putting the bags in the car before he put the cart back in the stall.

"So where did you ever even dream of such a thing?"

He laughed and shrugged. "Read it in a book somewhere I think," I rolled my eyes, it was evil genius level amusing and I was grateful he shared this silly part of himself with me. But he was right, grocery shopping was never boring when you were only allowed to pick what other people had in their carts.

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maafbox · 6 years ago

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Yngwie Malmsteen Sayz Hi!

by Emery Columna -

When I wore my hair long, I used to go to this hair cutter that supposedly cut Yngwie Malmsteen's hair. Well, the impression that I got from that guy was that Yngwie was some sort of Megalomaniac, and so the trepidation within me going in to this interview was rather heartfelt because I was worried about keeping Yngwie's attention long enough to generate a decent article.

Talking with Yngwie was one of the easiest interviews I've ever done. Yngwie Malmsteen is a regular guy that happens to be a genius who puts on his pants the same way we normal people do. I did not sense one shred of Megalomania in any shape or form when it came time for our phone conversation. I guess it boils down to if you can handle a person that's done very well for himself. As the interview unfurled, I became aware of an extremely articulate, intelligent, well mannered and self-assured individualist...not some freak heavy metal self-obsessed weirdo.

On the Eve of Yngwie's departure for a European Tour in support of Magnum Opus, he called me (after an all day dry-run of material for the Tour) from his home studio.

He's the Music Director/Conductor of the L.A. Philharmonic. He sounds like he's Finnish...

Why Rock And Roll, Yngwie, why not, why aren't you a world class violinist? Well, it's quite simple, because I started playing electric guitar before anything else, yeah?, I didn't take classical lessons or anything like that. When I was 7, I started playing, actually, I got hooked on to Hendrix when he died, in fact, I had a guitar when I was 5 and I started playing when I was 7...and then when I was 8, my older sister gave me a Deep Purple album, Deep Purple's "Fireball", and then I got INTO Rock after that. So I always liked that hard edge, you know?, I always liked that run around the stage, play with my teeth, throw the guitar around and all that stuff, BUT...I think that most...well, nowadays it's completely out of control as far as quality, but even when Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and bands like that were out, I mean compared to what's out now, they were really good, but to me, it felt a little limiting...so I became heavily, heavily Classically influenced...Classical Music became very important to me.

Where in Florida are you? Miami, Miami Beach.

Why did you turn to Classical, ...for inspiration? Well, basically what happened was, that I felt that most guitar players sounded alittle bit like other guitar players and I found it- not boring- but kind of limiting, you know. Even though I Love Ritchie Blackmore and Hendrix and everything, ...it's that pentatonic blues scale that pops up all the time and it's over and over and over the same, so I became much, much more influenced by classical violin, than I was by any other guitar player...and ofcourse, it's escalated in to me studying Classical music very heavily, you know, like Vivaldi, Bach, Paganini, Tchaikovfsky, Albinoni, you know...Corelli, and that became much more of an inspiration source to me than any Rock band, but I still kept the Hard Edge...that's how my style came about.

Why do you list Enzo Ferrari in your liner notes personal thanks? Because I own two Ferrari's. I have a black 308 with Borrani racing wheels and I have a red Mondial cabriolet.

Did you get them prior to Enzo's demize, since a few Ferraristi think that there are no real Ferrari's after the Great Man's passing. Yes, oh these are quite valuable, they have like no miles...one of them has 800 miles and the other has like1200 miles. So they are in absolutely flawless condition... I'm a Ferrari Freak, you know.

What year is your 308? '83 Quattrovavole, it has four valves per cylinder, so that makes it better and also my Mondial is an '85 and that's red with the black ragtop.

If you have time in the Spring- I'm gonna pitch something to the Editor of Automobile Magazine, David E. Davis, I want to do this Heavy Metal Shootout and all these guys from Heavy Metal that like to race-I mean it's just an idea right now, but if you're interested, I want to get You, Vince Neil, and a couple of the other guys and just Drag. I mean, I'm going to pitch this to David E. Davis, Okay? Sounds like...I'm In, man.

You want to do it? Yeah.

Give me time to pitch that to Automobile Magazine and get it together. What time of the year would that be?

Well it's in the air right now, but I'm hoping for the Spring. I'm hoping to get the Ferrari people interested so... So you mean I won't drive my own car?

No, no...we can do something like the 348 Race Series sort of thing. I don't like them...

Do you really want to drive your own car? Well, but ofcourse I don't want to hurt it...

Let me just work out the particulars... Yeah, if you want to Get me a Ferrari, get me a Testarossa or an F40...Get me the F40, there's no way no one's gonna win. (Laughter)

When you listen to the violin, which Artist or Composer is the best, to you? As far as composers go, Vivaldi, Paganini, and Tchaikovfsky...but as far as people that live today that actually perform it, I think there is no one that can touch Itzac Perlman...no one...he's got so much feel, and so much...he really does it well, Mintz and all those are very good too, you know.

Have you ever been turned on to Nadia Salerno Sonnenberg? No.

She's like the Jimi Hendrix of violin. Oh yeah?

You ought to check her out. She's out there. I mean you've got to go see her perform live. She's like a guitar player, she's crazy. Yeah? Very Classical?

Yeah she does Classical, but the way she plays is like Jimi Hendrix, man, I mean I don't see how she doesn't just snap the violin in half. Very, very passionate. That's cool.

What's your rig like for Studio work as opposed to live? As far as the guitar equipment? Yeah, the same as live.

The Same as live. Yeah, there's no difference...It's a Fender Stratocaster, Marshall Stacks, and that's it.

JCM 800's? No. (In a whisper) No, no, no, no...50 Watt Mark II's, yeah, the old one's they're from like 1969 til about '73.

Do they have the Celestions in them? Yeah, they do. There are Celestions in them. There's one more interesting things that you night want to know, is that one of my biggest dreams ever just came true: I finally built my own studio, And it's not like a demo studio or like a home studio, although it is in my home, it's got the absolute top of the range equipment, like a Studer...

Yeah, I know Studer... It's really great 'cause I can play anytime I want, record anytime I want.

How far is it from your pool? I can see the pool from the studio...It's a perfect setup.

When I go out to Florida to see my folks, I'm gonna come by and see your setup. You got it!

Any other Rig stuff, any pedals? No.

Just pure guitar. Yeah.

How did you get in to the Scallopped neck? That's so strange. Strange?

Yeah, well, not a lot of people can Play a scallopped neck. Well, that's a long story really. When I was about 13, I was like an apprentice at a guitar Luthier because I really loved,...I used to build my own guitars and I used to mess around with my own guitars...and one day one guy came in with a 16th Century lute that did'nt have any frets at all...it was wood, the tip of the wood, it was carved out on the neck and the tip of the wood acted as the fret...I just liked, it looked really neat, I thought, so I just did it on one of my not so good necks, and all of the sudden I Really Liked it so I did all my good necks, and that's how it happened. Then later on, I found out that's how Ritchie Blackmore does that too. I was a Blackmore Freak when I was a kid, but I did not take it from him, as you can tell. I actually influenced quite a few people to do that, for some reason. Billy Sheehan, for instance, when we were touring together http://www.ratw.com/years ago, he did it on his bass, and Ulrich Roth from the Scorpions and Electric Sun does it now.

So what kind of frets do you use? Jumbo frets? I use the hugest frets you can get.

Bass frets? Bigger than that...they're absolutely humongous.

You get them Custom? Yeah, Jim Dunlop makes them.

What about your Machine Head? No, it's stock.

Your Wang Bar? It's stock.

Locking Nut? No, they're all stock.

Have you been fortunate enough to get any of Jimi Hendrix's guitars? I was on my way to get one once, but when I finally saw it, I realized it wasn't his, the guy was a Liar. But I do however, have quite an elaborate guitar collection, it's reaching 200 now.

Do you play all of them? No, some of them are just strictly collector's items. I have one of the http://www.ratw.com/first Strats ever built: March, 1954. I have a few of the very, very rare custom colored ones like Shoreline Gold and Lake Placid Blue, Atomic Blue, Fiesta Red...those guitars are worth $100,000 plus.

Of today's Luthiers, who's your favorite one out there? I don't know that many, but I use one guy down here, his name's Larry Lashbrook, and he's a genius...he does all my scalloping...I can do it myself, I'm just too lazy.

The wood on your Strat, what do you use, Alder? I use the lightest ones I can find, you know, I like them light. And I like the contouring on the body to be really thin, quite deep.

Do you use a cord? I use Samson wireless systems, they're really good.

Are you ever worried about them fucking up on you live? No, they're really good, and believe me, I beat the hell out of my guitars...

Are you happy with the band you've got now? Yeah, Have you heard Magnum Opus yet?

It's great, I loved it. Yeah, well it's the same lineup.

How's the Gaalaas guy? Very good.

How did you find him? I got a friend called Deen Castronovo, and I wanted him in the band cause I think he's a Monster, and he said he'd love to do it but that he was stuck with Ozzie and other commitments and stuff. And he said that he knew this kid that just burns and his name is Shane Gaalaas...and I took his word for it and called him and that was it.

What guitarist out there today do you listen to for inspiration? Nobody, I actually stopped listening to guitarists altogether around 1975/76...I just was't interested anymore in guitar players. I think there's a lot of good guitar players out there, but they don't inspire me and I don't get influenced by them and all I can say is good on you to them, you know, let them do what they do and I do what I do.

Do you listen to John Coltrane at all? Never heard him.

John Coltrane is Jazz Saxophone. As far as Jazz players go, I think that Allan Holdsworth is my favorite.

So you don't listen to Jazz Saxophone? No, I think I've found my thing: Classical violin...As far as my biggest inspiration...on you know, the actual notations, arpeggios, lines and linear things and so forth...as far as chord progressions and tonality... I'm very much influenced by Carl Philip Emmanuel Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Albinoni...

Which is the tune by Albinoni that you like? It's called Adagio...it's a very sad piece...it's very, very good.

I have a vinyl version of Pachelbel's variations on a theme by Albinoni on the Erato Label... It's one of the most famous compositions, along with Bach's Air and Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pachelbel's Canon, and all that...

Have you ever heard Pavan For A Dead Princess? Which one's that?

Oh man, it's this amazing piece-I'll send it to Stacy 'cause I think you could do an adaptation of it for Rock. I'm Sure.

If you could pick an Ultimate Rock Band, who would the members be? On guitar it would be 1972 Ritchie Blackmore for straight up Rock, it would probably be him or like Uli Jon Roth on guitar...as far as drummers, I like Simon Phillips and Cozy Powell...on bass probably Jeff Berlin...he used to be with Holdsworth, but he can play anything, but he's more of a Jazz player, ...him or Billy Sheehan I think...yeah, keyboards would be Don Airy or John Lord...I just like the way they play, both of them...Keith Emerson is real good, too.

Who would you have on Vocals? Ron James Dio, no question about that.

When you came to America, you played with other bands. Yeah, I played with Steeler and then I played with Alcatrazz. Steeler I made one album and one tour with him and I did not like that at all...it was not my cup of tea, although I was only in the band for 3 or 4 months or so and I was 19 years old...I had bands in Sweden since I was 10...so it wasn't like a new thing or anything to me. Anyway, then I joined up with Graham Bonnett and formed the band Alcatrazz and I must say I liked that...I liked the songs, I think they came out really well...

How did you like doing Yngwie Malmsteen's rising force? Well, it was the same as it is now, it's just that I called the band Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force. If I wouldn't have had so much problems with the members, I would have only called it only Rising Force, instead of Yngwie Malmsteen, although every note you hear I write, you know.

Do you ever get obstructed when you write? I write in a very spontaneous manner, basically I just pick up the guitar and the music comes out by itself and I just sort of go, wow, well that was pretty good and then I show it to the guys...most of the time I record it first...you know, if I could have found a bunch of guys that wouldn't like become heros up their own nose and stuff like that...I would have probably kept the same lineup and called it Rising Force, but I found that very difficult, because most of the time when we got on the road, they have not been used to touring so much before or not at all in some cases, and to have all the girls and the vodka, and drugs...you know, everything gets to their head and all of the sudden they think they're stars, and then they start acting like they should do what I do...and they should be leaders and they should write the songs and stuff like that and that's where the problem is...

Are you a lefty naturally or a righty? Why?

Because you wear your Rolex on your right hand and not on your left. That's a funny question and I don't know why, I've just always done it.

Where did you get it? I have like 6 of them...

So you're a Rolex man. Yeah.

I'm a Rolex Man. That's Good.

My boss is a Rolex Man. That's even better.

Rolex people have a certain thing about them.... Yeah, I got the President with diamonds all over the place, I got the Daytona in gold, and I got the Submariner in Gold, I got a stainless steel Daytona and a stainless Submariner...

Have you looked at the Omega Speedmaster? I've been looking at them, believe me.

You've got to get the one's before 1969 if you want them to be of value. They're quite nice...Are they quartz, or are they movement?

They're perpetual, but you have to get the old ones, not the new ones... They're perpetual...

Yeah, but you have to get the ones prior to '69 to be worth something. Do they look the same?

Yeah, but the old one are the ones that are valuable. They have this store down here called Gray and Sons, they have hundreds of Rolexes and Brietlings...they have Everything...they have Cartier too, but I think they're a little faggy...the lip on them.

What happened to you in 1987? I learned a very bad lesson: Don't Drink & Drive. I was drunk and I drove my 12 cylinder Jaguar E-type into a tree...It took a while to get back from, but I'm in better shape now than I've ever been in my life. I've got a great tan, I feel Really Good I'm working out and I play tennis every day.

Oh, shit, you play tennis? Yeah, I have a tennis court here.

I used to tune up satellite players on Long Island...I'll kick your ass! (Laughter), Yeah to be honest with you, I'm not that good, I just do it for fun and the excercise.

I've been a tennis bum since I was 13 and I love it! It's great! It's great, it's a lot of fun.

Do you have a U.S. Open surface on there? It's clay...

Har-Tru? Yeah, something like that...I like to use Head raquets...I play mostly with my tour manager, his name's Dave and we get a tan, go to the pool, play tennis, go to the pool, have a few beers...and that's it.

What kind of strings do you use? Oh, on my raquet?, I don't know...it's just stock...I don't know what it is...

Once you get a little better, you should switch over to gut...Bablolat VS Africord... Hey you know, there's a new technology out there...stretch raquets... Is there?...I actually need a new raquet, I wore this one I have out....

The new raquets out today are an inch and a half longer, which gives you greater raquet head speed on the ball... You mean the handle, or the overall length?

The overall length is 1&1/2" longer...Dunlop, Prince, and Wilson are putting out the bigger models... I got a couple Dunlop raquets, but I don't like them as much as the Head...

I recommend the Wilson 2.8 Si Hammer Stretch, with 17 gauge Babolat VS Africord...Go to your tennis shop and ask the guy for the Wilson, try it out and see what you think... Hmmm, you're good at that stuff...huh?

Yeah, when I come down to Florida I'll give you some lessons, and...Let's put it this way: I'll play you for one of your Daytonas! (Hearty Laughter) Don't think so...

Hey man, it was worth a shot... Yeah, cause you would get it!

Is there anything you want to say to your fans? Well, I hope everybody likes the new album, Magnum Opus, and that they can bank on the fact that there will always be an Yngwie Malmsteen and I will never turn anybody down and I will continue to put out the records that I think that my fans like...That's A Promise.

All right man, give me time to get that Automobile Magazine Heavy Metal Shoot Out going... Yeah, get me an F40, I feel really comfortable in that car...

All right man, Good luck on your tour and stay safe in Europe... You know it, man.

Come back to us safe... You Got It.

All right man, Thanks. Take Care.

And so, another Heavy Metal myth has been exhausted for you here at MAAF Box.

Yngwie Malmsteen is a bright, pleasant young man with a bright future. Yngwie seems more like the type of individual you'd find sucking down coffee at a cafe off Broadway near Julliard, since that is where he would be...I don't picture Yngwie at Berklee or at Musician's Institute...

I look forward to going to one of Yngwie's live shows if he makes it to California.

#interview #maafbox #yngwie malmsteen #metal #columna #music

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divinelydivorced · 8 years ago

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Aisle 7

Sometimes I think I could make a good deal of money being a private contractor, specializing in fixing dumb layouts within stores and offices. For example, there should be a separate waiting room at the gynecological office for those having a baby and those not. Think about it. Women expecting don’t want to see my thin, in-shape bottom strolling in for my yearly pap, clearly having just come from the gym because I slept in this morning…because I can choose to do that. Equally, I have zero desire to see the round bellies of those clearly succeeding at fulfilling their roles as women (yes, I know we can do more than have babies). Furthermore, I really don’t want to be paraded by the wall of baby photos on my way back to the cold, sterile room where I’ll soon be asking for another year of birth control. I mean, come on. They might as well print a big sign above it that says: “All these babies were produced by women who are not you…but you have a great personality!”

This business venture came to mind again during a late-night trip to Walgreens. But to understand the emotional state I was in that particular evening, we have to look at a few days prior when my body decided it hated me.

As a kid and even into early adulthood, I remember watching shows like “The Golden Girls,” where the sassy old broads, usually Sophia, would make a sarcastic comment about being able to finally go to the bathroom. The laugh track would play loudly, and usually whatever older adult was in the room would join in, nodding in approval. “What’s so great about being able to do that?,” my naïve, young self thought. Then I grew up and found out. There are some days when I literally find myself rejoicing and praising God aloud when my digestion is at its best. The other day this happened and I just shook my head and thought, “Well, this is the end of my romantic side.”

Digestion is an amazing, terrific gift God has given us. Yet, like most things in life, we tend to only appreciate it when it’s not working. Few of us then do what we should do, which is eat a diet that encourages healthy bodily functions. Nope. Why would we do that when there’s an entire bag of Lays potato chips to eat? But this goes far beyond digestion.

Lately I’ve started to listen to my body. Is this starting to sound like a hippie blog? Good. Our body gives us signs all day, cuing us into what it needs as well as what it doesn’t need. Take food for instance. My stress level has been up lately and there’s always a pile of work waiting for me. What do I do? I eat. I’m a stress and emotional eater. Heaven forbid I just sit down and do the work, which will no doubt give me an energy boost and a sense of accomplishment. Instead I head to the kitchen and whip up something that will send me into an emotional state of bliss, like my three ingredient peanut butter cookies, a chocolate shake, a bowl of faux-buttery popcorn (don’t knock it ‘till you’ve tried it), or just grab whatever salty snack I’ve stashed in the back of my cabinet. For all of twenty minutes I’m in heaven as I’m usually elbow deep in a jar of peanut butter. Then, it happens. My belly starts to swell, fatigue sets in, and my temporary state of bliss has just got buckled into the emotional rollercoaster about to begin. Who wants to get work done when you feel like that? Not me. Usually I flip on Netflix or Hulu, grab four more peanut butter cookies and plop myself down.

Yet, this whole time my body has been screaming at me to stop polluting itself. In an effort to ignore it, I drown out the voice by turning up the volume and shoveling more food in. It’s the same thing with exercise, on both extremes. There are days when I force myself to get out of bed and go to the gym. Most mornings I’d say this is a good thing because once I arrive and get going, I start to fill the adrenaline needed to start my day on a right note. But there are some days when every part of my body is saying no. As soon as I start to give value to the voice, acknowledge how I’m sleep deprived, overworked, and starting to catch whatever bug is going around, guilt sets in. I tell my body to keep quiet and drag myself to a treadmill. The end result is never good because while I do get exercise, I’m cranky and more exhausted than before.

So, as of late, I’ve been attempting to listen more to my body, looking for the signs its giving me about what I need. Monday night, for example, knowing I’d had a big lunch I checked in with my stomach around dinner time. There was a little rumble but not much. Knowing I needed to teach yoga soon and feeling my energy depleting, I made a giant smoothie with fresh vegetables and fruit. Sure enough, it gave me a boost and felt truly refreshing. Of course, when I got home my mind starting tell me I was hungry, trying to justify that a little snack wouldn’t be bad since I’d only had a smoothie for dinner. Just a half hour away from going to bed, I knew my sleep would be restless because my body would have to work too hard to digest whatever I was about to eat. So, I checked in. My mind was hungry, craving food I didn’t need, while my stomach was still full and satisfied. My poodle mocked me while she ate her food in front of me, but I still headed to bed. As a result, I had an amazing night’s sleep and woke earlier than normal, feeling refreshed.

This pattern of checking in with my body has been proving quite helpful. I nap when I need to nap, workout when I need exercise, and eat what my body needs, not craves, and only when it is in need of nourishment. I’m perfect, aren’t I? N.O.P.E. Because like most of us, instead of keeping up my healthy routine, I forgot the reason behind it and dropped it as soon as something else came along to distract me.

Starting on Sunday I overindulged, this pattern repeating itself throughout the rest of the week. I didn’t just need a smoothie from Whole Foods, loaded with peanut butter and other calories, but also needed a giant salad…just in case I got hungry later (although I devoured both in the parking lot). With my pending period (yes, we’re talking about it boys, calm down), all I wanted was salt topped with more salt, with a side of salt. As opposed to finding a healthy salty snack to satisfy my craving, I ate the entire contents of my kitchen…then broke down and ate a medium bag of ruffles and two bags of sweat pea crisps. If they saw me coming to the gyno office this week, they’d have ushered me into the waiting room with the pregnant ladies, based on the size of my protruding stomach.

Too many nights were spent up late playing on my phone or talking to friends, when I should have gone right to bed like planned. My exercise schedule was off as a result and my body didn’t know what to do. If I was a machine all the red lights would be going off, smoke coming out, as it slowly just gave up and shut down. My body is quite sensitive ever since I developed food allergies, which is why it’s vital I stick to a healthy routine.

Not only was I suffering physically but my mental and emotional state came crashing with it. When your body doesn’t feel right, you don’t feel right. I was angry, short-tempered, uncomfortable in my clothes, and feeling very out of control. My skin was oily, my hair was becoming brittle, and the list goes on and on. I looked and felt gross.

As a result of this new frenzy I’d thrown myself into, my body decided to give me one last, screaming sign that enough was enough: itchiness. I was itchy. I was itchy everywhere. Everywhere. Try teaching a series of public speaking classes when all you want to do is rip off your clothes and rub your body around on the rough carpeted floor like a dog does with its butt when you have company.

The problem was I knew exactly what my body needed. It needed sleep, non-stop fresh fruits and vegetables for a few days, and some time to decompress mentally and emotionally. As that wasn’t going to happen with my trip home beginning the next morning, I found myself at Walgreens at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday night.

I looked like a mad woman. Hair frizzy and disheveled, skin pale and blotchy with newly forming pimples, sweaty from hormones kicked into overdrive, and scratching anything I could get away with scratching in public. Grabbing a basket, I threw in any remotely healthy item I could find, which wasn’t much given the location, and then made my way to Aisle 7.

Aisle 7 is the dumbest aisle in the world. It houses feminine products, condoms, pregnancy tests, and the vast array of items for your baby. Talk about being on two ends of the life spectrum, both insulting the other. As I stood at the end of the aisle, scowling and tempted to demand to speak to the genius who thought this layout up, I grew wearier, angrier, and itchier. All I wanted was to get what I needed and get out of there, possibly knocking over all the shelves as I walked by out of spite. But I couldn’t. Because standing in front of what I needed was a couple. They were a couple, in love, holding hands, swinging those hands back and forth, giggling at one another, whispering, and kissing as they picked up one pregnancy test, read it, put it down, and did the same with every other pregnancy test they could find. I stared. “Pick a test,” I thought, “Just take one. They are all the same. Everyone knows that. JUST. PICK. ONE.” After a few minutes passed and this was clearly not going to be wrapping up any time soon, I walked over and said, far more curtly than intended, “Um, excuse me.” Having popped their little heavenly bubble, they just turned and stared, as I reached down in front of them, grabbed some Monistat, and, while rising, said, “Good luck with that.”

Lesson learned. Listen to my body. It’s telling me everything I need. You know, something I’ve been needing to learn for some time is to resist my urges, to stop justifying bad behavior, and start doing what I know is best…trusting the reward will eventually come. When I work for short-term goals, it never ends well. But I’m learning to make choices that invest in the long-term. It starts with my body which, I truly believe, will lead to the head and then to the heart. God has given us this amazing thing to house our soul and to do His work. It’s time to stop taking it for granted. Meanwhile, I’m planning a strike in regards to aisle seven, if anyone is interested in joining.

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aurora-the-kunoichi · 6 years ago

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Chance Meeting

Chapter Two Reader and Turtles

The dull throbbing in your head was the first thing you became aware of as consciousness pulled you from the darkness, and the horrible pain of your aching sore throat. Dear god it hurt.

“Hey, it’s ok calm down. Donnie!” he called again looking behind him obviously searching for this Donnie of his.

“Where is here? W-Who? What? Oh jesus!” You’re stumbling over your words as the tall one in purple hops over the couch and approaches.

“You’re in the sewers, in our home.”

“The sewers? That would explain the musty smell I guess.” You crack a smile.

“All your vitals look fine. But I have a feeling that headache is still bothering you, isn’t it?”

“The turtle in red is Raphael our treasured hothead and undocumented strongest man in the world.” Michelangelo continued giving his brother finger guns and a wink.

“Raph is fine.” The red brute mumbled flexing the corded muscled under his taught green skin.

“Leo.” You whisper before he can finish.

Leonardo’s blue eyes find yours and they lock just for a moment before you both return your attention back to Michelangelo who was now staring at you in confusion.

“How did you…?” Mikey questioned absentmindedly petting your hand he still held captive in his.

“One of you called him that in the alleyway. Wait? What happened to those guys?” you suddenly became angry. Did they leave them there to wake up and do it again to someone else?

“I agree, you must have some skill? Have you had training?”

You looked over into Leo’s blue eyes as he questioned you. You felt your skin flush when he scooted his butt forward just a little closer to you and his hand brushed against your thigh.

“Yes, I took ninjutsu classes last year after I got mugged. I obviously still have more to learn. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings which let the third guy get the drop on me.”

Suddenly their eyes ripped from you and moved to a body that approached from behind you.

“My sons, have you offered our guest something to drink?”

Chapter Three

#tmnt #tmnt donatello #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo #tmnt fanfiction #oneshot #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016

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