#which is why my wife's arm was there-- we would have had a stampede otherwise lol)

[soulsxng]

From that last post, here’s my little menagerie of animals, for those interested.

On the left is Rune. (Roo/Roo-berry/Booger buns, or, if he’s being a lil’ shit, Runepert D. Dinkle.) He’s an elkhound, he’s gonna be 2 in April, and he’s a trip tbh. Wants to make friends with every person that deigns to look in is direction, and WILL make sure that his displeasure is heard, if he isn’t allowed to do so. The only exception is if I see the person before he does, and say “Oh no, baby. They’re doing things and stuff, we can’t have friendship right now”

On the right is Kona. (Koko, Nanner, Coconut, Noot-Noot. If she’s in trouble, she gets the full name “KONA RHEE!”) She’s a German shepherd and Rottweiler cross, and she’s scared of literally everything. Loves beds, will start pointing if she hears the words “Do you want”, even if they’re not directed at her. She also enjoys splooting in front of you, while giving you a judge-y stare that will make you regret All of your life decisions. She turned 5 in October.

In the middle is Pippin. (Pip/Peep/Pipsqueak. If he’s in trouble it’s Pippin Squeakers. Sometimes he’s snooty, and will answer only to his Name of Distinction: ‘Ah, Pippin Squeakers, the Sweetest and Most Benevolent, Babiest of All Boys’…and then he’ll deign to grace you with his presence). He’s our old man who turned 9 in November. He hoards balls to compensate his own having been chopped off, and can say “Mama”, “Yeah”, “No”, and “I dunno”. Also screams when slighted.

Next are the birds. The first one, enjoying his mashed potatoes, is Wynnie! (Woodle-noodle/Woopie-wooper/Wynnie-woo) He’s a pied cockatiel, and he’s 6 years old. The first song he ever learned was the Chocobo song from final fantasy. He enjoys calling Pip over to the cage at all hours of the day and night, mimicking dog cries/barks/growls, and having his cheeks scratched. Also says “What the fuuuuuuuck?” At almost scarily apt moments.

The next one is actually my brother’s bird, but he’s at our house…probably all but 1 week per month? His name is Rocky (Ki-bird/Chonker) He’s only a year and a half, and he’s a silver-pied cockatiel. He likes to say “Oh, good boy?”, plays peekaboo, and is currently learning the o.ld sp.ice whistle. He also uh. Has exorcisms from time to time. It’s actually really funny. When you enter the house, you have .2 seconds to do a specific whistle pattern at him so he knows you’re chill, or he’ll start going off like a fire alarm.

[eclecticstarlightconnoisseur]

Edinburgh to Boston - Chapter 5 - The Hotel

Good Evening all, Here is Chapter 5.  We finally make it to Boston. Yay! Do you think things go smoothly now? NAW not for these two!

I hope you enjoy reading this. Any comments, thoughts or questions are always welcomed.

My deepest thanks again to @curlsgetdemgurls and @jmoonrise for being my betas.

I give you:

Edinburgh to Boston

Chapter 5

The Hotel

The jet was pelted with ice crystals and blinding snow. The ice made pinging and clunking sounds as it struck the fuselage of the jet. Claire looked out the window trying to see any recognizable landmark as they approached Boston. It was impossible to see anything through the window at this point because of the snow and ice. High winds were buffeting the jet around as if it was a toy in the hands of a malevolent child tossing it around whilst making screeching, whistling, and booming sounds akin to a plane crashing.

Claire thought that if she ever had a child, she would never allow the child to play with a plane after this experience.

Her nerves were on edge. Claire began to chew her bottom lip, a nervous habit she did whenever she was worried. The jet made a sudden lurch and precipitously dropped. One hand grasped onto the armrest tightly making her knuckles turn white whilst the other hand sought out James.

James was doing his best to keep an outward appearance of calm. Claire knew this was strictly for her benefit. However, Claire could see that faint line forming in the space right between his eyebrows. That wrinkle showed up whenever James concentrated or when a situation became too intense.  She had become familiar this line from their work together in the operating room. It forms every time they reached a critical point during heart surgery.

James realized  Claire was watching him, and had noticed his telltale sign of concern written all over  his face. He carefully schooled his features effectively hiding his worry.

"Dinna fash, Beauchamp, it will be alright." he said with a genuine smile as he grasped her hand tightly.

"I'm glad you think so," Claire snarked with a hint of doubt in her voice.

Shudder, shake, vibrate. It felt like the jet was coming apart at the seams.

"James!" Claire exclaimed; her eyes wide with fright.

James saw how frightened Claire was. He continued holding her hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand in small comforting circles. He continued engaging her with story after story trying to focus her attention on something other than the chaos that was happening around them.

"James?" Claire asked looking up into his face earnestly.

"What is it Beauchamp?"

"James," Claire whispered. "In case the plane does, well you know, I ah, I... I just wanted you to know that, that, I love you."  The last three words were barely audible. Her golden whisky eyes sparkled with love for him. Claire put her head on his shoulder and said no more.

James heard her soft admission of love. To him, it was loud. It was louder than the racket an entire herd of trumpeting stampeding elephants could make trampling over the earth destroying everything in their wake.

She loves me, she loves me! Weel, better late than never, he reckoned.  At least he finally knew after all this time.

"I love ye too, Claire." A broad smile graced his beautiful face.  He placed his head on top of hers contented.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Captain. We are in descent to Logan. I have been told that the ground crew is working diligently to keep to the runway clear of ice, snow, and slush. Stay in your seats, keep your seat belts on and be ready for a bumpy ride. We will be landing shortly."

With her admission of love, the fear Claire felt disappeared leaving behind a feeling of tranquility. The feeling expanded when he confessed his own love for her. She knew everything would be alright, and if not, at least they were together like her parents were.

The landing gear engaged. The jet touched down with a bounce and a wobble. As predicted, the landing was very bumpy even on the longer runway necessary for this type of landing. At times, it almost felt like they were going to crash into the airport itself. Finally, the jet rolled to a halt. The passengers released a  collective sigh of relief as the nightmare was finally over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at Logan Airport in Boston. We hope you enjoyed your flight. I need a stiff drink and a change of underwear. I am sure you all do too. Let’s all get cleaned up and I'll meet you in the bar. That is all."

The passengers all cheered for their Captain and agreed that a drink was definitely in order.

"Come on, Claire. Let's get out of here before we canna. We need to find a taxi, or we will be stuck in the airport all the night. We can have a drink when we get settled at the hotel," James said lifting his eyebrows at her. Claire nodded in agreement.

As they stood, each craned their necks looking for Harry and Maizie, concern for the elderly couple etched on their faces. Harry, now with his hat askew and Maizie with her hair jutting out much like a porcupine were otherwise none the worse for wear. Both James and Claire, in turn, surreptitiously waved good-bye to the older couple relieved that they appeared to be alright.

James and Claire collected their belongings as quickly as possible and deplaned without a moment's hesitation.

****************

A genial gentleman dressed in chauffeur attire was waiting at the arrival gate for them. He was carrying a portfolio of some type to which he was frequently referring.

He stepped forward asking in a polished Bostonian accent, "Dr. Beauchamp, Dr. Fraser?"

"Aye, we are Doctors Beauchamp and Fraser. Might I ask who ye are?"

"I am Padrick Donoghue, your chauffeur from the Georges X hotel. I was concerned that your flight might have been diverted due to the storm.  I am relieved that was not the case.  May I assist you with your luggage doctors? If you will follow me your car awaits."

James and Claire looked at each other.  This was not normal. Not at all. Georges X is a five-star  hotel known for its, ahem, discretion.  And very expensive.  Not the usual accommodations for physicians on a conference. Who made these reservations and was it really for them? But tonight, well tonight any port in a storm would do.

A luxury Lexus SUV was awaiting James and Claire.

Padrick entertained them with stories of Boston and what they could do with any spare time.

"Padrick, I am very familiar with the area.  I went to Harvard Medical School and did my residency here. Unfortunately, Dr. Fraser and I need to return to Scotland as soon as the conference is over. It is lovely to remember all the places I enjoyed going to whilst living here."

"Well, it's a home coming for you then Dr. Beauchamp."

"You could say so."

Claire’s mind drifted away from Padrick's idle chatter.  All she could think about was a hot bath and sleep. It had been a long, strange day.

*************

The drive to the hotel was a short distance from the airport and upon arrival Claire and James entered the grand lobby.  The lobby was tastefully done in contemporary furnishings of black, grey, camel, and white.  A welcoming fire was blazing in the lobby fireplace. A beautiful ornate glass elevator, the centerpiece of the lobby, would whisk guests away to their rooms.

"I'll check us in Beauchamp. Why don't ye make yerself comfortable while I take care of it?"

Claire walked over to examine the violet phalaenopsis orchids that decorated the lobby, when she suddenly heard James' voice raised in agitation. He was leaning over the desk, coming eye-to-eye with the clerk.  This was not good. Claire came over to see what was wrong. What she found was her normally good-natured partner turning a brilliant shade of red. He was speaking through clenched teeth with his eyes narrowed menacingly.

"Fraser, what's happened?" Claire queried.

James grabbed Claire by the upper arm and pulled her away from the desk.

"Beauchamp, there has been a mix-up. We are listed as doctors Beauchamp and Fraser, a husband and wife surgical team. There is only one room for us to share. And because of the storm, there isna another room available here or anywhere."

He was quite distressed at this. Truthfully, so was Claire. The prospect of sharing a room with James, while not an unpleasant idea, was not in her plans.  Right now all Claire wanted to do was get some sleep.

“Beauchamp, there is only one bed.  There are nay cots available.  There is nay couch in the room. This is different situation altogether and ye ken it. This is no’ going to work,” he replied angrily.

“Fraser, it will be alright.  We have shared the on-call room many nights while we were working. We can share a room tonight. Tomorrow we can see about making other arrangements.”

“Are ye daft woman?! What if one of your colleagues or friends from Boston sees ye here going into a room with a man that is no’ yer husband? What will they think?” James’ eyes narrowed to blue slits. He slowly turned his head, surveying the lobby for any possibility of a threat, real or imagined, to Claire’s virtue. Satisfied that no one was going to jump out and spray paint a scarlet letter A on Claire’s bosom, James returned his gaze to Claire.

James began to ruffle his fingers through his hair making it stand up on end, “Christ, Beauchamp, think of yer reputation woman! I’ll not have people thinking ye a wanton. I’ll nae risk it!” James was visibly distressed and hellbent on protecting Claire’s reputation and honor. He continued mumbling in Gàidhlig about tainting her reputation as a woman.

Claire gaped at him in shock.

“James,” she said very quietly through her teeth, “first of all, how would anyone know you are not my husband, hmm? Secondly, this is not the 18th century, for god’s sake; it’s the 21st century! No one will think anything of it. Besides, look,” she pointed to the desk where there was a sign that said, The Essence of Discretion. Perhaps the hotel was a trysting place for the rich and famous.

“I wouldn’t worry.”

“Aye, weel I dinna like it anyway. I’ll sleep down here, if ye dinna mind.”

“James,” Claire’s yellow tiger’s eyes narrowed glinting dangerously, “I am tired. In fact, I am exhausted. We had a horrible flight. We almost died. I want to take a bath, perhaps have a drink, and go to sleep, in that order. And I am not leaving you down here. Get your bag and get a move on. NOW.”

Claire turned on her heel, grabbed her suitcase, took the card key from the clerk, and marched toward the elevator.

“MOVE IT, Fraser,” she said without so much as a glance over her shoulder to see if he was following her.

James knew she was not to be trifled with. He had seen her in this type of mood before when a cardiac surgery fellow made a mistake whilst taking care of one of her patients.  Claire had swallowed the fellow whole, spit out his bones, and used them to pick her teeth. Claire could be formidable when necessary. She was a true force of nature like a hurricane or an earthquake. James loved her like that. This was not a meek and obedient woman. Claire was a true match for him; if she would let him get a word in edgewise.

He quickly grabbed his bag and followed behind her. He had another bit of bad news still to deliver.

While standing in the elevator, James cleared his throat and place his hands protectively over his bollocks.

“UMM, Beauchamp?”

“Yes, Fraser, what is it?” Claire asked tiredly.

“I have another thing to tell ye.”

“Yes?”

“Theycancelledtheconference.” James told her all in one breath. “The speakers couldna make it in from Texas because of the storm.”  He stood there waiting for the fallout.

Claire looked at him her lips twitching somewhere between exasperation and hysterics. Her eyes glazed over and she began to laugh hysterically.

“Could this trip get any worse?”

James was relieved that Claire was not going to have a melt down on the elevator.

“Weel, Beauchamp, let’s look at this way.  We could do with a bit a vacation, do ye no think? The clerk said that everything is all paid for. So maybe we should just try to enjoy it. Maybe ye could show me around Boston, hmm? My own personal tour guide” he said trying to wink at Claire. Instead, he looked like a large red sleepy owl blinking its eyes.

“We’ll see Fraser, we’ll see.”

[sceptilemasterr]

Catalysts Play Open Heart: Chapter 7

Summary: Varyyn brings firewhisky for everyone, siblings (and siblings-in-law) argue into eternity, and Jake accidentally starts a discussion about couple names. And as usual, chaos and hilarity ensues...

Previous Chapter: Link

Note: The things in bold are scenes from the actual Choices chapter. Ian (x Estela) and Alyssa (x Jake) are my twin Endless Summer MCs.

Warnings: Alcohol use, swearing.

“Heyoooooooooooooo! Guess what time it is?!” shouted Craig suddenly as everyone was finishing up their dinner that evening.

Sean raised an eyebrow as he looked up from his plate. “‘Delayed-reaction dinner time?’” he asked.

“Nah, man, I already did that one yesterday! This time around, it’s time to continue the Heart Home Drinking Game!”

An awkward silence followed this statement, broken only by the sounds of crickets from outside the dining area. “...Uh, sorry, what’s ‘Heart Home?’” asked Grace finally, after a long pause.

“What? Y’know, the hospital story thing we’ve been doin’ for a while!” said Craig. “Where we drink when different stuff happens?”

“You mean Open Heart?” snarked Zahra, smacking him over the head with a rolled-up newspaper she’d produced from somewhere. “Which sounds nothing like ‘Heart Home,’ by the way.”

“Hey, Z, gimme some credit! At least they both have ‘Heart’ in them!”

“I would be quite happy to continue,” said Varyyn. “Diego was kind enough to inform me of the events that took place during the chapter that I missed. I promise, I will not sleep through the next one.”

“I should hope not,” snarked Jake. “Seein’ as you slept pretty much all day.”

“Hey, it wasn’t all day,” interjected Diego. “...Pilot Man.”

“Hang on, did you just give me a nickname?” asked Jake.

“Uh… maybe?” said Diego.

Jake laughed. “No worries, Underdog, I’m actually impressed! But you’re definitely gonna need some training before you’re as good as me.”

Beside him, Alyssa rolled her eyes. “Oh, please.”

Michelle shrugged. “Well, I’m up for continuing,” she said, picking up her empty plate and carrying it over to the kitchen. “Once we’re all done eating, want to meet back in the lobby?”

Estela paused at the counter, where she was in the middle of scooping two gigantic second helpings of Raj’s casserole onto plates for herself and Ian. “Might be a while yet,” she told the group.

“Okay, how in the hell…?” asked Zahra, shaking her head incredulously. “Where does all that food go?!”

Some time later, once everyone (including Estela and Ian) had finished dinner, all of the Catalysts and Varyyn had found their seats in the lobby, arranged as usual around the projector set-up. Zahra hooked up a few wires to Quinn’s phone, then stepped back to admire her handiwork as the phone’s home screen projected onto the sheet they were using as a backdrop. “Let’s get this thing star-ted!” yelled Raj excitedly.

“To be honest, I am curious to find out about Dr. Ramsey’s secret,” admitted Grace. “I wonder who Patient X is?”

“I swear if it’s an X-Man, I will literally dance around this entire room,” said Diego. “Let’s do this!”

Alyssa smiled and shook her head at Diego’s enthusiasm. “Somehow I doubt this is a stealth X-Men crossover, but hey, points for trying,” she said. “Oh! Jake, while you’re up, d’you mind grabbing-”

“Been there, done that,” said Jake with a smile, bringing over a glass of wine for his wife as he sat down with his own glass of whiskey in hand.

“How did you know I had a taste for wine today?”

Jake shrugged. “Good guess?”

“Oh! That reminds me,” said Varyyn suddenly, producing a set of goblets from… somewhere, all filled with a strange blue drink with a small flame burning on top of it. “After my last visit to Elyys’tel, I brought some firewhisky for you all! Seraxa mentioned how popular it was at our last festival…”

“Oh, hell yeah! Varyyn’s the best!” shouted Craig, eagerly grabbing one of the goblets.

“Wait, this stuff is actually called ‘firewhisky?’” asked Diego.

“...Yes, why?”

“Oh. My. God. I am literally halfway to Hogwarts right now!” Diego exclaimed. 

“I do not understand.”

Diego frowned, before realization dawned on his face. “Oh, right, we only saw the movies! There’s a drink that’s actually called ‘firewhisky’ in the Harry Potter books,” he explained. “This is so awesome!”

“...I see,” Varyyn deadpanned, clearly not understanding why Diego was so excited.

Craig reached out and took the goblet Varyyn offered, nearly spilling it on himself in the process. “Whoa! It’s hot!”

“Did you somehow miss the huge freakin’ FLAME on top?!” asked Zahra.

“I thought it was fake!”

“What.”

“Anyway,” said Quinn as she accepted her own firewhisky goblet, “Does anyone want to toast before we start the chapter?”

There was a brief awkward silence, before finally Estela - of all people - stood up, firewhisky glass in hand. “Why not, I’ll do one,” she said, much to everyone’s astonishment. “Look. When I planned to go to La Huerta way back when, to get revenge on Rourke… I never thought I’d meet my future family. And I’m not just talking about my actual family, either,” she added with a smile, glancing pointedly at Ian, Alyssa, Jake, Aleister, and Grace in turn. “The things we’ve gone through, the adventures we’ve had, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even if we’re just playing a phone game rather than saving the world. So…” She paused for a moment, thinking of the right way to end her impromptu speech. “If I ever miss one of these reunions, you can safely assume I’m dead.” She shrugged, looking around at everyone awkwardly. “Uh… so… toast?”

“TOAST!” cheered Ian, standing up to clink his goblet against hers. Raj soon joined him, and one by one, the other Catalysts (aside from Estela herself) and Varyyn all did the same.

Finally, when everyone had toasted her, she sat back down, her face redder than anyone had ever seen it (despite the fact that she hadn’t actually drank any firewhisky). Ian wrapped an arm around her shoulders and smiled reassuringly. “I’m impressed,” he said softly. “That was great!”

“I have no idea why I did that,” Estela admitted.

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

“Wow,” whistled Alyssa. “Estela should do all of the group speeches from now on!”

“Absolutely not,” Estela said, adding one of her famous death glares for good measure.

“Alright, alright. Why don’t we just start the story, then?” Sean suggested, before Alyssa could say anything in response.

“Thank you, Sean,” said Estela gratefully.

“To be honest, I forgot we were even doing a story ‘til you reminded me,” admitted Craig.

Zahra stared at him incredulously. “Craig… you were the one who wanted to start this chapter in the first place.”

“Uh… oh, yeah. I forgot that too.”

Zahra sighed dramatically and shook her head. “Ugh. Michelle, let’s just start already.”

Michelle suppressed a smile as she picked up Quinn’s phone and opened the Choices app. “Alright, we all heard Zahra, let’s get this started,” she said as she waited for everyone else to calm down. Once the group of unruly Catalysts were all paying attention, she selected Open Heart and began Chapter 7.

Open Heart: Chapter 7

Patient X

“The mystery… REVEALED!” declared Diego in an overly-dramatic voice.

“I like the mellow music!” Quinn commented. “Definitely better than the creepy music from the last chapter’s intro.”

Elijah: Uh… Michelle? Is it just me, or is the ground shaking?

“Earthquake?” asked Raj.

“Doesn’t this story take place in Boston?” asked Grace. “I don’t think there are any fault lines there…”

“Maybe it’s a stealth earthquake!” suggested Craig.

Everyone stared at him. “I… just…” stammered Zahra as she struggled to find the right words. “You know what?” she admitted finally. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Dude, I think you broke Zahra,” said Raj.

“What’d I say?” asked Craig, as the rest of the group broke into laughter.

Michelle sighed and shook her head incredulously. “You know what,” she said finally, “let’s just continue before we all confuse ourselves further.”

MC!Michelle: Does Boston get earthquakes?

Everyone broke down laughing once again. “Drink, y’all!” shouted Jake in between bursts of laughter.

“Wait, does that count? Michelle wasn’t the one who said it,” Diego pointed out.

Craig swallowed loudly and looked around, a guilty look on his face. “Uh… um… he said ‘drink, y’all,’ so I drank, y’all,” he said.

Everyone looked at Michelle, who shrugged. “Drink if you want to,” she said finally.

“Guess there’s your answer, Drax,” said Jake, taking a sip of his own drink.

...Where a herd of interns is stampeding right toward you!

“...‘Herd?’” asked Michelle. “Really?”

“Must be a lot of interns if they can ‘stampede,’” said Alyssa.

“Stay away from the stampede, Simba! Otherwise your father will die!” Everyone turned to stare at the person who said this: Varyyn, of all people. He looked around at the others. “...What is it?”

“Did you just make a Lion King reference?” asked Raj. “Nice one, dude!”

Diego beamed as he wrapped an arm around his husband’s shoulders. “Varyyn… I am so proud of you!”

“I had a truly great teacher,” Varyyn responded, before kissing Diego and making his face turn beet-red.

“That… was… ADORABLE,” said Quinn. “Who knew movie references could be so romantic?”

MC!Michelle: What do I do?

“Uh, guys? I know ‘Variego’ is always super cute and all, but we have a choice to make,” Michelle reminded the group.

Quinn pouted when she noticed the screen. “Aww, you went ahead without us? Why can’t you learn to appreciate true love?” She gestured to Diego and Varyyn as she said this.

Michelle smiled in spite of herself. “Never change, Quinn. Sorry I went ahead. For what it’s worth, Diego and Varyyn will still be here after we’re done, but this phone won’t be stuck ‘in the future’ forever…. ”

“I mean, it will stay until Ian and I pull it back to the present,” answered Alyssa with a shrug. “There’s no actual time limit.”

“Oh… uh...” said Michelle.

“C’mon, ‘Lyss, how was she supposed to know that? We never told her how it works!” said Ian. Michelle glanced at him with a grateful smile.

“Hey!” Alyssa protested. “I did tell her that!” Michelle looked back at Alyssa, frowning.

“What? When?!” asked Ian, as Michelle looked back at him.

“ ...Just now.” Michelle rolled her eyes at Alyssa’s weak excuse.

“That doesn’t count!” argued Ian, as Michelle looked at him again.

The twins continued to argue, Michelle glancing back and forth between them as if she were watching a tennis match, until finally Sean stood up and got between them. “Alright, enough, you two,” he said firmly. “You’re gonna make Michelle dizzy.”

Ian and Alyssa looked at each other sheepishly, then settled back down in their respective seats. “Uh… yeah. Sorry,” said Alyssa.

“Same here, sorry guys,” said Ian.

Craig frowned. “Aww, but I was watching that!” he complained, a bag of popcorn in his hands.

Zahra looked over at him. “Where the hell did you get that popcorn, and can I have some?”

“Sorry, Z… can’t tell ya, it’s a secret! But here,” said Craig, passing the bag to her.

Aleister cleared his throat loudly. “Ahem. As fascinating as this conversation about nothing has been, must I remind everyone that we have a choice to vote upon?” he asked, gesturing to the choice still showing on the screen.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot we were even playing the game,” commented Raj. “What were the choices, again?”

“‘Run ahead of the herd,’ or ‘Get out of the way,’” read Grace.

“I still can’t get over the word ‘herd,’” said Michelle with a laugh.

“And I have had ‘Hakuna Matata’ stuck in my head since Varyyn brought up Lion King,’” said Diego. “Not that that’s a bad thing, though!” he added quickly before Varyyn could start apologizing.

Estela shrugged. “There are worse songs to have stuck in your head,” she agreed.

“It’s a small world after-” Alyssa started to sing, before Jake clamped a hand over her mouth. Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

“No, no! Anything but that!” quoted Diego in Scar’s voice.

“Yo, dudes, I just got the best idea! Let’s watch Lion King after this is done, huh?” suggested Raj.

“Heck yes!” exclaimed Diego.

“Seconded,” said Estela, as everyone (except Ian) stared at her in surprise. “...What? It’s a good movie!”

“Can’t argue with that,” conceded Sean.

“I did particularly enjoy that film,” said Varyyn. “Thank you, Diego, for showing it to me. I would quite enjoy a second viewing.”

Diego grinned broadly and clapped his hands together. “Awesome! That settles it, we’re watching Lion King before we go home!”

Aleister let out a dramatic sigh. “Heavens, are we ever going to stay on topic and actually vote?! Or are we going to discuss Disney films for all eternity?”

Diego shrugged. “I wouldn’t mind that, actually…”

“Of course you wouldn’t,” snarked Jake. “And thanks for remindin’ us, Slytherin. I say… get outta the way. Who else?”

The group looked around at each other as Ian, Estela, Aleister, Diego, and Quinn raised their hands. Michelle counted the raised hands out loud. “Looks like ‘run ahead’ wins!” she exclaimed, selecting the option in question.

Elijah quickly wheels himself after you!

“Do a wheelie!” shouted Craig.

“You are aware he cannot actually hear you?” asked Aleister.

“Chyeah, so?”

Aleister shook his head and sighed as the story continued.

You notice Jackie’s fallen silent. You search the list for her name and find she’s dropped down to…

“Eleven?!” Zahra blurted out.

Jackie: ...Eleven? Really?

Michelle started laughing uncontrollably, and soon everyone joined in. “Oh my God, Zahra… that was… I was right, you literally are Jackie!”

Zahra scowled at Michelle, until she could no longer keep a straight face and broke into a smile. “Alright, you’re not wrong,” she admitted. “There are worse characters to be compared to.”

“I think I’ve figured it out,” said Quinn suddenly. “There are two types of people in our group: the ones who are invested in the story, and the ones who are invested but in denial!”

Aleister opened his mouth to protest, but then closed it again as Quinn gave him a knowing look. “You are… erm… not wrong,” he admitted finally. Beside him, Grace giggled.

“Okay, but seriously,” said Zahra. “How the hell is Jackie at eleven?! Isn’t she, like, freakin’ awesome?”

Sean shrugged. “Guess we’ll have to keep going to find out,” he said.

“Eh, fair enough.”

And right above her is…

Sienna: Number ten! Nice work, Michelle!

MC!Michelle: I’m number ten?

Zahra shrugged dramatically. “If I’ve gotta be beaten, at least it was you, Michelle,” she said.

“What can I say? I’m just awesome like that,” laughed Michelle. Then she glanced back at the choice on the screen. “So, anyone wanna vote, or…?”

“C’mon, Meech, say it from the heart!” said Raj. “What do you think?”

“Pardon me,” interjected Aleister, “but I believe we should all be voting on this-”

“Nah, Raj has a great idea,” Sean said. “Michelle, go ahead.”

Aleister scowled as Michelle took a moment to think. “Hmm… well, I am feeling pretty confident, so let’s do this!” she declared finally, as she selected the “Watch out, I’m coming for the crown!” option.

“Yo, Meech, it’s only fair that you actually say it if ya made Z do it,” Craig said suddenly.

“What?!” asked Michelle, astonished. “You can’t be serious.”

“You heard the man,” said Zahra with a smirk. “Say the line!”

“Say it! Say it! Say it!” chanted Craig and Raj simultaneously, with Alyssa joining in moments later. Jake shot her an annoyed look, due to the fact that she was chanting directly into his ear. Ian shook his head and smiled, with Estela sighing and trying to suppress a smile of her own.

Michelle blushed. “Alright, fine,” she said finally, as Craig, Raj, and Alyssa cheered. “Watch out, I’m coming for the crown!”

“Hell yeah!” cheered Craig.

As you cross the room, you overhear Aurora in line, surrounded by her usual gaggle of sycophants.

“Hold up, isn’t she a doctor, not a vet?” asked Craig randomly.

“Uh… yes?” said Michelle. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Why is she surrounded by sick elephants if she’s not a vet?”

Everyone stared at him, completely at a loss for words, as Michelle facepalmed. “What? I don’t get it,” said Craig.

“Never mind,” said Jake finally. “Let’s just keep goin’.”

Jackie: How is she still number one in the rankings?

“I’m asking the same question, ‘cuz that’s bullshit,” said Zahra.

“Well, of course you are,” Alyssa pointed out. “You’re literally Jackie, we already decided that!”

Zahra opened her mouth to snark back at her, but stopped before she could say anything and smiled. “You’re not wrong,” she admitted finally.

“...So are you gonna say the line, then?” asked Diego.

Zahra sighed and rolled her eyes. “Alright, fine,” she conceded. “How is she still number one in the rankings?”

Diego cheered as Michelle continued on with the story.

MC!Michelle: I think…

“Vote, y’all!” said Jake. Everyone stared at him. “...What?”

“That’s not your line!” said Craig. “It’s ‘drink, y’all,’ not ‘vote, y’all!’”

Jake shrugged. “Dunno, it was just habit, I guess.”

“Craig, do me a favor and never say the word ‘y’all’ again,” said Zahra.

“Aww… but he says it all the time!” Craig protested, pointing at Jake.

“Yeah, but he has an accent and you don’t.”

Aleister cleared his throat to interrupt them before the couple could keep bickering for all eternity. “If you’re quite done, I must admit that Jacob is correct. We do indeed have a vote to perform,” he said, gesturing to the screen displaying the choices.

Alyssa whistled. “Wow, Aleister saying you were right. That’s a first,” she said to her husband.

“Definitely somethin’ you don’t see every day,” agreed Jake. “Guess he can be humble.”

“Hmph,” hmphed Aleister. “What, pray tell, is so unusual about admitting when one has made a valid point?”

“Easy, Slytherin, that was a compliment!”

Aleister stammered confusedly as the rest of the group laughed. Then, Grace stood up. “Okay, we’ve got a choice ahead,” she announced. “Let’s start voting!”

“Yeah, before we get sidetracked discussing Disney movies again,” snarked Michelle. “Go ahead, Grace.”

“Okay! So, who thinks Dr. Ramsey favors Aurora?” she asked. Diego, Varyyn, Estela, and Ian raised their hands. Grace counted silently. “And who thinks it’s Chief Emery who’s rigging the competition?” This time Aleister raised his hand, along with Jake, Zahra, and Michelle. “...And finally, who thinks she’s actually just that good?” Grace herself raised her hand this time, along with Quinn, Sean, Alyssa, Craig, and Raj. “Okay then! Guess ‘She’s just that good’ wins this time!”

Michelle smiled. “Thanks, Grace,” she said as she chose the option in question.

Sienna: I think we just need to make better impressions on Dr. Ramsey. I mean… does he even know who we are?

Jackie: He knows who Michelle is.

“OH MY GOD THE CHARACTERS ARE ALIVE!! HE KNOWS WHO YOU ARE, MICHELLE!” shouted Raj randomly.

“C’mon, dude, pretty sure he’s talkin’ about the character Michelle,” snarked Jake.

“Man, but can you imagine if he really did somehow knew who we were?” asked Raj. “Like, knew we were all playing this game, outside the screen? How trippy would that be?!”

“I don’t think that’s what that means--” Michelle started to say.

“Like, what if he suddenly said, ‘Hello, Catalysts. I know who you are,’” continued Raj, using a ridiculously deep voice for Dr. Ramsey’s ‘lines.’

“Okay, but, like, how would that even be possible?” asked Zahra.

“I dunno, man, what isn’t possible? Ya know?”

Zahra stared at him for a moment. “I… why did that somehow make sense, and make no sense at the same time?”

“That’s what I call the Raj Effect!” said Raj with a huge grin on his face.

MC!Michelle: I saw a chart of his. The name on it was ‘Patient X.’ He was really distracted by it.

“To be fair, I’d be distracted too if I found out the X-Men were in the building where I worked,” said Diego.

“That joke is seriously getting old,” groaned Alyssa.

“Who said it was a joke?” asked Diego innocently. “It could happen! Let me hope, okay?”

MC!Michelle: Hey, Jackie! Wait up!

Jackie: Yeah?

MC!Michelle: Listen…

“Alright, another voting round!” said Craig. “Who picks what?”

“Wait a moment, that is not how you-” Aleister started to say, before he was drowned out by everyone predictably shouting their vote at once. He sighed and shook his head.

“Uhh, sorry, I missed the count,” Craig said. “Everybody say your vote again?”

Everyone immediately began shouting and arguing with each other over their votes, creating a din of incomprehensible noise. Zahra shoved Craig in the shoulder, hard. “You dumbass!” she shouted into his ear, struggling to be heard over the noise. “This is stupid! Just tell everyone to raise their hands like a normal vote!”

“...Oh,” said Craig. “Yeah.”

“Everyone, SHUT THE HELL UP!” yelled Zahra. Thankfully, everyone immediately did so. “You’re welcome, Craig.”

“Thanks, Z. Okay, uh… raise your hands if you wanna vote?”

After some brief confusion, everyone raised their hands at once. Aleister and Zahra both facepalmed. Zahra sighed dramatically. “Whatever, let me show you how it’s done,” she said. “Alright people, put your hands down. Now. If you like ‘Are you mad at me,’ raise your hands.” Zahra herself raised her hand, along with Michelle, Estela, Jake, Alyssa, and Aleister. “Okay, now raise your hands for ‘I’m sorry.’” This time, Ian, Sean, Grace, Quinn, Craig, Diego, Varyyn, and Raj raised their hands. Zahra quickly counted up the hands. “There ya go. ‘Sorry’ wins.”

Craig stared at her, mouth hanging open. “Whooooooaaahhhh,” he said.

Zahra gave him a look. “What the hell have you been doing the last hundred times we took a vote?” she asked. “Were you paying attention at all?”

“Nope!”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

MC!Michelle: So you’re saying… I’m a distraction?

Jackie: ...Yeah.

“Sounds familiar,” said Ian, glancing meaningfully at Estela.

She smiled back at her husband. “You know, you can be very… distracting,” she said with a sly wink.

“Can you blame me? Have you looked in a mirror lately?” he asked.

Estela blushed. “Well,” she said softly, “I think-”

She was rudely interrupted by Alyssa chucking a pillow at the two of them, which Estela reflexively caught without even looking. “Oh, get a room, you two,” Alyssa complained.

“The hypocrisy here is utterly astounding,” commented Aleister, glancing meaningfully at Alyssa, who was sitting in Jake’s lap with her arms around his shoulders.

“English, Malfoy,” said Jake.

“Do you honestly mean to say you don’t even know what ‘hypocrisy’ means-”

Grace laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Al,” she said.

“Er, right. My apologies.”

“Uh, sorry, but… can we, maybe, continue the story?” asked Quinn hesitantly. “We’re getting a little off-topic.”

“As usual,” laughed Sean.

Michelle shrugged. “Quinn’s got a point,” she admitted. “We do have a lot more story to get through, after all.”

“To be quite honest, I had forgotten we were even reading a story at all,” admitted Varyyn sheepishly.

Diego pulled his husband close. “Don’t worry about it. The twins can be pretty distracting sometimes.”

“Excuse me, what was that?!” demanded Alyssa.

“Oh, look at that, the chapter’s continuing!” said Diego suddenly. Nothing happened. “OH, LOOK AT THAT, THE CHAPTER’S CONTINUING!” he repeated louder, as Michelle took the hint this time and started actually continuing the chapter.

After rounds, you check in on one of your newest patients. He’s sitting in bed strumming poorly on a ukulele, singing quietly.

“Damn. I like this guy already,” said Jake.

“After one line of description? That’s impressive,” snarked Zahra.

“Two lines, actually,” corrected Jake.

MC!Michelle: Well, Remy, that depends on what your lungs have to say.

“Lungs can TALK?!” shouted Craig in astonishment.

Michelle rolled her eyes. “Not literally!”

“...Oh. Wait, then what do you use those doctor thingies for?”

“What ‘doctor thingies?’” she asked.

“Y’know, those things where you put them in your ears and then listen to lungs or whatever?” asked Craig, miming a stethoscope.

“...You mean a stethoscope?” asked Zahra. “‘Cuz I’m pretty sure nobody calls those ‘doctor thingies.’”

“I mean, to be fair, Craig calls them that,” Raj pointed out.

Zahra shrugged. “You’re not wrong,” she admitted reluctantly.

“Can we just make the official name ‘doctor thingies’ from now on?” asked Diego. “It’s a lot more fun to say!”

“No,” said Michelle, as Diego pouted.

“Hey, man, I like your idea better,” Raj reassured Diego. “Makes more sense, too.”

“Wait, wait, hold up,” said Craig. “So, if the lungs don’t actually talk to you, what do you use those things for?”

Everyone else sighed as Michelle facepalmed dramatically. “We listen to the lungs,” she explained through her frustration. “They make noises. But they don’t actually talk to us, dumbass!”

“Wait, but if-”

“I’m officially done with this conversation,” Michelle declared, continuing on to the next scene before Craig could ask any more questions.

Stethoscope: Check Remy’s breathing.

“‘Doctor thingy: Check Remy’s breathing,’” announced Diego in the same tone of voice Michelle used for the one-option choices.

In spite of herself, Michelle cracked a small smile. “I admit, that was a pretty good impression,” she said.

“Oh, and: Drink, y’all!” announced Jake, taking a big swig of firewhisky.

“It’s been a while since we saw one of those,” Quinn observed, sipping from her own glass. “But it was pretty great timing!”

“True that!” agreed Raj.

Remy: Do you surf, doc?

MC!Michelle: Me? Surf?

“Surfing? Hell yeah,” said Craig.

“Dude, have you ever actually gone surfing?” asked Zahra skeptically.

“Well, uh, no,” Craig admitted. “But I’ve played a few surfing video games!”

“That… does not count.”

“Actually,” interrupted Quinn hesitantly, “I’ve gone surfing once. It was scary, but fun!”

Silence followed this statement. “Wait… seriously?” asked Raj, after a long, awkward pause.

“Well, yeah,” Quinn admitted. “My dad took me once when I was in high school. Back before… uh, you know.”

“Whoa!” exclaimed Raj excitedly. “That is freakin’ awesome! You gotta teach us all, huh?”

“I… uh, don’t really know about that,” said Quinn with an embarrassed laugh. “Maybe!”

“Personally, I’d love a surfing lesson from you,” Michelle said quietly. “I never had the time, but I’ve always wanted to learn!”

Quinn blushed. “Well, uh… I guess… sure,” she said finally.

Michelle’s face lit up with excitement. “That would be incredible. After we’re done with this, let’s pick a time while we’re still on La Huerta and do it, okay?”

“I’d love to!”

“Thanks, Quinn. You’re the best!”

“Are we done?” asked Alyssa suddenly, reminding Michelle and Quinn that the others were still there, waiting to continue the story.

“Oh!” said Michelle. “Uh, right. I kinda forgot about the story.”

“Lame excuse alert!” exclaimed Jake.

“Alright! Alright,” said Michelle. “I remembered it now, obviously. Time to continue.”

“Uh, I think there’s a vote to be had,” Grace reminded everyone.

Surprised, Michelle glanced back at the screen, where, indeed, a choice was displayed. “”Huh. You’re not wrong,” she admitted. “Who wants to take the vote this time?”

“I’ll do it!” said Diego, jumping out of his seat in excitement. “Okay, who loves surfing?” Varyyn shot his hand up immediately, followed by Quinn, Craig, Jake, Alyssa, and Sean. “Whoa. Okay. Who’s ‘always wanted to try?’” Diego himself raised his hand, with Estela, Raj, Michelle, and Zahra raising their hands. “And finally?” For ‘Not really my thing,’ Ian, Aleister, and Grace raised their hands. Diego quickly counted the results in his head. “Well, looks like ‘I love surfing’ wins!” he declared.

“Fair enough,” said Michelle, going ahead and selecting the ‘I love surfing!’ choice. “Nice job, Diego, by the way.”

“Thanks!”

Remy: It’s the best feeling there is. Just you and the ocean. No worries, no problems.

“It means no worries, for the rest of your dayyyyyyyys…,” Diego sang randomly. “Hakuna Matata!”

“Remy is secretly Pumbaa confirmed,” joked Ian. “Plot twist!”

“Like I said: what isn’t possible, right?” said Raj.

“Can we please stay focused?!” demanded Michelle. “For once?”

“Sorry,” said Diego as he immediately stopped singing, pouting as he did so.

“I enjoyed your singing, Diego,” Varyyn reassured his husband, laying a hand on his thigh.

Remy: You’re wound tighter than my ukulele strings. What’s on your mind?

“This chapter’s seriously bringin’ the votes,” observed Jake. “Twice in one conversation!”

“I mean, the work problems are obviously most pressing at the moment,” said Aleister. “However, a case could certainly be made for the situation being none of the patient’s business. After all, this is a professional setting.”

“Lighten up, Aleister,” said Alyssa. “The friend problems are important too!”

“Don’t be absurd-”

“I VOTE ‘WORK PROBLEMS!!’” shouted Craig out of nowhere.

Everyone stared at him. “Uh… we weren’t actually voting yet…” observed Grace awkwardly. “Though, I agree with you and Aleister. Work problems are probably more important?”

“Agreed,” said Michelle. “Though, I guess we’re voting anyway now. Who else?” Ian and Sean both raised their hands, along with Craig, Aleister and Grace from earlier.

“How about the friend problems?” asked Quinn. She raised her hand, along with Diego, Raj, and Sean.

“Wait, that counted? Who’s officially taking the votes now?” asked Zahra.

Michelle shrugged. “Beats me.”

Zahra let out a resigned sigh. “Fine, whatever, I’ll do it,” she said. “Who says it’s none of this guy’s business?” She raised her hand, and after a moment’s hesitation, Estela, Alyssa, Jake, and Varyyn did the same.

“Boom! ‘Work problems’ wins! Hell yeah!” Craig exclaimed.

Zahra mentally counted the votes, then shrugged. “You’re right for once,” she told him.

“Yeah! ...Wait, ‘for once?’”

Zahra shot a sidelong glance at Craig. “You heard me.”

The two of them started bickering once again as Michelle selected the ‘Work problems’ option.

Remy: What does worrying about that stuff change? Nothing I can do about it, right?

“Okay, I love this guy,” said Raj. “Officially.”

“Not as much as this chapter loves choices,” observed Diego. “Another one already?”

“Damn, we shoulda made ‘choices’ a drinking rule,” Jake said. “How was I supposed to know?”

“Maybe because the app is literally called ‘Choices,’“ said Alyssa snarkily.

“Well? Shall we vote once more?” suggested Aleister.

“Let go of your fears,” Estela declared to the group. “The clear answer. In anything, fears hold you back.”

“Well said, Estela,” said Varyyn. “I agree.”

“May I presume that is two votes for ‘Let go of your fears?’” asked Aleister, glancing from Estela to Varyyn and back again. “Though I personally believe the more prudent choice is to, erm, ‘stay out of the water’ as it were.”

“You would say that,” snarked Estela.

“What, precisely, are you implying?!” Aleister demanded.

“She’s right, you know,” argued Ian. “If you just keep avoiding your fears, they’ll eventually catch up to you sooner or later.”

“That is a huge bunch of bullshit,” said Alyssa.

“After everything we’ve all seen? After everything we’ve been through? You’re still saying that?” asked Estela.

“Yeah, so what?” asked Alyssa.

“Alyssa does present a solid point-”

As the two pairs of siblings/siblings-in-law continued to argue, Raj leaned over toward Craig. “Want some more popcorn?” he whispered conspiratorially.

“Thanks, dude!” said Craig, taking the popcorn and eagerly popping a handful into his mouth. “The ‘Sibling Argument Channel’ is the best channel!”

“So that’s where you’re getting that popcorn from…” muttered Zahra, scooping some popcorn out of the bucket and into her own mouth.

Michelle glanced between the three popcorn-eaters, and the four arguing siblings, and sighed. “Guess we’re not going to be voting on this choice in a hurry, then,” she observed.

* * *

“...You agree, right, Jake?” asked Alyssa suddenly, in the midst of a heated discussion.

Jake shook his head. “I ain’t gettin’ into this one, Princess,” he protested. 

“What?! That’s illegal! You have to agree with me, you’re my husband!” Alyssa shouted.

“That ain’t a law!”

* * *

The massive bucket of popcorn started to be shared among more people, as Quinn, Diego, Varyyn, Michelle, and Grace joined in with the ‘audience.’ “Whoa. Good thing I made so much popcorn,” Raj said.

* * *

“But if you avoid a fear, it’s still there,” Estela continued. “You haven’t conquered it. Or overcome it.”

“True enough, but ‘conquering’ a fear in and of itself means nothing,” argued Aleister. “It is one’s logical response to a fear that is most important; in this case, avoidance is a sensible reaction.”

“But you can’t really say that,” protested Ian. “You haven’t really surpassed the fear, then!”

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve already avoided it!” argued Alyssa.

* * *

Diego started randomly whistling the Imperial March. Sean headed into the kitchen to get some food. Craig, Zahra, and Raj continued eating popcorn. Quinn fell asleep. Varyyn snuggled closer to Diego. Jake sighed and took a long sip of firewhisky. Grace pulled out a book from… somewhere… and began to read. Michelle started tapping her foot impatiently as she glared at the still-arguing siblings.

* * *

“...Estela’s right, though, because once you’ve made a decision, you’re essentially stuck with it,” said Ian.

“Don’t be stupid. What, is there a law against changing your mind?” argued Alyssa. “Besides-”

“-Overcoming fear is the only way to best it,” interrupted Estela. “It will still catch up to you eventually, either way.”

“That’s an absurd, and quite frankly short-sighted, way of looking at this situation,” said Aleister. “For example, when facing an abstract sort of threat such as-”

“Oh, shut it!” shouted Alyssa. “You’re blabbing on too long!”

“Heavens, you do realize I am on your side in this discussion, correct?”

“Are you playing mind games with me?!”

“What? I- No!”

“Nice try, Aleister, but I’m on to you…”

“Excuse me, but exactly what are you talking about?”

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it won’t work!”

While Aleister and Alyssa continued to argue, Estela and Ian looked at each other. “...What just happened?” asked Ian, utterly confused.

“I have no idea,” said Estela.

* * *

“OOOOOOOOH! PLOT TWIST!” shouted Raj. “Craig, you owe me five bucks.”

“Aww, man,” groaned Craig, reluctantly handing Raj the money.

Quinn yawned and stretched out her arms. “Have we continued the story yet?” she asked, half-asleep.

“No, and at this rate, probably never,” said Michelle. “They’ve started arguing with themselves now. Or, at least, Aleister and Alyssa have.”

“Who cares? It’s freakin’ hilarious!” said Craig, eating some more popcorn. “I think everybody forgot which side they’re on.”

“You would forget which side you were on in the first five seconds,” snarked Zahra.

“No I wouldn’t!” Craig protested. “...Wait. Am I in their argument?” Zahra facepalmed as the others all laughed.

* * *

“You can’t possibly be implying that morality is determined relative to the individual’s own thoughts!” shouted Aleister.

“I mean, if you think you’re doing a good thing, isn’t your heart in the right place? Isn’t that what matters?” Alyssa argued back.

“Well, from one particular perspective, certainly,” Aleister conceded. “However, if you were to consider that one might be approaching the issue from outside the argument as it stands, it is possible that one may be required to understand the relative morality of any given action. After all, in any one specific scenario…”

* * *

“This is taking FOREVER,” complained Ian, as he and Estela joined the others and started eating some popcorn.

“How did this even happen?” asked Estela to no one in particular.

“I mean, it’s pretty normal at this point,” Diego commented. “Though, usually, you two stay in it a lot longer.”

Estela glanced at her husband, and they both shrugged. “When in Rome…” she muttered, scooping out a handful of popcorn and popping most of it into her mouth.

* * *

“OKAY, MY PATIENCE IS UP!” shouted Michelle suddenly. “ARE YOU DONE YET OR NOT?!”

“Whoa, Prissy Peacock, calm down-” Jake started to say.

“We have been sitting here for THREE HOURS!” Michelle continued. “All because of one ridiculous argument that Estela and Ian aren’t even part of anymore!”

Aleister started stammering as he looked around and realized that yes, indeed, Estela and Ian had long ago removed themselves from the earlier discussion. “Ah, well, you see-”

“Uh, so, this is awkward,” Alyssa observed.

“No kidding, ‘Lyss,” snarked Ian.

He looked at his wife, and the two of them exchanged a sympathetic glance. “Siblings,” Estela and Ian sighed in unison.

“We gonna vote already, or not?” asked Jake.

Zahra shrugged. “Meh. About time.”

“Alright, dudes, dudettes, and doodlejumps! How ‘bout I do this thing?” said Raj. “Mainly ‘cuz otherwise we’ll be here all day again…” Everyone, including Alyssa, Aleister, Estela, and Ian, laughed at that statement.

“Finally!” exclaimed Michelle, with a huge sigh of relief. “You know, to be completely honest, I’ve totally forgotten what the original argument even was…”

“Can’t have been that important, then, can it?” Jake pointed out. “Let’s just keep the story goin’, I say.”

Everyone looked back at the screen, which had gone dark. Michelle picked up the phone and turned it back on, revealing the choice that had sparked the argument in the first place. “Ah! That was what we were discussing!” exclaimed Aleister suddenly. “Truly, we can all agree that the most prudent course of action in such a situation is to-”

He was interrupted by Michelle clamping a hand over his mouth. “No. We are not doing that again,” said Michelle sternly. “Let’s just vote normally, like all the other choices, okay? No more forever arguments!” Everyone murmured their agreement, including Aleister eventually. “Great. So, who votes for ‘stay out of the water?’” Aleister raised his hand immediately, along with Alyssa, Grace, Quinn, and Diego. “And ‘let go of your fears?’” Estela and Ian’s hands shot up, joined by Jake, Sean, Zahra, Craig, Varyyn, Raj, and Michelle herself. Michelle sighed dramatically and selected the ‘let go of your fears’ option. “There. Was that so hard?” she asked.

“Aww, but you can’t eat popcorn to watch a regular ol’ vote,” Raj complained. “Wait! What am I saying? There’s always a reason to eat popcorn!” He emphasized this statement by taking a huge scoop of popcorn from the bucket and putting it into his mouth.

Remy: You can’t let fear of the future ruin the present. That’s like, time travel.

“TIME TRAVEL!” announced Diego in a perfect imitation of Hulk’s voice from Endgame. There was an awkward silence. “...What? Couldn’t resist.”

Remy’s Leg: Examine it.

“Drink, y’all!” said Jake excitedly, taking a huge gulp of his firewhisky as everyone else followed suit. “Man, there haven’t been enough chances to say that this chapter.”

“Yet, anyway,” commented Sean. “You’ll get your chance, I’m sure.”

“Love the way you think, Cap,” Jake said, raising a glass in Sean’s general direction. “Here’s hopin’ you’re right.”

Bryce: Hey there. How’s your day been?

“Bryce is back!” squealed Quinn. “Yay!”

“Amen to that,” agreed Diego. “More Bryce is always a win. I hope there’s another diamond choice with him!”

MC!Michelle: Look! I think Dr. Ramsey’s going to see Patient X!

Bryce: Patient X? Is that one of Elijah’s comic books?

“Elijah is Diego confirmed,” snarked Zahra.

“Hey, I like Elijah! That’s a compliment!” said Diego.

“Never said it wasn’t,” Zahra replied with a smirk.

“Whoa now, is the ice queen finally defrosting?!” asked Jake. “Might be a sign of the apocalypse!” Without even looking Jake’s way, Zahra flipped him off in response. “Welp. Never mind. She’s back to normal.”

MC!Michelle: Quick! Pretend we’re…

“‘Fighting!’” declared Alyssa. “Bring on the drama!”

“Or, y’know, we could not do that,” said Sean.

“For what it’s worth, my vote goes with Sean’s,” said Michelle. “We’re trying not to draw attention to ourselves, remember?”

“Hmm, that’s true,” admitted Alyssa.

“Exactly,” said Grace. “I vote ‘consulting.’ Who else agrees?”

“Aww, but ‘fighting’ would probably be a lot funnier,” said Diego. “That one gets my vote for sure!”

“Heh, he’s got a point,” Zahra acknowledged. 

“What’s ‘consulting’ mean again?” asked Craig. Zahra ignored him.

Everyone started murmuring their agreement with one choice or the other. As things continued, the conversation grew louder and louder. “Yo, dudes, mind if I do this one?” asked Raj finally. No one objected. “Cool! So, uh, who likes ‘consulting?’” Sean, Michelle, Alyssa, Ian, Estela, and Quinn raised their hands. “Alright, how about ‘fighting?’” Everyone else, except Raj himself for some reason, raised their hands. Raj quickly counted the votes. “13-12, looks like ‘fighting’ wins,” Raj observed.

“Hang on a sec,” said Zahra suddenly. “Raj, you didn’t vote!”

Raj seemed to ponder this for a moment. “Huh,” he said finally. “Guess I didn’t. Oh well!”

“What the hell do you mean, ‘oh well?!’” demanded Zahra. “You have to pick something!”

“Nah, I’m good,” said Raj. “‘Sides, if I picked ‘consulting,’ we’d be stuck in a tie forever, so it’s probably best if I don’t vote.”

Zahra crossed her arms and scowled. “Fine. But what if you picked ‘fighting?’” she asked.

Raj shrugged. “I wouldn’t pick ‘fighting,’” he said simply.

“What? C’mon, man, you gotta vote,” Craig argued.

“Exactly!” agreed Zahra. “You’re too passive, Raj. If it were me, I’d…” Zahra’s voice trailed off as she remembered that her own choice was winning already. “Actually, y’know what, never mind. I’m good.”

“What d’you mean, Z?! He still didn’t vote!”

“Craig. Our choice is winning anyway, remember?”

“Oh. Right. I, uh… knew that!”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Whatever works for you, dudes!” laughed Raj, as Michelle went ahead and selected the next choice.

MC!Michelle: I refuse! I won’t let you take my patient’s brain, Dr. Lahela!

Everyone burst out laughing. “Alright, that was pretty great,” Michelle admitted.

“What, does she think she’s treating a zombie or something?” asked Raj.

“Too funny,” laughed Sean. “Great choice, everyone. This was worth it already!”

Bryce just busts out laughing.

MC!Michelle: You are so bad at this.

“Bryce would agree with us, apparently,” Diego observed.

“I was hopin’ for a funny improvised fight, and I was not disappointed!” laughed Jake.

“And this is why I’m studying medicine, and not comedy,” joked Michelle. “I’m almost as bad at improv as my character here.”

“Hey, does that count as a drink?” asked Craig, suddenly perking up. “Since Michelle’s acting like her character? Or… other way around? Or something?”

Jake shrugged. “Sure, it’s been a while anyway,” he said. “Drink, y’all!”

As most everyone took a sip from their respective drinks of choice, Aleister huffed. “As humorous as I admit the scene was,” he said, “we are absolutely going to get caught by Dr. Ramsey now. I thought the entire objective of the scene was to avoid such an outcome, no?”

“Somebody’s gettin’ invested again, huh, Malfoy?” asked Jake.

“I… erm… just…”

“Aleister does have a point, though,” Grace interjected. “The other choice might have been the better one if we didn’t want to get caught…”

“Yeah, but this one was funnier, I bet,” Jake argued.

“Either way,” said Michelle as she clicked forward, “we’ll find out in a second….”

You check if Ethan noticed you, but he’s already continuing on his way.

“See?” asked Michelle with a smirk. “Told you so.”

“I- but- how in the- what?!” stammered Aleister. “This is simply illogical!”

“Guess Dr. Ramsey was just that distracted by Patient X,” suggested Quinn. “This must be really important to him if he didn’t notice that argument!”

“Of course it’s important to him, he’s getting to treat an actual-” Ian started to say.

“I swear, if you say the words ‘mutant’ or ‘X-Men’ one more time…” Alyssa warned, interrupting her brother. “Same for you, Diego,” she added as she chucked the empty bucket of popcorn at Ian’s head.

Before the bucket could hit Ian, Estela reflexively reached out and smacked it out of the way, only for the bucket to accidentally land on Aleister’s head instead. “I will never not be impressed by that,” Ian remarked. “Thanks for the save.”

“That… was not on purpose,” Estela quickly assured the group, as a very annoyed Aleister yanked the bucket off of his head.

“No one say a word,” said Aleister, glaring at the rest of the group as they all struggled to contain their laughter at Aleister’s newly-spiky hair, coated in popcorn grease. “I am quite aware how ridiculous I must look, thank you very much.”

“Actually, it’s not a bad look, in my opinion,” Grace commented softly. Aleister’s face swiftly turned several shades of red.

“Should we… uh, keep going?” asked Sean, before anyone could accidentally start laughing at Aleister’s bizarre new hairstyle.

“Yes, please do,” said Aleister, visibly relieved as Michelle clicked through.

Zaid and Ines are coming down the hallway towards you!

“Great, out of the frying pan, and into the fire,” said Sean.

“Did I miss something? What fire?” asked Varyyn.

Diego laughed and shook his head. “It’s an expression, Varyyn. It means… uh, like… actually, I have no idea how to explain it.”

“Huh?” asked an even-more-confused Varyyn.

“Never mind.”

MC!Michelle: Crap. They’re totally gonna stop me to ask about my patients! Unless…

Bryce: I don’t like where that ‘unless’ is going…

MC!Michelle: Unless you distract them!

“Wow. This oughta be good,” said Jake.

“Seriously, talk about being put on the spot!” Quinn said, giggling. “I wonder what Bryce will do?”

“Not gonna lie, this is the most dramatic walk down a hospital hallway I’ve ever seen,” commented Michelle. “And I kinda sense another choice coming on?”

“What if Bryce did interpretive dance?” asked Craig. Everyone stared at him. “What? That sounds pretty distracting to me, anyway!”

Zahra sighed. “Can’t believe I’m saying this… but for once, Craig’s not wrong. If someone randomly started doing interpretive dance, of all things, I’d be pretty distracted.”

“Yes!” Craig crowed triumphantly, pumping a fist in the air. “Z said I was right! That’s twice in one day!”

“I said you weren’t wrong,” Zahra clarified.

“Same difference. Raj, time to pay up, dude!”

Raj frowned. “Aww, man. Fair is fair, though.” He leaned over and passed Craig a $10 bill.

“Some things never change,” Michelle said with a smile. “And by ‘some things,’ I mean you two.”

Raj shrugged. “What can I say? Nobody can take the ‘Raj-ness’ out of me!”

Bryce: And how am I supposed to do that?

MC!Michelle: You should...

“Flirt!” shouted Quinn excitedly. “Come on, Michelle!”

“Oh, I agree with you, for sure. But we should probably make this official. What does everyone else think?” Michelle asked, turning to address the entire group.

“I say we annoy them and get it over with,” said Zahra.

“Predictable,” snarked Jake. “I say ‘flirt with them.’ Who else?”

Literally everyone except for Zahra raised their hands immediately. Zahra looked around at the group and scowled. “Oh, come on. Seriously?”

“Why do you hate flirting?” asked Alyssa.

“I don’t hate flirting. I just… strongly dislike… flirting.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Well!” exclaimed Quinn suddenly. “I think we’ve got our votes! Let’s try the ‘flirt’ option, Michelle!” Before Zahra could continue protesting, Michelle obliged, with cheers from the rest of the group.

Bryce swaggers up to Ines and Zaid. He leans near Ines, pressing a muscled arm against the wall. He tosses his head a little.

Bryce: Hey.

“I’m getting some serious Spider-Verse vibes from this. Love it,” said Diego.

“I have no idea what you’re referencing, but either way, this scene is… wow,” commented Quinn. “Wish I was Ines right now!”

“Agreed,” agreed Sean. “Definitely effective.”

“Why don’t you ever do that, Top Gun?” Alyssa asked her husband.

“What, me? You never asked!”

“Do I need to ask?!”

“...Yeah. I ain’t a mind reader!”

Michelle sighed. “Why does everything turn into an argument between someone or other?” she said aloud to no one in particular. “Every time! I swear….”

Dr. Zaid: Listen here, Point Break. If you don’t mind, we’re--

“Second Marvel reference today!” shouted Diego, leaping out of his chair in excitement. “He called him ‘Point Break!’ Just like Iron Man calls Thor-”

“I said no more Marvel references!” objected Alyssa, thrusting out a hand and freezing Diego in time, before releasing him a second later to fall back into his chair.

“Hey, no fair,” Diego protested. “You said ‘no X-Men references!’ Nothing about Avengers references!”

Alyssa looked at Jake, who simply shrugged. “He ain’t wrong,” Jake admitted.

“Whose side are you on?!” she demanded, before turning back to Diego. “Fine. From now on, no more MARVEL references of any kind!”

“Aww,” frowned Diego as Michelle continued the story in the background.

You round the corner around the new hospital wing… and come face-to-face with Ethan. He glares down at you.

“Wow. Fail,” said Alyssa.

“All that stealth for nothing,” Estela said. “This game doesn’t seem to give much weight to our choices.”

“True, but that’s part of the fun, I think!” argued Quinn. “Imagine having to be constantly concerned with losing or gaining points with different characters! That would be so stressful.”

“Pfft. Like that would ever happen,” snarked Zahra.

“You know, I’m pretty sure we’re screwed, no matter what happens,” observed Michelle. “This whole ‘following Dr. Ramsey’ thing was a bad idea. But the game railroaded us into it anyway.”

“But how else are we gonna discover the secret?” asked Diego. “I mean, we’ve gotta find out if Patient X is really a…” His voice trailed off immediately when he noticed Alyssa glaring daggers at him. “...person with superpowers?” he finished lamely.

“Uh, not to break up this argument, but also totally to break up this argument; we have another choice to vote on,” said Michelle, having clicked through the next few dialogue boxes. Everyone looked up at the screen to see that there was, indeed, another choice to be made. “Personally, I say ‘I wanted to see how you’re doing.’ Lying to an attending is a bad idea waiting to happen. Trust me.”

‘Of course I trust you,” said Quinn.

Zahra hesitated for a moment, then shrugged and raised her hand. “Meh. You know more about this kinda stuff than I do, I’ll admit,” she said. “If there’s ever a computer hacker story in this app, though….”

“Wait, is there a computer hacker story in this app?!” asked Craig suddenly, pulling out his own phone and (presumably) downloading his own Choices app. “Hang on, is there a sports story?”

“No, and no, as far as I can tell,” said Michelle.

“Aww. Well, I’m gonna find one anyway!”

“Good luck with that,” sighed Michelle, as Craig became engrossed in his phone. “Meanwhile, uh… who else votes ‘I wanted to ask how you’re doing?’”

Michelle herself raised her hand, along with Quinn, Zahra, Ian, Sean, Aleister, Grace, Diego, Varyyn, and Raj. “Welp, that answers that question,” said Sean.

“Whoa, hang on, dude, I didn’t get to vote yet!” protested Craig. “I vote the other thing!”

“Craig, you’re way outnumbered,” Zahra pointed out. “We’ve already got a huge majority.”

“You’re just sayin’ that to make me give up!”

“I- just- what?!”

“I am quite confused,” said Varyyn.

“You and me both,” Diego reassured him. “But I think we have our vote.”

Aleister paused, swiftly counting up the votes in his head. “And our final result is 10-3, in favor of “ask how you’re doing,” he announced.

“See? Told you so,” said Diego.

“Yeah, but if he’d counted my vote, it would’ve said ‘10-4’ and made the cop number!” said Craig.

Aleister shook his head in exasperation. “Craig, you do realize you were included in the three votes for ‘You’re being paranoid,’ correct?”

Craig’s eyes widened in surprise. “Whoaaaaaaa… you can see the future?!” he gasped. “You knew what I was gonna vote?! That’s super freakin’ awesome!”

Aleister opened and closed his mouth a few times, as though trying to find words of protest, but nothing came out. Finally, he let out a dramatic sigh. “Very well. If you so insist, feel free to believe I am gifted with prescient abilities. Now, can we please continue the story?”

“This. Explains. Everything,” Craig said to no one in particular, as Michelle ignored him completely and selected the choice in question.

Dr. Ramsey: I’ll be fine once I get a coffee.

“Story of my life, right there,” said Zahra.

Dr. Ramsey: The machine in my office is broken, and you know I don’t drink the dishwater from the cafeteria.

“Like I said before: this is way too accurate,” said Michelle. “Hospital cafeteria coffee is… well, ‘dishwater’ is almost being too nice.”

“Gross,” commented Zahra, miming vomiting. “Thank God we invested in only the best coffeemakers… right, Craig?”

“Huh?” asked Craig, still staring at Aleister in astonishment at his supposed ability to tell the future. “Uh… coffee’s coffee, I don’t care.”

“Oh, never mind, you ingrate.”

“Thanks! ...I think?”

Dr. Ramsey: There’s a cafe a few blocks away I don’t hate.

MC!Michelle: Wow. A ringing endorsement. They should hang that on the wall.

“Whoa, Dr. Ramsey likes something?! Plot twist!” exclaimed Craig. “Call the press! Alert the media! Tell the news!”

“That was incredibly redundant,” muttered Aleister.

“Dude. Aleister. Y’know what’s redundant?” asked Raj.

“No, what?”

Raj paused for several seconds for dramatic effect. “...Redundancy!” he said finally.

“I… how in the… how on Earth?!” sputtered Aleister.

“Technically, he isn’t wrong,” Grace pointed out.

“Certainly, you aren’t incorrect, as such,” Aleister admitted. “Yet, in any case, that statement has no true value as a statement, since it is itself redundant.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the point, dude!” said Raj. “C’mon, you get it?”

“I most certainly do not ‘get it!’ What are you even-”

“Oh no, I ‘accidentally’ clicked ahead in the story,” deadpanned Michelle before the conversation could get any more out of hand.

Dr. Ramsey: They take pride in their work. I respect that. You should swing by.

MC!Michelle: Are you saying I can tag along?

Dr. Ramsey: I’m saying, “you should swing by.” But I won’t stop you if you decide to follow me there, too…

What do you do?

“Still feels a little bit weird that he’s a romance option, not gonna lie,” said Michelle. “Though I do kinda like his attitude in this scene.” She turned back toward the group. “I dunno. What do you all think?”

“I kind of want to, but at the same time, there might be a Rafael or Bryce or Jackie scene later…” Quinn said. “Aww, I wish we could know ahead of time what all the diamond scenes were!”

“To the Google-mobile!” proclaimed Diego dramatically, followed by him making the Batman logo noise as he pulled out his phone. A few moments of typing later, his face fell. “They don’t have anything past chapter 2!! I found a walkthrough and everything!”

“Are you certain?” asked Varyyn, looking over Diego’s shoulder at the screen. “Perhaps it is simply not complete yet?”

“It’s probably ‘cuz we’re technically reading chapters from the future, remember?” suggested Jake. “When the twins did their magic time shit on Quinn’s phone?”

“Oh yeah, you’re right!” said Diego. “Hey, Quinn, can I borrow your phone for a sec?”

Quinn reached for her phone, but Michelle lifted it out of her reach. “C’mon, Quinn. No fair cheating!”

“Aww, come on, Michelle!” Quinn made her best pouting face.

Michelle smiled and shook her head. “Nice try, Quinn, but I’m not nearly as weak to that as Ian is.” Ian gave her a look. “Uh, no offense, Ian, but Estela’s face leaves you weak every time.”

“I have to admit, you aren’t wrong,” Ian admitted, and Estela laughed and pulled her husband in tighter.

“You are all aware that we have repeatedly offered to purchase each and every diamond scene in this book, correct?” asked Aleister.

“WE KNOW,” everyone except Aleister and Grace said in unison.

“Guess it comes down to a vote, then,” said Jake. “Though I gotta say, Little Mermaid’s got a point. We don’t know what the other diamond scene’ll be; maybe we should save our money.”

“Dr. Ramsey’s pretty cool, but still,” admitted Sean. “Alright. Who wants to join Ethan for coffee?” Diego raised his hand, along with Varyyn and Sean himself. Quinn hesitantly raised her hand, but then changed her mind and put it back down. “Looks like we’ve got our vote. By the way, it is seriously weird calling him ‘Ethan.’”

“Heh. Yeah,” said Zahra.

“Here’s hoping the next diamond scene is a good one!” commented Michelle, as she selected the ‘Get back to work’ choice.

You’re heading to the locker room at the end of your shift, when…

Rafael: Hey! Michelle!

“I KNEW IT!” squealed Quinn excitedly. “I knew he’d be in this chapter!”

“Whoa, somebody’s excited,” said Michelle. Then she smiled. “To be fair, I like him too.”

“Seconded!” agreed Diego. “Wait… I mean, ‘thirded?’ Is that a word?”

“It is now, Diego,” stated Varyyn. “You have just made it so.”

Diego smiled at his husband. “You are the best. Supportive, caring, and knows when to make Star Trek references?!”

“That was a reference?”

Diego sighed. “We are officially adding The Next Generation to our to-watch list,” he declared. “Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Of course you have a ‘to-watch’ list.”

“What, you don’t?”

Rafael: I was hoping I would run into you again.

MC!Michelle: Rafael!

“ME TOO!” shouted Quinn, Alyssa, Sean, Diego, Varyyn, Michelle, Jake, and Zahra simultaneously.

“Whoa. Uh… guess we have our vote,” said Craig.

“That was impressive,” Raj commented. “Fastest. Vote. EVER.”

“True,” admitted Aleister as he mentally counted the people who supported the ‘me too’ choice. “Eight to six. Majority rules, in this case.”

“Actually, it’s probably even higher,” said Sean. “What if some people who didn’t yell still wanted to vote for Rafael?”

“Either way, the outcome is the same. Michelle, shall you do the honors?”

“I would love to,” Michelle responded, doing a mock-bow before selecting the option chosen.

Rafael: Good news?

MC!Michelle: Biopsy shows his panniculitis is just related to his infection. Should clear up soon… but… Oh no.

“Bunch of sciency words followed by an ‘oh no.’ That doesn’t sound good,” observed Raj.

Michelle frowned. “Actually, those ‘sciency words’ don’t sound that bad, all things considered,” she observed. “The biopsy is just the kind of test we ordered, and the panniculitis is inflammation of skin fat… though, hm, that can be caused by some serious conditions.”

“So, wait, is there a problem or not?” asked an annoyed Estela. “Michelle, you’re not making sense.”

“Sorry! I’m doing the best I can,” Michelle said. “They haven’t given us enough information; it would depend on the results my character’s reading. Maybe we’ll find out soon?”

“She’s got a point. I’m as clueless as she is without more info,” Ian admitted. “Well? Should we keep going?”

“Sure. Let’s get to the bottom of this!” declared Michelle as she clicked further into the chapter.

MC!Michelle: He has genetic markers for distal muscular dystrophy. It’s late onset, but one day, years from now, he’ll lose the ability to walk. Surfing’s his life. This will devastate him. And it’s all because I was curious about something he didn’t care about.

“Oh no!” exclaimed Quinn. “That’s awful!”

“So that’s why…” muttered Michelle to no one in particular. “Kind of unfair, though… they really should’ve let me see the results, or the genetic testing at least?”

Grace shrugged. “To be fair, it’s a phone game, not a medical chart. Still… no wonder your character is upset!”

“I’m upset for real, too,” Michelle commented. “What a rough decision.”

“Hey, does that mean we can drink?” said Craig to no one in particular, raising his glass. “It’s been a while!”

Michelle stared at him for several seconds. “Is THAT all you care about?!” she said finally.

“Uh… yes?”

She sighed, then shook her head. “Fine. Jake?”

Jake shrugged. “Eh, why not. Drink, y’all!” he said as he took a sip from his own drink.

“By the way, what’s ‘distal muscular… thingy?’” asked Craig. Michelle simply facepalmed before continuing on with the story, not giving him any kind of response.

Remy: Hey, doc. We all set? Can I get outta here?

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“Wow. This is, like, a legit question,” said Alyssa.

“Indeed, it does present a significant moral quandary,” Aleister observed.

As everyone pondered the implications of this choice, they gradually all started looking to Michelle to take the lead. “Look,” Michelle admitted finally, once she noticed everyone looking at her. “This is the kind of moral question they’d ask us in class, and I’m not sure I even know the answer! There isn’t supposed to be a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ to these kind of questions, anyway.”

“But then, how do you know?” asked Jake. “There’s gotta be some kinda rule to follow, or something, right?”

Michelle shrugged. “We’re taught the basic ethical principles of medicine, and when to apply them. In this case, that’s ‘autonomy,’” she explained.

“‘Auto-what?’” asked Craig. “What do cars have to do with anything?” At a look from Zahra, he stopped talking. “Oh. Serious conversation. Sorry.”

“Basically, it’s the idea that patients have the right to decide for themselves what treatments they want, while being completely informed of all the risks and benefits,” Michelle continued.

“Guess that’s pretty clear, then,” said Sean. “He has the right to know, so we should tell him.”

“It’s not so simple, though you’ve got a good point,” said Michelle. “A patient also has the right not to know, if they wouldn’t want to hear it. Like, sometimes a patient going in for treatment and getting tests might say, ‘Doc, if it’s cancer, I don’t want to hear it. I’d hate to have that hanging over my head.’ You know?”

Quinn nodded sympathetically. “I can understand that temptation. Sometimes I thought it all would have been easier if I just never found out about my diagnosis. Sure, my life would’ve been short, but at least I could enjoy it.”

“Aww, but then we wouldn’t have found a magic space crystal to heal you!” said Raj.

“Which is still a bizarre sentence, by the way,” put in Zahra. “Just pointing that out.”

Everyone laughed. “We’re all glad you’re here, Quinn,” said Michelle. “It just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Aww, you guys…” said Quinn, smiling at all of them. “I wouldn’t trade you all for the world.”

Michelle smiled at her. “Quinn, you’re the best.”

Quinn and Michelle gazed at one another, smiling warmly, for several seconds, before being interrupted by a loud sneeze from Raj. There was an awkward pause, and Quinn blushed and looked away.

“...Bless you,” said Michelle finally.

“So, uh… are we gonna vote, or what?” asked Alyssa. “What does everyone think?”

“It really is an interesting question…” commented Grace. “Though I have to wonder, what would you do, Michelle? If this happened in reality?”

Michelle looked at Grace in surprise. “What, like… as a doctor?”

“Well… yeah…”

“Huh. Y’know, honestly, I’d probably take a third option and ask him first if he wanted to be told about the results, and then tell him if he said yes, but… well, that isn’t an option. Guess if I had to pick one, it’s probably better to tell him. Like I said earlier, patients have a right to know.”

“Huh. Well said!”

“As goofy and funny as some of these choices have been, I really like that this one makes us think,” said Sean. “Personally, I’d agree with you, Michelle.”

“Yeah, talk about a great conversation starter! I’m definitely saving this one,” said Diego.

“You know, Diego,” said Varyyn, “in Elyys’tel, we Vaanti have a saying: ‘Whether you face the storm or look away, it will strike you all the same; so face the storm and you will be better prepared to weather it.’”

“That was… conveniently fitting for this situation,” snarked Zahra.

“Not to mention super wise,” said Ian. “Well said, Varyyn!”

“Thank you, my friend.”

Aleister loudly cleared his throat. “If we are quite done discussing, shall we vote on our selection?” he asked the group. “I, for one, concur with Grace and Michelle. Remy ought to be properly informed of his circumstances.”

“Oh my God!” shouted Diego suddenly.

“What’s wrong?!” asked Ian.

“I just realized…” Diego admitted. “The patient’s name is ‘Remy,’ and I haven’t made a single Ratatouille reference yet!”

“What, is that all?” asked Alyssa.

“This is serious! I have failed as a movie referencer.” Diego shook his head, laughing. “I think I might be defective.”

“I doubt that is nearly as important as-” Aleister started to say.

“I SAY DON’T TELL HIM!” shouted Craig, interrupting the random discussion about Ratatouille. Everyone stared at him. “What? Aren’t we voting?”

Jake shrugged. “Guess we are now,” he said. “And I agree, by the way. This guy doesn’t need that hangin’ over his head.” He looked around at the group for a moment. “Who else?” After a moment’s hesitation, Craig raised his hand, along with Raj and Diego. “What, that’s all?”

“Honestly, I kinda agree with you, Jake, but Craig is being annoying so I’m intentionally voting against him,” said Zahra.

“...” ellipsed Jake in confusion. “Y’know what? I’ve got nothin’ for that. Seriously.”

“Well, I have no idea what to pick, so I’m going with the med student,” said Alyssa, gesturing to Michelle. “She probably knows what she’s talking about.”

Michelle laughed. “Alyssa, it’s just a game, it’s nothing to worry about! Besides, like I said earlier, this doesn’t really have a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer-”

“So Jake’s wrong, right?” interrupted Alyssa.

Michelle stared at her for several seconds in pure astonishment. Finally, she sighed. “If that’s somehow what you heard, then… sure.”

“Alright, and who votes to tell the guy?” asked Jake, over Alyssa’s silent cheers to herself for her ‘victory.’ Michelle, Varyyn, Grace, Aleister, Zahra, Sean, Quinn, Alyssa, Ian, and Estela all raised their hands.

“That’s a clear win if I’ve ever seen one,” said Michelle. “Alright, here we go!” Before anyone else could add any more random comments, she selected the ‘Tell Remy the truth’ choice.

Remy: What? Did that genetic thing come back? Do I have Alpha… something?

“That sounds like something I would say,” admitted Craig. “Glad I’m not the only one who has no idea what the hell all those sciency words mean.”

Zahra smacked him. “Craig, this scene is serious.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

MC!Michelle: Remy, you have the genetic markers for distal muscular dystrophy. You don’t have it now, but you’re likely to develop it, probably in your forties.

Remy: But what… what is it?

MC!Michelle: It’s a disease that atrophies the muscle fibers, starting with your hands and feet.

“Damn, that sucks,” said Jake. “What a thing to have to deal with. Especially for a guy like Remy.”

Michelle sighed. “That’s the sad reality,” she said. “Even keeping the news from him wouldn’t change what’s going to happen to him. The only choice left is to let him decide for himself what he wants to do about it.”

“But talk about a tough choice!” said Sean. “It’s this guy’s whole life ahead of him we’re talking about.”

“Well,” said Michelle matter-of-factly, “nobody said being a doctor was easy. If it was, everyone would do it.”

There was a brief silence as everyone pondered this statement, before Michelle finally continued on with the story.

Rafael: How about I help you take your mind off this?

MC!Michelle: How?

Rafael: We’re both off-duty. Why don’t you let me buy you some dinner? I am a local, after all. I can take you somewhere you haven’t been before.

MC!Michelle: You mean, the tour of Boston continues?

Rafael: For as long as you want it to.

What do you do?

“Talk about the best way to ‘take our minds off this,’” said Quinn once the diamond choice appeared. “Yes please!”

“Do it,” said Diego in a perfect impression of Palpatine from Revenge of the Sith.

“I’m up for it,” agreed Sean. “We haven’t used our diamond choice yet, anyway.”

“Okay, I’m going for it!” said Michelle, buying the choice to go out with Rafael.

Rafael: Fancy? Cool? I don’t think anyone’s ever used those words about me.

“Bullshit,” said Alyssa the moment the words appeared on the screen, drawing everyone’s laughter.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine Rafael ever being anything other than ‘cool’ and ‘fancy,’” Diego commented.

“Agreed,” said Quinn. “I mean, how could he not?”

Rafael: So what are you feeling? I can give you good recommendations for everything.

MC!Michelle: I’m craving…

“Welp. Now I’m just hungry,” said Diego.

“I am unfamiliar with these types of food,” said Varyyn, looking at the options available. “What do you suggest?”

Diego shrugged. “To be honest? I could go for all three right now,” he admitted. “Sorry, I know I’m indecisive!”

“It is okay, Diego,” said Varyyn with a reassuring smile.

“Dunno about the rest of y’all, but I’m voting for Caribbean food,” said Jake. “That stuff’s delicious.”

“Honestly, it all sounds amazing,” said Alyssa. “And this choice is making me hungry…”

“I’d be happy to whip something up for everyone!” said Raj. “Dinner Round 2, anyone?”

“Ooh, yes please!” exclaimed Quinn.

“At this rate, we’ll never finish this chapter…” muttered Zahra. “Michelle, just pick something already.”

Michelle gave her a look. “Don’t you think we should vote first? This has nothing to do with medical-”

“We’ll literally be here all night otherwise. Just do it!”

Michelle looked around at the others, who all just sort of muttered a bit and shrugged. “Well, if no one else minds, then… I’m going with Indian food.”

“Awesome!” said Raj excitedly. “I’ve got some great recipes for you dudes…”

“Raj, I was talking about the choice, not our actual meal!” said Michelle. “Er, wait, not like that. Your cooking is awesome, I love it, but we should finish this first and-”

Raj broke into a huge grin. “I know what you meant, I was just messin’ with you. But I’ll still whip up some food after this if everyone still wants some!” A chorus of ‘yes’s’ followed this suggestion. “Hah, you’re all the best.”

“Okay, well, now that that’s settled,” said Michelle. “Let’s just keep going.”

MC!Michelle: How many people do you know around here?

Rafael: A lot, I guess. I’ve been coming here my whole life, plus a bunch of the people who eat here live around my neighborhood.

MC!Michelle: That sounds…

“Exhausting, for sure,” said Zahra the moment the choice appeared. “Seriously.”

“What are you talking about?!” asked Craig. “It would be like an endless party all the time! How is that ‘exhausting?’”

Zahra rolled her eyes. “Speak for yourself.”

Raj smiled. “Well, my vote goes for ‘comforting.’ It sounds a lot like how things were back where I grew up. Everybody around always knew each other; it was great!”

“Or like Elyys’tel,” put in Varyyn. “All of the village is one great community. It is truly a blessing; like the branches of a tree, each one of us makes up something greater.”

Jake shrugged. “For sure, it’s nice and all,” he admitted, “but sometimes you just wanna be able to be left alone, ya know? It is nice to kick back and relax by myself every once in a while. Raven’s right, it definitely gets exhausting bein’ around other people all the time.”

“What, you’re saying I’m exhausting to be around?!” asked Alyssa.

At the sight of his wife’s expression, Jake put his hands up in protest. “Wait, what? Naw, not you, Princess, I’m talkin’ about these others--” He immediately stopped when he noticed everyone else’s death glares. “Uhh… I’m just gonna stop talkin’ now before I dig myself deeper.”

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” teased Alyssa with a smirk.

“Okay, okay, let’s vote already,” said Michelle. “This is getting nowhere. Again. Who votes for ‘comforting?’” She herself raised her hand, along with Raj, Craig, Alyssa, Varyyn, Diego, Quinn, and Sean. “And ‘exhausting?’” This time Zahra and Jake raised their hands, as did Aleister and, surprisingly, Grace. Michelle mentally counted up the votes, then frowned. “Hang on, you two didn’t vote!” she said, pointing at Estela and Ian.

The two of them shared a look. “We vote ‘neither,’” Estela declared.

“What?! That’s not one of the choices!” shouted Craig. “...Wait, is that one of the choices?”

“The choices are literally right there on the screen,” snarked Zahra.

“Oh. Right.”

“It’s like Jake said,” Estela explained. “Having everyone around is nice, but it can be exhausting at times.”

“A balance of both is the best option,” Ian agreed.

“But that isn’t an option!” protested Alyssa. “Aren’t you supposed to be the smart twin, Ian?” She chucked a pillow at his face, which Estela reflexively blocked without thinking. “Ugh, Estela, stop doing that!”

“Seriously? Our side will win anyway! What are you complaining about?” asked Michelle.

“Huh?” asked Alyssa in surprise, pausing for a moment to think about the votes. “Oh yeah.”

“Well, that was… a thing,” Sean commented. “Either way, we’ve got our answer.”

Michelle picked Quinn’s time-displaced phone back up and selected the choice.

MC!Michelle: This is exactly what I needed after today.

Rafael: I’m a strong believer in comfort food. So what about you?

MC!Michelle: Me?

Rafael: Do you prefer community or your own space?

MC!Michelle: …

“WHAT?!” exclaimed nearly the entire group when the choices appeared, as Ian and Estela silently exchanged amused glances.

“Okay, this game is actually trolling us now,” said Craig.

Raj laughed. “This is pretty funny, you’ve gotta admit. Also, I have to say, I really like Rafael.”

“Don’t we all?” asked Quinn with a smile.

“So did they seriously just repeat the exact same choice, but now with the cop-out third option that Dragon Hero came up with?”

“...‘Dragon Hero?’” asked Sean quizzically.

Jake shrugged sheepishly. “Well… y’know…” he started to explain. “Dragon Rage… Hero Boy…” he said as he gestured to Estela and Ian respectively. “Put ‘em together, you get…” -he clapped his hands together- “Dragon Hero.” At the subsequent silence, he awkwardly looked away from the others. “Well, it made more sense in my head. Guess not all my nicknames can be winners-”

He was interrupted by a high-pitched excited squeal from Quinn. “Jake’s making his own couple names now! That is ADORABLE!”

“Ow, my ears,” complained Zahra.

“Ooh, what’s ours?” asked Alyssa excitedly.

“Princess, I’m not-”

“‘Wolf Princess!’” suggested Diego. “Or ‘Princess Wolf.’ Uh, actually, I like the first one best,” he added after a moment’s thought.

“Do us! Do us! Do us!” chanted Craig.

“Please don’t,” said Zahra.

“What would ours be?” asked Grace.

“Oh, not you too!” said Aleister. “This is an absurd waste of time.”

“I’ve got one for Varyyn and I!” shouted Diego. “…‘Elf Dog!’”

At the sheer fail of Diego’s suggestion, the entire room went silent. There was a long, awkward pause. “Dude… maybe… stick to ‘Variego,’” Raj said as nicely as possible.

Diego frowned, but after a few seconds of thinking, his expression quickly brightened again. “That’s okay! Nothing could beat ‘Variego’ to begin with!” he exclaimed.

“Indeed,” said Varyyn with a smile, wrapping an arm around his husband’s shoulders. “I am quite content to simply continue allowing Jake to keep making a fool of himself with his nicknames, after all.”

“Yeah, exactly, the nicknames are my thing,” agreed Jake, before Varyyn’s sentence caught up with him. “Wait, what d’you mean by ‘make a fool of himself?!’”

“Does it matter?” asked Michelle, who was becoming increasingly annoyed by the others’ inability to focus on the story.

“Yeah, we have a choice to vote on!” agreed Quinn.

“Yes, thank you,” said Jake. “Little MerMaybelline knows what’s up!”

“Wow, he just did it again,” said Ian.

“Wait, what?” asked Michelle.

“Ah, y’know… Little Mermaid… Maybelline…” Jake explained, gesturing to Quinn and Michelle respectively. “Again, it sounded better in my head.”

“Wait, but… we’re not… we don’t…” stammered Quinn.

“I don’t… what are… it’s not…” Michelle said at the same time.

Diego raised an eyebrow as he leaned over toward Ian and Estela. “Wow, and here I thought you two were obvious,” he commented to the two of them.

“Just kiss already,” smirked Alyssa as Michelle and Quinn continued to awkwardly make excuses.

Michelle looked down at the phone in her hand and pressed the ‘I like a balance’ option. “OH LOOK, I ACCIDENTALLY PRESSED A CHOICE, TIME TO GET BACK TO THE STORY,” she said in the loudest monotone imaginable, and after a few moments of Michelle persisting in reading the story regardless of the others, everyone finally stopped talking about her and Quinn’s ‘secret’ and by secret I mean totally obvious relationship.

MC!Michelle: I’m really happy I ran into you tonight.

He steps close to you.

Rafael: I guess I should say goodnight then.

His voice is soft, his gaze intense.

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“Is this even a question?” asked Sean.

“No. No, it’s not,” agreed Quinn.

“Kiss him!” said Diego and Alyssa at the same time.

Michelle laughed before immediately selecting the ‘Kiss him’ option, ignoring Aleister’s inevitable protests about the lack of a vote.

MC!Michelle: I’ve always wondered what it would be like to kiss Superman.

Rafael: I really don’t get why people keep calling me that. I’m just a regular guy.

MC!Michelle: That’s exactly what Clark Kent would say.

“The next diamond scene with him better involve taking you flying,” Diego said to Michelle. “Whoa, hang on: what if Patient X is actually Batman? And he’s trying to hide his identity?”

“Hey, we’ve already been over this! No more Marvel references!” said an annoyed Alyssa.

Ian laughed. “Superman and Batman are DC, ‘Lyss,” he informed her.

“Oh, whatever!”

“It’s like they say: All’s fair in love, war, and superhero references,” said Raj.

“That is most certainly not an accurate quote whatsoever,” stated Aleister. “The correct version of the quote in question is-”

“Who freakin’ cares, Malfoy?” asked Jake, as Michelle ignored their random discussion and continued the story.

MC!Michelle: Jackie? Elijah’s putting on Battlestar Galactica. You wanna join?

She looks up from her desk, where she’s got three textbooks open.

Jackie: No thanks. I’m studying.

She gets up to close her door.

MC!Michelle: …

“This story has the best references,” said Diego.

“Also, Zahra would totally shut the door in someone’s face like that,” laughed Craig. “Actually, she really did do that once.”

“The hell? It was way more than once,” argued Zahra. “Also, the proper response to this situation is to leave me… er, Jackie… the hell alone, so I’m voting ‘good call.’”

“Good point,” nodded Sean, remembering all the way back to their first trip to La Huerta, and how everyone quickly learned the importance of leaving Zahra alone when she was busy. “Yeah, I vote ‘good call’ too. Anyone else?”

One by one, every single person present voiced their agreement. Zahra smirked. “You’re all damn right,” she said. “Michelle? Do your thing.”

“Oh, and Zahra was actin’ like Jackie, so: Drink, y’all!” proclaimed Jake, raising his glass triumphantly in the air.

“Finally!” cheered Craig as Michelle selected the ‘Good call’ choice.

Sienna: I asked Danny.

Elijah: Oh, you asked Danny, huh? You two seem friendly.

Sienna: We are friendly! What’s wrong with friendly?

“I ship it,” smiled Quinn.

“Same here,” agreed Diego, “but the real question is… ‘Danienna’ or ‘Sienny?’”

“Heavens, we are not returning to this utterly absurd topic,” declared Aleister.

“Thank God,” muttered Zahra.

Sienna: Anyway, he looked at me like he thought I was having an aneurysm. Then he said it sounded like someone was hazing me.

MC!Michelle: …

“Dunno if Ramsey is trolling us, but this game definitely is,” said Craig. “Or maybe it’s both! Troll-ception!”

“Dude, that meme was old five years ago,” said Zahra.

“Which means it’s retro, right?”

“I… just… what?!”

“Or maybe Ramsey was just trolling Diego this whole time with the X-Men references,” joked Raj.

“Well,” said Grace, “I doubt they would put so much emphasis on Patient X in the story if it went nowhere…”

“You present a fair point,” agreed Aleister.

“Man, but if it turned out Ramsey was just messing with everyone this whole time, how hilarious would that be?” said Alyssa. “Best twist ever.”

“You know what? I can kinda see that, actually,” admitted Sean. “But then again…”

Zahra scowled. “I swear, if this whole Patient X mystery actually is just a giant freakin’ troll…”

Aleister sighed. “If we are all quite done, let us actually vote on this choice, then.”

After a quick round of voting, ‘You don’t think Ramsey was trolling me’ won, with Craig, Raj, Alyssa, Jake, Sean, Quinn, Michelle, Diego, Varyyn, and Zahra all voting in favor.

MC!Michelle: How are you feeling, Remy?

Remy: Like an ass. I’m sorry for what I said last night.

“Wow,” said Diego. “That was really mature of him.”

“Okay, but I am for sure adding ‘Like an ass’ to my list of things to say,” said Craig.

“Of course you are,” snarked Zahra.

Remy: Here, I want you to have this.

He holds out his painted ukelele.

MC!Michelle: Oh, Remy. I can’t take this…

Remy: It was, like, five bucks.

“What, really?” asked Diego in astonishment. “But… he shouldn’t! How will he play music now?”

“Not to mention, generally we’re not supposed to take gifts from patients in the first place,” said Michelle. “Though that really only applies to expensive things; if it was five bucks, it should be okay.”

“Guess he’s just a really nice guy,” Sean said.

“The ukelele might have been five bucks, but he painted it himself, didn’t he? Art is priceless,” said Quinn.

“For everything else, there’s MasterCard!” Craig shouted randomly. Everyone ignored him.

[REMY’S UKELELE: Accept it.]

“About time we got another one of these!” said Raj when the one-option choice appeared. “This chapter’s been holding out on us.”

“For sure,” agreed Craig, picking up his drink expectantly.

Everyone looked at Jake, who looked back at the group for several moments, not saying anything. Then he broke into a huge grin. “Drink, y’all!”

“Alright, that was just cruel,” said Alyssa, finally taking a drink from her glass.

“Gotta change it up once in a while,” Jake said with a shrug.

You peer around the corridor, still under construction.

MC!Michelle: (I followed Dr. Ramsey here yesterday… and last week, I saw him here too.)

Elijah: There’s no record of anyone by that name in any room in the hospital.

“Did we seriously just have a flashback to this exact chapter?” asked Michelle, staring down at the phone in confusion. “...Why?”

“In case we all suddenly got short-term memory loss?” suggested Craig.

“I mean, it could happen,” said Raj.

You creep through the unfinished corridor, careful not to make a noise. You pass dark patient rooms and offices, all nearly complete.

MC!Michelle: (Okay, maybe I’m grasping at straws here.)

MC!Michelle: (What do I do?)

“This is a really bad idea,” said Michelle when the choices appeared. “We should turn back.”

“Aw, come on,” complained Jake. “This was just gettin’ good!”

“Don’t you wanna find out who Patient X is?” asked Diego. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“Somewhere behind my sense of ‘I’d rather not get fired,’” snarked Michelle.

“Michelle does make a good point,” said Grace. “We wouldn’t want to risk getting caught!”

“Indeed, ‘turn back’ is the most prudent course of action at this time,” agreed Aleister.

“You people are boring,” said Zahra.

Sean shook his head. “They’re just being cautious. I’d probably do the same thing if this were real life.”

“But it’s not real life!” said Jake.

“WE KNOW,” Michelle said.

“We should press on,” said Varyyn. “The answers await us!”

“Alright, then, let’s solve this the usual way,” suggested Michelle.

“WITH AN ARM WRESTLING MATCH!” shouted Craig.

Zahra facepalmed. “What? No!” said Michelle. “When have we ever decided on a choice by arm wrestling?”

“Me and Sean used to do that all the time in college!” explained Craig.

“Okay, and that’s relevant how?” asked Zahra.

Sean sighed. “Let’s just vote normally,” he said, as Craig pouted in the background. “Who votes ‘Keep going?’” Jake, Diego, Varyyn, Zahra, Craig, and Alyssa raised their hands. “Okay, and ‘Turn back?’” 

Sean himself voted for this choice, as did Michelle, Quinn, Ian, Grace, Aleister, Raj, and to everyone’s surprise, Estela. “What?!” shouted Alyssa in astonishment. “Estela, you should be on our side!”

“I’m on no one’s side,” said Estela. “Besides, this shouldn’t be surprising. I’ve always been cautious. And anyway, I trust Michelle’s judgement.”

“This is so not fair,” Alyssa complained.

“Well, either way, ‘Turn back’ wins,” observed Michelle, selecting the choice.

You’re about to turn back when you notice a warm glow ahead… The lights are on in one of the new patient rooms. You creep toward the room and peer through the window blinds.

“Well, that whole choice was completely pointless,” Michelle remarked.

Someone is in the bed, immobile. You move closer, trying to make out their face.

Dr. Banerji: …

“Wait, what?!” the whole group shouted almost in unison (with a “Heavens!” instead in Aleister’s case).

“Oh my god,” said Michelle. “This explains a lot, actually!”

“Yeah, no wonder Dr. Ramsey was so evasive about this!” said Quinn. “This can’t be easy for him. For either of them, really.”

“But what’s going to happen to Dr. Banerji?” asked Raj. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“Let’s keep going!” said Diego. “We’ve gotta find out!”

“Alright,” agreed Michelle, continuing onward.

It’s unmistakably him. His eyes barely stay open, and his chest moves up and down in shallow bursts. Beside him, head in his hands, is…

Dr. Ramsey: …

Ethan glances up, his eyes locking onto yours through the glass.

“Dun dun DUN,” said Diego.

“Oh no,” said Michelle.

MC!Michelle: Oh no…

Everyone laughed when the words appeared. “Well, that’s worth another drink,” said Jake, followed by a delayed “...y’all,” a few seconds later.

“See? I told you we should’ve turned back,” said Michelle.

“Except that we DID turn back, and the game made us keep going anyway, so what difference did it make?” asked Diego. “Besides, at least now we know who Patient X is!”

Dr. Ramsey: Michelle, you cannot tell anyone what you’ve seen here. Do you understand?

MC!Michelle: …

“Wow. That was unexpected,” said Quinn. “I thought he would yell at us!”

“Okay, but we’re definitely just being mature and saying ‘I understand,’ right?” Michelle asked the group. “I don’t think Dr. Ramsey will appreciate lame excuses.”

“Yeah, good point,” admitted Zahra, as most of the others nodded in agreement.

“Wait, but if we say we didn’t see anything, then he can’t get mad at us, right?” asked Craig.

“Only if he actually believes us, which… yeah, I don’t see that happening,” said Sean. “Dr. Ramsey’s too smart for that.”

“Oh. So are we still voting, though?”

In response, Michelle just went ahead and chose the ‘I understand’ option.

Dr. Ramsey: He’s dying. Dr. Banerji is dying.

You’ve discovered the case that’s haunting Ethan! Can you help him save his mentor’s life? Keep playing to find out!

“OH, COME ON!!” Estela shouted when the chapter ended, leaping to her feet to the bewildered stares of everyone else (except Ian, who simply looked at her with an amused smile instead).

There was a long, awkward silence as she looked around at the others, before silently sitting down again and looking away. “Wow, she really got into this thing, huh?” asked Jake. “Who woulda thought?”

“Man, why wasn’t I filming that?” complained Craig. Estela shot him one of her famous death glares. “Uh, on second thought, that’s probably a good thing.”

“I cannot truly blame Estela for being invested in this story,” said Aleister. “It is reasonably well-written, with interesting characters. Surprising for a simple mobile application.”

“Dude, nobody calls them ‘mobile applications’ anymore,” said Raj.

“Guess he just did,” Diego pointed out.

“Well, I don’t know about all of you,” said Michelle, “but I’d be down for another chapter. After a quick snack break, because that chapter made me hungry again. Anyone else?”

“Ooh! How about I make dessert for everyone!” offered Quinn, to resounding approval from the others. “Want to help out, Michelle?”

“Sure, I’d love to,” Michelle answered with a smile, taking Quinn’s hand and letting her lead her out toward the kitchen. “Just don’t get any flour on my clothes again like last time. It took forever to clean up!”

“Well, I did tell you to wear an apron…” Quinn giggled.

Zahra stood up from her chair. “Meanwhile, I’m grabbing some more booze,” she declared, heading in the direction of the wine cellar. “Craig, you’re coming with me.”

“What? Why?”

“Wrong answer,” said Zahra. “No booze for you, then.”

“Wait, I mean: ‘Yep, Zahra.’”

Zahra smirked triumphantly as Craig pushed himself out of his chair and followed after her. “That’s better.”

“Alright, well, I’m taking a nap,” said Raj. “Somebody wake me up when we’re starting the next one.” With that, he simply laid back in his chair and instantly fell asleep, already snoring not two minutes later.

“Wow. Teach me your ways, Raj!” said Diego. “That was impressive.”

“Hey Sean, pass me that time phone, would you?” asked Alyssa, pointing to Quinn’s phone, which Sean was currently closest to. “I wanna see if there are any future movies on there.”

“Sure, Alyssa-”

“No,” Ian cut in, a stern expression on his face. “Using it to play a phone game was irresponsible enough as it is. We are not using this any further to watch movies.”

“You are such a buzzkill,” groaned Alyssa, as Sean shrugged and set the phone back down.

“Hey, you’ll thank me when the entire space-time continuum doesn’t collapse into oblivion.”

“Ian is being quite prudent in this particular situation,” said Aleister. “Indeed, I do agree that the initial use of your powers was far too dangerous and reckless for-”

“OH COME ON, YOU TOO?!” shouted Alyssa.

As Alyssa and Aleister began arguing once again, Estela turned to her husband. “Somehow, I’m hungry again,” she admitted. “Mind coming with me to grab some food? I hope there’s still some of Raj’s hot sauce left.”

“Sure, why not,” Ian agreed, standing up and taking her hand.

“Hey, Dragon Rage!” shouted Jake as the two of them started to head to the kitchen. “Did you want your firewhisky?”

“Huh? Oh, uh… not really,” Estela said as she realized she still hadn’t touched her drink from Varyyn. “Knock yourself out.”

“Not literally,” warned Alyssa as Jake happily picked up Estela’s goblet.

“Truly a shame, Estela,” said Varyyn. “This drink is quite delicious and-”

He was interrupted by a sudden boom coming from the front doors. “What the hell was that?!” asked Jake, immediately dropping into a (slightly-unsteady) fighting stance.

Diego simply sighed and shook his head. “Oh, no, not again,” he groaned, as he and the others got ready to go investigate the noise….

* * *

Next Chapter: Link

Tag List: @brightpinkpeppercorn @endlesshero1122 @marmolady

[mayjaymayjay]

Title: Bad End (Zootopia Alternate Ending) Word Count: 2333 Pairings: Platonic Judy/Nick Warnings: Blood, Death, Murder, Mind Control/Hypnotism, Major Character Death, Grieving, Crying, Angst Summary: What if the nighthowlers weren’t replaced by blueberries? (Otherwise known as the ending that has been done a million different times) Author Note: Again, this is another old fic, I will most likely never post another Zootopia fanfic. So please don’t follow me or anything because of this fic. Thank you for reading!

“Bye, bye, bunny!” Dawn Bellwether chuckled sinisterly, as Nick Wilde cornered his friend, Judy Hopps, as she pleaded for her life, completely helpless.

He lunged at her, biting deep into her neck, as the bunny screamed in anguish. He shook her around until a loud “CRACK!” was heard. Blood covered his muzzle and Judy, she was killed by her best friend.

Dawn chuckled again. “Ooh! Yes! I win again! And to prove it, well, just look right here!”

She pointed her hooves at the bloody scene of betrayal, admiring it, but, also, grimacing at it, since Nick tore out Judy’s insides, feasting upon them.

“Not so fast, Ms. Bellwether!” A deep, familiar, voice exclaimed.

She quickly turned around, her jaw dropping. “Huh?!”

The sheep was surrounded by the ZPD, including Chief Bogo, two of the police officers, grabbing and handcuffing her.

“No! No! You can't do this!” Dawn cried in desperation.

“Dawn Bellwether, you are under arrest for terrorism,” the chief continued to list off her crimes and criminal rights.

The rest of the officers ran down to tackle Nick off of Judy, then strapping a muzzle on his face, him, as the fox tried to fight back against the cops ten times his size.

“Get a paramedic immediately!” One called, referring to Judy, who was already dead since Nick broke her neck.

The one police officer noticed a carrot-shaped pen fall out of Judy’s pocket.

…

“I learned two things that day,” Nick concluded his story, staring at the ground they were hovering over, him showing an emotion he hadn't shown anyone in a good while: Sadness. “One: I was never gonna let anyone see that they got to me.”

“And two?” Judy asked, begging him to continue.

“If the world's only gonna see a fox as shady and untrustworthy,” he continued, his voice slightly shaky. “There's no point in trying to be anything else.”

“Nick, you are way more than that,” she comforted, placing her paw on his arm.

He glances at her and pulls away. “Boy, look at the traffic down there.” He changed the subject.

…

“Former Mayor Dawn Bellwether is behind bars today,” Fabienne Growley reported on the ZNN News. The screen showed a video of the sheep in custody being guided by a bunch of officers through a mob of photographers. “Guilty of masterminding the horrible attacks that have taken over Zootopia as of late, along with the murder of the hero of our story, Judy Hopps, using a hit-man to do so.”

The next picture was a selfie Judy took in her police uniform, cheerful and hopeful, just how she always was, no matter how difficult things got.

“The former mayor, Leodore Lionheart,” Peter Moosebridge continued the story. “Denies any knowledge of her plan, continuing to claim he was trying to protect the city.”

The program switched to the ex-mayor in prison. “Did I falsely imprison those animals? Well, y-yes, I did. But I was "doing the wrong thing for the ‘right reason’ kind of a deal.”

The news then switched back to Fabienne and Peter.

“In related news,” Fabienne continued. “Doctors say the Night Howler antidote is effective in recovering the afflicted predators.”

…

Nick Wilde groggily woke up in the hospital, after slowly blinking once or twice, he realized he was alone, with no recollection of what happened.

Conveniently, though, a pig nurse walked through the door, carrying a tray of medical tools and utensils, once she realized he was awake her eyes widened in surprise.

“Oh! You're awake!” She exclaimed, hurriedly walking over to his side with the tray. “How are you feeling, Mr. Wilde?”

“Like I just got ran over by a stampede,” he rubbed his head and groaned. “What happened?”

She looked down at the floor, suddenly becoming saddened and anxious. “Mr. Wilde… Do you remember anything before you woke up here?”

“I remember that I was with Judy and we were trapped in a dome-like thing,” he looked up to the ceiling as if trying to see if there were any answers in the plain, white ceiling. “I think there was a sheep with glasses and-” he stopped himself.

“Mr. Wilde?” She called, even more worried than she was before she asked the question.

“All I remember is red,” the fox stated.

He felt his fur on his face become damp, he placed a paw on his face, he was crying?

“It's okay, Mr. Wilde,” she comforted, placing a hoof on his arm while looking him in the eyes, “We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.”

“N-no,” Nick stuttered as he glanced over at her and pulled away. “It's just…”

The gesture made him suddenly remembered someone, then grabbed the nurse’s shoulders. “Where's Judy?” He asked firmly.

The nurse was startled by the question, but then looked back down at the ground, her concerned and comforting look turning into a sad one.

“Answer me, please!” He cried, his voice cracking due to his sobs.

“Mr. Wilde,” she continued hesitantly. “Dawn Bellwether shot you with Night Howler, you attacked Judy, she… She didn't make it.”

Nick’s heart shattered. He let go of the nurse’s shoulders and laid back down, his face devoid of any emotion.

“Mr. Wilde?” She called once again. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I just,” the fox trailed off for a second. “I just need to be alone right now.”

“Yes, sir,” the pig nodded her head and walked out of the room, along with the tray of tools.

After she left, Nick began to fully sob, covering his face with his paws, as tears fell down his fluffy face.

“Judy,” he called, hoping that she would maybe hear him. “I'm so sorry.”

He killed one of his best friends, if not his only friend. How could he had been so careless as to let the Night Howler gun be loaded? He had blueberries, why didn't he replace them with the blueberries he had?

They were right, he was just a dumb, untrustworthy fox, that's all he’ll ever be.

Suddenly, there was a small knock at the door, Nick quickly wiped his tears away and cleared his throat. “C-come in,” he stuttered. Real smooth, Nick.

“Excuse me,” an otter with a blue sweater entered the hospital room. “You're Nick Wilde, right?”

“Yes, ma'am,” Nick answered.

“Well, I'm Mrs. Otterton,” she continued. “Wife of Emmett Otterton, you were on his case with Judy Hopps?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied.

“Well, you saved my husband’s life,” she stated, stepping forward. “I would like to formally thank you for that.”

“Oh, please,” the fox tried to stop her right there. “I'm not the one who save him, carrots, I mean, Ms. Judy is. She's the one who cracked open the case, I was just the one who took her places and gave her tips, I really didn't do much at all. If anything I-” he sighed. “I ruined everything.”

“But, sir,” she defended. “If you weren't there assisting her, she would've never gotten as far as she did.”

“She also would still be alive right now,” he mumbled.

“I'm sorry?” She questioned, she didn't hear him.

“Nevermind,” he shook his head. “I, um… Thank you for coming here, you didn't have to. And, uh, you're welcome for helping to find your husband.”

“No problem, sir,” she nodded with a gentle smile. “I was already here since my husband is, he woke up earlier, he told me to thank you.”

“Well, tell him I said it was no problem,” he said.

“Yes, sir,” she nodded again, then exited the room. “Thank you, again.”

He nodded.

...

Nick carried a bouquet of flowers in his paws as he walked up a steep hill, finally getting the courage to visit his friend. Finally, up the grassy hill, he stood in front of a small tombstone of the friend he was visiting.

The tombstone simply had her name engraved, along with her birth and death year and her favorite song, Try Everything, underneath it.

He placed the flowers at the bottom foot of the grave, Nick, sitting in front of the grave afterward. “Hey, Judy,” he greeted with a small smile.

“It's, uh, been a while, hasn't it?” He forcefully pushed a chuckle. “Well, it’s only been a year, but still… I guess that's a long while to talk to a friend.”

He paused.

“I guess you're kinda wondering what's been going on,” he scratched the back of his neck but then returned his gaze to her grave. “Well, your parents finally understand what fully went on and don't exactly blame me for anything, so I guess that's good.”

“Oh!” He remembered something. “I'm a cop now,” he stated, pulling out his badge and placing it in front of her tombstone as if placing it in her hand.

“Though, I think everyone is paranoid about me, which I guess is fair.” He picked the badge back up and putting it back in his shirt pocket.

He looked at the ground beneath him. “You know, there's not a day that goes by where I don't think about it. It's like someone is pushing a rewind and play button in my head of that same scene.”

He looked back at the tombstone, tears falling down his face. “Everyday is torture and it's all my fault, if I hadn't been so negligent and small-minded you would still be here.”

“You were right,” the fox wiped away few tears with his arm. “I am a dumb fox.”

“Nick?” A familiar voice called. “Nick, is that you?”

Nick slowly turned around, blinking away his tears. Only able to see a silhouette because of the bright sun setting behind her, he could only make out a small frame, tall ears… There's no way. “Judy?”

“Uh, no,” the silhouette corrected, the sun now fully set, he could now see that her fur was a deep brown color with white feet and paws. “I'm one her sisters. You're Nick Wilde, correct?”

“Yeah,” he answered, disappointed. What did he expect? “Why do you ask?”

“One reason is that I was curious why some random fox was at my sister’s grave,” she joked, slightly chuckling to herself, but then turned serious. “The main reason is I wanted to ask a few questions as to why you're here and not saving the world like she would want you to?”

The fox was caught off guard by the question. “I, uh,” he cleared his throat. “I think I should visit my friend once in a while, don't you think?”

“Maybe so, but,” she replied. “Shouldn't you be at work right now?”

“No, I'm off-duty,” he answered, getting a tab bit annoyed at the rabbit. “Anyway, why is it any of your business?”

“Did you ever read her will?” The rabbit asked.

“I didn’t even know she had a will,” he replied, how did he not know about this?

“Before she went on this mission, she wrote a will,” she began, taking a folded up piece of paper from her pocket. “It included a letter for you.”

She presented the letter to him and he took it from her paws.

“I’ll leave you alone now, I’ve done my part,” she began to walk away.

“Wait,” he called, causing her to turn towards him. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it,” she smiled a bit, but then walked away.

He unfolded the paper and began to read it.

“Hey, Nick,

I guess if you’re reading this, I’m not around. I don’t know how this happened and I’m not gonna make assumptions either. But I am going to assume that you’re reading this because you are sad about my death. My sister was instructed to give this letter to you if she saw you again, whether if it was at my funeral or my grave. I don’t know where you’re at now or even how we were as friends, but I just wanted to tell you a few things.

I’m sorry for what I said, I know I’ve probably told you that already, but I really mean it, Nick. I don’t know if you’ve forgiven me or not, but I know this letter was given to you for a reason. My sister has a good intuition and I don’t think she’d just give this letter to you unless she thought you had forgiven me or were genuinely mourning. In that case, I just want to say I’m sorry I’m not here right now. If I could, I’d hug you right now.

I think I should tell you to do something because I don’t know how you reacted, maybe you’re doing well and you don’t need this advice, but I’ll tell you just in case. Move on. Let me go. Don’t forget me, mourn for a bit, but please move on. I love you and care about you and always will. You are a wonderful person and I don’t want you to forget that. So I will conclude on this: Continue making this world a better place for everyone, predators and prey.

Signing off for the final time, Judy Hopps

P.S. Don’t be dumb, be sly.”

Nick’s paws were shaking as he folded the letter again and shoved it into his pocket. His vision was slightly blurred by tears. He looked over to his friend’s grave, nodded, and stood up. He finally got what he needed to hear by the one he needed to hear it from the most.

“You’re right, carrots,” he sighed and walked away.

As he continued he thought about all the good and bad times he had with Judy, yes they were memories he would occasionally need to think about to bring him to senses or to comfort him. However, he didn’t need to live in that forever, he needed to forgive himself and he needed to move on. Like Judy wrote, he needed to make the world a better place.

Nick got into his car, shut the door behind himself, and smiled. “I need to get to work then.”

[oblivion-time]

Ripple Effect ch 7 (SoMa Week 2017)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

AO3 | FF.net

Ripple effect

In battle

"I can't believe this." Maka held back her tears as she fanned herself with her hands. "I'm getting married."

"Yeah, and he will drive himself crazy the moment he lays his eyes on you." Liz smirked wide as she grabbed her eyeshadow palette and a brush. "But since he's already your husband by law, he probably rocks a semi everywhere he goes."

Maka's face heated up and she picked up her vows and fanned herself with it, pinking even more at the knowing grin on Liz's face. They had gotten caught quite a lot in the janitor's closet by her classroom she might as well put up a sign with her name on it. She intentionally "forgot" her lunch or her keys or anything just for Soul to have a reason to come and visit her. Well, let's just say she wasn't just hungering for a sandwich. At least her students hadn't walked in on her with her husband. Otherwise she would've been fired on the spot and had a stampede of parents on her ass.

"Something like that." She avoided Liz's knowing eyes and she turned toward the full body mirror. The beautiful bridal dress hugged her curves nicely and nicely followed her legs. A simple but yet breath-taking dress she had chosen out of all the bride dresses in the store. Liz had done a simple hairdo and attached the veil at the back of her head. She simply looked… really good. She just hoped Soul would like her look as much as she did.

"I'm just surprised you can keep your sex life as alive as you two do. There's just so much you can do in a wheelchair."

"We're doing just fine." And they were doing more than fine! Sure, since Soul couldn't move his legs or support himself on them, all the work fell on to Maka, but he was certainly not just taking it. He had his hands and mouth to work with and oh boy, he worked wonders with those. Going through months without the intimate connection, it had left a hunger that needed to be squashed. Repeatedly. As often as they could.

"More than fine from what I'm hearing." Liz came into view in the mirror, wiggling her eyebrows. "I bet it will only improve once Kim has gotten the hang of her magic to give him back his ability to walk."

It would definitely, but she didn't really care. Having sex with him would always be amazing. With or without wheelchair. She knew Soul would love to walk around again and lift her up when they hugged and spin her around and kiss her whenever he wanted without reeling her down to his level. He wanted his legs back, and she would support that until the end of her life, but if he would forever be bound in a wheelchair or walking braces and crutches, she was fine with that too. As long as she was with him, she would be okay.

"Yeah, now when she's combining her magic with the progressive science and experiments, I have no doubt she will come up with a solution soon. Especially now when she has Soul's family showering money over her." She could only giggle. The first pay check Mr. Evans had given her, her eyes had almost popped out from their sockets at the large sum.

"She's smart and she will come up with it soon." Liz went around her with the eyeshadow palette in hand and a brush. "Now close your eyes."

The waiting had been killing her when Soul had been rolled inside of the surgery room. They all knew either he would come back out with new intestines and a new chance at life, or he would die on the table, but she had faith he would survive. Soul wasn't a weakling. He struggled through the consequences of saving her in the mountain village and he proved her he was truly ten times stronger than her. Soul… he was simply the most amazing and wonderful partner she could've ever asked for, but at the same time the worst one. Without a thought regarding himself and his life, he would give it all up. For her.

He had been in surgery for seven hours, and he came out alive. More than alive, two hours later he woke up more alive than ever. He was left in the hospital for weeks and she wept with joy, his body was accepting the transplant and he would no longer vomit from drinking liquids. He was gaining weight and his ribcage no longer threatened to break skin. His arm healed up and his body grew stronger. Six weeks later he was discharged from the hospital and for the first time in months, he could return home.

She kept her promise. Two months after the surgery she asked him to marry her with a golden ring in a box, and he said yes. The very next day they went to courthouse and got married, deciding to save the actual ceremony for later when their lives were more stable.

Now, when Soul was healthy enough to eat solid food and live as a normal life as he could as a wheelchair-bound person, it was time they went through with the wedding ceremony.

"There. You look beautiful." Maka opened her eyes and gazed on Liz's masterpiece. Her jaw dropped at her makeup. And not in a good way.

"Why did you give me purple lipstick?!" she shrieked and it was like a horrible throwback toward the fatal night in the mountains. When she was going on a date with "Akane" and Liz had insisted putting on purple lipstick. This— this— she couldn't trigger Soul to go all PTSD on her! "I can't wear purple!"

"Ah, come on, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" she sneered as she turned around. "Do you call both of us dying not that bad? What if he passes out just from seeing me or he decides to call off the ceremony or—"

"Relax." Liz swung her arm around Maka's shoulders. "It's fine. A little bird whispered in my ear that purple lipstick is the way to go today."

"What? Really?" Soul… did he really want her to wear purple lipstick? No… wouldn't he be triggered or primed to hate it?

"You know a good agent never reveals her source."

"… but you're not an agent."

"But a street thug I am. I'm just an informal agent." Liz winked as she went over to the makeup table messy with all her different products.

"I trust you not to ruin my wedding." She called after her to the sound of the door opening.

Wes peeked his head inside of the room. "It's time."

"Already?"

Wes grinned wide and slid inside of the room, closing the door behind him. "Nervous? You're just going to marry the same guy again."

Maka blew a raspberry and turned back toward the mirror to smoothen out her dress. Wes appeared behind her in the mirror. "Last time it was only us, you, a judge and a twenty dollar bill. This time, an audience of six-hundred people will be watching us."

"You've nothing to worry about. I'm sure this day will be just as magical as the day at the courthouse, maybe even better, who knows."

"I just hope this all won't freak Soul out."

"The only reason he would freak out would be if his to-be-wife-again didn't start walking down the aisle when the organ starts. Now turn around." She turned around to face her brother-in-law, he pulled her veil down. "He's just as nervous as you are, if that is to any comfort."

It wasn't anything new. She could feel him at the end of their bond, feeling his soul quivering with nerves, if any, he was maybe even more nervous than she was. Being in the spotlight in front of so many people must be scary.

"I know." She placed her hand on her chest where her soul dwelled. "He's freaking out."

"Then how about we get this wedding started?"

She let out a quick breath before she nodded. "Yes."

Liz disappeared inside of the church and so did Wes after flashing a thumb up toward her. Maka exhaled and held her bouquet tightly in her hands when the organist started playing. The double doors opened, revealing all their friends and family gathered in the benches. But no Soul. Kid stood alone at the end of the aisle and Liz and Wes stood on either side as their maid of honour and best man. But where the heck was Soul?! Her palms grew moist as she slowly started to walk down the aisle. Their friends and family among the audience didn't seem surprised at all, simply composed and smiled toward her as she went by.

She reached the end of the aisle where Wes grinned even wider at her perplexed expression.

The song didn't end. It started back up and the heavy double doors slammed open once again. She flipped around and there he was. Standing— on his legs! His wheelchair was nowhere to be seen and iron poles were jutting out from his pants, resembling his walking braces, but at the same time not. His hands casually fisted the metal rode and he gently tugged it forward— he took a step!

Maka gasped when he wobbled the slightest, intending to go and aid him when flesh grabbed her wrist. She faced Wes shaking his head.

"Just watch him."

It all fell into place. The nervousness within Soul's core. Wes's knowing grin. They all knew this was going to happen.

She watched him. As discrete as he could, he pulled at the metal rods as he shakily went down the aisle. It was enchanting. The sweet melodies from the organ seemed to cease to exist as Soul slowly made his way down the aisle. Occasionally he had to support himself on the benches, but he battled on and kept on walking down the aisle. The organ repeated the song when he reached halfway. Tears pooled up in her eyes and Maka silently thanked Liz for applying waterproof makeup.

When he was just a few steps away from her, she neared him and gathered him in her arms. "You're walking." she whispered into his ear, hugging him close to her which he reciprocated with interest. "I can't believe it."

"Me neither. Kim came up with a solution and she has managed to reconnect my nerve system to my legs. Now I just need to build up my muscles again and maybe I'll be able to walk like before all this happened."

"Thank death." she whimpered and buried her face in her husband's neck. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to surprise you and make you proud on our wedding day."

She pulled away and she cupped his cheeks, caressing his newly shaved skin. "I'm always going to be proud of you. Wheelchair or no wheelchair. Please, include me in your battles. I want to support you and help you even if it is the smallest thing like fetching utensils because you forgot to bring them."

Soul lifted up her veil and held her face in his hands, thumb caressing her bottom lip and his eyes darkened as if he was hypnotized. He leaned closer and his forehead feathered over hers. "I promise you I will always include you not only in my life, but in my mind and thoughts. I will always support and love you through thick and thin until death reclaims me."

A smile played on Maka's lips just before they locked tightly with her husband. Loud applauds rung and whistles broke out as their lips slipped, clinging onto each other.

Kid shrugged his shoulders and chuckled heartily. Seemed like they didn't need him to wed them after all. They did it well themselves.

Soul pulled away, licking the purple lipstick smeared on his lips. "I'm so glad you put that lipstick on."

Maka giggled and kissed his nose. "If you had to choose between me reapplying the lipstick or a cheeseburgers and chill at the hotel room, what would you chose?"

"No." His eyes widened with realization. "You didn't."

Maka shrugged her shoulders and pulled him close to her. "It's your choice."

"Is there no possibility to have both?"

"I'm open for some kind of compromise." Her finger ran along his jaw line.

"I'm your guy then." He reeled her in and kissed her once again.

Finally. Their battle had ended. Now only peace laid in front of them.

...

Thank you all for reading this little fic of mine and letting me break and mend your hearts once again! Now you can rest assure, I'll leave Maka and Soul alone in this universe to live happily forever after.