#y'all. but I was having the worst time. so everything is kind if a blur) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

forsworned · 3 years ago

Text

[♥] academyau!substitute teacher {renguko kyojuro x reader}

Genre: Slight Fluff, Comedy

Categories: F/M

Relationships: Kyoujuro Renguko/Reader, Giyuu Tomioka/Reader

word count: 2,538

a/n: this is a pretty long read, so read at your own risk of boredom. i guess it could also b classified as a "x giyuu" but the title is just way too long and kind of throws the main focus off. might turn this into multiple parts so let me know what y'all think! also this is just a filler for the requests i have rn i don't want to leave you guys hanging

❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

"I literally don't know shit about history."

Giyu sighed in exasperation. "You don't need to know anything about history [first name]. The teacher already has a lesson plan and you literally just need to pass out the papers. I just need you to cover for a couple of a days because one of the teachers are out sick."

You groaned as you threw your head back in annoyance, pushing your feet up against the edge of your desk. Even though it didn't look it Giyu was practically begging you to substitute for one of his coworkers. And he almost never asks for favors.

Giyu ran a hand through his hair. "He's super picky with his subs and everyone he's had come in hasn't come back."

"So you're saying that I'm a good pick." You mused, with your head in your hands with an annoying smug look.

"Don't push it."

You scrunched your face in disgust. "I just really, really don't want to Giyu. Middle school kids are the absolute worst. All they do is make moaning noises and forget or neglect to wear deodarant."

Giyu lightly chuckled. Your eyes darted to watch his usually solemn demeanor melted away into a small smile which immediately disappeared when you caught wind of it.

He cleared his throat and continued to speak like nothing happened.

"Anyway, so you'll do it?"

You rolled your eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. I'll do it."

Giyu looked pleased with himself when he heard your answer.

"I mean after all, I do owe you like a million and one favors." You sarcastically mused.

Which you kind of did. Giyu was your childhood best friend and always kept your out trouble in the nick of time. Whether it was you getting chased down by the neighborhood cat, or when you got gum stuck in your hair and you didn't want your parents to find out so he quickly snipped it out of your hair with everything seemingly in place like nothing happened. Yeah you could say you were a bit of troublemaker growing up, but Giyu was like the older brother that always looked after you.

"I'm so glad you realized." He replied cooly. "Be here by 7:30AM. Don't be late, I already have enough on my plate and I don't need you embarassing me."

You used your hand to shoo him out of your office space. "Mhm, you can leave now."

"I'm serious."

"Yup."

He squinted his eyes at you."[first name]"

"Ok! I got it. I'll be there 7:30 sharp." You exclaimed throwing your arms up in surrender.

He smirked in satisfaction. "Good."

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The morning air was crisp as the sun shone down on your blurred eyes. You absolutely dreaded waking up in the morning and despite that you still agreed to be here. Oh, how you hated that man.

"Good morning." A familiar voice muffled beside you.

Speak of the devil.

He was munching away at his raisin bread walking next to you in the most nonchalant manner. Typical Giyu.

"Shut up." You mumbled miserably.

"You know, you could be a little nicer."

Your eyes narrowed at him. Expression in full death stare mode, but Giyu was as cool as ever, and as always completely unfazed by your behavior. But before you could retaliate, middle and highschool girls were practically lining up to say good morning to Giyu, blushing like mad when he acknowledged them. You on the other hand, were getting the death stares and whispers instead.

"Must be nice to be the heart throb PE teacher." You teased, poking him with your binder.

Giyu ignored you as you walked into the building, showing you to your classroom. You ignored the stares of kids burning holes through your back as you analyzed everything. Tons of inspirational historical quotes lined the walls, pictures and signatures of past and possibly current students covered one single wall. You inspected closely trying to catch a glimpse of who the teacher you were substituting for. One person in particular caught your eye, and he was hot. With a capital H. But before you could look at the other pictures to confirm Giyu called you over.

"Miss [last name], can you come up to the front and introduce yourself."

You sighed as you approached the front of the classroom and watched as the students all stood up. As their whispers got louder, you had to resist the urge to roll your eyes.

"Good morning class. I'm going to be your substitute teacher for the day as Mr.--"You glanced over at the desk and moved the plaque in your direction. "--Renguko is out sick today."

As the class bowed in respect getting their good morning greetings, some of the children could't help but show their disappointment. You noticed most of them girls.

"I'll leave them to you." Giyu stated, and then looked at the class. "And be good to your substitute. I don't want to hear anyone misbehaving."

They bowed as he exited the room and now all eyes were on you. You sighed to yourself.

I really gotta learn to say no sometimes.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

To say you were exhausted was an understatement. It’s not that you hated kids or anything, but they always just see to have so much energy and well, you didn’t. Not even a cup of coffee could save you right now. You watched as the clock above your desk ticked and felt yourself getting more and more sleepier by the moment. Your consciousness fleeting as you lie under your warm blankets.

The image of that fiery haired man popped into your head and your eyes shot open.

You totally forgot to ask Giyu about that hot guy!

You let out a loud groan, knowing that your timing was off because now he would most definitely be suspicious if you asked him tomorrow. The curiosity of knowing that man itched at your skin. You absolutely had to know who he was.

What if he was a high school student, or worse a middle school student who looked very grown.

You outwardly icked at the thought, closing your eyes and scrunching your face in disgusted.

No way. He definitely had to be an adult. Maybe even a teacher.

“The history teacher!” You exclaimed out loud, shooting your whole body up.

It had to be him. You smiled victoriously to yourself, mentally patting yourself in the back.

And you had the perfect plan set up to find out.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You had to have looked in the mirror for about three hours to make sure you looked absolutely stunning. Hair curled to frame your face perfectly, and make up subtle but very much enhancing your natural features. You rubbed your lips one more time in the mirror before smacking your hands to your face to wake yourself up. Giyu was not going to be happy.

The morning bells chimed and you were seated at the desk welcoming students as they walked in. You discreetly checked your make up in your compact mirror under the desk to make sure nothing was running and not a hair was out of place.

“Perfect.” You whispered to yourself, running a hand through your blow out. All this work for a man that probably wasn’t even a teacher here.

“Miss [last name], what are you doing here.”

You froze at the voice. Nothing could prepare you for the icy glare that Giyu shot down at you. It sent a shiver down your spine. But his glare melted right off of you as you glanced over to the man next to him. Your mystery man finally come true!

“Oh hello, Mr. Tomioka. It’s pleasure seeing you.” You smiled, standing up. You looked right over to the handsome man right next to him. His hair like rays of sunlight with eyes to match. You could barely contain your excitement. “And you must be Mr. Renguko.”

His smile as big as the sun. Scratch that. He was the sun.

Bright, beautiful and fiery. He physically made you warmer just being in his very presence. You could’ve sworn you heard simultaneous female sighs in admiration, but you were way too distracted by how utterly gorgeous he was.

“Yes, I am.” He cheerfully stated. “And you must be the substitute that was in for me yesterday.”

He took your hand in his and you could’ve sworn you melted at his touch. Finely calloused hands, indicating that he worked with his hands a lot. Not that his physique couldn’t already tell you how absolutely fit he was.

“Yes, I am. Your class was wonderful. I didn’t have any problems with them whatsoever.” You couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear. This really was the man and it took every ounce of you not to pinch yourself to see if you were awake or not.

“So are you going to tell me why exactly you’re here today.” Giyu chimed in. This time his icy glare had no effect.

“Oh yes, I thought I was still scheduled for today. I never heard anything back from Mr.Tomioka so I assumed that I would head back in.” You lied right through your teeth and Giyu could see right through it.

He narrowed his eyes at you. “And I remember emailing you last night confirming that Mr. Renguko was fully recovered and ready to work again.”

You couldn’t see it but Giyu was totally spitting out venom with every single word he spoke. It was almost terrifying, but you were way too distracted by the glow of the man that was the literal sun right beside you.

As if the smile on your face couldn’t get any bigger.

“That’s odd. I don’t remember getting an email.” You innocently put a finger to your lip, and looked upward as if you were searching your head for the memory of the email confirmation that you definitely recall getting.

Giyu’s went from you to Mr.Renguko. And then it finally clicked for him. His shoulder dropped in defeat. He did not have the strength required to dealing with your shenanigans today. He turned around heading out the classroom, raising a hand to dismissively.

“Just don’t burn the place down.”

You gave him two big thumbs up. “You got it!”

"So would you like to observe the class since you're already here?" Mr.Renguko interjected. He motioned to the empty seat right beside his desk and chair.

You beamed at him. "Only if that's okay with your class, of course."

"Oh trust me, they are more than okay with that." He grinned at the students. Most of them smiled and blushed looking away from your direction. You sat there in confusion, but before you could inquire about what he said, he shot out of his seat and grabbed the stack of papers on his desk.

"Alright, class we are going to go over your classwork from yesterday and finish the rest of chapter six."

☆彡

It seemed like forever until Mr.Renguko had settled into his seat while he let his students work together on their classwork.

"I can see why my students are such big fans of you." He mused. You looked up from your phone and saw him warmly grinning at your face. This time you didn't fight the blood rushing to the surface of your cheeks.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well," He pulled out a stack of notecards and began shuffling through them. "I always have my students write their own evaluations of my substitutes and yours were outstanding. Lots of compliments about your appearance and how you carried the class."

Evaluation? Appearance?

Your jaw went slightly aslack at his words. The only thing that left your lips: "Evaluations...?"

His grin grew. Mr.Rengoku knew that this had caught you off guard but he continued. "Yes, I like to know what substitutes are doing their job and keeping my students in line and comfortable."

You were almost speechless. "Wow, you must really care about your students."

He smiled softly this time, and fondly looked over at his students working diligently and quietly together. "Yes, I do. They're kind of like my own kids. I want the very best for them."

Just when you thought you couldn't admire him anymore that you already did. Hot and caring? It had to be too good to be true. You pointed to the best teacher of the year awards on his desk. "I guess you didn't get those just based off your looks alone then."

He visibly blushed and chuckled at you statement as he rubbed the back of his head. "Nah, I don't think so."

You raised an eyebrow at him and pointed at the wall of photos and signatures that lined his wall. "That wall definitely says otherwise."

He laughed a hearty laugh this time. "I don't really think that's the case. Like I said I just look after my students like their my own. They really are my pride and joy."

It really was incredibly hard to not let yourself melt into a puddle in his presence alone. But before you could collect your thoughts, the lunch bell rang and students filed out to their homeroom's and handing in their assignments on their way out. Most of the girls shot you dirty looks before heading out as a way of showing their contempt towards you before the smiled at Mr.Rengoku who was collecting papers at the doorway. At this point, you literally couldn't blame them. Their teacher was a total hottie and you were practically stealing him right under their noses.

As the last student handed in their assignment, Mr. Rengoku closed the door behind them and approached his desk to set aside the stack of papers. He pulled put a box of tissues, picking one out and sneezed rather loudly into it. Cheeks were now a hue of vermillion and he slighted groaned while holding his head.

"You don't look so good, Mr. Renguko." You stated worriedly.

He waved you off. "Nonsense, I'm fine. And you can drop the formalities when were not in front of students. Call me Kyojuro."

You sighed as you fumbled through your bag handing him some cold and flu pills and a packet of vitamin c. "Ok, Kyojuro. You can call me [first name], but I'm going to need you to take these for me and get on home."

He blew loudly into his tissue before tossing into the trash revealing his very red nose. "I-I'm fine, Miss [last name]-- I mean [first name]. Really, I'm ok." He stuttered as he tried to collect himself and get up. Unfortunately, he couldn't hold himself up for more than ten seconds before collapsing and luckily you were there to catch him. He seemed to have been mumbled incoherent words as he laid heavily in your arms. You sighed as you slowly laid him down on the ground and reached for your cellphone to dial the one person you knew could handle this situation the best.

"You didn't actually burn the place down did you?"

You rolled your eyes. "No, idiot. Teacher down."

"Ah, fuck."

242 notes · View notes

buckypcrker · 3 years ago

Text

mission as usual // i love y'all 3000 challenge

hi everyone! this is a submission for @pagesoflauren's i love y'all 3000 challenge. i saw this come up on my dash and figured i would do a prompt (or two, maybe). i haven't written anything in quite a bit, and the inspiration may as well have slapped me in the face. here is the link to her original post!

pairing: Clint Barton x James "Bucky" Barnes [WinterHawk]

warnings: hurt/comfort, possible fluff overload, typical canon violence

prompt: "Who did this to you?"

word count: 1.5k

Mission As Usual

After most Avengers missions the tower became chaotic. The brisk footfalls of new agents discussing upcoming missions. Stark's R&D engineers tweaking and updating weapons and transportation vehicles. The medical staff taking care of patients and preparing for those who would be coming from other missions.

You could say that the Avengers were a kind of group who believed in self-sacrifice — even if it was a subconscious effort — and the worst of the bunch had to be one-Clint Barton.

Clint had this streak of consecutive medical visits post-mission going — he was currently weighing in at 62, and that's not counting the various clumsy accidents he gets into in the tower.

But the only problem he truly faced was getting past his mother-hen of a boyfriend. Bucky meant well, truly. He just can't help it when he gets his Sargent voice going and telling Clint to "be more careful".

"He was like this with me when we were kids", Steve had laughed, "glad to see that hasn't changed."

The only difference is Steve Rogers was the most sickly kid in all of Brooklyn, hell, all of New York and Clint was just a huge, self-sacrificing klutz.

Missions with just himself and Natasha were rare nowadays. They hung out all the time in the tower regardless, but there was nothing quite as special when they got to team up against HYDRA or former members of the Red Room.

Half the time that they were out in the field they were back to back watching each other's six. Clint's bow always drawn tight with an arrow and Natasha's batons buzzing in her hands. No one worked quite as in sync as the two of them, well, unless you look at Steve and Sam Wilson.

Their mission this time was tracking down a rogue HYDRA agent who escaped their grasp during their last roll in the mud with the whole team. Seemed simple enough. In, out, get the guy, interrogate, and have time to catch a new episode of The Blacklist.

As most injuries to the Avengers happen, one minute Clint was in a Mexican stand off with the HYDRA agent, Natasha coming up from behind, and the next his face was slammed down onto the asphalt.

His ears were ringing, head throbbing. There's another one, he must've called backup. Clint slowly pushed himself up to his knee, blood trickling down his temple. He flung his head around, seeing his attacker coming back for another blow.

Clint ducked under his leg that was out to kick him and snatched a knife from his boot, swiping at the back of the man's knee. A hiss sounds above him as the agent joins Clint on his knees, slamming his knee hard into his stomach.

All of the air that was in his lungs rushes out, and he's sitting hunched over, suffocating, and trying to regain his breath. "I'm supposed to be watching Nat's six", he thinks.

He finally returns to his feet, wheezing but breathing better than he was. His and Nat's grunts are heard as they continue to fight the HYDRA agents. In due time, Clint knocks out the agent by kneeing him in the head and Nat had apprehended the other.

"Alright Squad Four come in for clean up." Nat says briskly into comms.

Two quinjets land, and suddenly the steps Clint needs to take to get to them seem so impossible. Thankfully, Natasha comes up next to him and helps him to bear his own weight. Bless her and her red head.

A few SHIELD agents rush out of the first quinjet armed and with handcuffs to apprehend the HYDRA agents. The second one that Nat leads him towards has a pilot and a few medical techs to give them a basic once over before Bruce and Dr. Cho can get to them at the tower.

The flight from their mission site to the tower pass by in a total blur. Clint is fading in and out of consciousness, his head is throbbing, and everything hurts.

"Mr. Barton, sorry to interrupt," one of the med techs signs, "your hearing aids were damaged during the fight, Mr. Stark is going to have to make some new ones for you."

"Aw hearing aids, no." Clint says slurred and he knows he's a bit loud due to not being able to hear himself.

Landing at the tower winds up being more of an affair than usual. With Clint's lack of hearing, he had no clue what was happening. Lips were impossible to read as hurried conversations occurred around him.

Of course, Bruce and Dr. Cho tried to gang up on him and force him onto a gurney, hell, at least a wheelchair to wheel him to an exam room. As the sharpshooter does, he makes a big stink with slurred words and glassy eyes.

Natasha had pushed him into a wheelchair anyway.

Clint really just wanted to crawl into a vent and hide until he felt better — and maybe pop a few ibuprofen tablets too. But there he was, post-checkup with Bruce, sitting on the counter in the communal kitchen.

As with most of Clint's now 63 consecutive medical visits, bandaids were on multiple parts of his face. He was also sporting some nice bruises on his stomach and temple where his head had been slammed into the ground.

He looked and felt like he was hit by a truck filled with 17 elephants, and then ran over by a train. Ok, maybe he was getting a bit dramatic now.

Nonetheless, he was sitting with Natasha, Tony, and Peter — this new spider-child that he swears Tony picked up off the street and he has to stop calling him 'Mr. Hawkeye, sir'. His injuries were on full display, only because after having to cut Clint's shirt off to give him that once over Bruce didn't even want to try and get a shirt back on the poor man.

"You know, I know I'm an asshole, but you look like shit, Legolas." Tony snarks as his hands move quickly.

"Thanks, Tony. You are so sweet to get me a glass of water." Clint pulled this master guilt-tripping look that always got to Tony and like their game always goes, the short man retrieved what Clint wanted.

And that sure put a large grin on his face. Ow, it hurt... damn bruises. It also helped when he saw Peter laughing and the shaking of Nat's head as she sipped from a wine glass.

Everything was finally settling down, and as he got sucked into a tough game of Angry Birds on his phone, he was stunned at the sudden movements in his periphery.

Looking up — and completely missing his shot with the bird that was simultaneously a bomb — he saw Bucky rushing at him, pressing into his space between his legs. Words were tumbling out of his mouth but Clint couldn't begin to comprehend them. Too much, too fast.

"Buck, no aids, they broke." Clint signs quickly.

He watches Bucky's face change from concerned and kicked puppy to an angry scowl and back in two seconds. His metal hand reaches to cup Clint's cheek, the archer immediately pressing into his hold.

"Who did this to you?" Bucky signs with his other hand, face serious.

"HYDRA agent. Thought there was one, turns out it was two." Clint sighs in exhaustion.

Clint watches as his boyfriend looks him over, grimacing at the bruising and the bandages covering him. He knows Bucky worries when he goes on missions without having him as a backup, and this just further proved that.

He watches as Bucky turns to Tony and say something, but Clint doesn't bother to try and follow along to the conversation. He looks to Steve and Sam, both dressed in their running gear, the sweat on their brows, and they share a knowing look.

Clint was about to be put on bed arrest by one Bucky Barnes. So much to his plan of hiding out in the vents.

He watches Sam mouth 'Buck, overreacting again', and shakes his head with a fond smile. As much of a pain he was when Clint was hurt, he found it very endearing. At times when Clint had been injured way worse, Bucky had helped him into a warm bath to soothe his aches and pains, massaging his scalp, and rambling to him about his day.

Bucky taps Clint's knee twice, their signal to pay attention so they can see each other signing, he looks up into his steely blue eyes and catches a small smile on his face.

"How many now?" Bucky signs with a smirk.

"63, and counting!"

"Stop that Clint Frances."

"You did not just middle name me."

"Hm, whatcha gon' do about it doll?" Bucky smirks, signing something vaguely inappropriate as their friends had cleared out the room to give them privacy.

"Nothing. Although, I could use some good ole Bucky-bear cuddles." Clint smiled softly, looking at his boyfriend lovingly.

"Of course, I'm always going to take care of you. No matter what."

Even with Bucky's overprotective nature, Clint still couldn't help but blush at the affection from his boyfriend. He knew he still had to face the upcoming Sergeant speech, but in that moment, nothing else really mattered as he sat in Bucky's arms.

#winterhawk #james bucky barnes #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x clint barton #clint barton #bucky barnes fan fic #clint barton fanfiction #marvel #marvel fanfiction #buckypcrker #ap.fic #i love y'all 3000 challenge #pagesoflauren3000challenge

19 notes · View notes

lizwontcry · 4 years ago

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Breaking Bad Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Jesse Pinkman/Walter White Characters: Jesse Pinkman, Walter White Additional Tags: I hope y'all like kissing Summary:

A small, quiet conversation that turns into more. AU take on the scene from 5x6, Buyout.

Jesse lets go of Walt’s hand and Walt questions why he immediately feels so intensely disappointed, but Jesse doesn’t alter his gaze off Walt’s face. Instead, he gently removes Walt’s glasses and puts them on the coffee table. Walt is so moved by this seemingly innocuous gesture that it renders him speechless. And apparently Jesse has decided they don’t need words, anyway.

____

He's losing him. Walt is losing Jesse and it's making him feel the worst kind of helpless. Ever since he took down Gus, their partnership--hell, their relationship--has been thriving, and now he feels like he has to think quick to get them back on track. Ha, back on track--ironic since they almost got away with robbing the train of its methylamine, and then...

He can't lose Jesse. Not now.

Walt reaches out and puts his hand on Jesse's shoulder. It's a little damp from sweating under their cumbersome, restrictive protective gear. The occupational hazards of cooking meth, Walt supposes. They were just taking a lunch break in another random stranger’s house when Jesse stumbled upon a news story about the kid in the desert.

Jesse is, understandably, still unhinged about Drew Sharp. Walt gives a half-hearted speech about “running the business their way” and soul-searching after they’ve made all their money, but he knows he's not getting through to Jesse. It's so frustrating to feel like Jesse is slipping further and further away from him when Jesse is the only person who remains faithful and loyal. The only person he can truly trust.

"Listen, why don't I finish this up? Why don't you... why don't you go on home, hmm?" Walt says. Maybe if Jesse had more time to himself, some peace and quiet, he'll calm down. Walt’s starting to see that’s not likely, however. He may not ever be the same. Walt is almost certain he at least used to possess as much empathy as Jesse has, but he can’t actually remember a time when he did. It’s sort of disconcerting.

“You sure?” Jesse asks.

“Absolutely,” Walt says. “Yeah. I’ll take care of this.” He claps Jesse one more time on the shoulder and gets up to go back into the tent. But Jesse grabs his hand and causes Walt to abruptly turn around. Walt is a little shocked by this gesture--Jesse rarely touches him; in fact it seems like he goes out of his way not to most of the time.

“Mr. White… I can’t go home--what's the point? I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I want to find Todd and I want to--ugh, I want to strangle that piece of shit!”

“I know. I know you do, and I've told you over and over again--we will deal with Todd."

"Oh, yeah? How is that? How are we going to deal with this nazi asshole who just shot a kid right in front of us? We have to talk to Drew Sharp’s parents, Mr. White. We have to do something."

"Saul is going to handle all of that, don't worry. That's why we pay him, Jesse. To deal with things like this. And Todd is not going to go unpunished. I promise you."

Jesse does not look convinced. Walt gets it--Jesse has a certain affinity for children; he can relate to their innocent young souls, or something. Walt is not made of stone--he mourns the senseless death of the kid, too, but he's become numb. It's just easier to be numb than to think about all the carnage that has fallen around him. Because of him, some might say. Walt disagrees, but that's another subject entirely.

Perhaps giving in to Walt's attempt at compassion, Jesse sinks into the couch next to him. Walt pats Jesse on the shoulder again; Jesse looks up at him, a somber expression on his face. His eyes are wet with silent tears.

"I just... don't know how we're going to move on from this," Jesse says softly.

"I know, but I will handle it. Come on, don't you trust me?" Walt asks.

Jesse shakes his head. "I don't know, Mr. White. I want to. But it just keeps happening, yo. Everywhere we go, someone dies. I can’t… I can’t do it. I can't keep doing this.”

Walt’s heart sinks a little. Again, he wishes he had the gift of comfort, but he’s never been very good at that. So instead he sits down with Jesse and awkwardly puts his arm around him. To his surprise, Jesse sighs and puts his head on his shoulder. Again, Jesse rarely shows any signs of physical affection towards him, but Walt isn't going to deny him of it. Jesse seems to need it now more than ever. The weight of Jesse’s head on his chest, his steady breathing, the warmth of his body… Walt feels like his heart is beating a little faster now. He tries not to think about that too much.

"Jesse... listen to me," Walt says in a low, controlled voice. “We've been through a lot together this past year, haven't we? And with everything that happens, I've managed to keep us moving forward."

"Yeah... I guess," Jesse says, sniffing a little.

"We got out of the Tuco situation, remember? My plan worked."

"Yeah, but you kinda got us into that one, too," Jesse points out. "I know you went all Rambo or whatever on him when I was in the hospital, but still... you got us mixed up with him in the first place."

Walt nods; he'd concede Jesse the point. "Okay, well, how about killing those dealers before they could kill you first?"

"Yeah, but I pretty much repaid you for that one, yo," Jesse says. He squeezed Walt's hand for emphasis. "Don't you think?"

Walt nods, and sort of feels bad for making Jesse think about Gale yet again.

"Yes, you did. Of course you did, Jesse. And I can never thank you enough for that.”

Walt is quiet for a moment. He doesn't want to lose this momentum they've been building up together, so he continues. "The point is... you can trust me. Saul will deal with the boy's parents and Mike will figure out what to do with Todd. We can overcome this. And I want you by my side when we do--I can't do this without you."

Jesse chuckles. "That's bullshit. You can get any asshole off the street and teach him what you've taught me. No big deal."

"That's not true. And even if it were, I wouldn't want to. It's you and me, Jesse. It's always been you and me."

Jesse looks at him again, his glistening blue eyes shining in the harsh light of the living room. Walt knows firsthand how much Jesse can get away with, with those eyes of his. How charming he can be when he really wants to. Walt admires the ease of Jesse's good looks.

“One more thing… one more reason to trust me--I got you into rehab, Jesse. I found you in that disgusting hellhole you were in and I picked you up and I brought you out of there. But first I held you in my arms, remember? I held you while you cried. And I made sure you would be okay. Doesn't that mean anything?" He's not trying to lay it on so thick, but Walt is getting a little emotional just thinking about it. The way Jesse clung to him that day, never wanting to let go. Walt's shirt was drenched in Jesse's anguished tears by the time he finally got him out of that godforsaken house.

"Yeah... I remember," Jesse says. He finds Walt's hand again and lightly intertwines their fingers together. Walt wonders where this is coming from, but he doesn’t want it to stop. In fact, just like everything else in his life lately, he needs more.

"I don't know what would have happened if you didn't take me out of there, yo. Honestly, I don’t even know how I ended up there in the first place. It’s all a blur."

“Well, that’s all over now. You’re safe, and I will always do my best to make sure you stay that way. That’s all I want, Jesse. That’s all I want you to know.”

“I get it,” Jesse says, but there’s no hint of the usual annoyance in his voice. Instead his voice is calm and unwavering.

As Jesse leans in, Walt grabs his neck--maybe a little more forcefully than necessary, but god, in the moment in between Jesse looking at him and then meeting his lips, Walt decides he needs this. He needs Jesse, and more than that, he wants Jesse.

Jesse groans a little as Walt crashes into his lips. It’s as though if Walt doesn’t immediately claim Jesse as his own, this will all come to an abrupt end. And Walt can’t have that.

After a moment of desperate kissing, Jesse roughly pushes Walt back. “Jesus, Mr. White, you kiss like a fuckin’ bull in a china shop. Slow down, yo. I’m not… I’m not going anywhere.” He sounds so vulnerable (albeit somewhat annoyed), and Walt is finding himself captivated by this kid he’s taught so much. It makes him feel... defenseless. Exposed. He’s so used to feeling the exact opposite towards Jesse that this is really throwing him off his game. But Walt kind of enjoys the sense of being out of control for once. Especially with Jesse.

“Show me,” Walt says softly, almost in a whisper. “Teach me.”

Walt can’t prove it but he swears Jesse’s eyes get even bluer as he leans in again and places a gentle kiss on Walt’s lips. He moves even closer to him, nearly in his lap, and the tenderness of Jesse’s delicate kisses makes Walt weak in his already bad knees. If he wasn’t sitting down, he’d probably be falling to the ground right about now. And although they both probably smell like the chemicals they're using to cook, Walt can't help but appreciate Jesse’s natural scent as the kissing intensifies. Somehow the smell of tobacco on Jesse’s breath and the taste of saltiness from the chips he ate for lunch is only turning Walt on more.

“Come here,” Walt murmurs. “Come closer.” As always, Jesse obeys. He faces Walt on his lap, straddling him, his knees buried in the couch. He wraps his arms around Walt’s neck as he kisses him even more fiercely, while still keeping it soft and steady. Walt takes Jesse's lead, melting into the kisses, not being aggressive or rough; just enjoying how Jesse can't seem to get enough of him.

Walt moans as Jesse’s tongue finds his own. He moves his hand under Jesse’s thin black t-shirt and strokes his back as their lips continue to meet, over and over again, almost uncompromisingly. His back is so warm, and Walt can’t help but sink his fingertips into Jesse’s lean muscles, slightly scraping his skin with his nails. Jesse gasps and stops kissing Walt for just a moment, and Walt gets another look into those moody ocean eyes.

“Mr. White…” Jesse whispers, and Walt gets it. They should stop doing this. They never should have started in the first place. Why are they even doing it? To distract themselves? There's a million other ways to accomplish that, none that involve sticking their tongues in each other's mouths. This way does seem to be the most effective for the time being, though.

“I know, Jesse. It’s okay. I want this, too."

This seems to be what Jesse needs to hear, because his lips make their way back to Walt’s. Walt bites Jesse’s lip just slightly. Jesse groans a little.

"Sorry... you just taste so good," Walt says into Jesse's ear. He licks Jesse's earlobe and enjoys how Jesse trembles under the tender touch of Walt's tongue.

When Walt returns to his waiting lips, Jesse makes this humming noise that goes straight to Walt’s groin. He moves his hands down to Jesse’s hips; his pants seem to fit him better these days but Walt is still able to run his fingertips over the tender curves of his hip bones. Jesse gasps into Walt’s mouth. Walt’s heart is positively racing now and all he wants to do is lay Jesse down and explore every inch of his slight, diminutive body.

Walt loses track of time as they keep coming together. All he knows now is Jesse's lips, his tongue searching his mouth, his fingertips brushing Walt's neck, his shoulders, his collarbone.

Jesse finally pulls away, which is probably a smart idea because Walt’s about to consume him whole if they don’t stop soon.

They both try to calm down and steady their ragged breaths before either of them figure out something to say. Or if they even need to say anything at all.

Jesse manages to speak first. “I think I’ll go ahead and take off, man. Um… Look. I’ll be at home. For the night. If like… you want to stop by or whatever.” Jesse is so cute when he can’t even meet Walt’s eyes.

“Good,” Walt says, nodding. “I might just take you up on that.” Might? Walt has never looked forward to anything so much in his entire 51 years. He can just imagine pulling up to Jesse’s house, finding his way to his bedroom, slowly undressing him… but he’s getting ahead of himself. Maybe steady heads will prevail by then; maybe either or both of them will have come to their senses. But from the way Jesse’s gazing at him now--and the heat coming from Jesse’s jeans that grew stiff while he was on top of Walt--he knows that’s probably not a possibility. He hopes it’s not a possibility.

“Yo, that’s cool. See you later. Oh, and thanks for finishing up here,” Jesse says. Walt just nods, and watches as Jesse gets his things, takes one last look at Walt, and hesitantly leaves the house, closing the door behind him.

Walt can’t help but whistle as he finishes the cook.

#breaking bad #walter white #jesse pinkman #walt x jesse #mof #winkman

21 notes · View notes

captainillogical · 5 years ago

Text

Distant Lands Ch.17

Stranded on a planet with toxic conditions and nothing but the clothes on your back, your only means of survival lies within the gem that got you here in the first place.

Spinel/Reader

collab with my lovely wife @firstofficertightpants

You're frozen. It's as if all your muscles and your brain decided to stop functioning altogether. You had so, so much to say to her, and yet you can't seem to form any words.

Her face hasn't changed - it's only been hours since you've seen her, but she's already been through several weeks without you. Without anyone. Her eyes study your face, roaming over your features and hair as if she’s looking at a ghost.

“Yeah,” Is all you can manage to say, still out of breath as you try to think of anything, anything to say to her. “I-”

"You’ve been alive?” She asks - cutting you off, voice full of disbelief, and the tired relief that you had seen in her eyes suddenly changes to something else.

“Spinel, I-”

“You’ve been alive this entire time?” She asks again, voice cracking. She blinks, and you see small tears forming in her eyes. Your stomach drops. Oh god, she can't be thinking..

"Yes, and no. Let me explain," You try, calmy, as panic starts to flood your brain.

"You.." She trails off, and you watch her face as she goes through several series of emotions - coming to some kind of conclusion in her mind. She blinks again, leaving her eyes closed for a second to steady herself, and when she opens her eyes again to look at you, her expression changes to one you haven’t seen on her in what feels like a very long time. "You left me here."

"Not intentionally!" You reply, horrified at her words. "Believe me, they took-"

"So you knew?" Her voice wavers, underlying anger in her tone.

"You're not letting me explain myself!" You feel like you're about to throw up, this isn't how you wanted anything to go.

"What's there to EXPLAIN when all the facts are here, huh, Y/N?" She's shaking a little, and you can see the pent up frustration in her form. "You disappeared on me, letting me think you were dead FOR WEEKS, I-" She chokes on her words, balling her fist.

"Spinel, I didn't DISAPPEAR," You say, taking a couple steps towards her, and reach towards her shaking fist to grasp it. "I'm trying to tell you that-" She suddenly grabs your wrist to stop you from touching her, and you feel your eyes widen in shock.

"I CAME SO CLOSE TO-" The sound of rapid footsteps interrupts her, and she whips her head over to the staircase.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER." You hear Steven angrily shout from behind you, and you freeze in place. This cannot be happening.

"Steven, wait-"

"Y/N get away from her, now." You hear him materializing his shield in his hands.

"Universe." Spinel spits out with distaste, and drops your wrist like dead weight. "Of course you'd show up."

"Couldn't kill her the first time, so you're trying to finish her off now!?" He exclaims, rushing up to your side with his shield up. You're so mortified that you're speechless.

Spinel lowers her eyes to the teen, facial expression bordering on dangerous as she lifts her shaking fist. "Ya' wanna say that aga-"

"STOP!!!" You scream, because this is about to go very wrong, very quickly if you don't put a stop to it. "BOTH OF YOU."

"Y/N-"

"Steven, I need you to leave." You say bluntly, nerves blurring the edges of your vision. Steven angrily whips his face to yours.

"No, I don't trust her to-"

"To what, exactly, Universe? What do ya’ think I’m gonna do?” She interrupts him, face absolutely twisted with quiet anger.

"You said you trusted me. You're only making this worse." You look at him, as he's eye level with you. You're trying to be calm. "I'll meet you at the ship in a couple minutes."

"Yeah, I trust YOU. NOT HER." He says, pointing to Spinel aggravatedly. "And I'm not leaving until we're all leaving."

You want to scream. You literally have like, no choice in this.

"I'm not going anywhere." Spinel says, and you turn to look at her. She's got her face angrily fixed on Steven's.

"Fine with me." Steven retorts. You give him a particular look before turning back to Spinel.

"Spinel.." It comes out of you half-broken - this isn't what you wanted to happen at all. She looks over to you as she hears your voice.

"I wanted you to come home with me." And maybe when you say it, it comes out small, and sort of pathetic sounding. Her tense shoulders visibly deflate a little at that, and her eyes look at you vulnerably - she looks like she wants to say so much, but won't because of the other presence standing in the room.

"I.." She looks back over to Steven, and lets out a small sigh.

"I wasn't going to take no for an answer." You say, and when her eyes meet yours again, the emotion you feel behind her gaze makes you want to hug her desperately.

But you have a feeling that it would be best saved for a time where Steven wasn't also present. You also need to talk to him alone, but.. god. This is all too much for you, honestly. You know you’re barely hanging on by a thread here, but you’re trying your hardest to save your meltdown for when you’re alone. You haven’t had a chance to er.. really think about everything that’s happened to you in the last two to three days.

Steven clears his throat. “Can we go?”

“Let me explain everything on the way back home?” You say, still looking at Spinel and not even regarding Steven. “It’s a.. lot.”

She looks at you hesitantly, body language stiff as all hell with a scowl on her lips.

“Fine.” She says curtly, with a shrug.

Steven de-materializes his shield in hand, and turns around to head back down the staircase behind him. You move to follow him - but not before looking back at Spinel, who’s standing there awkwardly.

She opens her mouth to say something, but upon seeing Steven stop on the staircase to glance back at you two she closes it abruptly - brushing past you instead. You wish so badly to be able to stop time to talk to her right now, just the two of you. But you know that you’ll have time - all the time you need after this, and you’ll be safe and at home. You just hope she doesn’t hate you.

She mainly sticks pretty close to you as the three of you walk back in near silence. In any other circumstance you’d joke with her that she’s becoming clingy, but her body language is unlike how you’ve ever really seen her. She’s uncomfortable and angry, that much you can tell just by knowing her. There's also nervousness as well. She’s not keen on walking anywhere near Steven, understandably.. You don’t know how you’re going to get past this second impression they now have of each other, but you should probably sort that before he tries telling the others some kind of.. misunderstanding. This doesn’t need to be even more complicated.

“Before we get to the others, Steven..” You say, glancing at him while walking briskly. You will not miss the jungle here, or any of this planet. He turns his face towards you.

“Yeah?” He answers. You feel Spinel’s arm brush against yours.

“What you saw back there wasn’t an altercation. You just walked up at like, the worst possible moment. Spinel wouldn’t lay a hand on me, I want to make this clear.” You see her take a small glance at you - she seems to be almost surprised at your words.

“Yeah, I came to that conclusion about five minutes ago.” He says, glancing at you. “If she really wanted to she would’ve tried attacking us by now - before we got back to the gems, you know, because tactically she’d have the advantage.”

“I would’ve done it up on the Spire, actually.” She speaks up from beside you.

"Hey, what. Don't say that." You retort. "I'm trying to defend you, here."

She gives you a noncommittal shrug. “It’s not like I was gonna hurt anyone.”

"I know that, Spinel. It's just, none of them do."

"Well, we're pretty close to the ship now." Steven interjects, and you can see the pink of the ship through the trees. Finally. "Anything left here that you need to grab before we go?"

"I grabbed the only thing that mattered, I'm good. Let's just get outta here." You say, and you can see Spinel sparing a glance at your face.

"This planet doesn't seem that bad, honestly." Steven says casually, looking up at the night sky. You can see the others waiting outside the ship now, and they're all looking in your direction.

"You weren't stuck here for a month." You retort.

"Fair point." He says, and by the time you get over to the others you're already calming down your nerves about the other gems and Spinel. You hope no more misunderstandings happen. It's weird, how all this has gone down. You were honestly hoping that you'd get a better chance at an introduction, but this is kind of on par for your life at this point.

"Y'all ready?" Amethyst half yells out, hand on her hip in a relaxed pose. "Pearl's got the ship on standby."

"Please." You say tiredly. Garnet nods at you, turning around and stepping inside the ship. The rest of them walk in, and you turn to see Spinel standing there hesitantly, looking at the entrance.

"You're coming, right?" You ask her.

"Yeah.. it's just been a while, seeing this thing up close." She says, looking up at the entirety of the height of the ship.

"It's just this once, if it makes you feel any better." You take a long last look at the planet around you, and flip the sky off. It makes you feel a weird sense of accomplishment. Fuck these moons, fuck this sun, fuck this whole place. "Better than being stuck here."

"You're right on that." She says, brushing past you and entering the ship, you trailing right behind her.

You hear the doors hiss shut behind you.

"So." Garnet says, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at you. Pearl's typing something on the console in front of her.

"Uh, yeah.." You glance over to Spinel, who looks completely out of place beside you. "Let's start over. This is Spinel."

"We know that, dingus." Amethyst chuckles.

"Yeah, well, there's no more murder plot, so let's clear that off the table." You reply, feeling a lot of relief drain from your body as you see you've left Golgotha's atmosphere entirely.

"For her, maybe." Pearl pipes in, not even turning around. "There's still always gonna be others out there that want to kill Steven."

"She doesn't seem like she's consumed by anger anymore, regardless." Garnet says calmly, leaning on the wall behind her casually.

"I'm right here." She looks over to them irritably.

"Well, you already know who I am." Steven looks over to her, eyes trailing to the gem on her chest. "For the record, I'm really, really sorry about what my mom did to you. Y/N told us all about it."

"It's.. fine." She says with a shrug, face thoughtful as she regards him. She still seems a little off to you, but it's not like you can just pull her aside and talk with her. "I've had some time to think it over, and while I maybe would've done things a bit differently, that's in the past now."

"Wow, if only Pearl could've got over her that quickly."

"Amethyst!" Pearl squawks from the computer, face whipping around - expression wholly offended.

"...and I'm Garnet." Garnet says with a little smile, and you feel like smacking your face against the side of the ship to escape this.

There's utter silence for a beat or two, and you can see Steven's face trying to not laugh at that as he pulls a hand up to rub at his forehead. You hear a small snort off to your side, and you whip your head over to Spinel, who's shaking a little trying to keep in laughter. You feel something like relief blossom inside you.

"You guys are ridiculous. Of course she'd keep you as friends." She says, and strangely enough, there's no bitterness in her tone like you'd expect.

"Normally I'd be insulted by that, but I'll take it as a compliment." Amethyst grins at Spinel. "But enough about us. I wanna hear about what you guys did on this planet for that long without killing each other."

"We were mainly concerned with trying to find a way off, actually. That, and exploring the mystery of the disappearance of those previous gems." Spinel replies.

"We wouldn't have had to find a way off if you hadn't destroyed the warp pad in the first place, but, I digress." You hear your voice ring out throughout this ship’s main control room.

"I wouldn't have had to destroy the warp pad if I wasn't watching my live bait try to escape me." She whips her face to you, narrowing her eyes a little.

"Don't call me live bait, you ass! And if you were a smarter gem, you would've realized that humans can't even use the warp pad by themselves." You retort. "You played yourself."

"How was I supposed to know that?" She scoffs. "Tech goes through many changes after a few thousand years!"

"Wow, you guys really get along." Amethyst chuckles, watching the both of you in amusement.

"I would like to hear more about what you guys found on the surface, actually." Pearl brings a finger to her lip in question. "You mentioned the existence of the gem eater earlier, but how did you two not realise it was there sooner? Did it not make any noise? Considering the condition you were in when we picked you up, I’d figure it would’ve made itself obvious.."

"It was pretty quiet, actually.. aside from those quakes.." You trail off, realizing something. "Spinel, remember that night on the hill?"

She looks at you for a second, as if she doesn't understand what you're saying, and then you see her eyes light up when she understands what exactly you're implying.

"Oh god, and that day in the kindergarten." She replies, putting a hand to her mouth in slight shock.

"And you wanted to go in! Remember!?" Jesus christ, you're never going to doubt your gut instinct ever again. You both could've died then.

"Well, I'm glad your stubbornness really paid off there." She crosses her arms, sighing. "Otherwise, well.. you know. Anyway, before anything else, you said you'd explain what happened before.. and I haven't even gotten an explanation as to why you're pink."

You feel yourself choke for a second, almost forgetting what you look like now. "Right. I've been trying to get there. It's a lot to take in. What did you last remember?"

"Before that thing went flying off the cliff? Only that you had said the air was affecting me."

"Yeah, you have no idea. Made you completely useless, Spinel. I'm pretty sure it was some kinda pheromone to lure gems in."

"Huh, it did smell kinda weird.." She furrows her eyebrows, clearly thinking. "I hate that I was sort of right about it being a monster."

"You guys had no other clues?" Steven asks.

"No, as I said, the data logs were pretty corrupted."

"Yeah we were basically sitting blind, there." Spinel confirms, looking around at everyone. "I tried to restore it, but wasn't very lucky."

"Anyway, we walked into its nest, Spinel. You almost got me killed several times in there. That thing was blind and stupid like a bull, probably from sitting down there for thousands of years.."

"..and we brought dinner right to it." She stares at you, blinking.

"Yup." You say.

"We're so stupid." She shakes her head in disbelief.

"You’re telling me. How do you think I felt when I realized where we were standing?” You sigh. “All the injectors were piled in there as well. The thing probably drank from them like some kinda fucked up juice box, ugh, it was awful. And the worst part was, I had to realize by myself that it ate all those missing gems, and that’s why the cave walls were so sparkly. Grinded gems into wall paste, how fucked up is that?”

Spinel looks at you, brows drawn forward in horror as everything you just said sets in.

“It grinded them into dust?” Amethyst chimes in, voice full of disgust.

“That’s pretty terrible.” Garnet shakes her head slowly. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that alone.”

“You saved my life.” Spinel stares at you, expression almost strange.

“Twice.” You reply. “I’m going to have nightmares for that.”

"So when I came to, that's when you, er-" She stumbles on her words, getting this weird look in her eyes as she rips her gaze from yours. "-pushed me, and it slid off the cliff."

"It fell to its death?” Pearl looks at you, perplexed. “With a wound that size, I was expecting you to tell us something a little more.. dramatic than that.”

“Look, it was coming very fast, and I had to think quickly. I just wasn’t expecting the tail end of it to whip around and pierce me like a kabob, you know?” You say, and Steven gives you a funny look.

“Y/N, don’t ever say it like that again, it’s too soon.” He shakes his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Today has really been taking its toll on me.”

“You’re telling me.” You return the look Steven gives you, a bit more flatly. “Regardless, after that Spinel tried taking me back to the Spire, but I was bleeding so much that I made her stop to set me down before I bled out.”

“And that’s where we found you, dying.” He sighs, and you can see how tired he is. “I’m still kind of shaken up about it.”

“Ehh, buddy, she’s fine.” Amethyst says casually, putting her hands on her hips in a resting position. Steven gives her a pained face.

“She died. I thought she wasn’t going to wake up, it’s not li-”

“Wait.” Spinel interjects, her face looking distraught. “What do you mean she died, she-” She abruptly stops herself, silence ringing out around the room as she moves into your personal space - grabbing your shirt to lift up and look at the scar on your stomach.

“-SPINEL!” You hiss out, slapping her hands down and pulling your shirt back. She isn’t phased though, and her face is utterly confused.

“Why does..”

“I have healing powers.” Steven says bluntly. Spinel’s eyes trail back up to yours, and she’s got this look in her eye you can’t quite place.

“You would’ve died.” She says it almost quietly, like she’s trying to wrap her head around it.

“I did die, Spinel.” You watch her eyes as they waver between yours, and you can see one of her hands trembling.

“But you still sent me to get those supplies.. was.. was I gonna come back to your b-”

“Let’s not dwell on all the ‘what if’s’ today.” You say, stopping her from going down that particular thought path, unable to honestly even think about that. You’d rather not spontaneously burst into tears right here, right now, in front of everyone. “Hm.. I haven’t actually told any of you this, but..”

Steven looks at you - like he’s worried you’re going to die right now on the spot you’re standing in.

“Before I woke up, earlier.. I had this really, really fucking weird dream. Steven, I think I saw your mom? Her voice sounded a bit like the one from your tape - you know the one. And I was in this endless pink field? It was fucking weird.”

Steven stares at you.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” You ask him, feeling a little odd.

“Was there a tree on a hill?” He asks you back, face unchanging.

“Uh.” You say. “Yeah?”

“Huh.” He makes a face, perturbed. “Maybe I should ask Lars about that when we get back.”

“Why?” You blink at him.

“Because that wasn’t a dream, and I think you spoke to my mom. Which is weird.”

“Okay, I’m not even gonna ask what that’s all about, because I wanna know why you guys keep actin’ like all this just happened in the last day.” Spinel spits out in frustration, looking like she’s about to start pacing.

“It did.” Pearl speaks up from over by the console, turning her face to look at Spinel. “We didn’t realize it at the time when we came to pick up Y/N, but that planet you decided to warp to, Golgotha? It runs at a much faster time on the surface.”

“What.” Spinel asks, more confused now than ever. “What does that mean?”

“For the rest of us, you only came to attack Steven and kidnap Y/N just this morning.” Pearl says, brows drawn curiously. “You poofed Amethyst, and she took her sweet time coming back earlier.”

“Hey!” Amethyst throws a glare at Pearl several feet away.

Spinel looks off to the side, suddenly quiet and unmoving.

“I last saw you just a few hours ago, so everything is still fresh in my mind..” You trail off, watching her. You think she’s having a difficult time processing this.

“Y/N went a little crazy there when she found out about it actually, and demanded that we come get you immediately. I haven’t seen her like that in a loooong time, haha.” Steven says with a half-hearted laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

“She even threatened to steal a ship to come get you if we didn't.” You feel a little like Garnet is implying something with the way she says that, but you ignore it. Or maybe it’s because you can tell when she’s trying to hide a smile.

Spinel lifts her face slightly - eyes trailing over to yours, settling there. The room isn’t cold, far from it actually - you’re pretty warm, and yet you feel goosebumps on your arms. Her gaze lingers there, giving you a long hard look. You know her enough by now to be able to tell that she’s hiding a lot of emotion for some reason, but you can see it in the way she looks at you softly. Your heart hurts. You want to hug her.

“So you.. didn’t just forget about me there.” She says, and it comes out hesitant and quiet. Her eyes are still locked with yours.

“No. I would never.” You hear yourself say with a shake of your head, and you mean it. She looks like she’s about to say something but stops herself - taking in a breath instead, and tearing her eyes away from yours as you see a swell of emotion in her gaze.

“Soooooo. Not to ruin a moment, but like, but where is Spinel going to stay? I really can’t wait to go home and pass out and stuff, today has kinda blown, not gonna lie.” Amethyst says casually, blowing a piece of her hair out of her face.

“Oh, you’re right.” Steven crosses his arms, chewing his lip in thought. “I hadn’t thought of that. She can stay on the couch tonight, and I’ll go talk to Bismuth and the others about getting her a place to live in. That is, if she wants to be on Earth.”

Spinel looks over to Steven, slightly confused. “What’s my other option?”

“You could go back to Homeworld.” He offers.

“I think I’ll stay on Earth for a while. I’ve got a couple things I’d like to do.” She replies with minimal thought to it, looking right at you. You feel a little like the others seem to notice this, and you feel a bit self conscious about it.

“A lot of gems came over to Earth once they got the freedom to. I think you’ll like it.” Steven says, a small smile forming on his lips.

“Yeah Earth’s alright.” Amethyst shrugs.

“Y/N told me a bit about Little Homeworld, back on Golgotha.” Spinel says. “Said you had quite a few classes.”

“Did she now?” Steven eyes you with a slight grin, making you nervous. “I knew she was proud of it, even if she acted like helping me plan some of the classes was a chore.”

“I sooo did not.” You reply to him, offended.

“We’ll be back on Earth in five minutes, by the way.” Pearl taps on the console in front of her.

“You totally did! Anyway, Spinel, there’s a few I have in mind that you might find yourself benefitting from, if you want any suggestions.” You feel like Steven’s about to pull out one of the pamphlets, so you put a hand up to stop him.

“We can sort out the fine details later, I’m too tired to think about all of this right now,” You say with a sigh, utterly exhausted. You think you deserve some sleep after all of this.

“She’s right, we have time.” Steven stretches his arms over his head and yawns loudly. “And I’m utterly beat from today. If this could not happen again for a while, that’d be great.” Spinel gives him a small guilty face at that.

“Yeah, you know anyone else that Pink pissed off?” Amethyst says bluntly.

“Amethyst.” You nearly spit out. “You can’t just ask that.”

“What, it’s a valid question.” She shrugs, rolling her eyes.

You hear Spinel stifle a snort, and when Steven starts to chuckle the rest of them start to laugh, giggles filling the ship’s main deck.

You sigh, unable to stop the small smile that’s starting to spread across your face.

Maybe things will be okay.

By the time you get off the ship and the rest of them have dispersed into their rooms to rest, it leaves just you, Spinel and Steven in the living room together.

“The bathroom’s right there if you need it for some reason, just let me go grab my spare blankets for you realll quick.” Steven points to the bathroom door as he walks over to the utility closet, pulling out his favorite spares. “I don’t know if you sleep, a lot of gems don’t. Pearl doesn’t, and Garnet’s more of a.. meditator. But the couch is comfy enough until we can get you your own place tomorrow.”

“You guys are doing too much for me, and it’s honestly more than I deserve.” Spinel says, watching him as he walks back over, setting the blankets down on the nearest couch cushion.

“Hey, don’t say that. If I had that attitude for all other gems that tried to kill me, I wouldn’t be friends with Bismuth, Peridot and Lapis. And er, Pearl in some cases too..” He trails off, furrowing his eyebrows in thought. He shakes his head, as if to clear it. “Anyway, I wanted to apologize for earlier. I might’ve rushed into thinking the worst possible thing immediately, and that’s unfair to you, Spinel.”

“I..” She looks kind of speechless, like she wasn’t expecting that from him at all. “Well, it’s not like I gave you any reason to think anything else from me. You don’t need to be sorry.”

“I don’t like leaving things unsaid.” He replies with a grin. “I’m going to go pass out before my body does it for me, right here. Try not to be loud if you get curious and explore my house, I’ll be sleeping over there.” He points to his loft bed, a single eyebrow raised. “Peridot’s woken me enough times in the middle of a deep sleep, my body’s reaction is to just start throwing things at noise now.”

“Yeah, he’s thrown things at me when I’ve accidentally tripped going to the bathroom.” You say with disdain, giving him a face.

“Blame Peridot!” He grins, turning around to walk up his stairs. “Anyway, goodnight you two! And Y/N I swear to god you better get some sleep. You guys can talk in the morning.” He shoots one last glare at you before you see him disappear into his covers.

You look over to Spinel, and she’s already over by the couch. The house is quiet now, moonlight coming in through the windows, early morning approaching probably in another hour or so. She sits down, looking out of the window towards the ocean. You watch her dark silhouette and you feel some kind of weight lift from your shoulders, taking comfort in the fact that she’s right here, and she’s safe. She seems almost small here in Steven’s living room, and you wonder how this is the same angry, violent gem you met weeks ago.

Yesterday, technically. You don’t want to think about that anymore.

You stand there unmoving, tired. She looks back over you, and you feel all the energy drain out of your body, shoulders sagging. You take a deep breath, letting the air drain out of your lungs slowly.

You want to say something.

Anything.

You stare at each other. She blinks, and you can see her pupils trail over the details of your face as if she’s trying to memorize it. She opens her mouth slightly, clearly she’s trying to say something - but she closes her mouth instead. She looks away, momentarily, and you can see that she’s looking over in Steven’s direction.

Her gem shines in the dark of the room, and your eyes want to stay fixated on it.

She looks back over to you - taking a deep breath and exhaling it ever so slowly, chest moving with it.

“Y/N.” She says, very quietly, and you can see her wringing her hands nervously. You can hear your own heart beating in your ears. Your heart and brain are screaming at each other right now, but you can’t hear the words.

“I’m going to sleep.” You say, turning around to go to your room like some kind of fucking idiot.

#spinel x reader #spinel #su #steven universe #distant lands #my fic #hahahahaha

159 notes · View notes

nellie-elizabeth · 4 years ago

Text

Supernatural: Carry On (15x20)

Oh my god. Lol. So... did Andrew Dabb forget to read back through his finale script one final time before deciding it was finished? Because like... Dean says "if we don't keep living, all that sacrifice (Cas and Jack) will be for nothing." Cut to a comically short time later, where Dean dies and is just like "time to go, let's not keep fighting, I'm tired lol."

Like WHAT did I just witness. I'm so grateful, in this moment, to a little show called The Magicians, because in April of 2019 they ended their fourth season with such an egregiously terrible decision that I literally couldn't sleep for a week, I was shaking and intermittently sobbing, I had never felt so betrayed and devastated over any piece of media before. After that, I've sort of become numb to bad endings, and this is no exception. This episode was absolutely terrible and I'm just sort of like... meh. I'll ignore it. Whatever.

I do want to forego the usual "pro" and "con" sections in this review, and do a more traditional full-on ramble about my thoughts, because they're kind of convoluted, if I'm gonna be honest.

The first thing I want to say, is that this wasn't the worst finale I've ever seen. Objectively, it was a terrible episode of TV and an insulting wrap-up to a fifteen-year-show. But I have a very specific category for the worst finales ever, and those are the ones that provide endgame states for the characters that are... unfixable in a post-canon but still-canon-compliant world. So, for example, the How I Met Your Mother finale killed off the titular mother and betrayed years of buildup, and that's a real-world sitcom. There's no resurrecting people from that shit. Or like. Game of Thrones being an obvious recent example. The Rise of Skywalker is a good movie example.

This? It's a little different. The endgame state of Sam and Dean and Cas is that they all die and spend eternity in Heaven, where they get to be with all their loved ones. I mean, sure, we don't get to see that, we only get a throwaway line to imply that Cas made it out of Super Turbo Hell The Empty, but that's the endgame state of the characters. And that's more or less what I would have wanted, as like a... years after canon situation. Right? So yeah, this was a bad episode, but if I edit in the shit I wanted to see, none of it contradicts the canon in a way that's not workable. It's a sad world we've come to where this is all I can really grasp at, but there is a perverse sort of comfort in that.

So, should we talk now about how Dean dying is a betrayal of what they said this whole season, and maybe whole show was about? Ha. It's so ridiculous. It's embarrassing. I watched Dean's final moments and I was embarrassed for Jensen. For Dean. For all of us watching.

Just. Watch the end of 15x19 again, okay? Watch it, and hear what they're saying. Yay, we killed God, we killed the author of the story, which means we get to write our own stories, finally. We get to do that. After all this time, we're finally free. And what does freedom look like? It looks like Dean dying on a run of the mill hunt.

We get this little montage of Sam and Dean at the Bunker, you know? They're doing laundry and going on jogs and cuddling with Miracle the dog, and they're brushing their teeth and going on hunts, I guess. And the emotional resonance from that scene was just kind of... ennui? And boredom? And that's what's so terrible and depressing about this ending. It's so empty, because Dean didn't get to do the thing he said he was fighting for. Sure, he was always fighting for Sam, but he should have been able to fight for himself, too, right? He should have been able to fight for a life after the years of programming. He should have gotten to be a rock star or a chef or worked at an animal shelter or become a foster parent or grown old as Sam's brother, as an uncle to his kid. He should have been able to find love, if he wanted that.

Look, I'm not even mad that Dean died in a "mundane" way. It's not like "nooo Dean is too coooool to die in such a laaaame way, he's a bad-ass and he should have gone out in a blaze of glory!" That's actually not what I'm mad about at all. Sam died old in his bed, and Dean should have been able to do that too. This whole season, since finding out that Chuck was the ultimate big bad, was supposed to be about free will, and Dean never got to figure out a way to be happy and find peace. That's fucking dour and stupid.

I kept saying, in the buildup to this finale, that a depressing, grim-dark ending to this show would be a failing of the themes they set up, and, hey, they didn't go grim-dark, because the writers did not think this was grim-dark. They thought it was powerful and emotional and resonant. You can tell they thought that, even though they're... uh... what's the word. Wrong? Yeah. Wrong. You know what I realized while watching this? It was just a lamer, less resonant and appropriate version of Sam's sacrifice at the end of season five.

Right? Because after Sam yeets himself into hell to save the world, Dean just has to keep going, and as Cas says, "you got what you wanted, more of the same." Just... more of the same. And Dean couldn't hack it, he was miserable without Sam, and Sam came back and we got ten more years of the fucking show. And now... what, we just get that in the other direction? Because Sam is the strong one and can soldier on without Dean because his codependency was a little less crippling? Wow, what a great ending for him, I guess. It doesn't work because we've seen Sam without Dean, and he falls apart too.

And now the show ends with Sam alone. Sure, he gets married to a blur in the background and has a kid, but let me ask you a question, here. Did Sam... want to be a father? I didn't know that was a thing he wanted, that would make him happy, honestly. I had no idea. So this doesn't seem like it works as something even remotely satisfying as an endgame state for him either. It's bleak.

And it's bleaker because there's nobody else in this fucking episode, y'all. The other big theme in all of Supernatural, after "free will" would be "family don't end in blood." And guess what? Apparently it does? Apparently Sam and Dean are each other's whole worlds and nothing else matters? We get... an implied wider world but we don't get to see it. We don't get to see Eileen, Jody, Donna, anybody left alive for Sam. So from the standpoint of characters that we know and give a shit about, Sam loses Cas, Jack, and Dean and lives the rest of his life lonely and sad. Nobody else even comes to Dean's funeral. It's just Sam alone with the dog. Like... that's bleak.

This ending gave the fucking Wincest shippers everything their hearts could desire, for fuck's sake. Like. Why did they cater to that and not follow through on the idea that they had created a family and community beyond each other? You know, this thing called character growth?

To take a brief break from the negativity, I will say something here about Sam and Dean. In the weird hysterical euphoria of the whole Destiel thing a couple weeks ago, I lost sight of something, which is that for me, the draw of this show has always been the relationship between Sam and Dean. I was never a brothers-only person, but it was their fucked up codependent bond that drew me to the show over the years. I loved the idea of Destiel, but I never thought it was going anywhere, so really I loved Castiel, the character, separate from the context of his relationships. Having a big dramatic death scene where Dean says "I love you so much" and there's a forehead touch and Dean saying "it's always been you and me" and confesses that he was scared to get Sam at Stanford because he didn't know how to survive if he didn't have him, and to have Sam say "don't leave me" and then give Dean permission to go... I mean, all of this is catnip, right? All of this is great, like, in isolation, it was such an amazing "broment," as the fandom says. I mean, it made no sense with context, it was utterly insulting in every way, but Jensen and Jared acted their lil' hearts out and I could tell they were really in the moment.

So let's talk about Cas for a second, while I have you here... they never should have done the big gay confession. They just shouldn't have even fucking bothered. I'm telling you, that makes this whole thing worse. It felt completely intentional and weird that Dean never acknowledged the confession, never told Sam, never had a moment where he specifically reckoned with Cas' loss. But that's what I knew would happen. I knew it in my blood and bones, and as the meta started pouring in, I knew people were getting their hopes up for nothing. See, Cas saying "goodbye Dean" and the handprint on the arm... I knew that was their catharsis, that was the writers' and Misha's big goodbye to the character of Castiel. They thought they fucking nailed it. I knew we wouldn't see him again.

Like I said before, I have to be satisfied with an endgame state that doesn't totally suck, right? So, we get this throwaway line from Bobby that Jack fixed Heaven and made it not suck, and that Cas helped. This implies a multitude of things that are... comforting. At least Cas doesn't get that dour, dark, helpless oblivion that I worried he'd get. We can assume Jack plucked him out of the Empty, that he gets to be with his son, and that, if the fic writers so choose, Dean and Cas can have lots of gay sex up in Heaven. I think Misha not being in this finale was frankly a slap in the face to one of the biggest and most important characters the show has ever seen, you know? And I think that they kept him out of it so we could have Schrodinger's Destiel. Because if we'd seen Cas in heaven, and he hadn't confessed his big gay love, Dean could have been like: "hey Cas! Buddy! Good to see you, my friend." But since we did have the love confession, whatever Dean did upon seeing Cas would have to mean something in that context. So instead we didn't get to see him at all.

Which is stupid.

Also stupid is that the big sacrifice was to save Dean's life and then a couple weeks later he gets impaled on a rusty nail and dies anyway. Thanks for making the whole thing feel so utterly pointless and empty. No pun intended. Wow, they did Misha dirty, here, didn't they.

Turning back to Sam's ending, let's just talk about that for a minute. Like I said, I'm happy he got to live a long life and die an old man, what Dean always wanted for him. But nothing about that ending was more poignant because Dean was gone. In fact, it just made it super duper depressing and lame. There was no reason Dean couldn't have gotten a happy life, too. It adds nothing that he died young and unfulfilled. Like, you know how people joke about the end of the Titanic, where you see that Rose's Heaven is reuniting with Jack and everyone else on the ship, and people will say "well, gosh, that's kind of a slap in the face to Rose's family" since she clearly got married and had kids and grandkids? This is literally that! Like, having an ending where a young-again Sam Winchester gets to Heaven, and his whole Heaven, the thing that he needed to find peace after death, was a return to his brother... look, I'm not mad about that, but what the fuck about nameless blurry wife that we couldn't even confirm to be Eileen for some reason? What about everyone else?

And did Sam... keep hunting? Did he go to law school? Maybe there were background details that confirmed what he ended up doing with the rest of his life besides becoming a husband and father, but I didn't see evidence of it because I was too busy rolling my eyes out of my skull at how dumb this all was. So Sam just gets a generic "raking leaves in the yard" ending, like we saw for Dean at the end of season five, with nothing to challenge that. Even though we've seen why life outside of hunting, life without Dean, isn't satisfying for Sam, we're now supposed to accept it as how he spends the rest of his life, without seeing him put the work in to get there?

One thing I realized watching this episode is that it tries to play the middle. Like, with the Cas thing, they didn't want to make his noble gay sacrifice totally meaningless, so they couldn't just pop him back into the story, but they did give us one single throwaway line to reassure fans that he's not still in The Empty. So, people who don't give a shit about Cas can assume he's off being Jack's assistant and doesn't really interact with humans in Heaven. People who do give a shit about one of the show's main characters can assume that he has a home in Dean's little Heaven neighborhood too, and they all get to buddy around for eternity. People who don't like Eileen? Well, Sam married some nobody who we never got to meet. People who liked her? Well, you can't prove that wasn't Eileen, can you? Even Dean driving around in the impala waiting for Sam to die so he could finally be happy with his fucking soulmate or whatever. Time in Heaven is weird, Bobby says. It's metaphorical. You could assume that the driving montage was actually intercut with other moments, with Dean getting to see dear old mom (and dad, I guess, but ugh), and spending time with Bobby, with OG Charlie, with other familiar faces, and new ones as they finally reach their own deaths on Earth and come up to party with the rest of the gang.

Like, in a better show, in a world without Covid, maybe they had plans along these lines, to get more guest characters back and show Dean getting sappy hellos to a bunch of side characters in Heaven. To be quite honest, I would not have been mad about that. If you're going to make Dean die young and never give him the chance to find out who he could have been when the choices were all his own, which is, in case I haven't made that clear, a horrendous and insulting ending for his character... at the very least you could have given us the cheesiness of seeing him hug his friends in Heaven. Jeezus.

I want to hammer in this point one more time before I wrap up: they ended the show by saying that character development didn't matter. They had Dean's dying speech be a meta reference to the pilot episode of the show, they had him saying "it's always been you and me" and then they confirmed that with everything they had. Sam became a father, but did he have a happy life? Seems like he pined away for his dead brother for decades and then died. If the pilot had never happened, if Sam had stayed at Stanford and Dean had gone on hunting by himself, you know what would have happened? Sam would have had a "normal" life and married a woman and had a kid, I guess, and grown old, and Dean would have died fighting some vampires in a barn. This show has been on for fifteen years, and the ending did not honor anything about the journey the characters had been on.

A particularly egregious example is the early scene with the pie festival, where Sam is like "I'm sad about Cas and Jack" and Dean is like "if we don't go on living it won't honor their sacrifice" like... yeah, I get it, bringing people back from the dead time and time again is supposed to be a bad thing that Sam and Dean did for each other because they were selfish. So Sam giving Dean permission to go was supposed to be a growth moment. Sam and Dean accepting that Cas was gone and not even asking Jack to make sure he got sent to a happy eternity instead of oblivion, that's supposed to mean they've learned their lesson. And what a fucking lesson to leave things off on. Jesus, this is grim.

So like. As I try to figure out what to say at the end of this review, I will point out one glimmer of light in the darkness, which is that this finale isn't going to ruin the rewatchability of the show for me. I can still come back and re-watch without feeling like the whole thing is ruined by the ending. It's more than I can say for some other shows.

But honestly, if this was the ending we were going to get? Why the fuck not leave it open-ended? I did not enjoy 15x19 particularly well, but at least that episode left them on the open road, with a wide future ahead of them. Anything might have happened. It's their turn to write the story, right? Chuck is dead, the writer is "dead", the show is over, and now the possibilities are endless. That would have been an anticlimactic ending, for sure. But this ending just turns around and slaps the whole point of that first ending in the face and says "haha bitch you thought". They don't get to write their own stories. We see exactly how those stories end, and it's lame. Leave something to the imagination, yo. Leave it vague how and when they died, what their lives turned into. Show them in Heaven, getting to their peace at last, reuniting with their friends, including Cas. Put in a significant glance between Dean and Cas, and leave it to the internet to go wild about what it could mean. And never answer when fans ask "so what happened, when did they die? Did they keep hunting?" Just leave it vague. If this was the only ending they could come up with, I'd rather be left with questions.

This finale gets a low score from me, because they couldn't even pull on the right heartstrings to make me sentimental...

4/10

But the show as a whole? Well, it was a mess, and it had some seriously high highs and some devastatingly low lows. It's a bummer that the lowest low came in how they tried to wrap up the whole shebang, but like I said, this ending isn't going to ruin the whole fifteen-year run for me. We get to make up what happens next, and we can make Jack's new and improved Heaven our post-canon fix-it haven. I don't think there's ever been a show in my life quite like Supernatural. The fandom is so bonkers. The meta narrative of the show is so convoluted and twisty and goes in so many unexpected directions. I liked watching this show for its own sake, and also as like... an anthropologist trying to discover something about humanity and American values specifically. It wasn't always a pleasant experience, but it was one I know I'll never forget. My heart tells me to give the show as a whole a high score, representing the many, many hours of joy and dread and delight and horror I got over the near decade I've personally been watching. How do you wrap up fifteen years in a score out of ten?

9/10

#review #supernatural #supernatural review #spn #spn 15x20 #spn finale #lol y'all #it's been a JOURNEY

8 notes · View notes

icannotgetoverbirds · 2 years ago

Text

Personal example for y'all: I cannot drive. Physically, I can complete all the motions. I have driven on a small road and in a parking lot before, so in those simple situations, I can manage. That being said, there are many things that make driving a really shitty idea for me.

I have Visual Snow Syndrome, which for me means my night vision is terrible, lights at night are awful, and everything has a motion blur. Thus, I cannot drive at night or in low-light situations.

No big deal, right? I can just make sure I stay in at night and have someone else drive in emergencies. It rarely rains here anyways, so it's not like I'll have to deal with that often. Never mind the impracticality of having to abandon my car if I ever have to stay late somewhere or if a dust storm hits out of nowhere.

Unfortunately, I'm also somewhat photosensitive to flashing lights. This might be part of VSS and/or overall the visual component of sensory processing disorder, but regardless, it means that sunlight flickering between trees and buildings can cause me significant distress. Even as a passenger, I might be better off having an eyemask handy during rides in the mornings and evenings, for those days when everything is too much.

So the only time I can consistently and safely drive is at/around noon in optimal visual conditions. But driving is still a skill I should have for those rare occasions I'm able, right?

Except for the fact that my sensory processing disorder is usually most significant in auditory processing issues. If some asshole with a loud engine drives by, I'm most likely gonna have to pull over and collect myself, if I can even drive at that point. God forbid someone honks their horn.

Oh, yeah, and I've got a new issue I've been having lately with my visual processing where I completely misinterpret what something is. It's kind of funny the first few times I mix up birch trees and sheep in Minecraft, but what happens when leaves blowing around in the wind looks like a small animal that I can't bear to risk hitting? What happens when I mistake a pedestrian tripping for them trying to cross the road, and I get rear-ended because I was trying not to hit them?

Most people who consider themselves allies to disabled people would read that first sentence and think, "Surely there must be a way he can drive, it's so essential to functioning in so many places - he has to find a way!" and not realize that the underlying idea behind that thought is that I must not be trying hard enough or trying the right things, because surely everybody can do things that are 'essential' with the right tools.

And in a way, that's not entirely untrue - some form of long-distance transportation other than walking is both essential and possible for me, living in a car-dependent area. That being said, I'll never be able to operate a car in such a way that would fill that need. My options are limited to public transportation (which is not very robust in my area but there might be a disability-based bus line I can use) and... creative solutions.

At best, it's highly impractical for me to drive and will end up costing me time and money. At worst, it's incredibly unsafe and could end up costing lives, too. I cannot and/or should not drive.

I can, however, ride a horse.

I probably still can't/shouldn't ride at night, but the nice thing about horses is that they can do a lot of the work for you, and they have excellent night vision (apparently?). If I did need to make a late-night run into town or to a friend's house, a horse that knew the path could probably navigate just fine. My night vision might be atrocious, but it's probably still enough (with a light source) that I could supplement whatever the horse needed.

I'll have to be careful riding in the morning/evening, but the nice thing about horses is that, since they're not running with traffic, there's not really a defined speed they have to go at. If I'm having a rough day, I can just slow down so the flickering isn't so bad.

I'll admit that the auditory processing situation isn't perfect, and any horse I do get will have to be pretty scare-proof, but having an animal companion who really gets what it's like for noises to be painful to go through SPD episodes with could definitely be a comfort.

Plus, since horses are living creatures capable of quick decision-making, I can have a lot more trust that my horse isn't going to run over an actual critter or a pedestrian. If nothing else, it's going to do a whole hell of a lot less damage than a car.

And yet, when I explain all this to the people in my life who care about me the most, even those that are among the more understanding about my disability in general, they seem disappointed in me. They feel like I've given up on something attainable, just because of the toxic positivity mindset they apply to my situation.

I have limits, and I wish they'd respect them. I cannot do everything through sheer willpower, and I shouldn't have to. I can't just 'work hard' my way out of my problems. I shouldn't have to write an entire essay to explain to them that no, it's actually not a good idea for me to drive and yes, this alternative is good enough and could you maybe please just support me in the tools I choose to use to make my life easier?

Toxic positivity hurts people, y'all. Humans may be capable as fuck in some really cool areas but nobody can control everything.

Hidden inside statements like “you can do everything you put your mind to”, “you have no limits” and “you can achieve everything you work for” is the message that it must be your own fault if you don’t/can’t. That’s why it’s important to challenge toxic positivity. That’s why it’s important to swallow the fact that not everything is within our control.

#byrd chirps #long post #good post op #toxic positivity #visual snow syndrome #sensory issues #sensory processing disorder

12K notes · View notes

fandom-imagines-stories · 6 years ago

Text

Get Through This

Seeley Booth x Reader

Words: 1854

Warnings: Gore and some language (but mostly gore)

Requested by Anon: I'd like to request a booth imagine in which you are targeted by the killer and kidnapped with booth but and y'all get separated but you both use your FBI skills to reunite. I don't know if you write imagines with Gore but if you could do just enough to make it seem realistic? You're an awesome writer

Note: I really love writing gore, actually (plus this is perfect for Halloween!)

Your head was pounding as you tried to open your eyes. Everything was blurred and out of focus until your eyes finally adjusted. The room was pitch black except for the bright red lights above your head. Pictures lined the walls of the seemingly endless hallway and it seemed as if you were in some kind of darkroom. As you looked more closely at the pictures, your stomach churned. Each one showed a more gruesome scene than the next. They were the girls that this psycho had killed.

“So glad you could join me, Agent Y/L/N.” A voice boomed over an intercom. The sudden noise made your head hurt even more, but the pain was overshadowed by your fury. “As you can see, I’ve set up a little maze for you. A way to showcase my work and have a little show of my own.” The killer laughed darkly as you stumbled forward. “Now I don’t want to spoil too much for you, but within the maze are little games that you’ll need to complete before moving on to the next part of the main. Oh, and if you fail to complete the maze… let’s just say it won’t end well for your partner.”

“Y/N?” Booth’s voice rang over the intercom and your heart stopped. “Y/N don’t listen to this guy.” The sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed and you cried out.

“Leave him alone!” Another dark chuckle sent shivers down your spine.

“Good luck, Agent Y/L/N.” The intercom shut off and you started your trek down the long, menacing passageway. All you could think about was Seeley. You knew that dating your partner would influence your emotions, but you didn’t think it would hurt this much.

Booth glared at his masked capture, trying not to look at the screen that showed you, a large gash on your forehead from when you’d been knocked out.

“You sick son of a bitch.” He growled. The killer- who called himself the Lensman in reference to the photos he took during and after every kill- turned to him.

“She’s arriving at the first challenge.” He pointed to the screen. “Look.”

As you entered, bright lights turned on, nearly blinding you. But as your eyes adjusted, you wished that they hadn’t. There were two tables, one with a single box and on the other, lay a knife and a corpse. Across the door were words written in blood. To continue, first, you must free her from the source of all human pain and lock it away.

“Someone’s seen way too many Saw movies.” Booth snarked, fighting against his restraints. He watched as you stared at the body with disgust, shaking your head.

“Sick bastard.” You muttered under your breath. You knew what he wanted, but you didn’t think you had the guts to do it. But then you thought of Seeley, trapped alone with that psycho and you picked up the knife. Closing your eyes, you brought the knife down into the girl’s chests with a sickening crunch as it broke through her rib cage.

You took a deep breath as the air filled with the smell of blood and bile and cut downwards, the knife slicing open her skin and revealing the mess of organs inside. Now came for the worst part. You felt your heart stop as you plunged your hand into her chest and grabbed hers. Blood coated your fingers as you pulled the heart out and placing it on the table while you threw up on the floor.

When you composed yourself, you carried the heart to the other table and placed in the box, closing it quickly. It locked with a snap and the door swung open. Past them was another series of halls and dead ends, each lined with more horrifying photos of mutilated bodies.

It seemed like hours of aimless wandering before you reached the next room. It was pitch black. You couldn’t even see your hand when you held it out in front of you. You stepped blindly, feeling your way across the room until you bumped into a stand holding what felt like a camera. Above it, a screen lit up with a single word. Smile.

The camera flashed, momentarily blinding you while the bullet tore through your shoulder.

“Y/N!” Booth screamed, pulling on the ropes so hard that they started cutting into his wrists. The Lensman just laughed.

Dozens of flashes followed from all around the room, each accompanied by a gunshot. You ran, your path lit only by the camera’s while bullets flew all around you. Another bullet grazed your leg just before you burst through the exit. This time the maze had even more twists and turns and the hallways were narrower. It took twenty minutes of limping and trailing blood behind you until you found the next room.

It was empty except for the girl hanging in the middle of the room. Her wrists were tied above her and her mouth was taped over. Hanging around her neck was a knife.

“Ah, finally.” The Lensman boomed. “You have reached the final stage of our game, agent.” He paused and the young woman watched you with wide, terrified eyes. “All you have to do to be reunited with your precious partner is finish the job.” He let out the most evil, echoing cackle you’d ever heard. With shaking hands, you lifted the chain holding the knife over her neck.

“Y/N don’t!” Booth screamed. You looked up at the camera located in the corner of the room and lifted the blade, the girl letting out a pleading whimper. In one fluent motion, you swung the knife, slicing the ropes holding her. She fell to the ground crying.

“Silly girl…” The Lensman growled. “Oh well. I guess I’ll just have to have my own fun.” There was a loud metal sound followed by concrete rubbing against concrete. The walls were closing in.

“No!” Booth yelled again. The Lensman stood behind him and crouching down so he could whisper in his ear.

“How unfortunate. I almost thought she was going to do it.” He chuckled. “But perhaps love does not break all boundaries. Now we’ll both just get to watch her die.” Booth slammed his head back, shattering the mask into the Lensman’s face. The killer cried out and Booth stood up, brining the leg of the chair down on his foot. The Lensman grabbed a knife from the table, blood starting to drip down from his mask. He lunged at Booth, cutting at his hands, but also cutting his restraints.

While this was happening, you were trying to comfort the young woman while also trying to figure a way out.

“What’s your name?” You asked, having removed the tape.

“M-Monica.” She sniffed, screaming as the walls got closer. You held her face in your hands, wincing as pain shot out from the wound in your shoulder.

“Shh,” You comforted, though you knew there was no point. You were both going to die.

“Y/N!” Seeley called from the doorway, sprinting towards you. “Let’s get you out of here.” He picked up Monica and helped you standing, letting you lean on him as the three of you escaped just in time for the walls to collide.

When you reached the room where he had been held, the Lensman was gone.

“Where did he go?” You asked, seeing the broken mask on the ground. Booth sat you down.

“We’ll worry about that later, but we’ve gotta do something with that shoulder before you bleed out.” You tore off a piece of your shirt and tied it around the miner injury on your leg while he ripped off the sleeve of his jacket and wrapped it around your shoulder.

“How you doing Monica?” You wondered, seeing her curl up on the floor.

“Fine. I just want to get out of this hell hole.” She looked at you with a new fire in her eyes. This girl was a fighter.

“Now what?” You winced as Booth tightened the sleeve around your wound. Seeley shrugged.

“We get through this.” He looked you in the eyes. “Together.” He pressed a kiss to your forehead before helping you stand again. Monica didn’t need him to carry her now that she’d gotten the feeling back in her legs, though she was still a little wobbly on her feet.

Just outside the room was a short hallway leading to an elevator. You all sighed with relief and rushed forward. But before you got far, you were yanked away from Booth by your hair and a knife was placed on your throat.

“None of you are going anywhere!” The Lensman screamed. Half his face was still mutilated from the shards of his mask, but the other revealed his true identity. It was the store clerk, Noah Marks, that you had interviewed over a dozen times in the course of the investigation. He wasn’t even in the top five suspects.

“It’s over Noah.” Booth held up his hands, trying to calm him down. “Just let her go and you can walk out with us.”

“That’s not my name!” Noah screamed. “My name is the Lensman and she isn’t going anywhere except back to my little studio to be carved up, isn’t that right, Y/N.” He grabbed your shoulder and pulled it back making you scream out in pain.

“An entire FBI team is on the way,” Seeley stepped towards you, never taking his eyes off of yours. Noah slammed the knife down into a pipe in the wall and you immediately smelled gas. Shit.

“Take one more step towards me and we all go up.” Noah snapped, pulling a lighter out of his pocket. You gave Booth a nod and he raised a brow. You stomped down hard on Noah’s already sore foot and knocked the lighter out of his hands and the three of you started sprinting towards the elevator. The doors opened and you rushed inside frantically pressing the button for them to close.

“We’re just going to let him get away?” Monica questioned. You shook your head, breathing heavily.

“The team will be here in just a few seconds.”

“But there are other ways out of this bunker.” She reasoned. “What if he gets out and hurts other people?” You put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You don’t have to worry about that now.” Her eyes filled with tears.

“He killed my sister. She was all I had left.” She opened her palm to reveal the lighter Noah had dropped. “And now I can avenge her.” Just before the doors closed, she leaped out of the elevator.

“Monica!” You screamed, lunging after her only to run full force into the metal doors. The elevator jerked upwards and the entire building shook with the explosion beneath you. “No!” You banged against the doors until Seeley pulled you away, wrapping his arms around you, careful not to disturb your wound. The doors opened again, the sunlight streaming in.

“Shhh,” Seeley soothed, carrying you out. “It’s over.”

#bones #halloween gore #serial killer #seeley booth x reader #Seeley Booth #david borneaz #bones imagine

390 notes · View notes

johnnyscancerstick · 6 years ago

Text

Chap. 9

Warnings: feels, death, cursing.

Characters: Dallas Winston, Johnny Cade, Ponyboy Curtis, and a few random doctors and policemen.

Notes: @watermelon-chapstick , this is what I was talking about. I should let y'all know it takes a lot to make me cry. Teared up while writing this, and I think that means it's good enough to post. Lol, I'm well aware this was meant to be a shitpost, but I don't care. I wanted to write something feelsy and you damn know well I did and tried my best. I might make more of these in the future if people like this. Or, if people want more. I decided to post it on my own, not just a repost. I still put a lot of time into it, and I wanted it on my blog on it's own! This extra note is the only thing that's different — I didn't change anything else.

Word count: 1903

As quickly as it had started, it was over. Had this really happened? Or is it some fucking fever dream because of all the painkillers those hospital people had given me? No, it couldn't be. Dreams can't simulate this kind of stuff, we just beat the Socs!

‘I can't beleive they were gonna do this without me,’ that's not the only reason I wanted to do this, that's not the only reason I threatened to stab a bitch. Multiple. It was the only one I wanted to beleive but I know it's not.

I look down at Ponyboy, who was bleeding like hell and the rest of him looked even worse. He couldn't have been used to fighting solo, clearly. I shook my head, not going to ignore the situation any longer. I could miss my chance if I did that. I bent down and grabbed his collar, turning and yanking him up a bit after I started on a dead run. “Come on!” I couldn't hear myself. “We're goin' to see Johnny.”

Pony wasn't in any shape to be running but I could just remember Johnny's voice. He wanted to see everyone, but I knew there wasn't time. Ponyboy, if he could choose anyone to see it'd be him, wouldn't it? They were such good friends, and he's the one that will cooperate the most. Goddamnit, move faster! “Hurry! He was gettin' worse when I left.” don't think about that. “He wants to see you.”

I'd taken Buck's T-bird here and I didn't plan to go any slower than 110 to get back to the hospital. I got into the driver's seat and rhe second Pony was halfway in he car, I got into gear and slammed on the gas. I almost hydroplaned it across a curve and then I heard the sirins. Great, out of all the times. Think of something, Winston, think of something.

I don't even turn to the boy in the passenger's seat, but I find myself slowing down the car. “Look sick.” I say stiffly, furrowing my brows and narrowing my eyes. This could work, I don't have time for a police chase right now. “I'll say I'm taking you to the hospital, which'll be truth enough.”

The policeman said something like ‘Where's the fire.’ I wasn't paying attention. I glanced at him, I cant express how mad I was that he was slowing us down. Johnny only has so long!

“The kid.” I stayed cool, or at least I think I did, pointing at Pony. “He fell over on his motorcycle and I'm takin' him to he hospital.” Pony groaned a little, and I can't tell why.

The guy by the window looked nervous and glory, this was taking too long. “Is he real bad? Do you need an escort?” Oh, hell yeah, this could work. “How would I know if he's bar or not? I ain't no doc.” I fight a smile at how good this worked out. “Yeah, we could use an escort.”

The fuzz are really stupid, these days! “Sucker!” I hiss, he went back to his car. Now we didn't have to worry about traffic, or other cops. I don't know what I was mumbling about that entire ride there, I know I was talking about Johnny.

Once we were at the hospital I slammed the door shut and ‘helped’ Pony out of the car, but the second that police officer left, we were gone down that hallway. I heard yelling but I didn't even acknowlage them, I couldn't think of anything but Johnny, to the point where I let Pony's wrist go and I know he fell far behind. I didn't have time for an elevator, I raced up the stairs and almost clipped a wall a few times.

It felt like an eternity but I finally got to Johnny's room and I was going to break down the door if it wouldn't open. “I'm sorry, boys, but he's dying.” just those words sent horrible aches in my heart and I felt my chest tighten.

No, no, no. This isn't happening, he's not dying, he's not! Johnny can't die, he can't, this can't be happening. I take out Two's switch, whipping my head toward the doctor and jabbing it in his face. I didn't flick it open until I opened my mouth and started talking. “We gotta see him.” I said, my tone scared me even more than I already was, I hadn't heard myself like ths in a long time. I cleared my throat, furrowing my brows. I tried to be intimidating, I'd never had trouble with this before but now I was all trembly and it was visible, I could barely keep my hand still. “We're gonna see him and if you give me any static, you'll end up on your own operatin' table.” I sneer, I tried my best to keep my voice down.

This dude didn't even bat an eye, the little... Oh how I wanted to tell him off, I wanted to tell him just how much I needed to get into that room.

But he took me by surprise. “You can see him, but it's because you're his friends, not because of that knife.” I wasn't going to press, he was letting me in and for once I didn't want to fight. I put the switch back in my pocket and pushed the door open, I ran only for a few seconds before I swore something stopped me. I stumbled forward and made sure I didn't fall, and I could see Pony walk into the room out of the corner of my eye.

Johnny was white and looked still, I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not and I felt tears well up in my eyes. I gritted my teeth and shut them tight, it's not the end! Johnny isn't dead, he's not! He's just.. He's just asleep, he'll wake up any minute now. I took a few steps forward and wiped the sweat off my lips, “Johnnycake..?” my voice was low and hoarse, and I couldn't see even though it opened my eyes. I could barely hear anything else, everything else was shut off and didn't exist at that moment. Nothing was real, this wasn't what was going on. This really can't be happening.

Johnny didn't respond and I had to say something else. I had to prompt him again, this isn't how this ends. “Johnny...” I felt the hope drain from my whole body, but that little bit came up again when he moved. “hey..” his voice, god, that tore through my soul harder than anything else had.

I walked toward him after glancing at the Christopher around my neck, “We won.” I was out of breath and it was hard to get it back, I couldn't comprehend this and I just wanted to get him to say something. “We beat the Socs. We stomped them—chased them outa our territory.” I said, I was desperate at this point. Johnny's eyes were barely open and I couldn't tell if he could see the tears welling. I bit my lip as he just gave an unsatisfied hum, “Useless...” he croaked, “Fighting's no good...” he was so white, and I felt panic rising within me again.

No, he's dying and this isn't going to be the last thing I say to him! I gotta tell him something, something that'll make him smile, I've been keeping so much in about him all this time, how hard would it be to tell him now? When I literally have no other chance..!

I licked my lips and tried to find my voice through all the emotion, “They're still writing editorials about you in the paper. For being a hero and all.” I tried to keep my voice calm, I didn't let it break, I didn't want to cry in front of him. That would make this even worse, that would make him feel awful, that would just be the worst thing I could do right now. “Yeah..” he hadn't responded yet but for the sake of my sanity I had to act as if he did, “They're calling you a hero now and heroizin' all the greasers.”

I couldn't say it, I just couldn't, it was too hard, I tried so hard but I couldn't.. Hopefully he'll get he message. “We're all proud of you, buddy...” I managed a smile, I felt hot tears run down my face. I tries to wipe them off, but they'd just look like dweat and I wasn't going to take my eyes off Johnnycakes.

He looked so happy, his eyes lit up. I let out a half sob and kept my composure, I took a deep breath and was about to day something else, but he spoke. “Ponyboy.”

I backed up. I wasn't going to take it away, I'd forgotten Pony was there. I'd forgotten anyone was there. Johnny wanted to talk to Pony, he'd already talked to me, danmit I'm so selfish.

I don't know what he said but as I stepped closer, he just...

I broke into a grin and felt more tears fall down my cheeks. I was trembling, I could barely keep myself up, I felt like the world spun around me and for some reason, I wanted to laugh.

I reached a shaky hand over and brushed his bangs off his forehead, “Never could keep that hair back.” I could hear I was under pronouncing any soft sounds and I saw everything blur around me. “That's what you get for tryin' to help people, you little punk...” reality was setting in and I found it hard to breathe. Johnny wasn't... He.... He was.. He's not.. No. He's fine, Johnny is fine, nothing happened, nothing's wrong. I took a quivering breath, the smile faltering. I tried and I tried to keep it up, I know this wasn't what was going on, I know he's... But no, no I won't believe this. This is NOT what's happening, it's not it's.. It's not... It can't be... Johnny can't be dead, oh he really can't be... “There what you get..” I couldn't get the words out, I whipped toward the wall and punched it as hard as I could.

“Damnit Johnny..” I didn't have the energy, I couldn't have screamed if I wanted to. I ground my fist and hit the wall again, grinding my teeth and trying to do anything but think of him.

Don't think of how he used to be

Don't think of what happened

Don't think of what happened to him behind closed doors

Don't think of what he did for those kids

Don't think of him not wanting to die

Don't think of him only being sixteen

Don't think of him never leaving Tulsa

Don't think of him...

“Oh, damnit, Johnny...”

Don't think of those mocha eyes and how they lit up whenever I smiled at him.

“Don't die..”

Don't think of how brave, persistent, and strong he was-

Don't think of how brave, persistent, and strong he is

“Please,”

Don't think of how he would have turned out.

Don't think of how good of a person he would have ended up being.

Don't think of all the things I could have told him

Don't think of all the things thst would have made him happy, thst would have made him smile.

“Don't die...”

#dallas winston #johnny cade #ponyboy curtis #outsiders #jally #nooooooo #nooo #...#no.#i mean #i might make more #i'm not crying you're crying

16 notes · View notes

raisingsupergirl · 5 years ago

Text

Anxiety: Navigating Life’s Hidden Obstacles

I'm seriously struggling here, people. I'm off my game, and for a while, I didn't even realize it. I was still keeping up with everything: developing a cool new program at work, staying on top of writing and editing, even decorating for Halloween last weekend (which is generally my favorite time of year). But something about it all just felt monochrome. Blacks, whites, and grays, all muted and flitting by without catching my attention or sparking my interest, which is so weird because from the outside, my life is going great right now. So what in the wide, wide world is missing?

Well, as I said, I didn't even really realize anything was off kilter until last weekend. The week before (the past several weeks, actually) had been a blur of overtime and late nights, so I didn't have time to think about it. By Friday, I was understandably exhausted, and I was sure a couple days of R&R would get me back up to operating speed. But when Sunday morning rolled around and I still felt off, I started digging. As I sat listening to our pastor talk about fellowship and inviting strangers over for dinner and whatnot, I couldn't help thinking that I didn't have the motivation to do any of that (which is a shame because grilling season is the best season). In fact, the night before, my wife and I had to miss my fifteen-year reunion because we couldn't find a babysitter, and I actually felt kind of relieved. And that’s so not like me. I may be an introvert, but I'm an extroverted introvert. I love being around people because people really interest me. Usually. But again, this past weekend, there just seemed to be nothing in me that desired, well, anything. And by the time my pastor closed the church service in prayer, I realized that it was much more than exhaustion.

To start with, I'm dealing with a couple of unknowns in my life right now, and they're causing some serious anxiety. The first unknown is in my writing career. I have a novel out for consideration to publishers, and if you've ever waited for validation on something you've poured blood, sweat, and years into, you know the feeling. Was it all a big waste? Am I an untalented fraud? Should I give up writing forever? And while the second unknown is skin deep, it's probably a bigger one. You see, I have my first ever dermatologist appointment coming up, and it's freaking me out. Not because I'm afraid to get cut on (though that's not on my list of super fun things, either), but because I'm afraid of what I'll find out. Generally, I'm not a hypochondriac. I'm laid back and pragmatic, and I know a lot about the human body, so not much rattles me. But I have a few moles that look and feel pretty strange, and there's a part of me that keeps whispering the "C" word. And as if my own self-worth and mortality aren't enough, there's a third thing that's been bothering me, though I was blind to it until a couple of days ago.

It was this time of year in 2010 that my dad was killed by a drunk driver. Obviously, it was the darkest period of my life, and it took a lot to dig out of it. And now, the pain is usually more of an ache. Something deep down inside that usually doesn't work its way back to the surface, but sometimes it gets pretty close. And it's always the worst this time of year. So, with those things combined (and maybe other things that I still haven't realized), I feel like I've been fighting an uphill battle. And it sucks.

Depression is a weird word. It has such a wide spectrum, and it looks different with everybody. I'm not saying what I'm feeling is depression, but it's in the ballpark. And if I would have kept ignoring it or denying it long enough, it could have easily grown into something worse. Why do I believe that? Because now that I have identified it and begun to shine light on it, I'm feeling better. I mean, those aggravating factors haven't magically disappeared, but I now know the face of my enemy. And most importantly, I know that it's not somehow my fault. And because of this, I'm reminded that this isn't what my life normally feels like. Maybe my book will be rejected by everyone. Maybe the blemishes on my skin will turn out to be more than just moles (to be clear, I really don't think they're anything, so don't worry). And I know I'll never truly get over the loss of my dad. But right now, I'm sitting in the sun and enjoying a soothing (ninety-degree) autumn breeze, and I'm smiling. I'm smiling because I'm alive, and there's so much good surrounding me. I've written several books, and that's something most people can't say. I have access to skilled doctors and better treatment options than most people in the world. And I have countless fond memories of my father that have shaped me into the man I am, and I'm now a father, myself. And my kids, y'all? They're perfect in every way, and they're so much more than I deserve. And my wife is, too. My family, my friends, my God… my life is good. And, in a way, the dark times make me all the more thankful for what I have.

And you? If you're ever going through a rough patch and need someone to talk to, hit me up. Seriously. I (like literally everyone you've every met) have been there. I've left those rough patches in the dirt, I've swerved around them, and, yeah, sometimes I've face planted in them. And there will be more of them ahead for all of us. It's about pointing them out. Marking them. Warning others about them. Because learning to navigate them is just another part of life. And in the end, who really wants a boring, straight road, anyway? Seriously, have you ever driven highway 70 from Missouri to Colorado? It's 700 miles of rural purgatory. But I digress. Thanks for listening, y'all. I feel better already. Peace.

#depression #mental health #inspirational #communication #thankful #momblr #dadblr #mumblr

1 note · View note

r-a-i-n-y-d-a-z-e · 6 years ago

Note

Question Hodgepodge ok all the ones with a 3 in it :p

3. Do you have any allergies? Idk. Haven’t encountered any yet! :)

13. Nutella or peanut butter?Depends…just getting a spoonful: nutella… as a flavor mix (like in ice-cream or cookies,etc): peanut butter.

23. Last show you binge watched?Oh geez. I think it was a re-watch of Game of Thrones before season 7 started. Either that or The Simpsons when they ran the “Every Simpson Ever” marathon on FXx. Times been a blur. lol Scratch all that. It was Shameless. I just remembered when I saw it on Netflix. :P

30. How early in the year do you start celebrating Christmas?As soon as our “Thanksgiving meal” is eaten. So If we decide to have a Thanksgiving breakfast and it ends at 10am…then Christmas stuff will be going up at 10:01am.

31. What emoji best describes your life right now?🥀

32. Are you fluent in more than one language?No :/

33. What is the longest you’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution?6 or 7 months34. Have you ever successfully been on a diet? Did you gain any of the weight back?Yeah. I lost a little over 100 pounds…then a lot of stuffed happened where life kept kicking me while I was down and since I’ve gained it back :(. Hoping to start taking it off again soon.35. Are any of your grandparents still alive?No…36. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions?Reasonably well I think.37. Have you ever gotten a commercial jingle stuck in your head?One too many times. lol38. Have you ever left a movie theater before the movie was over?Nope not yet.39. Do you consider rapping singing?No… but some rappers can sing.43. Have you ever locked your keys in your car?Nope.

53. Can you handle spicy foods? What is your spice limit?I can, but don’t really like spicy foods…so I don’t know my limit.

63. How often do you say y'all?I’m a born & raised Texan so all the time! 😆

73. Do you believe in evolution?Yeah. There are so many species of things something has to have evolved from something else.

83. Have you ever ended a romantic relationship?No, but wish I had.

93. Have you ever auditioned for a reality competition show?Heck no, I’m not talented like that… nor think I am :P

103. Do you know your IQ?Not exactly, but back in school it was high average…don’t know now, but I’m sure it’s changed.

113. Have you ever been in the audience for the taping of a TV show?Not yet…but maybe in the HDWGH tour documentary… we will see. XD

123. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?I can’t even picture that far. I’m just trying to get through each day okay. Hopefully happy & living it up tho. :D

130. What is your astrological sign?Sagittarius131. Have you ever been fired from a job?Nope.132. Any hidden talents?Don’t know they are hiding really well.133. Can you surf?Gonna have to go with a BIG no to that one.134. What motivates you to do well in life?There’s a voice in the back of my mind that says “This isn’t it..” a inner force that pushes me towards better. I know I have a bigger purpose, even if to help one person…I know it’s there. The fact that I’m struggling mentally right now sucks big time…but hopefully I get back to the right path. 135. Your worst physical feature?Everything right now. I am a mess.136. From 1-10, how much are you like your father?Idk so 5, middle it out.137. How lucky do you consider yourself?Very & not at all at the same time.138. Name a moment in your life when you were pleasantly surprised.When I lost those 100lbs… I got all kinds of confidence. lol139. Have you ever been summoned for jury duty?Nope.

143. Have you ever lived with a roommate you did not get along with?Not yet.

153. Are you friends with any of your exes?HELL NO. I only have one & I never in my life want to see him again.

163. Name one celebrity you wish was still alive.Tupac. I really want to see what kind of music he would be releasing these days & how involved he would be in fighting for justice. A lot as changed and I believe he could’ve made even more of an impact if he was still alive.

173. What was your favorite TV show when you were a kid? Simpsons, Boy Meets World, All That…probably a lot of the 90s shows

183. How much of a jealous person are you?Not so much.

193. How many things can you do with your weaker hand? A lot, but not as well.

Phew! :P Thanks @kimaika

#ask #answered

4 notes · View notes

askdawnandvern · 6 years ago

Text

A Lamb Among Wolves Ch:46

Chapter Forty-Six: Sweet Little Lies

“This won't do.” Xavier muttered. The white and grey wolf pulled uneasily at the trappings of his rather sharp looking dark grey tuxedo. “This fabric is so abrasive.” Xavier huffed. “And I look terrible.”

“Oh Pshaw.” Malcolm tutted, swatting the wolf's paws away from fiddling at his own pale purple tie. “Y'all look more than fine.”

Xavier shook his head. “ I tried to pick something that looked the most like my proper tuxedo.” The wolf pulled at the lapel of his jacket to reveal the matching pale purple vest underneath, gesturing with it with a paw. “But the materials are so...ugh” Xavier adjusted his glasses. “They honestly just don't make them anywhere like San Francisgoat.”

Malcolm gave the wolf a playful pat on the chest as he rolled his eyes. “You are such a spoilt' pup.” The russet wolf said with a laugh.

Xavier crossed his arms defensively, turning from his mate as it the comment had left the wolf feeling slightly offended. “Just because I demand quality when it comes to what I'm willing to be seen wearing?”

"Y'all look fine!" Malcolm laughed. " It's only fer one night, and side's this whole affair ain't exactly for you now is it?" Malcolm averted his eyes slightly, his gaze momentarily falling on the other wolf seated in the room before quickly darting back to his mate. The russet wolf pulled at his own, considerably simpler tux and gestured toward it. The suit was largely similar to Xavier's, aside from the wolf opting for a baby blue tie, and forgoing the vest in favor of sticking with the simple dress shirt. The russet wolf pulled at one of his suspender straps that had been hidden underneath the jacket with a paw, releasing it with a dull 'thwip' as he eyed his mate. “My suit ain't perfect, but it's good enough to get the job done.”

Xavier sighed. “ I know...I just...” The wolf ran a paw through his hair nervously. “I just wish I had my proper suit.” Xavier looked toward the ceiling. “ I want to be looking my best for something as important as this, ans-”

Malcolm held up a paw, averting his eyes to the wolf that had been watching the pair before glancing back to his mate. “Stop yerself before y'all accidentally...er...say the wrong thing.” Malcolm chided. “And asides', unless y'all can are fixin' to sprout wings and can fly as fast as a jet y'all would never make it in time.”

“Hey fellas?” Wade popped his head in from between a nearby curtain, drawing the two wolves attention.

“Is he ready for him?” Xavier asked, lowering his glasses as he eyed the dusky grey wolf.

“Just about.” Wade muttered, pushing the curtains aside and dusting off his tux as he entered. The wolf's tux was comparably simplier to the other two mammals. Nothing more than a black suit, punctuated with a pale blue tie. For a moment, his gaze met the same quiet wolf that Malcolm's eyes had, only to just as quickly divert back to the couple. “He's just finishin' up Ully's tux.” Wade shook his head. “Ya'll know how hard it is for Ully to keep still.”

“Maybe y'all should have used the zip ties on ol' Ully instead.” Malcolm chuckled.

“Speaking of...” Xavier's gaze traveled to the seated wolf briefly. “Do you think it is safe to untie him?”

“I dunno if we should risk it.” Wade muttered quietly. “M-maybe the tailor can work around the ties?”

“Don't be silly!” Malcolm laughed. “He ain't gonna run out now!”

“I don't know...” Wade muttered, exchanging a glance with the wolf across the way. “He still has a bit of a squirrely look in his eyes, maybe we sh-”

“Hey boys.” Vernon finally spoke, drawing the groups attention back to him all at once. The wolf looked exceedingly tired, the bruise under his eye only adding to the pre-existing bags that had come from a short and tumultuous nights sleep. “Could y'all do me a solid and-” The wolf furrowed his brow, flashing his fangs at the mammals as he began to thrash in his seat.

"STOP TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE I AIN'T HERE!?" Vernon snarled.

“Easy Vernon, easy.” Xavier held his paws out, gesturing for the wolf to settle. But Vernon was beyond settling. He had been seated in one of the back rooms of the local tailor's place for what, from his perspective, had to have been at least two hours. His paws restrained not only with the initial zip ties they had used to restrain him at the ranch, but another two sets connecting the first one around his wrists to the spokes of the wooden chair he now sat in. The whole time, his brothers had continually tip-toed around divulging just what was going on. Whether it was Trenton electing to make small talk about anything but the current predicament Vernon found himself in, Zach remaining silent while it was his turn to keep watch, refusing to even acknowledge the wolf's presence, or worst of all, the current situation with his brothers simply talking around him, the lack of transparency had grown completely maddening.

The more the topic at paw was avoided, the more it left Vernon to stew in his own thoughts. To review the situation and everything that lead up to it in his head over and over again in order to find his own clues as to just what was going on. And from what Vernon had managed to piece together during his time strapped to the wooden chair, the vibe around it certainly didn't tell him anything good.

At first, Vernon hadn't been sure what to make of the silent treatment. Back at the ranch, he hadn't really noticed it. After all, the wolf was to busy attempting to dole out a silent treatment of his own when it came to the other wolves. They had tackled and trussed him up after all, in front of his mate no-less. Treating him with the same care and finesse that an officer would employ when taking down some violent criminal. The kind you'd see on late night television with his face blurred out, screaming obscenities at the mammals restraining him. Of course, the tearful goodbye he had given his mate probably didn't help the situation in that regard, if anything it probably made the scene that much more uncomfortable for the rest of the Hunter pack to witness. To any outsider, the scene must of looked like something out of a domestic dispute case. Between Vernon's own injuries, the tears he and Dawn shared, and the zip tie cuffs, all that was really missing was the wolf being loaded into a squad car and hauled off to the North Meadowland's County Jail. And Vernon was certain that image hadn't just resonated with him alone judging by the uncomfortable expressions worn by most of his siblings during the wolf's final goodbyes to his mate.

It was only when the Hunter girls left ahead of them, did Vernon pick up on just how awkwardly silent kitchen had grown. His brothers had grown deathly quiet, save for a stray cough here and there. Glancing around, Vernon could see various eyes darting at one another, as if each member of the pack was looking to the other to say something. To break the stifling and uncomfortable atmosphere that had formed with the absence of Audrey and the girls. In that moment, Vernon thought that maybe his brothers were just as bewildered and baffled by the sudden turn of events as he was. As if all they had been told was to restrain the wolf and wait there for further instructions. And with nothing left to do or say, they seemed to be at a collective loss as to how to move forward.

The familiar puttering of Audrey's pie van came and went, signifying that the girls had left the ranch, presumably with Dawn in tow. The staccato sound of backfiring exhaust slowly fading away as the sound of the early morning birds once again filled the quiet kitchen. It was only then, when the van appeared to be long gone, did one of his brothers mustered to courage to speak.

“S-So...” Wade muttered. “How we doing this?”

“We already know what we're doin' here, dummy.” Yuri rolled his eyes.

“Good.” Vernon muttered. “Because I'd like to know.” The wolf growled softly. He tried to meet Trenton's gaze, but the wolf looked away. His muzzle twisted-up in an uneasy grimace.

"I know that!" Wade protested, failing to acknowledge the wolf's comment. "I-I mean how we dollin' out who's ridin' front and whos ridin' bed?" The wolf met Vernon's gaze briefly before looking away. "I mean who's ridin' with...y'know...?"

The silence returned momentarily, the wolves once again exchanging uncertain glances.

“Let's just walk him outside, and we'll figure it out as we go.” Trenton mumbled. “Sound fair?”

There was a mixture of nods and murmurs of agreement as the room slipped back into that same uneasy silence. A silence that only grew that much more uncomfortable as Vernon was guided outside without so much of a peep from his brothers. Trenton and Zach's grip on his shoulders remained firm as they led the wolf out to the driveway, their claws digging into his shirt as they pushed him onward while the other Hunters dutifully followed behind. The whole time, the unnatural, pervading silence grew more and more unnerving to Vernon. The wolf had seen his brothers act in many different ways, but generally, when they were together there was always an air of joviality and playfulness about them. Even when the mood was somber, you could always count on one of them to try to lighten it. At least, aside from Yuri. After all, the wolf had quite the knack for dancing on the grave of good spirit whenever the opportunity arose. Yet now, the palpable discomfort and unease that exuded from around Vernon made him feel as though the walk to the old, beat up, pick-up truck had the weight of being led out to a firing squad.

Coming to a stop along the side of the car, the wolves once again traded uncertain glances, each looking to the other to once again bring up the topic of presumably, who was riding next to Vernon in the front seat.

“Well, I ain't gonna do it.” Malcolm was the first to cut the thick, stifling atmosphere with his objection. “I mean yer his brothers here. So obviously it should be one of y'all sitting next to Vern.”

“Nice way to pass the buck.” Zach mumbled.

“Passin' the buck?” Malcolm laughed awkwardly. “Yer supposed to be trained in handlin' this stuff! I'm just a chef! I'm the least qualified mammal here!”

“He's right.” Xavier interjected. “He'd most likely crack if Vernon started asking too many questions.”

Malcolm laughed uneasily. “Any other time I'd take that as an insult, but it's true.” Malcolm replied. “I ain't never been a good liar.”

“Liar?” Vernon spoke again. The wolf couldn't be sure what they were lying about, but it suddenly made him a bit more dubious about the seemingly earnest act his mother had put on for him in the kitchen. The fact that language like that was being thrown around at all made the wolf that much more wary of the lot of them.

“Damnit Malcolm!” Zach snapped, throwing the wolf a glare. “He's already lookin' cagey enough! I don't want him makin' a break for it cause yer mouth spoke before yer brain!”

Vernon furrowed his brow. “I ain't gonna-”

“Hey, It was just an accident!” Xavier replied, cutting Vernon off.“No need to jump down Malcolm's throat.”

The general unease and anxiety seemed to be rising rapidly as the wolves continued to bicker, especially whenever Vernon tried to interject, in which case he was quickly talked over by another brother. It was annoying, sure, but everyone around him seemed so jumpy it was to be expected. Vernon was certain a part of that revolved around the fear that they still expected him to try to get away, and that hearing him out would only result in him attempting to talk his way out of the cuffs and making run for it. Then again, once the wolf was in the passenger seat, it wasn't like he was in a great position to try and flee anyway, and that was more or less what Vernon had been trying to tell them only to be cut off each time by another round of arguing between the Hunter males. But there was clearly more to the spats of aggressive and defensive posturing between them as the arguing went on. And it only furthered the wolves suspicions that whatever his brothers were sitting on, was controversial. At least where Vernon was concerned.

The argument probably went on for a good five minutes before something happened that took Vernon completely by surprise. Yuri, who had largely kept silent while the other brothers argued over who should drive let out a loud, irritated huff as he began to tromp toward the group of mammals. Vernon barely had time to register what was going on before Yuri had pulled him free of the other wolves, taking it upon himself to restrain Vernon and lead him over to the passenger side of the truck. For the first time since the wolf had been restrained by his brothers, the wolf felt a renewed surge of panic run through him. Although previously, the sudden wash of fear and urge to flee had been extinguished as soon as Vernon realized it was simply his brothers restraining him. Was he angry and confused? Most definitely. But he trusted the bulk of his brothers to not take advantage of the situation, both as officers of the law, and having little to no axe to actually grind with Vernon. But Yuri on the other paw, well, if he had been looking to get his revenge for the night before, he had certainly positioned himself in the perfect place to get it. And with Vernon unable to defend himself, who knew how long it would take to pry the jet black wolf off of him should he decided to give Vernon another beating.

Vernon desperately tried to squirm free, but it did little to break the painfully tight grip of the dark-furred wolf as he roughly pushed him along the passenger side of the vehicle.

“HEY!” Vernon heard Zach yelp.

“YURI, WHAT ARE YO-!?”

“JUST SHUT UP!” Yuri spat, as he yanked the passenger side door open. With a hard shove, Vernon spilled into the passenger seat face first. Now free of Yuri's grip, the wolf desperately tried to right himself, squirming against the fabric in a desperate attempt to get his paws over his head and around his front to block whatever flurry of blows was coming. But the wolf's struggle came to an abrupt stop as he heard the unmistakable sound of the car door slam behind him. Shifting his body around, Vernon managed to pop his head up just in time to catch Yuri tromping around the hood of his truck, his eyes locked on the Hunters across from him. Out of the drivers side window, Vernon could see his other brothers watching Yuri, a mixture of confusion and anger on their faces as they called out to him. But whatever they were saying to the wolf, Vernon couldn't quite make out. Between the rabble of Hunters arguing over one another and the sealed cab of the truck, their voices were partially muffled and hard to distinguish aside from a few choice words. Mostly ones that sounded suspiciously like 'no' and 'stop'. Vernon winced as he tried to swallow the lump that was rapidly forming in his throat.

It was only as Yuri tore the passenger side door wide open, did the cab fill up with the clamoring voices of his brothers.

“I”M GONNA DRIVE ALRIGHT!?” Yuri snarled, flashing his fangs at the other hunters before his angry expression softened into more of a resentful glare. The wolf let out a derisive snort as he turned back toward the open cab, and leaned a knee up onto the drives seat. "Bunch a damn sissies."

“Oh cause that's a great idea.” Zach said with a laugh. “ Y'all want to take a good look in one of Ma's side mirrors and tell me with a straight face why puttin' you both alone together isn't gonna just lead to trouble?”

Vernon watched his brother glance at the mirror for a moment, the wolf letting out a soft scoff before turning back to the other Hunters as placing his paws on his hips.

“He does have a point.” Xavier muttered, pressing his glasses up slightly.

The black-furred wolf crossed his arms defensively “I gotta drive don't I?” Yuri hissed. “Asides, Vern's restrained.” The wolf cocked a brow. “ Wouldn't exactly be fair to beat on a mammal who can't defend himself.”

It was a strange sentiment coming from Yuri, at least to Vernon. The mammal had never seemed to be on to really give a damn when it came to playing fair.

"Oh, now suddenly y'all care about that kinda stuff?" The errant comment earned a particularly nasty glare from the black-furred wolf. It was, at the very least, a brief moment of recognition that Vernon was more than a an object being moved around at his brother's leisure. But it was short-lived, and soon the wolf's focus was back on the apparent task at paw.

“We're gonna be LATE if we keep up this DAMN SQUABBLIN'!” Yuri spat. “So either pick someone else or let me do the drivin', cause we're runnin' out of TIME!”

The other brothers shared an uncertain glance, the wolves looking to one another to say something before grouping into a rather sloppy looking huddle. With their backs turned away, and deliberately speaking in low tones Vernon could barely make out anything that was being said during the brief huddle. He desperately tried to crane his head, tilting his ears in the direction of the mob in his best effort to decipher the quiet mumbling and musings, but the only thing he managed to make out was when he heard Ulric bark out what sounded like 'why me'? But just as soon as the Hunters began their silent deliberation, it just as quickly came to an end. And once it broke up, it was Xavier who took the lead, the well-dressed wolf taking a step forward before speaking.

“We'll let you drive Yuri.” Xavier muttered. “Provided Ulric is seated between the both of you.”

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Seriously!?”

Zach crossed his arms, glowering at the dark-furred wolf.

“It's either that, or were lettin' Ully drive and you'll be in back with us.” Zach grumbled. “Take yer pick.”

Vernon watched as the rest of the Hunters slowly joined in Zach's defensive and defiant posture, the wolves all crossing their arms and glowering at the wolf standing between Vernon and the others.

Yuri let out a snarl, placing a paw on the driver's side door and slamming it shut so hard Vernon could hear the glass rattling in the frame. Again, the wolf found himself cut off from the conversation as Yuri began to argue loudly with the others. But at the very least the wolf had picked up another clue. Like his mother, Yuri had also emphasized that whatever was going to happen had some degree of time constraints regarding it. There was clearly some sort of deadline at stake, and the longer they drew out getting fitted for tux's, the higher the chance of missing or screwing up whatever plan had been put together.

Yuri was gesturing wildly, but the rest of the Hunter pack remained unmoved by his efforts. Their unflinching glares remaining fixed on the wolf regardless of how loudly he seemed to protest. It was clear whatever argument the wolf was making for himself was doing little to sway the consensus. Eventually, Vernon saw Yuri throw his arms up in the air in a defeated gesture, turning to lean against the door as Ulric began to walk toward the car. The wolf couldn't hear Yuri sigh, but the sudden flush of fog on the window was enough to tell him as much.

Once Ulric had reached the wolf's side, Yuri listlessly opened it once again, stepping aside as he gestured the dusky grey inside.

“Just keep yer damn mouth shut Ully.” Yuri muttered, gesturing Ulric inside with a paw. “And if you twitch too much I'm gonna swat you.”

Ulric let out an indignant huff as he keeled into the seat.

“I might be an expert at uncovering secrets.” Ulric grumbled, sliding over onto the middle of the seat and uncomfortably close to Vernon. “But I'm pretty good at keeping them too!”

Yuri let out an irritated sigh as he leaned into the driver's seat, gesturing a paw to the other Hunters as they began to round the truck bed. Once again, the dark wolf slammed the door shut so hard it made the whole car rattle.

“What's wrong with you anyway?” Ulric asked Yuri. “Ain't it a little early fer yer hackles to be raised this high?”

The black wolf flashed him a hateful sneer, causing the wolf to cow slightly before turning back to jam the keys into the ignition.

“Geeze...” Ulric muttered. “Sorry I asked.”

From there, the silent treatment began in earnest. Well, at least for the most part. Ulric did surprisingly well when it came to keeping his word in regards to whatever secret they were keeping. But Yuri's behavior was growing increasingly hard to read, which was somewhat uncharted territory for Vernon. The Yuri Vernon knew generally came in two flavors, irritable, and cruel. Yet during a majority of the drive Vernon found that Yuri kept glancing over at him. The wolf's generally annoyed expression faltering each time, giving way to something looking a bit more troubled. It was a look of discomfort that hadn't quite matched the one the rest of his brothers seemed to consistently wear throughout this whole little kit-napping stint. There was clearly something on the wolf's mind, but he seemed unable to bring himself to say it.

Of the few times he attempted to open his mouth, he said nothing. His muzzle simply hung open for a moment before he snapped it shut again, turning away from Vernon and Ulric and letting out another irritated huff as he slammed a paw against the ridge of the steering wheel. Vernon couldn't be sure what to make of it, but considering who it was coming from, he assumed whatever he had to say probably wasn't worth listening to anyway. Thankfully Vernon had Ulric to act as a shield should Yuri decide to try anything, even if listening to the rather banal banter about 'the underwater Kingdom of Cetacea' from the dusky grey wolf was hard to endure without dozing off.

Arriving at the local tailor's, Yuri was quick to bail out of the vehicle. The dark wolf letting off another annoyed huff as he left Vernon to be dealt with by the other Hunters. It was the last the wolf would see of that particular brother for the rest of the morning as he was taken back into custody by Trenton and Zach. The same quiet procession from the farm replaying itself as they led the wolf into the local tailor's shop. Coming to a stop at the front desk, an older looking female armadillo adjusted her half-moon glasses as she appraised the group of mammals with a curious eye. For a moment Vernon expected her to panic when she fully registered what she was seeing. To pick up her phone and dial for the local police. Provided Dorian wasn't somehow behind whatever was going on, there was a good chance Vernon could have seen his freedom right then and there. But instead, the old mammal let out a soft chuckle.

“Ah...Dorian's boys.” The older mammal tutted. “I'd expect nothing less.”

“Great...” The wolf thought to himself. He should have known that the size of the population in the North Meadowlands would ensure that everyone knew the Hunters and by extension the Hunter sons. With this sort of behavior being largely considered a norm for the family of wolves, Vernon knew at that moment he probably wasn't going to find any help in this place.

“Ma wanted us to thank y'all again fer bein' able to help us pull this together on such short notice Misses Dasy”. Zach said with an uncomfortable grin.

"I don't suppose y'all would be willin' to tell me what this is all about ma'am?" Vernon asked. The wolf winced as he felt Zach's elbow dig into his rib, which caused the wolf to let out a whine before flashing his brother a sharp glare. However, Zach continued to ignore him.

“Now, now boys, no rough housin' in my establishment.” The old armadillo giggled, hopping off her stool and dusting off her tan colored skirt with a paw. “Same rules apply, just like the ol' days.” Glancing up at Vernon, the little mammal cracked the wolf a wry grin.

“And as fer you young man, I'm under strict orders not to whisper so much as a peep to you.” The armadillo waggled a finger at the wolf

'Old days?' Vernon thought to himself. It was a strange little reply, and it began to tug at the rusted old gears in the back of the wolfs mind. Faint images from something long ago, another forgotten memory that he couldn't quite recall. All it left him with was the impression that the rodent was oddly more familiar than she had appeared at first glance.

“We got a place to keep him fer the time bein'?” Trenton asked the little mammal.

The armadillo giggled softly before turning and walking into the boutique, gesturing the larger mammals to follow her.

“Probably one of the dressing rooms would be the best fit.” Misses Dasy chuckled.

“Well, we kinda need a place with somethin' to tie him to.” Zach said. “We ain't too sure if he's fixin' to run still or not.”

Vernon glared at his brother again, but Zach's only response was to give him a light shove as they began to dutifully follow the little armadillo through the store.

Misses Dasy shook her head as she walked, letting out another quiet chuckle.

“I swear, you boys haven't changed at all since you were pups have you?” The armadillo replied. “I still don't know how ol' Auddey kept up with you, because I know I barely could.”

It was then recognition hit the wolf like a sack of bricks, so much so that Vernon stumbled slightly as he registered just who the mammal was.

“Wait, Mrs Dasy?” Vernon murmured. “Auntie Abby?”

That got the mammal to turn her head and regard the wolf, flashing him a smirk as

came to a stop.

“And here I thought y'all had forgotten about yer ol' honorary auntie.” The armadillo said, cocking a brow.

In truth, Vernon had, almost entirely. Abigail Dasy, the mammal that used to pupsit the Hunter brood was quite the distant memory at this point in his life. Buried behind the portion of his past he had tried so desperately to forget, woven up among all the baggage tied to everything that had led up to his more difficult years in life. However, the recognition only served to further clue the wolf in on just how much of a conspiracy was at paw. If there was little chance she would help him as a mammal he thought was outside of whatever was going on, there was no hope of convincing her knowing she was somewhat tight-knit with his parents.

“I-I-I-...” Vernon stammered.

The mammal smirked.

“Oh, Vernon.” The mammal's expression turned to worry as she leaned up on her toes in an effort to better inspect him. Abigail adjusted her glasses, squinting her eyes softly in a clear effort to focus her sight. “ Don't tell me your brothers went so far as to rough you up to get you here?”

“Huh?” Vernon quirked an eyebrow, only to swiftly realize that the tiny mammal was referencing his wounded face.

“Those bruises...” Misses Dasy tutted. “You poor thing. Who did that?”

“Take a guess.” Zach replied.

Vernon heard a scoff come from somewhere behind him.

“Ain't like I did it to get him here!” The wolf hissed. “It was yesterday!”

The small mammal shook her head dismissively.

“Some things never change I suppose...” The armadillo said with a sigh. “I hope y'all got a plan to cover that up?”

“Ma 'ill handle it.” Zach shrugged. “She's good at coverin' that kinda stuff up.”

Abby chuckled. “Well she has been doin' that fer long enough, hasn't she.” The tiny mammal let out a warm sigh.

"Anywho, the reminiscin' can wait. Let's get movin' shall we?" The armadillo once again gestured to the mammals to follow her as she began to walk deeper into the store.

“The materials room has an old wooden chair with spokes that's about his size.” The armadillo mused. “O' course, he could probably just run out with the chair strapped to 'im iffin' he's really desperate.

“Don't worry Misses D.” Wade replied. “We'll er....we'll take turns watchin' him till he's ready to go.”

“Please boys.” Abigail tutted. “I know it's been a long time, but y'all can still call me Auntie Abby.”

From there Vernon was led into the room he now found himself in, strapped to the dingy old chair with the faded floral padding with a few additional zip-ties. They had simply sat him down and left him, the brothers entering and exiting quietly as they 'switched shifts', and leaving Vernon mostly to his own thoughts. Unlike before, the silence and small talk seemed to be something more calculated, with a definitive goal or aim. The uneasiness was still there, certainly. But it was more subdued as the Hunters shuffled in and out of the quiet little chamber. The occasional small talk from Trenton giving the wolf little to no actual stimulation to distract him from the figurative stink in the air. And the more Vernon ruminated on that particular scent, his conclusions about whatever secret event began to narrow into something more focused and easy to read.

In his head, the wolf replayed the scene from the kitchen over again and again, trying to recall his mother's expression when she assured him that his father wasn't involved with whatever hare-brained scheme they were enacting involving himself and Dawn. At the time, she had been able to convince him that she was speaking to him in earnest. But the more he continued to reflect on the memory, the more refined and detailed the scene became. And as it sharpened in his thoughts, the wolf slowly became aware of the more minute nuances in the way his mother had spoken. The way her muscles twitched, and the brief, albeit slight change in expression he had failed to notice earlier during the frenzy of the morning ambush.

It was only there for a moment, when the wolf reluctantly agreed to trust her, but he could see it now. It was something that was tickling at the old Hunter intuition, gingerly plying at the red flags in his head as he reviewed it again and again. Vernon was growing increasingly certain that while his mother might be lying to him completely, there was at the very least, a half-truth in play. There was something important she was keeping from him, and that seemed to be something to do with just how much his father may actually be involved with whatever all this was.

This line of thought made the wolf all the more aware of every little thing his brothers were doing, albeit it a limited capacity. It was as if he was being treated like a suspect that the wolves were trying to get to talk. To confess or agree to anything in order to get out of the zip ties that currently kept him trapped there. Trenton's small talks and Zach's damnable silence had to be some strange form of the old 'good cop, bad cop' routine. The two taking turns plying at the wolves patience in order to get him to do something. Although Zach choosing to remain silent probably had more to do with the fact that the wolf would have most likely had a hard time being aggressive toward Vernon. As for the others, well, they were more than likely aware that one of Vernon's biggest pet peeves was when those around him talked about him without addressing him. To Vernon, it was even more insulting than talking behind his back.

On top of that, regardless of which brother was in charge of watching him at the time, or what tactic was in play, they continually passed around a pair of pruning shears as they waited presumably for Vernon's fitting. Leaving the wolf to watch the key to his freedom being continually dangled just out of reach. It was all calculated, it had to be. But to what end? What exactly were they hiding from the wolf, and what did they want out of him?

Either way, whatever this game was, he was done playing along, he had been far too patient all in an effort to see where everything was going. But now he wanted answers, and he was leaving if he didn't get them, even if that meant sprinting off with the entire chair strapped to him as Auntie Abby had joked about, and waiting for his mate to return back at the ranch.

“I don't know...” Xavier mused. “He still seems ready to bolt to me.” The wolf glanced at his mate nervously. “Maybe we should just tell him.”

“We made a promise Xavier!” Malcolm tapped his mate on the snout.

“I don't know what game yer all playin' at but I want some damn answers!” Vernon hissed.

“And you'll get 'em Vern, you'll get 'em soo-”

“Now!” Vernon snapped. “I want answers now dammit!” The wolf stomped a foot.

With that, Trenton poked his head between the curtains, eyeing the other wolves curiously.

“Is everything all right back here?” The white wolf asked.

“No!” Vernon snarled. “Everthin' ain't alright!”

“Well, I can see that.” Trenton replied, easing through the curtains. The wolf was already fitted in a tux of his own. The black material and matching black tie creating a sharp contrast to his own bristling white fur. “What's wrong Vernon?”

Vernon stared at the wolf for a moment, dumbfounded. The grey wolf blinking his eyes a few times as he stared at his brother in disbelief.

“What's wrong?” Vernon muttered, letting out a soft laugh. “WHAT'S WRONG!?” The wolf spat.

“Easy Ver-.”

“You fella's tackled me!” The wolf trashed in his seat. “Tied me up like some criminal! Split me and Dawn up, and dragged me off without tellin' me WHY!”

The wolves collectively winced as Vernon emphasized the word 'why' with a gnash of his teeth.

"Y'all keep tellin' me everythin's fine!" Vernon gasped. "That you'll tell me soon! Just hold on!" The wolf shook in his chair again. "But meanwhile I'm sittin' here trussed to a chair like I'm bein' held ransom!"

“Vern-!”

"And don't think I can't tell when y'all are tryin' to play me like I'm bein' interrogated!" The wolf spat.

The wolves winced again, glancing at one another uncomfortably at the accusation. There was a clear sense of shame exuding from the mammals, letting Vernon know he had clearly hit the mark.

“In-Interrogation?” Trenton queried.

"Teeth to tails, whether I got you talkin' to me about the weather or Zach shuttin' me out it ain't exactly hard to tell you guys are treatin' me like I'm a suspect!" The wolf snarled. "So what is it!? HUH!? WHAT ARE YOU TRYIN' TO DO HERE EXACTLY!? WHAT ARE YOU TRYIN' TO GET OUT OF ME!?"

The unsettling silence returned to the room as the wolves glanced at one another with uncertainty. By now Zach had entered the room, joining the other wolves in the uncomfortable silence as he had clearly heard most of the shouting from outside. The russet wolf adjusted his pale orange tie, pulling at the neck of his dress shirt uneasily. Zach opened his muzzle for a moment before snapping it shut again and looking toward the floor.

“Look...” Vernon finally spoke again. “I've put up with this game long enough.” The wolf continued. “I think I deserve some answers.” The wolf shook his head. “At the very least I'd like to go back to bein' treated like one of yer brothers.”

That had the rest of the pack glancing at the floor, the sense of shame among them that much stronger as they failed to make eye contact with Vernon. Despite Vernon's pleading they all remained silent, occasionally catching the glance of one another as the wolf's patience continued to wear thin.

“Well...?” Vernon asked.

“Well, I mean that's not exactly how an interrogation works bu-.”

Vernon cut the white wolf off as he started to growl.

“L-look Vern.” Zach finally spoke, raising his head slightly as he rubbed at the back of his head. “We, I mean. We a-ain't.”

“Look, it ain't like we're doin' this to get some sorta rise outta ya.” Trenton seemingly picked up where Zach had left off. “I-I mean it ain't purposeful...it's just.”

Xavier stepped forward, adjusting his glasses as he let out an uncomfortable cough. “It's just this whole situation is...rather unique...” The wolf glanced at his paw, idly tapping his forefingers together in a nervous manner.

“We all love you!” Zach interjected, only to seemingly awkwardly balk at his own declaration. “I mean were brothers, y'know?” The wolf scratched the back of his neck uneasily. “S-So its hard fer us to..fer us to...”

“To hold back on telling you certain things, because it feels like lying.” Xavier continued in Wade's absence. “It's an uncomfortable situation.”

“Yer tellin' me...” Vernon muttered, glancing back at his retrained paws.

“It's hard on all of us Vern.” Zach spoke up, wringing his paws together.

“So...in order to cope we've sort of...er...” Wade murmured, his eyes downcast as he studied the rug at his feet in an effort to avoid Vernon's gaze. “Been tryin' to distance' ourselves... in order to keep from sayin' somethin' dumb.”

Zach shrugged. "I guess that made most of us slip into cop mode without fully realisin' it..." The wolf murmured. "Looks like we leaned into the skid a little too hard though."

Vernon was utterly confused. On the one paw it explained the weird, pseudo-interrogation like situation he found himself in. But the amount of effort undertaken to keep whatever this secret was hidden seemed excessively extreme.

“A-Alright...I get that.” Vernon replied, shifting slightly against his seat. “I mean it's purty over-the-top if y'all ask me, but I get it.” The wolf sighed.

“But can't y'all tell me at least somethin'?” Vernon continued, the wolf looking to the others with pleading eyes as he spoke. “Anythin' to put me more at ease about this whole thing?” The wolf whimpered. “At the very least try to convince me o' somethin' that makes some sorta sense!”

The wolves looked at one another with nervous expressions, eyes darting from each mammals as they seemed to scan each other for a response.

“W-well....er....” Xavier muttered, rubbing his neck in clear discomfort. “I mean...we are going to er...attend something.”

Vernon nodded. “Okay.” The wolf replied. “A little bit more maybe?”

“A...” Wade glanced at Trenton with a quirked eyebrow. “Ceremony?” Wade waited, studying the white wolf in an apparent search for approval. Slowly, Trenton offered an nod.

“And what kind o' ceremony?” Vernon replied.

“We...er...” Trenton murmured. “Cant' say.”

Vernon let out an irritated sigh. His eyes felt dry and scratchy, but with his paws still tied behind his back, there was little he could do to fix the discomfort.

“Alright....fine...” Vernon muttered. “But why is it important fer me and Dawn to be there?”

“W-well, ya see...” Malcolm murmured, wringing his paws nervously. “Uh...it's...family related?”

Malcolm glanced to his mate with an uneasy expression, but like Trenton, Xavier gave a reassuring nod that seemed to put him at least a little more at ease.

Vernon squinted at the mammals, studying their features carefully. So far, they seemed to be telling the truth, at least as far as his gut told him. But the evidence that was gathering only grew increasingly stranger as he tried to piece together what he was being dragged into. A celebration, involving family, with tuxes for the males and dresses for the females. All of that seemed to add up to only one thing, but it just didn't make any sense. After everything that had happened at the ranch involving Dorian there was no way it could be...

Vernon let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief at his own conclusion.

“You ain't tellin' me it's some kinda tithe is it?” The wolf's remark was offhanded, nothing more than a joke that had inadvertently slipped from his muzzle. But as deathly silence filled the room, the wolf's ears pricked up. Glancing at his brothers, there was a mixture of horror and shock on their faces, Xavier and Malcolm going so far as to cover their muzzles with their paws to presumably muffle their collective gasps.

It only lasted for a moment before they had all diverted their eyes from Vernon, but the look of terror hadn't left their faces as they looked to one another in a quiet sort of panic.

“No.” Vernon chuckled uneasily. “Yer, yer kiddin' right?”

The increasingly pallid wolves were visibly sweating now. Vernon could see it glimmering on their fur as their eyes continued to dart to one another. It was a tithe. But for who? Dorian had already made his feelings on Vernon and Dawn very clear, and there was no way in hell that changed. Not after what the wolf had made oh so very clear in the dimly lit study the night before.

“Wait....so...?”

“Hey, we should probably get back to the ranch huh Fluffybuns?” Malcolm squeaked, stabbing a thumb toward the curtain. His motions were somewhat jerky, almost as if the pudgy wolf was shaking slightly as he gave the signal to his mate.

“O-Oh yes!” Xavier spoke up, the wolf flashing his mate an nervous smile. “The ceremony does need it's catering director, doesn't it?”

“Yep, yep!” Malcolm chirped, his delivery stiff and awkward as he sidled up next to his mate, wrapping an arm around his. “Now that my suits fitted and done fer, I need to get back and start barkin' orders and testin' food.” Malcolm batted his eyes at Xavier. “You'll drive me back o'course?”

“Gladly my little Gingersnap.” The wolf smiled back at his mate.

Turning to Vernon, Xavier adjusted his glasses nervously before offering the wolf a slight bow.

“I'll see you when I get back Vern.” Xavier laughed uneasily. “Hopefully this...er...” The wolf bit his lip nervously “ ' Situation' will all be settled by then.”

With that, the two wolfs dashed out of the room so fast the breeze they created had the curtain separating the back room flapping like a flag in their wake. Zach had turned to follow them, reaching out a weak paw as the two disappeared before warily retracting it.

“Cowards...” Vernon could hear Zach mutter.

Vernon stared blankly at the curtain for a moment, watching the fluttering fabric slow to a stop. Again, the wolf found himself blinking dumbly in shock as he struggled to take everything in. There was a part of him still waiting to hear the punch-line, the end of the 'hilarious' facade his brothers were putting up for him. But after Xavier and Malcolm's speedy exit, the remaining Hunter's expressions looked just as troubled and uncomfortable as they had before, if not more so. There wasn't even the hint of a creeping smile trying to force it's way to the surface of their muzzles, or a twinkle behind the eye to tell Vernon it was all just a very elaborate joke.

That was, of course, when the wolf could hold their guilty gaze for more than a minute before the turned away shamefully. Slowly but surely, Vernon was growing to realize that there was no punch-line. There was no joke at play. Someone in the family was getting tithed today, and he was going to be forced to witness it. And that, was when the anger began to set in. The wolf could feel the heat growing inside as he began to understand just what was going on.

“Who...?' Vernon muttered.

“What?” Zach asked nervously.

“Who's bein' tithed?” Vernon hissed, he could feel the fire in his belly starting to rise into his chest as he took a shuddering breath.

Everything was starting to make so much more sense now. The restraints, the fitting, all of it. If the wolf knew he was going to have to witness someone in his family get tithed, he would have at the very least been reluctant to actually stick around for it. After what he and Dawn had been through, after how decisively his father had denied their right to a tithe. To be forced to witness someone else in his family would be like having the knife Dorian had already firmly jabbed into his chest be given an additional twist by his brothers inadvertently. And that was just in regard to himself. The wolf could barely begin to fathom how much more it would hurt his mate. But for the sake of whatever brother it was, he was sure he could endure. After all, as far as the rest of the Hunter Pack was concerned, as much as it would pain him to stand by and watch, Vernon owed it to his brothers to be there for them. After all, if the circumstances were reversed, he was certain most of them would do the same for him.

“Vern-.” Zach pleaded, his ears splaying against his head as he winced.

“I-It's all right...” Vernon said, letting out another shuddering breath as he tried to temper the building anger that was squeezing on his chest like a vice. The wolf took a shallow breath, letting it out slowly as he focused his gaze on the rust colored wolf. “I-I ain't mad....j-just tell me who's gettin' hitched.”

The wolves exchanged uncertain glances, clearly searching for one another as to exactly how to say whatever was on their mind, at least as far as Vernon could tell. But with his patience already worn thin, and the fire that was lapping at his insides only seemed to swell that much more as the evasive treatment continued.

“TELL ME ALREADY!” Vernon snapped.

“MA AND PA!” Wade blurted out, a clear look of panic in his eyes. “THEY'RE RENEWIN' THEIR TITHE!”

As soon as the word slipped from his muzzle, the wolf quickly clasped his paws over it as if just how loud he had blurted out the reply had startled him. Zach and Trenton slowly turned their heads, glancing at the wolf with wide eyes. Their muzzles twisted up in an expression of pure horror. A look that, even without the actual words, seemed to say 'how could you say that?' reflected in the other wolves gazes.

“I me- I mean no-not...” Wade's voice was small. The timid, weak sentence dying in his throat as the other Hunters glares took on more of an irritated look to them. Wade slunk into his shoulders, his eyes darting between the two nervously.

Vernon however, had barely noticed much of his how his brothers were reacting to what Wade said, as the wolf was still fixed on the words themselves. Again the wolf found himself trying to make sense of just what he had heard. The initial delivery had snuffed out the fire inside of him instantaneously, like a frigid wind blustering through his frame as the shocking blow of the statement resonated through him.

The news was so impossible to wrap his head around, that it had temporarily shut down the wolf's ability to feel. The words were hollow as his mind studied each of them individually, his brain struggling to come to grips to just what Wade had admitted to. But slowly, the fire that had been so suddenly doused by the shock and disbelief began to smolder again. From just dull, weakened embers, to a steady crackling flame, growing and growing until the wolf felt himself reach the breaking point.

Watching one of his brothers tithe was one thing. It would have been painful sure, but aside from Yuri, the wolf felt his brothers deserved to have a tithe with all of the Hunter brood present. But being forced to sit there quietly and watch his smug father renew his vows just a day after he had denied Vernon and Dawn the same right. To cast them from his house, and willingly denounce him as part of the family, it was insult to injury. The wolf didn't care if it was more for his mother than anything. Hell, Vernon couldn't even begin to fathom how his mother could even consider renewing their vows after how Dorian had acted toward himself and Dawn. It added another layer of hurt to the whole twisted web of lies that had been employed to trap the couple there long enough to see it happen. For his mother to stand in that kitchen and lie to his face about just what this all was, looking at him with a nearly straight face as she protested his father's involvement, it was a trick so cruel it should have been reserved for Yuri's playbook. The wolf could feel his heart sinking fast as the feeling of betrayal weighed heavily atop it. His muscles squeezing tightly around it as the fires of his rage rose around the void his wounded heart had left behind. Vernon had been betrayed, not just by his father, but by all of them.

“Y-you dragged me here...” Vernon growled, drawing the attention of the other wolves back on him. The wolf's head had sank slightly as he had lost himself within his own thoughts. But like the inferno inside, it slowly rose to meet the other wolves nervous gazes. “Trussed me up and took Dawn...”

“V-Vern listen-” Trenton muttered softly.

“All this effort...” Vernon spat, his brow furrowing as he eyed the wolves hatefully. “Just to force me and Dawn to watch that smug...” The wolf could feel one of his eyes twitching a bile rose in his throat. “Stubborn...” The wolf's growl grew louder, his lips curling to reveal his fangs. “Hypocritical...” His teeth were on full display as he watched his brother collectively cow into their shoulders. “OLD LAW WOLF GET A TITHE!?”

“Vernon, it ain't like th-”

“AFTER WHAT HE SAID TO ME!?” Vernon was chomping at the air as he began to thrash in his seat once more. “TO DAWN!?”

Zach pulled at his collar uneasily. “Vern, please, don't-!”

“Y'ALL EXPECT US TO JUST SIT THERE AND SMILE AS HE MOCKS US IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE PACK!?” The wolf spat.

Vernon grunted softly as he rose to his feet, the chair still strapped to his back as he stood. It was heavy, the old wooden bottom thoroughly weighted with old world craftmammalship. But Vernon's nearly blinding rage made the heft of the old object feel inconsequential in the face of that blatant hypocrisy and injustice that was fueling his ire.

Zach placed his paws up defensively, gingerly gesturing to the wolf to sit back down.

“Vern, Listen-!”

“TO HAVE HIM STAND THERE AND SHOW OFF TO ME AND MY MATE WHAT HE DENIED US! TO JAM SALT IN OUR WOUNDS!?” The wolf's sharp stare darted from brother to brother as he scanned each of them. He needed to get out of there. Out of the shop and back to the ranch to wait for Dawn. Even if he had to run it all out on foot. But that required finding the weakest point of entry in the barrier his brothers had formed, as well as hopefully snagging the shears from whoever was holding them.

“AND FER MA TO LIE TO ME!”

“SHE DIDN'T LIE!” Trenton protested.

“OH BULL!” The wolf spat, shaking the chair strapped to him wildly, hoping to maybe snap the zip ties free. “HOW IS IT THE OLD MAM' AIN'T INVOLVED IN RENEWIN' THEIR TITHE!”

“DAMNIT WADE!” Zach sneered at the dusky grey wolf.

Wade held up his paws defensively. In the left one, Vernon spotted the pruning shears as he waved them in the direction of Zach.

“WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO SAY!?” Wade spat.

“ANYTHING ELSE!” Trenton barked back, but his eyes remained fixed on Vernon. The white wolf spreading his arms out in an effort to extend the blockade.

“Look Vern, Wade didn't me-”

“THEN WHAT DID HE MEAN!?” HUH!?” Vernon hissed.

“CAN WE PLEASE JUST TELL HIM!?” Wade pleaded, the dusky wolfs eyes darting between Vernon and the others. “THIS IS GETTING REALLY BA-”

“ALL OF Y'ALL SHUT YER DAMN TRAPS!”

The sudden booming voice had collectively silenced the the bickering Hunters, even Vernon falling silent as his attention turned to entrance of the room. Now standing in the doorway stood Yuri, the jet black wolf in an equally dark tux with a blood red tie fastened neatly at his collar. The wolf's irritated yellow eyes scanned the other Hunters, squinting softly as he seemed to be assessing the scene taking place.

“Goodness, what is going on back here?” Standing near the wolf's knee was Miss Dasy, the petite armadillo peeking around him as she eyed the other wolves warily.

“I've never heard bickering so bad in all my years!” The mammal tutted.

“That's cause this fluffhead said Ma and Pa were gettin' tithed again!” Zach sneered, stabbing a claw at Wade accusingly.

The dusky grey wolf drew back, crossing his arms defensively.

“Oh, so what should I have told him?” Wade scoffed. “That me and Giselle were getting tithed?” The grey wolf shook his head dismissively. “He would have taken that just as bad!”

Vernon had opened his mouth to fire off another string of heavy accusations leveled at his brothers, but Wade's confusing admission had caused the words to die in the wolfs throat. His muzzle slowly closed as he quirked a brow in confusion.

“WOULD YOU SHUT UP, YER MAKIN' IT WORSE!” Zach snapped, swatting Wade's snout with a paw. The dusky grey wolf let out a sharp whine as he withdrew from Zach's reach, clasping his paws on his muzzle protectively.

“Ain't no need to get pawsy Zach!” Trent growled at his brother.

“Boys, please...” Dasy tutted, placing her own claws up and gesturing for the wolves to calm themselves.

“Oh I barely even touched 'im!” Zach snapped back. “Besides, the big mouth deserves it after-”

“Because you would have done so much better right?” Wade retorted.

“Staying silent was an option Wade.” Trenton lamented.

Vernon slowly eased back down, allowing the weight of the chair to pull him back into a seated position as he watched the baffling argument continue.

“Boys...” Abigail fretted. “Ulric's is twitching enough without yer arguing echoing through the whole store, pleas-”

“Vernon was ready to bolt!” Wade replied, pointing the cutters toward Trenton. “Someone had to say something!”

“So say it was Trent and Qails, or hell, Ada and Yuri!” Zach spat.

“Yeah, cause Vern wants to be at Yuri and Ada's ti-”

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” Yuri barked, silencing the wolves once more. His muzzle tensed to reveal his teeth as he glared back at the other Hunters. “Wade, why don't you shut that muzzle of yers before you say somethin' else yer gonna regret.”

The grey wolf frowned, crossing his arms again as he let out a scoff.

Yuri simply rolled his eyes as he strolled further into the room, coming up along side the other wolves. Keeping his back turned to Vernon, the black-furred wolf seemed to sweep his glare across the remaining wolves. Vernon didn't need to see those peircing yellow eyes of his to know what was going on as he saw each of the Hunters shrink slightly as the dark wolf's line of sight passed over each one.

“Look at y'all...” Yuri shook his head dismissively. “Y'all are suppose ta be police officers. And yet here y'are crackin' up like a bunch of perps lookin' fer a plea deal.”

The wolf glanced back at Vernon over his shoulder, frowning softly as he eyed the confused wolf.

“Quite a feat considerin' Vern's the one trussed up here.” Yuri spat.

“This is different Yuri.” Zach protested. “I mean it's hard to-.”

“Should I have wrapped Vern's muzzle up with duct-tape?” The wolf snickered. “Would that have made it easier on y'all to keep yer heads cool?”

Vernon rolled his eyes. He could feel the the return of that seething feeling in his gut at Yuri's suggestion.

“No.” Trenton scoffed.

“Then what's yer damn problem!?” Yuri spat, flashing the wolf an accusatory glare.

“Unlike you, we got hearts in our chest.” Wade snapped back. “So tryin' to keep a secret, even if its fer a good reason, is hard fer us brothers who actually care about each other.”

Yuri lunged forward, causing Wade to recoil as Yuri's muzzle pointed down at his own, the dark wolf's fangs on full display as he let out a loud growl.

“You better bite yer tongue mutt!” Yuri hissed. “I'm already burnin' a short fuse today, and the last thing we both need is to have to pay out fer two extra suits!”

“Oh good, more threats...” Trenton sighed. “Because that never gets old.”

Reaching a paw out, Yuri snatched the pruning shears from Wades trembling paw before turning his attention to Trenton. With a glare, the wolf pointed the shears at the white wolf for emphasis.

“I mean, y'all can't separate yer feelin's from doin' yer job!” Yuri spat. “And y'all need to treat this like a job, for Vermin's sake.

Vernon let out a tired sigh. On top of everything else the wolf had to endure, Yuri had to chime in with his usual childish nicknames.

“What would y'all do if you had to interrogate someone you loved because they actually did somethin' serious!? Would y'all balk then?” Yuri snorted, pointing the shears repeatedly at Trenton's snout. “Would y'all panic and dig yerselves deeper in the rut? Scare them? Scare yerselves? Real professional.”

The dark-furred wolf turned his attention back to Vernon, the same look of discomfort crossing his muzzle as he flipped the shears in his paw.

“Usually officers aren't allowed to work on cases that involve family members for that reason Yuri.” Zach snapped. “But it ain't like we got options here!”

Yuri flashed the other wolves a smirk before walking toward Vernon. The dark-furred wolf looming over him for a few seconds before scanning around him. Vernon winced momentarily, expecting the wolf to pull a fast one. The same way he had felt when the wolf had suddenly gripped him and dragged him over to the pick-up. But once again, Yuri surprised him. The well dressed wolf instead sidling off to Vernon's side before easing himself down on a large pile of fabric spools. The wolf eased into the material as if it were a crude bean bag chair, grunting softly as he shimmied himself into a more comfortable position. Seemingly satisfied, the wolf let out a sigh before returning to flicking the shears in his paw. Yuri flashed the other Hunters a confident grin as he flipped the clippers end over end.

“Then let me handle it.” Yuri grinned. “After all, I ain't got no heart, right Wade?”

“What?” Vernon spat in disbelief.

Wade frowned softly, the wolf slinking into his shoulders and averting his gaze from the black-furred wolf. However Trenton and Zach were simply not having Yuri's proposal.

“Oh that's not happening!” Zach fired back with.

“We're just supposed to let you watch over Vernon!?” Trenton added. “After yesterday!?”

Yuri spread his arms out, gesturing to his body with his paws. “I'm here ain't I?” The wolf scoffed. “If I wasn't over it, me and Ada would have been on the first flight back to Redmound this morning.”

“Yuri-!”

The jet-black wolf leaned up in his seat, throwing the wolves a fierce glare as he bared his fangs again.

“Teeth to tails, would you give me a gods be damned chance fer once!?” The wolf sneered, running a paw through his mo-hawk like coif roughly. “Yer all so quick to think the worst of me. To call me heartless or whatever things y'all think about me before even given' me a chance to actually insult y'all!”

Zach rolled his eyes. “Can you blame us!?”

“It's not like you've done much to prove the contrary during this reunion Yuri.” Trenton muttered. “Yesterday's little stint alone doesn't exactly bolster my confidence in y'all behaving like a civilized mammal.” The white wolf briefly glanced to the wolf strapped to the wooden chair. “Especially around Vernon.”

Yuri scoffed, lolling his head back as he leaned deeper into the mound of spools. “Like y'all ain't just waitin' to spring on me the moment I say somethin' you think is off-color.” The wolf sneered. “Y'all are always ready to punish me even before I even think of sayin' somethin'.” The wolf shook his head. “Like I'm some sort of thought criminal.”

“Again...” Zach scoffed. “Can you blame us?” The wolf retorted.

“You've been a jerk to all of us since we were pups!” Wade interjected. “Why shouldn't we expect you to be a jerk now?”

“Well an attitude like that certainly don't give me any incentive to act any other way.” Yuri scoffed. “After all, if yer gonna treat me like a criminal, I might as well give ya a reason to justify it.”

“Oh, don't act like your behavior is on us, be-”

“Look...”Yuri leaned forward, cutting Trenton off mid-sentence. “I got enough shit to deal with back home without bein' forced to come out to this backwater hole and deal with even more of it.” Yuri idly passed the shears from paw to paw as he spoke. “I don't expect any of y'all to understand, and frankly, I don't give a shit.”

Vernon watched his brothers brows collectively furrow at Yuri's statement.

“But fer just once, could y'all give me just a lick of trust.” The wolf continued. While his expression remained tense, the was an undercurrent of something Vernon couldn't place. Then again, Vernon had never been good at reading Yuri. The wolf defied the use of Hunter intuition when it came to those trying to use it against him.

“I swear on Ma's good name that my intentions ain't bad.” The wolf stopped fiddling with the shears for a moment, his ears sagging slightly as he looked to the other Hunters. “Asides, y'all had yer shots at keepin' the peace and y'all wasted 'em.”

“I wouldn't sa-”

“Y'all already talked yerselves into enough of a corner.” Yuri cut him off, pointing the shears at Vernon. The wolf drew back slightly at the sight of the blades, wincing in discomfort. The last mammal he trusted to handle those things safely was Yuri. “Knowin' Vern, the only thing he's gonna accept from y'all is truth goin' forward. And knowin' y'all, you'll just crumble and spoil all Ma's hard work.”

The dark-wolf's confident smile returned. “But I ain't emotionally compromised like the rest of y'all.” Yuri chuckled. “I can keep a cool head while I keep him company.”

“Cool hea-!?” That protest had come from Vernon, but almost as soon as he spoke Yuri held up his paw to cut him off. Glancing over to his brother, he met his familiar piercing yellow gaze. Vernon had expected hate, or ire in those eyes, the emotions he was more than familiar with when it came to Yuri. But again, he was met with that same uneasy look. It was as if he was attempting to look pleading, but the expression looked unnatural on him.

“I need some time to talk to you anyway.” Yuri sighed. “Brother to brother, y'all get me?”

Vernon quirked an eyebrow at just how preposterous Yuri's request sounded. The very fact that the wolf had asked it almost felt as though it was some sort of hallucination that Vernon was suffering from. The stress and tension of the whole trip finally pushing him to his mental limits and utterly breaking his grasp on reality.

“I promise y'all I'll tell you what you need to know.” Yuri continued, pointing the shears at Vernon once before cocking his head at the remaining Hunters. “And I promise, it ain't a trick....just...hear me out alright...?”

Vernon stared at his brother for what felt like ages, his eyes frantically searching for any form of a tell that gave away Yuri's true intention. But the wolf's face remained solemn and still, frozen in that hideous attempt at a pleading look. It was an expression that just didn't fit him. A face he found to be almost entirely unrecognizable as belonging to Yuri.

Vernon wanted whatever the truth was, or at least as much of it that could be told to make for a satisfying explanation as to the level of effort required to keep him here. And if Yuri was to be believed, the other Hunters had done a terrible job of explaining it to him. But Yuri was a master deceiver, at least in Vernon's own experience growing up along side him. And while pretending to come bearing an olive branch was not in his usual wheelhouse, it wasn't out of the question that Yuri would use such a tactic. But then there was the logical question of the wolf's motives. If it was indeed a trick, then what was Yuri ultimately aiming to do? To upset Vernon further? To beat him senseless for revenge before the rest of their brothers could stop him? Or maybe just to force him and Dawn to sit through a ceremony that only stood to mock their own trials and tribulations. All of the answers seemed like a lot of effort to go through for very petty aims, but Yuri had a tendency to be petty when it came to Vernon.

“Y'all know Ma would skin me alive at best if I even touched a hair on Vern before tonight.” The wolf added, waving the clippers idly at the rest of the Hunters. “C'mon. Give me a shot.”

The other three Hunters exchanged uneasy glances, looking to one another in brief silence as Vernon could only assume they were quietly deliberating Yuri's plea. Wade looked particularly uncomfortable, offering a very weak dismissive nod to the other two wolves. The motion behind the gesture being just great enough to be perceived as a quiet 'no', but not so terse as to perhaps draw Yuri's attention to him specifically. Still, despite Wade's clear disapproval, he seemed unwilling to say it out loud, which left the room open for Trenton to take the lead.

“O...k...” Trenton mumbled, drawing the two wolves attention back on him. The uncomfortable looking white wolf scratched the back of his head awkwardly, his eyes shifting away from the seated wolves.

“I...We'll give you a shot at fixin' this...” Trenton continued.

“What!?” Wade spat. “You can't be serious!”

Vernon's jaw dropped, But Yuri's smile grew large enough to show off his fangs. The wolf wanted to speak, wanted to protest. But Yuri's confusing words coupled with the sudden shock had left him grasping for any semblance of a rebuttal.

Trenton quickly held up a paw, gesturing to the dusky grey wolf to settle down.

“I hate to say it, but fer once I feel like he's actually bein' reasonable...” Trenton sighed. “Considerin' the rest of us are far too busy trippin' over our tongues over here to make any real progress on calmin' Vern down.”

Zach gave the white wolf a gentle shove, drawing his attention.

“Trenny, you sure about this?” Zach muttered. “We're just gonna leave 'em alone together? After yesterday?”

Trenton held his paw up to Zach.

“But.” Trenton continued. “We will be right outside, with our ears on the room to make sure nothing funny goes on in here.”

Vernon watched Yuri's grin falter almost immediately. But Trenton's declaration was enough to relieve Vernon to some degree, at least enough to shut his muzzle again.

“AW COME ON NOW!” Yuri protested.

Trenton shook his head, crossing his arms defiantly.

“That's all were gonna offer, take it or leave it.” The wolf replied.

Yuri leaned up in his ad-hoc chair, glaring back at Trenton with disdain, but the white wolf didn't flinch. His icy blue eyes remaining fixed on Yuri's sharp yellow irises as they entered into a stare down. The room fell silent as the two wolves faced one another, the air growing thicker and thicker as the wolves tried to intimidate one another. To Vern, it was almost like a scene out of an old western movie. The classic shoot-out, with both wolves waiting on the clock to strike noon to see who was fastest on the draw. But there were no guns here, no waiting for the chime. It was just a battle of will, the victor the one with the sharpest glare. And someone would inevitably cave.

And this time, Yuri was the one to balk in the face of Trenton's glare. The wolf letting out an annoyed huff as he slung himself backwards into the mound of spools.

“UGGGHHH!” Yuri groaned. “Alright, alright...FINE!”

Shaking his head, the wolf leaned back up into a sitting position, running a paw though his mo-hawk in order to neaten it up. The wolf titled his head slightly to regard the other Hunters.

“Just don't listen in more than y'all need to...” Yuri muttered. “I was aimin' fer the conversation to be mostly between the two of us...”

The other Hunters exchanged confused looks, the wolves raising a brow at one another as they seemed to mull over the concept of 'Yuri' and a 'private conversation'. Of course Vernon was just as baffled. After all, Yuri only had two conversational tones, whispered threats and loud insults. Thus any attempt at being discreet and civil was usually something the wolf seemed to be incapable of.

“A-Alright...We-...” Zach scratched his head awkwardly. “We'll try?” The russet wolf glanced to Trenton, seeming looking to the wolf for acknowledgment. Trenton gave a meek nod before turning his attention back to Yuri.

“We'll try to keep our ears up fer just the sound of fightin'.” Trenton muttered, turning toward the curtain. The wolf began to walk toward it as the other two Hunters watched warily. For a moment it seemed like they weren't sure whether they should follow along. It was clear they were reluctantly to leave Vernon behind. But slowly they too began to trudge toward the exit. The white wolf parted the curtain, passing half-way through before glancing back over his shoulder at the two wolves.

“Just tell ol' Ully to spy on us.” Yuri called out, letting out a soft chuckle. “He don't want us fightin' either, and anything he hears and repeats can be considered dubious at best.”

The white wolf let out a snort. “Don't make us regret this.” Trenton muttered, before finally slipping out of the back room. Zach followed shortly after, giving Vernon a final uneasy glance before slipping away behind the thick, pale green curtains.

Wade was the last to leave, stopping for a moment to appraise the two seated wolves. Wade offered them a meek smile.

“I-I'm sorry Vern.” Wade shook his head. “I really hackled things up.”

Yuri chuckled. “Just like always, huh Wade?”

Wade flashed the wolf a glare, lunging forward and baring his teeth. But the wolf barely managed to take a step back into the room before a white paw clasped onto his shoulder, stopping him from going any further. Wade glanced out through the curtains, wincing slightly as his ears flattened against his head.

“Let it go Wade.” Vernon could hear Trenton say. “Hold it back unless y'all need to put it to use.”

With a snort, Wade flashed the black-furred wolf a hateful glare before reluctantly slipping out of the room, the curtains slowing winding down to a close behind him.

Vernon and Yuri were alone now. And the realization was enough to make the wolf immediately tense up. He was at Yuri's mercy now. After all, he was bound tightly to the chair, and with no Ulric to act as a meat shield there would be no one to block whatever flurry of blows Yuri could get in before the others could scramble back in to save him. Glancing back at the yellow wolf seated next to him, Vernon could see that same uncertain look in his eye. That strange, thoughtful look about him that told the wolf that the gears in Yuri's head were probably spinning off wildly. Most likely with hundred of different thoughts on how best to make Vernon pay for the stitches on the bridge of his snout.

“Relax Vermi-.” The wolf stopped himself, shaking his head briskly before choosing to correct himself. “Vernon. I asked y'all to hear me out. I ain't gonna try anything...” It was strange to have Yuri go out of his way to correct himself without their mother looming over him.

Vernon tried to swallow, but the lump that had formed in his throat refused to budge as he began to weigh his emergency options. His eyes darted to the curtain again. If he put all of his force and energy into it, he was sure he could make a break for it before Yuri had time to react. He'd still be strapped to the chair, but at the very least he'd have a chance at getting away from the more imminent threat.

“W-why...?” Vernon stammered as his eyes returned to Yuri. The wolf had gone back to idly playing with the pruning shears. Passing them from one paw to the other. “W-why should I t-trust you?”

Yuri let out a tired sigh. With a soft groan, the wolf rose to his feet, taking a moment to dust of his tux with a paw before turning to face the wolf. Brandishing the clippers in his paw and opening the safety lock, the wolf began to clip at the air in-front of him. Vernon felt a surge of adrenaline rush though him at the horrifying sight. The time had come to flee, it was now or never. But as Vernon attempted to pull his chair off the ground, he felt it suddenly forced back down by the weight of Yuri's foot. The jet-black wolf had braced the base with one paw in an effort to keep him from running, effectively trapping him there.

Vernon forced his eyes shut, leaning as far back in his chair as he could in order to try to get away from him. He was boxed in now. Short of pulling out of his restraints to defend himself, there was little he could do to stave off the wolf's advance.

'This is it.' The wolf thought. 'He's gonna gouge up my face to get back at me!'

Vernon writhed and strained, pulling at the ties in an desperate final attempt at escape. But to no avail. The zip ties remained tightly fixed. All the continued pulling did was gnaw at his flesh and burn his fur. There was no escape

“TRE-!”

The wolf fell silent amidst his sudden cry for help as he felt the pressure around his wrists suddenly release. The restrictive plastic ties had suddenly given way, the hard material slipping limply down against the cushion of the chair as Vernon brought his arms around to inspect them.

The zip cuffs had left a slight depression in the fur, and if Vernon looked close enough he could see the outline of the plastic teeth in his flesh just beyond it. Although the wolf couldn't be sure if Yuri had initially tied them too tightly, or if the damage had been done mostly by his own straining. Still it was a confusing sight, and as Vernon rubbed at his wrist to chase away the lingering brace, his eyes darted around to find Yuri. The wolf had already made his way around the front of the wolf, and was in the middle of easing back into the pile of fabric spools as he lamely tossed the shears off into another pile of material.

“Y-Yuri?” Vernon muttered.

“There.” The wolf muttered. “Ain't nothin' keepin' you here now.” The wolf glanced back at Vernon with a furrowed brow. “So if you want out, there's the door.” The jet-black wolf lamely gestured to the curtain before listlessly dropping his arm to his side. “Hell, I won't even try to stop you.”

“B-But...Wha...?” Vernon stammered as he struggled to make sense of Yuri's seemingly altruistic gesture. He was sure he had to be hallucinating now.

“You can thank me later...” Yuri shrugged. “Or preferably now.” The wolf chuckled. “I mean, I could have forced you to listen to me.” The wolf grinned his more familiar mischievous smile. “It was real temptin'.”

Vernon scoffed at the wolf's comment.

“Yeah, a real fair fight...” The wolf scoffed.

Yuri rolled his eyes. “Oh fer cryin' out loud, I ain't lookin' fer a fight.”

“Then what are you lookin' fer?” Vernon snapped back. “What is this all about?”

“I told y'all...” Yuri grumbled. “I just wanted y'all to listen to me. I'm just lookin' to talk.”

Placing his paws on his knees, Vernon let out a long drawn out sigh. It was already hard enough to read Yuri's poker face without him talking in circles. Whatever the motivation was behind this little 'talk', for once it seemed more complicated than his usual aims. The fact that he had gone as far as to free the wolf without explaining anything, running the risk of letting him flee in order to get him to hear him out, was a grand gesture for a mammal like Yuri. The wolf wasn't the type to take big risks, and always exploited situations where he had the upper paw. But now, he had chosen to place the ball entirely in Vernon's court, under the premise that he wanted to talk. That Yuri, of all mammals, had more than two word to say to Vernon. It seemed completely insane, but up to this point so had everything else that had happened in the past few hours.

“You wanna talk...” Vernon muttered, gesturing a paw to nothing in particular. “Fine, then talk.”

#Zootopia #fanfiction #Assistant Mayor Bellwether #dawn bellwether #zoosona #wastedtimeee

4 notes · View notes