#Nesha Fanfiction

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Good Cooties

Nobody:

Nesha: Takes a very traumatic horror story and instead makes it fluff.

They generally checked in right before bed and then again, first thing in the morning. Chris had never been so communicative with somebody before, but after everything that knowing Dalton had put her through, she didn't mind going a little above and beyond with check-ins.

Whenever one wasn't feeling 100% at bedtime, they had a sleepover, just in case something would go down. Time passed, and nothing did. Well... nothing too unusual, at any rate. He had nightmares sometimes and they'd wake up and sort through it. Sometimes he simply couldn't sleep, so he'd just watch her a while, glad that she wasn't losing any rest on his behalf, but annoyed that the bed was so small that they both couldn't really fit on it without being cuddled up.

Upon mentioning it, she reminded him that when he was trapped in The Further, "Your little booty body was nestled right here, between these yummy thighs." He couldn't argue with it, and the description of her thighs made him want to drop the conversation completely, so he'd said, "Well, you said you have good cooties," laughing awkwardly, and snuggling up behind her, hoping his body wouldn't betray him for the closeness of a soft, warm body and the unavoidable friction of natural sleep movements. Fortunately, that never went down. Even more fortunately, neither did any wild trips to The Further.

Things that did go down: her roommate absolutely thought that he was an obsessive boyfriend and his new roommate was confused that she slept over but they never had the need to tie something on the doorway for him to give them some time. "So... she just sleeps here sometimes?" He'd asked, "Or are you just always finished by the time I get in?"

"We're just friends!" Dalton had said, uneasy and blushing.

Foster, when they got alone, asked, "But, seriously. You're definitely smashing that, right?" It irked him. Him speaking about her like that. "I mean.. I know that you aren't that much of a lover, but I figure it's different with you two, because of, you know... the stuff.."

It was... true, officially. But, he knew how this looked. Even his mom would ask about her in the same way that she'd asked about people he'd dated previously. Was Chris coming home with him during the holidays? "She has her own family," he'd casually mentioned, then had to pretend not to notice as his family gave each other knowing looks because he spent most of the holiday texting, calling, or video chatting with "Chris" They said her name in a certain way too. A singing way, obviously taunting him. Well... his siblings did. (Foster had roped Kali into this mess, too). His mother instructed them to leave him alone, though he could tell it amused her, from her face, and he knew she liked Chris. She always asked about her.

That was why they probably would never happen. He had nightmares sometimes, panicking about being possessed again, about hurting her. Sure, he would wake up to find her there, safe and sound and if awakened by his nightmares, quick to comfort him, but.. that entire thing was now forever a part of their story. And what type of love story could come out of something like that?

His parents had loved each other for years, and this entire ordeal had separated the two of them. Foster broke into his thoughts with, "I think that I'd want somebody who already understands what you've gone through. I imagine by the time I wanna meet people, it's gonna be a whole damn thing trying to make it normal, when the topic inevitably comes up. You've got a cute girl who still bothers with you after literally seeing you at your worst. Possessed by an entity. How could it get better for you?"

"We're just friends!"

"She let you blow on her hooter the first night!" Foster teased. Dalton wasn't a big fan of Chris and his brother exchanging words, but they had each other's information, so now he always had at least this one story for ammunition to make Dalton a little bit uncomfortable, and Chris was the type to overshare casually. Chris and Foster got along well. Dalton could only imagine their powers combined if she did come around the whole family...

Which, eventually, she did. By then, they were dormed together, again. She had gone to see housing about it. Her best friend, suffering from a sleep issue, their roommates, often inconvienced when he woke up, the fact that this very office had already roomed her with him before, so what was the big deal? Chris either could talk you into hating her guts and wanting her gone, or doing whatever it is she was saying, and that day, with that member of staff, she got herself back into the room with him.

Now, they could go to sleep in their own beds, and if something happened, there the other was, just on the other side of a small room. They didn't even have to cramp themselves into his little bed as much, and whenever they did, she didn't have to get up earlier to get ready from a different room, or to go back to her own. It was cozy, and comfortable, and they had a routine.

They had gotten numerous sleeping masks, so that Chris could find something to assist her through the nightlights. Whenever she was in Dalton's bed, she didn't really notice, because her face was usually burrowed in the bed or his body, for lack of room. By the time it was time for her to go home with him, she knew which mask she needed for which type of night, whether or not she should have earphones, and how many pillows she could bring before the bed couldn't fit the pillows and two people their sizes.

She had been in his corner since the moment he confided in her, and even when she didn't want to engage, she found herself unable to just leave him alone, and now she feared that she was far more comfortable with this man than she ever planned on being with anyone. But. She was never one to reject a good thing, and it seemed like maybe Dalton Lambert was a good thing. It certainly always felt good to fall asleep in his arms and wake up next to him. Chris was a fan of feeling good.

His family was nice. She was excited to finally shoot the shit with Foster, in the flesh, and that did not disappoint. Dalton had been hoping that she would help dispel the rumors the Lamberts ran wild with, but despite pursuing math, Chris had a deep passion for chaos, as far as Dalton was concerned. "So, he never told you that we made out at a frat party?" She had asked a VERY intrigued and impressed Foster.

"He never told me that he WENT to a frat party!" He complained.

"Yeah, I sorta made him. That's a gift I have, getting Dalton to do stuff that he is not fond of doing.." Dalton pressed his lips together and continued working on a drawing.

Whenever Foster heard about the frat boy who called her ugly, he looked livid but was soon appeased by the thought of him being promptly kicked in the dick afterward. "I used to say that I wouldn't wish that on anybody, but it sounds like this is the guy that makes me change my beliefs.." They chatted for a little while longer before Foster was going to leave to go hang out with friends. "I'm super glad that Dalton has you," he said on his way out. She simply offered a salute, then looked at Dalton's jaw tense as he pretended not to hear that.

"You okay?" She asked. He shrugged. "You know... whenever I was with Grandma Perkee over the last holiday, she told me that you are very pretty and that she'd love to meet you. I said, "Yeah. He is very pretty, huh? He's kind too. A little introverted, but such a likable person. I don't think he likes me like that, though, Grandma. You might want to be less excited about meeting him." He paused and looked at her. "Well, next she told me, "If somebody is in you life, and they're nice to you and you like them and you're both having a good time together, that's gonna excite me, no matter what you call each other..." They stared at each other a moment, before she concluded, "So, we don't really need to discourage or encourage your family from thinking I'm your girlfriend or into thinking it. They see how we are together, and they know you're in good hands. Whether we're friends or more, they're gonna feel the way that they feel about me because they love you and you like me."

He gave her a little smile. That was a good way to put it, and made it less stressful for him whenever he overheard Kali ask, "Is Dalton your boyfriend?"

Without missing a beat, Chris answered, "Well, Dalton identifies as a boy, and he's definitely my friend, so what would you do if I said, "Yes?"

Kali gasped and with a wide smile asked, teasingly, "Do you loooooooove himmm?"

Chris smiled right back and asked in a whisper, "What would you do if I said "yes" again?"

Kali giggled and covered her mouth, either in excitement or surprise. Dalton never said stuff like that. He didn't smile about it. He always got irritated and denied it all. Kali smiled, and offered, "I'd say, I think that Dalton loves you too."

Chris's smile changed, ever so slightly. Dalton noted it as he finally stepped into view. She leaned towards Kali and told her, "One thing about me? Everybody loves Chris." Kali nodded in agreement, then finally noticed Dalton.

"Oh! It's your boyyyyyfriiiiiend," she sang. He just smiled, shaking his head.

At bedtime, Chris offered, "Pretty cool that your mom doesn't mind our sleeping situation. I'd say it's because she knows we aren't doing it, but she kinda seems like she'd be cool with it, even if we were."

"She is a part of the 'everybody' that loves Chris," he said, casually, preparing the nightlight. Chris paused, with a grin, then silently resumed putting on her bonnet.

By the time that they climbed into his bed, she pushed close and started wrapping her arms around him. He froze and gave her a confused look. "What? This is how we sleep."

"Yeah, in the dorm on the tiny bed. This one has room for us to stretch out more."

"Yeah, near the edge of the bed, where the monsters are. Your sister tormented me with Barbie play today. I wanna be up on you tonight." His body relaxed a little bit. "Besides, I sleep better when we're cuddled up." It tensed again. "My God, Dalton... are we not allowed to say stuff like that to each other?"

"No. Yeah... I just. Yes..." His Adam's apple was leaping in his throat and she watched it bob as he nervously searched for his next words, "I, uh... sleep better with you right here, too." She nodded once, settled her body around his and stared a little bit longer. Dalton's face came in closer, but then he stopped and just looked into her eyes. Her normal playfulness was never present when she was sleepy, but whatever else was there in her eyes, he wasn't exactly used to.

Chris offered a smile and teased, "What? Were you about to kiss me?"

Quickly, he said, "I would never do that without asking first." She closed her eyes, smiling, and nodding. "Cou.." Her eyes opened and he was staring at her lips, "Could I? Kiss you?" Chris smiled and moved closer for him to do so. It wasn't caught off guard like the first time, and it wasn't long or steamy or deep. It was tender, and quick, but lingering.. "Good cooties," he mumbled against her lips, with a smile.

"Very," she said, smiling against his, as well.

#Insidious Fanfiction #Nesha Fanfiction #fanfiction #insidious the red door #insidious: the red door #movie fanfiction #Chris Winslow #Chris x Dalton #Chris x Dalton Fic #fluff #Dalton Lambert #Insidious

[peoplewatchingbyneshatriumphs]

People Watching TV Series Promo Idea

You’re the One I Want Cover by Lo-Fang Plays:

I got chills, they’re multiplying (Simon seeing Grace in the bookstore, working) 

And I’m losing control… (POV, we’re watching Grace go to the flower shop, coffee shop, walk to the subway, etc) 

Because the power you’re supplying is electrifying…

(Series of flashes of Grace, smiling and things on each of her social media accounts)

You’d better shape up, because you need a man, and my heart is set on you

(Series of flashes of Simon, looking through her social media, ending on her accepting his friend request)

You’d better shape up. You better understand, to my heart I must be true

Simon’s reaction face to seeing (what the Apex does, but not showing the audience what the Apex does)

You’re the one that I want…

The screen becomes static of a surveillance camera glitching on the pages of a book flipping, then title shows a red poppy falling down with the release date

People Watching on AO3

#People Watching by NeshaTriumphs #People Watching Promo #You're The One I Want #Art Ideas by Nesha #People Watching #PW Links #Infinity Train AU Fanfiction #Stalker AU #People Watching Extras #AU Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #Infinity Train #People Watching Sideblog #Grace Monroe AU #Grace Monroe #Grace St. Catherine #Grace Concepts #Simon Laurent #Simon Laurent AU #Simon Concepts

[shslargue]

I posted 1,035 times in 2022

79 posts created (8%)

956 posts reblogged (92%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@jacksope-lives

@hecksupremechips

@neshatriumphs

@msbadatnamingthings

@shippy-from-apocalypse

I tagged 266 of my posts in 2022

#jacks - 100 posts

#fanfic - 48 posts

#fanfiction - 46 posts

#infinity train - 35 posts

#ao3 link - 34 posts

#teen titans - 31 posts

#teen titans 2003 - 29 posts

#link post - 20 posts

#nesha - 19 posts

#the magnus archives - 19 posts

Longest Tag: 118 characters

#this is a ‘me enjoying projecting onto original characters’ thing and not a ‘fetishizing a personality disorder’ thing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

"Where others saw insignificance and pointlessness, I found freedom."

The Magnus Archives Fear Entities 1/15- The Vast

The Vast is one of the most underrated Fears, so I decided to start with this one first! I’ve definitely gained a much bigger appreciation for it as time has gone on, it’s truly terrifying to think about how small you are compared to the endless expanse of the universe.

Playlist can be found here!

🌩️🌊⚡

37 notes - Posted November 21, 2022

#4

“I am the throat of delusion incarnate.”

The Magnus Archives Fear Entities 7/15- The Spiral

The Spiral is, hands down, my favorite fear entity. I love Michael, I love Helen, Another Twist and Checking Out are two of my favorite episodes in the entire podcast, and if we don’t get to see the Distortion (in whatever form it may take) in the magnus protocol I’m going to set my computer on fire. Anyway, this was a nice distraction from preparing for final exams!

Playlist can be found here!

🌀🚪😵‍💫

37 notes - Posted December 3, 2022

#3

"Who will you be, with a name or three, and a stranger’s face worn wrong?”

The Magnus Archives Fear Entities 6/15- The Stranger

The Stranger is easily in the top three fears for me. Maybe because it’s such a looming threat in seasons 2-3 and gets a lot of focus, but I think it’s also largely because the concept is just absolutely horrifying. This drawing is one of my favorites I've done with this series, and editing all the mouths and eyes was so much fun! (yes they are all taken from photos of me--)

Playlist can be found here!

🎭🎪🤡

68 notes - Posted November 28, 2022

#2

literally nobody talks about kagepro anymore until every August 15th when it hits like top three trending on tumblr. good job remembering our roots everyone

75 notes - Posted August 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

“My limbs were alive with searing energy, and my heart was aglow with love.”

The Magnus Archives Fear Entities 3/15- The Desolation

The Desolation TERRIFIES me. It didn’t really affect me much the first time I listened to the podcast, but upon relistening I now realize just how devastating it can be. Especially Jude’s statement. Terrifying.

Playlist can be found here!

🔥🕯️🧡

80 notes - Posted November 25, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

[neshatriumphs]

XIV. A New Destiny

The army that had come with Amelia were all captured and imprisoned for the time being. Lucy would have to assess them with the staff, to know what type of sentencing they deserved, and she was quite busy just trying to get the kingdom to understand that the crown had skipped over Grace, someone who they planned on being their next queen for at least 18 years. It was a HARD realization for folks that not only did the King and Queen die in battle, but even the Princess was not going to be on the throne. And what would they do for a King? Lucy had not been attached to a soul mate. The girl barely made friends! 

“I don’t know,” Grace said, “but everyone will figure it out, I’m sure.”

She had been tasked to visit the Institution, to rescue any children there, bring in any adults and take the structure down. 

On this mission, Simon discovered his worst fear had come true. “I don’t have my power,” he said, after everyone was safely removed. “I’ve toppled mass communities within minutes, but I can’t do anything about this…” 

Grace frowned and said, “Walk me through it. Maybe, this structure is protected by magic that we didn’t sense.” With Simon’s instructions of how to perform the spell, Grace made the entire school and all of the annex buildings crumble to piles of dust. She looked at Simon, sadly. “You didn’t need magic like that, anyway. That felt gross.” She shivered, but he knew that didn’t feel gross. It felt amazing. It always had. It filled your core with the peak of your magic and then for several moments, it rushed through your blood, invigorating every part of you. 

She assisted Lucy with things that the girl couldn’t do herself, despite the fact that there was a legion of others, waiting to be of help to the new queen. Simon perused Grace’s collection of magic books to figure out if he would be able to do her type of magic, or if this was his punishment - to never wield it again. 

He was laying in her bed, on his belly when a boy, about his age, maybe slightly younger, with pink hair stepped in, but didn’t say anything. 

Simon’s eyes lifted from the page and he sat up, and stared at the boy. The boy dipped his head, very politely, and still said nothing. 

Simon and he stared at each other for a moment longer, before Simon asked, “What is it that I need to do in order to get you to do whatever it is that you need to do?” The boy smiled slightly and flicked his fingers, which turned to a page. “Summon your Familiar…” He furrowed his eyebrows, “My familiar is dead. Punished for my crimes.” But, he still read the instructions. Grace interrupted whenever she entered the chambers and the boy swiftly transformed into a white crane with pink accents, which flew to her and perched on her arm. 

“Was… was that your familiar?” Simon asked. 

“This is my familiar,” she corrected him. “Have you summoned yours yet?” 

Simon frowned and shuffled on the bed to put the book in his lap. “I don’t understand. How can I summon her when she’s been destroyed?” 

“Oh, Simon… Not her specifically. It’s not really like that. But, you are naturally magic. You should be able to call upon a familiar. I don’t think The One would take even THAT away from you…” But, she wasn’t sure. Her crane settled in her lap and she stroked his feathers. “Sorry that you didn’t get to meet him sooner. He had to feel like he could trust you first. A good witch never tries to force their familiar. They ask them for their help and if they’ve treated them well, their familiar is not likely to deny them.”

Simon read the spell and said, “I don’t know where I would find these items.”

“The Royal Apothecary literally has everything but the blood of my enemies.” He flinched when she mentioned that. He used to do QUITE a bit of work with that. He now had what appeared to be a birthmark of the symbol he used to wear drawn in it on his face. It was a stain that he had to remember any time he looked into a mirror. She handed him a scroll. "Here. Make a list and go get it. It'll be nice for you to get out."

He didn't think so, but he had nothing else to do. His entire life had been turned around. Grace was handling the sudden changes much better than him. Maybe a familiar could help… do… something.

The girl with the broom gasped whenever she saw him and it occurred to him that everyone only knew about the mark on his head from reports of conductor attacks. 

"I'm Simon," he started and she sighed,.with relief. Introductions usually went one of two ways. Either the person wound up MORE terrified, having heard rumors of his past, or they relaxed, thinking that the Queen surely would have handled him if he were still "tainted." "I'm trying to find some items." 

The girl reached for the list and whenever.she saw the symbol on his hand, she stared at it, worried. "It's the only one I've got," he promised. 

She nodded. She went to a spot behind the counter and pulled out a basket full of items. She hadn't collected them or searched. She just had them in there. "Here it is," she said, and set the list on top. Whenever something was checked off on the list, it glowed green in the basket, until Simon saw that indeed, she already had a basket with all of his needs. 

"Do you frequently get people coming for a summoning kit?" 

She thought for a moment before saying, "I am a familiar. I know when someone seeks one." He looked at her small frame and miniature afro. She looked like a little girl, but the jewelry that she wore, alone, radiated more power than Simon could even stand to sniff out. 

"Who's familiar are you?" He wondered.

"I belong to House Monroe. I've been with the family since this kingdom began."

"You're old!" 

"Yes. Spirits have a longer existence. We are allowed to split our time between various forms. You know what that is like, in a way." Her eyes returned to his hand. 

"Have you seen this before? On someone else?" He wondered. 

"No. But I've heard about it. There was one, long before I existed, and there is nothing to state that it was like this one at all, but the message is the same. "Do not kill him. His debt is for The One."  

"What did that guy do?" Simon wondered out of curiosity. 

"Committed the first act of murder against his own brother."

"Wait. He only killed one dude and he had to go through…" he whispered the last word, "This?" 

"That's how the story goes. I wasn't there. It may simply be one of a long list of fables. Or maybe someday, people will speak of the last of the Laurents in similar confusion."

"Last of… I mean… I'll be able to have children. I won't be the last… wait. You meant… because I still will be here when they're gone. I'll outlive the others."

She blinked sadly. "Do you need help, with your spell?"

"Yes!" He was desperate to change the subject and grateful that she knew that. After helping him with the magic, a mist came out of the cauldron and it formed into the shape of an old woman. Samantha. "Samantha!" He cheered. She stared at him, confused. 

"That is not her name," the Monroe familiar said.

The spirit in the mist asked, "Who seeks my help?"

He cleared his throat and announced, "I am Simon Laurent. The last of the Laurents…" the mist evaporated and Simon blinked. 

"She declined," the familiar said. "You're known as a murderer of magical beings and an enslaver of souls."

"But, I'm not dangerous anymore. I can't even do magic."

She giggled and it was the most childlike she had sounded. "Of course you can. You have some of the most powerful magic I've ever encountered."

"I'd love to know what it is or how to use it." She took his arm and led him to a mirror. The mirror was not doing what he was doing… "What is that?"

"That is your reflection."

"No. My reflection does what I do. It has to. It's reflecting the image in front of it. AND! It looks like old me."

"Is there much of a difference?" The mirror asked.

"If you were me, you'd KNOW that!" 

The reflection smirked and he said, "Here is the thing. I have been with you up until now. I know you in a way that you could never look at yourself to see. We love and loathe the same things. You make mistakes and we feel the same brutal consequences."

Simon frowned. "Aside from the curse of living for however long, do I have magic?" 

"Yes. Though. I suppose that you would want to call it something else. It's still magic, to be sure, but it's inverted. So, counter magic or anti magic could be applicable. What I can tell you for sure is that it is going to work very different from the magic you had before. Hence why you got this gift." The reflection pointed to his hand, which had the infinity symbol on it."

"Gift," Simon repeated.

"This will help you to come back in the event that the counter magic takes too much from you to fulfill the attempts." He smiled, "Also, I spoke to everyone and I'm basically the only line of communication you'll have with the spirit world. So… I'm the closest you get to a familiar. Lucky for you… I'm as powerful in inverted magic as you were in what you did." 

Simon turned to the Monroe familiar and she offered him a smile. "I've got just the thing for this." When she vanished, Simon stared at his reflection. It was covered in runes, still. With his hair hanging down, checking his fingernails.

"What did you mean when you said that the counter magic takes from me?"

Mirror Simon frowned, "Which words are confusing to you?" They glared at each other a moment, then the reflection scoffed. "You spent years stealing the energy from others to fuel your magic, but you'll spend the rest of your existence drawing it from yourself. That's why you had to visit the other planes and know every version of yourself. You will have to draw from that. You will have to pay back what you stole, no matter how long it takes, no matter how many versions of yourself have to fall."

"And you'll.. guide me through that?" 

"What? No. You're dragging me along, like you always have. I'm just able to help now."

"Here it is!" The childlike voice announced. She handed Simon a gauntlet. When he simply looked confused at it and didn't take it, she put it on him and showed him a mechanism that made a mirrored surface blade come out… and the reflection stepped out of it, actually startling Simon.

He had on the same outfit as Simon, but he pulled up the top part of his hair into a half ponytail. "You can tell us apart, now," he joked. (He was chrome. You could always tell them apart). But, one thing that was bizarre to Simon was he was wearing a red coat. It was the only thing about him that wasn't reflective. 

"The coat. How did you…" and the coat transformed into a large majestic bird, and it's wings spread, reflecting off of Mirror Simon like flames. "A phoenix!" 

"Mm hmm."

"So… I can still use my magic. I just have to draw it from myself," Simon said as they headed out of the apothecary together.

"That's not what I said and I hate how bad at listening you can be. I said that your magic is inverted. Stuff like destroying, killing, and trapping… you can't do ANY of that shit anymore. But you can do the reverse. You can make things grow, live, free…"

"Can I… undo what I've done?"

"You can break curses that you've instilled, but… you can't have some sort of mass awakening for all of those deaths. To bring something back from the dead, it has to be extremely recent. Three days MAX."

"WAIT, WHAT?" 

Mirror Simon frowned, "I told you already…"

"But, I thought that was impossible without tremendous sacrifice and the deaths of a surplus of magic beings!" 

"Yeah. And you've DONE that part. Now, you're on the other side. The side where you can bring others back to life. That's the catch of it. To be able to bring others back to life, the ultimate sacrifice is you. It's meant to keep people from pursuing such power, but the rest of us never fully estimated the absolute nerve of mankind." 

"So.. I… don't have to lose Grace," Simon said, almost relieved, because that had honestly been his biggest fear since this fate had descended on him. 

But now, Mirror Simon was extremely serious. "No. You still have to say goodbye to her. But… I would not recommend using that more than thrice."

"What is it with you and the number 3?"

"It's powerful. And your inverted magic is powerful, but it has restrictions and they're going to be tight." You won't be able to just bring her back over and over and if we're being honest, if you love her like I have good reason to believe you do… I don't know that you should do that to her at all. She'll remember her life, but she'll also remember her death. You've seen how much it hurts her to heal others? When she dies, that will be her actual pain, and there's just not enough known to be sure of how that might affect someone."

"Then… why have it, at all?"

"Animals who help the ecosystem. Children who mysteriously passed without having a chance to even have their first cohesive thoughts. Someone who had a freak accident that would have traumatized them anyways. There's like… so many other reasons to have it! BUT, most importantly, because you killed so many without thinking about it. You learned magic and used it to harm and now you can't." They paused outside of Grace's bedchamber, "If you'd be able to live with yourself if it drives her mad or makes her have chronic pain or something terrible… then I still wouldn't suggest doing it. I know how you feel about her. I also… have the ability to consider the other sides of things." The Mirror Simon draped his coat over his shoulders and slid back into the dagger.

But, even when he wasn't communicating with Simon, Simon noted little differences in his reflection at times that he had never seen before that day. 

.

Grace smiled brightly whenever Simon returned sans familiar. "The spirit world hates me," he said. "I have to like… use my reflection."

Her eyes widened and her smile went away. "You mean like, inverted magic?" 

"Yeah." 

She shook her head, "Simon, inverted magic is super dangerous. The magic comes from you and most people aren't strong enough to do more than a few years of successful magic."

"That's why I have this gift," he said and showed off his infinity symbol. She took off her glove and reached for his hand, but he resisted. That hurt her feelings. He saw it in her face. He just… didn't want to burden her with everything. Grace clenched her glove in both hands until he allowed her to touch his hand. 

To feel his feelings and feel his memories and know his truth. She sniffled and he jerked his hand away, ashamed of himself for allowing her to see when he knew it would hurt her. 

"It…" she struggled for words, "can't be that lonely, Simon. You have me. For however long you have me, you have me, fully." He cupped her face and rested his forehead on hers. She put her bare hand on his forearm and whispered, "This feeling. Remember it, okay? Pull it out whenever you feel that loneliness.." 

He couldn't describe the magic that her healing hands were providing right now, but it felt like safety… it felt like support. She could even heal the heart, when it was him. He may have been in a lifeline loop, but however many lifetimes he would live, he knew that she would always be not just his first love, but his only love.

She looked slightly up to see his face and was thrown back by the intent look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I want you to spend the rest of your life with me. Not in some “we were tethered as infants and we're drawn to each other” way. But in this way… I know you and I love you and I have no idea how much time we have left together, but I want us to be together, like you said, fully." He took off her remaining glove, took both of her hands into his and got down on one knee. "I want you to be Mrs. Laurent. I know that you're not going to be on the throne, but you'll forever be my princess, even when you're… no longer with me. I want you to… agree to that?" 

She stared at his hands, holding hers, and her shaking hands, being soothed with his thumbs. She never touched people this way. Their feelings made it difficult. But, all she read from Simon was love and determination… maybe even desperation. He meant it. She nodded her head, “I agree to that.” 

.

Lucy placed the children from The Alrick Institute of Magic into the care of the caverns. They would each have separate journeys and tests, given to them by The One, until they were proven to have been recovered and ready to reenter society as reformed members of the community. They would have various problem solving puzzles and life skills tests to have the runes on their bodies removed and when they were cleared of it, they could be placed in the care of someone in the kingdom. Over the past few years, The Conductor had devastated a lot of the land and with that, many families and creatures that no longer had safe habitats (if they survived at all), had lost most of their loved ones. Simon had taken every orphan, runaway, and even the slightly disgruntled children he found and made them into her soldiers. The thought of taking the time to undo the work made Simon almost not want to get out of bed.

He was exhausted. Grace had been teaching him healing magic. She taught him how she challenged his curse at the lagoon and took him to the ruins of Lucy’s village, his first mission of that sort, for his training. 

Simon had learned more about Grace than he knew before through the lessons. He learned that her ability to sense magic was a branch of her gift of empathy. She was able to get as close to the border of the curse as possible without touching it. If she touched it, she would feel it, and curses hurt more than memories, more than physical pain. Curses were felt in her body and her soul. 

Grace clenched her fists hard enough to draw blood and she and Simon both winced about it. It amazed her that someone who was so used to and fond of violence couldn’t stand to see her have even the slightest bit of pain. She placed her hands on the ground, feeling around for magic. Somewhere in the grounds, she could sense it. Another little paw print. Samantha may have left one at every site, knowing that someday, a proper Witch of the One could restore it. “Okay,” Grace poured water from a canteen on her hand wounds and wrapped them as she explained, “There is but a handprint of magic still here. I think Samantha did it on purpose, after you took everything. She would leave a paw print in blood, and as a magical being, the magic can be detected. It’s not a bridge so much as it is a small space in which magic can communicate, to get inside.”

“It’s like if you lock yourself out, but you can cut open the screen to get in through the window,” he clarified.

“Yes. But, your home has been demolished and covered in blood and you have to go through reliving what happened to even get the curse to lift. It will try to latch on to you and instead of it overtaking you, you have to duel and you have to win. Your magic has to be a match for it’s magic, or it will reduce you to rubble.” He looked horrified. “You’re totally strong enough. I was.”

“No. I mean, yes. I just… You could have died trying to lift the curse?”

“I was pretty confident that you weren’t stronger than me, Fake Witch,” she said with a wink. Before he could refute, she put her hands on his shoulders and nudged him downward. Simon dropped to his knees and opened his hands. “They’ll need your blood.” He nodded and used his dagger to slash marks on his forearms. He didn’t want to lose the usage of his hands. But, he collected it in his hands and touched the cursed rubble. “Now, you will alert the curse to your magic and like a ghom, thirsty for the essence within you, it will move against you to challenge your presence…” He felt like he was hit by a windstorm and she nodded, “That was it. Now, remember when I faced the ghom and I told you that you have to show them your power? It’s probably similar to whatever it is that you used to do when you used to activate those runes? Whatever you did then, do it now.” A light shined from his hands and the rubble began to glow and Grace swooshed her cloak over both of them and grabbed him up to take cover. He watched from beneath the cloak as the entire village appeared to explode and debris flew everywhere as a geyser of blood fired into the sky and rained down on everything nearby. He saw glittering, green things floating and flying out of the chaos and he smiled as his green eyes glowed.

Grace looked at his face and at the destruction and then reminded herself out loud, “Oh, right, he sees magic.” He blinked and looked at her, eyes normal. “Look again, Dude.” He did so and it was honestly just… wreckage and blood. No curse, but no magic either.

He had a flashback to how it looked whenever he first barged in. The children ran rampart, raiding everything. Amelia sat on her armored horse, cloaked with only her glowing runes visible. Her voice was deep with the magic as she said, “The children get the treats, but you will get the treasure.” The people in the town looked terrified as imposing witches dressed in black with pale faces and blue light in their eyes descended upon them, murdering and stealing. It looked even worse now. 

Grace’s team began to take the remains away, foul with the odor of death and decay, and stained with the evidence of terror and defeat. Grace shook her head, “That staff really would have come in handy,” she mused as she dug her toes into the dirt and the blood staining everything began to wash away. 

“Hey,” Simon said, softly, and took her hand. “Use me.” With their hands and eyes locked, the blood washed away and while Grace normally would have been spent after magic like that, instead, she shone brighter and the rubble began to right itself. When she finally felt faint, Simon caught her and held her. Then they looked at the village. It was just as they had remembered it from before. 

Lucy walked towards the border, with the warriors who were tasked to watch over it and she almost dropped the staff in her emotional reaction, before straightening her posture and clenching it tightly. 

Her magic wasn’t powerful enough for her to be confident about her protective spell before, but with one hit of her staff onto the ground, they watched as a green glimmering protective fence surrounded the village, then went invisible. 

She turned to look at Simon, but wore no expression. 

It didn’t feel right to her to thank him or forgive him for what he had done to this place, even if he fixed a huge portion of it. Some parts never could be. The lives that were lost. The years the spirits wandered or worse, were enslaved. The time that it was cursed and she could only look upon her first home as a place of desolation and destruction. No, she wasn���t thankful to him for this work and she hadn’t forgiven him of his previous work. But, she was going to be fair. Technically, he had been punished for his crimes and now, he would make restitution. “It was the least you could do,” she finally said to him, before turning and transmitting herself back to the Mothership. 

Grace bit her lip and looked at Simon. “That’s the best you’ll get from her on a good day.”

“She’s nicer when you aren’t looking,” he said.

“She’s more careful when I’m not there to protect her,” Grace corrected. 

He looked at the village again. Nearby magical creatures approached with caution to see if they were allowed to go near it and were happy to find that they could enter the barrier. Simon reached his hand out, to test and was met by an instant barrier. He nodded. That was fair. Lucy cared about him, after having spent time around him, but if it would take longer for her to trust him, especially with safe spaces in the kingdom, he couldn’t fault her. Maybe eventually, that would change.

“This is my life now,” he announced. “Spending my time, energy and power fixing whatever I can of the mess that I’ve made.” She nodded her head and touched his wrist to give him a little jolt of healing support. “Hey!” He took her hand into his. “You’ve worked way too hard today to be wasting your energy like that.”

“I am so close to passing out,” she acknowledged with a little laugh.

He collected her to himself and pressed his lips against her forehead. “Let’s go home.”

#Intertwined by Nesha #AU Infinity Train #Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #Infinity Train Fanfiction #fics

[bethchapelsbonnet]

#Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction #Lake House Confessions #starcat #courtney whitmore #yolanda montez

[zackmartin]

4, 6, 7 and 8 for the fic ask! ❤

ahh, Heather, thank you. I love you!! 🥺💕

4. Are there any writers that inspire you? Literally any of my friends. Like, there’s an element in all of my friends’ writing that I can aspire to; yours, Mana’s, Nesha’s, Pearl’s, Otter’s, Lizzie’s, Lou’s, Casey’s...there’s so many more, like literally insert any of my friends here. y’all are literally the most talented group and I’m in awe every day. 

6. What element of writing do you find comes easily? Usually dialogue. I usually come up with dialogue first and then the rest falls into place later. 

7. What element of writing do you struggle with most? Description, describing both places and feelings, and the more, metaphoric/symbolic side of writing. I know I haven’t done any of that, like I wish I could write flowery stuff or symbolic stuff or stuff with a deeper meaning, but it never is. Mine is just. surface level comedy. And like, with the feelings, the way I write the way a character feels for the other SUCKS, I wish I could be better at that but my brain he just. he can’t do it lol. 

8. Which character(s) do you find easiest to write? Zack, for sure. But, he’s also one of the most difficult. Like, I feel like I know him so well that I can keep him pretty in character for the most part, and his dialogue and inner thoughts come to me pretty easily, but there are parts of him I find hard to write, like when he’s flirting (which we know he does a lot lmao) like. I can’t flirt to save my life so when I have to write him as doing so it’s very difficult 😂

Send me fanfiction writer asks!

#asks #heather tag 💜 #taylorswiftrulestheworld

[neshabeingchildish]

About Nesha

If You’re Interested in Me…

A breakdown about my life, my writing, this fandom and fandoms in general.

A few things. Y'all know some, but not all of this info and there’s plenty more to know, but for now, I'ma just say whatever I say right now. I’m the same age as Captain Man. I’m GROWN grown. So, we won’t always have conversations/we won’t always know what the other is talking about.

I occasionally love a good kids show because I have a big family and grew up babysitting a lot. My youngest sibling was born when I was 15 and I helped raise her. We watched several things together that I didn’t care for because she wanted to or because I had to find child friendly stuff to watch with her. I don’t always watch kids shows with kids. Sometimes, I enjoy them on my own. I’m grown. I can do that, if I want. My oldest niece was born a month before my youngest sister. My oldest sister had 7 kids (Yes same father. I answer because somebody nosy always asks), and I’ve lived with them a few times, too.

With kiddos, kids shows that I watched include True Jackson VP, A.N.T. Farm, Shake It Up, Victorious, iCarly, and Glee (which to be fair, my sis and I tried for the first time together and simply both got sucked in. By myself, I’ve watched a few things, but not too many outside of cartoons. Henry Danger is one of those things. (And Andi Mack. I miss it already)

Whenever I started watching HD, I was living in a motel with my younger brother, working two jobs and taking care of most of our finances. We’d been in an apartment prior to that, but I couldn’t keep my head above water and he has PTSD from the war in Iraq, so sometimes he isn’t able to do things. I was extremely depressed (as sometimes happens because I’m bipolar and have depression/manic episodes and anxiety and life was stressful.

Since life was stressful, I wanted to watch stuff that wouldn’t be stressful and frequently tuned in to kiss shows hoping to escape a little bit my adult struggle. I’ve been homeless a few times, but being in the motel wasn’t the worst of them. It was not being able to help my brother more that had me down the most. At the time, I began watching Steven Universe, Clarence, Manny Rivera and Henry Danger.

Now, let me say this - whenever I saw an ad for Henry Danger, I wasn’t interested in the plot. I saw a cute little Black girl with an afro and said, “I'ma check that show out for lil’ sis.” I do that sometimes and figured since it was Nickolodeon, I probably wouldn't get that horrendous token treatment that shows for older audiences give out. So, I watched it and the first episode I saw was actually the one where he had the test on the history of Puerto Rico. Listen. I LMAO and was like, “I’ll watch this again.”

So, I started watching it and watched it the entire time I lived in the motel. Even tried to continue when I was in another motel. But, after I was doing a lot of motel hopping, sleeping in my car, occasionally making the 4 hour drive to my parents to wash up and regroup before driving the 4 hours back to Austin for work… I got off track with it.

Fast forward to a few years back. I was in a relationship with a man and his two kids, who are now basically my two kids and wanted to try to watch something with them. I was browsing kids shows and came across Henry Danger and was like, “Yo! This used to be hilarious! I wonder if I’d still like it.” And just like that, I was back in and not homeless or bouncing around. They didn’t care for it as much as me. But, I kept watching, because I do enjoy it.

Eventually, I hunted down the episodes and rewatched/caught up on the whole thing. After that, I wondered if there was a fandom and I checked and there was, but everyone was so young that I didn’t engage. I was like TF is you gon’ do in that fandom?

I didn’t engage up until I was watching some episode of S4 and I wondered why Nickolodeon hadn’t started leaning towards shipping the Chenry yet. Earlier, I figured that they (like me) saw the kids as too young and weren’t interested in that. But, S4, I was like, well they’re older now and wait a damn minute, they’ve been having this kid have love interests since S1! SO, I took it as a statement against Charlotte and I figured, I could write that ship and I’d be amazing at it.

(I didn’t even really ship it like that. Lol.) Anyway. I jumped on in and met some nice young ladies. Saw a lot of love between them and got a lot whenever I did come in. I try to be mindful of the audience, but also true to the characters and the direction I’m going with them. I try to write responsibly. That’s why though there are adult discussions never any of the adult action. I have 16 year olds here for crying out loud. So, whatever the content, the characters will either be as canon as can be, or I’ve written something that could fundamentally change them into whoever I’m writing.

I write a lot of angst. I write depending on what I’m feeling at the moment and sometimes, because of my mental illness, I won’t write a thing. But, I love feedback. I can take honest feedback, but be prepared to argue with me if I disagree with you and have time. Because I mean to write certain things and if they’re misconstrued or I’ve made them unclear, I gotta investigate that.

I’m pro-black AF, anti-establishment, anti-police, anti-govt, and basically against anything that challenges Black joy and Black wellness. I sometimes have a tone in my stories and themes that might reflect my beliefs, but I try not to project that onto my characters. I try to write them from a place of authenticity and I care as much about them as the children that I watched grow up on that cast while I was going through hard times.

When they make you mad or you disagree, I get it. But, try to be gentle or at least empathetic to them. I love they asses, no matter what fuckery I be having them doing. If you enjoy it, let me know from time to time. Whenever I’m in a low point and something in my life gotta go, fanfiction is usually one of the first things because frequently, it’s not enough folk on the other end that I know of expecting or enjoying. I’m not saying shower me with reviews, but if a bitch could get a thumbs up sometimes…

Y'all a good fandom. I have seen the least amount of white fuckery here than I’ve ever seen in any fandom I’ve ever spent time around. I appreciate that, because I’m a habitual blocker and I blocks with a quickness. It sometimes bothers me to block young folk. 😂

I feel like this went on longer than I wanted to and I still didn’t say everything I intended to. If you still reading this long ass personal post, have a blessed day.

#neshatriumphs #personal #writing #me #henry danger

[mfackenthal]

The MFackenthal Show with Special Guest @ownworldresident!

banner by @whenyourheartskipsabeat

Megs:  Hello everyone!  Welcome to another episode of “The MFackenthal Show!”  Many many thanks to everyone who tuned in for the last episode.  The response to the return of the show has been truly fantastic and humbling.  It’s wonderful to have so many of you in our audience today!  

Please give your warmest welcome to tonight’s special guest @ownworldresident!

Alex:  Hey! *comes in waving*  Great to be here, thanks for inviting me Megs I'm honoured! *gives bear hug* I'm a big fan of hugs. *collapses dramatically into comfortable looking teal lounge chair*

Megs:  *Laughs* Well, make yourself comfortable, my friend. 

Alex:  Oh, you know I will!

Megs: Yes, yes I do.  So I hear that you’re working on a book!  Should I start calling you AJ?

Alex:  Okay so ... as readers of Something Unexpected will know my name is Alex. My pen name, recently decided, is A. J. Brooks. *grins like an idiot* I give you permission to call me Alex.

Megs:  Okay ... AJ ... so tell me, when did you join this crazy place we call the tumblr choices fandom?

Alex: I guess I could say I joined in about November? I started playing choices in August, because what better time to start than in the final semester of your bachelor's degree? I posted my first fic on Choices Archive which was unbelievably shit (the fic not the site!). I read A Royal Mate by @hopefulmoonobject aka Nesha and was inspired to write “You, The Lion” around chapter…. 6? I stalked Nesha to Tumblr, which I've never used before, and set up @ownworldresident, thus began the end of my social life. Courtesy of a design degree it was already pretty rocky.

Megs:  Who needs a social life when we have choices, tumblr, and fanfic, right?

Alex: Right! We all need AUs to carry us through to the next chapter.

Megs: Speaking of the next chapter ... have you read all of the choices books?

Alex: Hehe… *grins sheepishly* I have not. I have, however, played TRR enough times to have played every book twice over.

Megs:  Yeah, I think we’ve all done that!  Okay, so who do you stan in TRR?

Alex: *in a monotone* Oh, gosh, what a difficult question. Gosh Meg that's so hard to answer… *feigns thoughtfulness, then grins and speaks normally* if Liam isn't gripping the headboard with one hand to steady himself… What's the point of playing?

Megs: I’ll answer that with one word:  Drake.

Alex:  *rolls her eyes* And that’s my cue to leave the stage. *Alex starts to get out of her chair*

*Megs grabs her arms to keep her in the chair.*

Megs:  Nooooo!  Stay!  Tell us what you do when you’re not writing fics!  Geeze!

Alex: Haha, you know I’d never leave you, beautiful!  Okay, what do I do when I’m not writing fics ... I write my novel, reblog writing advice, play choices, chat to (and spam with excerpts) Nesha, Alicia, Stef, Urica, Pam, and you of course, also I have friends here but I'm not sure if they know I'm alive … I mean, I think I went out last month. This is specifically for Alicia - HE WILL REMAIN FRIENDZONED.

Megs:  Awh, maybe you need to give this guy a chance?

Alex: Oh gosh, not you too!  Stop!  FRIENDZONED!

Megs:  I’m just saying, sometimes the friend can be the *eyebrows raise twice* “friend.”

Alex: So, I’m from Australia! I was born in Perth (Western Australia), grew up in country WA, moved over to Melbourne to get a big fancy degree from a big fancy Uni, which i did *lifts fists in victory* and I love it here! Lots of ... um ... hot guys. But I spend all my time as a resident of my own world so don't actually see them much. I think I will need to go to Europe to find myself a Rhys.

Megs: nice deflection ... and we’re back to Liam.  Hahah!  Okay, okay, so as anyone who follows you on tumblr knows, you love to talk about writing.  Tell us about your writing process.

Alex: What's a ‘process? *frowns quizzically* I haven't really trained myself enough to have one. I have a muse, she is incredible, if I'm stuck I give her a problem and go and do other things and my tigress works on it in the background. For example the last big thing I wanted was a new story to write, so about a week later I was washing dishes or something and she went LIAM BANGS AN ASSASSIN and that's how The Mark came about. In case you were wondering or something. i also really like walking through forests, that really puts me in touch with my tigress. It's how You The Lion started. *shrugs* otherwise it's just when I feel like it. If I'm angsty I write Rayne. If I'm frustrated (at myself) I write Anna. If I'm excited I write SU with Nesha. If I'm focused I write my novel. *smirks* that's it! *chuckles*

Actually, Megs, are you up for an acting challenge?

Megs:  Don’t you know it!  Did you bring a script with you?

Alex:  Oh, just a snippet of my favourite passage of all I have ever written.  It’s Liam and Lisa's argument.  It’s love and trust and loss and honesty and pain, it’s really a pity they were too badly injured for angry sex. *winks*

Megs:  I call reading Lisa’s lines!

Alex: Wha?  Oh, okay, I’ll play Liam ...

*both ladies stand up in the middle of the stage and read overly dramatically*

Liam/Alex: “I thought you loved me Lisa…”

Lisa/Megs:  “Of course I love you!”

Liam/Alex: “Then that should be enough to just my judgement…”

Lisa/Megs:  “YES! It should! It should be enough to trust and yet you don’t! You don’t trust me, you’re blinded by him and how DARE you use your rank over me! I don’t give a shit what your reasoning was Liam that is not okay.”

Liam/Alex “It was to -”

Lisa/Megs: “Keep me safe! Guess what! I can defend myself, as if you didn’t know that. I told you, you should have believed me, because you said you loved and trusted me EVEN THOUGH YOU DON’T and that should be enough!”

Alex:  And end scene!

*The ladies take a bow*

I don't know if it makes sense without context and its only the dialogue but I love it!  You were a decent Lisa.  Though I’m not sure Lisa would have been quite so dramatic about it.

Megs:  You weren’t a half-bad Liam.  But i know he would have been more dramatic than you were being!  *wink*

*Both Alex and Megs starts to return to their seats - but Alex gets to Meg’s chair first.  Megs slowly goes to sit in the comfy teal green chair and gives Alex the side eye.*

Alex:  So Megs ... when and why did you decide to review and interview fanfic writers?

Megs:  What is it with my guests thinking they get to take over asking the questions?!  *Megs shakes her head in disbelief*  Hmm ... the first spotlight post/MFackenthal show was just over a year ago on May 5, 2018.  At that time, I wasn’t writing any fanfiction, but I wanted to give back to the community.  I don’t think I had even done a review post yet.  By that time I had written some posts to wish authors happy birthday or to highlight someone’s work that I was in love with ... but I had 100 followers and I wanted to celebrate that.  @maxattack-powell, @tmarie82, @lizeboredom, and a few others who aren’t here any more helped me come up with a way to spotlight the fanfic authors and I wrote a pilot episode of the Mfackenthal Show.  Ellen saw it, gave me this show, and the rest is history as they say.

Alex:  I love that you wanted to give back!  One last question ... *leans elbow on side of chair and rests chin on fingers to look at you, narrowing gaze* ... tell us one of your most fantastical Drake related dreams. Maybe you or someone can turn it into a one shot?

Megs:  Alex!  Oh my gosh!  Hahaha!  Hmmm ... okay ... well, the story would be an AU.  The MC, Megs - cause all the MCs are named Megs in my stories, is a Princess of a small country, but she’s gone into hiding because someone is after her and her family.  She goes to Cordonia and asks to help manage Liam’s social season.  She needs to stay behind the scenes so she can’t be in it.  She convinces Bastien, Liam, and Drake that she would be a good counselor/therapist for Liam - help him make decisions about who would be the best partner for him.  Of course, both Liam and Drake end up falling in love with Megs.  As always, Drake believes himself to be unworthy because he knows that Megs is a princess.  Megs is always very clear that she’s not in love with Liam and is in love with Drake.  All the forces keep Megs and Drake apart.  Drake eventually helps Megs get back to her country and Megs gets injured in a battle when she tries but fails to save her father from being murdered.  This means that Megs has to take the throne.  Drake tries to live without her, heading back to Cordonia.  Drake and Megs finally get together after her country and Cordonia enter trade negotiations and Liam sends Drake to make those negotiations. 

Alex:  *sighs* Megs, that’s beautiful.

Megs:  Thanks!  Probably not a one-shot though.

Alex: Probably not.  Alright - well, your producers are telling me that it’s almost time to wrap up the show.  So, I think it’s time for you and your audience to learn to do the shuffle!  So stand up.

*stands and looks at you expectantly until you do the same*

okay now drink this …

Megs:  uh ...

Alex:  Just drink it!  It's not poison *smirks as you drink and splutter then shrugs at your horrified expression and drinks the other half* don't worry it's just tequila. Okay follow me, stand there… music please… let's do this.

*proceeds to teach and dance and drink more and kiss the cameraman and fall over then get up and keep dancing like nothing happened*

--- several minutes later, both collapsed and grinning and slightly drunk ---

Please don't analyze me. I have a lot of problems. Urk.

Megs:  We’ll save the analysis for after the show! (hiccups) Alright folks (hic!)  I guess it’s time to go! 

Alex: *drunkenly* Omgosh I LOVE this fandom. Everyone is so friendly and (predominantly) positive *side eyes you* and creative and supportive and talented! I love you all. Thank you for being you, and if you interact with me, my fics, or anything I post, I consider myself honoured thank you!! To the fandom I will say keep being who you are. Every single one of you is incredible *shrugs excitedly, grinning*.

Megs: Have a great night, all!  Don’t drink and drive!  Love you all!!!!

And now for the tags! If you want to be added to the tag list for these or removed, please let me know!  They won’t come out every day, I promise!

@hopefulmoonobject @queen-among-writers

#The MFackenthal Show #Official episode 4 #but really episode 5 #I'm not drunk - you're drunk #Alex is a pusher! #She got Liam drunk this same way once #Tequila may be poison though #That was a set of dreams I had about Drake and Liam #Really couldn't be a one shot #We really do love you all though!

[lorirwritesfanfic]

all questions ending in 1

Hi, @thehonorarybeaumont Thanks for asking ❤

1. What was the first fandom you got involved in?Linkin Park fandom. I was fourteen and so hyped with their music and I made great friends back then. I still am a fan but I don’t listen to them as much as I did because I still struggle with Chester’s death. I never wrote LP fanfics, but I loved reading them and I translated my favorite ones to Portuguese.

11. Who is your current OTP?Right now, Jax x MC. I can’t stop thinking about them.

21. What was the first fanfic you ever wrote?Flirting Game - Part 1 and Part 2  (Liam x MC). I wrote them together, then split it in half. I don’t know why I split them, these chapters are so small 😅

31. What’s the nicest thing someone has ever said about your writing?I’ve got some really nice comments from friends and readers (you’re all awesome), but I get chills every time someone tells me how they were moved by a specific story I wrote to the point that they cried. As a writer, knowing that they could relate and actually feel what the characters felt is the greatest compliment I’ll ever get.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently readingI haven’t read much lately because I try not to read stories with the same pairings I write during my writing process, so I can concentrate on my own headcanons and not mix them up with other writers’, but here are some the last ones I read:

Our Song (Maxwell x Maurice) - @kennaxval Back To You (Leo x Aria / Liam x Aria) - @leelee10898 Lighthouse (Bastien x Olivia) - @bobasheebaby  Something Unexpected (Liam x Nesha / Leo x Alex) - @hopefulmoonobject Fate Will Have It (Liam x Freya) - @llovewrites

51. Rant or Gush about one thing you love or hate in the world of fanfiction! Go!I’ve been ranting a lot lately, so I’ll gush over how great are the fans abilities to create stuff. There are so many talented people around here and it was mindblowing to know that the some of the first fandoms (X-Files, Anne Rice’s books) had several legal issues with the authors, but they still kept writing/drawing/editing because they just wanted to share their creations. I truly think fans are unique creatures in this world and the authors who don’t appreciate them are a bunch of assholes.

Ask me stuff about my fandom experiences

#fanfiction asks

[callmetippytumbles]

41, 35, 14, 6. For the asks

So I took forever to answer this.  I have the focus of a guppy.  Here we are and here I go.

41. List and link to 5 fanfics you are currently reading:

Something Unexpected by @ownworldresident and @hopefulmoonobject

I am liking the idea and letting that take me with this story.  Plus I am waiting for Liam to fall for Nesha.  I need that to happen expeditiously.  Thank you.

First Name Bases by @llovewrites

Edison is a literal daddy.  I did not choose him for my crew this time because Sybil is adorable and I wanted a POC crew.  But I was like “Yes, sir” when I saw him.  So this has filled that itch for the moment.

Autumn Blues by @drakewalkerwhipped

Aren’t we all?  I am being thoroughly traumatized.  Drake is totally not shit.  Actually, no one is shit in this story but the babies.  I am Team Lia, Jackson, Leo, Dom…and the rest of the babies.  I stand with them.

The Way Back to You and Godsend by @elles-choices

I am kind of into these stories.  The Way Back to You feeds my baby fever like nothing else.  Godsend is just cute.  I linked to her masterlist so you can find the series and read on your own

Though if someone can lead me to some Duke x MC fics (Villianous Nights series), I would be grateful.

35. Do you write drabbles? If so, what do you normally write them about?

I do not do drabbles often because I cannot keep them short.  I try to keep them focused on a moment like a slice of a slice of life.  I have one in my drafts that I keep neglecting and I shouldn’t.  Especially since it involves like my favorite character that I did not even create.  I really should finish that.  

14. Go on, who are your BroTPs?

Liam x Drake: They are just funny.  It’s like watching grown men being stripped down to being children.

Samira x Sybil: I liked when Samira was talking about her child and Sybil was talking about her plant.  

The Heist Crew: I actually like how the whole crew plays off each other.  Just the snarky comments and barbs.  I am here for The Heist for that reason.  Like not necessarily for the dick.  

Kamilah x Adrian: You know she treats him like a little brother.

6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.

I don’t know if we have that kind of time.  I will list current faves.

Choices: Liam x MC (I haven’t really wanted to read much else)

Lovestruck: Duke x MC is bae.  I am okay with Renzei but he is wild and reckless.  Diego is sweet but that slow build is getting on my nerves.  Razi too.  I have no patience and Duke is still bae.  

Criminal Minds: Simmvez, Tara x screentime, Spencer x less screentime

Thanks for the ask @grapecaseschoices

Fanfiction asks

#ask tippy #fanfiction asks

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

We’re Not Friends 17

Are They More?

“Leave her alone, Beth. She’s going through enough,” Rick said.

Beth glared at him and smiled, saying through her teeth, “I was just trying to be nice.”

“She asked you not to bother her and you did anyway. So, instead of trying to be nice, why don’t you try not to be annoying, for once?”

“Okay. I’m going. Enjoy your lunch. I’m sorry I bothered you and it will never happen again.”

Since when did Rick Harris take up for people? He never took up for her, and she’s been sitting next to him for a year! Did he LIKE Yolanda? And why did that matter? Did she care about Rick liking Yolanda? God, did she LIKE Rick??

When Rick finally realized that Yolanda was being bullied, he protected Yolanda from Beth’s prying, but he had also explained to Beth why she needed to back off… “People don’t like uninvited guests seeing their dirty laundry,” Rick had told her. 

At the time, Beth had realized that maybe Rick and Yolanda were more alike than she had known. Shortly after, she’d noticed Rick glaring at Henry on Yolanda’s behalf. Warding him away from the table with his threatening expression. All the while, choosing not to be friends with Beth. It had bothered her, even then. It was definitely bothering her now. She didn’t need an ally to be accepted onto the team, but she had gotten very comfortable with the idea of her team being her friends; Of Rick being her friend. Would she and Rick have a chance to be friends if he was into Yolanda? Of course, people could manage both, but she didn’t know if she believed Rick was emotionally evolved enough to do that… 

He noticed her staring! She turned her head back towards her book, but she could still feel his eyes on her. She looked at him again. He looked… pensive and slightly confused. She offered a smile. He didn’t return it, but he wasn’t glaring, at least. “What are you thinking about?” He asked. It wasn’t like him to wonder about such things, but their dynamic had been gradually changing. 

“Just… how sweet it is, how supportive of Yolanda you are. She really deserves it, and I’m glad that she has somebody like you in her corner. I tried to support her before and boy did she not want that.” She laughed awkwardly and returned her eyes to her book.

Rick furrowed his eyebrows, unsure if Beth was suggesting what it sounded like she was suggesting. Did… she think that he liked Yolanda? Should he correct her? Did it matter? “This is a little different. You were trying to get her to deal with feelings she wasn’t ready to face. I’m trying to keep a literal sexual predator away from my friends-”

Beth looked up, her face beaming, and her eyes wide. Rick froze, even though every part of him was warm, seeing her light up that way. He had never used the word “friend” for her before and she hadn’t even known if he truly considered her one. In fact, she was convinced that despite him being on this team and talking to them everyday that they still weren’t friends. Now, his eyes narrowed and she felt herself darken in his stare. He must’ve just realized that he’d made that mistake. “Henry doesn’t belong on this team, Beth.” He finalized. She sighed and nodded. They were in two completely different head spaces. 

But then again… Rick had been protective of Beth at times, too. It was sort of his thing, at the moment. Maybe, hopefully, Yolanda was just his current focus. She reminded herself that not too long ago, she was convinced that he had feelings for Courtney because of how upset he was about her being hurt. It didn’t help that she knew Courtney had followed him to West Farms trying to get him on the team either. What if they’d liked each other and she hadn’t known? But, it turned out that she was wrong about that. He’d been a little bit preoccupied with Beth being left alone, worried that she might get hurt, and that was when she knew that Rick simply was a protector. 

So, there was no reason for Beth to believe that the wall that he was creating for Yolanda wasn’t just Rick being the defender that they were discovering that he was.

It still made her feel bad to have to witness, and she was going to have to figure out why she was allowing Rick to make her feel this way, whether or not he meant to.

.

Rick had gotten pretty tired of all of it. Courtney and Beth seemed committed to the idea of letting Henry on the team. Yolanda was feeling so terrible that the two of them had been talking, instead of her and Courtney, and Beth was acting… he was frustrated with Beth. Trying to explain to everyone how everyone else was feeling was not supposed to be his role on this team, but he found himself doing just that. 

Mainly, he absolutely agreed with Yolanda and wanted the others to understand why. But, whenever he spoke with Yolanda and the subject came up, he accidentally became defensive, because he knew Beth didn’t realize how difficult this was and she was just trying to do what she thought was best for everyone. Courtney could be a lot, but she didn’t need anybody to defend her. Beth did, and he knew that Yolanda was more angry at Courtney than he was at Beth for supporting Courtney’s idea.

Last night, Yolanda had ended their call with, “I’m going to just go, before I say something unfriendly about your girl.” She had made a few comments about how he ‘always took up for Beth,’ which… IF ONLY that were true, he and Beth wouldn’t be having the issues that they were having right now, which were that she was trying to “liaison” for Courtney, on behalf of Henry and all she was doing was upsetting Yolanda and Yolanda was coming to him, because in her mind, Rick somehow could handle talking to Beth straight up “without hurting her feelings…” EVERYONE knew that just was NOT the truth. He was THE person with the record of saying the worst things to Beth, followed by Yolanda, who had started later and stopped sooner than he had.

Now, Beth was being weird about him and Yolanda, and Yolanda was not getting the support she needed, so Rick found himself having to be her emotional support roughneck, Courtney’s common sense fairy and Beth’s… Well… he would always be whatever to Beth what he was, because he just couldn’t help himself. She was soft and sweet and smart, but she needed sharper social skills sometimes, and he knew that he had them, so why not help her out?

With Henry now having superpowers, all three of them needed protection, and Rick felt like he was the only person who could supply it for them. 

.

Lunch Meeting. There was always a lunch meeting. It was the easiest place to have their talks. Whenever Beth sat down and Yolanda sat next to her, Beth and Rick exchanged glances before he sat next to Yolanda and Beth sighed. Rick was frustrated already when Courtney came to the table with Henry. Beth knew this would not go well. Henry had been living in Rick’s mind rent free ever since Courtney even had an inkling to bring him on board, and now, not only was he on board, but he appeared to know EVERYTHING. 

And Yolanda and Rick were no closer to acknowledging peaceful solutions.

Beth did her best to be the peacemaker. To push aside the sinking feeling she got when she saw Henry knock Rick onto his back, when she noted the unspoken understanding between Rick and Yolanda, all of the stress of all of this, to just… PLEASE; let them listen to me. 

“We need to do this. For Court…” Yolanda and Rick exchanged looks. A silent agreement. Beth and Rick had not had those since he became invested in being Yolanda’s protector. And now - Yolanda was cutting off her friendship with Courtney. Beth tried not to focus on how that might mean more Yolanda and Rick bonding, and if they all came out on the other side, Courtney had Henry (new family), to get to know. Court would have her family and she would have Henry become a part of that. Yolanda… would have Rick.. THAT WASN’T IMPORTANT! They were superheroes, and she didn’t need to make anything about her right now. They had a mission to accomplish.

.

Rick and Yolanda did NOT want to be there. They knew that they had to, but working with Henry was already a no go for them both and saving his dad was even less appealing. Add to that the fact that there was no cosmic staff, PLUS Chuck was out of order, and this mission was even more ill advised than the first one that they rushed into. At least Rick had acknowledged the fact that Chuck was useful, Beth thought… but then remembered that he had never thought that Chuck wasn’t useful. It was her that he seemed most unimpressed by. At least he didn’t groan whenever he was sent with her to do retcon. 

That didn’t mean that it went well. In fact, it went as bad as Beth could have even guessed. Now… Beth was no coward, but what she was, was smart. She was smart and she was self aware. She knew that certain things could be dangerous and that she could not do everything. She knew that while she had a duty to perform, that some things were outside of her skill set and that to be successful, she needed to focus on the problem at hand and handle it in the most safe and effective way possible. Rick was not that type of person. Of all the hallways that they could have wound up going down, they had to go down the one that led to the thing that killed Rick’s parents?

The point of being here? He didn’t care. The fact that Beth needed him to finish the assignment? He didn’t care. The fact that more than likely, that thing would probably KILL THEM BOTH? He didn’t care. He saw the one responsible for the worst thing to ever happen to him, and the one that he had even put this suit on to go after in the first place. Nothing else mattered in that moment but getting to Solomon Grundy and getting his revenge..

Beth couldn’t physically pull him away, but fortunately, he came to his senses when henchmen arrived. Everything after that was… So… so BAD. Beth didn’t want to even think about it. But, it was yet another death she had to witness and she never knew that being a hero would mean seeing people die this way. Seeing people her age, seeing people she cared about, people on her team… die. 

Yolanda curled into Rick, and he comforted her. It was easy to comfort her. She needed it, and he guessed he did too. He had been wrong about Henry. Henry had done something awful, sure. But, Henry had also just had to find out that his father killed his mother. Rick wasn’t sure if the guy was lucky that he didn’t have to live with that knowledge, but having his last moments in life being his father murdering him - that just felt wrong. Henry had protected his girls when he couldn’t, and had died to do so. For nothing else, Rick felt that he owed him a portion of respect. And for Yolanda’s benefit, he would never soil the kid’s memory. What Henry did before that, Rick wasn’t going to continue judging him for. Not even Yolanda was doing that at this point.

She was grieving. Rick was checking on her and making sure that she was okay. All of them trying to get to Henry, to genuinely save him, and being unable to, having to watch him be murdered, to watch him know and have his last moments be to leave a good mark on the world? Only heroes did that.

.

Beth hadn’t been able to relax. She did everything that she could. Brought out candles she had not lit yet, ordered some outfits, cooked herself comfort food and escaped in a book. Chuck gave her some ambient music to try to get her calm. Her mom and Henry’s dad worked together for years. Dr. Henry King had always been cordial to her and from what she knew, he was one of the best doctors that her mother had ever worked with. He’d treated Dr. Chapel with respect and never made her feel devalued, even when she was focused on being a mother, he had seemed to always know what to say and how to treat her, unlike some other doctors at work places she had been a part of. It endeared Beth to him for a while. Once she realized his superpower, it made sense. He knew that her mom was a good person and a good doctor, and as long as she did her job and didn’t make things difficult, it was probably easy to be a nice colleague to her, even though he was a bad man.

A very bad man. Poor Henry. All Beth wanted was more heroes in the world. More friends. More good people. The JSA had been murdered by the ISA, and not even the children were safe. Joey. Henry. She had a certain level of care for both of them, and she had seen both of them die. She texted Yolanda to check on her and knew that the “Don’t worry,” she sent back was simply because she didn’t feel like talking to her, not because she was fine. Beth texted Rick to check up on her and he replied that he and Yolanda were on the phone and he’d try to get back to her tonight, but not to worry… Great. “Don’t worry” seemed like such an empty phrase, and had the opposite reaction. 

.

“Isn’t she gonna be upset that you’re on the phone with me?” Yolanda asked. “Why would she be upset? She knows that you’re going through something,” Rick responded, then amended it with, “And, she’d have no right to be upset that you and I are friends.” Rick thought about earlier. He bent the bars open and made sure that Beth was out first. He owed her for almost getting her clobbered by henchmen in the tunnels while he let his vengeance fuel him at Solomon Grundy’s cell… and he also wanted her to be safe. 

“She’s been acting a little bit jealous, hasn’t she?” Yolanda asked and Rick wanted to immediately say no and deny that he saw anything whatsoever to indicate that, but he definitely had noticed it and didn’t want to address it. That would be too much like trying to sort through feelings and he didn’t have time for that.

“She doesn’t have a lot of friends. Any time there is a mild disagreement, she’ll probably be jealous. This week it’s this, next week, it’ll be one of you, probably.” 

Yolanda let out a joyless chuckle and sighed. “I’ll be sure to answer her inquiries, then.” Rick didn’t respond. “Are you there?” She heard a sharp intake of breath on the other line. “You’re falling asleep.”

“Sorry. I’m just…”

“Tired. Makes sense. Go get some rest, and… be nice to her. We never know how things will go and you don’t want to let the moments that you could have been nice to her become regrets that you weren’t.” 

Rick furrowed his eyebrows, “What are we talking about?”

“Beth. You care about her. I know it and you know it. I don’t know if she knows it. I just… feel like I needed more time with Henry, and I didn’t get it. You have time with Beth. Make sure it’s well spent.”

“Those are two very different stories.”

“Yeah. In your story, you have no reason not to be nice to her.”

“I… am not mean to her. Not like I used to be. I just.. I’m tired. I’m going to hang up now.”

“I’m not going to come along with you and Beth to The Pit Stop. I’ll text her in the morning to let her know.” 

“Oo.. kay. Is this your way of making us be alone?”

“No. But, that sounds like an added bonus.” He sucked his teeth and she explained, “I want to go to church. To… pray for Henry…” he heard a whimper and he almost offered to stay on the phone, but she managed to add, “Goodnight,” and hung up before he could protest. 

#We're Not Friends #Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Are We Those Kinda People?

It is actually early, but it was on my heart to do this one shot for @jacksope-lives​ story Train Hunters. Hopefully, she enjoys this...

He stared at it for a long time. Grace really would adore it. It checked the right boxes. The first and most important being pink, it was an animal that he hadn’t seen her ever have before - a hedgehog, and it was affordable enough for him. Way more expensive than he thought the thing ought to be, but he’d made at least one mistake with this. 

Hazel told him, “Girls LOVE plushies! A soft and cuddly little guy? You CAN’T go wrong with a plushie!” And… he didn’t… necessarily go wrong with it, but he selected a badger. Why? Because she didn’t have one and he thought it would be unique. But, then he tried to see if he could get some pink for razzle dazzle and the animal clothes were too big and doll clothes too small. So, since he was gonna have to remix it anyways (Hazel told him he didn’t have to remix it, but what was he gonna do? With their past of excitement and uniqueness just give her a plain badger plushie? Hmph). So… he personalized it.

He ripped up one of his old shirts to give it a little outfit, took a broken spiked choker he intended to eventually repair and made it a little belt, and drew on a tattoo of Grace’s name in thorns on its side. He finished it off with a set of right ear earrings made of notebook spiral, and a rusted chain link that he attached as a nose ring. 

“OH MY GOD!” Grace yelped in surprise whenever he gave it to her. Needless to say, she had not been expecting such a gift. “It’s…”

“A badass badger,” Simon said, pleased with himself. 

“I… love it…” She forced and accepted it. “It’s a very… YOU gift.” She was smiling, but Simon suddenly felt super embarrassed. It was a very HIM gift. Not her. This wasn’t her style.. “Thank you,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. And she carried BadAss around with her, but he thought maybe she did it for his benefit. 

So, he wasn’t going to do that again, despite her insisting she loved it whenever the subject came up. Now, he was looking at this pink hedgehog. Are we those kinds of people? We do VDay and stuff? He reached for it and looked around, what else would go with this? Should he buy flowers? She wasn’t a flower kinda person. In fact, he’d seen her snatch a flower right off of a bush and crush it into crumbled petals that she daintily let fall from her fingers with a little smile, once.

“Wwwwwwwwwhy… did you do that?” He’d asked.

She looked a little bit self conscious and she rolled her eyes and asked him back, “What, were you in love with that flower or something?” He laughed at how defensive she got about her flowercide, but didn’t give her too hard of a time and after a moment she shrugged her shoulders and said, “It was gonna die anyway. Flowers are fragile little bitches who are pretty for a limited time, and then they die. Why not do it?” He never saw her do it again, but he wasn’t sure to make of that, except for that she obviously didn’t give much of a shit about flowers. Knowing Grace though, she probably had some fleeting thought about her mom or something and took it out on that plant. She would rather just push stuff from her mind than discuss it too much, so he just let go of that. 

Candy… That was so corny and pretentious. He looked at all of the heart shaped boxes, irritated that he was suddenly aware that he wasn’t sure what kind he would even get that she might enjoy. Chocolate covered cherries… Nuts and caramel turtles… He glanced over and saw baking stuff and perked up. There were a few selections, but he thought that would be better than candy, at least. He was good at baking and he had never baked anything specifically for her before. He looked at three options that he knew she might like and then muttered, “Fuck it,” and swatted all of them into his handheld cart. He’d do cup brownies, cup cheesecakes, and cup cookies… “Why aren’t there cupcakes?” He saw the empty spot for them. Okay, so at least he wasn’t being too basic. 

He gnawed on his lip and pondered whether or not he should try to get a bottle of wine with his fake ID. He made it himself and he was certain it was excellent, but if it wasn't and he was clocked, he might have to leave without this other stuff. Leave without the pink hedgehog. Nah. There was a pink champagne with a very pretty bottle that he knew that Grace would probably love to collect or use for some art project. He studied the bottle, glanced around, and stuck it into his long pocket. He adjusted slightly, happy that his baggy pants were equipped for concealing it, and picked up a few more things before heading to checkout. 

“Somebody’s gonna be pretty happy this Valentine’s Day!” the cashier said, and began ringing things up. What do you think they got you?”

He furrowed his eyebrows. Got him? Lol… Grace wasn’t gonna get him anything. They weren’t really those kind of people. But, with Valentines Day being a day centered around love and Grace having gotten such weird distortions of what that was in early life, he guessed he just wanted her to feel special. “Eh, if she decides to keep dating me, I think I’ve got my gift, right?” 

The lady chuckled and cooed, “What a lucky lady. That’s so sweet.” 

“You know what? I think I’m gonna get some pink roses too. I don’t think she likes flowers, but I don’t KNOW that she doesn’t?”

“Better safe! Besides, plenty of people don’t prefer flowers, but it's still nice to get them, especially for this time of year.”

“Give them to me. A dozen. Two. Wait, how much is three dozen?”

“I’ll give you my discount. You’re working hard, Man.” She smiled. He did too. He felt kinda bad for pocketing the wine. It was done now, though. 

Grace was home, in some pink lounge wear… looking way too good just to be sitting at home. He wondered if he could get past her with things, but then decided it was already so much, so a surprise reveal or something cheesy like that would simply be way farther than he was willing to go. “Hey, Hazel made us…” she looked up and stopped what she was about to say when she saw him fumbling with bags of pink shit. “Dude!” She laughed and rushed to assist him. “What is this? You throwing a party I didn’t know about?”

“Sorta. I got you Valentines…”

He saw the moment of sheer joy in her expression before she calmed her tits and gave him a soft smile and a kiss on the lips, “How. Darling.” she said. He blushed. He wondered when he would stop doing that for her. He hoped never, to be honest. The butterflies were nice. “Well, I was gonna say Hazel made us cards, AND… I got you something too.” He turned even more red and Grace smiled in satisfaction as she retrieved something from her art tote. “So, Hazel made us cards and I was like… that’s cute. And your mom came by to… grab her for a bit, in case we needed… private time.” He was redder, still. “And I told her and showed her the cards, right? So she’s like, “Oh I loved all of Simon’s from school!” 

“Wait…” 

“And then she rushed home to get them!”

Would Grace think he was soft if he started crying right now? Because he might… She was very pleased with herself as she showed him hers, and the photo she took of it from his mom’s collection. 

“Wait, now… Because I…”

“And I recreated the first Valentine’s Day card you made your mom, but for you!” 

“She keeps… everything,” he said.

“I thought that was really sweet. And I thought, well… he made me a custom gift before…” She gestured to BadAss. I just wanted…” Simon had set down everything, scooped her up and kissed her. She smiled into it, letting herself melt against him.

“I thought that I was doing something so stupid and you were gonna look at me like you looked at me when I gave you that badger…”

“I have no clue how long I have to tell you that I love that badger…”

“And you actually were doing something equally as goofy for me!”

“Wow. Romantic was the word that I would have used, with a sentimental twist.” He nudged her with his nose, “When is she bringing Hazel back?” 

“Why? You tryin to get something from me.”

“I mean… there’s a window…” 

She laughed and said, “I actually had gotten you a gift before then, but it was SO weak. I got you a men’s beauty/hygiene set. Bath stuff, lotion, etc.”

“Trying to tell me something?”

“Just that I’m bad at gifts until the last moment, apparently.”

He laughed and nodded. “Me too though. I got all this… stuff… And I didn’t even know. Oh! But…” he went through the bags and said, “BadAss has a friend.” 

Grace gasped loudly and she snatched the hedgehog, “Are you freakin’ kiddin’ me? This is ADORABLE!” 

“See? That is the difference in something you actually loved and something I just gave you.”

“Shut your fucking face, I LOVE my badger! I just wasn’t prepared to receive him. But, he looks like you took time on him and dressed him in love, so I love him because you did that for me. And I also love this guy, because he is a pink hedgehog and that appeals to my interests of pink, of stuffed animals, and of hedgehogs. I don’t even remember telling you I liked those..”

“You did not. He just… looked like you’d like him.”

She checked her phone, “Come on! We gotta make use of our window!” 

“Yes!” 

She reached for his pants and asked, “WHAT is in your pocket?” 

“...Oh!” He pulled out the bottle of pink champagne and she fawned over how pretty the bottle was, but set it down and grabbed him by the shirt to pull him to the bedroom. 

After Hazel got home, they spent time baking the treats together. Hazel smiled at them, at her cards on the fridge held up with magnets and then at the baking stuff in front of them. “I think I love you guys,” she said. Grace teared up. “Awww… Love you too, Hazy.”

#AU Infinity Train #Nesha Fanfiction #fics #Infinity Train #Infinity Train Fanfiction #Train Hunters #Nesha Dabbles #jacksope lives #mi daughta #Grace Monroe #Grimon #Nesha Oneshot #TH Grace #TH Grimon #Simon Laurent #i forgot his last name #when I initially posted

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Slashing Through Your Trauma Pt 1

It was complicated enough going back to college, after everything that happened the first time. Then, the fact that she had not yet tapped into her own healing, and there she had been, back in one of the most triggering environments that existed in her world, finishing her degree to learn how to heal others. But, Hallie managed. 

For a time, she didn’t feel comfortable going by her own name, but once she did get around to the healing portion of her personal evolution, Hallie McDaniel was ready to be secure in being Hallie McDaniel again. Then one day, she became Hallie McDaniel, PsyD. And after some time, she became Hallie McDaniel, Ph.D. 

She traveled for lectures, wrote books, did scientific research, and every now and then, when she wasn’t obsessing over high-profile criminal cases, helped with lower-profile ones. “This is a horror movie in the making!” She heard Mickey’s voice say one night and she looked around the apartment and began her triple checks of all of the potential entries and hiding spaces if anyone was already inside. It was just her. 

Hallie opened the top of her night shirt in the mirror and looked at her scar. She should not still be here. A lot of factors went into her now standing in the mirror, looking at herself. 

1. Killers are often not as talented as they think they are. A single stab wound, in just the right place and she’s dead. A single stab wound slightly off from just that right place, and she has a better chance of survival. 2. Blood loss could have killed her, but after the guards never checked in, when detectives were sent to search, she had not yet enough to kill her. But, she did not have a lot of time. 3. There was no killer to check that she wasn’t alive. The killers went to square off with Sidney, and both died that night. 4. There were no copycats to chase after the dream of killing her, because she was part of a small, exclusive group that people didn’t know about.

Hallie had survived the killings, and she was able to receive protection specifically for the fact that it had already been proven that copycats may try to hunt again. When she had the chance to recover physically, with a scar and a lasting but treatable respiratory situation, Hallie McDaniel had survived. She was never quite right again.

Sometimes, she found herself perusing the sites where people glorified her friends’ murderers and romanticized her presumed death. There were people who got something out of thinking about Mickey killing her. People who were obsessed with it. She found herself reading their message board posts and trying to desensitize herself to the recoil of finding things like that. Sometimes, she found herself studying them for personal reasons. She knew that Mickey had found Billy Loomis’s mother on message boards like these. Were some of these people also potential killers? 

And even more importantly, were some of these people potential Ghostface killers? She was unable to stop obsessing about whether or not some version of the killer may find her. That inability to let it rest led her to traveling to try to find survivors, in areas where there had been suspicious happenings of murder,  just to see if they by chance escaped Ghostface or someone like him. This became her passion outside of her work, and something she kept extensive research on.

This was private work, but it caused her to have to relive her attack and revisit her time with the friends she had met in college and thought she might have for the rest of her life. 

Even though she made her decision to come out of witness protection to get to her therapist journey, she kept off the radar. After learning in the news that Cotton Weary had been found and murdered, the level of panic that shot through her was indescribable. Her fears were coming true. There was another killer in a Ghostface mask hunting. 

She had not remained in Ohio after the murders, though she did often look into crimes there, as though there was still a killer lingering. She had made herself comprehensive reports on each of the killers that she knew of so far from everything that she could find out about them. She had no plans to ever return to Ohio or ever go to California. 

Even as big as it was, knowing Woodsboro was there made the thought of it small. Too small to hide. But, she didn’t want to continue living in her home in Philadelphia, either. Unfortunately, Pennsylvania was beginning to feel too close to Ohio, considering her mounting fears.

The press was romanticizing yet another series of movies surrounding the Stab movie in production, and when she saw Sidney Prescott winding up in the middle of it, Mickey’s voice said in her mind, “She’s still the star!” And Hallie bought herself an RV as soon as she could and began heading away from California and a little further from Ohio, too. 

She was on her way into New Jersey when she learned of a place with a local legendary killer who “Always comes back,” and well, that sounded like the thing she knew about Ghostface. Sidney would kill them and another would arise in his place. “Crystal Lake, I guess I’m coming to visit you..”

#Hallie McDaniel #Nesha Fanfiction #Nesha Crossover #Slashing Through Your Trauma #Slashing Through Part 1 #horror fanfiction #hallie mcdaniel fanfiction #Scream Franchise #Freddy vs Jason #Hallie McDaniel x Kia Waterson Fanfic #Friday the 13th Franchise #Crossover #Crossover AU #Scream 2 x Freddy VS Jason #Scream x Friday the 13th Crossover #Hallie x Kia

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

We’re Not Friends 18

I Guess We’re Friends Now

Note: I absolutely didn't expect to be able to finish another chapter this soon, but I was already partially into it, because I cut off the beginning of this one from the end of the previous one. So, I wound up being able to pop out another with a quickness. :)

Beth woke up wondering how she could feel so refreshed, after everything that had happened. Scratch that. Beth woke up refreshed, and happy to have gotten some rest, then looked at her phone and saw Yolanda’s message about going to church to pray for Henry… THEN, she wondered how she was so refreshed after everything that had happened. At any rate, she needed to get ready for school. 

She contemplated a while on whether or not her leftovers from last night would be appropriate for lunch today. She would likely get sleepy if she ate it and didn’t need to feel lethargic at school. Maybe a salad might be more appropriate… She heard the doorbell and went to open the door for Rick. He didn’t look prepared to come inside, but after she let him know that she needed to pack her lunch, he stepped into the house.

“Do you want anything?” She asked. He shook his head, seemingly uncomfortable with being inside of the house alone with her. Fortunately, she talked while she did what she was doing. It took pressure off of him to say or do anything. 

She had stopped preparing lunch for her parents, but there was plenty of food in the fridge, and some of it was teetering on needing to be removed. “I’m just gonna pack you some of these leftovers, before they expire,” she said. Rick knew that she knew that he often didn’t have a good lunch, so he didn’t fight her on it, especially if it was because the food would likely go to waste if he didn’t accept it. “I even have brown paper bags, so it looks like you packed it yourself,” she said, smiling. And he couldn’t help but to smile back.

He was kinda glad that she was in a good mood. When they finally began to head out, he finally spoke, “Listen…” She paused from locking the door behind them and looked at him. He paused. For some reason, he expected her to just listen and not give him this undivided attention, but then again, that was Beth’s style. “Umm..” He pressed his lips together trying to remember what he was going to say. Her eyes had thrown him off, despite the fact that he had thought about this the entire walk to hers. “Um, I just wanted to acknowledge that I know that it was not a good idea for me to change the plan and try to go after the thing that killed my parents.” He clenched his fists and released them several times. “I didn’t know what I would do if I was ever in the position to actually get to face this, and when it happened, I did exactly what I said I was going to do.” He shut his eyes tightly and stared at the ground, “And I let down the team. I could’ve gotten you hurt. We didn’t gain anything from me doing that. All I did was reroute us, put you in harm’s way and waste our time. Maybe, if I hadn’t wasted that time, we could’ve gotten out sooner with the staff, and… and with…” He took a deep breath. “With Henry.” 

He felt Beth’s hand on his balled fist and he looked at it, loosening to her touch for her to grab both of his hands. He blinked and looked up at her sympathetic face. “I was right next to Joey when he died. It was… a shock to my system. It haunts me on most nights. I had nothing to do with it, but I saw it and it haunts me and as far as I know, it may always haunt me. Whenever Chuck showed us what happened to your parents, it haunted me. The image of what happened to them. Seeing what happened to Henry will haunt me too. But, when these things happen… I’ve started trying to learn how to take my upset and turn it into solutions, for the future, to prevent however much harm I can from coming to other people. To… lessen the amount of haunting images that I have to face. What happened to Henry might have happened no matter what, and I can tell you from experience, it would still haunt you. Because you’re human and you’re a good person.” She squeezed his hands and he squeezed hers back before she let go of him and jerked her head towards the street. 

Rick fell into step with her. He would never put her in harm’s way again. If anything, he was going to protect her. She stepped into his bubble and quickly moved out of it, like she sometimes did when he gave her a look and she surmised that she was too close. Rick casually filled the space between them and she looked up at him, curiously. He responded with a soft smile and quickly let his gaze drop to the ground. Beth, in turn, had an opposite reaction, smiling much wider and lifting her head high as they continued walking. 

.

Take my upset and turn it into solutions for the future… Prevent however much harm I can from coming to other people… Rick let those words repeat in his mind the entire walk. Whenever he set his bag down, he pulled out the journal. Beth noted that he was about to get started on that and she got out of his way. 

He propped himself up on the table and glanced at her, wondering what she was doing as she got into a car. She didn’t know how to drive, but she understood the functions and she enjoyed the feeling of sitting in a car. She walked most of the places that she went, so sitting in a car was usually a nice change of pace. Sitting behind the wheel was like a dream. 

Whenever Pat came in, spilling the beans about Courtney’s dad and how he wasn’t Starman, both of them were confused, but barely had a chance to register this new information before the janitor came in. 

Now… Nobody could have guessed that the day might start out the way that the day started out, but the shock value went up tenfold when he began to swing the sword. She could barely make her thoughts reach her mouth and called out, “Bad guy! Bad guy!” like a small child identifying Stranger Danger. Rick was trying to rush to protect. Pat was trying to neutralize the situation. In a way, she and Rick were having their own little team adventure, but she was definitely glad that it ended soon. That he was disarmed and that they were safe again. 

Rick was relieved, too. After the fear had faded away, he was able to allow himself a bit of excitement about the sword. It was a pretty damn cool sword. It was real. Could have caused significant damage if he had struck any of them. He was not in any type of headspace to suffer another loss. The janitor had always been a nice guy to him, but if he had hurt Pat or Beth, Rick would have flipped the hourglass and torn him apart. Beth quickly recovered. 

She was very interested in the story about Justin and Pat’s former team, and curious as to why Chuck had not told her about this, but she supposed that it would not have been within his scope of information if a different superhero team had their own secrets.

There was a lot that needed to be done, but whenever the two kids headed to school, Beth couldn’t decide WHICH thing she needed to discuss, so she decided on listing them all and if Rick wanted to talk, he would steer the conversation. “I can’t believe that happened this morning. First off, the fact that Starman isn’t Courtney’s dad was enough to blow my mind all day, but then Janitor Justin came in with Excalibur! He used to work for King Arthur! He was chosen to be a superhero!! AND, he’s from the past? How did he time travel? WHO has access and control of something that can travel time? Or, is he an immortal? Has he simply lived all this time?? Is he gonna be part of the team, now? I just…” She made a sound effect for an explosion and gestured like one was coming from her head. 

“I guess in a world where somebody can make themselves have super strength for an hour a day and pass that on to their kid, somebody must be smart enough to make time travel.” 

That reminded her that she hadn’t mentioned the journal. “Yeah. That’s wild. I have always thought it was theoretical. I NEED to know more about it. As soon as you finish cracking the code on that journal, you want to investigate time travel?” She asked, smiling up at him. She kept her gaze held as he went on a face journey. “No pressure,” she said, then waved a hand, “You’ll probably want to get back to your regular life or whatever, after you handle Solomon Grundy.”

“My regular life might be this shit, now,” he said with a shrug, holding his hourglass. “I mean, I don’t know if I want to investigate time travel, but even after Grundy is dead, I think I should probably stick around to keep you out of trouble.” 

She nodded, “The three of us,” she presumed.

“No. Just you. Yolanda doesn’t need help keeping out of trouble and I couldn’t stop Courtney from running straight towards it and diving into it, even if I had super strength 24-7.”

“I should ask Chuck if this is insulting or complimentary,” Beth said, thoughtfully.

“It is what it is,” Rick answered. That wasn’t an answer, but he moved on, anyway. “I’m getting really good at chemistry, too. I don’t know what that has to do with the team, but I guess it’s yet another thing that I think will be part of my regular life that wasn’t before. Maybe I don’t want to go back to it, is what I’m getting at.”

“Gotcha.” She said, with a nod. “You also smile more.” Now he blushed and grimaced, “I meant that to be complimentary. You look like a completely different person when you smile. Younger and more… tolerant of me.” She laughed uncomfortably. “Not that you aren’t more tolerant of me when you aren’t smiling! I mean, definitely more tolerant of me than you were when you flat out told me that we weren’t friends.” Her face was now scrunched up in a thoughtful, troubled expression. She felt herself unable to stop talking, unable to stop thinking about how they used to be, and unable to pretend that neither of these things were bothering her.

“This is going downhill,” he grumbled. “Nowhere in kids’ programming do they ever really explain how awkward and unsettling trying to be friends with people is.” 

Beth’s excitement bubbled over, much in the same way that it had whenever she realized that she would be getting a costume, as she confirmed, “Are we friends?” Rick let out a deep, heavy sigh, but she could tell that he wasn’t tired because of her. 

“What would we be, at this point in all of this, but friends?” 

“Teammates. None of the people in the academic decathlon are my friends, yet we compete together, on a team. Allies. They go to war with each other and may not necessarily be considered friends. A collective! We sat at the singles table all that time and weren’t friends…” she realized that he had stopped walking and was looking at the sky, like he was waiting on lightning to strike him down or something. “But, I guess we’re friends, now. I mean, that’s what you said.” He looked at her, “And I agree!” she quickly added, with a bright smile. Rick smiled back, but it was an uncomfortable smile, laced with shyness and uncertainty. 

“I’m not one to mince words, either.” 

.

Courtney was having a hard time with a swarm of things that were happening in her life. From finding out who her father was, to the staff not working… She had JUST gotten the staff back, and now it wasn’t working, and Henry was dead, and she felt like everyone’s death was her fault. 

Yolanda… wanted to comfort her, but she was still so… well, she was going through things too. Henry’s death had been toughest on her, more than any of them. Him dying like that, in front of his friends, at the hands of his father… having to leave him down there. Knowing that his father could get away with it, if they didn’t stop him. Plus, she had never gotten the chance to forgive him. She had never gotten the chance to heal from what he’d done, either. But. Right now, what he’d done was a buried pain. What had happened to him piled on top of that pain like the rocks that sealed his doom. 

She mostly observed as Beth and Rick tried to console Courtney. She wasn’t sour about the fact that Courtney had Beth’s support, when she couldn’t get it for the Henry situation, but she also tried not to harp on it. She was still upset about that situation, but she was more upset about literally everything else that looked like it was going wrong. 

Thankfully, nobody was harassing her through this all. Cindy was gone and the kids that might have still bothered her were more preoccupied with Henry’s untimely death. It mattered more to remember him than to target her, she supposed, and she was grateful, even though she would have taken another day of abuse, if it meant that she wasn’t going through this grief that was Henry being killed.

Rick sauntered into the assembly and found a seat before the girls got in. It wasn’t that he was in a rush, but he was glad not to have to choose a seat and possibly make someone feel bad about it. It was silly, and never would have crossed his mind before recently, but now it did. He left 3 seats empty to his right and got comfortable. Oddly enough, whenever the girls showed up together, he had a bit of anxiety about how they might choose to sit. Courtney looked like she was going to slide in, but she glanced at Yolanda, about to offer the chance to her, when Beth zipped by them both and sat down next to Rick. 

A small smirk formed on Yolanda’s lips, despite the rest of her face being in agony, as she watched Beth happily greet Rick and him nod at her, then them. Courtney sat down, oblivious to their energy, and Yolanda sat at the end. The moment faded quickly. As everyone remembered why they were here. Henry died. And unlike the rest of the people gathered in this space, these four knew how. They had actually had to witness it. 

Whenever Dr. Henry King stepped onto that stage, Rick felt himself grow anxious. It wasn’t like this guy would try anything in this crowded room, but what if he waited for just the moment that they were outside of everyone’s view to attack? Courtney didn’t have the usage of the stupid staff. Beth didn’t have fighting skills - not that those even mattered with this guy. Hell, if he wanted to, he could very well, right now, mentally attack and likely kill the others. He… worried. He clenched his fists, simply hoping that his worries weren’t being stolen right from his mind, or worse, that he wasn’t giving this creep ideas.

Beth felt every hair on her body stand up. Somebody that she had known for many years and was previously friendly with… she had found out was a monster, and even worse than that, there he stood, pretending to be affected by the terrible thing that he himself had done. It disgusted her. It was appalling and so very unsettling. She… panicked. She looked around at her friends, whose faces showed that they were just as upset, but what could they even do? What could any of them do?

Courtney was afraid too. She had been worried, sure, but whenever he stepped into her mind, blaming her, like he likely knew that she also did (blame herself); she felt a level of fear that surpassed the previous version. It was her fault, as far as she was concerned, but that meant that it was also her responsibility… and the staff wasn’t helping her! She tried to catch her breath. Tried to compose herself, even as she knew that she HAD to somehow get the staff to communicate with her again. She had to, if she was going to stop Brainwave and make right everything that she felt like she had caused when she initially took up the staff!

Yolanda was faced with a feeling that she was unaware if she ever felt before. Sure, she was protective of her friends. She, herself, had threatened Henry for their sake, sure that he meant them harm and she was serious whenever she did so. But, she wasn’t sure if she ever would have actually been able to go through with it. At her core, she still very much was a church girl. She prayed for Henry, for her own forgiveness in the hate that she had carried for him. Her hurt and anger were justified, but she didn’t know if her hatred was anymore. 

But, the feeling that she felt when she saw Brainwave’s face. Yolanda hated him. This hate was something indescribable. She couldn’t even figure out how there was room in her body for it and desperately wanted to unleash it. She was reminded of the time whenever Rick asked, “Do you know what it's like to be so filled up with anger that you feel like you’re poisoning yourself?” Of how much pain he was in when he admitted that he hated feeling that way. She was feeling it now. Whenever Rick deliberately told them that he would join them, for revenge. I want revenge, Yolanda thought, willing herself not to cry. Revenge. 

As they walked out of the assembly, Courtney told the others that she needed to get home, right away. She didn’t have time to try to figure out some type of plan, like Beth wanted to do, or to stick together, since she didn’t have her weapon, like Rick was suggesting. She needed to go! Yolanda pulled Beth and Rick, each by an arm and told them, “Let her do whatever she needs to right now…” Beth bit her lip and Rick took a deep, frustrated breath. “If she doesn’t get the staff working…” she looked at Rick, “It’ll be up to the two of us.” 

Beth opened her mouth to remind her that she and Courtney would still be a part of the team, but Yolanda silenced her with a simple gesture of placing her hand on her shoulder, gently. “We’ll keep you safe so that you can keep us informed.” Beth nodded her head, still looking worried, but relieved for the clarification that Yolanda knew her worth on the team, even in the light of impending danger. They gave each other a hug that both of them needed, then Beth looked at Yolanda, then Rick and started walking away.

Rick was set to follow, but Yolanda grabbed his hand to make him pause. “I finally understand,” she told him. “I understand why some people have to die. We can’t let monsters like Grundy and Brainwave… any of them… just.. Keep doing what they’re doing to people and to the world..” Rick looked into her eyes, seeing that she was serious and nodded his head once. To show her that he agreed. That he knew that he wasn’t alone in his rage and vengeance anymore. 

They both looked at Beth, watching them curiously. Yolanda let go of his hand, forced a smile and caught up with Beth. Rick took up the rear, walking behind them as Yolanda now took Beth’s hand and promised, “It’s going to be okay.” 

#We're Not Friends #Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

We’re Not Friends 16

Nobody Wanted Me

They looked at the house several times, anxiously before Mr. Dugan came out. Beth had been talking about the tunnels and the weird sounds she heard beneath the house, and whenever she showed him the photo of that man, he definitely had seen him before. That worried her, but they got into the car and touched base on their way home. Yolanda got out at Beth’s to change. Rick made another walkthrough, this time with Beth on his ankles, reminding him that it was broad daylight.

“We’ve seen Cindy Burman be a monster in broad daylight before. And that was before she knew we were mortal enemies. She told Court she was gonna kill us.” Beth couldn’t argue with that. Courtney had been texting all of them like crazy while they were getting Beth out and waiting for Pat to come back.

Whenever Yolanda came out, her costume back in her bag, she asked, “Are you going to stay with her, or am I?” She and Rick held this discussion while Beth simply watched. Not too long ago, nobody wanted me. Now, look at them… they saved me, and they’re protecting me..

“Okay. So, you get a bag ready and go with Yolanda,” Rick said. She had been in her own head and totally missed whatever they’d decided. “If your parents don’t make it home tonight, you could just ask her parents if it’s okay for you to stay…”

Beth opened her mouth to remind them about the Montezes’ frigid rules, but Courtney sent them a text that she was going to handle Cindy.

Rick clenched his fists. “She’s going to get herself killed…” He and Yolanda rushed out, but he stopped and looked at Beth, “You… lock up everything and…”

“Rick, I’ll be okay.” She said and smiled. He didn’t look convinced, but at the moment, Beth was in her home, where she probably knew the best hiding spots and Courtney was heading towards danger. So, he reluctantly left.

Beth shut the door and leaned against it with an uncontrollable smile on her face.

.

The text about the fight came after nightfall. She had finished washing up and moisturizing whenever she heard the notification. That was when she realized that she had several missed texts and Rick “threatening” to come to her house and make sure she was okay if she didn’t respond. Cindy and Courtney had gotten into a fight and Henry had come. Henry now knew about Stargirl too.

Beth: Sorry! I was in the shower. Everything is very calm here. My neighbors have some guests. Several cars at their place. I think I’m safe for the night.

Rick: Are your parents home?

Beth: My dad is on his way.

That seemed to settle it, but she still added: Heading to bed. Night! (and accompanied it with nighttime and sleep emojis)

Yolanda: Sweet dreams.

The next day, Beth had a solo plan to tend to. She would ride her bike to school and just… pass by Cindy’s on the way. Rick was gonna lose it if she told the team. He was even going off on Courtney in the earlier texts about going after Cindy on her own, with her injuries. They REALLY shouldn’t put stuff like that into texts. In fact, Beth sent them one more text to say so before she went to sleep. Nobody had replied, but in the morning, she noticed that they had unsent texts of secrecy.

Beth put on her bicycle helmet and rolled her bike out of the garage, backpack on her back. She hadn’t ridden it in a little while, but riding a bike was the most famous example of an unforgettable skill, so she was confident.

A text came through as she climbed on, “Meeting in the gym,” she read on her goggles as she started riding, “Okay?”

She passed by Cindy’s and found out that they already had a cover story in place. She wasn’t sure where Cindy was, but she doubted it was overseas with her mom. At any rate, she went to school.

.

Rick and Yolanda stopped talking whenever she walked in. Yolanda had been working out, obviously, because she had her boxing gloves on. Beth was mindful of how much more her legs seemed to hurt from biking than it generally did from her walking. She walked A LOT, so that was surprising. She smiled, greeted them and put down her things. Yolanda greeted her back and resumed boxing practice. Beth guessed their private conversation was over.

“Courtney’s on the way,” Rick said, coming over as Beth sat on an exercise bike. She nodded.

Maybe if I start getting more exercise, I could start biking more and not have my legs hurt. It might be a good idea, just in general. Every time we have to run, I’m the slowest to arrive at the scene… Courtney’s arrival broke into her thoughts. Courtney’s news shifted the entire mood of the room.

She wanted Henry to join the team. Beth and Rick looked at each other. It was a familiar feeling, but she knew that their expressions didn’t match this time. She was curious while he was furious. And Yolanda? They both looked at her next. She… was…

“Henry? Are you crazy? How can you even think about having him join us after what he did to me?”

And now, Rick was there, to protect and defend. He stepped from his placement near Beth to tell Courtney that people don’t change, and Beth knew that it was up to her to intervene now. Of course people could change. Situations could change too. How else could they explain the fact that on Halloween, nobody here was friends, but now… Yolanda cared so much about them all, that she didn’t want Henry there and worried about him hurting the rest.

“I’m not on any team that includes him!” She finally punctuated before leaving. Rick was disappointed and frustrated. It was obvious. Courtney attempted to say more, but he gathered his own backpack and left shortly afterwards, too.

Courtney looked at Beth and she just smiled, empathetically. “They take a moment to warm up, but they trust your decisions. I mean, before you showed up, neither of them had any use for me, either.”

Courtney sighed and asked the sky, “How do I get them to understand that this is our best shot?”

Beth bit her lip, “It’s a really big ask. I remember what Henry did to Yolanda. I… hate the thought of pushing him on her. It’s a little different than just asking her to work with the talkative girl from lunch.”

“But, it isn’t about her. It’s about the team. It’s about the JSA. About saving the world from the ISA! Isn’t that a little more important than one person?”

Beth tilted her head, “Statistically, yes… But… emotions rarely preoccupy themselves with statistics.”

“Do me a favor and…”

“Liaison?” Beth asked, excitedly.

“She takes stuff better from you,” Courtney said.

Beth’s smile was huge, even though she shook her head and said, “That can’t be true!”

.

Rick looked confused when Beth told him that she had her bike today. She battled with whether or not she would let him know what she had done this morning. He was already upset about the Henry/Yolanda situation and she and him had JUST gotten to their best good yet. So, she erred on the side of honesty. “Well… This morning, I decided to take a swing by Cindy’s to see if Chuck could…” Rick’s face expressed a journey that she knew was going to lead to a bad place, but she continued as he became visibly more irate. “That’s how I found out that Cindy isn’t enrolled in school..”

“Both of you are out of your minds,” he said, shaking his head and heading outside. She went to collect her bike and catch up with him. Really? He was that bothered? That he just left? Beth pulled up next to him, slowing down her legs, but soon found that even on a bike, he could walk as fast as a comfortable ride for her. He didn’t elaborate on his outburst, but she presumed that the other in his accusation was Courtney.

“We’re trying our best,” she eventually said. Rick stopped and looked at her. She stopped and got off of her bike. “We’re all just… trying our best, Rick. I know that you and Yolanda are trying your best too. And… maybe Henry.”

“He did something unforgivable to Yolanda. For us to even consider letting him anywhere near us, she should have the right to be the person who forgives him. She doesn’t. That should settle it.”

“I wish that DID settle it. I wish that we had another, better option at the moment. But, Courtney is right about the fact that people can change and she’s right that we could really use his help. “

“You saw it. You saw what he did to her. I remember. We both saw the same thing.”

“This isn’t about that.”

“That’s the problem. Talk all you want to about being good and about what’s right, but the truth is - Yolanda is the best person on this team right now, because the moment that she had the power to do so, she didn’t go after Henry to make him pay. And you and Court just… expect her to play nice with him? To me, that’s not something that a good person would ask of their friend.” She looked at the ground and he sighed, feeling guilty. “I’m not saying that you two aren’t good people. I just mean… it isn’t a good thing to put Yolanda through this. If she doesn’t want him with us, she shouldn’t have to pretend that she does for the so called greater good.”

“Nobody wanted me.” Beth said. She began pushing her bike along and Rick followed, falling in step with her. “Yolanda didn’t. Courtney didn’t. YOU didn’t.” He flinched. “I just… I know that I had something to offer and I have the passion and the desire to help. Very few people have made me feel as bad as you guys, but I thought that I could prove myself, so I’ve done everything to try to be here for this team. I just needed a chance. I think everybody deserves a chance.”

“Even him?”

“Why not him?”

“You’re the smartest person I know. You know how science works. You look at what the subject has produced before and you’re able to hypothesize what will most likely happen next.”

She gushed silently about his compliment, but wasn’t deterred, “I also know that certain variables lead to different outcomes. Things have changed. Henry’s gone through some things, seen some things. He knows things now. I’d like to think that he won’t be the same type of person because of the variables. I’d like to think that he’ll be better if given the chance.”

Rick shook his head, “Then I guess it’s up to me to make sure that he doesn’t hurt you.” Beth’s face brightened and Rick looked like he was surprised at both his words and her reaction, though he quickly amending it with, “Any of you…” But she simply put her helmet in her basket and kept smiling. He grumbled and turned his face towards the ground, “I haven’t made progress with the journal,” he said, changing the subject as he fought off the heat in his face from the warmth of her smile.

It was a good change, because that made Beth start talking about other things, and he hoped that would keep her from thinking about whatever he had just figuratively stepped into with his admission.

.

It frustrated Rick that Pat wasn’t putting his foot down about Henry, but then again - he hadn’t really been able to stop Courtney or the rest of them before, so it wasn’t like it was necessarily surprising. Rick would NEVER let his daughter around somebody like Henry. He didn’t even want him around his girls… His… friends? His team. He didn’t want him around his team.

“Let’s get started!” Beth was truly excited to have a mission, even though Rick was more preoccupied with his parents’ death. She wouldn’t press. She had confided in Chuck before understanding about how angry he was, and going down that path made for a hard and emotional night. If Rick ever wanted to talk about that, she would be available, but she would never push. She loved her own parents too much to ever make light or cross boundaries about someone else’s..

Beth had set up shop on the couch, with the records spread in front of her on the table. She and Chuck were talking about the records, sprinkling in dad jokes, hell, even grandad jokes, and having a pretty good time doing the research. Rick wished his work could speak to him. The only thing that he had really learned was that he apparently was pretty damn good at chemistry. He had been a bit self conscious whenever he first began. He knew that he could do it if he applied himself and knew that his parents were important enough for him to apply himself, but he also knew that Beth’s description of his dad had been, “Brilliant chemist…” And he knew that was not him.

The first few attempts he’d made at the formula were so futile that he’d come to Beth and quietly asked her, “Can you tell me if I did the work on these right?” She looked at them and nodded, but when he still didn’t look confident, she slid Chuck onto her eyes and scanned them.

“All correct!” she confirmed, smiling. “Wow. You’re really good at chemistry. Did your dad work with you when you were younger?” He looked uncomfortable, and she shrank away. After that, he just worked on it on his own, trying different numbers to plug, now that he knew that the problem wasn’t his skills.

On that particular night, he found a spot next to Beth on the couch. She smiled at him and he felt a smile in the pit of his gut, but he knew that it didn’t make it to his face. But, he did say, “The couch looks more comfortable than that chair,” and Beth moved aside to give him room to sit down.

A few times, his knee bumped her or brushed against her. At first, he’d shift and glance apologetically at her, but she didn’t seem to mind, so he stopped reacting to those brushes at all. After a while, neither of them were even really aware of how close they were sitting. How comfortably close. They weren’t yet aware of how comfortable they were, either. But, Beth had not been this cozy next to a person, probably ever, and Rick hadn’t been, in a long time.

Beth wasn’t feeling unwanted, and Rick wasn’t feeling unsafe. They were working on what they needed to work on, and whenever Beth found something, her first impulse was to show him what she found.

.

Beth felt good about her work and good about her night. She checked her phone when she and Rick were getting ready to leave. No responses from Yolanda. Then Rick answered a phone call and was talking low. But, he was talking to Yolanda. She could tell from context, even though he was clearly trying not to say too much in front of Beth, and eventually said, “I’m about to walk Beth home for the night, and I’ll call you back afterwards.” Beth frowned. So… Rick and Yolanda just… talked on the phone about things?

He put his phone away and threw on his backpack. Beth gathered her bike and said, “Was that Yolanda? Is she okay? She hasn’t responded to any of my texts.”

Rick sounded tired as he announced, “Nothing’s changed.” Beth decided to leave it alone. She and Rick weren’t talking much on the way home, but she also didn’t have Chuck on. She aired out some ideas about the Other Founding Fathers and whenever she got home, her father’s car was there.

She gasped and almost ran to the house, but then remembered that Rick was with her and wondered, “Wanna come say hi?” Rick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Why would he ever want to do that? If he came to say hi, Beth’s dad was gonna think he was trying to get into her pants or something. But, she pulled him by the sleeve, not waiting for his answer, and he let her guide him to the door. She unlocked it and called, “Dad?” A moment later, there he was.

Rick had met him before, when he’d given him a ride home. He’d heard about him from Beth and even knew his voice from numerous lunch calls that Beth made in the past. But, for some reason, Mr. Chapel was looking at him like he was unsure who he was. “You remember my friend, Rick?” Beth said, reflexively referring to him that way. Rick didn’t know if she was lying to her dad or if she considered them friends, but he wasn’t going to correct her.

“Ah. Rick Harris,” Mr. Chapel said, forcing a polite smile. “It’s a little late to be coming in, Beth.” Rick wanted to take off running. What was he thinking, letting Beth pull him in here? This man probably wanted to clobber him, coming into his home, at his time of night with his daughter. Rick wouldn’t want his daughter around Henry, but he also wouldn’t want his daughter around “Rick Harris,” either.

“We were working on an important project,” Beth said, cheerfully, “Wanna hear all about it, in great detail?” Rick tensed up. Beth was not even a good liar to people she didn’t mind lying to. What was she thinking, offering to tell her dad things? Did she really think that she could lie to him?

“No,” Mr. Chapel said, waving a hand, gently. Oh, that was why. Of course her dad wouldn’t want to hear about her things. Her parents rarely ever did. Although, Rick had often wondered if Beth was aware of this, since she’d often keep speaking as thought she wasn’t. Now, he realized that she must’ve known, and she was counting on that.  “I know that you weren’t up to anything,” the man added.

If Beth heard the inflection in his voice that indicated that while he might trust his daughter, he certainly didn’t trust the boy that brought her home, she didn’t react to it. Rick forced a smile too. Another adult that must have thought he was trash. But, Beth rubbed Rick’s arm and cooed, “Rick was nice enough to make sure I got home safely.” Rick and Mr. Chapel both looked at her hand on his arm, and then each other. Rick’s eyes were wide, but Mr. Chapel’s had narrowed.

“Maybe I should make sure Rick gets home safely.”

Rick knew that if he let that man take him home, he’d most likely get a lecture about how Beth was a good girl, very sweet and innocent and caring and didn’t deserve to be hurt or used. Rick gave himself that talk every time he caught himself staring a little too long, or stirring up a little too much when she was around. Like he had done whenever she rubbed his arm just now. “I’m good,” Rick said. “You look like you’re settled for the night.” James Chapel wore a leisure robe over his pajamas, slippers on his feet and a doo-rag on his head. That man was ready for bed. “I’ve got these to keep me safe,” Rick offered his fists.”

Beth made a face at this, like she was shocked that Rick said it to her father and also like she wished he had not said it. He laughed awkwardly, and now she just looked confused. Why was Rick being so weird right now? She wondered. Whatever the case, he rushed off, without so much as a goodnight or a promise to let her know he got home safely. She shut the door and looked at her dad, hoping that there would be no conversation about this. “On your way to bed?” She attempted.

“I didn’t realize that you and the Harris boy were friends now,” her father said, undeterred. She bit her lip, trying to think of proper words to say that didn’t give away any of their secrets, but her father’s face softened and he leaned in to say, “Looks like you’re a good influence on him. He didn’t even look like the same kid. Seems happier, less angry, and more comfortable. You bring the best out of people.” Then, he headed back to his room. Beth exhaled, relieved.

Then, she thought for a moment. Rick had changed, hadn’t he? She smiled about it as she got ready for bed. She knew that it was the JSA and having friends that made him better, not her specifically, but she liked that thought a little bit too much…

Rick: Made it home safe.

Beth: 😊

Rick: Yolanda’s still upset.

Beth: ☹️

And, just like that, she remembered. Yolanda was that person for Rick. She was someone he got a long with, sided with, protected and defended… Yolanda was his friend, seriously… was she more?

#We're Not Friends #Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

We’re Not Friends 15

Got Ya

The fact of the matter was that Beth wasn’t going to harbor any hard feelings, but she would remember what happened, just because her mind was a steel trap. That was why she had to forgive often, and sometimes why she tried to look at things more positively than they might have been in the moment. That was why even though she was hurt by everyone before, she decided to think about a few nice things, instead. 

She and Yolanda had been cordial in the past and ever since their crime fighting adventures, they were getting closer. It was Yolanda who told her that she could do anything. She smiled to herself, thinking about it. “With Chuck in my ear, I feel like I can do anything.” 

“You can. Wildcat proved that,” Yolanda had said. They had probably also did a bit of trauma bonding whenever Beth had to face an assassin to stop her from being killed, whether or not Beth wanted to look at it that way. (Because, then she’d have to look at her entire new friend group similarly, and she wanted to think that they were genuine friends in the making). 

Courtney was nicer, too, and deep down, the two were more alike than she had thought. Yolanda and Rick had taken to exchanging looks whenever Beth and Courtney were on the same “sunnyshiney wavelength” Rick had called it, grumbling, but seemingly amused at the time. 

Which brought Beth to Rick… They… were not really getting much closer. He had actually seemed a bit cross with her after the whole phone tag debacle and though he said “NP,” Beth had a feeling there was a P or two. But, when she asked about it, he was aloof and reminded her that he was doing all of this to get his hands on the thing that killed his parents and that she didn’t have to think too deep about them not talking that much. “We never did,” he’d said. 

She immediately felt like she had been thrust back to the early stages of knowing him, when he had declared that they weren’t friends and didn’t want her talking to him. But, he was still more tolerant than he had been then, so she tried not to harp on this. He was still adjusting to having new people in his world and maybe he didn’t know how hurtful he sounded. 

But, he didn’t talk like that to Yolanda, and whenever he talked like that to Courtney, then they bickered about it until one of them gave up. There was something else there that she and Rick lacked and she didn’t fully comprehend what it was until that very unfortunate night…

Beth had rushed to The Pit Stop as soon as she got the message from Pat. It was a scary trip and she had to have Chuck smooth her over before she got there, because she definitely didn’t want for there to be any type of situation where she didn’t have a level head. It was a good thing, too, because she hadn’t expected Yolanda to be chill, but she somehow expected for Rick to be… at least okay.

He caught her off guard. He was upset, sure. They all were. And she knew that Rick had a temper, but she guessed that she… just didn’t realize that Rick was that… fond of Courtney. Calming him down was a bit of a task that she hadn’t been prepared to have to do, but if anyone was going to do it, she knew it had to be her. Yolanda was… watching, unsure of everything and probably hurting more than all of them. She and Courtney were close. She was the first member of the team. They were best friends… Beth’s heart was racing as she stepped in front of Rick, not that she thought he would hurt her or anything, but she was mostly scared of the thought of him not listening to her. He didn’t listen very well and he was clearly determined. 

Then, it hit her. The thing that she and Rick lacked in their relationship, or more accurately, what he lacked for her. It was respect. He had cut her down so effortlessly that she knew it was a natural reaction for him. She knew that some part of him felt that way about her… like she wasn’t… capable. And in that moment, she felt that she saw things more clearly than she had at any other time with him. “You hurt so much you want to hurt others, is that it Rick?” 

A genuine question. Not rhetorical. It had been Beth, doing what she did best. Making her observations out loud, but instead of the cheery disposition of sharing that she usually had, she sounded disappointed. She… sounded hurt. That was enough to hold Rick back, and she didn’t miss the opportunity to continue what she was saying. It was Yolanda who agreed. It was Yolanda who… had gotten him to agree… she had only silenced him. 

Keeping to her methods of forgiving, she smoothed her heart out and shared her plan, hoping to rush out soon after and wishing that Rick didn’t ignore the plan and go by himself or something… But Rick didn’t let her leave. “I’m going to walk you,” he said, when she headed for the door. 

“I have Chuck to keep me…”

“We don’t know what Cindy knows!” Rick said, urgently, but not as angrily as he’d spoken to her before. This was… Was this worry? Was he worried about her? 

“Well, she’s taken Courtney down, if she knew about us, she would have already come after us by now,” Beth said. He looked exasperated. 

“Know what? We can all walk together,” Yolanda said.

Rick gave her a look as though it was an asinine thing to say, “Of course, I’m walking you too. Courtney is a very skilled fighter and going at Cindy Burman alone she got injured. You shouldn’t be alone, and you…” he pointed at Beth, “Can’t.” She wanted to argue, out of sheer will, but he was right. She couldn’t fight somebody who injured Courtney, unless it was a battle of smarts and she remembered that Cindy was always a bit of a genius when they were young… she had a pretty high GPA, if Beth was correct… 

“Fine,” Beth agreed. “It’ll be good for us to be together while Courtney’s away.” She nodded her head, “She would want us to walk together.” 

Rick’s fists and jaws clenched and he informed her, “Don’t talk about her like she’s dead. She’s just not here.”

“That’s how I meant it!” She quickly replied. She looked helplessly at Yolanda who just took her hand and squeezed it. Probably didn’t feel good to be in the middle of two of her friends having whatever this battle with Rick was. 

Beth and Chuck talked on the walk. Rick and Yolanda shared a comfortable silence. It was like their lunches before Courtney, but… not. Beth’s voice was a welcome familiar sound, even though they all knew that their minds were taken up with what happened to Courtney. Rick kept looking around, making sure that nobody was lurking, despite the fact that Beth told him that Chuck would detect someone before he could. Yolanda was just… worried. She retreated into her mind, something she hadn’t had to do much of since becoming friends with Courtney and she just hoped more than anything that she would be okay. 

When they got to Yolanda’s house, Yolanda grabbed Beth’s hand again and Beth pointed to the house, “Gotta do my good kid alibi thing.” He nodded. Beth was acceptable company for Yolanda’s parents. Her mother was a doctor, her parents were pillars of the community, she was probably gonna be the valedictorian, and she was friendly and nice. She gave good alibi energy and didn’t mind lying to Yolanda’s parents nearly as much as she minded lying to her own about their whereabouts. Tonight, Yolanda had “taken her to a youth group meeting at the church.” 

“You know, I’ve never been too religious, but the way that pastor guy spoke in a relatable way to appeal to kids got me!” She said, smiling brightly. Rick scoffed, hearing her from outside the door. He did NOT ever want to face Yolanda’s parents. Who knew what things they would say if they saw her hanging out with the town trash? To them, he was a kid that Beth had to do some type of peer mentorship with, to explain why he would ever be around. After a moment, he couldn’t hear them anymore. What the hell was Beth doing in there? She was supposed to say a few nice lies and get the hell out. If she stayed to long, she risked failing at her lie and getting Yolanda into deep trouble. He grumbled and began pacing. He normally would have waited by the street, but what if he was by the street and Beth came out and got pounced on by Cindy? He rubbed the temples of his head and replayed the conversation earlier. He’d hurt her. She had actually said the word “hurt,” and he wasn’t sure if it was obvious or not, but hearing that about himself.. It hurt him. Not because she was being nasty, because she wasn’t. It hurt, because it was true.

.

Beth eased Mrs. Montez’s mind and she went to bed, making Yolanda promise to go as soon as Beth left. Yolanda exhaled when her mother disappeared. Pretending to be okay, even for the few moments that she was there made her feel tired, with Courtney on her mind. She didn’t want to say that Courtney had a car accident… what if that made them afraid to let her leave with her next? “Well, I’ve done my one useful thing, I guess,” Beth tried to joke, but the pain in her voice and her eyes didn’t slip Yolanda’s notice.

“He didn’t mean what he said,” Yolanda told her. Beth scoffed, with a smile frozen on her face. “Okay. He did mean it, but he’s not right. You thought of our whole plan tonight. You kept everything together. And he is gonna feel terrible about this later, if he doesn’t already.” Another scoff escaped Beth, but this time, Yolanda placed a hand on her shoulder, “I wouldn’t lie to you. He’s kinda prickly, but he’s not as hard as he tries to make himself out to be. You saw how he caved for you.” Beth hadn’t seen it that way at all. “It’s just… did you see him whenever Pat mentioned Grundy at practice? He didn’t say anything, but I saw him. I saw him… go through something at that moment. That’s who that was at the garage. He was going through something. He only has 3 friends, and one of them got hurt. He doesn’t have anybody but us.” Beth bit her lip and she and Yolanda hugged. 

“I don’t want to let go of this hug,” Beth admitted. Yolanda nodded. She could use a longer hug too. They didn’t hug, but there was something about having seen Courtney, and then the next thing you know, she’s hurt? It was too much. Maybe they should hug more. “I don’t wanna walk home with Rick,” Beth added. 

Yolanda let go and folded her arms, “He’s not gonna have it any other way.”

“I’m just tired of fighting with him. Nothing I say is right.”

“Everything that you say is right, and he knows it. I’m telling you. Rick… he cares about what you say.”

Beth smiled and shook her head, “Know what? I am fresh out of scoffs. See you tomorrow!” Yolanda laughed and watched her through the window, meet with Rick, who had been pacing until she came out, but seemed to be walking very closely to her as they left.

.

“I don’t suppose you’ve had time to think about it and decided that I can get home on my own?” She asked. He just threw her an unamused look. She added, “Because, this, it isn’t going to work with you, like that.” 

He furrowed his eyebrows, like he was thinking about something, then ultimately let out a deep breath and asked, “How would you like me to be?” 

“Nice.” She answered it immediately. He let out a huff of a laugh and her eyes widened at that. Maybe Yolanda was right. She was once really good at people. She’d been class president. That took people skills. 

“Nice,” he repeated and nodded his head, like he was trying to focus on this assignment. Beth reached for her goggles and he caught her hand. “It’s not very nice to have a conversation with Chuck while we’re the only two people here.” She looked at her hand in his and he pulled his away and stuffed it into his pocket. Both hands into his pockets. She held her hand right where it had been for a moment as she stared at him a little longer, then remembering what he said earlier, self consciously looked away and grabbed her own fingers instead. 

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said. Still, they spent most of the time in silence. 

Whenever they reached her house, he shook his head, “Unbelievable. Your parents aren’t home, again.” 

“I feel like that is very believable,” she said, trying to sound positive. She looked at him, staring at the house, in concern and he looked around. “Would you feel better if you did a walk through?” she wondered, almost amused by his behavior. She didn’t notice that he his hands were out of his pockets until he started twiddling his thumbs, looking up the road as he considered her question. “I can call and see when my mom will be home. My dad is…”

“Out of town, yeah,” he said, frustrated and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I can-” She wasn’t able to make another suggestion before Rick cut her off.

“I’ll do a walk through.” It was only then that Beth realized that he was hovering. He hadn’t been this close the entire time, had he? She nodded. Yolanda WAS right. He was obviously going through something right now. 

They went inside and she didn’t bother him. Instead, she headed for her room to get herself ready for bed. After a moment she heard him grumble, “Where the hell did she…?” She peeked out of her bedroom and he shut up immediately. “It looks clear,” he said. You need to come lock the door behind me.” She hurried to do so, not willing to push him over the edge with the… whatever it was that was preoccupying him. 

She had a wad of nightclothes and a bonnet in her arms, and had set Chuck on the nightstand already, so whenever Rick turned to her and wondered where Chuck was, she pointed towards her bedroom. He frowned in that direction, but folded his arms and said to her carefully, “Tell him that if he detects a sign of anything to alert us.”

“I… just… from the nightstand? I don’t think that’s how he works…” He looked anxious. “I will tell him,” she said and gave him a little salute. He nodded. He wasn’t at ease, but he couldn’t do anything else, save for spending the night, and of course, he wasn’t going to do that. He reached for the door and Beth caught it, “You’ll definitely remember to let me know that you made it home safely tonight, right?” He nodded again, and he meant that, whether or not she knew it. 

When he walked outside, he waited until he heard the sound of the lock before even considering leaving. She watched him make it to the street, then look up the road both ways again. “My god, please go home and rest, man,” she said. After a few more moments, he reluctantly began to head home. 

.

“Are we sure that Cindy doesn’t know?” Yolanda asked Beth. 

Beth tilted her head, “Well, we can’t be sure, sure, but I think we can be pretty sure. I mean, Cindy is smart. If she knew that Courtney was Stargirl, she’d deduce that we’re the rest of the team and last night would have been a prime time to come for at least me. I was alone all night. My mom made it just in time for breakfast.” Rick fought the urge to groan about that, while Yolanda’s lip dropped. “We had crumpets. I found a recipe on…” 

“Cindy isn’t home, what exactly are we gonna do?” Rick interrupted, looking right at Beth. Yolanda and he were waiting on her word. Oh! 

She smiled, “Oh! Well… she KNOWS that the two of you won’t come anywhere near her place. Even if her parents describe me to her, she’ll brush it off. Either of you would be a dead giveaway, especially you,” she pointed to Rick.  “Yolanda… maybe. Maybe, she’d stop by to finally end her, but Beth Chapel stopping by for some reason, Cindy wouldn’t be nearly as suspicious. She’d say, “Never come by house again, Loser,” and never mention it again…. I think. So! I’ll get myself in and Chuck will give the place a good scanning!” Both Rick and Yolanda seemed hesitant to agree to this. They were supposed to be keeping watch and collecting data, but at the same time… they had been here for a little while and from the outside, nothing more than what they already knew had been revealed. “I can do this. All I have to do is talk. My specialty!” She gave them thumbs up. Yolanda was more hesitant than Rick seemed to be, mostly because Rick was starting to feel bad about making Beth feel like she had something to prove. 

“Okay,” Yolanda begrudgingly agreed, “But the moment it gets thick, get out of there.”

“The moment I get something we can use,” Beth nodded.

“The moment it’s unsafe,” Yolanda corrected.

“The moment we know more,” Beth nodded. 

“Beth…” Yolanda said, but Beth was heading for the house. Yolanda folded her arms. “Maintain contact with me!” Yolanda whispered loudly at her. She and Rick exchanged looks. 

“She’ll be fine,” Rick said. More to himself than to Yolanda.

“She’d better be,” Yolanda commented. She was worried, but to lighten the mood she asked, “Can you imagine the vibe if we lost both of our sunshiney people?”

“We haven’t lost anyone!” Rick said, missing the cue. We’d better not…

They didn’t expect for Pat to arrive and while they wanted to do some recon… Rick had to admit, he was kind of relieved that Beth wasn’t rushing herself into potential danger. Cindy is the girl that took down their second best, arguably their best fighter. Beth couldn’t… Both of them had gone inside.

After a while, Yolanda said, “I feel helpless. What are they doing? What if Cindy’s mom is that tiger lady or something? I mean.. Not her, but somebody just as dangerous? Chuck didn’t know that they were there, and what if somebody dangerous is in there and he didn’t know?”

“You… are not helping…” Rick said. He hadn’t thought that deeply. He was thinking more along the lines of hoping that they were okay, but now… 

“Sorry,” Yolanda said. She didn’t quite know what was going on with the two of them, but they had always, or at least as long as she’d been around the singles table, they had some sort of odd energy between them where they acted like they didn’t mean anything to each other, but the worked each other up in ways that only somebody who mattered somehow could do. She started to wonder about the rumors, now that she wasn’t constantly in distress. Had they used to date? People once said that, she was almost sure of it. She had thought it was a really silly rumor when she didn’t know anything but the surface of them, but now, she wasn’t sure. Maybe he was worried about his… girl? Maybe he was worried about their friend, like she was. She was so relieved when Beth finally made contact with them and she could tell that Rick was too.

Not knowing what was going on had been trying, and Rick had barely held himself together the past couple of days. Something about Courtney’s hospitalization made him hyper aware of how dangerous things were for the girls. He wasn’t worried about himself. But, Yolanda was a good, kind, tough person who could love as hard as she fought. Courtney was a strong, brave, big hearted person who always tried to do the right thing. And Beth… Beth was really better than he gave her credit for, and she was in there right now trying to prove herself because he wouldn’t shut his rude ass mouth about how useless she was…

Then, they lost contact with her. 

Rick was pretty silent through most of it. Yolanda was the vocal one, panicking her thoughts out loud until Beth made it back on, arguing with her to get out whenever Cindy’s car arrived. Rick… didn’t do that. That wasn’t how he did things. But, he and Yolanda were gonna make sure ONE of their sunshiney people was okay. He couldn’t handle anything less, dammit. 

He could hear the two of them going back and forth. Just like Beth to even try to argue her way out of this, but when he saw her headed for him, he knew Yolanda had made the decision for her. She landed safely. It took her a moment to collect herself. “Got ya,” he told her. She was a little disoriented. She’d just been flung from off of a house. But… she was okay. She was alive. She appeared unhurt. She had accomplished whatever she felt like she needed to. She never had to do anything like this again. Nobody else needed to get hurt. Rick couldn’t stand even the thought of somebody else getting hurt.

#We're Not Friends #Hournite #Hournite Fics #Stargirl Fanfiction #Beth Chapel #Rick Tyler #Nesha Hournite Fics #Nesha Fanfiction