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simonsrosebud · 4 years

Note

hc of neil meeting extended family?? i always feel like he's GOTTA have more than JUST nathan, mary, and stuart right ??

So if Nathan had siblings, then Neil has uncles/aunts. If Neil has uncles/aunts, he has cousins.

In my little world (and to make it more fun), Nathan has 5 siblings. Darren, Gareth, Oliver, Zoe, Harry. They have KIDS. Neil’s COUSINS.

Like I said in my other headcanon about Nathan’s family past, Harry the professor moves from DC to University of South Carolina to escape the talk of his brother, The Butcher of Baltimore. The rest of the fam cut themselves off from their crazy brother.

Harry is also how the rest of the Wesninski brothers find Neil. Of course, he’s not sure on it, but he’s an avid Exy fan, so seeing a kid with such resemblance to the Wesninski features- or what he remembers of his nephew when he was a child, to let it go unsaid.

He spams a groupchat with his siblings and demands Darren look into it. He’s the one with the connections.

Darren almost thinks it too good to be true, but he has too big of a spark of hope to trash the idea. He keeps tabs on Neil through the media in the meantime. It isn’t until Nathan’s death that they get the proof they need. Darren gets the information he needs about the boy that Nathan had in the basement that day, enough about the wounds the boy was given to match it to Neil Josten’s face the next time he was captured on the media.

Zoe sets it up. There are quite a number of cousins on the Wesninski side, and Gareth and Darren look too much like Nathan to be able to confront Neil without him running away.

The cousins and their ages:

Darren: Adam 35, Evan 30.

Gareth: Cordelia 30, Brian 27.

Oliver: Patrik 25, Natalia 22, Rhys 18.

Nathan: Nathaniel 18.

Zoe: Cedric 20, Morgan 19.

Harry: Vince 17, Emma & Lena 16.

Rhys and Cedric are the first to volunteer talking to their newfound cousin. Rhys remembers the one and only time he visited his uncle Nathan. Their parents dismissed them to go play, so he spent the afternoon climbing trees and running around with Nathaniel. Cedric didn’t remember Nathaniel, but his so-called cousin was friends and teammates with Kevin Day? No way in hell was he missing out.

It takes weeks for them to plan it out, to get the cousins down to Palmetto. Their parents all sit them down before they go and tell them wtf is up bc they know damn well that they only have one chance to do it right or else they’ll lose Nathaniel forever.

All of the cousins go to Palmetto, but the only ones that are there to greet him outside of Fox Tower are Rhys, Natalia, and Adam.

They wait for an hour before Neil finally shows up with Andrew, Nicky, and Matt in tow. He freezes the second he sees them standing at the curb. Andrew stops behind him, but Matt’s the one to ask if he’s okay. Neil doesn’t know how to explain that he knows those three faces, though he can’t remember where from and why.

Rhys grins and stands straight. “Nathaniel!” he waves, to which Neil rightfully flinches at and starts taking steps back until he stumbles into Andrew. Natalia elbows Rhys with a stern glare and gives Neil a sorry smile. “We come in peace- sorry, that sounds stupid- we’re your couisns, Neil. I’m Natalia, that’s Rhys, Adam.”

And woah is Neil confused. He doesn’t realize he’s breathing faster until Andrew fastens a hand on the back of his neck. “I-I don’t.”

“Neil,” Adam says. “We don’t mean to cause you trouble. I noticed you looked familiar when I saw Kathy’s show back in the fall, my uncle-” he stopped when Neil’s face bottomed “Harry! My uncle Harry- not Nathan. None of us have been in contact with him since you were a kid, I swear, I-” and he looks troubled. “Fuck. Um, look, can we just… can we talk? We can talk about anything, anywhere. We haven’t seen you since you were like five, man, and I’m fucking thirty-five. Hell, I changed your diaper before our families cut ties with Nathan.”

Matt looks between them, but Nicky’s the one to speak. “Neil, I know family is a load of shit? But I mean… shouldn’t you at least hear them out? You have cousins you didn’t even know about!”

“They’re Wesninski’s.” Neil is not a happy camper, but Rhys is unphased. “Technically only half.”

And Neil almost gets right back in the car if not for Andrew staring him down and raising a single brow. He painfully agrees to let them talk, but if he doesn’t like it then they agree to never bother him again. Natalia does all of the talking and gives him the rundown on their family’s past, the good bad and ugly, just like her father recited to her. Matt found himself thinking that she talked a lot like Neil. She kind of looked like him too. Her hair had more of a red tone than his had, almost looked fake.

When she's done, though, and all of Neil’s questions are answered, Rhys nearly hugs him. If not for Andrew’s piercing stare, he probably would have. “Man, the others are gonna be so excited to meet you, Neil.”

“Others?”

Adam cuts in when Rhys starts stammering. Was he not supposed to tell him? “There are thirteen of us, fourteen counting you. They’re all back at a hotel ten minutes from here. No parents. Nathan took his looks after my dad and uncle Gareth, we all figured it’d be better to leave them out of the powwow for now.” Neil wanted to vomit, but he didn’t say anything, so Adam just went on. “There’s me, Evan, Cordelia, Brian, Patrik, Natalia, Rhys, Cedric, Morgan, Vince, and the twins.”

“Twins?!” Nicky let out a squeal. Rhys shrugs. “It runs in the family.”

Neil didn’t notice how hard he was breathing, but all of a sudden it caught up with him. Natalia somehow isn’t surprised when he books it to the closest bush. Andrew levels them all with a cool look and follows his idiot across the parking lot.

Neil wipes his face with his shirt and drops his head into his knees. Andrew digs a hand into his hair. “Say the words and they’re gone.”

But Neil’s shaking his head with his eyes squeezed shut because it’s not that. It’s just overwhelming. He doubts he’ll talk to them after this meeting, but he had this little thing in the back of his head tugging him to find out everything about them. He can’t deal with another Wesninski like his father. He’ll go with all of the Foxes in tow for safety, he doesn’t care, but he will not go the rest of his life in the unknown about these people who claim to be his family.

So Neil goes back to the three cousins with a blank face as he subtly avoids their eyes. “I’ll meet them all, but I’m bringing my people, and only if it’s at the Exy stadium.”

part two three

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myonechicagoworld · 3 years

Text

CHICAGO FIRE – FIREWORKS (S01E18)

[car door shuts]

Gabby Dawson: Hey, Chief. I just thought I’d… catch you before

shift started.

Chief Boden: You caught me.

Gabby Dawson: Uh, good morning, first of all.

Chief Boden: Morning.

Gabby Dawson: So obviously I heard what I heard last night. And I

guess I’m just trying to figure out what to do about

it now that it’s kind of out in the open.

Chief Boden: It’s not out in the open.

Gabby Dawson: Well, I mean it’s out in the open for me, because I

don’t know if you’re aware or not, but Pete and I

are dating.

Chief Boden: I’m aware.

Gabby Dawson: So you may also be aware that Pete’s become

increasingly convinced that people are keeping

secrets from him about his dad, vis à vis…

Are you gonna tell him what’s going on before he

hears it from Kelly’s dad?

Chief Boden: Benny Severide is not gonna be coming around 51

anymore.

Gabby Dawson: Still, Pete is gonna keep digging until he finds out.

Chief Boden: Gabby, your dogged inquisitiveness…is one of the

qualities that makes you such an effective paramedic.

But it is of no use to you in this matter, which is a

private one.

If you care about Mills like I think you do… drop it.

I’ll see you back at the house.

cutscene

[food sizzling in pan]

Benny Severide: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Morning.

Benny Severide: Morning. We got scrapple and we got eggs.

Grab a seat. There you go.

Kelly Severide: Thanks.

Benny Severide: So, um… Whoritsky’s offered me a teaching post,

and I’m-I’m thinking about doing it. Figured I

could come down and see you ever couple

weeks, hang out. What do you think?

Kelly Severide: Sounds good.

Benny Severide: Will probably have to spend one more shift at the

house. Kind of re-familiarise myself with a couple

of things. So why don’t you tell Boden I’ll be there

about noon.

Kelly Severide: What the hell’s going on with you and Boden?

Benny Severide: Look, Wally and me, we go way back. He and I,

one minute we’re at each other’s throats and-and

the next I’m helping to put a new deck on his

house, okay? This is nothing new.

Look, I promise you, I-I’ll be a choir boy, okay?

A mute choir boy.

cutscene

Chief Boden: Keep that 2 ½ on the roof line. I don’t want a flare-up

spreading to other buildings.

Kelly Severide: Oh, hey, sir, sir. You’re gonna want to stand back,

okay?

Man 1 (Owner): It’s my restaurant, are-are my employees safe?

Kelly Severide: (into radio) Hey, Casey, you got a search status?

Matt Casey: (into radio) Building’s clear, just opening up the ceiling.

Pop a couple of these tiles.

[tiles breaking]

Kelly Severide: Building was empty, your people are out.

Man 1 (Owner): Son of a bitch said I’d pay. I never thought he’d go

this far.

Kelly Severide: Yeah?

Man 1 (Owner): Ten years without a grease fire. I opened four

restaurants in the union, suddenly he sees money.

I refused to sign. They send this thug!

Kelly Severide: Sounds like you’re gonna want to talk to CPD.

Man 1 (Owner): What good would that do? This guy’s not gonna

stop until I’m-I’m ruined or dead.

Lady 1 (Owner’s Wife): [sobbing]

Matt Casey: (into radio) Okay, Chief, we’re almost done. Send in

engine for the wash down.

[ceiling crashing]

Firefighter: Whoa!

Joe Cruz: Casey!

- title -

Peter Mills: Lieutenant!

Joe Cruz: Mills, get out of here!

[grunts]

[glass shattering]

Joe Cruz: [groans]

Chief Boden: Hit him with the hose!

Joe Cruz: Come on!

[water spraying]

Joe Cruz: Lieutenant!

Matt Casey: [grunts] I’m okay [pants]

Thanks, Cruz.

[water spraying]

Matt Casey: Seriously, it’s fine. It didn’t burn through my gear.

Leslie Shay: Then what’s this?

Matt Casey: Ow.

Gabby Dawson: Hold still. It’s just a first-degree burn.

Will you give me that bandage?

Couple more seconds of whatever that was that

dumped down on you, it wouldn’t have stopped

at the jacket.

Leslie Shay: [sighs] It smells like fuel.

Otis Zvonecek: That’s ‘cause it was. Homemade gasoline fire

bombs in the ceiling.

Lady 1 (Owner’s Wife): [sobbing]

cutscene

Matt Casey: Back door was kicked in. It’s not like whoever did it

was making an attempt to hide it was arson.

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): CPD said they’d back seat to my office

on this one.

Kelly Severide: On that union rep who was threatened by the owner

of the diner?

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): Yeah, your owner, Stuart Tuxhorn, filed a

complaint against a, uh, Lou Krinsky

last month. We’re checking it out, but

with a case like this, the evidence is

circumstantial at best.

Kelly Severide: [chuckles] Yeah.

Man 2 (James Whoritsky): Did I say something funny?

Kelly Severide: Yeah, this union guy, if he’s connected to city

politics, you can’t tell me that someone isn’t

already trying to get this buried.

Chief Boden: Look, we’re good here. Just keep us posted.

Kelly Severide: Can I talk to you a sec?

My old man wants to come by the house again.

Chief Boden: Kelly, I don’t think that’s a good idea.

[door closes]

Kelly Severide: Whatever business you guys got, that’s your

business. But he said he’ll be a choir boy and

it’s-it’s one more shift.

Chief Boden: Here’s the deal, Kelly. I don’t know what your dad

has told you…

Kelly Severide: He hasn’t told me dick.

Chief Boden: Some guys when they retire and they come back

around the job, for some reason, they gotta tear

it down. I’m no psychologist, but your dad, he’s

always been really adept at tearing things down.

So that he’s the only one left standing. He has a

take on how Peter Mills’ father died, and it’s

untrue. And that would hurt Pete if that were

thrown in his face. I will not allow your father to

do it. So it would be in everybody’s best interest

if you were to meet your father in another house.

So… you can tell him. Or I could tell him.

[cell phone rings]

Benny Severide: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Hey. Uh, my buddy Jason Baseden over at Squad

One, you remember him?

Benny Severide: Yeah, sure, I remember Jason.

Kelly Severide: Well, he heard you were in town and he was…he

was…he was, like, “get your old man over here!”

It’s a newer house, all the latest bells and whistles

and I can stop by later if we don’t get a call. So…

so stop over there, okay? Jason’s expecting you.

Benny Severide: Yeah, sure, of course. No problem.

cutscene

Gabby Dawson: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey. Um, hey, don’t be jealous, but, uh, Dolores down

at the records department of the academy… I sent her

a gift basket of cookies and brownies, just trying to

butter her up to try and get information on the fire my

dad died in, and… it worked. She sent me over the

Battalion Chief’s original report. And I am starting to

see why Boden and Kelly’s dad don’t want to talk

about it. Two firefighters dying and the other

fire-fighter’s wife was pregnant with her first child.

Gabby Dawson: Tough to relive through, you know?

Peter Mills: Yeah.

Well, Dolores is still searching, she’s gonna send me

anything that she finds.

cutscene

Joe Cruz: [growls]

[dog growling]

Leslie Shay: Hey, guys, what does ‘ebullient’ mean again?

Joe Cruz: No idea.

Mouch: Bull-like. To resemble a bull.

Otis Zvonecek: Means cheerful and energetic.

Mouch: Or that.

Leslie Shay: All right, thanks.

Otis Zvonecek: Why?

Leslie Shay: One of these guys used it to describe himself.

Matt Casey: Any guy that describes himself as ebullient, you don’t

want his sperm.

Leslie Shay: Yeah, right. Thanks.

Mouch: How much longer you gonna be on this donor kick?

Leslie Shay: Until I find the right guy.

Mouch: And you can just look at ‘em on your computer.

Leslie Shay: Mmhmm, like I’m doing right now. Correct.

Mouch: I admire your gumption. Most other people would, you

know, keep that behind closed doors.

Leslie Shay: Every time Cindy gets pregnant, Herrmann plasters her

sonogram images all over the fridge. And what? I’m

supposed to hide in a corner?

Mouch: I said I admire your gumption.

[phone vibrates]

Leslie Shay: Well, thanks.

Matt Casey: Hey Heather.

Heather Darden: I was in the neighbourhood.

Matt Casey: Great.

Heather Darden: Hey, um, did you notice an earring in your truck?

I’m missing one.

Matt Casey: Uh, I didn’t see it, but I can… I can take a look.

Heather Darden: Thank you.

Oh and by the way, Saturday the kids are staying

with my parents and I was planning on having

dinner with one of my girlfriends, but her dad’s

not doing so hot so she had to fly out to

Jacksonville. But I’ve already got that night free

so I was thinking, why don’t we grab dinner?

cutscene

[alert beeps]

Benny Severide: (over PA) Smoke eater in the house!

Kelly Severide: God damn it!

Benny Severide: Donut man in the house!

Donuts, everybody! Donuts!

Firefighters: Oh, hell yeah!

[indistinct shouting and cheering]

Benny Severide: Come and get it!

Kelly Severide: Hey, what happened to going to Squad one?

Benny Severide: I didn’t want to.

Come on, you guys, let’s get a donut.

Hi, Wally.

You know, I used to bring those to the ladies

in arson all the time. One of them, Ruthie,

she didn’t have anything personal in her office.

I mean, nothing. Not a family photo, nothing.

All she had behind her desk, right in the middle

of her tack board was this quote, “If you can’t

do anything about it, don’t worry about it.” And

I am, like, “Man, this Ruthie is locked into some

higher level stuff,” right?

Chief Boden: Benny, can I talk to you real quick?

Benny Severide: Yeah, just a second. So anyway, Ruthie retires

and I go in to say goodbye and I look at the

board and the quote is still there. And I say,

“Hey Ruthie, you forgot your quote.” And she

says, “That’s not mine, that was here when I

moved into the office.”

[laughter]

Benny Severide: All this time I thought she was like this oracle

or something, you know? Anyway, I kept the

quote. What the hell? Couldn’t hurt.

Lead the way, boss.

Chief Boden: You’re not welcome here.

Benny Severide: Yeah? Is that why you have my son hustle me

down the road?

Chief Boden: You are not welcome here.

Benny Severide: 25 years on the job, 15 of them in this house.

Nobody tells me when I can come and go!

Kelly Severide: Whatever you two are trying not to bring attention

to, guess what? You’re bringing attention to it.

Benny Severide: We got this, Kelly.

Kelly Severide: No you don’t!

He wants to stay here one more shift, that’s it.

Can you keep your mouth shut while you’re

here?

Benny Severide: Who the hell are you to tell me to…

Kelly Severide: It’s a yes or no question!

[knocks on door]

Matt Casey: Lou Krinsky, restaurant workers local 553 is here.

Looking to talk to us.

Chief Boden: We’ll be right there.

Matt Casey: Do I need to turn the hose on you guys?

Chief Boden: We’re good. We’re fine. We’ll be right out.

Hmph. You always had all the answers.

But I’m gonna tell you, this is your only shift. You

try and show up again for a second, I will put an

ass kicking on you 20 years in the making.

Benny Severide: Ooh! You still got it, Wally. I was starting to think

all those bugles had turned you into a big

marshmallow.

It’s the way it’s always been with me and him.

Kelly Severide: You didn’t own this house. You rented it. And I’m

here now, so show me some respect.

cutscene

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Just curious why a report coming from this

house has the arson department trying to

finger me for burning down a restaurant.

Matt Casey: That report conveyed the owner’s statement to us,

that’s all.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Oh, okay. Well then, I would like to make

a report. Tuxhorn… rapes baby seals.

Put that in the report, have him have to

defend it.

Chief Boden: This is between you and the fire investigations.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): Yeah, and it got that far because you

guys took the word of some sweatshop

owner over that of a fellow union brother.

Why don’t you show some courtesy, talk

to me first.

Kelly Severide: We’re not talking about a busboy who got fired,

Lou, this is serious business.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): I know. I’m being accused of starting it!

Kelly Severide: We just wrote down what we saw and heard.

Man 3 (Lou Krinsky): [scoffs]

Matt Casey: Guy’s a skull cracker.

[door closes]

cutscene

Leslie Shay: You’re awfully quiet? Everything all right?

Gabby Dawson: All right, let’s… let’s say that if you knew

something… What?

Leslie Shay: Nothing.

Gabby Dawson: No, no, no. Don’t give me that. What? What

is it?

Leslie Shay: Um…

[chuckling]

Gabby Dawson: Ohh… ohh…

Mouch: Oh, goodness gracious.

Leslie Shay: I’m not here to judge you.

Mouch: [stammers] I didn’t… see, that… when… when the…

what?

Leslie Shay: I’m not here to judge you. I just want to know how

it works.

Mouch: Who else knows?

Leslie Shay: No one.

Mouch: Dawson?

Leslie Shay: Just Dawson.

Mouch: Oh Shay.

Leslie Shay: Don’t worry. She’s sworn to secrecy. But, Mouch, I

gotta ask. Six foot? 175?

Mouch: I aged out. It was my understanding they were gonna

take that down.

Leslie Shay: Fine. Look, I got a million questions I’m gonna ask

you. Can I? Please?

Mouch: [sighs] Okay, I’m ready.

Leslie Shay: Great. First off, the sperm. Did you…

[fire alarm buzzes and blares]

Mouch: Oh!

(Over PA): Truck 81, Ambulance 61. Restaurant fire.

[sirens blaring]

[horn honking]

Kelly Severide: Mr Tuxhorn.

Man 1 (Owner/Tuxhorn): I never should have told you ‘cause

he’s gonna bury me now.

Kelly Severide: Stay back.

Lady 2 (Bus Driver): I’m the one who called. I was making my

stop and I saw a man on fire running

through the restaurant.

Chief Boden: Okay, no one goes in. Hit it from the window. Quick

takedown. If that driver’s right, this is gonna be a

recovery.

[water spraying]

Matt Casey: (into radio) Cleared the dining room and bathrooms.

No bodies. Moving into the kitchen.

Kelly Severide: Guess I don’t need to remind you to keep your

eyes on the ceiling.

Matt Casey: That’s exactly what I’m doing.

Kelly Severide: Hey. It’s the same entry point as the last fire.

Matt Casey: Wherever he is, he’s long gone.

(into radio) This is Casey. Building’s clear.

[door swings open]

Kelly Severide: Uh Casey…

Matt Casey: (into radio) We need a medic.

[indistinct radio chatter]

Gabby Dawson: [grunts] Let’s turn him over.

Leslie Shay: [grunts]

Gabby Dawson: Agonal breathing. Fire may have scorched his

lungs.

Matt Casey: How bad?

Gabby Dawson: I don’t know. Airway looks pretty fried.

Leslie Shay: His arms are burned. Can’t get a line in. He’s got

minutes at best.

Gabby Dawson: We move him or lose him. Give us a hand?

Leslie Shay: On three. Very gentle. One, two, three.

Gabby Dawson: (into radio) 61 to Main, let Lakeshore know we

are two minutes out with a burn victim.

Leslie Shay: Dawson…

Gabby Dawson: (into radio) 61 to Main. Cancel that. Victim is

DOA. We will transport from scene for safety.

Dispatcher: Copy that 61… [continues indistinctively]

cutscene

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): Well, we verified it. Krinsky’s alibi

clears him from the second fire.

Matt Casey: Come on, he’s union muscle. He could have had

one of his knuckleheads torch both places.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): I’m not arguing with that. But as

of now, we don’t have actionable

evidence.

Chief Boden: I got a drawer in the morgue full of evidence. I

don’t care if the man inside is homeless or a

CEO, he didn’t deserve the death he got.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): Oh, and I think he did? Come on,

give me a break.

Kelly Severide: The guy who owns these restaurants is fearing

for his life.

Man 2 (James Whoristsky): We need proof. Do I really need to

explain arson investigation to you

guys? It take a while.

Kelly Severide: Let’s go back to that second fire and look around.

Matt Casey: Yeah. All right.

Kelly Severide: Cool?

Chief Boden: Yeah. Take your dad with you.

Kelly Severide: Chief, he gave his word that he’d keep his mouth

shut around here…

Chief Boden: I know he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s a hell of an

arson investigator.

Kelly Severide: Oh yeah.

[door closes]

Peter Mills: You know, I could cook you up something if you’d

like.

Benny Severide: Oh, that’s all right. Thanks, though.

Peter Mills: I didn’t know that you and my dad were on Squad

together. And um… the other firefighter who died

with him.

Benny Severide: That’s right. Ross McGowan. Two years on

the job. About your age. Had his whole life

ahead of him. Never got to meet his daughter.

A real shame.

Peter Mills: Yeah, I’m sorry to bring that up. I know it must be uh,

really hard to relive.

Benny Severide: Yeah. Never should have happened.

Peter Mills: How do you mean?

Benny Severide: Well, like you said. It’s hard to relive.

Peter Mills: Respectfully, Mr Severide, I get the sense that there’s

something you really want to tell me.

Kelly Severide: Hey. Let’s take a ride.

cutscene

Leslie Shay: So, like the pamphlet says, you just…do it in a cup?

Mouch: No, uh, a…a gossamer-winged stork flies down and…

Leslie Shay: [sighs]

Mouch: Yes.

Leslie Shay: And have you had contact with any of the…

Mouch: With the kids? God, no!

Leslie Shay: Because…

Mouch: I’m Father Flanagan? No way! I treasure my privacy.

Leslie Shay: Damn. It just… seems so impersonal.

Mouch: Let me just stop you right there. My cousin Ted and his

wife, Patty, they tried for a long time, couldn’t conceive.

They decided to go the AI route, that’s shorthand for

artificial…

Leslie Shay: I got it.

Mouch: Okay. So now they have a lovely daughter Elsa who is

the light of their lives. And that family is filled with

nothing but love, despite the clinical origins.

Leslie Shay: That’s beautiful. I…Is that why you became a donor?

Because of them?

Mouch: No. The cash. 125 a pop. That’s what they call a renewable

resource.

Leslie Shay: I don’t know, man. Might have to figure something else

out.

cutscene

[door closes]

Benny Severide: So, Matt, was that Andy Darden’s widow I saw

you with at the academy dinner?

Matt Casey: Yeah, Heather. That was her. She just needed a ride.

Benny Severide: It’s good to see you guys haven’t turned your

back on her. That’s important.

Matt Casey: Yeah. Absolutely. I’ll take the back.

Kelly Severide: Both buildings were broken into from the rear

entry. Gas accelerants were used.

Benny Severide: Okay.

I don’t know about this teaching gig.

Kelly Severide: Why not?

Benny Severide: Job’s changed too much.

Kelly Severide: It’s almost exactly the same. It’s just better gear.

Benny Severide: Well, the people have changed is what I’m

saying. Back when I came up, you fought a

war at 18. You had kids by the time you were 22.

You’d live a life. You were a man. Now these kids

are coming straight out of their parents’

basements to the firehouse. What the hell can I

teach somebody like that?

Hadley: [indistinctive chatter]

Benny Severide: Like him.

Hadley: [laughs]

Kelly Severide: Who? Hadley? He’s fine.

Benny Severide: Yeah. Okay.

Kelly Severide: They still have wars. People still pop out kids. I

don’t know why you gotta piss on everything.

Benny Severide: Rubber. From the sole of a sneaker. That bus

driver was right. Somebody was on fire and

running through here. What was the homeless

guy wearing?

Kelly Severide: He had boots on.

Benny Severide: Then we’re looking for somebody else. It

wouldn’t be him.

Hadley: So this thing collapses and knocks us down… [laughs]

Kelly Severide: Hadley.

Hadley: Yeah?

Kelly Severide: Quit playing grab ass, would you?

Benny Severide: Look at this. You see that? Pry marks. This door

wasn’t breached from the outside. Somebody

had a key. The owner or somebody he hired.

They let themselves in the front door and then

they pried this open. Make it look like it was

broken in from the outside.

Kelly Severide: You gotta be kidding me.

Benny Severide: Inside job.

cutscene

Chief Boden: Thank you. Appreciate it.

15 minutes after the second fire was call in,

18-year-old kid walked into an urgent care unit

five blocks from the scene. He had second and

third degree burns. Claimed it was a barbecue

mishap. Memorial went and picked him up.

He’s there’s now.

Kelly Severide: I want to head down there and check it out.

Chief Boden: Kelly…

Kelly Severide: I don’t like getting lied to. I don’t like getting

worked. And if someone other than that union

guy got that homeless man killed, I want to

know.

Matt Casey: I got him covered.

Chief Boden: Hit it.

[door closes]

[knocks on door]

Kelly Severide: What’s up, Omar? Lieutenant Severide, CFD.

Teen 1 (Omar): Oh geez. Damn barbecue. Didn’t know the gas

was on and boom. Lucky I’m alive.

Kelly Severide: Where were you standing?

Teen 1 (Omar): Right in front of the grill, trying to light it.

Kelly Severide: Then how’d you burn your legs?

Teen 1 (Omar): I don’t know. It was a big ol’ fireball, though.

Kelly Severide: Those aren’t barbecue burns, Omar. I’d know.

I’ve responded to 20 of them.

Teen 1 (Omar): I-I swear to God…

Kelly Severide: And they’re gonna test the shoes you were

wearing against the rubber fixed to the floor

in that diner and it’s all gonna go south.

Teen 1 (Omar): Why? For what? I-I didn’t do nothing.

Kelly Severide: A guy was killed in that second fire.

Teen 1 (Omar): No. No, no, no, man.

Kelly Severide: Look, I’m not a cop. I just want to know

what happened and I’ll help you any way I

can before the cops get involved. And

they’re gonna get involved soon.

Teen 1 (Omar): Okay. All right, mayb… there’s one thing

maybe you can help me with.

Kelly Severide: I’ll try.

Teen 1 (Omar): It was an insurance scam. Tuxhorn and his

wife wanted two of the diners to go down

and they was gonna lay it off on some union

dude who he was beefing with. And he

asked my dad to help him do it. My dad

owes him a lot of money, so he said he was

in to settle up. But my dad, he got a knee

replacement surgery last year and he ain’t

too quick. So I said I’d do it. I was pouring

the gas… I don’t know. Maybe the fumes hit

a pilot light or something. And I was just

running through the restaurant all on fire and…

Tuxhorn put me out and he took me here and

he said to say it was a barbecue accident.

Look, man, I’ll take the ride for it. I just gotta

leave my dad out of it. Can I do that? Can I

leave my dad out of it with the cops?

Kelly Severide: Don’t bring up his name.

Teen 1 (Omar): Okay. Thank you.

cutscene

Mouch: Did somebody change his food, ‘cause there is

something going on here.

Peter Mills: Where’s Herrmann?

Matt Casey: Bar management seminar.

You guys close to opening?

Gabby Dawson: Uh, a few weeks…hopefully.

Joe Cruz: Hey, uh, Shay, where’s your iPad?

Leslie Shay: Put it away for a bit.

Joe Cruz: Did you find a donor?

Leslie Shay: Regrouping.

Joe Cruz: So you’re not going the whole sperm donor route

anymore?

Leslie Shay: What is this, an interrogation? I told you, I’m

regrouping.

Otis Zvonecek: So, um, who asked who out? I’m just

curious.

Gabby Dawson: [laughs]

Peter Mills: Um, wait. You did, right?

Gabby Dawson: What?

Peter Mills: Yeah, you asked me to dinner that one night.

Gabby Dawson: Oh no, that-that wasn’t a date.

Peter Mills: Damn.

Gabby Dawson: What’s up?

Peter Mills: Dolores from Records, she sent me an email

earlier. I just… I can’t open it on my phone.

I’m… I’m gonna try it in there.

[typing]

[tense music]

cutscene

Chief Boden: Hey, Kelly, great job.

Kelly Severide: Hey, thanks, Chief.

Chief Boden: You too, Benny.

Benny Severide: Thank you. I appreciate that.

How about I get a cup of coffee before

I take off?

Kelly Severide: All right.

Leslie Shay: Hey, you got a second?

Kelly Severide: Yeah.

What?

Leslie Shay: So how are you?

Kelly Severide: Um, what’s-what’s going on?

Leslie Shay: So here’s the deal. You know I’ve done

thorough research on this whole

insemination thing. And today I got… well,

I guess, uh, accidental window into how

the whole process works, and it really left

me feeling… hollow.

Kelly Severide: Okay.

Leslie Shay: And you know, I’ve been searching for the

��perfect guy to be the father of my baby.

Someone honourable, strong, good looking

[chuckles] I mean, sue me. And maybe even

someone who would want to be part of the

child’s life. And someone who would want to

celebrate, you know, how beautiful it could be.

With me… a cool chick who’s not gonna freak

out and they’ll never have to worry about, you

know, me wanting a divorce or trying to take all

their money, or be a bitch or… [exhales] Kelly I

want to know if you’d like to have a baby with

me.

Kelly Severide: Look, Shay, I…

Leslie Shay: No, no, no. Let me finish. And we’d go through

the insemination process…

Kelly Severide: Um…

Leslie Shay: And… and yeah. Okay that’s it. I’m done.

Kelly Severide: I don’t… I don’t… I don’t know what to say.

Leslie Shay: That’s okay. I just… I just want you to-to think

about it.

Kelly Severide: I…

Leslie Shay: Thank you. And listen, if the answer’s no, I mean,

there won’t even be a hiccup between us. It…

it’s okay. It-It’ll be solid Always you and me.

Okay?

[kissing sound]

Kelly Severide: Uh…

cutscene

Benny Severide: Okay, that’s it. I’m outta here.

Mouch: Great to meet you, Ben.

Benny Severide: Good to see you again.

Joe Cruz: Such a pleasure.

Benny Severide: Good to see you.

Otis Zvonecek: Thanks for the donuts.

Benny Severide: Yup.

Matt Casey: Take care, Benny.

Benny Severide: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey. Mr Severide, can I talk to you in private.

Benny Severide: Actually, I’m just taking off. It was nice

meeting you.

Peter Mills: Yeah, please… I really need to talk to you.

Benny Severide: Can you make it quick?

Peter Mills: Sure.

Um, the Lambert Tree Award. It’s the highest

award awarded to a firefighter. My father was

nominated and everyone up the line signed off

on it… except for you. Just curious to why.

Benny Severide: Some other time, kid, okay?

Peter Mills: Is this what you’re trying to say to me? Do you

feel bad about not signing off for it? That even

though my father was a hero… and even

though he gave his life…

Benny Severide: It’s an award for valor!

Chief Boden: Benny.

Benny Severide: He wants to hear it. I’m gonna tell him.

In the middle of that fire, your father

panicked and pulled off his mask, which

would have been his business, except

another guy died trying to save him. So,

no, I didn’t sign it. Because I could not in

good faith reward someone for

demonstrating cowardice…

Firefighters: Whoa!

Come on, man!

Hey! Hey!

Come on!

Benny Severide: Unh!

[panting] You want to know why Boden

thinks your father wasn’t at fault? Do ya?

‘Cause he’s an optimist, I guess.

I’ll see you back at your house.

Chief Boden: Mills… You are off duty until further notice.

Get your gear. Wait for Benny to get off site,

and you go home and you’ll wait to hear

from me.

Rest of you, get back to work.

Gabby Dawson: Hey, you okay?

Peter Mills: No.

Gabby Dawson: Look, I totally get what lead up to that

and I am so sorry, but you can’t just go

around punching people.

Peter Mills: My dad wasn’t able to defend himself. So I did.

[locker door slams]

Peter Mills: [sighs]

cutscene

Chief Boden: We were all real close. Henry and me. Benny.

Our wives. Then Ingrid and Henry, they

separated. My wife left me. It was during that

time. It just happened. Then I realised that

Henry might have still had feelings for her,

and I may have moved too quick, so I

stepped back just to see. And I was right.

Henry moved back in after a month. Ingrid

always says I broke her heart. So if you

think that there’s something that Peter needs

or wants to know, I’ll go to his place after shift.

I’ll tell him.

Gabby Dawson: Is what Benny said true?

Chief Boden: Not from where I was standing.

cutscene

Heather Darden: Matt?

Matt Casey: Hmm?

Heather Darden: You have like, two utensils in this kitchen.

Matt Casey: Yeah, it’s on my to-do list.

Heather Darden: You’ve been busy, huh?

Matt Casey: Yeah, it’s been one thing after another lately.

Heather Darden: Have you been dating? Since Hallie?

Matt Casey: Uh, there was someone for a minute, maybe

less. Wasn’t the right time.

Heather Darden: Sorry to hear that.

Matt Casey: What are you gonna do? Damn that smells

good. First home-cooked meal I’ve had

since… I don’t even know.

Heather Darden: It sucks having to come home to an

empty house, doesn’t it?

Matt Casey: Yeah.

Heather Darden: We don’t have to be alone. We don’t

deserve to be. We’re good people.

Why can’t we be happy?

Matt Casey: Heather… I’m really glad you’re here. And

if it was under different circumstances,

believe me… but Andy was one of my best

friends. And he was your husband, and… I

think we should honour that.

Heather Darden: You know what? You’re right. Let’s just

count our blessings

Matt Casey: Dinner and a movie. Let’s get the movie ready.

cutscene

[knocks on door]

Gabby Dawson: Hey, bruiser.

[door shuts]

[kissing sound]

Peter Mills: What’s the word? You heard anything?

Gabby Dawson: Yeah. I, um, spoke to Boden briefly.

Peter Mills: What did he say?

Gabby Dawson: Well, he hasn’t heard from Benny so

the hope is that he doesn’t raise a

stink. If that’s the case, then hopefully

this thing will stay in house. Boden

says to just sit tight for now.

Peter Mills: That’s all he said?

Gabby Dawson: That’s all he said to me.

Peter Mills: Okay, look… can I just say that even though

I’m… maybe in a jam right now, I feel… I feel

lighter. ’Cause since forever I’ve been carrying

around this weight of not knowing. And I could

always just tell that there was something out

there that wasn’t being told to me. At least now

I can… I can move on.

Gabby Dawson: Hey… what Benny said isn’t true.

Peter Mills: I don’t want to talk about it anymore, okay?

Gabby Dawson: Baby, it’s not true…

Peter Mills: Look, I-I don’t want to talk about it anymore

[exhales]

cutscene

Matt Casey: Heather.

[orchestral music playing on TV]

[TV turns off]

cutscene

Benny Severide: He’s just like his old man. It was Henry

Mills against the world. The guy always

had a problem. So if people want to

knock me for being arrogant or

whatever, let them. At least I was

un-conflicted. And in this job, you

better damn well have that going for

you, or you and your buddy’s badges

will end up on the wall at the academy.

Kelly Severide: Well, I didn’t know his old man, but I

know Peter. And from what I’ve seen,

the kid has heart. He has courage.

Benny Severide: Yeah, well I’ve seen your squad. Maybe

you’re not the best judge of character.

[bag zips]

Benny Severide: Look, Kelly, I…I really did come down

here to spend time with you. I didn’t

mean for any of this to happen. And if

anything I did reflects poorly on you,

I’m sorry about that. I guess your old

man is just a guy stuck in his ways. But

hey… if you can’t do anything about it,

don’t worry about it.

[door opens and closes]

cutscene

[knocks on door]

Kelly Severide: Hey.

Peter Mills: Hey.

Kelly Severide: Listen, I know it’s been on your mind

and, uh, I think you’d be a really great

addition to squad. You’re gonna want

to take Hazmat Tech “A”, Vertical

Rescue and Building Collapse One. If

any of them are full, you let me know I

can…I can pull some strings.

Peter Mills: Really?

Kelly Severide: Really. Let’s push it, see what happens.

Peter Mills: Okay.

Kelly Severide: Great.

[chuckling]

- end -

Definitions:

Scrapple = Also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name Pannhaas or “pan rabbit”, is a traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed into a semi-solid congealed load, and slices of the scrapple are then pan-fried before serving

Agonal breathing = Medical term used to describe struggling to breathe or gasping. It is often a symptom of a severe medical emergency, such as a stroke or cardiac arrest. The gasping associated with agonal respiration is not true breathing, but rather a brainstem reflex.

Hazmat Tech “A” = Hazardous Materials Technician course provides the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities to operate offensively or defensively at an incident involving the release of hazardous materials.

Building Collapse One = This course is extensively hands-on and prepares the student to operate safely and efficiently at a building collapse incident. It offers practice in cutting, breaching, lifting, stabilising, searching, shoring, packaging, and removing victims from a simulated collapse environment

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thefancyspin · 4 years

Note

Fic that includes Ballum cuddles please. I miss them soo muchhh

“You know you’ll have to stay here now?” Callum says, handing Ben a cup and sitting with him on the couch. Ben’s legs drape over Callum’s lap, the toes of his sock-clad feet wriggling for attention. Callum rubs at them.

“With those two nutters,” Ben argues, tipping his head in the direction of the bedroom. Stuart and Rainie had disappeared into their room as soon as Ben arrived - the door firmly locked behind them. “I don’t think so.”

“It’s the law! Where you are is where you stay.”

“Right. I forgot I was here with Mr. Law Enforcement.”

“Shut up.” Callum slaps at his foot, but he’s grinning. “So you don’t wanna be in quarantine with me? Don’t you love me?”

Ben throws his head back, groaning at the ceiling. “Low blow, Callum.”

Callum just laughs, abandoning his tea and moving to kneel up on the couch, covering Ben’s body with his own. Ben’s cup is quickly gone too - hopefully not spilt all over the floor - their legs tangling together.

“Then stay here with me,” Callum tells him, making sure Ben can read his lips before kissing at his chin.

“I can’t, babe. You know I gotta be with Lexi. ‘specially with schools closed.”

This time it’s Callum’s turn to groan, dropping his head. Ben’s fingers dig into his back, rubbing his face along the top of Callum’s head. “I know,” he says in a quiet voice, pressing a soft kiss to Callum’s hair. Fresh and soft and not-long showered. “I know.”

“Maybe,” Callum says, lifting his head. “Could I come stay with you, ya reckon? Is that asking too much?”

Ben pulls a face. “Too much?”

“Just … for ya family.”

“Callum.” Ben says with a sigh, bringing his hands up to cup Callum’s cheeks. “You are family, ya pillock.”

Callum blushes, looking down and saying, “Yeah, but …”

Ben lifts his chin with a finger. “But nothin’. If you want to come live with us then of course ya can.”

“Would you want that?”

“Seriously?” Ben sits up, forcing Callum up too. Ben kneels beside him, petting at his face, his throat, his chest. “Callum. Babe. Before this whole mess started we were practically living together, weren’t we?”

“Yeah but that was different, we could … it weren’t permanent.”

“Not, but it should’ve been,” he says gently, surprising a smile out of Callum that shines in his eyes.

“You mean it?”

“Yes. Ain’t you been listening or what? I love you, you’re my family. I wanna be where you are.”

“Me too. The thought of being apart for weeks … months … I can’t …” Ben embraces him, their arms wrapping around each other and faces buried in their necks. Callum lets out a huge sigh of relief, so glad that he’s not facing weeks without this. The smell and touch and feel of Ben, the knowledge that he’s right there.

“Then don’t. Get your stuff together and we’ll go to mine.”

Callum pulls back for Ben to see him ask, “Yeah?” just one more time.

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Callum bounces off the couch to head for the bedroom before quickly spinning around to go back and kiss Ben chastely, sweetly. He signs, I love you, and Ben signs it back, pushing him away to hurry up.

“Go. You’re in charge of the Legal Studies class at Home School so get a move on.”

“Me?”

“Well the rest of us are Mitchells, what do we know about it?”

#ben x callum #ballum #eastenders #my writing #fic prompts

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rosecorcoranwrites · 4 years

Text

September Reading Roundup

It's time for this month's reading roundup, but first, a little announcement that no one but me will care about: I'm staying off the internet until the election. Well, mostly. I'll still post to Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram when the mood strikes me or when I have a writing update. I'll still post Rant Rave Reviews on here and Youtube (the theme this month is spooky stories, of course). But I won't be interacting much (ie, I won't be spending hours reading through Twitter and Tumblr and watching random Youtube videos I've already seen). If you @ me or retweet or reblog a post, I'll probably respond in a day or two, but other than that, I'm becoming a recluse.

The reason for this is twofold. First, I'm offering it up. For those of you who aren't Catholic, "offering it up" is sort of like giving up something for Lent. You discipline yourself by enduring some deprivation (either natural, like pain, or of your own choosing, like not watching hours of Youtube). At the same time, you offer up your (albeit, in this case, slight) suffering as a sacrifice for some good. I'm offering it up for America. Not the election, America. Because, not to get political or anything, but no matter who wins the garbage fire that is the 2020 election, America is doomed unless our culture changes. As I said to a friend recently, if this was the 90s, we could weather whatever storm Trump or Biden brings, but people hate each other so much right now that our country is pretty much over. Unless...

I don't know what I'm praying for, but I'm praying, praying that come what may, God in his Providence will drag something good out of all of it, kicking and screaming if need be. I will also be doing a rosary novena with my diocese October 14th through October 22, and then another one with the USCCB October 26th to November 3rd. Join me if you would like.

On a lighter note, I'm a volunteer writer-in-residence again at my hometown library, so I'm obligated to focus on writing this month, and need write, research, and workshop without distraction. I have two Forensics and Fiction books all tabbed and ready to read, plus a book about army nurses in the Vietnam War. The plot of book one in the alternate-history/fantasy/mystery trilogy is fast congealing, and I want to strike while the iron is hot. I need to focus! My ultimate goal is to be ready to write a little each day in November, returning to my heretical NaNoWriMo ways.

I'll let you know how it all turns out in my first Novemebr post, which will be a reading roundup of October. Until then, let's take a look at what I read this month:

Two Six Shooters Beat Four Aces: Stories of a Young Arizona by Barbara Marriott Ph.D

Genre: History - Anecdotes

Why I read it: Arizona book club pic

What I thought of it: While it's clear that Marriott is an excellent researcher, she is either a bad writer or in serious need of an editor. Individual paragraphs proved internally repetitive, and the overall structure of each chapter was slapdash. It needed smoother transitions from anecdote to anecdote or more section breaks and section headers.

Would I recommend it: No, everyone in my book club, including myself, hated it.

7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

Genre: Supernatural Mystery

Why I read it: I'd been wanting to for a while; the premise caught my eye

What I thought of it: The body-hopping time-loop stuff was brilliant, the characters likable, and the story delightfully twisty. The last twist and conclusion were unsatisfying, though.

Would I recommend it: Yes!! Despite it's flaws, it was an exciting, fun, and original book. I will definitely be reading Turton's next book (which involves a closed circle of suspects and, possibly, demons!?).

The Exorcist by William Blatty

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I'd been meaning to for a while, and writing research gave me an excuse to do so

What I thought of it: I like that it doesn't pull it's punches; I'm kind of shocked that it's only been censored a couple times, actually. It presents demons as they are: hateful, grotesque jerks who get off on picking on humans. I also liked that there was a murder mystery subplot. I'm not sure I approve 100% of the ending, theologically speaking, but that's a pretty minor quibble.

Would I recommend it: Yes, but it is not for the feint of heart. Trigger warnings for child sexual abuse, adult sexual abuse, language, violence, the works.

How to Destroy America in Three Easy Steps by Ben Shapiro

Genre: Nonfiction - politics

Why I read it: It's a long story that I shall tell about in my memoir of library life, but not here. Also the cover is 10/10

What I thought of it: It was ok. I already knew most of what he said. I disagreed with some of it, like seeing the constant moving of people from town to town in 1950s as a positive thing; in actuality, "company men" in the 50s were moved around so they wouldn't have community ties but instead ties to the company, which is anti-human to the extreme. I did think it was interesting that he combatted the idea of America's greatness being built off the backs of slaves by pointing out that slavery was actually terrible for the south, as reliance on slavery retarded their economic system well after the Civil War.

Would I recommend it: If you're into political books, sure.

American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI by Kate Winkler Dawson

Genre: True Crime - forensic history

Why I read it: I love historical true crime

What I thought of it: It was ok, but kind of didn't make the case for him being "The American Sherlock Holmes" (even though people really did call him that back in the day), in that a lot of his conclusions ended up being a little dubious. Still, from a research perspective, it did establish when various forensic practices started being used in the USA.

Would I recommend it: Maybe? I personally liked Father of Forensics more. I'd say this book is, like, 3/5 stars, just because it could have been tightened up a bit.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: It's spooky season!

What I thought of it: Having already seen the movie, I knew pretty much what was going to happen, but I love Gaiman's turn of phrase.

Would I recommend it: Yes, especially for children who are too young for scarier fair but still want a creepy story.

The Horror at Red Hook by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: It's still spooky season!

What I thought of it: I honestly liked this a lot more than the Cthulhu mythos stuff. Rather than vague demoniac blasphemies or black cyclopean gulfs, there's a real tangible cult that sacrifices (reanimated?) corpses to a pale, dancing, snickering Thing on a golden pedestal. I dig it.

Would I recommend it: Yes. Just... ignore the racism. That goes for all of Lovecraft's stuff, by the by.

Herbert West: Reanimator by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: Turns out I like HP Lovecraft. Who knew?

What I thought of it: You gotta love mad scientists who try to reanimate the dead, right? I think this one would make an excellent mini-series.

Would I recommend it: Yes.

Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

Genre: Essay - illustration/comics

Why I read it: I loved Hyperbole and a Half, and was excited when I saw Brosh was coming out with another book.

What I thought of it: It was okay. Not as good as her first book, but for an understandable reason: medical complications and her sister's suicide (that's not a spoiler, as the book is dedicated to her sister). Thus, the book had a heaviness to it that the first one didn't. Still there were some parts that made me laugh so hard I cried.

Would I recommend it: Maybe? I'd say borrow it from the library, but don't buy it, unless you are also suffering a loss. It might be really relatable and cathartic in that case.

The Rats in the Walls by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I like HP Lovecraft

What I thought of it: Not as scary as I had been led to believe by my brother, but still a good story. I plan on reading Lovecraft Country at some point, which supposedly flips Lovecraft's racism on it's head, and so help me, if it doesn't make reference to this story and chattel slavery, I'll throw a fit.

Would I recommend it: Yes. I like that the cat didn't die. :)

The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: I just... I just really like Lovecraft, okay?

What I thought of it: I find the sea inherently creepy, so when you have a decrepit backwater filled with a fishy stench and secrets, it's gotta be good.

Would I recommend it: Yes, especially if you liked the Fishing Hamlet part of the Bloodborne DLC (which I could not help but think of the whole time reading this novella).

The Thing on the Doorstep by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: You know why.

What I thought of it: So if you've read enough Lovecraft, especially Dunwich Horror and Shadow Over Innsmouth, you already know what's coming... or do you? Right away, HP establishes that there is a special knock the guy uses with his friend, so I assumed the twist end would involve the Thing appearing in the guy's body but not using the knock, thus revealing itself to be (redacted for slight spoilers). I was wrong. That's not how it played out, and the way it played out was so much creepier!!!

Would I recommend it: Yeah! I really liked this one!

Haunter of the Dark by H.P. Lovecraft

Genre: Horror

Why I read it: Yup

What I thought of it: Same ol', same ol, but what I thought was cool in this one was that the supposedly superstitious Italian Catholic immigrants totally know what's up and spend their stormy nights keeping the Haunter at bay with nothing but candles and flashlights. What a neat detail!

Would I recommend it: Yup. :)

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queenofheaven82 · 3 years

Text

PART II - Butterfly Clips and Wallflowers

Fall 1997

Lacey puckered as she painted her lips with Ravenous Red, pausing as she rubbed them together to survey the job she'd done on her hair in the mirror. A crystal-clear butterfly clip held back a small blonde tress on each side of her head.

Perfect.

"I could have done that for two dollars," she heard Ariel from behind her on the bed. "And I could even have gotten them straight."

Lacey's brow furrowed as she leaned in to examine the clips closer.

"Psych!" Ariel giggled. "They're fine."

Lacey sighed. "I said you could stay in here for ten minutes, Ariel, and they're up. So go find something to do."

"I thought you wanted me to sit here all night and wait til Foolish Games comes on the radio so I could record it on the tape."

"Right." Lacey surveyed herself one more time in the mirror before standing up from her vanity. "And you only get two dollars if I come back and find nothing out of place, you got it?"

Her little sister rolled over onto her back, sighing. "I told you, I don't want any of your stuff. And what time are you coming back?"

Lacey shrugged. "We'll see."

The truth was, her mom had told her to be in by midnight. But she knew her mother would be fast asleep by nine thirty, so what did it matter?

"You're really going to a party at Eden Hall?" another voice cut in from the doorway, a little higher than her sister's.

Halen, the tattle-tail. Hopefully she would be asleep by nine thirty, too.

"Not at Eden Hall, but at the house of an Eden Hall student."

"I thought they lived in dorms," Ariel piped up.

"Not all of them. Some still live with their parents."

"Will there be drinking?" Halen whispered.

"No! Of course not," Lacey lied.

"Are you going with Max?"

"Oh my gosh, guys, the questions! Yes, with Max. Who else?"

"Oh. I just... well, I don't like him," Lacey's little sister wrinkled up her nose. "He never smiles, and never talks to us."

"Plus he always wears those stupid sunglasses in the house," Ariel piped in.

"He's shy," Lacey defended. "Something neither of you guys knows anything about." She made chattering hand gestures at her sisters. "Anyway, it's going to be cool. No drinking, no smoking. But I gotta go."

"You look like a Barbie doll," Halen beamed, following her down the hall.

Lacey smirked. "Make sure Ariel doesn't touch my stuff."

"Of course," Halen stared after Lacey as she opened and shut the front door quickly.

There was no point bothering Stuart and Mom with goodnights. It would just waylay her, and she already felt irritable from the butterflies in her stomach.

Getting invited to parties was nothing new to Lacey, but the illustrious Eden Hall invitation certainly was. You weren't invited to their parties unless you really were someone, or were dating someone. In Lacey's case, as high on the social ladder as she'd climbed since middle school, she still might have never been invited to an Eden Hall party were it not for dating Max.

As much as Lacey hated to admit it, the twins were right about her boyfriend. He wasn't terribly endearing, sometimes not even to her. But he was hot and they had fun. Wasn't that what it was about when you were in high school?

Max played hockey for the Richard Mills High School Rockets -- the precinct's leading varsity team, bested only by Eden Hall's Mighty Ducks. Max's ego typically kept him away from parties at the esteemed private school, but he'd finally accepted an invitation. Who knew for what reason. Lacey only hoped he wouldn't get drunk and start trouble with any of the rival hockey players who happened across him.

Just as Lacey shut the door behind her, Max peeled around the curb and came to an abrupt halt in front of her house. Lacey walked as quickly as platform heels in grass would allow, but stopped short just before jumping in the passenger side.

Under the streetlight, she got a good look at the car he was driving -- a 1975 Lincoln Continental. It was all she could do to keep from clenching her fists to feel her nails digging into her palms.

"What?!" Max huffed. "Not like I wanted to drive my brother's junker tonight. Especially around all those rich pansies, but I need a new transmission. If you don't wanna be seen in it, then--"

"No... Max, it's fine," Lacey forced herself beyond the moment, reminding herself to breathe. "I thought I'd forgotten something, but nevermind." Lacey forced herself to move, opening the door quickly and just jumping in. She slid over beside Max, trying not to pay attention to the all-too-familiar dashboard or any of the rest of the interior.

Her nausea worsened in the face of the memories that were spilling in sideways.

Mindfulness, Dr. Heffner had always emphasized.

Lacey swallowed and took another deep breath, reaching out to adjust Max's A/C settings. She had to have air even if she didn't want to touch any part of this car.

You're sitting in Max's brother's car -- not His. You're going to a party. Stone Temple Pilots is on the radio, not Frankie Vallie. You smell musty hockey gear, not cigarette smoke. You're okay. Open your eyes in 3... 2... 1...

"So where's Colin? Wasn't he riding with us?" her eyes shot open and she attempted to re-engage, deflecting Max's curious glance. Not that she enjoyed spending time with Max's dweeb of a friend, but she'd needed a quick escape.

Max looked over, grinned, then turned his eyes back to the road as they pulled out onto the freeway. "I told 'im to ride with Todd tonight. You and me need to talk."

"Talk?" Lacey couldn't stop fidgeting and reached to turn the radio down.

"Yeah. About homecoming. After the game. You know..."

Lacey sighed. "Yeah. I do know. I know how quickly you forget that we discussed this, and I told you already that it isn't happening til prom."

Max's hands tightened on the steering wheel tensely. "Lacey, come on. Tell me why homecoming is any different from prom."

"It just is. Prom's the last iconic thing before graduation, and besides: you promised you'd never push me to do this." Lacey used to blush when discussing with Max their big plan to lose their virginity to one another before they graduated. But by now, she only felt annoyed when he mentioned it, which was alot.

"Hey, who had the idea about The Wisteria Inn?" he shot back. "I believe the words used were 'I want the candles, I want the lingerie, I want the works, Max.' Well, so that's all I'm trying to do here -- get it planned out for us, okay? It's just, with graduation happening in the spring too and all, I mean don't you think it'll be less stress for us to plan to do it now?"

Lacey could feel her face grow hot. Sure, she'd romanticized the whole thing before, even though she'd talked to enough of her friends to know the first time was rarely that phenomenal. But lately, her old words about the whole thing had just felt naive -- particularly after one of her own friends had recently dropped out of school, pregnant. Did she really want to take a chance like that?

And with Max?

She and Max had met formally through Davy at a pre-game party at the beginning of last year's hockey season. Lacey had worked hard the first two years of high school to completely reinvent herself, and she'd experienced a good measure of success. She'd taken her hair from mousy brown to champagne blonde, had received a department store counter makeover, and updated her wardrobe piece-by-piece. This was all funded by babysitting money she'd determined to spend on nothing else. She had been so tired of being "Loosey Lacey" in middle school, especially after having borne the brunt of a particularly cruel prank by the boys in her eighth grade class, that she swore she would make them live to regret it.

And she had. She could feel the stares accumulating when she walked proudly by the lockers on the first day of her freshman year at R.M. High.

But being pretty and popular with the boys had come at a price: the girls she'd come close to actually considering friends became so resentful of her transformation, so jealous of and angry at the new Lacey, that they'd walked away and never looked back. Their sometimes-company at lunch and P.E. during those tumultuous middle school years was what Lacey missed the very most. She was sorry that they didn't understand the sudden change, but she reasoned that they had no idea what it had been like for her all those years since The Thing that had happened in fourth grade, triggering a case of what Dr. Heffner had deemed "severe trichotillomania." It caused her to bite her nails until they bled, often when she was unaware, and pull giant chunks out of her hair during the night. She'd also suffered from night terrors and blinding flashes of heat that she couldn't always disguise in front of the other kids. So Lacey had finally decided that, however much she'd have to suffer in private, she would no longer allow herself to feel powerless in public. And the confidence boost had worked, plus maybe the volunteer cat petting she did at the shelter twice a week. She barely had the spells anymore, and when she did pull, she made as much of an effort to do it on the underside of her hair as possible.

Loosey Lacey was on her way to being a thing of the past.

Meanwhile, in the midst of her loneliness, there was Max. She'd been smitten at first with his tall, broad form and the way he smelled faintly of car grease from his dad's mechanic shop. There were phone calls that lasted all night long, makeout sessions that fogged up the windows of his car, and weekend dates he'd gone out of his way to make romantic. It had been on such a date that they'd first made their plan for prom night. At that time, Lacey had still been infatuated enough with Max for giddy butterflies to hatch in her stomach at the very thought of experiencing one of the most important nights of her life with him. But now...

... Well, she wasn't sure what had changed. Was it his temper? The arrogance and bravado that had once made him so irresistible, but now just made him seem obnoxious?

"Let's just talk about it later. We don't have to have it all figured out tonight."

Max sighed and mumbled, "Whatever."

They drove for twenty minutes in silence until they reached the suburbs of Edina and were surrounded by houses so big and grand that if Lacey hadn't felt intimidated to be coming here before, she surely felt so now.

"The guy's name is Calloway, and his parents are out of town. Todd knows him better than I do," Max finally spoke as they pulled up in front of a sprawling Mediterranean-style home, each and every room lit up from the outside. Lacey could hear music as she emerged from the car, but it wasn't as loud as she'd expected, doubtlessly because no one would want the cops called on a boisterous house party being thrown by unsupervised teens.

Once they got out of the car, she could practically feel the difference in the atmosphere. The cars parked around them were mostly Masaratis and BMW's. The kids who roamed the well-manicured lawn wore polo shirts and khakis or vests and sleek pencil skirts.

We're not in Kansas anymore, Lacey unwittingly thought. She glanced down at her own outfit -- a lavender peasant shirt with flared Levi's and platforms -- and suddenly felt self-conscious. She reached up and fingered her choker, wishing she'd looked at her hair one more time in the rearview mirror of the car.

"Hey." Max slid an arm around her waist as they walked. "You look good enough. More than good. Who you trying to impress, anyway?" he leaned in for a kiss as they approached the front door. "Huh?" He moved his face in close to her.

Lacey gave a forced smile and obliged him quickly.

"Oh," Max drew back when she did, looking disappointed. "So that's all I'm gonna get?"

"Lipstick," she reminded him, shifting the bag on her shoulder.

Max turned back to the door, letting out a noisy sigh. Evidently she'd really put a damper on his spirits tonight. She knew it for sure when, after he entered the house, he seemed to disappear into a sea of people almost immediately.

Not that this was anything new. Max regularly forsook her soon after entering a party to go hang out with his hockey buddies, but those were parties at their own school. Lacey knew no one at Eden Hall, and therefore was left with nothing to do but stare around, being inadvertently pushed this way and that by the crowd that roamed through the darkened room carrying drinks and swaying drunkenly to The Notorious B.I.G.

Of course, aside from not knowing anyone here, this precisely fit the template of every other high school party. As Lacey wandered from one room to the next in search of Max, or at least a corner to duck into that wasn't taken up by couples making out, she saw all the familiar things: the red solo cups, the keg stands, the mini-skirts, the glittery eyeshadow...

And suddenly she just felt bored.

When she'd been a freshman, a sophomore, she imagined the life she'd come to lead now as an upperclassman dating a hockey star to be the most glamorous thing a person could achieve. But was it? Why had she thought that?

Even more disturbing to Lacey was, why was she suddenly thinking this way? She was bored with Max, with parties... what would be next?

Her mind began to drift toward her little sisters at home. What if she just hitched a ride back there and played monopoly with them for the rest of the night? The way Max had completely ditched her, he deserved to be abandoned like that.

If she went now, she could--

"Hey heeeey!" the drunk loser a couple of feet from her crossed the room in three giant, wobbly steps. "Banksie!"

Lacey rolled her eyes and started to turn away until she caught sight of who had just appeared in the doorway along with a handful of other people: Adam Banks.

Sure, she'd kept loose tabs on what he'd been up to the last few years. He'd started playing for the Ducks when they were nothing more than an upstart team coached by a lawyer pulling community service. His phenomenal talent was part of what had taken them from a losing track record to formidable competition. Pretty soon, he was granted a hockey scholarship, along with the other Ducks, to play for the private school Eden Hall. That's the last Lacey had heard, but she could always recognize the strikingly large, blue, serious eyes that had stuck with her.

"You finally came!" the boy who had approached Adam had swung an arm across his shoulders. "Take a picture, folks!"

Adam appeared to wince, then laugh and push the other boy's arm off. "You know I don't have time for this stuff. Practice every night when there's no game, 5am on Fridays..."

"Well you're here now, right?"

Lacey studied Adam from several feet away, thinking about him and Max. How could a person become so absorbed in and obsessed with a game? Jocks were all alike.

She had to jar herself to come back to reality and finally turn away from Adam Banks. N'Sync began blaring over the stereo system just a short distance from her, emitting a chorus of boos from some boys, and Lacey moved away quickly. There were still times loud music or noises made her feel like reaching up and pulling out a fistful of her hair. The sensation made her skin crawl.

Wandering into the kitchen, Lacey was offered a bottle of beer from a grinning guy pulling a new sixpack out of the fridge. She took it, popping off the cap with the bottle opener on the counter. From there, she wandered into the hallway, marveling at how quickly Max had apparently gotten lost. She issued a plastic smile to a girl she knew from R.M. High coming out of a bedroom with a guy she'd never seen before.

Feeling a little overwhelmed by the suffocating closeness of party guests, Lacey found a door to the outside and took it. She stumbled out into the cool night air, taking a few deep breaths. After her head managed to stop spinning, she found a stone bench in the garden to collapse onto. Taking a few more sips of beer, she looked around and came to realize just how lonely she felt. It wasn't Max's absence, necessarily. She could actually feel her loneliest around him.

To distract herself from the negativity train blazing through her mind, Lacey took her mind to the Cat's Cradle.

She'd happened upon the cat shelter totally by accident one day while walking home from school a different way than usual. She'd found herself strolling down a short strand of shops on a street she'd all but forgotten when she'd seen a woman outside writing with chalk on the stand-up sign. As she came closer, she saw what was being written:

"Three tabby kittens, 3mo, have shots."

She'd looked up at Lacey and smiled as though she'd known her for years.

"What a pretty vest!"

"Oh... thank you." Lacey glanced down, then back up. "You have kittens?" The question fell from her lips before she could stop it. Looking over toward the shelter, she caught a couple pairs of feline eyes staring back at her through the window.

"Yes! We sure do," the woman beamed, eyes crinkling in a way that reminded Lacey of warm grandmothers. How she wished she'd known her own. "Those are a couple of our more docile cats who aren't up for adoption. We just let them roam around and welcome visitors. That one's Fred," she pointed to a sprightly-looking cat with perked ears. "Then there we have Gracie Mae." The other was a grey, long-haired cat who blinked lazily at Lacey from her perch.

Lacey smiled at them, approaching the window and tapping very lightly with her fingernail in greeting.

"Do you have cats of your own?"

Lacey shook her head. "My mom and little sisters are all allergic."

"Would you like to come in and see them?" the woman, who later introduced herself as Alice, inquired brightly.

Lacey began to walk home that way every day, occasionally stepping in to spend time with the cats kept there in large, roomy cages, and before she knew it she was spending at least an hour a couple of times a week in their presence until she was "officially" offered a volunteer position.

"They all need love, and a chance to get out and roam around, but there's only a couple of us on staff to give them those things. Don't let cats fool you, Dear. They're self-sufficient, but still affectionate and crave a good petting. You'd be perfect. Something tells me you need a little love yourself."

Lacey had wanted to protest this. She was in no way lacking love or anything else, but still -- this could be fun, couldn't it? And it was something all her own, the way Max had hockey and her mother had Stuart.

Soon, Lacey wished she could just live there at Cat's Cradle. It helped her think a little less about herself, and it served to drive out the memories that still skulked along beside her everywhere she went.

Memories of Him -- and what had happened all those years ago that she couldn't forget.

How had thinking about the shelter led to that again?

Lacey began to take more frequent sips of beer without realizing it. Before she knew it, she'd downed the entire bottle, and, unaccustomed to drinking much, she began to feel a little loose. She knew her mother would never believe she occasionally drank beer at parties. It wasn't something she even necessarily felt good about... it was honestly just something mindless to do while holding mindless conversations with mindless people.

After awhile she stood up again, feeling considerably more relaxed and ready to find Max. The promise of Monopoly with Ariel and Halen warmed her.

Close to the French doors leading from the garden back into the house, Lacey noticed a barrel she'd witnessed various people use as a garbage can. She walked toward it and chucked her beer in the barrel before hearing the Wallflowers taking over the radio from the inside. From the sound of it, the entire house was rocking out in almost one voice to "One Headlight." It was a thunderous sound, and Lacey wasn't sure she wanted to be in the middle of it. So she just stood next to the barrel and waited.

She stood there awhile, looking up at the starry sky, until she heard rustling on the other side of the hedge she was close to. Beginning to back away, she stopped short hearing two voices she soon realized weren't aimed at her.

"Okay Banksie, show me what you got."

Banksie? Adam Banks?

Lacey stood as still as she could, leaning closer to the hedge so she could hear the exchange above the din of the house party. What followed was the muted sound of paper rustling. It must have been money.

A laugh followed. "Oh yeah. Scoring dope for rich kids. I've found my jam. You know, if it's that bad, why don't you just smoke some pot?"

"Tried it," a testy voice replied hurriedly. "It doesn't work. Just give me the percocets."

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold onto your balls, dude. Let me count these beans again."

"Oh come on, I brought exactly what you told me to."

"Here. Twenty. That enough until tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course," she heard Adam scoff. "I'm not looking to get hooked on anything, I just need to keep the pain under control. Coach is starting to put stuff together."

Surely this wasn't the Banks she was familiar with.

Only, of course it was. The voice was the same she'd heard earlier when he'd entered the room,and "coach" was obviously a tie to hockey.

Lacey wrinkled up her nose, feeling disgust surge through her veins. Adam Banks was a good guy -- she'd believed that from her youth. So what was he doing buying pills from some random dealer at a party?

And Percocets!

So much for him turning out to be such a prince, such a variation from the average dumb jock she mostly encountered. Lacey knew very little about street drugs, but she did know about Percocets. She knew they were highly addictive pain pills that athletes were always trying to get ahold of for sports injuries. This was apparently the situation here.

Hearing that the rave inside was over now, Lacey headed back for the French doors, but in her clumsiness, she accidentally kicked the trash barrels, causing each one of the glass bottles inside to rattle onto one another and make a noise that sounded ten times louder to her than it should have. She froze.

"Hey! Hey wait!" From around the other side of the hedge, Adam dashed out, eyes flashing at Lacey. "What were you standing there?"

Lacey caught sight of a shady figure in a ballcap and a hoodie taking his opportunity to slink away behind Adam.

"As far as I know it's a party," she snapped back at him. "Why shouldn't I be out here? I was just throwing a bottle away before going back inside and I tripped. How about you, what's your excuse?"

Adam was close enough now that even under the moonlight she could see the light dusting of boyish freckles across his nose.

He paused, blinking as though he was baking up a good excuse. "I was just... I needed a little help with something, okay?"

His eyes grew wide. "That's what you think this is? I'm not addicted to anything. I just needed a little-- wait, why am I even explaining this to you? What's it your business?" he retorted.

"You mean like a little help with your addiction?" she mouthed off before she could stop herself.

His eyes grew wide. "That's what you think this is? I'm not addicted to anything. I just needed a little-- wait, why am I even explaining this to you? What's it your business?" he retorted.

"You tell me. I was just leaving." she shrugged.

"Wait." Adam swung around in front of her before she could get to the doors. His demeanor seemed to have softened considerably. "What can I do to buy your silence? I'm sure you know I have money. Really, I don't want anybody else finding out about this, it could tank--" he broke off for a moment, "... Everything. You name your price."

Lacey frowned, remembering years ago how her mother warned her about people who thought everyone came with a price tag -- people like him and his dad. "Sorry, this may come as a surprise to someone like you, but I'm not for sale."

"God," he closed his eyes, looking sickened. When he opened them again, he looked fierce. "I need you to tell no one about this, you hear? No one. Least of all Max."

She hesitated. "You know Max?" words continued to fall from her mouth. "I mean, of course you know Max, he plays center at R.M., but why would you think... I mean... do you know me?"

What if he had remembered her after all these years, despite their brief encounter? And the dyed hair?

Warmth filled Lacey's belly. She'd never gotten to thank him, after all, for giving her that tiny boost of confidence at a time when she really needed it--

But clearly this wasn't the time.

"Max Shipley's girlfriend?" he was asking. "Yeah. Everybody knows that. So just... don't tell him, alright?"

Lacey shook her head slowly. "It's your own business, so whatever. I'm not saying anything. But... just tell me, why are you doing this? You know those are highly addictive."

"Like I said, it doesn't matter," Adam's defensiveness returned. "Just forget you ever saw me. And besides, like you need to be drinking beer." He eyed the barrel full of bottles. "What are you, like sixteen?" But he pushed past her, not waiting for an answer.

"Almost eigh.... teen...." she called after him before sighing.

Okay, so what if he was right?

Only no, he wasn't! Beer might be illegal for her, but selling percocets was illegal for everyone, and for good reason!

"Hey Babe," a sunglassed figure lurched out at her from the French doors after Adam passed through to the inside. It was Max. "How you doin? Say, it's starting to get lame around here. Wanna go with Brandy and Todd to the lake?"

"Actually no," Lacey fixed her face. "I just want to go home. You can drop me off there on the way."

"What?! Ah, come on! Why not?"

"Because I'm not as drunk as you, that's why not. Max, it's October. In Minnesota. You'll freeze your asses off." Lacey wrapped her arms around herself just thinking about it.

Max stared at her for a long time, face falling. "Know what, Lacey? You're no fun anymore. Seventeen going on seventy. Whatever, let's go."

Lacey sighed and followed him, heading back through the house without taking the hand he held out to her as they walked.

Close to the front door, they passed Adam Banks. He was rubbing the back of his neck, eyes darting around nervously. When they caught hers, he held the gaze for a moment, pleading silently.

She gave a tight nod, heading out the door.

#adam banks #mighty ducks #trichotillomania #1990s nostalgia

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