#anyways yeah it makes me insane that Julian gets shot and just keeps going

[youngpettyqueen]

Hi! I'm back and saw the bad injury prompts you reblogged. 👀 Could you please do "I can't feel my legs" with Julian saying it? ❤️

thank you for your patience!! its been. a wild week. but I finally have the energy to sit and get this written out. ive been pondering it all week hehe

I went through a couple ideas before I settled on doing a missing scene style of thing set in The Siege of AR-558. this is set after battle, but before the conversation we see between Sisko and Worf right at the very end. ive talked about it on this blog before but it makes me absolutely feral that Julian gets shot and just. gets up and keeps going. forever chewing on that but I digress ill save my insane rambling for the tags

I hope you enjoy! I like writing Julian and Worf a lot, and I hope you enjoy reading them <3

Doctor Bashir can be a very difficult man to find.

Worf isn't surprised. This is a battlefield in its aftermath, naturally a doctor would be difficult to locate, especially one as quick and efficient as Julian. He stops to ask a few people who look to have been treated, and they all give generally the same answer; that they just saw him, and he went over that way.

Worf follows the general direction of all the pointing, and he finds himself in a tunnel leading to another part of the caverns. He starts to walk through, figuring he'll find the elusive doctor on the other side, where other wounded surely lie.

Instead he damn near trips over him.

Worf thinks it's a rock, or a dropped weapon, at first. But then, as he's taking a second to regain his balance, he hears a low, quiet groan. He looks down, expecting to find a wounded officer, and that's exactly what he finds.

Except the wounded officer is none other than Doctor Bashir.

Julian is half-concealed by the shadows, tucked right up against the tunnel wall and lying flat on his stomach. One arm is outstretched, like he was reaching for the other side, while he has his face buried in the crook of the other elbow. Worf had tripped over one of his legs, which is bent at the knee, like he'd fallen mid-step.

Worf drops to a crouch beside him. "Doctor Bashir," He says, but gets no response, "Doctor, can you hear me?" He places a firm hand on the doctor's shoulder, in case the touch might rouse him.

Julian flinches under his hand. Then he stirs, and he lifts his head, trembling with the effort of it. "Worf...?" He looks up at him, eyes squinted in the dark.

"Yes, Doctor," Worf replies, "What happened? Are you injured?" He questions.

Julian's head drops back against his arm, but he keeps it turned so that he's still facing Worf. "'Fraid so," He grimaces, "I was... I was shot. My side..." He manages to give a weak, indicative nod.

Worf nods. "I will assist you," He tells him. He gets a hold of Julian and, carefully, he maneuvers him onto his back. Julian grabs onto his arm, and there's a surprising strength to his grip. A strangled sound of pain escapes him, grinding out through tightly-clenched teeth. Worf can feel him trembling still, so he pulls him a bit closer, supports the doctor's weight against his own body, "Try to hold still. I must see the wound."

Julian nods wordlessly. He faces the pain well. It's difficult to make out, in the dark, but there's just enough light from the tunnel's exit for Worf to be able to see the large hole burnt away from Julian's uniform jacket. It's burnt right through, both jacket and undershirt gone, leaving raw, angry skin exposed to the dusty air of these caverns. He can see the glisten of blood, can feel it saturating the jacket as he places a bracing hand by the wound.

It's bleeding badly. Julian will have already lost a lot of blood, he needs to slow it until he can get him to one of the medical officers. He shifts his hand over and presses it firmly against the wound, and he keeps a firm grip on the doctor as his entire body jolts with the action. Julian continues to face the pain bravely, turning his face into Worf's chest and screaming against his teeth.

There's a part of him that threatens to get very, very angry at seeing Julian wounded. There's no honour in harming a healer, even some of the most bloodthirsty Klingons he's known would spit at the idea. It's an instinctual reaction, one he has to bite back. He has to remind himself that Julian was here not only as a doctor, but also as an officer. He was wounded as a warrior on the battlefield.

"I don't- I don't think I like that look, Commander." Julian wheezes, his weak voice drawing Worf back out of his thoughts. He's managing a small smile, teasing and boyish even in agony, but it's clear that he's struggling.

"The wound is severe," Worf replies. He doesn't see the point in trying to soften that information, he's sure that Julian, as a doctor, is all too aware of his current condition, "Why did you not seek medical assistance?" He asks.

"Didn't realize it was... this bad," Julian rasps, "My brain does this... funny thing, where I'll see people who need me, and... and nothing else really matters," He rests his head against Worf's chest, his throat bobbing as he swallows hard. He looks nauseous, his brow pinched tight and sweat glistening on his forehead, "I hardly felt it till I collapsed." He manages to finish.

"I fail to see how that is funny," Worf gruffs, "Your dedication to your patients is admirable, Doctor. But now, it is you who requires assistance. Are you able to stand?" He asks.

Julian shakes his head. "No, I... I can't," He replies honestly, "I'm... afraid I can't feel my legs, Commander." He admits.

"Then you will be carried," Worf adjusts his hold, gets an arm under Julian's knees and pulls him against his chest. He pushes himself up with ease, the doctor's weight inconsequential as he cradles him securely, "Hold on, Doctor." He instructs.

Julian's arms come up to wrap around his neck. His head drops against Worf's shoulder, his face half-buried in his neck. He can feel Julian's shallow, quick breathing against his skin. He doesn't have time to waste.

Worf sets off, ducking out of the tunnel and moving into the next open cavern. With the injured doctor in his arms, he makes a brisk pace as he seeks out the first medical officer he can find.

#fic bitching #star trek: ds9 #worf #julian bashir #this was also my warm up for tonight and I had fun with it #will I ever get tired of putting Julian in Worf's arms? #the answer is no <3 #anyways yeah it makes me insane that Julian gets shot and just keeps going #gets right to doctoring after the battle is over #I was looking at the script for the episode to make sure I got things right and Worf mentions Julian was on the Veracruz #with the other wounded #which is definitely meant to indicate he's working in the sickbay on the wounded #but like. he's also wounded!! he got shot!! #so. this scene in my head #some parts of this were loosely inspired by how Worf thinks about Julian in the novel Vengeance #Worf has this reluctant respect for Julian that I think is really neat #and also he's just automatically protective because thats who he is as a person #one day ill write a whole big thing about them I think about the potential for their dynamic often #anyways! I hope you enjoyed <3

[artemismoon12writes]

Title: A Vested Interest

Daltonfic Big Bang: Week 3, Day 5, Dwodd 

Ryan Cobb still didn’t know about his desk chair, so money was still up for grabs. Nice.

“Fuck off!” Derek yelled, looking across the large, white and glass hallway of the Ohio Brooks Parker Galleria Mall to the Hot Topic.

“What is it?” Bailey asked, not turning from his sink full of dishes. He was up to his elbows in coffee mugs and dessert-stained plates. “Is Sebastian coming up to ask for another job application?”

“Shut up Bailey, you know it’s only because he thinks Julian’s hot, not because he wants to work here. And no; it’s not that asshole.” Derek gestured across the hallway; Bailey couldn’t see it because he still had his back turned, uncaring. “It’s that fucking asshole and his boyfriend!”

“Who?”

“You know, the assistant manager and that hipster guy!”

“Oh Dwight?” Bailey asked. “What’s wrong?”

“They’re fucking again!”

Bailey made an amused noise. “Good for them.”

“Good for them!?” Derek exclaimed, “What the hell does that mean?”

“Well, if you could get laid at work you would.” Bailey said, hiding his laughter. “I’m glad you don’t for the record; I don’t want to clean that up, but it’s a little funny.”

“Exactly- how is it that the goth who isn’t even in charge of that place is getting laid and I’m here in a fucking Starbucks like a loser?”

While Derek was ranting, he was ignoring the girl at the register. Bailey shot her a look, commiserating before drying his hands to take her order.

“And if we’re really splitting hairs here Bailey, shouldn’t he, I don’t know? Be doing his job? Instead of letting his little hipster boyfriend fuck him in the changerooms?”

Bailey rolled his eyes, grabbing a larger sized cup for their customer and waving her panicked look aside. It was the least he could do since she was putting up with Derek’s ranting.

“Jeez, Derek if it bothers you so much, just join in our betting pool and you at least could make some money off it.” Bailey said, steaming the milk like it was just another normal day. Which, working with Derek for at long as he had, it kind of was.

“Betting pool?”

Their customer interjected, “I’m from the Barnes and Noble next door; we’ve got it going with us, Clay and the boys in the store, Bailey and y’all, and then then Chels and the Pet Co. downstairs for how long it’ll take the manager to catch them.”

“All those people know? And Ryan still hasn’t figured it out?” Derek asked, confounded.

She shrugged, “Yeah, well, Pet Co. was waiting for the two month mark to send Ryan upstairs at the right moment; but Todd and Dwight were just talking; I’m thinking Clay ran interference so the bet’s still going.”

Derek looked caught between anger and intrigue. He looked at her with a scowl before, “Put me down for fifty bucks on two weeks from now. Ryan’s not an idiot, he’ll realize.”

“Not if he spends all his time downstairs with the fish tanks.” Bailey pointed out.

“Why is he even managing a Hot Topic if he loved animals so much?”

“He’d never sell anything if he worked downstairs, that’s why.” Their customer pointed out, wandering back to the Barnes and Noble with her drink. “Good luck boys!”

Oh it’s on, Derek thought, not realizing how difficult a task it would actually be to accomplish.

---

Two months of this nonsense aside, Dwight Houston had not set out to completely disregard professionalism and decorum when he got this throwaway job at the mall. His mother raised him better than that- or so she kept saying. He was only here for the sole purpose of keeping his car and proving he was responsible- nothing more. If he had enough knowledge of alternative culture to tell people why Hot Topic was the worst place to shop, that wasn’t his problem. He was merely the solution.

When Todd Hendricks, or “Hipster Guy” as he referred to him for the first two weeks in his head, walked in, there was no master plan to get back at his manager for promoting him in this insanity. No, it was only a short conversation, based around Todd’s utter incompetence.

“If she’s a real goth, she will not want anything we sell here. This is emo shit, New Oracle in Glensdale is the real space for crystals. This is just plastic and Yellow 33!” Dwight shook the fake silver jewellery at the customer and his wide rimmed glasses, plaid shirt, and rough, red scarf. “Your sister will not like this.”

“But that’s why it’s funny. Because it’s not authentic.” The customer (who would be known as Todd) said. “She’ll hate it and it’ll be hilarious.”

“It’s offensive! You say she’s a witch, then it’s doubly offensive.” Dwight said, motioning to put the piece back up on the highest shelf with the pole hook.

“I’m her brother, she’ll know it’s a joke.” He argued. “I’m not here to rock your goth purist boat.”

“I am not a goth,” Dwight said, putting the offending piece out of reach. “I am a post-industrial punk with spiritualist leanings; its completely different.”

“Sure.” Was the response, grinning like he’d not proven anything.

Dwight groaned, “Clay, back me up here; the Vampire Diaries spinoff jewellery is not something we should be promoting to any self-respecting goth.”

His part-timer, Clay Rizzo, poked out from behind the piercing display where he totally wasn’t trying to steal new lip rings. “I don’t know Dwight; I am one of those emo pieces of shit, so maybe I’d recommend it?”

“I get no support around here!” Dwight said, stalking to the back of the store. “Impossible!”

Todd looked over to the part-timer, decked in the unofficial uniform of all black and a hundred emo-band pins. “I think I’m dropping by more often.”

Clay gave him an evil grin. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

---

From there it escalated; Todd coming in multiple times a week just to annoy Dwight. Well, that’s what Dwight assumed until Todd asked for his phone number.

“What? Why’d you want that?”

Todd looked at him like he was an idiot. “Because I’ve been flirting with you this whole time? Were you not…”

Clay, unknown to the two of them, was watching with Robin and Jake from behind the t-shirts. They were supposed to be executing the planogram; but why do that when there was drama to observe?

“I was not.” Dwight said robotically. “Uh, okay, that’s…”

“I literally looped a tie around your neck and pulled you in, and you didn’t realize I was into you?”

Clay, who remembered that exchange, had to be smothered with a Haven shirt but Jake to stop him from making noise.

“In my defence, I’m not used to people flirting with me.”

“If you’re not interested, that’s fine. I just thought-”

“I’m not not interested?” Dwight interjected before Todd turned away and walked out. “I’m just, uh, not used to … this?”

“I can work with that.”

It somehow progressed, in spite of Dwight’s inherent awkwardness. Jake, Robin, Jasper, and Clay respectively waving the pair off whenever Dwight took his lunch break now.

“They grow up so fast.” Clay said dramatically while Dwight gave him the finger. Todd just smiled at his conspirator and told them to take care of the store. Not that he worked there. He was there often enough he’d take to reminding Dwight about stock orders, schedules, and that Jake had a family dinner coming up so someone had to get it covered. The store had never run so well as it did when Todd started dating their assistant manager.

---

“Where did you guys put the Manic Panic?” Ryan Cobb, actual manager of Hot Topic, called out from the stockroom. “There should be a packing slip for a 3 pack of each colour, but all I see is overstock of those short-shorts!”

“I don’t know, ask Jake,” Dwight said, standing on a step ladder with Jasper spotting him. “He was in last night when the delivery came in.”

“I’m asking you. How can you be my assistant manager and not know where the hair dye is? We have that Chang girl coming in later and I promised her we’d have her order in!” Ryan called. “I’m going on break, that dye should be on the shelf when I get back.”

Ryan left, once again for supposedly fifteen minutes- but the entire staff knew he’d be gone for the rest of the day downstairs to play with the parakeets Pet Co. just got in.

“Oh, you’re in trouble.” Robin said, amused.

“Shut up.” Dwight muttered. “I bet Jake just put them somewhere weird. Call him and see what’s going on.”

“I’ll call him. He told me nothing came in last night though.”

“Perfect, just fucking perfect.” Dwight groaned.  

“What’s wrong?” Todd asked, coming in with a cardboard tray of drinks. “I just saw Ryan go by, if he’s actually in the store for any minute I’m scared the place will burst into flames.”

“Once in a blue moon, it happens I guess.” Dwight admitted, climbing down the ladder to receive his kiss on the cheek and the green tea Todd brought for him.

“What’s happening?” Todd asked, taking his own coffee off the tray and pushing the sugar-laden third and fourth cups to the part-timers he’d been subtly converting to his side. Jasper particularly grabbed his eagerly, gushing thank yous.

“Jake might have lost a delivery.” Dwight paused, “Or not? I don’t know about the warehouse, but they’ve been fucking up recently anyways. I swear I can’t find last night’s order but the stockroom does look like shit…”

“You have a computer? There should be a record of orders received and rejected? I know not everyone still does things hard copy.” Todd suggested.

“It’s in the manager’s office!” Robin volunteered. “Not that we’re allowed in there. It’s for Ryan and Dwight only.”

“Well, they can’t fire me so I don’t care about that rule.” Todd said, taking a sip of his coffee and beelining to the back room.

Dwight scrambled to follow him. “No! No! No customers in the back!”

“Oh come on, if Ryan’s going to get mad at you about it then I might as well try to help.” Todd said, finding the tiny room easily and placing himself in the desk chair like he owned the place. “Password’s hottopic123, very creative, not hacking proof at all.”

“It’s a formality, that’s why it’s on the post-it.” Dwight grumbled, reluctant to admit he was grateful for the help.

“Okay, well according to your emails it’s right there. They’re not sending it because of the USPS strike. I don’t know why Ryan didn’t notice that.” Todd said after a few open tabs and a control+f.

“Oh that’s why.” Dwight grumbled, pointing to the open tabs on tanks for tropical fish. “He was distracted.”

“Why is he in charge of a Hot Topic if he doesn’t want to even work here?” Todd asked, looking through the pages. “Like, if you’re desperate you could work for the raptor sanctuary; they’re hiring.”

“Wait, you know the raptor sanctuary?” Dwight asked, intrigued. “I have an owl there.”

“I’m sponsoring Rowena, the prairie-”

“Merlin.” Dwight finished. “Yeah, she’s the one who the workers are teaching how to do the flight tricks right?”

“Yeah.” Todd paused, “You’re Castiel’s sponsor? I thought that name was stupid.”

“It’s not stupid! It’s a good name!” Dwight said before realizing Todd was joking with him. “Oh, okay.”

“So, if Ryan is going to ignore the email in his inbox in favour of spending all his time at Pet Co. I propose we do something to get him back.” Todd said, spinning around in the chair and closing the door to the office. It was more like a cupboard with how much room there was.

Dwight looked at him suspiciously. “What do you mean?”

Todd locked the door, “You’ll see.”

---

Robin wasn’t sure what was happening until he went to knock on the door and heard it. Shit. Maybe Dwight was cool.

First thing he did was tell Jake over the phone, who told Jasper, who told Clay- who told literally the entire mall by the time he’d made it in for his closing shift.

“Who knew the dude had it in him.” Jake said, punching in, careful to give the office door a lot of room. “I mean, I would do that but Dwight’s always struck me as a bit of a-”

“A nerd?” Jasper supplied.

“I’m so proud of my dads.” Clay said, already on the top of a stepladder switching out t-shirts. “Like, I can’t use that office so I don’t give a shit- but it’s also hilarious. How long do you think it takes Ryan to notice?”

“First, they’re not your dads.” Jake said.

“Todd gave me a gold star for my pins last week, they’re my dads.” Clay said, half joking, but mostly trying to annoy Jake.

“Okay, fine. Secondly, Ryan isn’t going to notice shit. If he hasn’t notice you’ve been stealing lip rings to wear while at work he is not going to notice Dwight’s boyfriend fucked him in the office.”

“Or did Dwight fuck him?” Jasper asked.

“I don’t care.” Jake dismissed the comment. “Either way, it’ll be, like a year before Ryan realizes something is up.”

Clay grinned, “Care to put your money where your mouth is?”

“You’re on.”

The pot, by the time Pet Co., Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, and Radio Shack got in on the action, was somewhere around $400. The only ones unaware, were the couple in question and Ryan Cobb.

---

“Shit, Clay! This isn’t what it looks like.” Dwight said hurriedly, Clay pulling open the curtain to the change rooms enough to poke his head in.

“Really? Because it looks like you’re just passionately embracing Todd.” Clay shrugged, “I could be wrong.”  

Todd would have normally made a quip back, but he was too close to reply. “Uh, not a good time.”

“Well, you’ve got almost no time at all for this quickie because Ryan is on his way back. AKA, he’s on the elevator and if you’re here balls deep-“

“I will curse you so hard-”

“You’re already hard, I get it. Put some pants on, wrap it up.” Clay said, flipping the curtain closed. At least the two of them were polite enough to not make any of the part-timers do cleaning duties on these occasions.

Either way, Clay has a vested interest in not alerting Ryan right now. The pot was up to $800 now, and he would need that for next semester’s books. College was expensive.

---

In the end, it wasn’t Ryan who caught them; it was the night security guard who got them outside in Dwight’s ridiculously out of date Chevy. With an ‘indecent exposure’ strike on his record, Ryan had to let Dwight go. The betting pool wasn’t sure if this meant the bet was on, or off.

The next week, when he found Todd wandering past the Hot Topic to the men’s bathrooms with one lanky, gothic boyfriend in tow- he shot Todd a thumbs up and informed the rest of the mall the game was still on.

Ryan Cobb still didn’t know about his desk chair, so money was still up for grabs. Nice.

#daltonficbigbang2020 #daltonfic #mat #lols #otp #dwodd #dwight houston #todd hendricks #derek siegerson #bailey tipton #clay rizzo #jake paige #ryan cobb #jasper miller #robin woods #oneshot #artemiswrites

[lumiolivier]

Chapter Eighteen:  Duality of a Broken Heart

Word Count:  3772

Chapter No. 18/36

Notes:    It’s going to get kind of sad here, guys.  

Chapter Seventeen:  A Dark World Without Light

Another day, another dime. I crawled out of my parents’ bed and went into their bathroom.  Their shower was better than mine and a shower sounded like a hell of an idea. And coffee.  Coffee in the shower.  I’m a genius.  But that’s ridiculous, even for me.  I powered through my shower and threw on Edward Elric’s mechanic/future mother of his children, Winry Rockbell.  

 It didn’t take much for me to be Winry.  White tank top.  Short, dark blue skirt.  A little black jacket.  Even half asleep, I still looked cuter than all hell.  Good enough.  However, I still had one little thing to take care of.  I crawled back into bed with my sleepy boyfriend.  God, Julian was cute when he was sleeping.  It almost felt criminal to wake him.  But alas, we had work.  I couldn’t let him sleep.  Griffin would have my ass.

 “Julian,” I kissed his cheek, “Wake up.”

 “I don’t want to,” he groaned, “Can you come back later?”

 “No,” I giggled, “Because if I let you sleep any more, you really won’t want to get up and we’ll be late for work.”

 “I have a question,” Julian kept his eyes shut, pulling me against his chest.

 “What’s that?”

 “Do we tell people?” he wondered, “About us being…us?”

 “Excellent question,” I thought it over, “Maybe we should hold off until we come back from the convention circuit.  Hopefully, by then, I can quit the café altogether.”

 “Does that mean you’re cool with me releasing our prints?” Julian buried his face in my neck.

 “The Sebaciel prints, yes,” I allowed, “Those are fine.  The Light and Misa prints?  Not quite. We’ll wait until I can tell this town to suck my right nut.”

 “But you don’t have a right nut,” he traced down my neck with kisses and all the way to my shoulder.

 “Would you quit?” I writhed under him, “We have to go to work and I don’t want to have to deal with customers all hot and bothered.”

 “Well,” Julian flirted, “You won’t be bothered.  Can’t say you won’t be hot.”

 “What did I get myself into?” I started regretting and reevaluating my life choices.

 “The best relationship you’ve been in thus far?”

 It was like he was in my head.  At the time, I loved my last boyfriend, but once he found out about who I was, he bolted. I put up a front for the entire town for the sake of keeping up appearances and it drained me.  May couldn’t come soon enough.  Then, Julian and I can leave for Kansas City and I won’t have to deal with any of these people anymore.  I’m banking on Julian’s fans falling in love with me the same way he has.  If Julian’s as big as he says he is, we should be good.

 But until then, we had to go to the miserable café and work the nine to five.  It was just a twelve-hour shift.  I could do this.  Besides, I had him to get me through.  And there was never a dull moment.  When we got to work, Kyle, of all people, was flipping chairs down and realigning the tables. I guess he really was going clean.

 “Morning, Kyle,” I greeted, “In my three years of working here, you’ve never been in before me. Did you come down in the kitchen again?”

 “No,” Kyle shook his head, “I told you, I’m clean.  I actually got up at a respectable hour.  I’m thinking about getting a dog!”

 “You should!” I agreed, “Spend all your money on the dog, so you won’t spend it on pot.”

 “I’m torn on what kind to get,” he lamented, “I don’t know if I want a pitbull or a golden retriever.”

 “Pitbull,” Julian insisted, “Some of the sweetest dogs you can find.”

 “Really?” I gave him a look, flipping the open sign, “I thought pitbulls were mean and vicious.”

 “It’s all in the way they’re raised,” he clarified, “My mom’s got one.  Her name is Luca.  She’s a big teddy bear.  She got her when she moved to Miami.  Said it was going to get lonely without me being around, so replaced me with a pitbull.”

 “You couldn’t be replaced with a pitbull,” I reassured him, putting my hand to his cheek, “I’m thinking more along the lines of a labradoodle.”

 “A labradoodle?” Julian scoffed, “Thanks, Mimi.  Love you, too.”

 “I’m not replacing you with a labradoodle,” I rolled my eyes at his stupidity, “I’m sure there are laws against that.”

 “Wait a minute,” Kyle stopped us, “Are you two a thing?”

 “No,” we bot shot him down.

 Kyle sat back, a little stunned, “Ok.  Forget I asked.”

 I thought I’d love sober Kyle.  Unfortunately, his senses are a little sharper than usual.  And he had all of yesterday to get it out of his system. All while my boyfriend and I were a pair of serial killers in Kansas City.  This could be problematic.  While Kyle was still smoking pot, we didn’t have to walk on eggshells.  Now?  This was a minefield.

 “Kyle,” I ordered, “Get in the kitchen.  You know what to do.”

 “Yes, ma’am,” he pushed to doors and resumed his usual post.

 “Mimi?” Julian caught on, “You ok?”

 “I don’t know,” I kept my voice down, “That was a little too close for comfort.  What if he finds out?  Worse, what if he tells the boss?”

 “So what if he does?”

 “Do the words sexual harassment not mean anything to you?” I worried, “We could end up losing our jobs over this.”

 “Does the café have a policy about that sort of thing?” Julian asked.

 “Yeah,” I bit my tongue, “I probably should’ve told you about that before I hired you on.”

 “In your defense, though,” he sighed out, “I wasn’t expecting to fall for you.  That just…happened.”

 “I really like that it did,” I blushed.

 Ding!

 “Mimi,” my favorite little hot mess came in, “I’m dead inside.”

 “Good morning to you, too, Roni,” I gave her a big hug, “You ok, sweetie?”

 “I’m dead,” she shook in my arms, “And I’m not going to homecoming anymore.”

 “Why not?” I picked her head up.

 “Because,” her eyes started swelling full of tears, “He…He…”

 “Oh, honey,” I held her a little tighter, “What happened?”

 “We’re done,” Veronica bawled into my shoulder, “Luke stayed over last night and his phone was going off at four o'clock this morning…with some other girl’s nudes on his screen…”

 “Did you ask him about it?” I sat her down, “Julian, get her something.”

 “Sure,” he jumped behind the counter.

 “Of course I did,” she sobbed, “He said, and I’m quoting here, she was just a friend.  A friend that sends him pictures of her vagina on a regular basis.  For the last three months.”

 “Oh, Veronica,” my heart ached for her, “I’ll tell you what.  For bailing on you this weekend, I want you to come stay with me tonight, so I can keep an eye on you.  My parents are going to be gone until tomorrow night anyway.  It can be just you and me.”

 “Really?” Veronica looked up at me with her tearstained cheeks.

 “Absolutely,” I wiped her eyes with the sleeve of my jacket, “Now, you and I are going to go into the bathroom.  I’ll fix your makeup for you, Julian’s got your coffee, and I’ll take you to school, ok?”

 “Ok,” she leveled herself out, “But how could he do something like that, Mimi?  We’ve been together since we were in eighth grade. I lost my virginity to him.  Does that mean nothing?”

 “Stiff dicks have no conscience, sweetheart,” I comforted, taking her into the bathroom, “Something my mom has always told me and now, I pass the wisdom onto you.  Think about it.  In eight months, you’ll be graduating.  You’ll go off to college.  You’ll meet someone better there that won’t cheat on you.  You’ll end up falling disgustingly in love with each other, get married, make babies, and live your lives together.  All is not lost, child.  All is not lost.”

 “Was I not good enough?” Veronica asked meekly.

 “No,” I cradled her, “No, no, no.  Don’t let him make his infidelity your fault.  None of this is your fault.  He made a shitty choice and he has to live with his regrets.  You don’t.”

 “You’re right,” she started to come back to me.

 “That’s my girl!” I took a remover wipe out of her bag, running it under her eyes, “See?  You’ll be able to go on without him.”

 “First loves are a bitch,” Veronica sighed out, “You ever get over yours?”

 “Eventually,” I nodded, “Once you find someone new, you think of the old less and less.  You’re an amazing young woman, Veronica.  If anyone can get through something like this, it’s you.  Now, come on. Give me a little smile?”

 “Maybe not quite yet,” she tried.  That’s all I could’ve asked for.

 “Alright,” I let it slide, “I’m going to call Tammy and tell her you’re crashing with me.  When I pick you up this afternoon, we’ll binge Grey’s Anatomy and Real Housewives of wherever you want and shitty Lifetime movies in footie pajamas with all the deep-fried glory you want.  Just the two of us like the old days.”

 Veronica threw her arms around my neck, squeezing as much as she could with what little strength she had right now, “Thank you, Mimi.  You’re a lifesaver.”

 “That’s what I’m here for,” I kissed the top of her head, “Give me your face.”

 I redid Veronica’s post crying makeup to be more put together and pulled her back up by the bootstraps.  Once she gets to school, I’m sure she’ll be alright.  Or at least good enough to get through the day.  When I got her out of the bathroom, Julian had Veronica’s drink sitting on the counter, waiting for her just like I promised.  As fucked up as this is going to sound, seeing how broken Veronica was over Luke made me a little more thankful for having someone like Julian in my life.  I knew he wasn’t going to screw me over like that.

 “Come here, Veronica,” Julian offered her a place in his heart and the most insane bear hug I’ve ever seen.  This did hit a sensitive nerve for him.  If anyone was going to understand, “You want me to go find Luke and kick the shit out of him?”

 “No,” she nuzzled into his chest, “I wouldn’t want you getting hurt.  Not because of him.  He’s not worth it.”

 “That’s the attitude to have,” he squeezed her a little tighter, “You going to be ok?”

 “I’m sure I will be eventually.”

 “Sorry, Julian,” I apologized in advance, “I have to bow out of work early.  Doctor’s appointment.  I’m sure you understand.”

 “Did you get gonorrhea, too?” he teased.

 “What?” Veronica looked at the two of us like we were on drugs.

 “It’s an inside joke,” I settled her, “Julian wanted to get out of work the other day, so he said he had an appointment for a booster shot.  Neither one of us have anything.”

 “Oh…Good.”

 “Julian,” I ordered, “Keep an eye on the place.  I have to go run her to school real quick.  Is that alright with you?”

 “Do what you have to do,” he let me go, “I got this.”

 “Thank you,” I threw my bag over my shoulder and the two of us were out.  It had been ages since I had gone to the high school.  I didn’t see any need to.  Once I graduated, I was free from this place forever.  Until I started popping out spawn of my own, if I were to pop out spawn of my own.  But, if I’m still living in Lenexa, this is an open invitation for anyone to kill me.

 As soon as we pulled up to the front of the school, Veronica started getting bad again, “I don’t know if I can do this, Mimi.”

 “Yes, you can,” I assured, “Just keep your head down.  If it gets to be too much for you, find me at lunch.  Hopefully, we won’t be too busy.  You know where I’ll be.”

 “Again,” she put her head on my shoulder, “Thank you for doing this.”

 “No problem, sweetie,” I gave her a pat on the head, “Go to school.  Focus on your work.  Come back to me.  Got it?”

 “Ok,” Veronica nodded, “Do I look alright?  Like I haven’t been crying for the past two hours?”

 “Don’t worry, Roni,” I promised, “I got you.  If there’s anything I’m freakishly good at, it’s using makeup to cover everything and anything.  Even when you’ve been crying for two hours, no one will know.”

 “You’re the best.”

 “I try,” I comforted, “Go to school.”

 “Fine,” Veronica got out of my car.

 “Goodbye, honey!” I sang, “I love you!  Make good choices!”

 “You’re an asshole,” she smiled a little.  And in that moment, I didn’t care if I was the biggest asshole in the universe. That smile made it completely worth it.

 I booked it back to the café before Griffin knew I was gone.  And if he was going to bitch at me, I had an ace in the hole.  Not only would it make him uncomfortable, but it’d absolve me of any and all crimes just so I’d stop talking about it.  Sometimes, being a girl kicked ass!  Fortunately, Griffin had yet to be there.  We only had a few people in the café and Julian behind the counter.

 “Everything ok?” he worried.

 “I got her,” I reported, “She’ll be alright.  Veronica doesn’t know it, but she’s tougher than she realizes.  It is cool if I hang with her tonight, right?”

 “She needs you more than I do right now,” Julian allowed, “You and I can spoon another night. Sure, it’s the last night you’ll have the house to yourself before your parents come home, but you can always come and stay with me.”

 “What?” I teased, “So I can wake up with Hatsune Miku staring me in the face?”

 “For you,” he compromised, “I’d get rid of Miku-chan.”

 “Get rid of Miku?” I gasped, “Are you sure about that?”

 “Would you get rid of Sebastian for me?”

 “Hell no!” I giggled, “Sebastian and I have a special relationship.  He and I have had many an evening together.”

 “You didn’t have him all weekend,” Julian pointed out.

 “That’s because I had you, you moron,” I rolled my eyes, taking care of one of the regulars.”

 “Moron was a little unnecessary,” he winced, “But I’ll let it slide for now.  By the way, did you notice my little surprise this morning?”

 “Surprise?” I gave him a look, “What surprise?”

 “Not very observant, are you?” Julian grinned, “I’m not telling you.  You’ll see on your own soon enough.”

 “Should I be getting tested for real gonorrhea?” I worried.

 “I’m clean,” he swore, “Don’t worry.  It’s nothing bad.  Just one of those things I noticed that was kind of bothering me last night and I took care of it.”

 “You worry me, Julian,” I sighed out, “You really do.”

 “Not doing my job if I don’t,” Julian poked at me, “And I’m not the one that fell asleep on me last night after all the sexy talk.”

 “I was tired,” I flipped him off, “Cut me some slack.  Yesterday took a lot out of me.”

 “What was yesterday?” Mr. Griffin came in with an uncharacteristically huge smile on his face.

 “Sunday,” I giggled to myself.

 “And what were you doing Sunday?” he asked.

 I panicked.  I couldn’t exactly tell him I was cosplaying with Julian, my boyfriend, in Kansas City.  Not only would he not understand what cosplaying is, but I’d lose my job.  This was it.  Goodbye, Center Café.  Goodbye, Lenexa.  If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go crawl in a hole for six years and have no contact with the outside world.

 “I was finishing some unpacking,” Julian covered for me, “Mimi was kind enough to help me out, rearrange the furniture.  I’m kind of terrible with interior decorating.”

 “Because the katanas on the wall really make the house a home,” I giggled, silently thanking God for this man.

 “That’s just the way Mimi is,” Mr. Griffin praised, “She’s so sweet, isn’t she?”

 “That she is,” Julian agreed, “I couldn’t have asked for a better friend when I first moved here.  I’m almost settled in now.”

 “You know what you should do now?” Mr. Griffin suggested, “Go to the Old Hen on Maple.  Best bar in town, if you’re looking to pick up a woman.”

 “I appreciate the sentiment, boss,” Julian thanked, “But I’m going to have to pass.  I have a girlfriend and I love her very much.”

 “She a local girl?” he wondered.

 “No,” Julian shook his head, throwing him off our scent.

 “Then, I don’t see why you can’t shop around,” Mr. Griffin gave him a nudge to the ribs, “You’re in two different area codes.  Keep a girl in every port, son.  That’s the way to do it.”

 “No,” he stood his ground, “Only one for me.  Even though it’s different area codes, cheating is cheating.”

 “Suit yourself,” Mr. Griffin shrugged while I held myself back from beating the shit out of him. He’s sixty-four.  I could take him.  I’d probably end up busting his hip with enough force.  But I still had a favor to ask.

 “Mr. Griffin,” I swallowed my pride, “I’m going to have to leave early today.”

 “For what reason?”

 “I have someone to take care of today,” I explained, “I’m picking up my little sister from school and she’s kind of fragile right now.”

 “She’ll get over it,” he brushed me off, “you’re not going anywhere.”

 “But, sir,” I begged.

 “I said no, Mimi,” he reiterated, “I need you here.”

 “Actually, Mr. Griffin,” Julian stepped in, “I can manage the front by myself.  That’s no problem.  Mimi taught me well.  Besides, she ran the front by herself before I happened.  I’m sure I can handle it.”

 “Well,” Mr. Griffin mulled it over, “If you can do it, Julian, then, I guess you can go, Mimi.”

 “Thank you, sir,” I smiled, “This means so much to me.”

 “You owe me some overtime,” he demanded.  Not surprised.  Heaven forbid he did something nice without ulterior motives, “You’re balancing books tomorrow.”

 “Ok,” I bit my tongue. There was no greater hell than balancing the books.  That meant staying here until ten o'clock at night, going over every single little receipt this place had.  I’d rather drink bleach.  The things I do for you, Veronica.  I’d be alright, though.

 “Remember,” Mr. Griffin chimed, “A team that works together makes dreams a reality.”

 My douchebag boss turned on his heel and left Julian and me to take care of his café.  I was looking forward to tomorrow night like a root canal, but I’m sure I’ll live.  Julian stared intently at the door, “You know what I just realized?”

 “What?” I groaned, reevaluating my life in great detail.

 “You think Griffin’s a homunculus?”

 I doubled over with extreme laughter, “Oh my god, Julian!  I love you!”

 “I love you, too,” he laughed with me, “Have you never thought of that?”

 “No!” I started to come down, “But I’m so glad you did.  I needed that.”

 “You watch out for everyone else,” Julian pointed out, “Someone has to keep an eye on your ass once in a while.”

 Ding!

 I hadn’t even been paying attention to the clock.  Before I knew it, the clock had struck noon and the lunch rush had begun.  And Veronica came dredging in, making herself comfortable in the booth by the register.  I brought her usual lunch order, “How you holding up, sweetie?”

 “By a thread,” she rested her head on the table top, “But I’m hanging.”

 “Has it gotten any easier?” I sat across from her.

 “Not really,” Veronica sighed out, “I’m so damn depressed.  Focusing has been a pain in the ass for me today.”

 “I know, Roni,” I held her hand, “I know.  We’ll get through this.  I got you through when your gerbil died.  I can get you through your first major breakup, too.”

 “What would I do without you, Mimi?” she murmured.

 “You’d be a bigger mess than you already are,” I assumed, “We got this.”

 “Why aren’t you motivational speaking?” Veronica grumbled sarcastically, “I’m practically cured.”

 “Don’t give me that,” I gave her a little swat, “Julian, you got anything?”

 “Aside from the fish in the sea speech?” he chimed in, “That’s all I got in my repertoire.”

 “All that was missing was the darkest before the dawn part,” Veronica stuffed her face, “I’m telling you, Mimi.  Three o'clock can’t get here fast enough.  My last class of the day is with him.”

 “Like I said,” I reiterated, “Just throw yourself into your work.  Distract yourself.  You need anything, text me.  I’ll have my phone on me.”

 “I don’t deserve you,” she thanked me.

 “Don’t give me that shit,” I stopped her, “Finish eating and I’ll see you later.  I have to get back to work.”

 “Ok.” I didn’t have to tell her twice.  Veronica ate her feelings.  Was it the healthiest thing to do?  Not exactly. Was I going to indulge her every culinary whim tonight?  Definitely. I drew the line at booze, though. She didn’t need to go to school hungover and I don’t need contributing to the delinquency of a minor on my record or my conscience.

 “You really are going to make a damn good mom one day, Mimi,” Julian praised, “You handled that like a champ.”

 “What can I say?” I shrugged, “It’s Veronica.”

 “And how do you plan on taking care of her tonight?” he listened intently, “Giggles?  Pillow fights?  Lingerie?”

 “What kind of weird, kinky porno do you have us mixed up with?” I giggled, “Because our slumber parties involve crappy reality TV and junk food.”

 And I had all intentions of doing just that.  I bowed out of work early and stopped at the grocery store.  If I know Veronica as well as I know I do, she’s going to want sweet. The more, the better.  I stocked up on snack cakes, grabbed a couple bottles of lemonade, and headed toward the high school, waiting for that final bell to ring.  Tonight was going to be a blast whether she wanted it to be or not.  There was no way in hell I’d let her go back to school the way she went today.  

#Sorry For Being a Closet Otaku #nanowrimo #NaNoWriMo 2016