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higuchimon · 3 years

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[fanfic] Extra Training

"Where are you going?" Ryouga wanted to know. Iris tucked her D-Gazer into her pocket, checked on her deck, and shrugged.

"To the movies with Haruto," she told him. Like she did every weekend. It was something to do that wasn't dueling - not that she disliked dueling, there wasn't really any way that she could, not with having grown up in a household of duelists. But it wasn't the be-all and end-all of her existence, and she only carried the deck around because Vector would start handing out knives if she didn't.

Not that Iris had anything against knives, either, but the way Ryouga and Rio both stared at Vector when he offered her extra lessons told her quickly they didn't need to know how good she was with them, even without Vector's help. Uncle Michael gave her sword-fighting lessons every weekend after all. Edged weapons were as useful a tool as a dueling deck, and one that most people were less likely to think an eighteen year old might use against them.

Iris far preferred to handle her own problems. The last time she'd complained about someone being annoying, everyone in the family plus a few extras - such as Uncles Michael, Thomas, and Chris, as well as Uncle Yuuma and Uncle Kaito, came down on the offender like the proverbial ton of bricks. It took months> for anyone to ever talk to her again at school.

At least she didn't have to worry about that with Haruto. They all liked Haruto and he knew how not to get on their bad sides. Plus, he'd learned more than a few things that his brother didn't know about, so he kept her secrets about what she could do that her elders didn't know.

And he was a fantastic sparring partner.

Ryouga regarded her thoughtfully, then nodded. "Enjoy yourself," was all he said. Iris knew what that meant - don't murder someone without one heck of a good reason. She was fine with that. Rio had taught her what a good reason was. So far she hadn't had to kill anyone and she didn't really want to. She liked learning dueling and fighting for reasons aside from blood-lust, no matter what Vector swore by.

So she headed out of the mansion and to the center of town, where Haruto sat outside of Heartland Tower and waited for her, kicking his feel lazily in a fountain. She vaguely remembered that he'd been a bit sickly and weak when they were children. Most of that had been before she'd come to this world, so she'd heard of it mostly as stories from Ryouga and Uncle Kaito, or from Haruto himself. When she'd first met him, he'd been getting better, and she'd helped him improve over the years.

Now one couldn't tell that he'd ever been at risk of dying at all. He leaped to his feet as soon as he caught sight of her and waved, eyes bright with joy.

"Ready?" He wanted to know as she drew closer. Iris smiled; she did enjoy spending time with him. And she enjoyed what they were about to do just as much. Maybe even a bit more.

"Ready." She nodded, one hand dropping down to where she kept her duel disk - and the little secret hidden inside the same pocket. Haruto nodded as well, and the two of them headed off. Both of them knew very well that Omoid - oldest offspring of Obomi and Orbital 7 - followed them. Omoid followed Haruto anywhere he went and did anything he could in order to help him.

Haruto had had to do a little reprogramming as he got older to make sure Omoid kept certain things he and Iris did a secret, but as long as they came home without any major injuries, most things could be hidden from the eye of elder siblings. Iris did wonder how much Uncle Kaito really knew. He didn't seem like the type of person who would easily be deceived. Yet if he did know what they did - not every lesson they had from Uncle Michael was sanctioned - he said nothing at all about it.

They arrived at the Arclight mansion relatively quickly. This wasn't their original home, or so Iris had been told. They moved to Heartland on a regular basis a few years earlier and set up residence. That was fine with her. She liked spending time with all of them.

Though she wasn't ever going to forget the day that Uncle Thomas and Uncle Vector both ended up baby-sitting her at the same time. Three fire trucks, five police cars, and she still didn't know how they'd avoided being arrested. Ryouga didn't like to talk about it.

Michael welcomed them there as soon as they entered, guiding them to the familiar sparring grounds.

"It's just us today," he told them. "Chris is working with Kaito and Mizael helping out Father." His lips twitched. "I'm not quite certain where Thomas is, though.

That was fine with Iris, and apparently Haruto to. She'd known about them being busy anyway. She slipped her duel disk out, flipped open the hidden slot in the back, and her sword hilt dropped into her hand.

"I'm ready for training!" She declared, and Haruto matched her motions with his own. Michael chuckled.

"I didn't expect anything less," he told them, and the three of them settled down to the business of sparring together. Iris snapped the hilt, hitting the hidden button, and the blade itself unfolded. This was new technology, spurred on by various companies in the city, and Michael had given each of them one of these as a surprise present. It certainly made keeping these lessons secret from the rest of the family a lot easier.

She took the lead, approaching quickly, and striking. They didn't often work with live steel first, but Michael's point of view on the matter was that one, they needed to use it as often as possible, and two, they needed to be careful. Using wooden or foam bats wouldn't teach caution. He knew how to take care of virtually any injury they could inflict on each other, and after five years of learning, they both knew how not to hurt the other. Michael promised that they would be able to hurt other people if the time ever came.

Iris wasn't so sure if she wanted that, but she also knew the first lesson he'd taught her - never to pick up a weapon of any kind, be it a sword or a duel disk, unless you were both willing and capable of using it. The Numbers War was long over, but who knew when something else might happen and she might be one of those called to arms. Better to be ready and never need it, than need it and not be able to do anything. Ryouga and Rio absolutely agreed on that, at least.

So she sparred and she learned, and Haruto fought her with all of his strength. She pushed back, struck down carefully, judging her strength and where she aimed, and pushed him back. He twisted his blade, making an attempt to disarm her, and she stepped back, getting out of the clinch and taking a different angle for her counterattack. As time ticked by, Iris could not contain the pure joy that came from being able to do this at all.

She remembered her life in the past very clearly, and how she'd died. She might not want to attack other people, but she would always want to be able to defend herself. That was one of the reasons her clothes were specially made to be just shy of being actual armor. Ryouga had insisted on that after they'd all come back from the trip to the Astral-Barian World. She'd never been there, but she kind of wanted to, one of these days.

Metal clattered against metal, ringing loudly, but they could still hear Michael's firm voice instructing them on what to do. Eventually he called a halt - both of them dripped sweat, and Iris wanted something to drink. She slipped her sword's blade back into the hilt and started to turn around for the exit.

In the exit there stood Ryouga. No, not Ryouga - Nasch. Her king. His eyes stern and his lips not smiling at all. Iris swallowed and essayed a smile of her own.

"This isn't a movie," he said quietly. "This is very much not a movie."

"I know." Iris agreed. It wasn't as if she could argue that. She would keep the secret, but he clearly already knew it. She'd never been able to argue with him when he looked at her like that. She worried at her lip, then mentally shrugged. "It's just extra lessons, that's all."

Nasch nodded faintly. "How long have you been doing this?"

"A while now," she answered. Neither Haruto or Michael said anything else. She suspected Michael was a little annoyed, if only because Nasch had entered without - she guessed - asking permission.

"I can guess." He crossed his arms, regarding her thoughtfully. "Have you been hurt?"

"Nothing bad." Iris shrugged. "I can hold my own. We're good at this."

His eyes softened ever so lightly and she began to breathe easily. Or at least easier. "I noticed. Did you relay think I believed you were going to the movies? That you like them that much?"

Iris ducked her head. "I hoped?" Didn't most teenagers go to movies with friends? She didn't think she was that out of touch. Sure, she didn't have that many friends at school she could open up to, but she'd heard them all talking about movies and going on dates. She did like movies, but going to see them every week just seemed boring. She would have far preferred going to the ocean or up to the mountains. The few times she'd hung out with Yamikawa at the Duel Lodge had been very instructive.

"I think it's going to be a couple of weeks before you do this again," he told her quietly. "And if you want to do it again, then I want to know about it before you go. Understand?"

"Got it." Iris knew she was getting off easy. Ryouga nodded slightly before he looked at Haruto. "Kaito's probably going to say the same thing to you."

"Kaito-sama already knows," Omoid piped up. "I told him after their firsts unofficial lesson."

Haruto blinked. "I thought I reprogrammed you so you wouldn't do that."

"You did." Kaito stepped up next to Nasch. "I reprogrammed him back."

Iris could see the pride in Kaito's eyes regardless of his words. Whatever else he felt, he was glad Haruto could do these things. If Kaito had really objected, then they would have known it long before this.

Ryouga gestured to her, and she started over. She knew that she wasn't going to be seriously grounded - he'd let up on the punishments and let her make her own mistakes for a while now. He wouldn't be that upset about extra lessons. If anything, what had to have upset him was that she'd not told him the truth. He'd get over it.

Just to prove it, she glanced over to Michael and to Haruto. "I'll see you next week," she addressed Michael first, then Haruto. "Tomorrow?"

"Sure," Haruto agreed calmly, with Michael nodded. He was clearly having trouble keeping himself from laughing. Kaito and Ryouga both snorted, but Iris knew what they sounded like when they were upset, and this wasn't it. Everything was fine.

Together they all headed out. Iris couldn't have been more satisfied with what happened. She'd had a great workout and she didn't have to hide her extra trips from the others anymore. She'd more or less wanted to tell them from the beginning; events just hadn't fallen out that way. Being older did come with some advantages.

Ryouga still made her wear her helmet on the way home.

The End

Notes: One day I might write more about Omoid and Haruto. You really think Kaito wouldn’t have one of those little bots assigned to keep an eye on his brother?

Ryouga was probably a lot angrier than he let on, but Iris is eighteen. She can make her own decisions, and Rio probably lectured him on that. Maybe I will write that side piece eventually.

#fanfic #higuchimon writes #zexal Week #YGO ZEXAL #iris (ygo zexal)#tenjo haruto #kamishiro ryouga #Michael Arclight

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curedeity · 3 years

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And the River Continues to Flow

Summary: Quattro and Rio are now tied together by a single incident, one that weighs upon them both. But they’ll have to interact at some point, so it may as well be sooner rather than later.

The hospital smelled sharply of antiseptic and cleaning alcohol, he could almost taste it on his tongue. Like a tangy citrus. White walls were occasionally broken up with windows that looked down at the sprawling city. Quattro could almost convince himself he was looking out for the view alone.

It was times like this he wished that his family had vanished after the Heartland Tournament, but that was unrealistic. And selfish. Quinton and Kite had a good partnership going, and Quattro couldn’t begrudge his brother for wanting that support. He had only realized how rare and downtrodden Trey’s smiles were after he began hanging out with Yuma’s crew. It was a good thing that his brothers had decided to remain in Heartland and help with the fight against the Barians.

But it led to moments that Quattro wished, more than anything, he could avoid.

The old, burned skin that stretched across his hands itched as he ran through his apology. He hadn’t written it down, he wasn’t a nerd like Trey. I’m sorry for being a fucking idiot and playing that card, felt too blasé, and I never meant to harm you, couldn’t capture the swirl of emotions that had been tormenting him back then.

But it’s not like he had any more time for practice, he was in the hospital already, and he wasn’t just going to skulk around while all the nurses side-eyed him. Quattro knew he dressed oddly, but it was getting a bit rude.

He stopped in front of a door, checking the room number against the one on his phone. Then again, and a third time just to be certain. Maybe they had left already? It was nice outside, Quattro could imagine them going for a walk.

Shut up and knock already you coward.

And so Quattro did.

Inside he a rustling, and a muffled murmur of voices. After a second, a high-pitched voice that broke in the middle called out, “Come in!”

The door knob twisted open easily, and the door swung inwards. Quattro’s eyes locked with Rio’s and there was no going back now, no matter how much he wanted to run out of this hospital, this city.

Shark sat on a chair beside Rio’s bed, glaring at him as he stumbled into the room. Rio, clad in white hospital robes that covered the burns he knew were there, was seated on her bed, flashing him a tiny smile that twitched every few moments.

Quattro stuffed his hands into his pockets and stood there at the foot of the bed, and for a minute they just looked at each other. He wondered if she saw some maniacal monster, cackling as he turned a life to cinders, or if she saw just the scars he’d been left with too.

He cleared his throat, hoping that it would encourage someone to speak. That someone would have to be him, of course, he was the one who’d barged into their space. “Hey,” he greeted, and hoped he hid his immediate cringe.

“Yo,” Rio responded faintly, and even gave him a little wave. Just a little twitch of the hand back and forth. The hospital robe slid down her arm as she lifted it, and revealed old burned skin.

Rio immediately drew her hand back, like she was just as embarrassed as he was. Quattro had to swallow the urge to laugh, to break the tension, because he was pretty sure Shark would punch him if he did so. And Quattro wasn’t one to take a punch without returning the gesture, and the hospital really wouldn’t like a fight.

“Uh…” Quattro rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around to see if there was a chair he could sit down at. There wasn’t, he didn’t even know why he wanted it, there was no way he was staying along here for longer than it took to say his piece, not like either of them would want him to. “I just, I guess, I came here to-”

Rio cut off his babbling, her hands curling into fists around her bedsheets, and she blurted out. “Battle me!”

Quattro had never thought he could slip while standing still, but he almost did at that moment. Words jumbled and fragmented in his head as he tried to make sense of this new information.

What the fuck?

“You wanna battle me?” Quattro checked, and was glad he had actually responded with a coherent sentence.

Rio nodded her head, up and down, bobbing frantically, Her eyes remained fixed on him, darting over his form and cataloguing him. “Yeah, we never finished our last duel, and I can’t let it end like that! I’m a duelist, so I’ve gotta grind you into dust!” To emphasize that, she slapped a fist into her palm.

Quattro could remember every move made in their last duel, he could remember how they’d blocked and countered each other, neither able to pull ahead. Until Quattro had drawn the card. Until Quattro had made one of the worst decisions in his life.

And wasn’t it crazy that nearly burning a girl alive didn’t top his “worst moments” list? No, that’s where torturing Hart was.

Quattro couldn’t say he had never wondered how the duel would end, but most of that was fantasy of what would’ve happened to him if he hadn’t played that card. Would he have been welcome back home still? Would Fa--Vetrix have been more reasonable?

He had never thought Rio would also want to finish their duel.

So, he pulled out his deck, and on the countertop they played.

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Rio had been discharged from the hospital, finally! It had gotten really boring, sitting around in those blank rooms looking at blank things and waiting for blank doctors to do their thing.

She had bugged Reginald into tutoring her so she could catch up with her schoolwork. Out of the duo, she had always been the most academic, so Reginald’s help wasn’t the best, but at least it meant she had reviewed some content!

She was already enrolled in Reginald’s school, so she would be starting there next week! She had to complete the necessary science review ahead of time, but she should have enough time to finish the twenty page packet.

Rio was not going to fall behind, not going to let her coma even pause her ascent. Rio had not worked that hard to become an A student and a tournament duelist to let it all go to waste because she had decided to take a year long nap.

There were very few of her possessions in the hospital room, not that she had much to begin with. There was her deck, and a new booster pack Reginald had gifted her. There were clothes that she hadn’t had a chance to wear. There was the journal, one of a pair she and Reginald had brought.

It shouldn’t have been that much to take over to their new home, Heartland Tower. Rio didn’t know many of the details, only that after some sort of disaster her brother had been involved with, Heartland Tower had opened itself up as a group home. Reginald had been scoping it out for the both of them, and had decided they should move in there. Given he was the older sibling, Rio had to go along with what he said. Not that she had any better ideas.

It shouldn’t have been that much luggage is the point, but given Rio still wasn’t allowed to do harsh physical exercise, Reginald would be unable to carry everything in one trip. Normally, this would mean they’d just make multiple, but apparently Reginald had decided to actually be social for the first time in his life, and help had been conscripted for them.

Now, if only that help wasn’t the person Rio still didn’t know how to feel about. Her hands shook as Quattro walked past her and picked up one of the boxes holding her clothes. Contrary to the way she had stared at him the last time they had met, trying to show confidence, this time she could barely lock eyes with him.

What was wrong with her?

Reginald glanced at her, seeming to know her inner turmoil. That was just like her brother, able to pick up on all her tells. Or maybe she was just that obvious, maybe Quattro was laughing at her obvious fear in his mind.

No, Rio was not afraid. This was just a regular boy, nothing to fear from him. She had even dueled him to prove it to herself! She had won! Rio was strong and she could take care of herself and there was nothing to fear from this guy who certainly wouldn’t set this entire place on fire again-

Quattro had brought his younger brother with him this time. Trey, as he’d introduced himself, was the polar opposite of Quattro, all kind smiles and questions after her wellbeing.

Rio wanted the trip to be over already, but it would take at least half an hour for them to walk to the tower, so might as well make the most of it. She would show Quattro that she certainly wasn’t afraid of him, and in fact she should be wary of her, because she was no easy victim! She’d fuck him up!

“So, do either of you play video games?” Rio asked, twirling around so that she could look at them as they walked.

What was she even doing, VIDEO GAMES?

“Yeah! Hart really likes some so he’s been teaching us to play,” Trey replied cheerfully, Quattro only grunting in agreement.

“What sort of video games?” Rio asked as she tried to remember who Hart was. Reginald had mentioned a few names while he’d been summarizing his last year to her, but she couldn’t remember anyone named Hart.

Reginald wasn’t always the best at giving overviews though, especially with how much he had talked about this guy called Yuma.

“Like, Animal Crossing and stuff,” Quattro responded this time, with a shrug that must’ve been hard with the box he was carrying.

Rio held back a laugh as she imagined Quattro as an animal crossing character. That spiky hair and cross demeanor, he’d really fit into the happy pastel world of Animal Crossing. She was expecting like, racing games. Fighting tournaments. Not…

It was just so surreal.

“Rio used to have an island in Animal Crossing named Butthole,” Reginald broke Rio out of her trance of mystified hilarity. Before his words had even processed in her head she had already punched him in the arm. She knew that tone.

“And you named yours Centerville, at least I did something interesting,” Rio argued back. “And I was like, 6.” She turned back to the brothers. “I don’t really play that anymore, I’m more into fighting games.”

Quattro cocked an eyebrow. “Do you beat him at them a lot?” he asked, jerking his shoulder at Reginald.

Rio gave in a shark-toothed smile, responding “Of course!” as Reginald vehemently denied everything in the background.

They reached the Tower and put down all the boxes. Rio glanced around the room that would be her new home, and began mapping out where she’d put everything.

And before Quattro and Trey left, she exchanged numbers with them. She was not going to be afraid of Quattro, she was going to show herself there was nothing to fear. And that meant she was going to show him how to play fighting games then kick his ass.

#and the river continues to flow #fanfic #fanfiction #yugioh #yugioh zexal #rio and quattro friendship propaganda #swearing #listen they can and should be rivals yugioh is just a coward

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justasparkwritings · 3 years

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Codename Cupid: Chapter 3

Previous: Love at First Algorithm

Pairing: Kim Seokjin X OFC

Genre: Light Angst, Secret AgentAU, AgentAU, Light College AU

Rating: PG13

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: None

Summary: Kim Seokjin and Lee Euna are flirting the line between classmates and crushing, will he return her feelings?

Daddy’s Favorite & the First Date

Fall, Junior Year

Lee Euna is the youngest heiress to Lee Enterprises, one of the largest conglomerates in the history of economics. Heralded as one of the leading forces in banking and stock trades, it has banks all over the world catering to the highest cliental, princes and princesses, kings and queens all lined up to put their worth, jewels and all, in the vaults of Lee. Their smaller subsidiaries managed the trading of stocks, networking in millions of dollars for various clients who inhabited a lesser tier of society but strived to reach the upper echelon. Generational wealth, for the Lee’s and their clients, made their work heavily guarded and secretive. Getting hired by them was near impossible, and once you were in, death was the only way out.

It was a misconception that Euna had little to live up to, as her parents favorite and owner of the highest IQ out of her four siblings, she was set to become CEO, while her siblings were relegated to chairman of the board, and heads of philanthropy. The titles suited her siblings fine. Dae-Seong loved bossing around the members of the board, encouraging frivolity and billable hours while scheduling grueling development that often-bored members to tears. He ruled with an iron fist, what he said went, that is unless the CEO had a differing opinion, and then, both out of spite and seniority, Dae-Seong fell in line with what their father wanted. Dae-Seong didn’t care for the familial atmosphere their father had run Lee Enterprises with, and favored a cold regimented environment that was almost impossible to work in. Dae-Seong always said that the best blooms came from the hardest earth. Whether or not that was proven, he didn’t care, at LeeEnterprises, he would make it so.

Jun-Seo and Kwan-Min loved running the philanthropy branch of the Enterprise. They, like their father and mother, adored a good party and held several charity balls each year. Together, they raised hundreds of millions for a variety of causes that Euna barely paid attention to. The food was always exquisite, the drinks plentiful, the glimmer of the party always outshining the family feud that erupted hours before guests showed up, and the scandals that would be whispered about the morning after. Though the scandals never tarnished the reputations of Jun-Seo and Kwan-Min, they certainly provided a necessary indulgence to all the attendees.

Kwan-Min, the second oldest, was thrilled with her role in Lee Enterprises. She and Jun-Seo were heralded as visionaries, doling out millions of dollars every year to causes that ranged from climate justice to underfunded schools, and cancer research. They were responsible for funding some of the most progressive movements, as well as backing lobbyists for liberal, bordering on socialist, legislation. They dedicated an afternoon a week, usually Thursdays, to spend their time scouring the internet for new charities to donate money to. This was the heart of their jobs, finding niche organizations that were struggling, food pantries in rural towns or women’s shelters in battered parts of the city, that sustained their other work and lessened the blow of the billions in their bank accounts.

It was hard to be known as a large corporation benefiting from tax breaks while subsequently funding social movements. The family never discussed the dichotomy of their predicament, instead choosing to let their actions speak for themselves.

Anyone could donate thousands to St. Jude.

Only the Lee’s could donate a hundred million.

While Kwan-Min found satisfaction in donating to negligible organizations, Jun-Seo found bliss in hounding friends and acquaintances for money. A natural salesman, he strived on the pressure he created for himself. Nothing was ever good enough, or enough period. He was always wanting more. More money to give away, more money to spend on vacations and lavish trips, more alcohol, more clothes, everything in excess. His work, and Kwan-Min’s, was regularly overlooked by both their parents, Dae-Seong and Euna. The good they did was always outshined by the amount that Euna and Dae-Seong pulled into the business, the new dignitaries transferring their funds, the latest piece of the Queen’s jewelry put into one of their vaults. They’d always played the role of second fiddle, and as years went by, no matter their accomplishments, they were never held in the same esteem as Euna and god forbid, Dae-Seong.

If Jun-Seo and Kwan-Min were relegated to the B-Team, Euna was first off the bench for the A-Team. Every Lee child attended college, but none went to the most elite universities with the most widely renowned business program, with guarantees to intern anywhere they wanted, except Euna. Her older siblings watched as she rose through the ranks, mastering the cello, classic ballet and calculus by the time she was thirteen. They watched, with pride and in horror, as she crunched numbers in her spare time, pirouetted across the most elegant stages and slung her bow delicately against the strings of her hand made instrument. It was clear from an early age that Euna was the best of the four of them.

In fits of anger, Dae-Seong would chide that their parents had hit it out of the park with him and kept trying until they got another diamond. If fate had been on their side, Euna would’ve been second, and if the gods really favored them, she would’ve been a boy. He routinely failed to acknowledge his other siblings, whom he owed a great deal of gratitude. It was their work that kept the paparazzi and critics at bay, their work that allowed him to go on benders and run his corporate torture seminars. Their good PR paid for his mistakes, with change left over.

Dae-Seong specialized in breeding discontent, of taunting his siblings, bullying them, forcing them against each other. Euna had recognized this side of him from the time she could identify his actions weren’t full of love, but malintent. The announcement that she would train to be the next CEO had sent Dae into a blind rage, which he quickly turned into a bender in the most elusive clubs. They didn’t hear from him for a week, and when he returned, their father had lashed out at him before sending Dae to a ‘conference’ for a month. The siblings knew what had happened. The belt had come off the wall, and Dae, though grown, had succumbed to his father. Dae was sent to a ‘conference’ every two years or so, when his behavior and attitude became so unkempt that Mr. & Mrs. Lee felt they had no other option than sending him away for a month to sleep, reset, relax and most importantly, detox.

There was something so pathetic about Dae-Seong’s ability to break bad and as punishment, spend a month being massaged and covered in salt scrubs.

Euna was relieved when her parents let her move away for university and elated when Mr. & Mrs. Lee took it one step further and sent her, each summer, to work at various branches of Lee Enterprises. A summer in Seoul, a winter break in London, summer in Manhattan, another winter in London, a stop in the UAE, followed by tours of the Cayman Islands and a summer in Rio. Euna was grateful for her time away from her family and absorbed everything she was learning. She didn’t just have to prove Dae-Seong wrong, she had to prove her parents right, show that her genius wasn’t due in part to her rookie status, that her prowess and instincts weren’t dismissible as beginners’ luck.

Spending winter and summer breaks at various branches, Euna let her work speak for her. She learned how to manipulate to make a sale, how to aggregate data in order to create an accurate projection of stock trades, to look at holdings of dignitaries and suggest how they could diversify their portfolios. The more she worked, the better she became. The harder she worked, the easier it was to pretend she didn’t know anything. Euna was in for the long haul, and that meant manipulating her persona to mystify and baffle the masses. A woman in power was a threat, and she would be damned if she let the company and the world take that from her.

She had watched Kwan-Min and their mother being dehumanized in the media, in board meetings, at the hands of her father and Dae-Seong. When they gave too much of themselves, the world readily ate it up, devouring them whole. As a girl, Euna watched Kwan-Min change from intelligent and driven to flirty and ditzy. She watched her sister, who she idolized in secret, disappear into the mold their father had crafted. Euna wondered how long it would be before she had to adapt a highly manicured image? A version of herself in complete juxtaposition of her ingrained personality?

It was this turmoil, this paradox, that threw Seokjin after their first meeting. She was nothing like he’d read or seen in their years at university or in the news. Though he hadn’t paid much attention to her and would admit he knew nothing about her besides the obvious, he was constantly being surprised.

“Did you check the latest model and run the analysis?” Euna asked on a Thursday some weeks into their project.

“Yeah, and it looks like, if Dr. Cho opens the market next class period, we’re going to see a major boom,” Seokjin answered. He’d been working on looking at Euna more, particularly when she spoke to him, and she found it all the more endearing.

“How major?” She asked.

“Multi-millionaires by end of week,” Seokjin informed her.

“Good, what’s going to ruin it?” Euna set her pen down and stared at Seokjin. His lips were pouted, bangs sweeping in front of his glasses. He was beautiful.

“If some major political event happens in the next four days, or if something happens in China,”

“Ah, China,” Euna said rolling her eyes. “Always have to look out for the Chinese.”

“The American market is fairly stable, but it’s the US,”

“So, hold your breath and pray it’ll be okay?” Euna chuckled, a sound Seokjin had never heard. He laughed in response. “You have a great laugh.”

“Oh, thank you,” Jin looked back at his computer. “You know, we’ll only have to monitor the project for a few more weeks.”

“Seokjin, are you trying to tell me you’ll miss me?” Euna inquired.

“Maybe, maybe I’m trying to ask if you want to hang out, maybe get a drink or coffee outside of work hours,” Seokjin shrugged, his blasé attitude ignited something within Euna. For the months they had been working together, she’d tried and failed to get him to ask her out. His disinterest in her, in anything about her, drove her crazy. He didn’t ask questions, he didn’t inquire about work or god forbid her family, or other classes she was taking, even her friends. She could have anything in the world, and yet, this man, out of reach.

“I’d like that,” She responded.

“Cool, how about coffee, this Sunday?” Jin suggested.

“I can’t Sunday, family obligations,” Euna cursed her family for what felt like the millionth time.

“Tuesday, instead of working,” Jin compromised.

“Will the numbers wait?” Euna was partially joking, which Seokjin caught immediately.

“They’re fictional numbers,” Jin reminded her.

“It’s a date,” Euna replied.

Next: Codename The First Heartbreak

3 notes · View notes

who-is-olivia · 4 years

Text

Track 3. Carolina

Harry Styles x OC

Olivia travels to Jamaica to help Harry on his album but finds him with another girl. [6.9k]

Genre: smut, fluff

Warnings: sexual language

October 2017

Harry’s freaking out. For the last three weeks he had been brainstorming and writing songs almost automatically, pushed by the presence of so many creative people and the relaxing environment of Jamaica. But these couple of days, he’s been stuck. No two words seem to combine and make a perfect verse no matter how hard he tries, and he’s trying.

Mitch can’t stand his wallowing anymore. He’s grown to love Harry as he is, but if he could delete the relentless perfectionist, he would. They’re running out of time and inspiration, so Mitch pulls out his secret weapon, getting his phone and walking to a far away corner of the manor. He dials the number and waits for her to pick up.

“Hey Mitch! How’s Jamaica?” Olivia asks.

Harry and Olivia grew apart. They were still dear friends and nobody could replace each other in their hearts, but they still weren’t able to tune in the same frequency. One moment they had big plans for their wedding, the other they were on a break. When he booked the tickets to Jamaica, Mitch thought Oli was coming along – as she worked with Harry more than anyone in the team and is a brilliant songwriter – but she wasn’t in the plans. In fact, they barely spoke for the whole trip because Harry supposedly wants to rid himself from every other influence. Mitch was the one checking in on her, and that has been going on since they first met.

Mitch and Olivia were more than just good friends. When he met her through Frank, he was of course intrigued. But then, working on her third album became something that he cherished, she’s a grand spectacle when she’s in action and it’s a privilege to watch. He grew extremely fond of her, it was almost offensive when Harry didn’t bring her along but it was also an opportunity for him to make a move.

“Fucking hot” he replies and welcomes her giggle on the other end of the line, “how you doin’? Everything good?”

“Good, yeah, Frank and I got some work to do, writing, producing, stuff like that”

“Are you terribly busy?”

“Not really... why?” she lingers on the last word with suspicious.

“We need you, Harry can’t write songs anymore” he blurts, looking around to make sure nobody’s listening. On her end of the line he hears a sigh.

“Mitchie, he doesn’t want me there”

“I do” he replies with a vocal pout, “I miss you, Oli”

He knows she’s smiling when she talks. “You’re such a softie!”

“Can you make it or not?”

“Ugh... fine, I’ll pack my bags” he hears someone approaching.

“Great! Let me know when to pick you up, bye!” he quickly ends the call and hides the phone in his pocket. The estranged visitor is Harry, half naked and wet from the seawater, coming around to hug his shoulder and look at the landscape. “What’s up?”

“It’s fucking awful man, I lost it” Harry mumbles, pulling him closer. “I was doing so good now I don’t feel it”

“Just give it a day or two, it’ll come to you” he bites back a smirk and rejoices in his clever use of words.

“Can’t wait” he unlaces Mitch and taps his back playfully. “We’re going out tonight, you coming?”

“Hm...” he stops, if Olivia arrives tonight he might need to get to the airport. It’s actually good that he’s away from the manor, it’ll make for a bigger surprise. “No, I’ll stay”

“Alright, grandma!” Harry taunts and takes a leave.

Night comes and, as predicted, Olivia arrives at the airport. Mitch waits until all the guys leave the house so he can call a cab and meet up with her. Harry takes a lifetime to get ready and leave, but when he does he looks stylish and fresh, his perfume leaving a trace of him wherever he passes.

“You look smart” Mitch regards and he makes a little twirl.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out but I still got it”

“Harry! Let’s go!” Ryan calls and he paces up to meet them, making sure to hi-5 Mitch before leaving the room. Once he hears the door closing and the engines leaving, he gets up and calls the cab.

Harry and the boys end up in a club that looks a lot like a pool party with a privileged view of the Jamaican coast. For the first time in months he feels a bit like an alien, not only for his skin color but for the over-the-top stylistic clothes, as everyone else seems to wear swimsuits and very relaxed t-shirts.

“Thought you said it was a club” he complains to Ryan.

“This is a club, fancy pants!” he laughs despite Harry’s uncomfortable antic.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna get a drink”

Harry turns to the right and steps down the stairs, aiming for the bartender. The loud Caribbean music is enjoyable but he’s not in the mood to dance, after the first embarrassment of walking in he’s quite unwilling to be here. He asks for a strong Sangria and takes a stool, focusing on his smartphone for a while. Every time he checks his texts, he hopes Oli will talk to him. Everything went south when she announced a tour right after he got the hiatus, and all the months he planned to spend with her went down the drain. Maybe she misinterpreted the fact he didn’t bring her to Jamaica, she might feel as if he’s trying to get back at her but that’s not what happened at all. He just doesn’t want the distraction, and their imperfect relationship is too distracting, when they’re together he can’t think of anything other than their difficulty to communicate. So they’re on a break, and he doesn’t like how that feels.

“Hey” a random female voice calls him and he turns to find a beautiful blonde lady smiling at him, “you’re not from here, right?”

A grin creeps on his face as he puts the phone back in his pocket. “What gave it away?”

“Honestly? The whole set” she points at his outfit and laughs, he does look dramatically out of place. “Where are you from?”

“England”

“Where in England?” she insists, sipping on some orange-reddish drink. As his eyes divert to inspect the drink, he unconsciously diverts to the creek of her shirt where he can see a faint outline of her breasts.

“Cheshire. You?” he shifts his gaze back to her face and notices her eyes wandered too, and by her sly grin she likes what she sees.

“I’m currently living in L.A, but my family is from Carolina” he nods, something in her accent made him frown when she answered L.A. Not only that, but the way she speaks makes him feel very welcome, as if he could do no wrong in her eyes.

“I love L.A” His drink finally arrives and he sips on it while she messes with her honey-colored wavy strands of hair. It’s hard to look away from her and it shows when he almost lets the liquid spill.

“It’s nice... but it’s not home, you know?” she squints her eyes, almost trying to hide how homesick she really is. “I didn’t want to move, but there was not much to do in my hometown so my grandma gave me some money and sent me to the big city”

“I know how it feels, Holmes Chapel was quite small”

“Do you miss it?”

“Just my mum, really. I like being out and about”

“Out and about?” she tries to mimic his accent but it doesn’t sound accurate, just really endearing.

Back at the manor, Mitch helps Oli inside with her bag while she takes in the luxurious place. She looks around the living room then goes straight to the kitchen, him following short with an amused smile. She takes some fruits from the fridge and makes a small dish for herself, taking a seat on the isle counter as she so fondly does.

“Honestly, this place is beautiful” she says, biting on a green grape. “And look at you! You even got a tan line!” she mocks, fiddling with the collar of his shirt.

“I told you, it’s fucking hot out here”

“Mitch, I’m from Rio. You don’t know what heat is unless you’ve been there in the summer” he giggles while nodding, she’s got a point. “Hey, do you have coconut oil here?”

“Probably” he turns to check the cabinets and finds a small pot with a coconut logo in it. “Is it this?”

“Let me see” he hands it to her and after reading through quickly, she opens the lid. “Yeah, this is it. Turn around”

He frowns. “Why?”

“‘Cause your hair is disgusting” she insists, holding his shoulders and forcefully turning him. To make him more comfortable, she slides backwards and make room for him to lean his back on the counter between her legs. At first he’s a bit stiff, but when she runs her fingers through his scalp he feels something he can’t quite name. Her oil-soaked hands run from the root to the ends, massaging the length of his hair gently. He closes his eyes, leaning into her touch until she makes him face her to adjust the small hairs that frame his face. She’s close, so close he can feel her breath fanning his eyelashes, but before he can say anything all the boys walk through the front door.

“Hello there Mitch” Ryan greets walking into the intimate scene. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Olivia” he helps her out of the counter and introduces her to the crew. “She came to help us with the writing”

“Oh! You’re the Olivia!” one of the guys points out. “Harry talks about you all the time”

“Really?” she smiles flattered.

“Where is he, by the way?” all the grins in the group fade a bit as they all stutter to find a decent answer that won’t offend her.

“He’s uh- he was with a few friends-“

“We didn’t want to take him, he was having fun”

By their confusion, it’s clear they’re trying to tell a lie.

“Why don’t we settle you, huh? You can stay at Harry’s room, he won’t mind at all” Mitch tries clumsily to change the subject.

“I don’t think so” she shakes her head uncomfortably. He’s probably with a lady friend, judging by their embarrassment, and he doesn’t know she’s here. If he arrives with said lady friend and find his ex laying there, it’ll be so painfully awkward she can’t even fathom. “I’ll take the couch”

“Absolutely not! You’re a guest, take my room, I’ll share Derek’s” he suggests and Derek nods.

“Thanks Mitch” she smiles faintly and takes her bags.

Down the coast, Harry and his lady friend – who’s called Townes – walk with their feet on the sand periodically being hit by small waves of seawater. She’s terribly sweet and captivating, he’s awfully kind and charming, they can see no other way for this night to end than with each other. At some given moment, Townes points a nice little bungalow with connection to the beach and walks them there.

“This is my place, do you wanna come inside?” she asks anxiously biting her lip.

“Sure” he nods and waits for her to make way. The place is clearly a summer house, there isn’t much furniture and the ones there are crumbling with rust due to the proximity to the ocean. Some of the rooms smell like mould and make him sneeze, but the overall charm of the house make it quite cozy. “This is nice” he plays with the shell lamps decorating the walls.

“You like it?” she leans on the same wall as he does, mere inches between their bodies.

He takes some time to answer, his head buzzing with alcohol and the desire to wrap an arm around her slim waist. “Yeah... I like it a lot” he opts to take a blonde strand of hair out of her eyes and she shies away, her eyes averting his. For a moment he wonders if he overstepped but then she moves, running her fingers over the open collar of his button shirt.

“Is this a butterfly?” she asks, trying to peak inside the fabric.

“It is... the other tattoos are just as stupid” he giggles embarrassedly.

“Can I?” she looks up at him, her pointer finger lingering over the next closed button and he nods. She tortuously opens them one by one, her eyes locked in his tanned stomach until she reaches the last one and pushes the fabric aside, gently leaning her touch against his warm skin. He tenses, urging to touch her in the same unapologetic way as she’s touching him. She slides her fingers to his ribcage, where some of the older tattoos are. Then, with one last subtle look at his eyes, she runs her finger down his stomach sparking a reaction wherever their skins meet until she reaches the vines on his v-line, tugging on the fabric of his trousers. He exhales sharply and she notices how... tense... he’s become.

Instead of saying anything, Harry grips a handful of her hair and presses his lips on hers. She tastes of liquor and peach, her mouth warm and welcoming to his tongue. He regrets making it such an intense kiss at first, not taking the time to savor and please her, but the sensation of her curious touch worshiping his body loosens his reins. He presses her body against the wooden walls still with their lips attached, it’s his turn to feel her skin. She wears a orange shirt tugged inside her jeans, so he has to pull it up a bit clumsily before running his hands teasingly over her sides, the fabric clumping on his wrists, chilling hands sending goosebumps over warm skin. Just as a payback, he runs his touch over her stomach painfully slow, from her naval up to her bra and back down to the button of her trousers.

“Mhmm” she moans in his mouth and he smirks, having just confirmed she wants exactly what he does. He leaves the button there and slides to cup her ass, grabbing a nice handful of both cheeks and squeezing them apart.

“Townes” he parts the kiss momentarily but she plucks his lips.

“Yeah?”

He sighs, pulling her hips to crash against his. “I want you” she grins, breathing out a satisfied giggle.

“Come here” she pulls him to her bedroom, lights all down except for a window with a privileged view of the sea. She shuts the door and gets rid of her own shirt while Harry seats on the mattress still trying to process the situation. She cups his cheeks and kisses him intently, the strength unbalancing him for a moment as they almost fall backwards but get it right into a steamy make out. Aching for more, she takes his hands and presses their palms over the cup of her bra, urging for him to touch her. He squeezes them at first with her incentive, testing how they feel against his grasp, but then he digs into the fabric and looks for the two nubs throbbing inside the bra. He pinches her nipples curtly, sending tingles down to her core that immediately soaks. “Oh yeah...mhmm”

“You like that?” he pinches harder, wrenching a moan out of her. No one ever did that to her, she only ever had sex with her ex-boyfriend, and they barely experimented other than the missionary position. Although... there’s this one thing he always praised her for...

She kisses him one last time before pulling his hands out of the way and getting on her knees. Harry’s breath quickens in anticipation as she undoes his button and zipper, struggling to reach the inside of his underwear and pull out his lean and long shaft. At first, she gives it teasing strokes from the base to the head, feeling his size, then she reaches to kiss his balls, earning a struggled groan.

“Right there... mhmm” he grasps a handful of her hair, trying to hold it out of the way. She makes her way up from his balls peppering his length with small kisses, his hardness doubling the length she has to take. He exhales sharply as she closes her mouth across the head, her soft tongue stroking the most sensitive parts of him. “Such a good girl... you’re gonna take it all in?” she looks up with his head on her mouth and smirks, slowly pulling him inside her hollow cheeks until her lips touch his base and all he can feel is the warm velvet of her mouth. “Fuck...”

She bobs her head until she’s gasping for air, pulling him out and stroking his sticky shaft. The salty taste of precum is leaking and sliding over her tongue, so she recomposes quickly and hollows her cheeks once more, giving him the reins to thrust at will inside her throat, fucking her mouth until she pushes him away.

“You feel so fucking good” he strokes the hair he previously grasped, trying to provide at least some relief to her tension. He knew this night was going somewhere, and having her kneel between his legs was just the beginning for sure. She takes him inside her mouth again, and this time he thrusts her head faster, the warmth and the softness of her tongue against his stone hard shaft taking him closer and closer to an orgasm. “I won’t last long” he warns and she lets him out.

“You can come inside” she grins, putting him back in again in a haste so he won’t lose it. He humps inside her throat, she feels so good around him, so tight, he’s about to burst inside her delicious throat. With one final hard grip on her hair, he releases his thick cum inside her mouth and leaves it there for her to swallow. Taking his cock out feels sinful after such a good blowjob, he almost begs for another but it’s better to give her a break... and a reward.

“That was so good” he wipes the drool out of her chin and kisses her, tasting some of the salt he just dispersed. “Why don’t you climb over the bed and I’ll show you what I’m good at?”

Back at the manor, Olivia lays awake in Mitch’s room with her earpods, listening to some of her favorite songs. The salmon bed sheets hug her body but give her no comfort, maybe it’s the jet lag, maybe it’s the anxiety of seeing Harry after a while, maybe it’s the fact that he’s probably getting some right now and it’s not with her. Sex with Harry is always wonderful, either when it’s flirtatious and exciting or when it’s passionate and calm, they never had troubles in their sex life. Maybe this is what they’re missing right now, a nice shag to remind them how connected they still are. Sadly, that seems like a distant prospect – for her, not so much for him.

Right now, he has a beautiful woman on her fours screaming his name as he fucks her senseless. His grip on her waist tightens as her pulsing cunt throbs around him, showing the first signs of her orgasm. Townes reaches behind her, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as he violently thrusts inside her, skin slapping against skin, his long shaft reaching the perfect spot to make her gasp in pleasure.

“Harry, I-I... fuck I’m so close mhmm” she cries, leaning her head down but he pull it back up by the hair. Just a bit more, he’s close too, just a few more well placed thrusts and he cums, pushing all the way inside her. To help her get there, he humps in one more time, violently, making her lose balance. He keeps doing that and reaches between her legs to flick her pinky clit, causing her to scream in pleasure and tighten around him, her muscles tensing and twitching until she gives into her weight exhausted.

Harry pulls out of her stretched cunt and removes the rubber, tying it on a knot before throwing it on the trashcan beneath the study. He turns to Townes, spread out in her bed and panting, the tingles of her orgasm still running through her veins. He climbs over her and strokes a few strands of hair out of her sweat drenched forehead, she eyes him and smiles tiredly.

“Hope you’re not passed out” he kisses her cheek and runs a teasing hand down her sides, “because I’m not done with you”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m gonna fuck you all night” he whispers sensually on the shell of her ear. Olivia used to say a gentleman makes his lady cum three times before falling asleep beside her. Fuck... why did he remember her?

He can recall vividly that time when she whispered those same words straddled across a fucked up post-orgasm version of him. The way her braids bounced on her shoulders while she rode him, her tongue sucking on his finger when she was about to cum, the way her dark skin rubbed against his fair one when fucked her from behind, hugging her warm body close, hearing her soft moans when he reaches that particular spot...

“Then we better get started” Townes replies, dragging him back to reality.

At daybreak, Olivia wakes from her short nap with the sunlight creeping through the blinds Mitch forgot to close. She gets up a bit sore after playing with herself for most of the night to compensate for her loneliness, but she’s smiling nonetheless. Nothing like giving yourself some love to start the day with a bang. She hears knocks on the door and immediately try to lessen her grin.

“Come in” she yells and so Mitch walks in with swim shorts.

“Morning Oli” he greets.

“Good morning, Mitchie” she walks to hug his stiff self only to be reminded she’s only on her knickers and tank top. “We’re going swimming?” she tugs on his shorts.

“Yeah, we rented some stand up-paddles, do you wanna come?”

“Sure, but... aren’t we here to work?” she mocks, getting a bikini from her bag.

“We work after lunch, we’re not that lazy” he replies, walking back to where he came from as to let her change.

Harry still hasn’t returned, confirming her theory that he got laid last night. Mitch says nothing and neither do the other guys, and she’s thankful for that. They’re on a break but it still stings that he’s getting some and she isn’t in anyway included in that.

The party that walks to the beach takes lots of chairs, a cooler with foods and drinks, all that along with the stand up-paddle equipment. Back in her hometown – where beach outings are basically routine – things were simpler: she’d take only her bag and a silky towel to sit over, nothing more. While the guys establish themselves, she drops her bag with her silky towel and undresses.

“Harry just texted, he’s on his way” Ryan informs, “we better wait for him”

Oli and Mitch exchange an understanding look of tension, and she’s not in the mood for that. “Alright, I’ll just take a dip then. Mitch, you coming?”

“Yeah, he is” one of the men mock and the others tag along with laughter, messing with the tiny bikini she’s wearing.

“Very funny guys, can’t believe I’m stranded on this island with a bunch of 12-year-olds” he complains, walking along with Oli to the shoreline. She has no trouble walking in the sea but he refrains. “Too fucking cold”

She laughs at this stiffness. “I’ve got a trick for that...”

“Oh god...”

“You have to run and jump at once, no hesitation. Ready?”

“God no” he whimpers. She takes his hand anyways.

“On three. 1... 2... 3...” they run together until Mitch slips his hand out of her grasp and runs out of her reach, leaving her to play on the ocean alone. From a distance, he could mistake her for a mermaid, she’s just really at home swimming on the salty water. Thinking about it, this is the closest he’s ever seen her to her home, and that’s a privilege.

On the sand, Harry walks in hand in hand with a blond girl none of the boys recognize. They smile and laugh in their bathing suits, carrying all the beach paraphernalia to join them. Instead of basking in his arrival, the men tense.

“Guys, this is Townes, she was in the club last night remember?” he introduces to the bunch, who stop preparing the paddles and boards to stand around awkwardly.

“Hi!” she waves shyly to the guys, who just nod embarrassedly.

“This is Mitch, he wasn’t in the club” he guides her to greet him and once again he’s also quite stiff.

“I love your hair” she comments, trying to break the ice.

“Thanks”

“It looks good, what did you put in there?” Harry strokes his hair and immediately the smell of coconut oil spreads in the air. It triggers him.

He knows that smell, he would recognize it anywhere. How many nights did he fall asleep beside it and woke up to a pillow with that particular scent? It takes him back to nuzzling a silk sheet soaked with coconut oil, to sleepless nights when he would put her hair sheet back in place gently and pin it down so she wouldn’t wake up with messy roots – which made her very moody, as she turned out to be very vain. The smell brings everything about her back.

Once he turns to the ocean his jaw falls agape. Few feet away from him is Olivia, the estranged love of his life, walking out of the ocean perfectly without even losing her balance, parading in a tiny and provocative bikini, twist rope braids framing her face beautifully. She smiles in his direction, not missing the presence of the other girl in the crew. The last thing she wants is to create an uncomfortable atmosphere where she wasn’t even invited, so she goes along with the ride. Who knows, the girl can be nice. She’s above letting a guy create discord between ladies.

“Oli... what are you doing here?” Harry rushes to close the distance and hug her wet body. This might be awkward but it doesn’t change the fact that he missed her. She laces his neck and squeezes him in a tight embrace before taking some distance to check him out.

“Mitch said you needed backup”

“Of course he did” he notices Mitch shrugging.

“I guess I’m overstepping a bit” she comments between them while looking at Townes. Before he can think of a clumsy excuse, she makes a move to greet her. “Hi, I’m Olivia”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Townes” they smile at each other.

“Sorry, my hands are cold, the water is freezing” she plays a bit to break the ice while Harry shoots Mitch with a furious gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that, you were annoying me” Mitch crosses his arms over his chest, trying to keep his voice down.

“Then you though you could just call her here and be done with it?”

“That’s exactly what I though”

“Bloody hell...”

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d find another girl in one night” he excuses, watching Oli and Townes at a distance. “Maybe I lacked imagination”

“You did”

“Or, you know, in my brilliant mind I knew that if you just talked to her that’d give you the spark” Harry shakes his head dismissively, but slowly cuts the movement thinking he might have a point. “And since you wouldn’t call her-“

“Let’s go everyone, before the tides stop helping” one of the guys calls out.

“Are you coming?” Oli asks.

“No, I’ve got a flight to catch tonight, better pack up” she replies looking behind her, at where Harry and Mitch are arguing. “It was nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too” she smiles, hugs her quickly and leaves to get her paddles while Townes walks up to Harry. Oli watches from the corner of her eye the way they say their goodbyes, exchanging phone numbers, giggling, whispering in each other’s ears... she looks away and sighs, missing the times when she used to do the same. When she realizes the party is heading for the water, she picks her board and tags along.

“Harry, you coming?” Ryan asks.

“In a minute” he replies. Mitch hurries a bit with his materials to meet up with her.

“That went alright” he drops with a hint of irony.

“Shut up” she dismisses lightly with a chuckle.

She lands the board over the water and calmly paddles through small waves, the sea is very gentle. When they pass the shore break, it’s just a matter of standing up and paddling through. Underneath her, she can se the fish swimming in groups, taking cover under the reef, around her she can see distant islands, popping from the light blue surface. The sun is yet to reach it’s peak so the heat isn’t unbearable, when she sits on the board and closes her eyes, it feels like home. The other guys make a circle far from her and mess around with each other, but she enjoys a little private moment – that is, until her ears catch the sound of water breaking on another surface and look around to find Harry watching her from his board.

For a moment, they speak nothing, just look at each other with a bit of heartache. “You changed your braids”

She smiles fondly. “You grew a stubble, finally” he laughs, “it looks good”

“So do you. But then again, when did you ever look bad?”

“Not a day in my life” she taunts smugly and they return to a more cheerful quietness.

“I’m sorry about Townes, I didn’t know you were coming” Harry breaks the silence.

“It was meant to be a surprise”

“It was a nice surprise, I’m still happy to see you” she smiles bittersweetly and looks down.

“No, you’re not”

“I am” she still averts his eye, so he holds her board and climbs over it, making her almost lose her balance while exhaustedly shaking her head. “It was just a one-night-stand”

“Harry... you don’t need to explain yourself to me, we’re not together anymore” she replies gently, not willing to take a trip down memory lane and reevaluate their whole history.

“So what? You’re still important to me” he presses. They were together for 5 years, few months ago they were engaged, of course he owes her at least the decency of candor.

“I knew this was a bad idea” she grunts, burying her head on her hands, before recomposing. “Look... I’m not here to get you back or mess up your love life, I’m here because we work great together and you need help-”

“And while we’re at it, we could figure out what’s going on between us” she notices some of the boys can hear them from afar so she slides closer to him.

“What’s going on is that you can’t live with the fact that I also have a career!”

“What?!”

“You heard me!” she huffs angrily, “I’m not a huge popstar, I have to work to get myself out there, I can’t quit everything and play dollhouse when you finally get some time off!”

“That’s not true-“ he objects.

“Then why the fuck did you come here? Without even telling me? Do you know the mess I was when I finally got home and you weren’t there?”

“I told you I wanted to go!”

“Wanting and planning are very different things!”

He chuckles humorlessly, “Alright, that’s fair. But before you went on tour I though we planned on getting married, or was that also a wish?”

“Fuck off, I was going to marry you. Don’t get clever with me”

They stand at an impasse. “I thought we made decisions together, love. The fact we both worked so well is what made me want to marry you in the first place”

“Do you still think about that?”

“Of course I do!” he takes her hand to grab her attention, “I spent 5 years of my life with you, I made loads of plans, do you think I could just forget that?”

“It sure seems so” she raises a brow.

“Do I need to pull a ‘we were on a break’ moment right here in the middle of the ocean?” she tries to hold it but it’s stronger than her. She laughs hysterically as Harry takes advantage of her openness to get closer. “Also, am I supposed to believe you haven’t shagged anyone in three months?”

“That...” she lifts a finger, “is true-“

“Knew it!”

“I was sad and horny, leave me alone!” she raises her voice and pushes his shoulder lightly.

“Who was it?”

“I’m not gonna tell you”

“Was it Matty?” she raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“Really? That’s your first guess?”

“Come on, I need to know for professional purposes” he insists mockingly, “so I know who to diss in the album”

“You’re such a child” she rolls her eyes, “It was Andy”

“Who?”

“Andy, Andrew?” it doesn’t ring a bell, “Hozier?”

“Fuck no” he chuckles, trying to picture the logistics of this exchange. “He’s twice as tall as you!”

“It doesn’t matter... horizontally speaking” she smirks fairly proud of herself.

“Can’t believe you fucked ‘Take Me to Church’ guy” they both snort at the title while they both let their short-lived laughter fade naturally.

“You know what? I’m really happy that you came here” her smile dies to a smirk. Despite getting caught in all of that relationship conundrum, she’s still the funniest, loveliest, most tantalizing person he’s ever known. “I missed you”

“I missed you too” she replies.

He leans closer to her, invading a bit of her personal space but she doesn’t back away, “Can’t we just pick up from where we left? Forget about the wedding, the tours and everything, just stay with me?”

“Do you think that could work?”

“It better work, ‘cause you’re all I can think about love. It’s ridiculous, I’m coming up with a whole album about you-“

“Oh, you didn’t...” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“I had this plan to reach out after we went back home, maybe pick up the wedding plans and then give this album made of a bunch of silly love songs-” he mocks himself, rejoicing in the feeling of breaking through her walls.

“You’re fucking ridiculous, you know that?” she replies, tired of fighting against his persistence.

“I know” he leans to kiss her and she doesn’t shy away, just welcomes his cold lips against hers. He cups her cheek in a way his hand seems to fit perfectly, and it feels like a punch in the guts how perfect she feels against him. Townes is good, all the other girls he ever hooked up with were incredible people in their own way, but Oli is extraordinary. A kiss is not just a kiss, a touch is not just a touch, being with her is an art even when they don’t see eye to eye.

Olivia is the first to break the kiss. “We’re getting so predictable, why do we keep breaking up just to get back?” he laughs.

“‘Cause we’re not boring, love”

“Alright, but we gotta fix this communication thing” he nods vehemently. “Because I don’t know how many more years I can go on with that messy ‘now I’m here, now I’m there’ thing”

“I was thinking the same thing” he pecks the corner of her mouth, “See? Totally connected” he licks her cheek and in a spasm she pushes him in the water.

The rest of the morning they spend on the ocean, even when the other guys retire to the manor. She lays on her board, back flat against the harsh surface and Harry sprawled over her, head on her chest, her legs sunk in the seawater to make room for him. If he was mad at Mitch earlier, he’s not anymore. Nothing in the world feels as peaceful as the soft rumbling of the ocean and her fingers running against his scalp. It’s almost torture when they have to leave, paddling back to the house and walking in everyone else’s lunch.

“Thank god you’re back, we have to work on something, anything Harry!”

“Alright, I’ll just get a shower and meet you in the studio” he replies, leading Olivia with a hand on her waist. Mitch’s gaze on them lingers a bit longer, as he soon comes to realize he had no chance to make a move. “Where did they put you?”

“Mitch’s”

“Why don’t you bring your stuff to my room?”

“Because I’m fucking lazy, that’s why” she mocks. “I’ll be there in a minute” before she pulls away, he holds her close and presses a lingering kiss against her lips, brushing his stubble against her chin.

“Ok” he untangles from her and walks in the opposite direction.

Few minutes later, she drops her bag on the bed and looks around the luxurious bedroom. She takes particular notice on how distinctly Harry makes a room his own, leaving few clothes scattered but not in a messy way: some are folded over the table, some are draped over the chair’s backboard, everything is organized except for one of them which is just thrown over the bed. She picks the flowery blouse and it is a bit wet – it’s the one he was wearing at the beach, he probably carried it with wet hands – but she dresses it anyway, checking herself out in the mirror with it. It looks great, as often his clothes do, that’s why they often wore each other’s clothes, but there’s something strange. Inside the pocket, there’s a piece of paper.

She’s got a family in Carolina

So far away but she says I remind her of home

She’s got a book for every situation

Gets sent to parties without invitation

There’s not a drink that I think could sink her

How would I tell her that she’s all I think about?

Oli puts the paper back in the pocket and muffles a gasp. If she came to help him write songs, she’s awfully late. Something in her stomach turns and she feels like an alien in the room, in fact, an alien in the house. Completely out of place.

She doesn’t mention the paper when he leaves the bathroom, nor at lunch, nor at the writing session where he also doesn’t bring that up. The tension of that unnamed subject plagues her all day as she fears the moment it will rise so much that she wants it to happen soon and be done with it. So, later in the evening, after they all retire to their chambers, she addresses it.

Harry is helping her to dry the braids with a towel, one by one, while they watch a silly romcom. With her cross-legged between his legs, he notices her mind isn’t really at it. “You’re strangely not-chatty today, what happened? Am I... rushing a bit?”

“No... That’s not it, it’s just... I’m sorry Harry, I wasn’t sneaking, I tried on your shirt and I found something...” she vaguely explains but recognition immediately dawns on his face.

“Right... about that-“

“You should take it to the guys” she interrupts, turning between his legs to face him. “It could be good”

“You’re not mad about it?”

“Who cares if I’m mad? It’s your album!”

“Yes, but are you mad about it?”

She huffs, opting for the truth. “I am, but it’s not what you’re probably thinking!”

“I’m thinking that it’d be awkward to help your fiancée write a song about another person” he argues, knowing better than to assume she’s jealous or petty or that she feels replaced. Olivia might have changed, but the foundations are still the same, and he knows her architecture by heart. She’s not jealous at all, she often taunts him about both of them being with other people, she never objected to his affairs with Victoria Secret models – she often participated on them –, so it’s quite far fetched to believe she’s jealous of Townes.

“Alright, it is what you’re probably thinking” he smiles smugly, leaning against the bed’s backboard. She picks on his hand earnestly. “Be honest with me”

“Always” he toys with their intertwined fingers.

“Do you want me to go home?” he ponders for a while, trying to examine his feelings and finding the perfect answer.

“I want a piece of you in the album” he explains, leaving the backboard and adjusting himself in the cushions until she’s on breathing distance. “I want to write that one song that, when I’m onstage about to perform it I have to give a bit of backstory about you, and about how this song was made” she smiles fondly, reaching to stroke his sweet cheeks while she drowns on his love drunk eyes. “After that, you pack your stuff and get the fuck out of here-“

She pushes his face away but he holds her close, trying to kiss her despite the resistance. “Yeah? And after I get the fuck out you can write about that pretty American girl you hooked up with”

“Deal”

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edhaneyyy · 3 years

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Hope Because Humanity Is Within Us

“Being human is given.But keeping our humanity is a choice.” – Ida Protuger

This quote simply showsor tells us that humanity is a choice.Meaning wenare human ourselves but living here in this world, humanity is hard to keep for some of us.

When we get asked, what is humanity? Answering this question is just as easy as a pie. Humanity is the good qualities a human could have. Humanity is our ability to have compassion, care, empathy and love others. Humanity is helping other wherever and whenever, it is being selfless. If humanity is a person, the best example is Mother Teresa. But, the real question is, is there any hope for humanity when some of the human beings keeps on ruining humanity in our world? Our deepest humanity, however, is rooted within the fragility of all of our lives. Unless we work together we are going to be unable to save lots of the earth. If we cannot see that our vulnerabilities, and not our masks of perfection are what bind us to one another, we are going to be left wondering what's wrong with us.

There is such a common scene in human history when the media community says that men have lost their trust in humanity. That's because most people these days are starting to be cruel to themselves and others. They hurt themselves and the people around them. A common problem was the many facts that made this "virus" bigger and affected the whole world. When we talk about humanity, we should think of it only about human life, not because humanity is about humanity, including all humanity on earth. It is also a terminology of the qualities that make us human. For example, the ability to love, be considerate, be creative, and not be a robot or an alien.

We have to keep humanity within us. Why? Because that is our only key to prevent chaos in our modern world. Without a little bit of humanity do you think we can live, sleep peacefully and have friends around us? No. I listed some acts that show humanity from the website Good Housekeeping . ( https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/news/gmp5124/random-acts-of-kindness/)

1. Florence Rescue Force - After Hurricane Florence caused devastating flooding in North Carolina this fall, kindhearted citizens like Amber Hersel jumped into action. The volunteer from the Civilian Crisis Response Team helped rescue 7-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from their flooded home on September 14, 2018 in James City.

2. Donor Network - The decision made by Patricia Almonte (right) to donate the organs of her late 3-year-old daughter Veronica Garcia helped save three lives: Essence Walls (left), an 8-month-old baby, received her heart; a 2-year-old received her liver; and a 68-year-old woman received her kidneys.

3. Canine Heroes - A lucky dog got a ride from some unnamed helpers in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Photographer Sean Rayford caught these two men pushing a makeshift boat through the floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina.

4. Earthquake Heroes - Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City in 2017. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.

5. Helping Hand - American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendation for their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.

6. Moments after posing for a fun photograph at a local beauty spot, brave teenager Cheng Changjiang was dead. Despite being unable to swim, Cheng, 18, waded into the lake to save the lives of three young children who had got into trouble in the water. But the brave act cost the teenager – branded a ‘hero’ by onlookers – his life. Cheng was enjoying the public holiday at the rural spot in Xinyang, at Henan province in central China, when tragedy struck.

7. ryclectic’ wrote: “My Buddy Witnessed an Act of Utter Kindness Today…While he was standing on the corner waiting for the crosswalk he saw this woman buy two meals at a street vender and go sit down beside this man and give him one of the meals. She proceeded to introduce herself and talk to him about his life and just shot the [breeze] with him. She wasn’t acting superior, she was his equal, she just wanted to talk to and express inclusion to a fellow human being.”

8. This is a picture of a chap called Tully holding a 46 year old, wheelchair bound man with severe mental handicaps. Tully picked him up so he could go on the hay ride with everyone else. 5 minutes into the ride the man got so excited that he peed all over himself and Tully. Tully sat there soaked in pee for the remainder of the 40 minute hay ride. As soon as it was over he changed the mans clothes before his own. If that doesn’t show character we don’t know what does.

9. I will not let you go. This woman spent 3 hours holding the horse’s head above the tide after it got stuck in the mud on a beach in Australia. The horse was later rescued, unharmed.

10. Strangers Leave her Money While She Gently Sleeps. “alexthegreat90″ wrote: “I took this picture this morning. Ever been somewhere and seen something that amazed you? I’m at the east side McDonald’s and this lady was sitting in front of me sleeping. She has everything she owns in a small backpack. Curled up with her blanket she sleeps not knowing what is going on around her. While she is sleeping everyone is getting their money out and putting it on the table so it’s there when she wakes up.”

These are only few of the acts that restored humanity. These acts showed us that no matter how cruel the world is. There are still people out there who shows kindness and selfless love without any hesitation despite any situation. So what are those things that could destroy our humanity? Stephen Hawking who is known for his work on black holes and gravitational singularities thinks that there are three things that ruin our humanity, but I will only cite two. He have this outspoken ideas about human civilization. Hawking suffers from a nerve cell disease just like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which left him paralyzed and unable to talk without a voice synthesizer. But that hasn't stopped the University of Cambridge professor from making proclamations about the wide selection of dangers humanity faces -- including ourselves. He is part of a small group who voiced out their concerns about artificial intelligence.

First, according to Stephen Hawking, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," "The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all," The Independent reported. I believe that Hawking here is telling us that AI could destroy us just like in the movie entitled Wall-e, we could see there that the AI are already controlling every move of the humans in the ship. They are dependent to the robot around them and don’t seem to care to anyone. There would be no care, love and empathy left.

Second, if AI won’t kill us, our own self might kill us. For example, a major nuclear war would likely end civilization, and could wipe out the human race, Hawking added. When asked which human quality he would most like to chose, he chose empathy , because "it brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.” Chaos would be everywhere without humanity.

In the current time, we ask ourselves sometimes, where is humanity? There are certain issues in our modern world that made us question ourselves. Despite those, we should look at the brighter side. There are still good people who we have mentioned above.

This year, our humanity is being tested. During this pandemic time we should remember our humanity. On the occasion of taking care of the elderly, and those who are sick and needy. This is what's happening in countless hospitals, clinics and medical aid units round the world, where truth heroes of this ordeal – the doctors, nurses and physicians – are risking their lives to avoid wasting others. This deeper humanity must spread to each street, every neighbourhood, every city and each country if we are to defeat the virus with our science and technology but also showing wisdom, compassion and humanity.

In the event that food and fun are what we were destined to be, there is one thing we should remember. Indeed, even creatures can do such exercises. In the event that God made us human, there must be an explanation behind it. No one but people can comprehend the importance of mankind, and it is humankind because of insight that truly gives the center substance to human presence. You needn't bother with a solid financial balance to add to helpful exercises. Paying your family help reasonably is humankind as well. You're prepared to pay a large number of dollars for your clinical test, yet with regards to paying your collaborator; You need to spare each penny. Compassionate exercises ought to never be embraced to pick up distinction or get a superficial point of interest. You can without much of a stretch accomplish popularity through the work you do. Lifting the weighty sack of an elderly person is humankind, helping an incapacitated individual to go across the road is mankind, helping your mom at work is humankind; truth be told, it is humankind to help whoever needs it. How would we express or show mankind? One approach to show our mankind helping poor people and the individuals who crippled. Additionally utilizing indicating counterfeit mankind to pick up distinction ought to never be one your choice. Did you experience finding a major measure of cash and when you return it, there's the incredible inclination that we can't clarify? Since on the event of indicating our humankind to other people, we have that believing that we can not get.

Humanity is significant in our daily lives. It teaches us to understand the problem and gives us ideas. It helps us understand others. Humanities students specialize in writing and critical reading. Humanity encourages us to think creatively. They teach us to explain why we are human and to ask questions about our world. Humanity produces informed and critical citizens. Democracy cannot flourish without humanity. We all need to assist one another. We humans are like that. We need to live by each other’s bliss – not by each other’s hopelessness. We don’t need to despise and loathe one another. Because that's not what humanity is.

Some may say, we are losing our humanity. No, we are not losing it. We could see it everywhere. It is within us. Humanity is lively and the light is sparkling profoundly within the hearts and souls of numerous individuals from all works of life. They are of all races, societies, social status and religions. It is individuals who see their commitments to the world as their employments and they continuously inquire what can l do to contribute to distant better;a much better; a higher;a stronger; an improved" a stronger world. It’s just that, humanity is covered by our selfishness, our hatred, all negative traits that prevents us from helping and doing good for someone. Never lose hope for we still have humanity stored in us.

https://www.humanitystyle.com/new-page-5

https://kindnessblog.com/2014/11/03/34-examples-of-heart-warming-humanity/

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theskyeandsea · 4 years

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A Little Melon-choly || Orion & Skylar

Location: The Common & Skylar’s Apartment

TW List: Chronic Illness and Abuse Mentions

Notes: Just happy fun times at the farmer’s market! calcifires Today at 2:44 PM watermelons wouldnt be in season in Maine but YA KNOW swampfoxx Today at 2:45 PM Listen they're vampire watermelons so its DIFFERENT

The farmer’s market. It wasn’t exactly Orion’s style, but Orion had been sent off by the family to grab groceries. Since he was spending more time at home than usual due to the whole sun not rising ordeal, he was available to be sent off for errands. This seemed like a purposeful ploy. His mom was constantly on him to cut out all the soda and snack foods that he indulged in. So she made up a list and sent him off with strict instructions to return so she could start dinner. Admittedly, he preferred this over being forced to ride along with his parents to something like this. He was happy to hear that she had other plans. So instead, Orion found himself moving from cart to cart, smiling awkwardly at each vendor as he marked his mom’s list off one by one. As he fell into the groove of it, he was almost able to forget how cold it was outside, but every now and then a breeze would blow through and he would get the painful reminder. He shuddered, rubbing at his arms to create some friction against the long sleeves. Unsurprisingly, the list was in order with the setup of the farmer’s market. His mom was way too prepared. He was practically done with his list, only two things left when he spotted a familiar face. From the looks, she spotted him too. His heart immediately began to race, and Orion’s breathing get heavier and faster. He should probably just keep walking on. Give her some space. Clearly she wanted nothing to do with him. He didn’t blame her. But the two were close enough now that it would have been even worse to not saying anything at all. “Uh…. hey there.” He mumbled nervously and waved, “How’s it going?” This couldn’t get any more awkward.

While Skylar didn’t typically go to the farmers market, she figured that it was about time for her to get out of the house and do something, anything to stave off the impending bout of… seal symptoms. The endless night was wearing thin on her and it would be for the best if she went outside, got some fresh air, and talked to some people. So, she took one of her reusable grocery bags and headed out to look at a bunch of produce that she really couldn’t eat. The nice thing about the farmer’s market was that it meant a lot of people were out and about, with plenty of floodlights to spare. Safety and numbers meant the little bottle of holy water in her pocket would probably go unused. She’d started keeping some on her ever since Nic had dropped off his ridiculous shipment of holy water at her apartment. If he thought things were dangerous now, she was going to listen to that advice. Walking from stall to stall, Skylar smiled politely as she looked at the bundles of vegetables and things that she… couldn’t eat. This wasn’t one of her better ideas. As she looked over a few of the stalls, her eyes locked with someone familiar-- her breath caught in the back of her throat. Rio. As he walked up, Skylar’s back straightened and she stared at the weird fruits in the stall in front of them. “Hi. It’s going.” She said stiffly, “What about you?” She asked, not looking him in the eye.

Well this was definitely awkward. Orion should have listened to his gut and skipped the stand. He needed a few things from the same stall that Skylar was currently at. He figured it was better to get the pleasantries out of the way now. As awkward as this was, Orion felt it would be more awkward to just remain silent and continue to run into each other throughout the market. So Orion would bite the bullet and just say hello. What was the worst that could happen? “That’s good. Or well.. It’s alright. I guess.” He muttered, readjusting the hat on his head. He didn’t normally wear baseball caps, but the brim helped to hide the fading black eye. Not that he had much to hide about it. The story behind how he got it was more embarrassing than incriminating. “But uh I’m fine. I uh- didn’t know you shopped here often.” The translation? He didn’t know she could eat any of this stuff. But maybe in smaller doses and if paired with enough meat she would be fine. From what Orion had learned, Selkies were mostly carnivores. “Sorry- I am just here to grab a few things. Then I’ll be out of your hair.

“Mhm.” Skylar hummed, her lips pressed tightly together as she stared at the fruit in front of her. Wow, they looked really weird… like she didn’t normally pay attention to how fruits and vegetables looked, but these definitely seemed a bit odd? She couldn’t quite put her finger on why they seemed odd. Glancing over at Rio, she saw the way he shifted the hat on his head, and her eyes widened as she saw the slight discoloration around his eye. Gasping, she dropped her cold facade and stared at them. “Are you okay? What happened to you?” She asked, glossing over his pleasantries. They both knew that she didn’t belong here, in the farmers market. They didn’t really need to beat around the bush. “No, you’re fine. I’m just looking anyways.” She said, the words earning her a scowl from one of the vendors not far away.

Orion was all too aware how Skylar could barely make eye contact with him. She was focusing way too hard on the fruits on the stand, apparently trying anything to avoid looking over at Rio. He understood why. It was best now to just swoop in awkwardly next to her, grab the selection of fruits and then disappear and stop bothering her. But unfortunately, Skylar risked a glance at him and noticed the eye. “What? Oh, this?” Orion laughed nervously, pointing at the bruise and wincing slightly at the pain. He tried to keep a calm and collected demeanor. At the end of the day, it legitimately wasn’t that serious of an injury. “Yeah I’m fine. Seriously. I didn’t even get it in a cool way.” He admitted, readjusting his baseball cap again more on reflex than anything else, “I uh- tripped…. Down a hill.” He shrugged, “And I realize that sounds fake. But like legitimately. I was with someone who could vouch for me. I was walking backwards and I tripped and rolled down a hill and smacked my face against a tree root.” He started laughing, for real this time at the hilarity of his own ineptitude, “Pretty lame, right?” He moved closer in her direction, careful to move slowly. “Right, right. Sorry. It’s not my business anyways. I just gotta grab a few things.”

“Are you sure? That sounds…” Skylar’s voice petered off before she could finish the thought, but Rio had already answered the question. It sounded like a convenient story, but the way he was laughing seemed like it was real? Maybe? Glancing at his body language, she pursed her lips-- she wasn’t familiar enough with him to get a good enough read on him just yet, but he seemed like he was telling the truth. And, if their experiences at the failed anime night was anything to go off of, he wasn’t a terribly calm liar. “No problem, I’ll get out of your way.” She said, walking away from the stand. But, before she left, Skylar stopped and looked at some particularly odd items in the stall. For one thing… what were watermelons doing here? It was March, watermelons couldn’t be in season yet. For another-- “Uh, Rio…” She said, eyes widening as the fruit appeared to move and shudder. “You should get away from there.” Before he could respond, Skylar watched as the watermelon began to growl and rolled menacingly out of the stand. “Shit!”

Skylar didn’t seem to believe Orion, but he could hardly blame her. It wasn’t like Rio had a squeaky clean image of honesty to go off of. His entire life had been spent lying. Honesty was definitely a virtue of his. “Trust me, it was way more embarrassing in person than it is telling the story, and that’s saying something. I ran into this guy in the woods and we were attacked by this… I don’t know.” Okay that part was partially a lie, but Skylar had been freaked out enough during anime night. He didn’t need to go into detail on the vampire creature that had attacked them. “And I freaked out and fell down the hill.” There we go, full story out. “Oh- Sorry I didn’t mean you had to like leave or-” But Skylar was already walking away. Orion sighed and cursed himself for being so. Dang. awkward. But all he could do was try to shake it off and grab what he needed from the stand. But then he heard Skylar’s voice again, shakingly saying his name. He glanced over, seeing her staring pretty uneasily at a group of watermelon. “I can’t imagine that would be very good right now. Not in March.” But then he noticed it, the thing moved. And… did it just growl at Skylar? “Holy-” He began only to be interrupted when the watermelon began rolling towards Skylar. And along with that, it looked like more started to wake up as well. He eyed Skylar nervously, “Uh Skylar I think we should go. I don’t really need zucchini that badly anyways.”

“Yup, one hundred percent.” Skylar nodded, backing away. But, as she started to move away from the stall, another watermelon, then another, began to fall off the stall and roll towards her. Oh god. Why was this happening, why did this sort of thing always happen to her? Before she could continue her mental pity party, one of the watermelons lunged at her, the widest part opening up to reveal rows of teeth and a bright red center that seemed to be almost… bloody? “No, no, no, no, no!” She shrieked, running away from farmers market, pursued by a small fleet of rolling watermelons that followed her across the open grass of The Common. “Rio! What are these things?” She shouted over her shoulder, hoping that he was still with her. She hadn’t really bothered to check to see if he was running behind her, what with the awful watermelons hot on her heels.

Orion followed quickly behind Skylar. The things weren’t incredibly fast, but there were a lot of them. And they seemed to come pouring out from other booths to join the group. Others around the market were screaming, the collective noises stinging at his ear drums as they all flooded against his senses at once. Curse hunter senses. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to find some way to drown at the noises, but that only succeeded to distract him long enough that he lost his footing and fell forward, crashing into the grass and rolling. He pushed himself back up pretty quickly, but had noticed a distance growing between himself and Skylar. And some of those things were still following right behind her. He began running again, “I- I don’t know!” He screamed over to Skylar. That was the worst part of all this. He didn’t know what they were. Or where they come from. Only that they seemed to have fangs and clearly had a thing for humans and seemed to have red spots dripping from their centers. Was it blood? The smell of the food from the farmer’s market made it too hard to narrow down any particular scent. And he was too busy running to stop and touch the red liquid for himself. “Where’s your car? We need to get somewhere safe!”

Why were there always weird, terrible things trying to eat her or drown her or just kill her? Skylar didn’t have much time to dwell on the thought as she continued to run away from the rapidly rolling watermelons. And this time, it wasn’t even something that could legitimately be called scary-- these were just watermelons with giant flipping teeth. “You don’t know?” She shrieked, incredulous. He knew about selkies but he didn’t know about demon fruit? Great, just gr-- One of the vampires snapped at her pant leg, tearing a chunk of fabric from the cuff of her jeans. Stumbling forward, she did her best to keep her balance and continue running. Jesus. This sucked, this sucked, all of this sucked. “My car? It’s-- it’s over there!” She said, point to where her Honda Civic was parked across the way of the Common. “Run!”

Orion hated not knowing what these things were. He didn’t like not knowing things in general, but it seemed especially bad when those things he didn’t know about tried to kill him. “I- It’s not something that-” What was Orion trying to say there? He couldn’t tell Skylar that his family only made him study things that they wanted him to kill. That’s where all of his former knowledge came from after all. Since then, Orion has been studying what he could at the Scribe Headquarters but fruit wasn’t exactly something that he had been trying to read about. Apparently he should have been. “I didn’t know fruit could attack people!” He yelled again, eying the watermelon open itself up, exposing fangs and chomping down at Skylar’s leg. Orion’s heart jumped and he gasped before realizing that it had only gotten her pants and not her leg. He breathed a short sigh of relief and eyed the area where she pointed towards where her car was. He veered towards that direction, heading off towards the car when his foot caught into something on the ground. Maybe a hole, maybe a bump. It didn’t matter much. Only that he could feel his ankle twist and he fell forward. He raised his arms to try to cushion the fall, but his elbows hit the ground hard and he rolled forward. His face, down in the grass, the next thing he felt was a searing pain in his arm. He yelled out, looking up to find his right arm with a watermelon biting into it, and hard. Blood poured from his arm and his jacket was torn. Orion’s fist clenched as he cried out in pain and he pulled his left arm free from under his body. With one strong blow, Orion brought his fist down onto the watermelon and crushed it entirely, watermelon guts and presumably Orion’s blood splattering off from it. Orion pulled his injured arm free and pushed himself away. His breath catching in his throat as he processed the pain. It was a watermelon. It doesn’t matter that he crushed it. He hadn’t murdered a freaking watermelon. “Keep running!” Orion yelled, hoping that Skylar wasn’t going to try to help him. He pushed up again and began running towards the car again, cradling his injured arm in the other.

Her heart was pounding in her ears, her lungs felt like they were going to explode out of her chest, and she honestly felt sick to her stomach from the combination of adrenaline and running. Panting heavily, Skylar was dimly aware of the loud thump behind her, but she thought it was just one of the watermelons-- maybe it had decided to stop chasing after them? But then she heard Rio’s yell of pain. Looking over her shoulder, she was startled to see a watermelon latched onto his arm, fangs embedded into his flesh. But, what caught her even more off guard was when Rio brought his hand down and obliterated the watermelon. Chunks of watermelon flesh and possibly real flesh soaked the ground. Before she could comment on it, Rio had already gotten back up to his feet and was running her way again. Bolting to the car, she grabbed her keys from her pocket and clicked the unlock button, the lights flashing to alert her that the car was open. Throwing open the side door for Rio, she jumped in the drivers seat, slamming her door shut. A heavy thud slammed into her car door as a watermelon threw itself into against the metal. “Get in, get in, get in!” She said to the man, as she jammed her car keys in the ignition.

All Orion could think about was the pain shooting through his arm. He tried to ignore it, as his feet hit the pavement and drew closer and closer to Skylar’s car. The pain was temporary. He was luckier than many. His arm would bleed for now, but it would quickly slow down. And before long the only evidence that he was ever injured in the first place would be dried blood and a torn hoodie. He ran towards the car, a watermelon rolling smashing into the door as Skylar jumped in. They were surrounding the driver’s side now, and Orion leaped, hitting the trunk of the car and siding over it, and throwing the door open. He pulled his hoodie over his head and used it to wrap around his bleeding arm, careful to avoid dripping any in Skylar’s car. He didn’t speak for a long moment while he tried to regain his breath, but finally looked over at Skylar. “Thank you. Oh god. What the heck were those things?”

As soon as Rio was inside, Skylar threw the car into drive and pressed the gas pedal, urging her Honda Civic down the road. Her front tire smacked into something that gave with a loud popping noise-- she must have squished one of the weird watermelon things? Glancing back in her rear view, she saw that Rio was clutching his arm into his chest. “I-- I have no idea. Demon watermelons? Evil, cannibal watermelons?” She guessed, adrenaline still coursing through her veins as she tried to calm her nerves. Checking the road behind her, Skylar was relieved to see that no rogue watermelons were chasing after them. At least there was that. As she took another look back at Rio, she noticed… scars. Lots of scars, bruises, some faded, others fresh, covering his arms. Those couldn’t have been from just now, right? Pushing the thoughts from her mind, she focused on the road in front of her. “Are you okay? Did they get you? Do you want me to take you to the hospital? Or, I-- I’ve got a first aid kit at my apartment, would that be enough?” She offered, hoping Rio would take the offer for help. That wound couldn’t be good.

Orion was trying to hold back tears from falling down his face. The last thing he needed to do was cry in front of Skylar too. Hadn’t he caused enough stress in her life? He thought after all these years that he would have at least built up a tolerance to pain, but apparently that wasn’t true. The only thing that helped him get his mind off of it was theorizing about the watermelons. “I wonder if they were watermelons at all.” Could they have been some kind of shape shifters? It didn’t seem likely. Watermelons may have been a good disguise at a farmer’s market initially, but it hardly seemed effective to stay in that form while hunting prey. It seemed more likely that Skylar was right. They were some kind of cannibalistic watermelon. Which begged another question. Were they alive? That… thing that Orion had smashed. Had it been alive? “I mean- they obviously were watermelon I just… I don’t know. I wish I knew.” He had been staring up at the roof of the car, his eyes closed as he tried to not dwell on the pain or the situation. He heard Skylar asking about his arm, the concern apparent in her voice. Or maybe it was just fear. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on Orion’s part. “Huh? Oh no. This is fine. He didn’t bite very deep. It’s just a surface wound.” Orion lied. But he had no other choice. He couldn’t let Skylar try to treat him or take him to the hospital. How would he explain it when the bite marks closed by the end of the night? “I just wrapped it to make sure that I didn’t bleed on your car.” Orion forced laughter, trying to make himself sound more light hearted than he felt. He raised his hand into a thumbs up towards her to prove just how great he was. It wasn’t until that moment that he realized what he had done when he took the hoodie off to stop the bleeding. His arms. His scars. Out in public. He quickly moved to bury his free arm under the wrapped on, trying to hide as much of it as possible. “You can just uh- drop me off. If you could. I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

“If they weren’t watermelon at all? What, like some kind of magic illusion?” Skylar asked, trying to process what that could mean. Whatever it was, it had felt pretty real to her, between with her ripped pant leg and Rio’s arm. Those were some pretty scary illusions if they weren’t real. “It’s, it’s okay. I mean, I don’t know any of this at all. I just-- I’m just trying to figure things out.” She said, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself. As she spun the wheel in a less than controlled turn, she realized her hands were slick with slime. Grimacing, she wiped her palms on her jeans. They were already ruined, she might as well. “If it’s just a surface wound, why are you wrapping your arm like that? I’m not-- I’m not going to just ditch you.” She said, shaking her head. “At least let me get some neosporin and a bandage on it. Please?” Skylar asked, making eye contact with him through the rearview mirror, hoping that it would convince him. Ultimately, if he said no, she would let him leave. But… as much as she hated what Rio had done, she didn’t hate him. She just hated the way he’d gone about things. She wasn’t going to punish him, that wasn’t who she was. “It’s your choice, but, please, Rio. Let me help.”

“No- no. I think they were definitely real.” Orion answered Skylar, still trying to theorize. Pull anything from his brain that may help him connect some dots and determine what those things actually were. But between the pain and his arm and the now near panic attack that may or may not be building up in him, nothing was coming to mind. He wasn’t good under pressure, never has been. “You deserve your answers. Whatever they are. I’d like to help.” He tried to find a moment of peace within this conversation. But right now he was stuck. He needed to get out of this car, to make up some excuse to get away. But he didn’t want to push Skylar any farther away than he already had. He just wished that he could be normal. So that none of this was an issue in the first place. “Yeah- F-fine. But I don’t want to bleed all over your apartment.” She didn’t mention the scars. Honestly, he didn’t know which was more awkward. But he was pretty sure he would prefer it if they never spoke about it. “I’m sorry. If I hadn’t tripped this wouldn’t have been an issue.”

“Mmmmmmm.” Skylar hummed, tapping her hands anxiously against the steering wheel. Now that she was away from the watermelons, that she’d had the chance to catch her breath, her shoulders began to shudder, slight shivers running down her spine. Nope, nope, no. This was fine, this was okay, this was… it was gonna be okay. When Rio relented, she let out a sigh and nodded. They could go back to her place, get his arm treated, and then she could freak out. No freaking out right now, nope, nope. She was going to be calm. She didn’t even get hurt, Rio was the one who’d been hurt. “It’s not your fault, none of this is your fault.” She said as she pulled down the road to her apartment. Zipping through the parking lot, she pulled in and shut off the car, hurrying out to open the door for him. Her fingers slipped off the door handle on the first time, still covered in slime, but she managed to get the door open on the second try. Hoping he didn’t comment on that, she nodded. “C’mon, let’s get inside. I think my roommate’s at work, so we should be okay.” She said, praying that was the case. She didn’t need to deal with more questions…

Orion didn’t realize that they had arrived at Skylar’s until he heard the passenger side door being opened. He perked up immediately, realizing it was Skylar opening the door for him. He had blacked out? That seemed a bit over the top, considering Orion was plenty familiar with pain. Though he didn’t have a lot of experience with being bitten by a watermelon. His vision was blurry at first and he had to force himself to move so that he could see again. He climbed out of the car, mumbling a “Thanks” to Skylar and eyeing the slime on the car handle. Despite how fuzzy he felt, his hunter senses were working overtime to keep him aware. He could hear the slime dripping from the handle onto the pavement. “Cool. Cool.” He nodded, following Skylar inside. He remembered her place, almost fondly. It had been at least. At the beginning. He followed behind Skylar, following closely behind to make sure that he didn’t stray anywhere she didn’t want him. He owed that much to her.

When Rio stepped out of the back of the car, Skylar’s eyebrows knitted together in concern. He didn’t look good-- how much had he bled? Looking at the sweatshirt wrapped around his arm, she saw that there was quite a lot of blood. Much more than he’d let on. Oh god. How was he even standing? “Here, wait.” She said, lifting his good arm over her shoulder. He was a little shorter than her, but that made it easier for her to help him up the stairs to her apartment. Just one step at a time. Her keys were already in her hand and she managed to fit them in the lock on the first time. At least she had that going for her right now. Moving inside, she shut the door with her foot before walking Rio over to one of the chairs in the kitchen. “Sit tight, okay. The first aid kit is in the bathroom. Give a shout if you start to feel, um… worse?” She asked before hurrying down the hall.

The second she stepped inside, Skylar let out a shuddering breath, shoulders shaking. Rio had gotten hurt. Rio was badly hurt. This was, this was the first time since the Karkinoid attack on the beach that she’d seen one of her friends get hurt like this. And that had happened far away from her-- she hadn’t fully seen everything that had happened to Remmy. Gripping the basin of the sink, Skylar stared at the drain, trying to steady herself. “This is fine, this is fine, this is fine.” She mumbled to herself. Except none of this felt fine. Splashing some cold water on her face, Skylar looked up in the mirror, catching sight of the exhausted, strained young woman that stared back at her. Had she always looked this tired? Or was this just the toll White Crest had taken on her. She swallowed thickly before grabbing the first aid kit from the cabinet. Walking back into the kitchen, she offered a tense smile. “Hey, how are you doing?”

Orion didn’t argue when Skylar stepped in to help guide him into her home. It was pathetic, how he was acting. It was an arm wound, it was hardly anything that serious. It hadn’t even hurt that badly when it first happened, though he may have adrenaline to thank for that. His family would be laughing at him if they knew. Oh god. The thought of his parents reminded him that he was out in public, with a short sleeve shirt on. That wasn’t good. But there was nothing to do about it now. The damage had been done. Skylar had seen them, and Orion needed to figure out what he was going to say when the time came.

He fell into the chair that Skylar offered and rested his injured arm on the kitchen table. After Skylar left, Orion pressed his forehead against the kitchen table and stared at the darkness that remained between himself and the wood. The tear dripped from his eyes before he could think to stop them. It wasn’t much, just a few stray tears. But it was enough to force him to start sniffling and it was enough to embarrass himself to death. He could hear the water running in the bathroom, could hear that Skylar was talking to herself, though he tried to force himself against listening to the words. Eventually, he heard the water stop and Skylar making her way back into the kitchen. When she asked how he was, he raised his good arm up and gave a thumbs up as an answer. When he could manage it, he finally sat back up and looked at Skylar. “I’m super fantastic. I don’t want to get blood on your kitchen.”

When Skylar saw the tears that had trailed down his cheeks, her heart broke for him. He was just as overwhelmed by this as she was, wasn’t he? And there wasn’t anything she could really do to help. “Mhmmmm. Well, do you mind taking the sweatshirt off? I don’t really know about first aid, but I know that you should clean a wound out just so it doesn’t get infected.” She said as she opened up the first aid kit. Her hands were shaking as she undid the latches, but she did her best not to let the slight tremors show. Pulling out a couple alcohol swabs, the neosporin, and a roll of bandages, she set them on the kitchen table and waited for him patiently. Now that they were face to face, she could see that the scars and injuries that covered his skin were more than she’d initially noticed. What… what had happened to him?

Orion immediately used his free hand to wipe away any tears from his face. If he survived today and didn’t die from embarrassment it would be a miracle. “Oh. Right. Of course.” He smiled, slowly unwrapping the sweatshirt from his arm. He grimaced as the blood made it stick to his skin, and he had to peel it from his skin. In hindsight, the wound already seemed to look marginally better than it had when it first happened, a sign that the healing had already started. But this was fine. It was still bad enough that Skylar could treat it, wrap it up and then Orion could leave and no one would be the wiser when the thing healed before the weekend. Especially since he was never leaving the house again without making sure he had a long sleeve shirt under the hoodie. Or two. Once the arm was completely exposed, Orion looked up at the ceiling and shut his eyes. If he didn’t focus on the pain, maybe it wouldn’t hurt so badly. “I promise I won’t whine too much. Do whatever you need.” He mumbled, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. The alcohol burned like no other, but Orion gritted his teeth and tried not to make a noise. When he felt like he needed a distraction, he spoke. “Can I ask you a question?” He prefaced, before leading into it. “What causes the uh- the slime. Do you always do that? Or does something else cause it?”

Watching as he unwound the sweatshirt back, Skyler winced at the sight of the bite mark-- it wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be, though, which was a relief. If it was any worse, she’d insist on driving him to the hospital, or at least urgent care. Taking the alcohol wipes, she began to dab around the wound, cleaning off the blood and doing her best to make the process as quick as possible. She’d seen nurses do things like this before, when her sister had taken a bad spill during cheer practice and had needed to be patched up. “No, no, you’re fine. I’m just sorry that you got hurt.” She said, hoping that talking would help him through the pain. Setting aside the alcohol wipes, she opened the tube of Neosporin and spread a layer on some gauze before pressing it gently over the wound. “Oh. Um,” She hesitated for a moment. She still didn’t trust Rio, not fully. But… how could she really say that when he was here, bleeding in her kitchen, after having been bitten up by some cannibal watermelon? “It happens when I get nervous. Or scared. And when I need to change.” She said, not looking at him as she unwrapped the bandage and began to wind it around his arm.

This was better than going to a hospital, Orion could at least confirm that. They would want to take IV’s and that meant needles in his arms which meant questions. He would take this over that any day. Honestly, the scariest part of today was that Orion dropped the groceries he was supposed to be picking up for his mom. How was he going to explain that? “Thanks, but obviously not your fault. I’m just clumsy.” He shrugged, jumping at a particularly ill placed dab of alcohol that really stung at one of the bite marks. “Sorry, sorry. It just stung.” He listened to Skylar explain the situation to him. Well, the first two definitely made sense. Considering the situation. “Right. That makes sense.” He nodded his head, longer than needed, because he was awkward. “I uh- I read that you can get sick right? If you don’t change?” He asked again. He was genuinely curious, though considering their history maybe this wasn’t the best topic of conversation. “Sorry- sorry. None of my business. We can change the subject.”

“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not anyone’s fault. Except for the crazy guy who was selling evil watermelons.” Skylar said with a shake of her head. Why were those things even out at the farmer’s market anyway? When he jolted at the sting of alcohol, she backed off immediately. But, he seemed okay over all? She continued to clumsily wrap the wound, her fingers unused to the task. Medical stuff wasn’t her forte. If anything, she’d usually been the one receiving treatment. Getting tested by specialists and seeing doctors and having them try and figure out what was wrong with her. When really… the only thing wrong with her was that her parents weren’t telling the truth. At Rio’s question, Skylar’s lips pursed together in a thin line and she focused on tying off the bandage. “Mhm. That’s what happens, apparently.” She said. She didn’t want to think about this right now, but if he was bringing it up… If his research could tell him this much, maybe he could help her figure out a way to be normal. How to undo this… situation.

Skylar brought up a good point. Orion had to wonder how those things showed up at the farmer’s market in the first place. She had to be right- someone brought those things there on purpose. Did someone… grow those things? Had they brought them there with the sole purpose of setting them free on unsuspecting bystanders like Orion and Skylar? And Orion shouldn’t have been unsuspecting- he knows about the supernatural. He should have known about what those things were. If he was a real Scribe, he would have known. Orion understood that look that Skylar had. The two seemed to feel similarly about themselves. The hatred of what they were. He just wished Skylar didn’t feel that way about herself. He would need to do more research. Maybe the more he learned about Selkies, the more he could teach Skylar. In turn she would stop hating what she was. Maybe. “Well… seriously I can’t thank you enough for doing this for me. I can help clean up and then I promise to get out of your hair.”

“It’s okay. I’m happy to help, when I can.” Skylar said, gesturing to the sloppily wrapped bandage. “I’m not… good at this kind of first aid stuff, but maybe I should take some classes or something. With how often people are getting hurt, it might not be a bad idea.” She said with a sigh. The adrenaline had faded from her body and it had left her exhausted. Tiredness seeped into her bones and she was on her last legs. Slumping back in her chair, Skylar rested her head in her hands. “You don’t need to do anything, you’re good, honestly. I can get this stuff taken care of by myself.” She said with a weary smile. She’d get it all figured out, she’d handle the mess, and then she’d take a nice long shower and go to bed. It wasn’t even technically night time yet, but she just needed this day to be over.

Orion laughed, though there wasn’t much humor in it, “Yeah, well. We shouldn’t have to be good at first aid stuff. If this town would just give us a break every now and again.” His arm still hurt, though he had to admit that it felt better now that it had been cleaned and wasn’t wrapped in a sweatshirt. “But I may be able to show you a few things. I’m not an expert or anything, but my dad’s a doctor. He’s shown me a few things.” Not many things that he ever wanted to see or do again, but the first aid may come in handy. At least long enough to get someone to a hospital. He couldn’t tell if Skyar didn’t want to burden Rio or if she wanted him gone. Rio didn’t blame her of course, it was just hard to tell. He pushed himself up from the kitchen table. “I wouldn’t mind or anything but.. I get it. I can head out.” He stood there for a moment longer. Something puzzled him. She really wasn’t going to ask about the scars? It was driving him crazy, the unknown. Skylar had seen them. What was she thinking? He was heading towards the door, ready to escape when he couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m trying to learn self defense.” The lie came to him way easier than it should have, but then again Rio was also trying to be prepared when it came to stuff like this. “With… this town I thought it would be good. Clearly I’m not very good at it right now.”

“Mm. It’d be nice if it would…” Skylar sighed. “But, it seems like it’s just been one thing after another. First weird blood puddles, then fish rain, then the giant lobsters and the stupid chest on the beach with the eyeball in it. And now endless night time.” She shook her head. How were all of these things that had happened? How were any of these things she’d just said real? Her life had turned into some crazy fantasy novel and she honestly just wanted it to go back to normal. “Really? You don’t need to do that, I might just sign up for like… a Red Cross class or something.” She said, shaking her head. As she slumped back in her chair, Skylar stared listlessly in front of her. She wasn’t actually looking at anything, not intentionally. But, when Rio blurted out words, she realized that it probably looked like she’d been staring at him. At his arms. “Huh? Oh. Okay. That’s cool.” She said, slightly confused by his sudden outburst.

Orion just nodded along as Skylar rattled off each thing that had happened in town just since the beginning of the year. It was a long list… one that he hadn’t realized just how heavy the last few months had been until she listed it all together in one neat bullet pointed sentence. “Wow. Yeah. When you say it that way it almost sounds like the town’s not normal.” He tried for a nervous smile. Considering their situation it wasn’t exactly time for jokes, but Ricky had helped Rio see that some light heartedness was good in dark situations. If only Rio’s jokes didn’t fall so flat so often. He supposed that he lacked the confidence. “I mean I’m obviously not an expert or anything. I’m not a pre-med major like my sister. I mean I was. That was my original plan. But I changed course. Sorry that’s not important.” He shook his head, backtracking, “Red Cross is definitely more qualified to teach you this stuff. But the basics I have down pretty well.” Skylar seemed confused by Rio’s outburst which was… peculiar. Had she really planned on not asking him about it? If so, he had practically outed himself which was embarrassing. “I- uh. Sorry. I just saw you looking and didn’t want you to think that I uh like… did it to myself or something. So… okay. Sorry. I can leave now.”

“Definitely not normal.” Skylar echoed, the joke in his voice lost to her. All of the energy she’d been able to muster had been drained from her in the last hour, which made just sitting up a chore. And it was difficult to try and parse together Rio’s words, even with her hearing aids. “Mhm. I think I’ll look into the Red Cross. Thanks, though.” She said with a small smile. As he continued to talk, Skylar realized that he thought she’d been oggling his arms, staring at him-- she hadn’t meant to. She just hadn’t realized that she was even staring off like that. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m--” She shook her head, “I’m just really tired. I was zoning out there.” As Rio offered to leave, a minor feeling of relief made its way through the haze of exhaustion. “That’d be… for the best.” She said with a nod. The second he left, Skylar flopped down face first in bed. Rolling over, she mumbled into her pillow, “I hate farmers markets.”

#p: alm #p: orion quinn #wickedswriting #chronic illness cw #abuse cw

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laylacooke · 4 years

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A Wounded Paw & A Full Heart || Rio, Harsh, & Layla

TIMING: The day after the Wolf Pack meeting. PARTIES: @3starsquinn, @notsoharsh, @laylacooke SUMMARY: A hunter, vampire, and a human walk into a bar... help a werewolf with an injured paw. WARNINGS: Mentions of self-harm, depression, and fixing a hand injury.

Shame seemed to sit heavy in the girl’s heart after the way she had acted last night at and after the wolf meeting, and she had paid a hefty price for it with a broken hand. Doing the best she could to hide it from her roommates, Layla had used up almost all of the ice in the freezer. But the pain was starting to become a problem and the swelling had gotten too bad. Luckily, she knew just who she could call.

With Rio now on his way to get her, she waited just down the road aways from Ulf’s trailer. The last thing she had wanted to do was get anyone caught or in trouble.

Orion had just recently met Layla, but it seemed like the girl had a knack for getting injured. Not that Rio could really judge. He had his own fair share of injuries recently, and most had been his own fault. Like almost drowning in a lake or tripping down a hill. He had nursed a black eye for like a week trying to recover from that one. Still, he had to worry about the girl. She clearly knew something about the supernatural aside from being a werewolf, but with Lucas’ injuries and the number of hunter’s in town- his own family included - Rio needed to keep an eye out to make sure none of these injuries turned fatal. Was he really up for that task?

He had borrowed Ricky’s truck for this, his own car still at his parent’s house. He pulled up to the maps location that Layla had sent and saw her along the road, not near anybody’s house. Weird. “Uh hey” Rio rolled down the window as he pulled up and immediately took notice of the hand. “Jesus, that looks painful. Jump in.”

Layla was starting to shiver from the pain and cool breeze that was blowing through the trees. How did she keep managing to get herself hurt? Okay, last night was her fault. Punching trees in anger as hard as humanly...no, animalistically possible would do that to a person. And Salva did say something about the broken nose she had left him with a few days prior to the wolf meeting, but it still wasn’t smart on her end, and it seemed whatever had happened to Layla last night, not only physically broke her, but emotionally as well.

Seeing the headlights of the truck, Layla began moving forward to meet him, “Thanks, Rio.” Going to the other side of the vehicle, she opened the door with her good hand and climbed in cradling the other one close to her body, “Do you know where WC General is?” She wasn’t the same girl he had seen just the other day when they were fighting off Francesca. Her demeanor was different and her voice was just a little quieter with no inflection or life to it.

Orion weighed his options. To ask or not to ask. Speaking from personal experience, Rio knew if he had been in this situation, he wouldn’t want to be asked what had happened. But that was usually because he hadn’t had a good explanation for it. Rio hoped that this situation was different. But whatever it was, Rio thought better. For now at least. Something was wrong, Rio just wasn’t sure what. “It’ll heal.” Rio began. He was sure she knew that Werewolves had enhanced healing, but speaking from his own experience, it would take some time. “If it’s broken, they’ll have to set it first. But once it’s back in it’s right position the healing process will speed up.” He hated speaking from experience.

“Oh yeah, I’m familiar.” Rio grinned, letting out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh. “I’m a local.” He realized that besides almost dying together and exchanging information and secrets, the two didn’t know much about each other. He wasn’t particularly good at making friends either. Instead, he just let off the brake and started driving in the direction of the hospital. “You’re safe right? It’s not like that vampire or something else that did this right?”

Her eyes were set on the massive amounts of towering trees that sat just beyond view. She listened as Rio spoke about her hand and how it needed to possibly be reset in order to heal. Her ribs had already felt much better and the bite marks were already gone. It was something else that Layla would physically mend from, but emotionally, she wasn’t sure. She felt broken and lost. Alone. God did she feel so alone.

She knew he was doing his best to cheer her up and reassure her that everything would be okay, but would it? They had only just met. She knew nothing about him or his family, just like he knew nothing about her. Why not give him something? Anything. “I found out the man who sired me is from one of the deadliest lines of werewolves known to man. I broke his nose, too.” She continued to stare out the window.

Lucky for both of them that White Crest was a small town. The hospital was a pretty short drive from just about anywhere that needed to get to it. Probably on purpose, considering the town’s less than stellar history. Orion never gave much thought to how werewolves had been turned. The how had never much concerned Rio just as it had never concerned the Quinn’s, though for wildly different reasons. But Layla gave up some pretty private information to Rio. And a scary one at that. “Woah. That’s uh- yikes.” He wasn’t exactly sure how else he should respond. “Good for you,” Rio wasn’t really a violent person by nature but couldn’t exactly blame Layla for punching the werewolf. It didn’t sound like much of a consensual change. “Did he do that to your hand?” Rio asked, one final question before he turned into the hospital parking lot and tried finding the closest open spot that he could. “Wait there,” Rio said, jumping out of the truck and circling to the other side and opening it “Grab onto my arm, the truck is a bit tall.”

The trip to the hospital was quicker than she had thought it would be, but she was grateful. Her hand was pretty bad off and throbbing intensely from the jarring around in the car. She had held off on answering Orion seeing him park the truck. Before she had time to open the door, she had noticed he was there waiting on her. Taking his arm, she slid out of the truck, feet hitting the ground, “No. He didn’t. I did. Last night.” It was the first time she had looked him in the eyes, her eyes tired and heavy, “I punched a tree.” Turning her attention back to the hospital, “Harsh said to meet him in the back.” Layla pulled out her phone, and with her good hand, slowly sent a text to the number he had given her. When she was finished, she shoved the phone back into her pocket and looked back to Rio for guidance not wanting to think.

Orion wasn’t sure if Layla doing that to herself was a good thing or a bad thing, but he decided that it was better than someone doing it to her. Punching things in a fit of anger was normal, right? People did it all the time in movies. Rio had never really done it before, but it didn’t necessarily mean anything bad. Aside from some anger management issues maybe. “Oh.” Was all he could really think to respond with. Great. Still, Rio was worried about the girl. “You know Harsh?” Small town, indeed. Though Rio barely knew anything about the man honestly. Aside from him being curious about the mimes in town as well. “We can cut around here to the back. Hopefully he can find us. Have you met him in person yet? If not, he will recognize me.” Rio led the way towards the back of the hospital, wondering exactly why they were even meeting here in the first place.

“No. He just said he could help me. He saw my post online.” Her voice was flat. No emotion held. Just numb. Had Rio seen it? Ari had already been yelling at her through text messages for posting online that she needed help. Couldn’t Layla do anything right? She felt like she was sinking lower and lower with every passing moment, and much like last night, she wanted to run again. Take off and never look back, but she needed help, and both Rio and this Harsh guy had been kind enough to assist her. Without hesitation, despite what her head was telling her, she followed Orion to the back of the hospital, “How’s your side?” It was the first caring thing she had asked, and for the briefest moment, Layla almost felt human.

Layla had posted something online? About needing help? Orion glanced at Layla curiously. She was… peculiar that’s for sure. A new face in town that had already made an impact. But she had reached out for help, which was a good sign regardless. Asking for help was a start that Rio himself had never really mastered, and while a certain amount of caution should be exercised when asking for help from a group of complete strangers, it was still good that she had done it. Better than try to deal with this wound and whatever other problems she had on her own. “My side?” Rio asked curiously, already almost forgetting the wound he had suffered from the vampire that had attacked them. “Oh! That. It’s fine, basically all healed up.” As far as injuries went, his had been pretty mild and though he hadn’t inspected it much since that morning when he finally got home, he was sure that it had probably healed up by now. “Thanks for asking.” Rio smiled, leading her around a corner and presumably where they should be meeting Harsh. “Should be somewhere around here I think.”

Layla was grateful that Rio was okay. Her mess had put him in danger, and it was something, along with everything else, that had been weighing on her mind. If she had gotten him killed, she wasn’t sure what she would have done. Maybe people didn’t need to be around her. Maybe it was for their own good. Keeping her distance was something, she needed to start practicing again. She had gotten too close too soon, and that meant that danger for herself and everyone else was highly possible, “Good. I’m not the best person to be around, so I’m just glad you’re okay.” She walked silently behind him hoping they would run into this Harsh guy soon. She just wanted some relief from the physical pain she was in for the time being, but she had also had the lingering thought to just let it be, since physical pain was a good distraction from mental pain.

As far as his spur of the moment choices went, Harsh was feeling mostly pretty good about this one. It wasn’t like this was anywhere close to his worst use of hospital resources. The ‘doctor’ he had dragged into helping was really more of an intern, but he was decent and had never killed a patient intentionally as far as Harsh knew, and he was pretty sure that the guy couldn’t mess up treating a broken hand. He had left the guy in an empty exam room to wait before making his way to the back doors of the hospital. Poking his head out every few minutes, he lifted a hand when he spotted a familiar face and an unfamiliar one. “Hey, you the one with the broken hand?” he asked when they got close enough. “I’ve got the doc waiting for you. C’mon. Things are pretty busy in the ER, no one’s gonna notice you sneaking in.” He opened the back doors and nodded at a waiting wheelchair. “If you ride around in that, no one’ll ask questions.”

What was Harsh doing here? Not that Orion had much of a chance to talk to him while they were breaking into a mime restaurant. Did Harsh work here? “Uh hey there!” He perked up, waving at the man. Did Harsh remember him? They hadn’t spent that much time together and Rio wasn’t exactly a super memorable person. “Why are we sneaking in again?” Rio leaned over and asked Layla. It wasn’t like her hand wasn’t broken? Would the regular emergency room not work for them? But if Rio had learned anything over the last few months, it was that he was probably better off to just go along with the plans. Rio sighed, resigning himself to his fate and slinking towards the wheelchair, “I’ll push you. Jump in the wheelchair”

Layla’s ears perked when the door opened and she heard an unfamiliar voice. Seeing Harsh, she moved closer. Without saying anything, she raised up the mangled paw before looking back to Rio, “I don’t have insurance or an ID. I’m basically nobody. It was either this place or some walk-in clinic in the shitty part of town.” She looked to the wheelchair. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, and if it got her the help she needed then so be it. Of course, Layla had hated taking advantage of medical care that wasn’t technically free, but she had no choice. If her name came up in any systems, it might have sent red flags to places that didn’t need red flags popping up. It was already established, what she had done earlier in the night was dumb, so her name was floating around somewhere out there, but maybe it wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass anytime soon. Finding a seat in the wheelchair, Layla, already pitiful enough as it was, slumped over a little more to add to the effect and to hide her face slightly.

Harsh gave Rio a quick nod. They might not have talked much the last time, but that hadn’t really been the ideal place to chat. He wasn’t entirely sure this was either. “It’s fine. You’re not the first person without insurance I’ve seen sneak in here. You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. Follow me,” he said, motioning for Rio to follow along as he made his way down the hallway. This part of the hospital was mostly empty, darkened hallways stretching out on either side of them. “We usually just get deliveries here, no one’s gonna be poking around. So… can I ask what happened to your hand?” he asked, glancing back at Layla. Rounding the corner and heading down another hallway, he stopped at the third door on the left and lightly knocked before opening it. “Hey doc, got your patient here for you.”

Orion supposed he couldn’t quite understand the situation she was in, but he didn’t need to. His family had never really needed a hospital, but if something had been serious enough they certainly could have afforded it. But it helped that his father was a doctor. He followed Harsh into the building, pushing Layla along the halls in a wheelchair and trying his best to make it look like they belonged there. He was fairly certain that he would not have fooled anybody. Luckily, they didn’t pass many people to begin with. Harsh asked Layla how she injured her hand and he followed along quietly. He knew the how but he wasn’t sure he completely understood the why. She had been honest with him about the information shared. Overly honest even, considering Rio’s own spotty past with the truth. It wasn’t his place to demand the entire story right now. Like why she was with the guy that had turned her.

Layla kept her head down as they trailed through the halls of the hospital. The place had smelled like death. Her wolf senses had reassured her of that. She hated hospitals, and this had been the last place she wanted to be, but it was the best option. Hearing Harsh’s question, she debated on whether or not she should tell the truth, but what did that matter? It’s not like it was a matter of insurance not paying, when there was no insurance in the first place, “I punched a tree repeatedly because I was angry.” She was quiet. Embarrassed almost. Glancing down at her wounded hand, she wrapped her other one around almost tempted to squeeze it as tight as she could out of anger, but she refrained from doing it considering how bad it was already hurting and because Rio was literally right behind her pushing the wheelchair.

“Must have been a nasty tree. I’ve been there,” he said, offering a small smile as he held up his hand, showing off a few faded scars on his knuckles. “I broke three fingers punching through a wall once, it wasn’t pretty.” Harsh held the door to the room open and ushered them inside. The room was as sterile and unfriendly as the rest of the hospital, a timid man in scrubs standing next to the exam table, though he looked to relax a little bit upon seeing who he was treating. He moved to Layla’s side quick enough.

“So you’re the patient? Pleased to meet you, I’m--” The man cut himself off, glancing at Harsh, who mouthed ‘no names’. His smile faltered for only a moment before the doctor turned his attention back to Layla. “I’m your doctor. Let me see your hand please.”

Harsh moved to clap a hand on Rio’s shoulder, giving him a little sideways grin. “Small world, huh? I didn’t think I’d see you again so soon. Everything been… mime free for you?”

Orion felt weird, listening to them comparing self inflicted anger wounds. Was that normal? Was Rio… abnormal? He supposed that much should have been obvious by now. He had never exactly been a normal kid. Rio waved at the doctor awkwardly when they snuck in, noticing that the doctor didn’t introduce himself and definitely hadn’t asked for any other names. Right. No ID. This was all some kind of shady deal, but at least it was actually taking place in a hospital instead of like the alley behind a fast food joint or something.

While the doctor got to work on Layla’s hand, Rio stared at the doctor as he worked. So when Harsh touched Rio’s shoulder Rio twitched in surprise. “Sorry. I’m uh- a little jumpy apparently.” He thought if he had been scared enough that would eventually go away. Apparently not. “Yeah, same here. But everything’s been okay. No more mime run-ins yet. How about you? Do you work here?”

She listened as Harsh explained his own wounds, even glancing to look at the faded scars. She had gotten angry in the past, but never enough to hurt herself, let alone to the point of breaking her hand. To say the past week had been hell was an understatement. She had made a lot of dumb decisions, but what hurt the most was the feeling in her heart knowing about Salva followed by the cherry on top of the wolf pack meeting and how it had left her feeling pretty alone and useless. The ideas they had. The information she had found out, and on top of that, the fact that Salva was there and had jumped on her with his words in front of everyone.

As she was wheeled into the room, she noticed the doctor come over and attempt to make an introduction before he was stopped. Slowly holding up her hand, she let the man inspect it, but let out a low growl when he started to get too close to it. It was already starting to feel cold and numb, and she knew that was a bad sign, but her trust was very low at the moment. If Layla had been smart, she would’ve let Ariana be in on this, because, for some reason, Ariana made her feel safe and like the world wasn’t out to get her, even though she was starting to value Rio’s friendship more than she could currently show.

Hearing the growl, the doctor jerked his hands back. “Alright, well, that definitely looks broken. I’ll get you a brace and something for the pain.” He turned around, busying himself with a few small drawers, fishing out the necessary supplies. A moment later, he turned back toward Layla, offering pills and a small plastic cup of water. “That should help. I don’t want to hurt you, but I do need to try to set your hand. I can get you some ice too, if that would help.”

Harsh nodded at Rio. “Yeah, I’m an orderly, but we’re always short staffed here, so sometimes I have to help out the nurses and doctors with other things. But yeah, I’ve been good, no mimes as far as I’ve seen. I’m glad you and the other guys are okay too. I still feel bad you all got dragged into checking that place out.” He gave Rio’s shoulder another little squeeze before turning his attention back toward Layla.

Moving to her side, he knelt down, bringing him closer to her level in the chair. “It’s a little tricky, but we could try to get you an x-ray. That’ll be harder to hide though. Do you think you’ll be okay with just the brace and the meds? Whatever you think is best, I’ll get it done, don’t worry.”

Orion laughed, wondering how Harsh possibly felt like they had been dragged into that situation. “Don’t worry, Winston and Ricky don’t get dragged anywhere. They willingly choose to stroll into the dumb situations. It’s just me that gets dragged along.” Besides, it hadn’t been all bad right? Surely there had been something good that came out of breaking the law, trespassing and being attacked by some unknown monster? Surely. Rio just hadn’t looked at the brighter side. “But that’s awesome. I’m glad you’re safe too!”

“I think the brace and meds will probably be fine, yeah?” An x-ray was certainly more conspicuous, as Harsh warned. Plus, the thing was going to heal. And quickly, once it had been set back into place. “Here,” Rio offered his own hand to Layla, “Use your free hand to squeeze if there’s pain. It helps distract. You won’t hurt me.” That was probably a lie, given Layla’s strength. But it wasn’t a pain that he couldn’t tolerate. It would be over as quickly as it began most likely.

Layla looked up at the doctor and back to the pills that now sat in one hand and the cup of water just in the other. Taking the pills from his hand, she tossed them in her mouth and soon chased them with the water. Giving the cup back to him, she noticed as Harsh lowered down to meet her eye level. Hearing him explain everything, Layla’s mind raced. She had never been in this situation or had to make these decisions on her own. Her parents had always been with her. The day she broke her ankle at cheerleading practice. The time she had to get stitches after falling off of a slide when she was a little girl. However, it didn’t sit well with her having Rio speak for her, and she growled at him, too. But as she looked back to Harsh, she finally accepted the doctor’s suggestion not wanting to get anyone into more trouble than they were already potentially in, “Just do whatever you think is right. I don’t care.”

Layla noticed Rio’s hand nearby. She had felt bad for growling at him, but didn’t feel the urge to apologize. Instead, she took his hand and gripped it knowing that what was about to come next was going to hurt a lot. She had just hoped the medicine would start kicking in sooner rather than later.

Great, his choice. Harsh wasn’t the best for that. He exchanged a brief look with the doctor before shifting on the spot a little. “I think the brace should do it, but you’ve gotta let the doctor touch your hand enough to figure out where things are so he can try to get them back in place before he gets the brace on. Hang on, let me grab you ice to hold for a second first,” he said as he straightened up and moved to a small, refrigerated cupboard. Pulling out a bag of ice, he handed it to Layla. “Hold onto that for a minute then let the doctor do his thing.”

The doctor tentatively shifted closer, brace ready in one hand. “Those painkillers should kick in soon. They’re… a little strong, but that seemed necessary. Once we’re done here, I’ll make sure to get you more.”

Harsh was doing his best to help Layla out, but clearly the pain was getting to her. Growling wouldn’t have been Orion’s top suggestion in a room of people she didn’t know, but of course this wasn’t his life. Layla could make her own choices, something that Rio needed to learn. Especially after the incident with Skylar. “Thanks for your help with this.” Rio spoke to Harsh again, acknowledging that the situation was a bit… delicate. “I uh- well I was just the uber today but I appreciate you helping out. Especially like… quietly.”

But even with the help from this… doctor, Rio was still worried. Or well, if this man even was a doctor. He worked at the hospital, but Rio wasn’t convinced he was old enough to hold any medical license. As long as he could fix Layla’s hand, it didn’t really matter what his credentials were. But Layla seemed to be in worse shape than just a physical wound. Something was hurting her. And just at that moment, Rio could tell that the doctor had gotten started, because suddenly force clamped down on his wrist and he was hurting.

Layla did as Harsh and the doctor instructed, but her grip on the ice was limited and it had brought tears to her eyes as she tried not to make a sound. She wanted to stay quiet. Keep things private. And she didn’t want to draw attention to the room, but as soon as the doctor began feeling her hand, Layla whimpered in pain. Her grip was weak in that hand, and before long, she could barely hold the ice anymore. Letting go, the bag fell to the floor with a thud, but her hand was still held up for inspection as it shook with weakness. It was her grip on Rio that she gave no second thoughts about it, and if she didn’t let up, she might not have been the only one walking out with a cast.

Whimpering, she looked away not wanting to see what came next. If bones were going to be forced back into place, she knew she was probably going to let out more than just a few hushed moans, but she did feel the medicine start to work a little, mostly as she seemed to not be as sad as she once was, “Rio…” Looking up to meet his eyes, she stared into them with her own sad, little wolf eyes looking for some distraction or something to keep her from thinking about the crack she was soon going to hear.

Even Harsh couldn’t hold back a wince as the doctor did his best to carefully maneuver the broken bones back into their proper place. It might not be perfect, without an x-ray, it would be hard to be precise, but the guy seemed to have a good idea of what he was doing at least. Harsh stayed close, one hand going to Layla’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be fine. I can throw on some music or something, if that would help. This shouldn’t take long,” he said, with a brief glance up at the doctor to confirm. He got a brief nod in return as the doctor continued.

It didn’t seem like a pleasant feeling, that was for sure. Layla whined in protest but she was staying relatively still and letting the doctor continue his work. Harsh offered to turn on music, which was a good idea. Any kind of distraction could help. Even if it didn’t completely stop the pain it could work to ease it. “Try some deep breaths. Focus on the music. Make your own music video!” Orion got a little too excited on that one maybe, but they needed to stay positive around Layla right now. It would help. “Or uh- you know anything. Try to imagine a story and it’ll be over soon. Promise.” At least he hoped, assuming that this man actually knew what he was doing and was helping her hand. He glanced over at Harsh, wondering exactly why he was helping Layla in the first place. Was she paying him? How did they even know each other? “So how’d you get roped into this? Rio asked Harsh curiously.

The young wolf tried to stay focused on Harsh and Orion, but the pain of having her bones shoved back into place made her yelp louder than she had wanted. Closing her eyes, she tried to fight the tears, but couldn’t as they began staining her fair, but flushed, cheeks. “Music. Put on music. Please. Anything.” Layla tightened her grip on Rio’s hand and left her eyes tightly shut for the time being. She just wanted it all to be over with. The grinding she felt and the immediate pain left her squirming. Why had she punched a tree? Why had she been so stupid and punched a tree the way she had punched Salva? Anger. Her anger had gotten the better of her yet again. Burying her face into her shoulder, she let out a small scream of pain and frustration.

“You got it.” Harsh moved to fiddle with a small bluetooth speaker on the counter, putting on some upbeat music. “Let me know if you want me to change it or anything.” At least this part of the hospital was empty enough that the music probably wouldn’t be overheard by anyone. He winced in sympathy before turning his attention back to Rio. “She was asking for help and I could offer it, so… I did,” he said, with a little shrug. That was all there was to it, well… all either of them needed to know. The whole soul and vampire thing weren’t important right now.

After a few likely excruciating moments, the doctor let out a breath and fumbled for the brace, quickly fixing it into place. “There, that should do it. You’ll have to wear that for a few weeks. If there’s any problems, uh… contact Harsh and he’ll get in touch with me and I’ll see what I can do. I’ll um… I’ll have him write you up a prescription for more pain meds if you run out of these,” he said, offering a small bottle of pills.

“Wow. Well that was super nice of you. To help a stranger.” Orion smiled towards Harsh. He had helped the three of them at the mime restaurant too, despite only knowing Winston prior to meeting up. And now he was helping Layla out too. “You seem like a really good person, so I really appreciate your help over the last few weeks.”

When the doctor was finished and the cast was on, Rio could finally relax. The pain in his arm had been intense, and he wasn’t convinced she hadn’t cracked a bone or something in his wrist. But even if that were the case, it would heal. Just like her own wrist, which almost made Rio want to laugh when the doctor told her how long she’d have to wear the cast. “Thanks Mr. Doctor.” Rio thanked the doctor that had helped Layla before turning to her, “You doing okay? Does the hand feel any better?”

With the music giving her something to focus on, Layla was able to relax some and relax her grip on Rio’s hand. And by the time the doctor had fit the brace onto her arm, the medicine was already in full swing, “Is it red? Cause I loooovvveeee the color red, but like I totally can’t see certain colors anymore, because of reasons.” She held her arm up and examined it, before taking the bottle of pills and shaking them. Turning her attention to Rio, she grinned before looking back to Harsh and the doctor, “You guys are great, you know that? You get a howl of approval.” An unexpected howl came from Layla’s mouth, before shaking the bottle again. However, Rio’s question had caught her attention, “I’m doing great, Star Boy.” Shoving her arm in his face, she posed an important question, “Wanna sign it?” She looked back to Harsh and the doctor, “You both can sign it too.”

“I just do what I can,” Harsh said, with a little grin, rubbing the back of his neck almost sheepishly. There was something nice about Rio’s praise… as unwarranted as it might have actually been. Still, he was doing a good thing here. What did it matter if his motives weren’t totally pure? That wasn’t the point. He found himself grinning a little as the pain pill’s effects started to kick in. Well, at least she seemed a lot happier. That… wouldn’t last, but it was nice to see her smiling a little. The howl was a little odd, but… probably better to ask about that another time.

The doctor nodded to Rio and then laughed a little awkwardly at Layla’s question. “Maybe another time. Just try not to do anything too strenuous while it’s healing. Well, I think that’s all. Harsh will see you out,” he said, already making his exit.

Harsh moved to Layla’s side, lightly patting her shoulder. “You might want to let people sign it tomorrow. For tonight, just get some rest, okay? I’ll walk you to the door and Rio’ll make sure you get home safe, right?”

The pain meds had kicked in, which Orion would have considered a good thing aside from the howl. Rio sighed, smiling despite the stress that she was causing him. It was good to see that she was better, even if it was only temporary. But she really needed to work on keeping the werewolf thing a secret. “Uh thanks. Nice nickname.” He laughed, scratching at the back of his neck awkwardly. He actually sorta liked it, if he was being honest.

Rio followed Harsh out of the room and back out the back door, trying to help guide Layla as they walked. “Good idea. We can sign it tomorrow or something. Once you get some rest.” He didn’t know if they just left now or what. Did they owe Harsh money? Or some favor or something? Maybe it was best to let Layla handle it herself. Preferably once she was more lucid. “Okay, welp thanks again Harsh. Layla, let’s get you home.”

Layla couldn’t stop grinning from ear-to-ear. She had felt so good. She couldn’t wait to be home to Ariana. But first, she had to get home. Taking their advice, she lowered her arm and held it close to baby it.

Once everyone had parted ways, she made sure to follow Rio closely. The car ride home was another story. One that involved Layla hanging her head out the window and letting the cool night air hit her in the face, but it was nice. Everything just seemed so nice. Waking up in the morning, once the medicine had worn off, would be a different story, but for now, she’d enjoy her false sense of happiness.

#para: a wounded paw & a full heart #3starsquinn #notsoharsh #wickedswriting #self harm tw

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artificialqueens · 4 years

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(Love)Sick Overseas (Phianca) - Albatross

AN: Phi Phi is feeling a bit under the weather but determined not to let it ruin her vacation. And who should she happen to run into on her way back from picking up cold medicine but Bianca Del Rio?

Just a short, fluffy little Phianca sickfic. And yes, I do think they’d be cute together and no, @VeronicaSanders, there will be no Bitney sequel. No Bitney, ever.

Getting sick in the middle of his trip to the UK had certainly not been part of Jaremi’s plan. No, he had been looking forward to this excursion for months and he’d be damned if something like the sniffles was going to stop him. At first it wasn’t even anything too serious; just a sneeze every now and then or a runny nose in the morning. But by the fourth day it was clear the symptoms were not going away…if anything they were getting worse.

But Jaremi was stubborn, if nothing else.

A bit of cold medicine until it all passed and he’d be fine…at least, that’s what he told himself.

Now here he was, returning from his second trip to pick up some OTC cold remedy and his nose was already protesting mightily. Even his throat was starting to feel scratchy but Jaremi was determined to continue his vacation plans uninterrupted. So what if his head was a little foggy or he was slightly unsteady on his feet every now and then?

Drinking had the same effect so all was good to his mind.

With enough effort he could remember his way around the city and all the places he wanted to visit and that was fine with him. Once he returned to the hotel with this last batch of cold medicine, he’d be off for a bit of shopping around town. Who knows? He might just find some new inspiration for his drag looks while he’s out there. That’d certainly be a plus.

As he was pondering over which stores he wanted to stop at first, a vibration from his pocket captured his attention. Curiously, he pulled the phone from his cargo shorts and felt his heart jolt a little as he recognized the name flashing across the screen. No other than ‘Roy/Bianca’ along with a small icon showing a fully beat and smiling face of the queen in question.

Somewhat amused and certainly wondering as to what his long-time friend could possibly need, Jaremi answered the phone on the fourth ring with a pleasant, “Hello?”

“Turn around, bitch,” came the joking voice on the other end.

Almost painfully, Jaremi instantly twisted himself around at Roy’s insistence and found the older queen speedwalking to meet him. The sharp turn caused his head to spin a little more than it ought have but Jaremi pushed the feeling aside as he greeted his close friend with a bright grin. Before he could even ask what Roy was doing here, he felt a light and friendly rap to his arm as the older queen bitched him out, “I was calling your name for the last two minutes. Looked like a fucking idiot with you ignoring me! You got earbuds in or something, bitch?”

Scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, Jaremi admittedly vaguely that he had just been lost inside his own thoughts for the last block or so. Rolling his eyes, Roy accepted the answer and asked what Jaremi was doing all the way out here.

“Vacation. Sightseeing,” the younger queen replied. “Just relaxing for once. What about you? Got another show out here or something?”

He knew that answer was unlikely. Not that he stalked Bianca’s tour schedule by any means, but he often made sure he was at least up to date on known shows and as of two days ago he was sure Roy was still tucked away somewhere in the US doing god-knows-what for his next tour. So it came as little surprise when Roy replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “No, just on vacation, too, I guess. If you could call it that. Courtney has some event next week and asked for my help. Figured I’d make a real trip out of it in the meantime. Relax too, you know?”

Nodding in perfect understanding, Jaremi knew all too well what Roy meant. After all, he was one of the hardest working queens in the business. He hardly ever took time off for himself. Even when he wasn’t touring, he always had his hand in something whether it was for a future project or just to help another performer. It was admirable but often Jaremi wondered if Roy would eventually burn out going on like this. It wasn’t his business but he did worry from time to time. More than he’d ever admit verbally to anyone.

Even now Roy seemed a bit anxious just to be doing something and seeing Jaremi must have felt like a godsend as he immediately proposed that the two head out for lunch and catch up. Jaremi could see that he was itching to talk about something of substance and didn’t have the heart to say ‘no’ or even to delay until later in the day. So he simply followed Roy in a state of reluctant obedience as he eagerly led them off down the street to a cafe he’d spotted the day he arrived. Roy had already been on his way there when he found Jaremi so it almost felt like a sign from the universe to invite the younger queen…if Roy believed in that sort of thing.

Though their styles of drag were quite a bit different, especially with Phi Phi lending herself more to cosplay as of late, there were still a number of similarities the two had bonded over. Whether it was creating new and unique looks, comparing tips on how to overcome certain costume design challenges, or just an easygoing kiki with one another as they gossiped over whatever drama had recently been stirred up in their drag centered universe. There was never a lack of topics to discuss, though today Jaremi seemed a bit out of it.

Normally he had a sharp wit, far more than what he’d normally dare say around most other queens, yet this afternoon he wasn’t nearly as quick with the shady remarks. Instead he let Roy dominate the conversation almost entirely rather their typical back and forth. Despite how much Jaremi had tried to hide it, he could feel his mind growing increasingly cloudy as their meal went on. He wished at the very least he had taken some of the medication he had brought but it almost felt a little rude to do so. If only he could subtly sneak off to take some of the pills but even going to the bathroom whilst carrying the bag would have been suspicious.

So all he could do was suffer in silence as his nose began to clog up and his throat felt increasingly dry in spite of however much he drank. And though Roy didn’t comment on it, he had certainly noticed the change from their typical kiki sessions. At first he thought Jaremi was simply tired, and once or twice he worried he was actually boring him, but still Jaremi was trying his hardest to pay attention, not even sparing a glance to his phone, so Roy figured it had to be something else.

One of Jaremi’s usual habits was to go all out on desserts, sampling at least one or two with every meal in a foreign country, but today he declined to even look at that particular menu. It was then that Roy knew for certain something was definitely off with the younger man. As they awaited their checks, he questioned his companion quite bluntly, “What’s up with you, queen? You’ve been out of it since we got here.”

Jaremi faltered for a moment before immediately trying to defend himself but Roy’s withering gaze stopped him mid-sentence. Ashamed, he reluctantly admitted that he was getting sick and hadn’t had a chance to take his next round of medicine before Roy had caught him on the street. He expected Roy to withdraw in concern for his own health because after all, his voice was his money maker, but instead Roy did something quite unexpected. He actually scooted his chair closer and around the table as he touched Jaremi’s wrist in concern. His brows knit together in sympathy that sharply contrasted his exasperated voice asking, “Why didn’t you say something? We could have done this another day! Or even just waited until we got back to the states!”

Shrugging Jaremi tried to play off the situation as though it weren’t as big a deal as Roy was making it. His voice was quiet and starting to show evidence of his illness as he replied, “It’s fine, really. The symptoms aren’t too bad. And it’s been awhile since we talked…It was nice just to catch up by ourselves.”

Shaking his head, Roy muttered, “Idiot.”

The statement would have been more scathing had it come from anyone else but Jaremi’s heart felt like fluttering again as he heard Roy state quite definitively, “Let’s get you back to your hotel.”

Their checks arrived at that moment and despite how usually he’d do anything to keep himself from acting like a child in front of strangers, Jaremi couldn’t stop himself from whining, “I have plans!”

“I don’t really care,” Roy declared apathetically with his trademark glare. “You’re going back to your hotel even if I have to walk you to your room myself.”

The pair stared each other down and if Jaremi had any intention of disobeying Roy’s demand, he ought to have pretended to give in right then but the silent argument went on long enough for Roy to figure out that he’d better follow through on his initially empty threat. Otherwise Jaremi would be back on the streets as soon as his back was turned, probably hacking up phlegm in just a few hours to boot.

No, if he wanted Jaremi to rest, he’d have to escort him back to his hotel and wait until the younger man fell asleep. Which shouldn’t be too long considering how heavy-lidded his eyes already looked.

Much like a rent-a-cop on duty, Roy ushered the protesting queen back to his hotel room. To his surprise it took little more than a sharp glare and a few cutting words to convince Jaremi to take his medication and at least sit on the bed. Beyond that, Jaremi utterly refused to do anything else to indulge Roy’s unwanted mothering. He was all but pouting and nearly on the verge of a temper tantrum that would have rivaled one of Alaska’s yet Roy stood firm with remarkable patience.

“Sleep will be good for you,” he reasoned in as best of a persuasive tone as could be managed, “You already look like you’re about to drop from exhaustion anyway.”

Jaremi couldn’t stop his eyes from rolling at the statement, however true it might be. His muscles were starting to give out and probably the only thing that kept him going right now was his desire to defy the older queen at every turn. But Roy was determined to outlast him. Despite how eager he was for something meaningful to do earlier; getting a sick Jaremi to relax and go to sleep seemed far more important. Deciding to take an approach he had followed a number of times before, he made a shooing motion with his hand and told him to lie on his stomach.

Skeptical, Jaremi only gave him a brief glance, essentially saying, ‘The fuck?’

Rolling his eyes once more, Roy urged him, “Just do it. I’m not gonna do anything sketchy or weird.”

Still, Jaremi was unconvinced…at least until he heard a quiet, almost suspiciously gentle attempt at persuasion, “I promise….Please lay down?”

It was highly unusual to hear such a tone from Roy. Typically he’d just give up after awhile or make some sort of scathing remark but today he was actually being…soft. It was a little off-putting but Jaremi found that he genuinely liked seeing this more caring side of his friend. Thinking at the very least he trusted Roy not to do anything unwholesome, Jaremi relented and laid on his stomach in the middle of the bed while his head rested on a pillow.

He turned to look at Roy as he carefully set himself down on the edge of the mattress so as not to cause it to dip any more than necessary. Just as the younger man was wondering what he planning, he felt the light trace, almost scratching of fingertips running across the expanse of his back. An involuntary shiver rose through his spine at the sensation but much to his surprise he found himself almost leaning into the touch for more.

His voice bordered on a happy purr as he admitted, partially muffled by the pillow, “That feels really good, actually.”

Practically hearing the smirk Roy was undoubtedly wearing, the older man mentioned, “Yeah, Adore loves it when I do this whenever she gets sick or hungover.”

Then almost immediately thinking better of it, he quickly added, “That doesn’t leave this room.”

There was an edge to his voice that caused Jaremi’s stomach to turn but all he gave Roy in response was a content nod. As was the Roy’s intention, the body beside him was slowly relaxing and drifting off to a lazy lull of a sleeplike state. Almost as an afterthought, and perhaps mostly influenced by his sick addled mind, Jaremi found the courage to ask, “What is going on between you two any way?”

This was a common topic of debate amongst the queens and fans alike but no one really had a satisfying answer. Figuring now was as good a time as any, Jaremi took his chance to ask Roy directly. Sounding quite used to the question, the older queen replied with a chuckle in his voice, “What do you think?”

He genuinely wanted an answer, Jaremi realized, and would wait very patiently until the younger man gave him one. Almost guiltily, he forced himself to examine both his own feelings and what he’d observed first and secondhand of the two queens’ atypical relationship. Sounding unsure yet still a bit hopeful, Jaremi answered softly, “I think…you’re just really good friends.”

He turned his head up to face Roy and study his reaction yet much to his surprise, he found a calm, pleased smile waiting for him. The elder queen nodded his head in confirmation and it was there they let that particular conversation drop. Burying his face into the pillow for a minute, Jaremi couldn’t deny just how light and happy he felt. His heart was racing and he was sure his illness had nothing to do with it but either way, he was satisfied with what he had learned.

He was almost at the point of falling asleep when Roy drew back his fingers. Jaremi’s drowsy eyes reopened and he turned to look at the older queen once more. He was mildly surprised to find Roy sliding fully onto the bed to lay beside him.

Trying not to let on just how happy was, Jaremi slowly drawled out, “Gonna stay here till I fall asleep?”

There was a hint of a smirk resting on Roy’s lips as he replied casually, “Maybe a little after that too…Is that alright?”

Feeling like a child who’d just gotten everything and more that they could ever want for Christmas, Jaremi nodded his head and bit back a quiet yawn.

Roy’s eyes had gone noticeably soft as he gazed down at the half sleeping form beside him, still struggling futilely to stay awake. He almost chuckled at the fruitless effort but hid it behind a fond smile instead. He raised a hand to ruffle Jaremi’s hair and urged him once more to finally go to sleep. This time there was no protest, no argument as the younger queen nodded and nestled himself snugly amongst the pillows.

In another very un-Roy-like behavior, he leant down and pressed a brief kiss to Jaremi’s cheek. In truth it was just a little too close the lips to have been accidental but Jaremi was all too willing to let that slide for the time being. All he said in response through his bright grin was a sing-songy declaration of, “You’re gonna get sick tomorrow.”

Shaking his head, Roy laughed softly and affirmed quite adamantly, “I’m not gonna get sick.”

“You’re definitely gonna get sick,” Jaremi mumbled half into the pillow as his eyes slid shut.

Whatever Roy said in response was muffled and unheard as Jaremi dozed off into a content, dream-filled state. True to Roy’s assertions, the next day he felt perfectly fine. Not a trace of Jaremi’s cold to be found in his system. The day after however…that was another story.

#rpdr fanfiction #albatross #bianca x phi phi #bianca del rio #phi phi o'hara #fluff #sick fic #submission #canon compliant #rare pair

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‘Sobering’ report shows hardening attitudes against media (AP) The distrust many Americans feel toward the news media, caught up like much of the nation’s problems in the partisan divide, only seems to be getting worse. That was the conclusion of a “sobering” study of attitudes toward the press conducted by Knight Foundation and Gallup and released Tuesday. Nearly half of all Americans describe the news media as “very biased,” the survey found. “That’s a bad thing for democracy,” said John Sands, director of learning and impact at the Knight Foundation. “Our concern is that when half of Americans have some sort of doubt about the veracity of the news they consume, it’s going to be impossible for our democracy to function.” The study was conducted before the coronavirus lockdown and nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd. The study found that 71% of Republicans have a “very” or “somewhat” unfavorable opinion of the news media, while 22% of Democrats feel the same way. Switch it around, and 54% of Democrats have a very favorable view of the media, and only 13% of Republicans feel the same way. Eight percent of respondents—the preponderance of them politically conservative—think that news media that they distrust are trying to ruin the country.

Deaths pile up on Texas border (AP) RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas—When labor pains signaled that Clarissa Muñoz was at last going to be a mom, she jumped in a car and headed two hours down the Texas border into one of the nation’s most dire coronavirus hot spots. She went first to a hospital so desperate for help that nurses recently made 49 phone calls to find a bed 700 miles away to airlift a dying man with the virus. From there, she was taken to a bigger hospital by ambulance. Along the way, she passed a funeral home that typically handles 10 services a month but is up to nine a week. And when she finally arrived to give birth, she was blindsided by another complication: A test revealed that she too was infected. Hours later, Muñoz was granted just a few seconds to lay eyes, but no hands, on her first born, who was quickly whisked away. On America’s southern doorstep, the Rio Grande Valley, the U.S. failure to contain the pandemic has been laid bare. For nearly a month, this borderland of 2 million people in South Texas pleaded for a field hospital, but not until Tuesday was one ready and accepting patients. In July alone, Hidalgo County reported more than 600 deaths—more than the Houston area, which is five times larger.

Former Spanish king heading for the hills (Foreign Policy) Controversy continues to grip Spain after former King Juan Carlos, who abdicated the throne in 2014 amid a series of scandals, reportedly fled the country amid a new spate of legal troubles. Spanish media initially reported that he went to the Dominican Republic, but the Dominican government claimed there was no record of the former king entering the country, fuelling widespread speculation over his whereabouts. Leftist politicians have used the occasion to question the future of the monarchy in Spain. Juan Carlos is credited with spearheading Spain’s transition to democracy after the end of former dictator Francisco Franco’s reign in 1975. But his reputation took a hit toward the end of his rule as he became embroiled in several controversies relating to his personal wealth.

Spain’s Canaries to cover all COVID-related costs for tourists (Reuters) All Spanish and foreign tourists visiting the Canary Islands will have any potential coronavirus-related costs covered by the regional government, it said on Wednesday, in an attempt to rescue the tourist season after a new spike in infections in Spain. The move will take effect this week and is the first of its kind in Spain as the tourism-dependent nation seeks to reassure visitors after Britain dealt a blow to the sector by imposing a compulsory quarantine for anyone coming from Spain.

China won’t go quietly over TikTok (Foreign Policy) Chinese media outlets have responded to the United States in the ongoing dispute over the popular Chinese social networking giant TikTok, leveling sharp criticism at the Trump administration over its recent attempt to pressure U.S. companies to buy TikTok’s operations in the United States. In an editorial on Tuesday, the China Daily newspaper accused Washington of “bullying” Chinese tech companies and warned that there were “plenty of ways to respond if the administration carries out its planned smash and grab.” The editor-in-chief of the Global Times newspaper called the move “open robbery,” and accused Trump of “turning the once great America into a rogue country.”

Chinese summer leadership vacation (Foreign Policy) Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders are likely to vanish from public view in the next few days for the annual retreat at Beidaihe, a seaside town where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership engages in a combination of vacation and Machiavellian plotting. The retreat has often provided a chance for retired leaders to shape the party’s direction, but with Xi’s seeming ascent to absolute power, their role has been reduced. But any opportunity for a significant number of power brokers to physically spend time together is also an opportunity to plot. If the whispers of discontent with Xi’s leadership ever coalesce into action, it will be after one such event.

U.S. health chief to be highest-ranking official in decades to visit Taiwan, angering China (Reuters) U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar will visit Taiwan in coming days, his office said on Tuesday, making the highest-level visit by a U.S. official in four decades—a move that angered China, which claims the island as its own. Azar’s visit will worsen already poor Beijing-Washington relations, inflamed over trade, the pandemic and human rights, even as democratic Taiwan has welcomed the show of support in the face of unrelenting Chinese pressure. China denounced the trip, saying it opposed any official interactions between the United States and Taiwan and had lodged “stern representations” with Washington.

What Lockdown 2.0 Looks Like: Harsher Rules, Deeper Confusion (NYT) Australia’s second-largest city, Melbourne, is grappling with a spiraling coronavirus outbreak that has led to a lockdown with some of the toughest restrictions in the world—offering a preview of what many urban dwellers elsewhere could confront in coming weeks and months. The new lockdown is the product of early success; the country thought it had the virus beat in June. But there was a breakdown in the quarantine program for hotels. Returning travelers passed the virus to hotel security guards in Melbourne, who carried the contagion home. Even after masks became mandatory in the city two weeks ago, the spread continued. And now, as officials try to break the chain of infections, Melbourne is being reshaped by sweeping enforcement and fine print. A confounding matrix of hefty fines for disobedience to the lockdown and minor exceptions for everything from romantic partners to home building has led to silenced streets and endless versions of the question: So, wait, can I ____? Restaurant owners are wondering about food delivery after an 8 p.m. curfew began on Sunday night. Teenagers are asking if their boyfriends and girlfriends count as essential partners. Can animal shelter volunteers walk dogs at night? Are house cleaners essential for those struggling with their mental health? Can people who have been tested exercise outside?

Beirut reels from huge blast as death toll climbs to at least 135 (Reuters) Lebanese rescue teams pulled out bodies and hunted for missing in the wreckage of buildings on Wednesday as investigations blamed negligence for a massive warehouse explosion that sent a devastating blast wave across Beirut, killing at least 135. More than 5,000 people were injured in Tuesday’s explosion at Beirut port, Health Minister Hamad Hassan said, and up to 250,000 were left without homes fit to live in after shockwaves smashed building facades, sucked furniture out into streets and shattered windows miles inland. The death toll was expected to rise from the blast, which officials blamed on a huge stockpile of highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at the port.

Fireworks, ammonium nitrate likely fueled Beirut explosion (AP) Fireworks and ammonium nitrate appear to have been the fuel that ignited a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experts and videos of the blast suggest. The scale of the damage—from the epicenter of the explosion at the port of Beirut to the windows blown out kilometers (miles) away—resembles other blasts involving the chemical compound commonly used as an agricultural fertilizer. But the compound itself typically doesn’t detonate on its own and requires another ignition source. That likely came from a fire that engulfed what initially appeared to be fireworks that were stored at the port. Online videos of the disaster’s initial moments show sparks and lights inside the smoke rising from the blaze, just prior to the massive blast. That likely indicates that fireworks were involved, said Boaz Hayoun, owner of the Tamar Group, an Israeli firm that works closely with the Israeli government on safety and certification issues involving explosives.

Uganda’s tough approach curbs COVID, even as Africa nears 1 million cases (Reuters) Uganda’s crumbling public hospitals, doctors’ strikes and corruption scandals make its success in the fight against the new coronavirus all the more unlikely. But the nation of 42 million people has recorded just over 1,200 cases and five deaths since March, a strikingly low total for such a large country. As the number of cases in Africa approaches one million, Uganda’s experience shows what can be accomplished when a government with a firm grip on power acts quickly and enforces a strict lockdown. But its success came at a cost, critics say. Jobs were lost, and economic growth is set to plunge to as low as 0.4% in 2020, from 5.6% last year, according to the World Bank.

#headlines #news

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