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lifeisdabubbles-undersalmondean · 3 years

Text

La Pomme ~ Chapter Six

Pairing: Sam x OC (eventual Dean x OC and Dean x Castiel. And I mean eventual.)

Series summary: George is a casual French-Mistake-universe Supernatural fan living in no-COVID 2020, who's life is upended when she's suddenly launched between realities, two years into the boys' past (S13E22). What begins as an insane, immersive fan experience turns into more when Jack goes missing and George offers up her AU information to help track him down. Soon it's discovered that she and Sam may actually have history. But that's impossible, right?

Word Count: 6,200

Warnings: {smut, fluff, angst, show level violence, swearing, mentions of suicide} ***Detailed warnings will be tagged for specific chapters.

A/N: Following the events of my prequel Paradise and second story From My Eyes Off. Reading those first gives context but isn’t necessary to start this one.

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Approximately three hours of arguing with herself about staying away from them later, George went to see if Jack and Sam had returned yet. She reasoned that, at this point, they'd been so adamant about her coming that staying away altogether would probably raise a larger red flag than if she just made a quick appearance.

That's not true! I'm just going so that they don't come looking for me. This is definitely the last time. Once I get the kid set up on the games, he'll forget I exist. Then I can slip back to my as-yet-undiscovered-room and wait quietly for Rowena to return and return me home. Everything will be fine. This has nothing to do with the beard.

I have to go to keep seeming uninteresting and innocuous, She reasoned with herself, though she knew it was dangerous. It was also not the real reason she was going.

There was no part of her that believed any of that. Especially as her heart fluttered at the thought of bearded Sam in that tight, gray deep v-neck.

First, she stopped in the kitchen to grab two beers from the fridge. Then she went to check Jack's room. As she walked up to the open door, she heard the two men talking.

"I don't understand why you don't want to tell me what happened." She heard Jack say.

Sam's annoyed huff made her pause, "I did tell you; nothing happened. She passed out exhausted and I didn't know where else to put her. There are so many new people here right now, I don't know what's an empty bed and what's not."

"OK…" She heard Jack's doubtful reply and then a pause before asking, "If Brent had passed out in your arms, would you have carried him to your bed?"

George grinned devilishly at the implication of the question, covering her mouth with her hand to stay quiet. There was a long, intriguing silence before Sam ordered defensively, "Shut up."

George decided to take that as her cue. She stepped into the doorway and cleared her throat, "'Shut up,' huh? Interesting parenting philosophy." She smirked as Sam started a bit and looked over at her. Presumably, he was wondering how much of that conversation she'd heard, and she felt in no hurry to fill him in.

Jack smiled at her and pointed to a surprising amount of booty on his bed and the floor in front of it, "George! They had everything on your list! Oh, except Mario 64."

Looks like the shoe's on the other foot, She thought smugly.

"Wow, really?" Her eyes went wide when she saw the small flat screen TV box leaning against the footboard and she looked at Sam with a surprised chuckle. She guessed Sam really wanted to keep Jack occupied. "And you bought it all, I see, awesome! Did you want some help setting up?"

"Yea, come in!" Jack nodded enthusiastically, waving her in, and then began unpacking his loot. George hesitated for a second as Sam watched Jack lay out all the equipment to start getting it set up.

Bitch, I don't know why you're taking pause now! You brought the damn beer. You planned this; just go in already.

With a quick, annoyed shake of her head to quiet the smug voices, she finally stepped into the room.

When she got close to him, Sam smiled, "Hey."

"Hi," George returned his smile nervously. "I don't remember that being on my list," Sam followed her gaze to the flat screen and then squirmed a bit, guiltily. Motioning to the rest of the stuff, she asked with a chuckle, "Feeling a little bit of dad guilt over something?"

Sam feigned ignorance, "Hmm?"

"I mean, OK, you needed the system and some games but…" Her eyes ran over the huge pile of game cartridges on the bed, wide with judgement. "And the TV? Kinda screams single-divorced-dad overcompensation. And I speak from experience."

"Oh, are you a divorced single dad, too?" Sam joked.

George snorted and corrected, "Raised by one… well, on Wednesdays and every other weekend. And he worked weekends… and most Wednesdays, so…" She trailed off with a what-are-you-gonna-do shrug and Sam nodded, understanding the semi-absent dad thing.

"I can definitely relate to the unavailable father," Sam's tone was serious but there was a smile on his face.

George stared at him curiously for a minute, Supernatural episodes flashing in her mind, and then nodded, "Oh, yeah, I guess you can." She was still getting used to television characters being real people. When he furrowed his brow curiously at her, she quickly said, "Anyway, yea, uh-expensive presents helped ease my dad's guilt about not really being there. That's how I got most of my video game experience." Just as he opened his mouth to respond, she held out a beer with a questioning look and said, "I think I owe you one or two of these? Although, seeing as this one is also from your fridge, think of this as more of a symbolic gesture. Since I can't actually repay you."

He chuckled and took the beer with a soft, "Thank you. And, no repayment needed. Trust me, we're just happy to be able to help. All of you." He was referring to the people from the camp again and she grimaced as a twinge of guilt zapped through her. Lying to him made her feel awful.

While it seemed like Jack was focused on unboxing the TV and not paying much attention to them, she held up the other beer and asked quietly, "Can he? I wasn't sure if you let him, but I brought it just in case."

Sam frowned a little and shrugged, "My brother lets him and I… choose my battles," he finished with a sigh. George smiled and nodded understandingly.

Seeing Jack was still preoccupied, she shrugged after a moment and offered, "Well, I don't normally drink beer but I can just say it's mine? He may not even ask for one."

Sam nodded appreciatively, snapping the bottle cap off his and tossing it into the garbage can in the corner. As she watched him raise the cold bottle to his lips, she couldn't help but stare at his gorgeous, newly bearded face. As he took a swig, her mouth went dry. Luckily, she was able to look away just before he caught her staring and she mentally kicked herself.

He raised an eyebrow at her when he noticed she didn't join him. Setting his drink down on the desk next to him, he reached out to take the unopened beer from her. "Ya know, it's more believable that you're drinking it, if it's actually open?"

"Oh, right," She let out a 'heh' of embarrassment as he popped the cap off and tossed it into the can as well. Taking it back from him, she admitted, "Like I said, not a big beer drinker."

With a teasing expression, he said, "Hmm… but really anything you drink out of a bottle has to be opened first, right?"

She blushed and smirked at his ribbing. Forcing herself not to laugh with all her might-made more difficult by the fact that she could see him trying not to smirk-she simply said, "Well, like I said, I was a latchkey kid. I typically drink strictly from the garden hose."

Jack finally looked over at them, finished plugging the TV in, and called to her, "George, come check the games!"

She grinned at the small "HA!" he let out at her joke. With a small, mental shrug, she lifted the beer and took a swig.

Fuck it, maybe it'll help calm my nerves. She then heard a smug sing-songy voice say, famous last words.

She walked over and looked at the cartridges that were laid out on his bed, "Nice! Oh, no way! Perfect Dark?!" She picked up the game and clutched it excitedly, "I totally forgot about this one!"

"Yea, I picked up a couple extras that weren't on the list. I hope that's OK, they just looked interesting," Jack said nervously.

"Of course it's OK! You might end up hating my game suggestions-not that that's possible because I have the best taste, obviously, but still. I'm glad you have a few to try on your own." Her grin increased as she looked at the game in her hand again, getting lost down memory lane for a moment. This game had gotten her through some rough patches.

She set it down and glanced over the few that were unfamiliar to her. "These ones I've never played before, so that'll be great. You'll get to actually figure out a few on your own."

"Will it be hard?" He wondered.

"Probably. And you'll most likely get so frustrated that you'll want to tear your hair out and throw the console against a wall. But, it'll be so freaking fun you can't stop. As Charles Dickens said, 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'."

Sam laughed, picking his beer back up and taking another drink. George couldn't help but grin, drinking hers as well.

Damn if I'm not addicted to that sound.

While Jack was trying to get the console set up, he struggled to hook the system up to the small flat screen he'd placed on his dresser. George came over to help. After a moment, she identified the problem.

Holding up the console's composite cable she huffed, "This TV doesn't have RCA ports!"

"What?!" Sam 'pffted,' coming over to check it, running his hands along the back. When he found nothing, he stood back and put his hands on his hips, "Are you saying we're actually going to have to use our crappy old TVs for this?" He shook his head in disbelief.

George shrugged, "Eh, at least it gives him an authentic experience?"

A short while later they had the system set up on an old tube set and the three of them were playing a few rounds of Mario Kart 64. Jack was sitting cross legged on the edge of his bed. On the floor to his left was Sam, slouching against the bed with his legs stretched out long in front of him. George was to his right, with her knees bent and her feet planted on the ground, sitting straighter upright but also leaning against the bed.

In terms of play, all three were taking it serious. George was a little rusty but her muscle memory helped her quickly grab and keep first place almost every round. Jack was picking it up surprisingly quick but struggled with the strategic aspect of trap setting and disabling opponents. Sam needed a lap to get used to the buttons, but was now smoking Jack and catching up to George with ease.

At the moment they were in the middle of the second lap of their fourth round. Surprising everyone except George and Sam (because they threw it), Jack had won the first round and was very proud of himself. Unfortunately for Jack, he got a little too proud of himself. Her competitive side had roared to life at his boisterous celebration and the boys ate George's dust on the second and third rounds.

Sober George would have known better than to agree to another round. She would never admit it, but Sam had been hot on her tail the entire last round; he'd definitely be able to beat her by the next one. Unfortunately for her, she'd already finished her second beer and was feeling real cocky when they'd both demanded another round of her.

She had warned dramatically, "Alright, but if you're gonna take a shot at the Queen, you better not miss."

George was fairly far out in front and feeling great, when Sam's Peach shot a red shell at her Yoshi and she wasn't able to avoid it. As her Yoshi tumbled, George watched Peach fly past her into first place, a string of inventive curses flew out of her mouth, explaining in detail exactly where she thought Sam could put his red shells. He couldn't help but give her a quick, amused 'wtf' expression at her colorful vocabulary but she was too busy mashing her buttons to get back in gear again.

Just as she was gaining back on him, she gasped when Yoshi flipped over again. Another red shell.

"The FU-JACK!?" Her jaw dropped at Jack, whose Mario drove by and was now in second place. George let out a frustrated screech as the two men high fived each other over Sam's shoulder.

"Looks like we didn't miss, your royal highness," Sam teased, then dodged a kick to the shin with an evil laugh.

When Yoshi was upright and ready to go again, she pressed the A button down so hard her finger turned white. Pulling out all the stops to try and catch up to them again, she finally hit a mystery box. It took all her might to refrain from jumping for joy when three red shells appeared around her kart. Neither Jack nor Sam had noticed. Falsely confident that they'd disabled her, they'd devolved from their joint effort to take her down and were now going against each other. Jack lucked into hitting Sam with a tossed banana peel but Sam was able to out maneuver him on the next few turns and had scooted ahead again already.

George continued to gain on them, using her memory of the course to cut every corner she could and climb her way back up to third place. Sam and Jack were neck and neck, nearing the finish line on the final lap, and smack talking each other. They were barely paying attention to her and she waited for just the right time, before mashing her trigger button. Her red shells launched rapid fire. She watched with glee as Peach and Mario flipped over and stalled mere feet from the finish line.

As Yoshi sailed past them both and crossed in first place, George leapt up from her spot on the floor in triumph, "YES!" Sam and Jack flinched in pain; they were pretty sure everyone in the bunker had heard that.

"Tried to take me out, huh?" She asked Sam, then turned to Jack, "Didn't think I could get back up, did you? How ya like me now?" They were both trying to hide their annoyed grins and she continued, "You want to know why I always play Yoshi? Because he ain't a BITCH, and Neither. Am. I." She mic-dropped her controller onto the bed and did a victory dance in place. "Both. Of. Y'all. Can. SUuuUUuuUUuck. IiiiiIIiIIiiiIIiiit!" She sang joyfully, punching her arms into the air.

"Suck what?" Jack mumbled at Sam in exasperation, bummed that he'd lost again.

"Er-Nothing. It's just a saying, don't worry about it," The other man assured with a nervous throat clearing.

George quickly stepped over Sam's outstretched legs to the open space at the foot of Jack's bed. Jutting out her hip and placing a firm hand on it, she promptly began cat walking back and forth while singing, "Walk, walk, fashion baby. Work it. Move. That Bitch cuh-ray-zee." Jack was far more annoyed at losing than Sam, but they were both incredibly amused at her flamboyant, over-the-top reaction.

Sam watched her display with a smile and, after a moment, commented, "OK, Cindy Crawford, I'm cutting you off."

Pausing her catwalking to victory dance in front of him, she then lobbed, "And why? Don't like having your ass handed to you by a drunk woman?"

"You LUCKED out with all those red shells, George!" Jack argued defiantly.

"Now, now, Jack. Don't be a sore loser," George admonished jokingly, still wiggling her hips in delight.

"Yea, you're clearly only allowed to be a sore winner around here," Sam said pointedly with a chuckle. When George froze mid victory dance, her butt no longer bouncing in front of him, Sam regretted saying anything.

She scrunched her nose at him in offense, holding her hands up in surrender, "OK, fine. Yes. If it hadn't been for those red shells I would have been in third place."

Sam gave her a smug grin and said, "That's right."

She continued sweetly, "And obviously Jack would have won." A triumphant smile spread on Jack's face and he nodded his head in gracious acceptance of her determination.

"Thank you, yes-wait, what?" Sam started to agree with her and then it registered what she'd actually said. He did a double take. She knew darn well Sam would have won that round, but the smirk on her face told him she'd never admit it. Curiously, he was as turned on as he was infuriated.

Then, George added, "But the entire game is luck, dude! Most video games are. If you can't handle this, I would stay away from Mario Party," She warned in a serious tone.

Jack and Sam exchanged a serious look, then looked back at George. They had the same determined expression and Jack said, "Let's do it," while Sam nodded in agreement. He was having fun for the first time in weeks.

Maybe months, he thought grimly. He also hoped she'd say yes so he could do everything in his power to make her win and score another full frontal victory dance.

George laughed a little and nodded, "Alright. But don't say I didn't warn you. It's fun as hell, but no one wins at Mario Party. No. One," She finished ominously.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom before we keep going," Jack got up and headed for the door. He turned back with a thoughtful look on his face and said, "I might go to the kitchen for some snacks, too. Do you want anything?"

George shrugged, "Well, here's the situation Jack: I'm gonna say no but I will most likely steal some of whatever you bring back. So, I would say just accommodate for that and you should be golden."

Sam chuckled and said out of the corner of his mouth, "There's a life lesson in women if I've ever heard one." He avoided acknowledging the dirty look she shot him and shook his head at Jack, "Nothing for me, thanks."

After Jack left, George gave Sam a suspicious look and teased, "No more beer? Hmm, I see what you're doing."

Sam gave her a 'feigned innocence' expression and murmured, "Hmm?"

"You can stop drinking all you want; I can beat you, sober or not," Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him a mean mug.

He chuckled, but said, "Truthfully, asking Jack to bring me a beer felt a little-"

"Alcoholic single dad?" George finished with a laugh and he joined her, nodding in agreement.

"Right," Sam pointed a quick finger in the air. "Not a great look," He said, standing up with a groan. "Yikes, shouldn't have been slouching like that. The older I get the less forgiving my back is."

"Have you ever tried a massage?" She asked, almost absentmindedly as she was distracted by him. His full height always took her breath away at first; she loved it.

Sam considered her question for a moment. Looking her over appreciatively, he asked with a teasingly incredulous tone, "No. Why, are you offering?"

That snapped George out of her stupor and she blinked rapidly. Thinking she hadn't heard him correctly, she asked "Oh, what? Oh, no! Er-I-I mean, I just, I wouldn't know where to begin. What? No, I mean I wouldn't know what I was doing. Not-no, I know what I'm doing I just-I'm not a professional. I-" Stop talking. Stop talking, now! George felt a bit warm and started fanning herself, "Hoo d'awgy, is it hot in here or just me? Maybe you should cut me off," She finished with a nervous laughter.

He had watched her nervous, adorable rambling gleefully, chuckling once or twice. Whenever he was near her, an eerie pressure would build in his chest that was reminiscent of feelings he'd thought were long since lost to him. He realized it was that feeling that spurred him on to be so flirtatious. At her last statement though, he reigned himself in and answered her question more earnestly to help break the tension and give her a chance to calm down, "I'm not so big on strangers touching me. And I worry about how sanitary those places are," he finished with an exaggerated shudder.

It had been kind of him to cut her a break, but when he started stretching out the kinks from his prolonged seat on the floor, any chance she had of calming down disappeared. She couldn't help but admire his physique. Her eyes trailed his body once over but then quickly settled back on his beard. She could kill the show producers for not letting him be bearded sooner than Season 14. 'Smoldering' didn't even begin to cover it.

She hadn't realized that she'd gotten lost in thought about those sexy whiskers until she heard his throat clearing. Widening in horror, her eyes quickly met his, which looked half amused, half curious.

With a lick of his lips, which made George's brows furrow with desire, he asked gently, "Is there something on my face?"

"No!" Gulping, she blushed from head to toe. After thinking about it for a split second, she heard a buzzed voice in her head say fuck it, you've already embarrassed yourself. Tilting her head to the side, she boldly proclaimed, "Well, actually…Yeah!" A nervous chuckle escaped her lips as she tried to figure out how to say this without giving anything away. In her inebriated state, she finally settled on, "The last time I saw you, your face was less… Hagrid?"

Sam let out a loud laugh, a look of mock offense on his face. She covered her mouth as she snickered, realizing maybe that wasn't the nicest thing to say.

"Oh, wow! Hagrid, huh? I… Well, I'm not sure how to take that. Maybe I should go shave real quick," He teased sadly, rubbing a slow hand over his beard. It made her weak kneed.

"No! Please don't! I'm sorry," She leaned forward and gently squeezed his forearm with both her hands, then let go. "I was just trying to make you laugh! And I couldn't think of an attractive bearded man reference fast enough; Hagrid was the next best thing."

"Nah, you're right. Hagrid was good; you had to do it," He shrugged in acceptance. Squinting at her curiously, he asked, "But, just to clarify, you don't think I look like Hagrid, right?"

She snorted and then looked unsure. As she spoke she slowly craned her neck up, "Well, now that you mention it, he was half-giant!" Another laugh escaped him and she bit her lip to keep from grinning. The sound mixed with the beer was lowering her inhibitions a bit and she ran her eyes over him quickly in appreciation. Before she could stop herself, she assured him, "Seriously, though. The beard looks good. You look…" All the descriptions she could think of were too inappropriate even for her less inhibited state. Finally, she breathed, her eyes wide for emphasis, "good."

Sam gave her a shy, sexy smile and he looked down at the ground for a minute. She could swear the skin of his cheeks near the top of his beard was slightly pink.

Was he hiding a blush behind all that rugged? George wondered, watching him closely. Her stomach was nearly painfully tingling with nausea; she knew she should stop but fuck, when was she ever going to get this opportunity again?

Sam looked back up at her, the look in his eyes making her gulp, and asked with a questioning shrug, "'Good,' huh?"

George could tell he was baiting her but unfortunately her rational side was beating her horny/ buzzed side back with a stick, trying to keep control. So, she simply nodded and gave him a flirty smile, confirming, "Yes. Good." The word came out as a painful purr that caused Sam's eyes to darken curiously. George unconsciously licked her lips; it felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room.

"Hmm," was the noise that broke the silence finally, rumbling heavily from Sam's chest. He was feeling very conflicted. For one, the alcohol was obviously affecting her and he wasn't trying to take advantage. But also, she was causing him to feel a lot of intense and strange feelings, feelings that hadn't been stirred up in years, and he couldn't explain why. He'd just met her! Knew almost nothing about her, yet he was flirting with her left, right, and center like he was… well, Dean! It felt so comfortable around her; he felt a calming sense of ease, as though his life wasn't a giant crapshoot of terrible day in and day out. That feeling should have been foreign to him but it wasn't completely. That's what terrified and confused him.

They'd been staring intensely at each other. George thought it seemed like he was holding himself back; she recognized the look and assumed it was the same one on her face right now. Running a suddenly nervous hand through his hair, he huffed a little and smiled.

"Well… thank you," His tone sounded as sincere as it did nervous. "I-"

Just then Jack came back and broke the tension in the room. George released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and turned to look at him. Balancing in his arms were two packs of red vines, one large bag of peanut M&Ms, six beef jerky sticks, two 'sharin' size' bags of Cheetos, and four Yoohoos.

The intensity of the previous moment paired with the absurd amount of food made her exclaim, "Dude!" The laughter bubbled out of her before she could stop it; she got near tears. Sam joined her with distinct but far less intense chuckles at Jack's attempts to interpret George's earlier instructions.

"What?" Jack asked curiously, "You asked me to account for you wanting some! I figured it was more efficient to just bring you your own."

"Ah, yes, a classic mistake, Jack. Half the fun is eating the other person's food," Sam teased.

George shook her head and sighed out the last of her laughter, "Oh, man. That was great. OK, I have to pee and then we'll have a talk about appropriate food portions before the game. Also, the fact that you brought peanut M&Ms and not caramel is near criminal."

Sam followed her out the door, saying, "I think I've changed my mind on that beer. I'll be right back, too."

"Grab me one?" She requested over her shoulder and he nodded affirmatively.

On her way back to Jack's room, George was wringing her hands nervously. Her mind was racing; she'd barely been able to concentrate on peeing! There was a heated debate going on in her head about what the hell she thought she was doing. A very large, very selfish part of her had not wanted to hold herself back. But she was skating on thin ice. Thin? Try imaginary! You seriously believe Sam Winchester is flirting with you? You have lost your damn mind. You look like a bumbling moron to him. A total Becky! Not to mention, he's a 10 and you're an Idaho six, if we're being generous.

The unnecessarily hurtful arguing in her head silenced instantly when she rounded the corner and found Sam in the hallway, sans beer. He was nervously pacing about 6 feet from Jack's room. She gulped; he looked agitated all of a sudden. Was he about to give her a talk about being inappropriate and how they should just "be friends?" She heard a voice sing-song in her head: I told you so, six.

Forcing herself to move forward once again, she tried to steal herself for the blow. To her surprise, his expression shifted to regret when he noticed her finally.

"Hey," He started, his tone apologetic. "I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but-" he held up his phone with a grimace.

"You have a hunt," George finished slowly with an understanding-and incredibly relieved-head nod. She watched Sam glance back at Jack's room with sad eyes. It clicked after a moment and she added with a less understanding tone, "And you want me to keep Jack distracted while you go?"

Sam gave her an adorable, pleading face, "Yes, please? I already broke the news to him and he's… upset about not being able to come."

George frowned, "Dude, are you seriously leaving me here by myself to entertain him? Sam!" She stomped her foot quietly, mock upset, "I don't know anything about what young adults are into these days. SnapChat? Four Loco? Miley Cyrus?!"

"Hey, look at this as an opportunity to finally play those real deep cuts from Avril," Sam joked back and George punched his arm gently; both laughed.

"OK, but really, do you have any tips for how to handle a teenage boy who's pissed because he can't go kill things?" She looked nervously toward Jack's room. "How do I cheer him up?"

"Well, I think we both know what you're going to have to do," Sam said with a deep, apologetic sigh. George raised an eyebrow curiously. Sam raised both of his and widened his eyes with a pointed head tilt in response. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she began to see where he was going with this and his head started nodding slowly.

"No," George said matter of factly, starting to shake her head. "No!"

"Look, I know it's not ideal, but-"

"I refuse!" She dug her heels in and her arms crossed over her chest.

"Now, now," He began in the same tone you would use to speak to a toddler. "You asked how to make him happy."

"I am not going to debase myself like that, Sam. No!"

"Listen, I know it's hard! But you've done it once already! Was it really tha-"

"Horrible! You of all people should understand why this is a terrible thing to ask! You had to do it once, too!" She uncrossed her arms and pointed at him, demanding, "Look me in the eye and tell me a little piece of your soul didn't die the last time?"

"Oh it wasn't that bad," Sam rolled his eyes dramatically.

"That's easy for you to say, Sam! You're bad at it! But, I have a reputation to protect!"

"OK, Kinicki, well if you want Jack to have fun, you're going to have to suck it up and let him win at Mario Kart!" When she huffed, shaking her head in continued defiance, he rolled his eyes and offered a compromise, "Every once in a while!"

After a few moments of mean mugging each other, neither one willing to give in, they both just started laughing. Once their laughter died down, he gave her a serious, apologetic expression and said, "Georgia, I really am sorry to do this… I was having fun."

As he used her full name, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. With a gentle shake of her head, she waved him off, "Don't be sorry; you have to go. And truly, I don't mind. Jack's actually a pretty cool kid…" She trailed off and then furrowed her brow in mock concern, "or am I a lame adult?"

He chucked, then shrugged and said, "Well, if you are then I am."

"Good thing Dean didn't hear you say that," She joked, shooting a finger gun at him. The look on his face in response was indiscernible and she kicked herself. "Shit, sorry. That was insensitive. With Michael and everything, I-I didn'-"

Sam waved his hand in the air and cut her off, "Nah, I know you didn't mean anything by it. I was just thinking how accurate the statement was, yet… you haven't met Dean, right?"

Her eyebrows went up in sobered surprise. Shit. She gulped and stuttered out, "Oh-right-no, that's right. I haven't… I-I just, uh, I know what it's like to have a big brother! He's-he is your big brother, right? I mean, I think I've heard Jack or someone say that…" Sam's brows furrowed further, looking at her curiously and nodding slowly in confirmation. "Right, well, yea. I just-I figured since Dean was your big brother, he'd relish the opportunity to make a comment about you being a loser. I know my brother certainly lived for it." She felt like he could tell she was sweating and it made her sweat more.

"Uh huh," Sam said with a slow drawl, not entirely convinced.

As George watched him she became less nervous, realizing that there was a lot of pain behind his bright hazel eyes. It was obvious that he was really worried about his brother; her heart twinged in empathy.

Without thinking, she placed a hand on his forearm and gripped tightly. With a comforting smile she promised, "Don't worry, Sam. You'll find Dean soon."

Sam felt as if the wind knocked out of his lungs as an intense burst of deja vu hit him. It couldn't be… that had been a dream. A fake dream at that! All part of the trickster's mind games trying to get him to give up on saving Dean. Obviously, there was no way this was the same woman. Yet he knew he'd heard that consolation before. From her, he felt sure. But how would he have dreamt about a woman from an alternate reality?

She jumped when she heard someone shout from down the hall, "Sam!"

George was panicking internally. He'd flinched at her words and the look on his face made her sick to her stomach. She let go of his arm quickly. Had she gone too far? Had she offended him? Was he just disgusted at being touched by her? A million thoughts raced through her mind as a cold sweat broke out on her forehead.

Sam snapped out of his stupor and furrowed his brow a bit. "COMING!" He boomed in their direction and then looked back at her in apology. Though he still seemed perturbed by something.

George smiled understandably, eternally grateful for the interruption, and began before he could say anything, "You have to go! I'll keep an eye on Jack for a while longer. But I swear to God if he starts trying to talk to me about Fortnite or TikTok or FOOTBALL: I'm. Out."

Sam had moved around her, slowly starting to head for the map room, "Football?"

"I just really hate sports," She deadpanned with a shrug, turning her body around to follow him.

He chucked and nodded, "Ah. Noted." He bowed to her slightly as he backed away, "Well, Thank you again. I owe you a beer now… or maybe a massage?" He offered innocently, adding, "I may not be a professional, but I definitely know what I'm doing." He watched just long enough to see her jaw drop, then with a wink, he turned and left.

When she'd mopped herself up from the floor and had finally started breathing again, George looked up to the ceiling and begged, "I have thirty five thousand dollars in savings and retirement and it's all yours for a copy!"

#supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fanfic #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester #sam winchester fanfic #sam winchester x original character #sam winchester x original female character #eventual fluff #eventual relationship #eventual romance #eventual dean winchester x oc #eventual dean winchester x castiel #bi!dean

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

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Caramel Skin Under A Red and Green Cloud prt 10

Leaning against the railing of the front veranda, Lance was watching Shiro and Keith talking over near the Telula. His perfect Christmas had unravelled in the bathroom, then seemingly kept unravelling. For half the table lunch had been stiff. The aunties openly grilling both he and Veronica for their chosen relationships. Veronica wasn't as placid as he was with them. Her outburst had put his to shame, leading to crying aunts and a long lunch of possibly the worst small talk he'd ever heard coming from the end of their table. His side was more livelier. His mami didn't care, she was just as loud as everyone else as they popped Christmas crackers. Veronica didn't shy away from doting on her girlfriend, something Lance wished he'd had the confidence to do. Curtis lost his cracker toy to Shiro's drink which they'd laughed way too hard over. All he could do was block out those disapproving voices and stares for now. He smiled and held hands with Keith. Trying his best to hide how the popping noise made him just. Keith looked so happy that it made his heart ache. That was all he wanted for his husband.

The thing he'd been most excited over had been Keith opening his presents. Everyone was full from pretty gorging themselves on the delicious meals his family had filled the tables with, there were more different dishes than there were people. He liked to think he held himself back on both eating way too much and in giving too many gifts. He'd gifted Keith 12 presents in total. Which some might see as going overboard... he was worried he had, but he had a good reason why it had to be 12. 6 as his friend and 6 as his husband. Aiming from ages 8 to 14. He'd wanted to give Keith loving memories to wipe out the horrible ones of being in care... After his own little spat with his traumas, he really should have known better. He'd been so focused on trying to make his husband happy, he'd made him cry instead.

Somewhere between the lunch box and the new comms he'd set up for Keith with access to all the bounty hunter stuff related to the area where the compound was, his husband had started to shake. His scent had taken on a pained edge, yet he'd let him hold him. With all the gifts had, Lance was enjoying sitting on the floor with Keith settled between his legs, like a parent with their child. It was after Keith opened his gift from mami that Keith had taken off. Lance had gone to go after him, but Shiro had stopped him and gone instead. As an act of apology, Veronica turned the attention to Acxa and her gifts. He knew his sister was sorry for what happened by the front door and hated that she had to be. He also hated that he kind of felt she'd announced her own relationship to take the pressure off of him and Keith. There were so many things on his mind... all of them serving to piss him off. Why couldn't he be the one to talk to Keith? If he'd done something wrong or pushed too hard, he needed to be the one to apologise. If it was from Keith's past, then shouldn't Keith be able to lean on him a little? He might have freaked out because of Veronica, but Keith usually... No. His mood was only going further downhill. Keith had been right. The idea of a perfect Christmas was impossible. He'd know it could be shaky, yet...

"Mijo?" "Mami..." He'd told himself he wasn't going to cry again. He'd been standing out the front of the house for the better part of half a varga. The beer in his hold had started growing warm, as he'd tried to pick at the label. The aunties found his gloves rude. He'd nearly taken them off to show them his messed up hand, just to shut them up. There were more important things in life than one's sexuality... like catching bad guys and saving the planet. So why couldn't they see past the musty smelling makeup they caked on? Keith was the future. He'd been the whole reason Voltron succeeded "They still talking?" "Yeah. How are you? Lunch was a bit of a fiasco" "I'm fine, mijo. I'm proud of my children and the adults they have grown into. Don't you worry about any of all that. I learned long ago that the aunties will never be pleased. How are you feeling...?"

Forcing down a swig of beer, Lance looked to his mother "Over what happened this morning? Or about Keith?" "Keith... both... this morning. Is it rude to pry?" "You wouldn't be my mami if you didn't. I'm sorry for freaking out. V took me by surprise and Keith tells me I'm still putting too much on myself. I really... after last time, I really wanted to be happy. You know?" "You've always been that way. I'm not too sure about your choice in gifts" His mother had no right to be complaining. Aliens didn't value gold as they did on Earth. It was simply a shiny metal whose uses had mostly been surpassed. The watch set her gifted her and his father would have cost a mint before everything on earth collapsed at the hands of the Galra "Mami, Keith was in really bad foster homes. He didn't have... he didn't have this whole Santa thing and family... I wanted to give him a taste of that, but now I'm standing here wondering how I could have made things better for him. I wanted us all to have a good Christmas. I'm making money from my job, and I'm making money doing something I like. I felt lost without Allura. I'm so sorry for... before. I know I can't make up for it. I know it... so I wanted to do better. I wanted Keith to see how warm and happy family can be. That we love him. That it's ok to be selfish... and now I don't know what to say to him"

Letting her gather him into his arms, Lance felt weak for needing her comfort "Mijo, I'm sure Keith is happy. Between yesterday and last night, I feel he's probably overwhelmed by this. You said he isn't used to such a fuss, and now we're all fussing over him. Plus, I've seen how he looks at you. He adores you" "He adores me... but... mami, I want to be there for him too. I know I'm not good enough for him... but I love him" "He knows you do. He knows... He loves you, mijo. And don't you dare say you're not good enough for him. I'm sure once he's finished talking to Shiro, he'll want to talk to you" "Yeah... maybe. I know he probably doesn't want me to have another episode, and that he's probably trying to consider my feelings, it just really sucks to be pushed away" "Mijo..." The gently testing tone in the way his mother spoke told him the conversation was going back to what gas happened. He knew it before she even continued "... will you tell me what it's like? Or how it happened. If Veronica did something..." "No! No, mami. It wasn't her. It was but it wasn't. I was thinking about the people who hurt me. I'm kind of sensitive over my hair... when she touched my hair it sent me over. V wasn't being mean. Or trying to be mean. And it's like... it's like having all your worst fears happen at once. That panic fills your body. You... you're there but you're not because you're so scared. We think I jumped on Shiro because he's bigger than V and Keith. The people who hurt me were all bigger than Zethrid. So if you put it together, something big, suddenly grabbing me and touching my hair... it's stupid" "No, mijo. I understand. We only knew bad Galra to begin with. We didn't want to be scared, but you can't help it sometimes. After sending the family into hiding, we didn't know if we'd see them again" "I was so scared I'd never see any of you. I missed home so much, but now Earth feels so different. Home didn't feel like home. I felt like a stranger here and I didn't know how to get it all back. I kept seeing Allura. I didn't want to, but she didn't go away. I couldn't tell what was real anymore... I know I hurt you. I know I hurt the kids. I thought I had a handle on it" "Nadia and Sylvio will understand..." "They shouldn't have to understand. Sorry, mami. I think I should just take a walk" "Alright, mijo. Don't forget you need to introduce Keith to his new grand-parents when they wake from their naps" "I know mami. I've been dying to introduce Keith to them... crap. I forgot about my team..." "Why don't you take them with you? You could take them to the beach or to see Allura and your friend?" "I might take them up to see Allura and Kre'el. I'm saving the beach for when Keith is with us" "Ok. I love you, my precious baby boy" "I love you too, mami. I'm sorry my head isn't great" "Nonsense. You're working hard and I couldn't be prouder"

Zak and Tobias had been "roped" into playing video games with Nadia and Sylvio. Zethrid and Ezor were assisting from the sidelines while Veronica and Acxa were cuddling in the corner near the Christmas tree. Asking Daehra and Lucteal if they wanted to come for a walk, the pair in agreed faster than Lance liked. Remaining mostly silent as he led them down the road between the paddocks and up to his favourite hill, Lance wasn't sure this was where he wanted to be. It still felt like a mess with Keith. He'd fully intended to agree if Keith asked to spend some time with Shiro on Christmas. They were brothers after all. Now he just felt like an intruder in their relationship, like he'd done in the early days of Voltron. Curtis clearly didn't mind the siblings bonding. He'd probably been used to it due to Adam. Still, Lance wondered if like him, if Curtis was maybe a little jealous of being on the outside, or if he was self projecting his doubts again.

Settling down atop the hill a few metres from the two graves, Lance patted the ground next to him. He didn't need to be an empath to know his friends were worried. Sitting either side of him, Lance wrapped his arms around Lucteal and Daehra. He liked to think he'd come a long way from where he couldn't stand the slightest of touches without wanting to murder something "How do you guys like Earth?" After walking in silence, it took a few ticks for Daehra to reply "Your home is very beautiful. Not at all like our world is. Your family is also very nice" Hugging both his friends tight for a tick, he released the pressure with a fond smile on his lips "Thanks. I'm really happy you guys came with me. I know Keith's become a big part of my life, but I love you guys. I couldn't have made it this far without you. I hope you know that" Lucteal let out a scoff "I don't know that I did that much... it's not as if we've seen a lot of action of late" "Electric, my man. You're the best second in command I could ask for. I know things are all different now, but I know you've got my back, ya know? Plus, you've got that awesome staff of yours now. I might be dating Keith, but he doesn't need to know everything I get up to" "You still want me in your crew?"

Tilting his head, Lance stared at Lucteal "Why would you say that?" "Because Keith is much better at..." "La la la la. Ima pretend you didn't even go there. He's got his own job and stuff to do. Besides, he gets all frowny over our idea of fun. We managed before he came walking back in, and we'll manage when we head back out. Because of you, and because of Dae here. It's our job to have fun, and Daehra's to patch us back together" Daehra sighed in clear annoyance "I would not need to if you were simply careful, to begin with. Plus, you promised Keith you wouldn't take unnecessary risks" "There are some risks that can't be mitigated, no matter what you do. I'm serious though guys, I couldn't have come home without my team. I'm so proud of you" Lucteal huffed "We know, you idiot. We can feel your emotions. They were..." "Lucteal!"

Cutting her brother off, Daehra leaned forward to glare at him "They were what?" Continuing to glare, Daehra shook her head "It doesn't matter" Now he was kind of hurt. Both empaths picking up on it. As her expression softened, Lucteal took that as permission to continue "They were so strong last night that even though we were in our quarters, we picked up on it" Lance blushed hard "This is why we shouldn't have mentioned it. Lucteal cannot keep his mouth shut" "Oh, like you didn't feel it too" "They're in love!" "They're more than in love. It's like they complete each other. It's depressing how much of the same wavelength they're on" "I think it's sweet. Keith is a very nice man. Sometimes he is hard to read, but he loves you fiercely"

Lance snorted at Daehra. Sometimes? Was she serious? Lance would pay to know what was going through his husband's head. He had no idea why he hadn't run while he still had the chance. Why he'd turned up at the outpost after chasing something like him. He wasn't ever really sure he'd understand why Keith had taken everything done to him so personally. Or why he'd decided he was going to step up and fix up the mess Klearo had made of him. Being Leandro was still far easier than being Lance who'd been abused and tosses aside. But the love of Keith was making Lance worth being Lance.

"Sometimes? You should have seen him before. Seriously. He always looked emotionally constipated. He'd get mad when he couldn't find the right words and heaven help you if you said something about Shiro" Nudging Daehra, she smiled at him "They are very close" "Keith pushed himself to the edge of madness to save him... You probably know why he left earlier..." It was wrong and rude to ask his friends what their powers were picking up, yet he had to know it wasn't because of him "He felt overwhelmed. I do believe you should have been the one to go after him, instead of Silver Fox Shiro" "I suppose he's alright for a half-Galra. More emotional than I thought he'd be. I still think he touches you too much. He doesn't pick your panic up as we do... though sometimes it seems you haven't noticed it either" Wasn't that a good thing? If he wasn't noticing he was panicking because he was still able to function? "Sorry guys. I don't think I'll ever be able to understand how deep your powers run. But I love you both. I hope you know it. Feel it... sense it" Making wiggly fingers towards Daehra, she shoved at him with a giggle "We do" "Good. I know we met under pretty awful conditions, but I'm still really happy we met. I can't believe how long it was..." "It's been over an Earth year, right?" "Yep. One of the worst and best years of my life. This time next year, we'll have our outpost all set up. You'll have your own nursing staff. Lucteal will be training all the staff. Zak will be blowing stuff up with Tobias... Keith's going to be off doing all sorts of Blade things... It feels good" "Lance, do you really think I could have my own staff?" Rolling his eyes at her, Lance couldn't believe she'd even question it "Of course I do. You're a member of my team! That makes you like a million times more qualified than I know how to describe" "I do not know about that" "You guys can feel it, right? The faith I have in both of you? You're special to me. And when we move out to the outpost, I'm going to be relying on you to keep my head on straight"

Plucking at a stray blade of grass, Lucteal sighed heavily "Hear that Daehra? It sounds to me like he's actually going to listen to us for a change" "That is what I heard. I also heard him promise not to get into any more trouble and that we'll be able to take vacation time whenever we want" Throwing up his hands in mock offence, the smile on his lips was genuine "Is this not a good enough vacation? And you had done time on Altea. Plus Coran gave you all new toys and programs to play with. I thought I was doing better as a boss?" "Not a boss, but our friend. It has been nice seeing your planet" "You guys have only seen a tiny bit. On New Years we're going to have this huge party down at the beach. There's going to be firecrackers and Bonfires. You guys can go swimming... then I was thinking about taking you out to see where we found the Blue lion. Keith used to live out there on his own, in this tiny little shack. There's like a whole lot of nothing out there. Nothing like this..." "This is nice" Lance nodded, dropping back from the group hug to stare up at the clear sky "Yeah. And it's even better here with you"

* Staying up on the hill, they headed back down once Krolia's small pod landed down near the two ships and Shiro's pod. His mother-in-law already deep in conversation with Shiro and Keith as the trio approached. Kosmo was clearly happy over her arrival, his tail going flat out as he tried and failed miserably at getting krolia's attention. Not wanting to intrude, Lance tried to make his way over to the house, only to be spotted by Shiro. Waving both arms above his head and calling his name, it was kind of impossible to ignore the man.

Propelled forward by Daehra, Lance's feet dragged as he forced himself to walk over to the group. Shiro and Keith had obviously had a lot to talk about, they'd overshot the simply lunch and present exchange that Shiro and Curtis were going to stay for. He felt as if he really shouldn't be intruding on the conversation, Keith and Krolia were both smiling and laughing, without him. He didn't want to ruin the mood. He didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing. That would be the cherry on top of his less than stellar performance earlier.

Reaching the group, Lance hung his head as Kosmo came over for pats. Squatting down to shower him in attention, he didn't have to look anyone in the eyes. The nerves that had started as bubbling butterflies in his stomach now had it rolling. They hadn't exactly told Krolia they'd married. Her son was married to something dirty and weak like him. She might have been alright with him when they were dating but now... they were married. If she didn't approve, he'd have to say goodbye to Keith. He'd never make his husband choose between him and someone as important as his mother. Burying his face against Kosmo's neck, he nuzzled into his soft fur. He'd bought Kosmo a new collar for Christmas. The space wolf deserving of a little razzle-dazzle with his dark blue leather collar and name proudly studded in a white gold finish "Lance, Shiro asked you a question" Flinching at Keith's worried tone, Lance forced his face to go neutral as he looked up "Sorry, Shiro. I missed my puppa" "It's alright, kiddo. I was asking if you wanted to join us for New Years? You don't have to make your mind up right away, and naturally, the invitation is for all of you" No. No. He had plans for the New Year. He had plans to show Keith how his family celebrated, and how his town all came together. He wanted to set off fireworks and play volleyball with the kids, maybe even give Keith a surfing lesson or get Marco to so he didn't have to go into the water "Sure. I'll talk to my team about it. I was just telling them how they'd barely seen any of Earth" "Sounds good. It's about time for Curtis and me to be heading off. Krolia, why don't I show you inside?"

Raising an eyebrow, Krolia blatantly ignored Shiro's hint that Keith wanted to talk to him. It was either that Keith wanted to talk to him, or Shiro wanted Keith to talk to him. He was too awash with nerves to know which was up right about now, let alone who was hinting what and what he was magically supposed to do about it "Don't I get to greet my son-in-law?" "Muuuum" Drawing the name out, Keith sounded annoyed "My boy got married without me, I'm allowed to tease both of you. It's my job" "I'm sorry..." It was the only thing he could offer... He'd married Keith behind her back. Biting his bottom lip, Lance wished he hadn't come down from the hill. He'd been happy up there with Daehra and Lucteal. He'd missed spending one on one time with them "Mum, you're not allowed to tease my husband. We got married by accident"

Scolding his mother, Keith added to his guilt. If Keith hadn't come after him on his self gifted mission to "fix him", then they'd never have been married. Lance didn't regret being married to Keith, and no matter what grand wedding plans he'd once had, the way they'd wed was very them "That's what makes this all so interesting. And if anything, I should be apologising to you, Lance, for how dopey my son can be" "No. No. You don't need to apologise. I mean... it's all my fault... If Keith..." "Keith is right here. Mum, stop teasing him. Lance, don't let her get to you. She's happy for us. She said so before you came back" "But, dude, she's like your mum... and we didn't tell her"

Looking back at Kosmo, Lance missed the glances the three above him shared. He'd always worn his heart on his sleeve, his emotions easily read despite the expression on his face "Lance, I'm relieved you and Keith have such a strong relationship. He's honestly been in love for you so long I began to think he'd never marry. There are far worse people Keith could have married. Besides, the both of you aren't nearly as covert as you think. I knew back on Daibazaal, I simply didn't have the reason to tease you like I do now. It's huge intergalactic news" Krolia didn't sound mad, more amused. And she'd known that long? So much had happened he couldn't keep track of it clearly anymore "You're not mad? I mean... you know what happened..." Stepping around Shiro, Keith stood by his side "Great going mum, you've gone and upset him" "I didn't mean to upset him. I simply wanted to tease my two boys. Three boys if you include Shiro. Lance, you know I think no less of you. You have always been brave, and strong. Now, why don't we find Curtis? You two have plans, and Keith and I were planning on visiting his father's grave. Lance, you're welcome to join us" "It's ok... it's Christmas, you guys should spend some time together. I was going to tell Keith he should take a few vargas and go chill. My family is pretty much chaos personified. Veronica's probably got everyone whipped into shape inside. Her and Acxa are like the best power couple ever"

He was rambling. He could hear himself rambling. Keith always said he rambled when he was tired... He didn't feel as tired as he had, but that might have been the adrenaline from his nerves "Babe..." "It's ok, Keith. Do you want me to keep Kosmo here?" "Babe..." "I don't mind..." "Lance!" Flinching, Lance let Kosmo go. Krolia wasn't mad. Shiro wasn't mad. Keith wasn't mad. It was all in his head... "Keith, don't yell at Lance like that" Scolding him, Lance swore he could feel the pout on Keith's lips he knew would be there because of Krolia "I'm trying to ask him to come with us, but you're making him all upset. I already told you he had a panic attack this afternoon and not to tease him" So they'd talked about him. He should have expected as much... He wondered if Erathus celebrated Christmas with a holiday. He doubted they would, given how built up it was "It's fine... I've got to make a call this afternoon. So you guys go ahead. We're still here for another week and a half" "You need to make a call? On Christmas Day?" He'd said the wrong thing. Keith sounded annoyed. All he wanted was to step back and give Keith space to breathe. He'd been overwhelmed opening presents, probably forced to remember things he wished to forget. He was trying to politely give him an out. Keith was his husband, not his property. He had no right to tell Keith what he could and couldn't do, especially when he felt Keith and Krolia should go there alone together "Yeah. It could take a while. We just came down to make sure someone knew Krolia was here..."

Placing his hand on his shoulder, Keith's grip felt weird "Babe, you're part of our family too. You're not in the way... and I thought you wanted to meet dad too" "It's not that I don't want to. I just thought it might be nice for you and your mum to spend some time together. It's not like either of you come to Earth all that often, and my family is hands-on..." There was a long pause before Keith cleared his throat "Alright. Mum, come meet the rest of the family... Jorge and Miriam are nice. Everyone here's been really nice... They've all made me feel like part of the family" "I wouldn't expect anything less from Lance's family. They raised a wonderful young man. Lance, I look forward to talking with you more over dinner" "Uh... um, you too. I'm sorry we didn't tell you. There's been a lot going on" "I'm not mad at you. We all know what's been going on. I'm happy for you both"

Pity. It surely had to be pity. Forcing himself to stand, Lance, caught Shiro by the jacket as the group went to head for the house. Catching a curious glance from Keith, Shiro waved him off to leave the pair of them standing there. Keith and Shiro had always communicated on a level deeper than words... yet part of him had wanted Keith to question why Lance was reaching out for Shiro instead of him "Lance?" "How... how badly did I fucked up?" "What do you mean?" "I... mean I want the best for Keith, but my head's been all over the place today. The moment I saw Krolia I wanted to run. I wanted to run from my mother-in-law. I couldn't even look at her... I keep feeling that... that Keith could have done better than me. She's his mum. I have my whole family but he only has her by blood... I don't want to come between them... I'm not a very good person... and if she... if she sees the real me... then I'm going to have to say goodbye to Keith. I only want what's best for him... that's why... that's why I thought it would be good for him to spend some time alone with Krolia. He's barely had a moments peace since we got here... The aunts were mean as hell over him... I want him to be happy"

Pulling Lance into a tight hug, Shiro was careful not to touch his hair "You didn't mess up. Krolia loves you like a son as it is" "But my past..." "Doesn't matter to those who love you. Keith loves you. Krolia doesn't think you're weak at all. She admires your strength" "Are you sure it wasn't pity" "I don't think Krolia is one for pity. And I don't blame you for wanting to run. She scares me too at times" "I don't want to be like this..." "I know you don't. I thought you wanted to ask me about Keith" Lance shook his head. If his husband didn't want to tell him, then he'd have to swallow that down "I want to ask him about that... but only when he's ready... I think I'm going to call my therapist... I think I want to, but I don't know" "Before you do, you should know Keith was upset because he felt the gift he got you didn't measure up. Adam and I... would try, but we didn't know what we were doing, so he ended up doing the same things we would. He wasn't sure how to handle all the attention. He didn't expect anything more than the game console" Hadn't he just said he wanted to hear it from Keith? "I know I can't take those memories and pain from him, but I wanted to show him that I want to understand... I feel like this whole day went sideways when we got out of bed" "It hasn't. You haven't done anything wrong. I understand what you tried to tell Keith. You're right, you know. He and Krolia rarely visit Earth" "Exactly... I think I just hurt his feelings. I really... I don't want to come between him and his mum" "No, you didn't. Talk to him when they come back for dinner. He loves you. He warned Krolia not to pick on you because he wanted you to have a good Christmas. He was worried she'd make you cry, or cause another attack" "Too late..." "I think you handled your emotions quite well. Now, what do you want to do? Do you want to head back into the house, or down to the tent?" "It's a marquee and I'd rather not. The extended family isn't that fond of me. I'm going to head up to my room on the Telula and call my therapist... if I go back in there now, Daehra and Lucteal are going to know something's up" "Alright. Hey, Lance. One last thing, Merry Christmas" Hugging Shiro tightly, Lance sniffled "Merry Christmas Space Dad. Thank you for coming... even if I'm mental" "You're no more mental than I am. I'll see you at New Years, right?" "Maybe" "There's no pressure. I know it's pretty late to ask" "It's ok. I'll think about it" "That's all I can ask"

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viewwrangler · 6 years

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Do they actually read what they wrote in previous cases beforehand?

Or does the Supreme Court’s conservative majority just make up doctrine on the spot to fit the decision they want?

(NOTE: This post has been edited and updated throughout June 26.)

Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission (scotusblog.com case page): On Monday, June 4, 2018, The US Supreme Court holds that the Colorado Civil Rights Commission displayed impermissible religious bias in refusing to allow Masterpiece Cakeshop to illegally discriminate against LGBTQ people in providing its services. They take into account the totality of the case, including remarks made by the commissioners about it.

Opinion analysis: Divided court upholds Trump travel ban (scotusblog.com): On Tuesday, June 26, 2018 -- not a full month later -- the Court holds that despite displaying massive amounts of impermissible religious and nationality-based bias in its crafting, the Trump travel ban is just fine with them. In doing so, they serenely dismiss the fact that the order covers Muslim-majority population countries, because collectively, they represent only 8% of the world’s Muslim population. The majority declines to take into account the remarks made by the Candidate Dictator prior to, during, and after implementation of any of the three Muslim bans the adminstration enacted. (One would think that the fact that they did this three times -- admittedly, the latter two in response to other judicial decisions -- would be indicative. Apparently not.) (Further analysis of the decision at the Washington Post.)

I submit, Your Dishonors, that if the order had focused on and specified countries that contained “only” 8% of the world’s Christian population because they were Christians, this case would have fallen out quite differently. That is, in fact, the explicit reason that Masterpiece Cakeshop was reversed and remanded to the lower courts; because the Court decided that it discriminated impermissibly on the basis of bias against Christians. One also submits, Your Dishonors, that had Masterpiece Cakeshop’s owners been Muslims, that decision would have fallen out differently as well.

Adam Serwer in The Atlantic notes that the logic of Roberts’ opinion would mean that Jim Crow law, the grandfather clauses, and literacy tests would be entirely constitutional. After all, they were facially neutral.

Well ... yes. That would be the point. If you doubt that we’re headed back that way, or to something resembling apartheid-era South Africa -- or that the administration and the GOP are at least trying (and mostly succeeding) at taking us back that way -- you really have not been paying attention.

This decision lays further groundwork not only for when partisan gerrymanders come back to the court (and they will) but for when bluntly, seriously racially discriminating gerrymanders and other such political cases arrive at the court. Even when legislators bluntly state on the record that they’re doing what they do to block minorities from voting (as they have in Texas and the Carolinas), having this decision on the record means that when those cases come back to the court, as long as the text of the laws at hand is facially neutral, they will all survive.

Sotomayor read her “scathing dissent” (joined in the dissenting opinion, if not the reading, by Ginzberg) aloud from the Supreme Court bench, which is unusual -- albeit not quite as unusual as it used to be. According to NPR’s Nina Totenberg, it was a full furious 20-minute blast from the bench; hopefully, there will be audio at Oyez soon. (Most decisions are simply announced by the court, and no substantial part of the actual opinion beyond the holding --- what was decided, whether it was affirmed or reversed and remanded or vacated, etc. -- is read out loud in the court. A justice deciding to read all or a substantial part of an opinion from the bench is an extraordinary occurrence.)

Sotomayor also reads the majority for exactly that vile little rhetorical trick they’re pulling to pretend that Masterpiece Cakeshop isn’t directly relevant to this decision in ways they don’t want to admit:

Unlike in Masterpiece, where the majority considered the state commissioners’ statements about religion to be persuasive evidence of unconstitutional government, the majority here completely sets aside the President’s charged statements about Muslims as irrelevant. That holding erodes the foundational principles of religious tolerance that the Court elsewhere has so emphatically protected, and it tells members of minority religions in our country ‘that they are outsiders, not full members of the political community.

More about Sotomayor’s dissent at Vox, including noting her decision not to use a specific word and what that might mean. (Very little in the course of human events, but quite a lot when it comes to the much vaunted comity of the Court.)

One of the truly odd things about the decision: the Court decides, only 75 years late, to explicitly overrule Korematsu vs United States, which authorized the detention of Japanese citizens during WWII. They do so because the dissent explicitly and pointedly placed this decision in the hall of judicial shame alongside Korematsu, so in refuting the dissent, the majority took the opportunity to overturn Korematsu. Overrules don’t generally happen in cases where that specific decision is not at issue (and the Court has declined numerous opportunities to overrule Korematsu since it was issued). Apart from trying to distinguish this case, that seems in part aimed at setting the groundwork for other cases possibly coming down the pike next term, in which the administration has cited Korematsu. The short term effect, however, is to enshrine this decision with pride of place in the hall of shameful decisions.

In any event, as far as the Roberts majority goes, as long as you’re not discriminating against nominal Christians, this Court is just fine with official religious discrimination.

Just imagine the horrifying things this administration is about to do now that it’s gotten the official OK to do so.

Later this week -- tomorrow, most likely -- the Court will gut union agency to close the 2017-2018 term! Won’t that be fun!

#us politics #us supreme court #Supreme Court (US)

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godzillavskong-2021hd4k · 3 years

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Godzilla vs. Kong Celý Film Česky CZ Zdarma (2021)

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Legendy se střetnou ve filmu Godzilla vs. Kong, kde se tito mýtičtí protivníci setkávají ve velkolepé bitvě věků a osud světa tak visí na vlásku. Kong a jeho ochránci podniknou nebezpečnou cestu, aby našli svůj skutečný domov, a spolu s nimi je Jia, mladá osiřelá dívka, s níž si Kong vytvořil jedinečné a silné pouto. Neočekávaně se ocitli na cestě rozzuřené Godzilly, která postupně ničí celou planetu. Epický střet mezi dvěma titány - vyvolaný neviditelnými silami - je pouze začátkem tajemství, které leží hluboko v jádru Země.

Žánry: Akční, Dobrodružný, Sci-fi, Thriller, Blockbuster, Film s monstry, Série/Franchise Obsah: Gigantický Kong se utká s nezastavitelnou Godzillou. Svět sleduje jejich souboj se zatajeným dechem. Režie: Adam Wingard Scénář: Eric Pearson Max Borenstein Terry Rossio Michael Dougherty Zach Shields Herci: Alexander Skarsgård Millie Bobby Brown Rebecca Hall Brian Tyree Henry Shun Oguri ...

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its somewhat ironic that a movie about time travel can’t be reviewed properly until your future self rewatches the movie. It’s bold of Nolan to make such a thoroughly dense blockbuster. He assumes people will actually want to see ~Tenet more than once so they can understand it properly, which some may not. This movie makes the chronology of Inception look as simplistic as tic-tac-toe. Ergo, it’s hard for me to give an accurate rating, without having seen it twice, as I’m still trying to figure out whether everything does indeed make sense. If it does, this movie is easily a 9 or 10. If it doesn’t, it’s a 6. It’s further not helped by the fact that the dialogue in the first 15 minutes of the movie is painfully hard to understand / hear. Either they were behind masks; they were practically mumbling; the sound effects were too loud; or all of the above. The exposition scenes are also waayyy too brief for something this complex — a problem also shared with Interstellar actually. (Interstellar had this minimalist exposition problem explaining Blight, where if you weren’t careful, you’d miss this one sentence / scene in the entire movie explaining that Blight was a viral bacteria: “Earth’s atmosphere is 80% nitrogen, we don’t even breathe nitrogen. Blight does, and as it thrives, our air gets less and less oxygen”). I guess it’s a Nolan quirk. Hopefully, a revision of the film audio sorts the sound mixing out. I do like the soundtrack, but it’s too loud initially. I liked all the actors. You think John Washington can’t act at first, but he can, and he grows on you as the film progresses. And Pattinson is his usual charming self. Elizabeth is a surprise treat. And so on. Its worth a watch either way. See it with subtitles if you can. And definitely don’t expect to fully understand whats going on the first time around. Its one hell of a complicated film. It will be very hard for an average viewer to gather all the information provided by this movie at the first watch. But the more you watch it, more hidden elements will come to light. And when you are able to put these hidden elements together. You will realize that this movie is just a “masterpiece” which takes the legacy of Christopher Nolan Forward If I talk about acting, Then I have to say that Robert Pattinson has really proved himself as a very good actor in these recent years. And I am sure his acting skills will increase with time. His performance is charming and very smooth. Whenever he is on the camera, he steals the focus John David Washington is also fantastic in this movie. His performance is electrifying, I hope to see more from him in the future. Other characters such as Kenneth Branagh, Elizabeth, Himesh Patel, Dimple Kapadia, Clémence Poésy have also done quite well. And I dont think there is a need to talk about Michael Caine Talking about Music, its awesome. I dont think you will miss Hans Zimmer’s score. Ludwig has done a sufficient job. There is no lack of good score in the movie Gotta love the editing and post production which has been put into this movie. I think its fair to say this Nolan film has focused more in its post production. The main problem in the movie is the sound mixing. Plot is already complex and some dialogues are very soft due to the high music score. It makes it harder to realize what is going on in the movie. Other Nolan movies had loud BGM too. But Audio and dialogues weren’t a problem My humble request to everyone is to please let the movie sink in your thoughts. Let your mind grasp all the elements of this movie. I am sure more people will find it better. Even those who think they got the plot. I can bet they are wrong. ~Tenet is the long awaited new movie from Christopher Nolan. The movie that’s set to reboot the multiplexes post-Covid. It’s a manic, extremely loud, extremely baffling sci-fi cum spy rollercoaster that will please a lot of Nolan fan-boys but which left me with very mixed views. John David Washington (Denzel’s lad) plays “The Protagonist” — a crack-CIA field operative who is an unstoppable one-man army in the style of Hobbs or Shaw. Recruited into an even more shadowy organisation, he’s on the trail of an international arms dealer, Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh in full villain mode). Sator is bullying his estranged wife Kat (Elizabeth Debicki) over custody of their son (and the film unusually has a BBFC warning about “Domestic Abuse”). Our hero jets the world to try to prevent a very particular kind of Armageddon while also keeping the vulnerable and attractive Kat alive. This is cinema at its biggest and boldest. Nolan has taken a cinema ‘splurge’ gun, filled it with money, set it on rapid fire, removed the safety and let rip at the screen. Given that Nolan is famous for doing all of his ‘effects’ for real and ‘in camera’, some of what you see performed is almost unbelievable. You thought crashing a train through rush-hour traffic in “Inception” was crazy? You ain’t seen nothing yet with the airport scene! And for lovers of Chinooks (I must admit I am one and rush out of the house to see one if I hear it coming!) there is positively Chinook-p*rn on offer in the film’s ridiculously huge finale. The ‘inversion’ aspects of the story also lends itself to some fight scenes — one in particular in an airport ‘freeport’ — which are both bizarre to watch and, I imagine, technically extremely challenging to pull off. In this regard John David Washington is an acrobatic and talented stunt performer in his own right, and must have trained for months for this role. Nolan’s crew also certainly racked up their air miles pre-lockdown, since the locations range far and wide across the world. The locations encompassed Denmark, Estonia, India, Italy, Norway, the United Kingdom, and United States. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography is lush in introducing these, especially the beautiful Italian coast scenes. Although I did miss the David Arnold strings that would typically introduce these in a Bond movie: it felt like that was missing. The ‘timey-wimey’ aspects of the plot are also intriguing and very cleverly done. There are numerous points at which you think “Oh, that’s a sloppy continuity error” or “Shame the production design team missed that cracked wing mirror”. Then later in the movie, you get at least a dozen “Aha!” moments. Some of them (no spoilers) are jaw-droppingly spectacular. Perhaps the best twist is hidden in the final line of the movie. I only processed it on the way home. And so to the first of my significant gripes with ~Tenet. The sound mix in the movie is all over the place. I’d go stronger than that… it’s truly awful (expletive deleted)! Nolan often implements Shakespeare’s trick of having characters in the play provide exposition of the plot to aid comprehension. But unfortunately, all of this exposition dialogue was largely incomprehensible. This was due to: the ear-splitting volume of the sound: 2020 movie audiences are going to be suffering from ‘~Tenetis’! (LOL); the dialogue is poorly mixed with the thumping music by Ludwig Göransson (Wot? No Hans Zimmer?); a large proportion of the dialogue was through masks of varying description (#covid-appropriate). Aaron Taylor-Johnson was particularly unintelligible to my ears. Overall, watching this with subtitles at a special showing might be advisable! OK, so I only have a PhD in Physics… but at times I was completely lost as to the intricacies of the plot. It made “Inception” look like “The Tiger Who Came to Tea”. There was an obvious ‘McGuffin’ in “Inception” — — (“These ‘dream levels’… how exactly are they architected??”…. “Don’t worry… they’ll never notice”. And we didn’t!) In “~Tenet” there are McGuffins nested in McGuffins. So much of this is casually waved away as “future stuff… you’re not qualified” that it feels vaguely condescending to the audience. At one point Sator says to Kat “You don’t know what’s going on, do you?” and she shakes her head blankly. We’re right with you there luv! There are also gaps in the storyline that jar. The word “~Tenet”? What does it mean. Is it just a password? I’m none the wiser. The manic pace of ~Tenet and the constant din means that the movie gallops along like a series of disconnected (albeit brilliant) action set pieces. For me, it has none of the emotional heart of the Cobb’s marriage problems from “Inception” or the father/daughter separation of “Interstellar”. In fact, you barely care for anyone in the movie, perhaps with the exception of Kat. It’s a talented cast. As mentioned above, John David Washington is muscular and athletic in the role. It’s a big load for the actor to carry in such a tent-pole movie, given his only significant starring role before was in the excellent BlacKkKlansman. But he carries it off well. A worthy successor to Gerard Butler and Jason Statham for action roles in the next 10 years. This is also a great performance by Robert Pattinson, in his most high-profile film in a long time, playing the vaguely alcoholic and Carré-esque support guy. Pattinson’s Potter co-star Clemence Poésy also pops up — rather more un-glam that usual — as the scientist plot-expositor early in the movie. Nolan’s regular Michael Caine also pops up. although the 87-year old legend is starting to show his age: His speech was obviously affected at the time of filming (though nice try Mr Nolan in trying to disguise that with a mouth full of food!). But in my book, any amount of Caine in a movie is a plus. He also gets to deliver the best killer line in the film about snobbery! However, it’s Kenneth Branagh and Elizabeth Debicki that really stand out. They were both fabulous, especially when they were bouncing off each other in their marital battle royale. So, given this was my most anticipated movie of the year, it’s a bit of a curate’s egg for me. A mixture of being awe-struck at times and slightly disappointed at others. It’s a movie which needs a second watch, so I’m heading back today to give my ear drums another bashing! And this is one where I reserve the right to revisit my rating after that second watch… it’s not likely to go down… but it might go up. (For the full graphical review, check out One Mann’s Movies on t’interweb and Facebook. Thanks.) As this will be non-spoiler, I can’t say too much about the story. However, what I can is this: ~Tenet’s story is quite dynamic in the sense that you won’t understand it till it wants you to. So, for the first half, your brain is fighting for hints and pieces to puzzle together the story. It isn’t until halfway through the movie that ~Tenet invites you to the fantastic storytelling by Christopher Nolan. Acting is beyond phenomenal, and I’d be genuinely surprised if neither Robert Pattinson nor John David Washington doesn’t receive an Oscar nomination for best actor. It’s also hard not to mention how good Elizabeth Debicki and Aaron Johnson both are. All around, great acting, and the dialogue amps up the quality of the movie. The idea of this movie is damn fascinating, and while there are films that explore time-travelling, there’s never been anything quite like this. It has such a beautiful charm and for the most part, explains everything thoroughly. It feels so much more complex than any form of time-travelling we’ve seen, and no less could’ve been expected from Nolan. Oh my lord, the score for this film fits so perfectly. Every scene that’s meant to feel intense was amped by a hundred because of how good the score was. Let me just say though, none of them will be found iconic, but they fit the story and scenes so well. In the end, I walked out, feeling very satisfied. Nevertheless, I do have issues with the film that I cannot really express without spoiling bits of the story. There are definitely little inconsistencies that I found myself uncovering as the story progressed. However, I only had one issue that I found impacted my enjoyment. That issue was understanding some of the dialogue. No, not in the sense that the movie is too complicated, but more that it was hard to make out was being said at times. It felt like the movie required subtitles, but that probably was because, at a time in the film, there was far too much exposition. Nevertheless, I loved this film, I’ll be watching it at least two more times, and I think most of you in this group will enjoy it. I definitely suggest watching it in theatres if possible, just so you can get that excitement. (4/5) & (8.5/10) for those that care about number scores. At first, I want to ask Christopher Nolan one question, HOW THE HELL YOU DID THIS? Seriously I want to have an answer, How did he write such as this masterpiece! How did he get this complicated, fabulous and creative idea? What is going on in his mind? The story is written and directed perfectly, the narration style was absolutely unique. I have no idea how can anyone direct such as this story, that was a huge challenge, and as usual Nolan gave us a masterpiece that we’ll put beside (Memento), (Inception) and (Interstellar) The movie is so fast-paced in a good way, there was no boring moment. The chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson was great and funny and both of their performance was really good. Elizabeth Debicki performance was the best in the movie because she had the chance to show her acting abilities and she cached up that chance and showed us an A level acting. The music wasn’t unique and distinct as the music of Interstellar for example and I think this movie needed the touch of Hans Zimmer, I’m not saying that Ludwig Göransson failed but Hans Zimmer in another level. If there was something I’d say that I didn’t like it in the movie would it be that Nolan discarded any set up or characters backgrounds except Elizabeth Debicki dramatic story but it wasn’t that bad for me, I didn’t care about that, the exciting story didn’t give me the chance to focus on it. But the actual problem was the third act, it was really complicated and I got lost and I convinced myself to discard the questions that were in my head and enjoy the well-made action sequences and Elizabeth Debicki performance. I think this kind of movie that gets better with a second and third watch. I honestly don’t quite know where to begin with ~Tenet. I love Christopher Nolan’s work but I have never seen a more complicated film (and I understood Memento). ~After nearly three hours, I came away from ~Tenet not knowing myself, my mind reduced to nothing more than piles of ash. Was there time travel involved? Hmm, there was definitely something about time inversion. I mean, does Nolan even understand what he wrote? Look, I give credit to the director because he’s one of the few directors left who knows how to create a compelling and intelligent blockbuster. ~Tenet is full of Nolan trademarks — the gratuitous Michael Caine cameo, a loud, really loud score, complete with stunning cinematography and slickly

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talesofaguardian · 7 years

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Memories

Location: Old Russia and The Last City, Earth Guardian: Leah Stansfield Call Sign: Lady

An alarm blares, the clock reading 5:00, and a hand snakes out from under a sheet and turns it off. With a yawn, Leah stretches, pushing the covers off her, and looks around taking a second before pushing herself out of bed and stumbling toward a Jack and Jill bathroom, where the other entrance is blocked by a sliding door. Everything goes black until Leah wakes up on the tile floor near the toilet, with her mother at the entrance.

Her mother’s voice is panicked and urgent as she asks questions. “Leah? What happened? Did you fall asleep? We need to get you to the hospital! Paige, I need you to watch your sister.”

Leah pushes herself up and looks at the door with a blank stare. She doesn’t understand what’s happened or why her sister and mother are standing over her. “I came in here and…I don’t remember. Did I fall asleep?”

Her younger sister Paige stays away from the bathroom, leaning against the wall outside of it and peaking in occasionally to check on her sister. Paige is a tall sixteen-year-old, with long brown wavy hair and freckles covering her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She tries to sound calm, as she panics, afraid to look in and find her sister on the ground again. “Leah? I need you to snap your fingers so I know your still awake.”

“What?” Leah, confused by the fuss and panic from her family, stares at her fingers and has a hard time finding the energy and force to snap her fingers. The confusion only increasing as Paige starts to talk about when a classmate of hers has seizures they ask them to snap their fingers. “I can’t snap.” There is no frustration or weakness in Leah’s voice, only confusion and determination to figure out how to snap again, the lightheadedness affecting her ability to read the situation around her.

Her mother, a woman shorter than both girls but with the same brown hair and freckles as Paige, walks back into the bathroom. “Ok, I have your list of medications, medical file, and insurance information in the car. We need to get to the hospital.” The older woman reaches out and helps Leah off the ground, leading her back through her room. Two steps into the room Leah feels a wave of wooziness and falls forward, passing out face first against the hard wood floors of her room. Paige and her mother yelling and panicking, but not able to keep her up. Leah wakes up moments later, finally realizing that something was wrong, but still not able to piece everything together because of the fogginess of her mind. Paige runs out of the room and toward the back of their home where the office was located, and their mother leans down to pick Leah up again crying. “You need to stay up Leah.”

“I’ll try again. I told you I felt weird last night.” The words came out of her mouth as slow as molasses. With her mother’s help, she makes it to the hallway before she falls, yet again, face first onto the hard wood floors. Strangely, she didn’t feel any pain from repeatedly face planting on the floor, which was most likely a bad sign. Paige reappears rushing with a wheeled office chair from the back room on the other side of the house. The two women help Leah into the chair, and push her out into the garage and toward a silver truck parked in the driveway. “Mom, why didn’t we call an ambulance?” The words still coming out slow and with more effort than talking typically was. Her mother focused on getting her into the truck and not what she asked, ignored her question and buckled her in. An orange folder sat in front of Leah, it held all her medical information from the past months and was always with her mother when they visited emergency rooms. It held a list with her medication, information from each visit, results from past tests, the names of her current doctors, her insurance information, and would continue to haunt her, never able to escape the presence of that orange folder.

------------------------------------------------ “I could live out here!” Currently Leah was riding her sparrow through the Cosmo drome. Her talk with the Speaker had gone over well, they mentioned saving the last city and something about fighting the darkness before sending her back to Old Russia to fight off more Fallen and a new enemy called the Hive. It had been a few weeks of this, and the Vanguard were calling it the Beta phase for new guardians. In the next few months they were expecting more guardians to join their ranks. Leah had finished her Earth missions and was enjoying the fact that most Guardians went to Skywatch for the loot cave, leaving her to use the planes in the Mothyards as a ramp. She could and did spend hours with her helmet off, jumping planes and relaxing in a place she considered safe.

After spending her morning flying around the Mothyards she parked behind one of the planes facing the sea. Her feet rested on the steering system as she laid back against the seat reading a book, and avoiding ghost in the background. “Leah, she had tried to call you twice, and I know you aren’t so engrossed in your book that you can’t hear me.”

Leah groaned and pushed the aviator sunglasses down the bridge of her nose to look at Ghost floating to the left of her. “Did you take a message?” She already knew the answer, but if Ghost was going to bother her about not talking to Kaeya then she was going to annoy them.

“I’m not your personal assistant.” The top piece of Ghost’s structure lowered into what was considered a glare from the small robot. “But, she wanted to remind you that you have a follow up appointment today.”

“Not going.” With that she pushed the glasses back over her eyes and went back to her book. The discussion stopped at that point, as Ghost scoffed and sent a quick message back to Kaeya. They spent the rest of the day in silence, which was not a problem for Leah. It meant more time for her to read, ride, and relax without Ghost annoying her further. Later she would face the music with Kaeya. Most of the Mothyards was flat with slight hills, the carcasses of long dead planes scattered across the terrain, but on two sides it had much larger hills, and one of those led up to the building that connected the Mothyards to the Skywatch. It also had the much smaller building that Leah was currently sitting on the roof of, her legs kicking freely, and a packed lunch resting near her thigh as she ate lunch letting the cool air from the sea slowly blow against her, bringing with it a feeling of calm. In the city, there were so many people in such a small space, but out here she was alone and could breathe.

Her calm didn’t last long. Guardians were driving by to get to the Loot Cave and she needed to check in with the Vanguard to confirm her training with Zavala. “Let’s go back.” Ghost summoned her ship and the two returned to the Last City.

Everything was set for the next day, she would start her one on one training with the Vanguard if she survived Kaeya. Leah looked at the door to their apartment and kicked the ground. She had changed out of her armor and into civilian clothes a white V-neck long sleeve shirt rolled above her elbow, a brown vest, skinny jeans, combat boots, and a belt that attached to a holster around her thigh holding her hand cannon, but keeping the sunglasses from earlier on. Ghost rolled their eye and pushed against Leah shoulder. “Afraid?”

“No, just trying to think of every option for the argument I know is going to happen.” She pushed the door open and spotted Kaeya on the couch surrounded by paperwork. If she was quiet, maybe Leah could…

“You didn’t show up to your appointment.” Kaeya didn’t look up from her paperwork. Her hair covering her face like a curtain, as she wrote something down.

“Didn’t feel like going. I feel fine”

“It doesn’t matter if you feel fine. The Vanguard wants Guardians to have routine checkups for their mental and physical health. You went to the first few, why haven’t you gone to the past three?”

Leah sighed, took off her sunglasses and walked over to the free chair in the living room. “I don’t like hospitals.”

“It’s for your health.” Kaeya finally looked up from her work, and pushed her hair back so she could see Leah. “You were born in a different time, died, and now you’re alive again. The Vanguard wants to make sure you are adjusting well.”

“How about we have the appointment now? No hospitals, no rushing staff.”

Kaeya sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m not your doctor Leah.” Her voice raised as she started to get frustrated. “You go to the hospital because they keep track of your history, and I already have patients to look after.”

“Then no checkups for me.” Leah twirled her sunglasses and looked at the ceiling.

“Why are you so adamant about avoiding hospitals?”

Leah paused for a moment, deciding how to handle the situation. With a wink and finger guns she said “It won’t work for me, you see, no other doctor can use a stethoscope on me, because my heart beats only for you.” Kaeya rolls her eyes and glares at Leah. Leah’s attempt to distract through humor not working. After a few minutes of silence and Leah forcing herself not to squirm under Kaeya’s glare, Leah sighs and explains. “I spend the last years of my life in hospitals, died in one, and it makes me uncomfortable to go back to them.”

Kaeya’s glare subsided. She looked at her paperwork and thought of what to do. From what little she knew about Leah, she would continue to skip out on her checkups. “Fine, we can conduct your checkups here, but I’ll demand more of them.”

“Cool, when do we start Doc?”

Kaeya pinched the bridge of her nose and paused before replying. “We start now. Do you agree to let Ghost speak with me on your status as well?”

“Sure, why not, they always have something to say about me. Why stop them now”

Ghost leisurely floated over to Kaeya and spoke in a bored tone. “She has been having nightmares.” Then they turned and the top part of his shell lowered angrily at Leah, most likely getting revenge for earlier.

“What? That’s not…how are you already snitching on me? It’s been 3 seconds!”

“Ms. Leah, I’m only informing your doctor of a problem that I believe should be looked at. If you refuse to go to the hospital, then Dr. Ymir should remain informed on your condition.”

“Et tu, Brute?” Leah sighed and moved forward on the chair. With Ghost here to talk about what they see, it felt as though she was being attacked. Her leg started to bounce on its own, and her hands at her sides gripped the edge of the couch. Kaeya made note of Leah’s apprehension and raised a brow, waiting to see if Leah would admit to the nightmares or make Kaeya force it out of her.

“I can manage.” Once the word manage left her mouth Leah cringed. It brought back a flood of memories. In her previous life, when people stopped asking her how she was doing and instead asked her how she was managing it had shifted her perspective on herself. At that point she felt less human and more an amalgamation of the diseases she had. The looks of pity, worry, and discussions on her short future would only make that feeling worse.

Kaeya pushed her papers together, cleaning up her mess and pulling out a notebook to write on. She moved on the couch so that she was leaning against the arm closest to Leah. It was obvious that Leah wasn’t comfortable talking about any of this, but Kaeya was going to try. “Why are you so uncomfortable talking to me?” She placed the notebook on her lap and looked at Leah. Leah was still gripping the chair, leg bouncing, and her brows pulled down in thought.

“In my previous life, I had people who would rely on me. They would tell me their problems, and come to me for help, searching for support. Then if I turned around searching for the same from them they wouldn’t understand. It was as if my problems weren’t important…eventually I learned to keep it to myself.” Her hands relaxed for a moment and her leg stopped fidgeting.

“There is no judgment here, Leah. You’re in a safe space. Here, I won’t be your doctor, I’ll be your friend.” Kaeya put away the notebook and gave Leah a small comforting smile. She wouldn’t be her official doctor, but as her roommate she still needed to look out for her.

Safe space…Leah looked at Kaeya and smiled. “Ok, I could use a friend.” She brought her feet up, sitting cross-legged on the chair and placing her hands in her lap. “The nightmares aren’t too bad. One is reoccurring from before and others are bad memories from before.”

“The reoccurring one, it’s staid with you? How often has it happened since you’re return?”

“Only a few times, Ghost makes it seem like I’ve only had nightmares, but it’s been maybe one fourth of my nights here.”

“You never talk about where you lived before you died.” Honestly, Leah didn’t talk about her past with anyone. After passing out in their first meeting Kaeya tried to learn more about Leah’s medical history, but the woman didn’t want to tell her about anything. She kept busy and avoided being in the apartment unless it was bringing back takeout for the two.

Leah started wringing her hands in her lap, and bit her lip. This was the leap of faith for her. It was a simple question, but she knew once she opened up it would be hard for her to push Kaeya out. She sighed, stopped biting her lip and her hands calmed. “I lived in many different places. My father worked in the United States Military, and that required moving from place to place. I was born on a Japanese naval base, and died in a hospital in Texas, a state in the United States. Other than that, I only ever lived in one big city, everything else was rural areas. My father liked owning land, and my mother liked to take us to national parks, museums, hiking, and exploring. It worked for a little while.”

Kaeya noticed a change in Leah. When she spoke, it wasn’t just with a sadness from memories of missing the people she spoke of, it was as if the memories themselves were a bittersweet experience. “What was your family like?”

The change before had been slight, but now Kaeya felt uncomfortable watching Leah close up. Leah looked down at her hands in her lap, hunching over herself and closing her eyes. “That’s uh…I think that’s all I have for today. Thank you.” She pushed herself up and walked to her room, closing the door, and leaving Kaeya and Ghost in the living room. Once alone, Leah sat on the floor near her bed, bringing her knees up, resting her arms on the tops of her knees, and hiding her face in her hands.

#destiny the game #destiny #tales of a guardian #destiny guardian story

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mykhiotime-blog · 5 years

Text

7 January 2019

Writing class with Line Ulekleiv.

Wrote the following text:

One of these days I should sit down and think through the reasons why I resist so much declaring my references. It must be somehow related to my predilection for independent thinking and complexity, as opposed to any form of unconditioned admiration, personality cult and reductivism. At the same time I must admit I get a certain amount of pleasure in contradicting myself.

A while ago, a friend sent me a link to an interesting website. After a first quick look, I decided I definitely had to set time aside in order to study it in depth. As often happens, it slipped my mind shortly after, but it popped into my head on several occasions later on. I really must take a deeper look at that, I reminded myself at each time, and then again it slipped my mind.

I’ve just found the link and clicked on it. Actually the website’s name is quite easy to remember. Everybodystoolbox.net. From now on I shall remember it. It has been set up in 2006 as a wiki, an internet content pool that anyone can freely edit, by an open group based on interest and named Everybodys. It is a platform for the exchange of works, methodologies and production models, that focuses on the development and dissemination of tools and discourses that exist within the performing arts. The website includes a “Workshop Kit” composed of different sections. In one of them, a set of “Games” based on precise yet open instructions or rules, can be used to develop ideas or works. “Scores and descriptions” proposes to put in relation different forms of notation, such as existing or purpose-written scores and descriptions of performances, as a way to expand the possible understandings of a piece but also to develop new works. The section “Interviews” includes the instructions to conduct individual or group self interview, as well as examples contributed by a number of artists.

Sometimes I include written instructions in my work, while with other projects I use recognisable structures, frames or predefined models within which I let things happen, therefore allowing for a high degree of freedom and unpredictability. Such frames or models can be seen as forms of regulation hence, in my point of view, as a chance to find alternative solutions, a pretext to develop different approaches and practices by turning obstructions and limitations into resources.

Rules and instructions regulate the way things should be done within a defined context, a set of limitations and parameters that require a common acknowledgement but can also be interpreted and adapted according to the individual’s level of engagement. I am interested in the tension between rules as regulatory statements, and the discrepancies produced when interpreted and translated into practice. Such discrepancies can be accidentally or deliberately produced, and used in a transformative way. If rules define limitations and restrictions, they can also foster processes of adaptation, interpretation and transformation. Playing by the rules, playing with the rules, changing the rules or breaking the rules are options at the players’ disposal, some more suitable than others in challenging the rigidity of the game.

One of these days I should sit down and think through the specificities of the contexts I want to address, each one with its own implicit or explicit regulations, frames and models. One of these days I should sit down and define which game I want to play, which rules to keep, which rules to add, which rules to improve and which rules to dump.

I run out of time. I must suspend writing due to family obligations but I promise I will resume at a later time. I won’t forget this time. You know what? I am going to add it to my reference book! My reference book is an address book with alphabetical index tabs that I fill with names of artists, works, writers, books, films and so on. These references have been recommended to me by friends and colleagues after I showed them one or more projects I have done. Some references are relevant and on point, while other not as much...Unluckily I have not been very consistent with taking note of all the names and works that have been recommended to me throughout the years. Moreover, I forget to thoroughly study the names and works that made to those pages...I should definitely set time aside for this.

In the meanwhile, here is the current list: A-B Bernadette Corporation, Francis Alys’s Fabiola, Sven Augustijnen’s Spectres, Guillaume Bijl’s Souvenirs of the 20th Century, Ricardo Grey, George Bataille’s De la Part Maudite, Giorgio Agamben’s Note sul Gesto, Cezary Bodzianowski, Stanley Brown’s A Short Manifesto, Conrad Bakker, Walter Benjamin’s The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction and Theses on the Philosophy of History, Hans Belting’s An Anthropology of Images: Picture, Medium, Body and The End of the History of Art?, Judith Butler, Roland Barthes’s Mythologies and La Mort de l'Auteur and La Chamber Claire and Éléments de Sémiologie, Marina Abramovic’s The Artist is Present, Roy Andersson, Louis Borges, Alain Badiou, Boyle Family, Baktruppen, Pierre Bismuth’s Where is Rocky?; C-D Adam Curtis’s The Century of the Self, the exhibition Correspondences at Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton, DreamWorks Animation’s Chicken Run, Stefaan Dheedene, Tacita Dean, Régis Debray’s Transmettre, Sophie Calle, Koenraad Dedobbeleer, Martin Creed, Marquis De Sade, Nico Doxx, Dizionario di Retorica e Stilistica, Jacques Derrida’s Plato's Pharmacy, Gabriele Di Matteo; E-F Harun Farocki, James Ensor, Hans Peter Feldmann, De Appel Curatorial Program Fluiten In Het Donker, Olivier Foulon’s Isa Genzken’s Ring, Sigmund Freud’s Mourning and Melancholia and the concept of Polymorphous Perversity, Emilio Fantin, Robert Filliou, Andrea Frazer; G-H Hitchcock’s MacGuffin, Kristján Guðmundsson, Robert Pogue Harrison’s The Dominion of the Dead, Douglas Hubler, Sigurður Guðmundsson’s Pavement, Street, Tibor Gyenis’ Ten Superflous Gestures, Witold Gombrowicz, the term Happenstance, Ane Hjort Guttu’s How to Become a Non- Artist, Roger Hiorns, René Girard’s Théorie Mimétique; I-J Jasper John’s writings, Jean-Yves Jouannais’ Artistes sans œuvres, Christian Jankowski; K-L Komar and Melamid, Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Michael Landy’s Break Down, Joshua Knelman’s Hot Art, Kris Kimpe’s exhibition design, Marijn Van Kreij, Andrei Kuzkin, Joachim Koester, We communicate only through our shared dismissal of the pre- linguistic: fourteen analyses (1995) in Mike Kelley : minor histories--statements, conversations, proposals, Valery Konevin, Martin Kippenberger’s Lieber maler male mir, Shaurya Kumar’s The Lost Museum, Paul Klee’s drawings, Sherrie Levine, Rafael Lozano and Susie Ramsay’s Ok Art Manifesto; M-N: Kobe Matthys’ Agentshap, Ivan Moudov, Brussels’ Musée de la Police, Matt Mullican’s That Person, Paul McCarthy’s On the figure of the artist; O-P Nicolas Provost’s Plot Point, Ola Pehrson’s Hunt for the Unabomber, George Perec’s Life, a manual; Q-R Kurt Ryslavy, Alain Resnais’ Les statues meurent aussi, Ugo Rondinone’s Your Age and my Age and the Age of the Sun, Robert Rauschenberg’s Erased De Kooning Drawing, Gert Robyns, Michael Rakowitz, S-T Harald Szeeman’s Les Machines Celibataires, Edward Steichen’s The Family of Man, Taryin Simon’s Contraband, Adam Parker Smith’s Thanks, Schrodinger’s cat paradox, Simon Starling, Wolfgang Tillmans, SI-LA-GI’s Apology, Bálint Szombathy’s Lenin in Budapest, Koki Tanaka; U-V Van Eyek Mystic Lamb lost panel at STAM Museum in Ghent, Anton Vidockle’s Art without market, art without education: political economy of art, Enrique Vila-Matas’ Bartleby & Co, Ulay at Neuenationalgalerie in Berlin, Franco Vaccari, Paul Virilio’s L’accident original, Paul Valery, Mierle Laderman Ukuleles’ Maintenance Art Performances, Alex Villar; W-X David Foster Wallace’s A supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again, Peter Watkins’ La Commune, Stephen Willats; Y-Z Snorre Ytterstad.

Andrea Galiazzo

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dammitadolfnomorecake · 5 years

Text

CSUARAGC prt 10 start

The thing he'd been most excited over had been Keith opening his presents. Everyone was full from pretty gorging themselves on the delicious meals his family had filled the tables with, there were more different dishes than there were people. He liked to think he held himself back on both eating way too much and in giving too many gifts. He'd gifted Keith 12 presents in total. Which some might see as going over board... he was worried he had, but he had a good reason why it had to be 12. 6 as his friend and 6 as his husband. Aiming from ages 8 to 14. He'd wanted to give Keith loving memories to wipe out the horrible ones of being in care... After his own little spat with his traumas, he really should have known better. He'd been so focused on trying to make his husband happy, he'd made him cry instead.

Somewhere between the lunch box and the new comms he'd set up for Keith with access to all the bounty hunter stuff related to the area where the compound was, his husband had started to shake. His scent had taken on a pained edge, yet he'd let him hold him. With all the gifts had, Lance was enjoying sitting on the floor with Keith settled between his legs, like a parent with their child. It was after Keith opened his gift from mami that Keith had taken off. Lance had gone to go after him, but Shiro had stopped him and gone instead. As an act of apology, Veronica turned the attention to Acxa and her gifts. He knew his sister was sorry for what happened by the front door, and hated that she had to be. He also hated that he kind of felt she'd announced her own relationship to take the pressure off of him and Keith. There were so many things on his mind... all of them serving to piss him off. Why couldn't he be the one to talk to Keith? If he'd done something wrong or pushed too hard, he needed to be the one to apologise. If it was from Keith's past, then shouldn't Keith be able to lean on him a little? He might have freaked out because of Veronica, but Keith usually... No. His mood was only going further down hill. Keith had been right. The idea of a perfect Christmas was impossible. He'd know it could be shaky, yet...

"Mijo?"

"Mami..."

He'd told himself he wasn't going to cry again. He'd been standing out the front of the house for the better part of half a varga. The beer in his hold had started growing warm, as he'd tried to pick at the label. The aunties found his gloves rude. He'd nearly taken them off to show them his messed up hand, just to shut them up. There were more important things in life than one's sexuality... like catching bad guys and saving the planet. So why couldn't they see past the musty smelling makeup they caked on? Keith was the future. He'd been the whole reason Voltron succeeded

"They still talking?"

"Yeah. How are you? Lunch was a bit of a fiasco"

"I'm fine, mijo. I'm proud of my children and the adults they have grown into. Don't you worry about any of all that. I learned long ago that the aunties will never be pleased. How are you feeling...?"

Forcing down a swig of beer, Lance looked to his mother

"Over what happened this morning? Or about Keith?"

"Keith... both... this morning. Is it rude to pry?"

"You wouldn't be my mami if you didn't. I'm sorry for freaking out. V took me by surprise and Keith tells me I'm still putting too much on myself. I really... after last time, I really wanted to be happy. You know?"

"You've always been that way. I'm not too sure about your choice in gifts"

His mother had no right to be complaining. Aliens didn't value gold like they did on Earth. It was simply a shiny metal whose uses had mostly been surpassed. The watch set her gifted her and his father would have cost a mint before everything onEarth collapsed at the hands of the Galra

"Mami, Keith was in really bad foster homes. He didn't have... he didn't have this whole Santa thing and family... I wanted to give him a taste of that, but now I'm standing here wondering how I could have made things better for him. I wanted us all to have a good Christmas. I'm making money from my job, and I'm making money doing something I like. I felt lost without Allura. I'm so sorry for... before. I know I can't make up for it. I know it... so I wanted to do better. I wanted Keith to see how warm and happy family can be. That we love him. That it's ok to be selfish... and now I don't know what to say to him"

Letting her gather him into his arms, Lance felt weak for needing her comfort

"Mijo, I'm sure Keith is happy. Between yesterday and last night, I feel he's probably overwhelmed by this. You said he isn't used to such a fuss, and now we're all fussing over him. Plus, I've seen how he looks at you. He adores you"

"He adores me... but... mami, I want to be there for him too. I know I'm not good enough for him... but I love him"

"He knows you do. He knows... He loves you, mijo. And don't you dare say you're not good enough for him. I'm sure once he's finished talking to Shiro, he'll want to talk to you"

"Yeah... maybe. I know he probably doesn't want me to have another episode, and that he's probably trying to consider my feelings, it just really sucks to be pushed away"

"Mijo..."

The gently testing tone in the way his mother spoke told him the conversation was going back to what gas happened. He knew it before she even continued

"... will you tell me what it's like? Or how it happened. If Veronica did something..."

"No! No, mami. It wasn't her. It was but it wasn't. I was thinking about the people who hurt me. I'm kind of sensitive over my hair... when she touched my hair it sent me over. V wasn't being mean. Or trying to be mean. And it's like... it's like having all your worst fears happen at once. That panic fills your body. You... you're there but you're not because you're so scared. We think I jumped on Shiro because he's bigger than V and Keith. The people who hurt me were all bigger than Zethrid. So if you put it together, something big, suddenly grabbing me and touching my hair... it's stupid"

"No, mijo. I understand. We only knew bad Galra to begin with. We didn't want to be scared, but you can't help it sometimes. After sending the family into hiding, we didn't know if we'd see them again"

"I was so scared I'd never see any of you. I missed home so much, but now Earth feels so different. Home didn't feel like home. I felt like a stranger here and I didn't know how to get it all back. I kept seeing Allura. I didn't want to, but she didn't go away. I couldn't tell what was real anymore... I know I hurt you. I know I hurt the kids. I thought I had a handle on it"

"Nadia and Sylvio will understand..."

"They shouldn't have to understand. Sorry, mami. I think I should just take a walk"

"Alright, mijo. Don't forget you need to introduce Keith to his new grand-parents when they wake from their naps"

"I know mami. I've been dying to introduce Keith to them... crap. I forgot about my team..."

"Why don't you take them with you? You could take them to the beach or to see Allura and your friend?"

"I might take them up to see Allura an Kre'el. I'm saving the beach for when Keith is with us"

"Ok. I love you, my precious baby boy"

"I love you too, mami. I'm sorry my head isn't great"

"Nonsense. You're working hard and I couldn't be prouder"

Zak and Tobias had been "roped" into playing video games with Nadia and Sylvio. Zethrid and Ezor were assisting from the sidelines while Veronica and Acxa were cuddling in the corner near the Christmas tree. Asking Daehra and Lucteal if they wanted to come for a walk, the pair in agreed faster than Lance liked. Remaining mostly silent as he led them down the road between the paddocks and up to his favourite hill, Lance wasn't sure this was where he wanted to be. It still felt like a mess with Keith. He'd fully intended to agree if Keith asked to spend some time with Shiro on Christmas. They were brothers after all. Now he just felt like an intruder in their relationship, like he'd done in the early days of Voltron. Curtis clearly didn't mind the siblings bonding. He'd probably been used to due to Adam. Still, Lance wondered if like him, if Curtis was maybe a little jealous of being on the outside, or if he was self projecting his doubts again.

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