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truefant4sy · 4 months

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EP 1: "you really know how to make me cry when you give me those ocean eyes" | the first episode of Sweet & Salty

the first episode to my new series 'sweet & salty' Centered around the Hulu show 'The bear.'

warnings: kinda fluff, a smidge of angst, a lot of nostalgia,kissing,almost smut

"shittt okay vee so either we go stupid and get 4lokos or we get some nasty ass bear and just chug that" i looked at my best friend awaiting her answer "um..be stupid and grab them damn 4lokos" vee laughed showing her pink braced teeth "okay I'll go grab some chips and shit. This is finna be our best movie night yet" i clapped my hands together and grabbed about 4 4lokos out of the cold liquor store freezer i look around the store for a minute then walked up to the counter "uh my friend is getting everything else can i just sit those here?" i asked the bored counter clerk he simply nodded and continued looking at the erotic magazine. 'Fucking cunt' i thought before walking over to the candy isle as i looked around i could feel a presence looming over me like the feeling you get when you teacher is standing over you during a test "damn can you mo-" i turned around and stopped my sentence "my bad..Jojo?" i eternally cringed at the high school nickname "hi carmen" i nodded trying to shake the awkwardness off "eh..how are you?" he asked me shifting from on foot on to the other "good. I uh went to New York and got my degree" i told him.

It was always easy to tell him everything "yeah? i went to New York last year" he smiled "yeah? i heard through the grapevine that you got yourself a restaurant" he rubbed at his face and nodded "i do" he said in a monotone voice. i wanted to bring up Mikey but i just decided against it "can i ask you something Jojo?" he looked at me waiting for me to say something "did you really get the uh..tattoo removed..like you said you would?" he asked me.

I said two years ago when i left for New York and said that i was gonna get the tattoo i got of his name removed and i did not do it whatsoever.

"no I didn't actually" I turned to the right and moved my hair to show him the small letter that began at the back of my ear and ended and the bottom of my neck "well that's good..You got something planned tonight?" he asked me before waving his hands "not that like I wanna come over or something like that" I laughed only laughed at him trying to explain it "yeah me and vee are having a sleep over slash movie night I guess since I'm back" I told him trying not to be so awkward "that sounds fun..I'm sorry I didn't call you- or try to" he looked down at the ground "it's fine Carmen I should have cut you off like that" he chuckled "it's fine i mean at least I'm still Carmel to you" he shrugged dramatically "yes you are" i smiled "uh..can I have your number?..to stay in contact of course" he asked before looking away once our eyes locked "yeah can i see your phone" i twisted my necklace 'stop doing that' i dropped my necklace.

he handed me his phone for me to type my number in I called my number to make sure it rung and it did "I'll save your number now" I told him as I pulled out my phone "you still have that photo?" he shook his head and smiled, I looked at my case and saw the collection of high school Polaroids I kept one of us doing nothing but just looking at each other "yeah I don't throw away shit" I said before saving his number "josie did you-" vee stopped in her tracks and sighed "well hi Carmel macchiato" she shook her head and laughed before giving him a quick side hug "hey vee" he said simply "still got your braces I see" he said sarcastically "shut up I'm getting them off next week dude" she rolled her green eyes "I'm just fucking with you" he said patting her shoulder "I know carm" she laughed "well hurry and grabbed some shit josie I wanna go watch that movie" she sighed and walked over to the counter.

"alright" I nodded "you should the nerd's ropes" carmen stated "yeah? okay then" I grabbed the nerd's ropes and looked at them they did seem good "and um get chocolate too because too much fruit flavored candy makes you-" I interrupted him "throw up? I know carmen" I laughed and grabbed some twixs and snickers "alright well I'll call you tonight if that's okay?" he asked me running a hand thru his wild curly hair "yeah of course" he nodded and walked to the back of the store to grab a drink "bye Jojo" he looked at him from over his should "bye carm"

My fucking stomach hurts and I now remember every reason why I don't fucking drink 4lokos anymore because my god.

Vee was in the bathroom throwing up everything she ate and drunk today, and I sat there trying not fucking cry from how much my stomach was killing me "Vierra? Vee?" I called to her trying to see if she was okay thru my own pain "yes" she said weakly "I stood up and walked over to the bathroom to see her resting her blonde head on the side on my tub "I have clothes just shower and ill uh..door dash or something" I said still clenching at my stomach "no..I don't want door dash" she replied drunkly "I want you to get your boyfriend carmen over here so he can cook" she burped "carmen isn't and wasn't my boyfriend Vierra" I shook my head at what she had said.

He was my best friend "Fuck you. Just get that man over here because I'm fucking hungry Josephine" I nodded and walked over to my dresser to grab her some clothes "okay ill call him just please shower" I helped her get up and get undressed before I ran her a bath making sure to some of those calming bath salts that I bought last week.

After I got her into the bath I stepped out at plopped down on my bed before grabbing the painkillers in my night stand and popping two of them into my mouth and chasing it with a water 'call carmen' I groaned and listened to my head before picking up my phone at first my thumb just hovered over his name in my phone "fuck it" I pressed the button and waited for him to pick him which wasn't a long wait "Josephine?" his voice was deep and soft "I'm sorry were you uh sleeping?" I asked him knowing the answer considering that it was 12:52 "kinda. Whatcha need?" he asked me and I kind of hesitated "um could you come over and make something to eat for me and vee, she specifically asked for to cook" I told him my leg bouncing with anxiety "yeah. I can" he said groaning "okay. I'll send you, my address."

It wasn't long before he was knocking at the door of my apartment I got up from the bed and opened the door "hi josie" he looked so tired 'and so fine' I shook my head at stepped aside to let him in "I'm sorry to wa-" I tried to apologize but he interrupted me "it's fine. I rather it be you anyways" he groaned and ran his hand thru his hair again "what does she want to eat?" he asked me while he looked around my kitchen pulling out pots and pans "chicken alfredo" I leaned against the island in my kitchen he nodded "josie? is your boyfriend here?" a drunk Vierra called out of my bedroom "vee yes he's here and he's not boyfriend" I sighed and carmen only scratched his head I took a seat in the barstool at my island and just watched him.

"you just gonna stare or are you gonna tell me about New York?" he was going back in forth from my fridge to the stove to the cabinet cooking away "well if you don't mind I'm gonna do both" I giggled 'like a damn school girl' I shook my head "well uh in New York I ate a shit ton of food and the people aren't that bad" I scratched my head "yeah? what all did you eat?" he asked me as he added a stick of butter to a pan "everything. Like I basically ate at every fucking restaurant I could find" I laughed "still got a huge ass appetite I see" he shook he head and turned around to give me a quick smile 'that was cute' "yes that was" "hm?" he looked at me "I said yes I do. I'm a hungry whore..like the game hungry hippo but sluttier" he shook his head and put his hands on his hips "gotta be nicer to yourself" I rolled my eyes at his words "Josephine."

I threw my hands up " okay I'm gonna be nicer to myself carmen" I stuck my tongue out at him "now. Where's your pasta?" he asked me still stirring and picking stuff in a skillet "in the last cabinet to the left he opened the cabinet and looked at me "only 3 packs josie? I should be ashamed" when he said that I remembered Michael saying the same thing 2 years back before I left for New York "uh carmen...I'm really sorry about Mikey" I sighed "it's fine."

he said quickly and bluntly "is the food done yet?" Vierra shouted from my room "no vee not yet" carmen shouted back "can you pull out some plates Jojo?" he asked me still focused on the stove and making sure the pasta didn't over boil "..yes chef" I stood up from the stool and made my way over to the dishwasher were I pulled out a few heart shaped plates "that's cute" he said looking at the plates "I know right?" I replied back "oh uh..could I see your room...? because I uh remembered how narly your bedroom was when we were kids so I just thought it would y'know still be uh..cool" he ran his hand through his hair "yeah. It's still narly probably even more narly because I got my own money to puy any decoration I want" he laughed "yeah your apartment is cute" stirred the pot again as he complimented me "aw your sweet carmy that's why I call you Carmel" he laughed.

Finally the food was done and Vierra ate that shit down "this is why we love carmen right josie?" she wiped her mouth after eating her 3 plate "mhm" I only nodded my head to what she said "bye" vee got up from her seat at my island and went back into my room "well at least she's happy" carmen joked as I stood up to put the dishes in the sink "do you uh..want me to go or?" he asked me at he rested his chin the palm of his hand "no. I mean you should stay" he nodded.

We sat in silence for a bit, "you know what? last week when I had gone to that same liquor store guess who I saw" carmen looked at me "uh who?" I asked "Claire" I rolled my eyes at his answer "you know I don't her." I rolled my eyes again "can I ask why?" he tilted his head in a boyish manner "yes because she was a fucking bully, so I punched in her stupid fucking face. Shes still one of those manic pixie dream girls" he nodded "that was funny" he laughed.

"wanna go sit on the couch?" I asked him as I stood up stretching my body 'those stools hurt.' carmen nodded and walked behind her they both plopped down on the couch and just sat there again in silence to take in each other's presence "legs?" carmen looked at me "legs." I nodded and put my legs in his lap like how we did when we were just high school students, we always said it like that "I really fucking missed you carmy" she admitted to him he only nodded his head in agreement "why did we even stop talking?" carmen asked his eyes staring holes through me "you blew up at me the week before I was supposed to leave for New York..so I just thought that the end" I admitted to him 'why the fuck am I telling him everything' "I didn't mean to. I was just-" he gave up on his sentenced and just sighed "it's fine. We're over that now, right?" I asked him softly putting a comforting hand on his should "right." he nodded.

"My mom asked about you." I told him as I traced little shapes onto his skin "she did? what did she say?" he asked his head back on the couch, his eyes closed in a relaxed manner "Just the usual like 'what happened to carmen?' and 'where's carmen?' " I told him giggling at my mom's nosiness he laughed, as he laughed, I just stared at him.

I kind of forgot how..pretty he was in a weird way, like he was pretty but in a manly sense and handsome in a chaotic way his hair crazy his eyes stared holes through my soul when he would look at me his random tattoos the littered his skin his chaotic-ness never failed to calm me at the worst moments even when he made me cry I could never blame him.

"weird question." i said he opened one eye and looked at me "yeah?" he waited for me to ask "can i uh..kiss you? sorry if thats weird" i blurted out quietly making sure I didn't wake up vierra "no its not weird. And uh yeah" his head lifted from the couch as my hand held his cheek his eyes closed for a second as if he was embracing the feeling of my skin on his all over again I leaned in our foreheads just touching the tips of our noses brushing against each other with each breath, his nose and skin were always cold 'just kiss' I listened to the small voice in my head and kissed him and the feeling was intensified by a thousand.

I never knew it was possible to miss a person this much as I missed how his lips felt on mine. When we were in high school we only ever kissed once as a joke but this time was, weirdly real and love filled I guess I just knew I did want it to end My hands ran through his hair "fuck" he murmured softly into my mouth this wasn't how I planned to spend my first week back in Chicago at all but his chaotic-ness always went with my straight forward plans which was why we were such good friends in high school but instead I was the chaotic one and he was the straight forward planned one 'the roles always switch with him'.

His tongue wrapped my very own making my body quiver his hands held my back as he softly pushed me down onto my light pink sofa he didn't break the kiss as he got onto the sofa more his arms now on both sides of my head, he softly grabbed my legs and put them on his waist as a sign for me to wrap them around his waist he softly pulled away "is this okay?" he asked me his forehead still against mine I nodded he kissed me a few more times before going to my neck kissing and biting at the brown flesh making me cover my mouth so I could keep quiet 'you went 2 years without sex by the way' the same small voice reminded me in my head, he lifted my shirt up and began to kiss my stomach making my eyes flutter "god save me." I muttered under my breath as he looked up at me as if he wanted approval.

My hands grabbed at his hair his kisses got slower and lower then by bedroom door sung open "have you guys-" Vierra stopped in the door way making carmen sit up and pull my shirt down "oh uh fuck my bad" Vierra awkwardly turned around and went back into my room "well fuck." carmen groaned and rubbed his face "I should get going" he stood up and grabbed his phone and keys "alright" I stood up with him and opened the door, before he walked out he kind of just stopped "I missed you too" he said in a quiet voice "I know you did." I said sarcastically making him roll his eyes before he walked out of the door, he hugged me. Giving me the biggest bear hug ever and he smelled great "see you later Josephine" he let go of me "see you later carmy and text me when you get home okay?" he smiled and nodded and before I knew it, he was in the elevator on his was down to the lobby. I closed my door and locked it.

And there he was again, already back in my life changing the course of everything once again.

#Spotify #carmy berzatto #carmen berzatto smut #carmy x reader #black writblr #black and white #the bear #jeremy allen white #i love him #carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto

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gryfflepuffinthetardis · 5 months

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I’ll Stand by You (Sweet Jane Part Two) — Campbell Bain x Reader

Sweet Jane Episode One: Hey Jude

Warning: One gif shows mild self harm. (The digging nails into palm from Riverdale)

“You were a risk, a mystery, and the most certain thing I’d ever known.”

Campbell finished playing a song and he spoke into the microphone, “That was Money (That's What I Want)—"

“Cannae hear ye, Campbell.

“From way back in 1959—” Campbell continued, now louder

“They still cannae hear ye.

“AND THIS IS CAMPBELL BAIN, THE BANE OF YOUR LIFE!” Campbell all but shouted.

“Campbell—” Eddie started.

Campbell turned and snapped, irritably at Eddie, “Eddie, I'm a mentally ill person. If I shout any louder I'll be restrained and sedated!”

He felt Y/N take his hand and brought it to the fader as Eddie pointed this out, “The fader, Campbell.”

He paused. “...Oh, I knew that!” He lied.

“Okay, Campbell, we'll try it again.”

Campbell started to jingle again, making it let out a screechy staticky whistling as it played, making Y/N jump up, suddenly, clamping her hands over her ears, making Campbell look at her with deep concern before Fergus reached over Campbell’s turned shoulder and pulled the slider down

“You'll blow the monitors if you push 'em like that.” He told them, “Along with Y/N’s eardrums.”

“Fergus! I nearly got it right that time! What're—” Campbell complained but cut himself off when he saw Fergus wearing a white doctor’s coat and glasses with his pulled back into a ponytail, “Well, well! The poacher's turned gamekeeper, eh? Where did you get the coat?”

Fergus looked down at the nametag to read it, “From, uh, Doctor Brady.”

“You look dead handsome like that, so you do.” Rosalie complimented.

“Get everything you needed?” Eddie asked.

“Almost.” Fergus said as he held up an electronic device, “That only cost 50p. I'll strip it for the power transistors.” Then he gestured to Campbell. “Are you sure you trust him on that desk?”

“Fergus, this desk and I are on intimate terms. This desk and I are practically engaged. We're doing our first show together tomorrow night.”

“Not tomorrow, Campbell.” Eddie told him.

“But I'm standing at the threshold of one the most important moments of my life here!” Campbell whined before saying, fervently, “Give me an audience; give me punters and I will deliver, Eddie!”

“Well! I hadn't expected such a crowd.” A woman said, entering, and Y/N rolled her chair away from her, looking at her suspiciously as she nodded at Fergus, “Doctor.” Then to everyone else, “Which one of you is Eddie McKenna?”

“Um, I am.” Eddie said, standing up.

“I'm Mrs. MacDonald, assistant administrator.” She said

“Mrs. MacDonald.” Eddie said, shaking her hand.

“Call me Evelyn. Just thought I'd pop my head in and say hello, ask if you need anything.” She said and Y/N and Fergus exchanged looks before the silent patient gave her a blank stare.

“Aye, we do.” Fergus said.

“I'm sorry?” Evelyn asked as Y/N handed Fergus a cable.

“We need some shielded three-core flex. This stuff is useless. The doctors' bleeps are coming through on the air.”

“Well, that should be possible.” Evelyn said, having understood very little of that but smiling to pretend that she did.

“And some paint! This place needs redecorating, so it does.” Rosalie interjected.

“Oh, hang on. Just let me make a list.”

Y/N smacked Fergus in the shoulder, lightly and gestured to the mixing desk. “Yes, the main thing is the mixing desk.” Fergus opened said mixing desk, “Now, we've got a lot of crackle coming through on these faders, and these two here have had it, really.” Y/N used a screwdriver to demonstrate which wires, “Now, we could do with a couple of new ones if you can still get them, but what we really need is a new desk. A six-into-two would even do us.”

“My goodness!” Evelyn laughed, “Are you a doctor or an engineer?”

“I'm a patient.” Fergus said as Y/N smiled, cheekily at her before he took his glasses off, laughing as Evelyn’s smile fell but not having the open mind that Eddie had when he mistook a patient for a doctor.

“We're all patients. Except him,” Campbell said, nodding towards Eddie, “who isn't, but should be. But don't worry; we're heavily tranquilized and pose no danger to the public.” Campbell then gave her an adorkable smile.

“No, that's marvelous, involving the patients.” She said but Y/N could tell she wasn’t genuine and was being very fake, not exactly going to be the next Oscar winner, “I'll see what I can do about this list. Uh, there's an endowment trust we can approach. But the hospital board will want to see some figures, I'm afraid.” Her voice was now hesitant. Y/N rolled her eyes, picking up on this at once.

“What kind of figures?” Eddie asked.

“Oh, just a budget proposal, really. Current running costs, projected capital outlay, that sort of thing. If you've got your books up to date and you've got some written estimates of the equipment you propose to purchase, you can—” Evelyn said as Campbell and Y/N started to get very bored and they exchanged very bored, like in Math(s)-class-level-bored looks before Campbell played the jingle.

“That was dedicated to the bored and boring board of Saint Jude's Hospital, that bloated, bilious body of befuddled brains we'd like to befriend. Just give us your dosh, boys!” Campbell said into the microphone cheerfully.

Can’t Buy Me Love by the Beatles played before Eddie scolded, “Campbell!” He slid the fader back down, quieting the music.

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“Well. Pretty impressive! Anyway, Eddie, I'll pop in again in a few days when you have a chance to get some figures together. And... thanks for the wee demonstration, as it were.” Evelyn said, taken aback, confused, and not wanting to be near Campbell as she felt he definitely was mentally unstable and she didn't like the death glare that was being given to her by Y/n.

“Oh, well done, Campbell.” Eddie said, sarcastically.

“I told you I could do it if I had an audience!” Campbell said, the sarcasm going right over his head.

“No that. What's Evelyn gonna think of that?” Eddie nodded at the mixer, having been referring to Campbell’s performance out of boredom.

“She'll think I'm a loony. I am a loony. ...Come on, Eddie. Let me do my own show tomorrow, eh?” Campbell pleaded.

Eddie looked at Fergus and Y/N, the older of the two quiet and gentle patients shook his head ‘no’ while the youngest and most quiet on, nodded her head, enthusiastically, yes. Yes. Yes. Yes!

Eddie sighed, looking at Campbell and conceded, “...Aye, okay.”

Campbell then jumped up from his chair, either really excited or having a mild manic mood swing. “You beau-taay! Tomorrow night! The Campbell Bain Show debuts tomorrow night!” He extended his arms out and leaned his head back to look at the ceiling like, I’M ON TOP OF THE WORLD as Y/N watched with a sparkle in her eyes. “Eat your heart out, Ken Bruce, you bastard, ha!” His smile immediately fell when he spotted his father entering the room, “Oh... Hello.”

“They, uh, told me I'd find you in here.” His dad said, uncomfortably.

“...Aye.” Campbell glanced at his friends, rather nervous about how his father would react to them given his disbelief in his son’s own mental disorder, “Well... here I am." He turned back to his friends, who were uncomfortably waiting for him to introduce this man to them, "...Eh, you lot, this is my dad." Eddie smiled in greeting but like Y/n, his eyes kept darting back to Campbell, noticing his obvious uncharacteristic nervousness and stillness, "Dad, this is that lot and this is Y/N, my best friend…” He said, placing a hand on the back of Y/N’s back as she looked at him, considering they had only met two months ago and she’s never even spoken to him despite the many, many, many times he’s spoken to her, before quickly adding, “but-but not my--not my-my girlfriend…”

He cut himself off as his dad gave them all apart from Campbell a cold look while the one he gave Campbell was just uncomfortable and disappointed, like he thought he had to walk on eggshells around him.

Then his dad just left, intending for the unsettled Campbell to follow. Campbell turned to Y/N and pleaded with her with his eyes to follow in case things went wrong which they most likely would, knowing his father and Y/N got up and walked solemnly after them, glaring at Campbell’s dad the whole time.

The father and son entered the day room as Y/N slowly walked in, glaring at Campbell’s dad still, before sitting down and continuing to glare daggers at Campbell's dad.

“Uh,” Campbell glanced at Y/N with her rather terrifying stare at his father like she was planning on murdering him, “have a seat.” Then he joked to lighten the mood, “I'd get you a cup of tea, but they don't trust us with kettles.”

“No, you might burn yourselves.”

“Aye. Or wear them on our heads. Either way, it requires medical intervention.” The teen chuckled, nervously.

“I've just, uh, had a word with your doctor, by the way.”

“Oh, aye?” Campbell asked with mild curiosity.

“He gave me some good news... I think. He says they'll be letting you out of here soon. Next week, he reckons.” Campbell’s dad said and Y/N’s insides flipped, not sure how she should feel. Her empathetic side was happy for him but her selfish side was sad that she wouldn’t be able to see him as often.

Campbell had defied all her expectations after her trauma. He was everything she had started to lose belief in in men. He was kindness and gentleness and sunshine.

Campbell clearly thought this was great news, “You're joking — next week?” He said, excitedly and then jumped up, excitedly, shouting, “YES! YES! FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST!” He walked over to Y/N and kissed her on the head, enthusiastically, “THANK GOD ALMIGHTY, I'LL BE FREE AT LAST!”

He spotted the bittersweet look on Y/N’s face, making him pipe down and look at her with confusion and concern so his dad took this opportunity to talk.

“Aye, well. Just thought I'd come and ask you if you'd, uh, any plans for when you come out.”

Y/N scoffed, knowing what he meant at once. Was that really his only concern? Not welcoming his wonderful son home.

“Aye! Loads of them!” Campbell said, enthusiastically, not understanding, “Massive booze-up with all my pals. Holiday in the Seychelles—or Majorca; I'll slum it. And… lose my virginity. I'm nineteen, I think I should lose my virginity, don't you?”

For some reason, Y/N felt even more sad at this, not noticing how Campbell’s brown eyes darted at her before his dad ruined his excitement… as per usual.

“Listen, stop your daft act! You'll make me think you need to stay here.” Campbell’s dad snapped, making Campbell’s mood switch from manic to depressed as he slumped into a seat, seeing his dad hadn’t changed as much as he had as Y/N glared at the ununderstanding father, her nails digging into her skin, something she had done from a young age to keep herself from violently lashing out. The pain grounding her but she had never told anyone this due to it being considered as self-harm.

“I was talking about your future, son. You didn't get your exams, you know. Your mother and I was wondering if you'd thought about going back to do your exams.”

Yes because exams are fair and test all kinds of intelligences equally instead of one or two because that would be massively unfair to those with mental and/or learning disorders by forcing them to conform to the way normal people think. Y/N thought, sarcastically, her nails breaking skin.

“Well... cannae say that was the first thing that crossed my mind.” Campbell admitted.

“Well, think about it, son!” His dad said, like, what else could you possibly be thinking about, “There's a recession on. Nobody gets nothing for nothing. You need qualifications.”

Alistair looked back at them in annoyance before catching the deadly glare Y/N gave him like, say something if you dare.

“Well, it's just... I don't know what I wanna do yet.” Campbell sighed.

“Ah, don't give me your daft talk. We're talking about a job. I mean, what you want has nothing to do with it!” Campbell’s dad snapped as Y/N’s nails pushed harder into her palm.

“Aye, well, I could always be a road sweeper, I suppose.” Campbell snapped, bitterly, getting up and turning his back to his father.

“I am not a road sweeper! I work for the Cleansing Department. And I'm a foreman.” His dad defended and Y/N audibly scoffed.

You sweep the road.” Campbell said, coldly.

“Oh? I never heard you complain about the food it put on the table.” Perhaps because you were too busy criticizing him and refusing to listen to him to hear him. “Do you want to be a waster all your life?” You’re the waster. “'Cause I'm not having it. You've got to pull yourself together, because this thing is killing your mother. It's positively killing her. I mean, the doctor's had to put her on tablets because she's so upset about it.” Then why isn’t she here?

Y/N’s eye started to switch as her nails continued to dig.

Campbell just breathed out a bitter laugh at that, “That makes two loonies in the family.”

“Your mother is not a loony. We've never had a loony in the family before you. Not on my side or your mother's. You've just got to stop this. Put it all behind you. Pull yourself together. You understand me?” His father ordered like it was something Campbell could turn on and off or like it was some act for attention.

Campbell just nodded, not trusting himself to speak without his voice breaking but he still didn’t turn around. His dad went to put his hand on Campbell’s shoulder but stopped himself before he could.

“You just have to think about your future, son.” He told him as Campbell stared solemnly at the floor

Y/N glared at Campbell’s father as he left as he gave her a cold look back, once he was gone Y/N walked towards Campbell and hugged him from behind, he grabbed at her hands before turning around in the hug and pulling her into a stronger hug as he buried his face into the top of her head.

—

The next day, Fergus and Campbell announced “Campbell Bain’s Looney Tunes Show” with Campbell in a wheelchair with balloons and streamed on it… also on Fergus.

Later that night, Campbell, Y/N, Rosalie, and Fergus were in the station and Eddie wasn’t there yet.

Campbell stressfully took out a cigarette out of his pack as Fergus squeezed a yellow balloon, “He should be here by now!” He looked down at Rosalie who was under the desk, spraying Campbell’s boots and Y/N high tops. “Rosalie, what are you doing?”

“Just polishing your shoes, son.” Rosalie said and Campbell felt his cigarette be pulled out of his fingers by Y/N and dropped in a pitcher of water. Campbell looked over at Fergus in disbelief.

Campbell excused Y/N by asking her to get him some water that didn’t have cigarettes in it and then lit a new cigarette.

“We're gonna have to go without him.” Fergus said as Y/N came back with the water and frowned at Campbell who taking a nervous puff of his cigarette.

“Ten... nine... eight... seven... six...” Fergus counted down as Y/N took the cigarette from Campbell and stubbed it out, giving him a disapproving look. “Two... one. You're on.”

Campbell leaned towards the microphone and spoke, “That was I Hear You Knocking, But You Can't Come In, dedicated to all the medical staff here at Saint Jude's Hospital. They hear you knocking, but you cannae get out! And this is Campbell Bain with the first ever Campbell Bain's Looney Tunes Show!” Y/N pushed the button that played the Looney Tunes jungle, “And our next request is for Senga on Ward six, who tells me that she's being controlled by aliens from another planet.” He put on the record, Puppet on a String and then he joked, “Sengaaa, the nursing assistants are only doing their job.”

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He heard Y/N giggle beside him, making his heart do flips. Y/N. She was definitely what he was going the miss most. Even with her never saying a single word to him.

Fergus and Y/N spotted Eddie stopping from a dash when he saw Campbell, sorting through the records. Fergus waved casually at him.

And now, I've been asked to play a "dead smoochy" tune by Alison on Ward 7.” Campbell said in a comedically husky voice, “So here's a song that should cause each of us to experience a wee flutter in the heart, a wee catch in the throat; a tune that we can truly call our song.” He said the last sentence while looking at Y/N.

Campbell put on the song, Goin’ Out of my Head and then he spotted Eddie and he smiled at him, before looking at Y/N who was bopping her head along to the song.

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—

“Cocoa's up. You coming” Campbell asked Eddie as Y/N waited for him, quite proud of the looney.

“No. Gotta get these figures together for Evelyn.” Eddie refused.

Campbell was nervous yet excited as he put his hands in his pockets, “I had fun tonight, guys. I think that's the most fun I've ever had without being manic.” There was a nervous pause. “Was I any good?”

Y/N didn’t even hesitate, she nodded and gave him two thumbs-up. That was as good as he was going to get with her.

Eddie paused, considering before turning to look at him, “Aye.”

This was the kind of support Campbell never got from his father and it excited the young man, “I've never been good at anything before, Eddie. I spent four years of my life learning to play guitar and the only song I can play all the way through is ‘Knock Knock Knockin' on Heaven's Door. And I only did it to try and pull women. I'm no good at that either.” He sighed and Eddie breathed out a laugh, knowing that Y/N was quite infatuated with him, even without her ever saying a word to him… or to anyone in the hospital, “I want to do this. Professional, Eddie, Y/N. D'you think... I could?”

Y/N gave him a smile while Eddie said, “Maybe, aye.”

“But I've got to take it seriously.” He said, starting to pace, “It's got to be taken seriously, this thing. First thing I'm gonna do is get some cans like yours, Eddie.”

“Beyer DT-100s.” Eddie said, flatly.

“Aye. Professional cans, with my name on them in big yellow fluorescent letters. Build up my own record collection; specialize in something. Get some routines together. What else do I need?

“Experience, Campbell?” Eddie suggested.

“Aye, good point! They're no gonna hire somebody who just walks in off the street. They're going to hire somebody who has spent days, if not weeks, developing their show into a creature that's, is totally fresh and fundamentally loony in every way!” He said, excitedly.

“‘Days, if no weeks’?” Eddie repeated his words, considering he had been trying to go professional for eight years.

“They're letting me out of here next week, Eddie. And I wanna come and work for you. Full time. I want you to teach me everything you know. We'll be a double act. We are gonna make this the most outrageous and original hospital broadcasting outfit in the country! This station is gonna take us places, Eddie.” Campbell proposed and Y/N’s heart began to lift.

“‘Us?”

“Well, you're no gonna sell double glazing all your life, are yeh?” Campbell pointed out.

“Uh, no likely, anyway.” Eddie muttered, figuring he was going to be fired in a few days due to his literal workaholic boss’ impossible standards.

“Then go for it! Have you never wanted to go professional, Eddie?” Campbell asked.

“I've sent out the odd tape.” Eddie said as Y/N tilted her head.

“And?”

“Uh, general consensus seemed to be, um, I was shite.” He muttered.

Campbell thought about this for a moment before saying, “Ah, well, that's where you went wrong. You see, you went to them. That's one thing I'm sure of, is you've got to get them to come to you. What's it called...”

“Abduction, Campbell, and it's illegal.” Eddie deadpanned.

“No! No! No!” He spotted Y/N pad which she had written the word on, “Yes! Market strategy. Creating a seller's market. Can you see the potential? We are one of the only loony radio stations in the country! Think of the angle, the publicity!” He mimed a newspaper headline in the air, “‘Loonies Take Over Asylum at Saint Jude's’. All we have to do is be brilliant as well as original, and they'll be coming to us. With your knowledge and experience and my hypomania, how can we lose? Come on, Eddie. You with me?”

Eddie thought about for a moment before nodding, “Aye. Campbell grinned widely at his answer.

“Are you sure you're no manic?” Eddie asked.

“I'm inspired, Eddie.” He corrected.

“What's the difference?”

“Inspired is when you think you can do anything. Manic is when you know it.” Campbell explained and went to get his cocoa. Y/N smiled and followed Campbell to get hers.

Later Campbell was reading a book called Careers in Radio when he looked up to see a soaking wet Fergus with a shopping bag.

“Fergus! Did you get them?” He asked, excitedly.

“Aye. Secondhand. Fifty quid.” Fergus said, opening the bag for Campbell.

“This is brilliant! Brilliant! My first professional headphones.” Campbell said, getting his headphones out and putting them on as Fergus got a towel to dry off. “Did you get the paint?” Fergus pointed at the bag and Campbell fumbled with the bag until he got the pain out, “I have to put my name on them. That's how they do it in professional radio.”

“Where'd you get all this cash, anyway?” Fergus wondered.

“Sold Mad John all Y/N and my cigarettes. She doesn’t smoke so she was happy to.” He explained.

“For sixty quid?”

“Well, it was nearly eight packs. And he did offer; he was desperate.” Campbell said.

“But what are you gonna do for smokes?” Fergus asked.

“I'm giving it up. I've gotta take care of my voice. And may God strike me dead if I so much as engage in passive smoking.” He said.

“But everybody smokes in here.” Fergus said, “Except your girlfriend.”

Campbell merely glanced at him, slightly irritated at him calling Y/N his girlfriend but decided not to comment on it. “Then I'll stop breathing in. I’ll do whatever Y/N does. C'mon! Let's try these out at the station.”

He went to run out of his room and to the station when he was stopped by his father entering, looking just as lethargic and boring as ever. So, the exact opposite of Campbell in every conceivable way. “Dad! Hello.”

Campbell’s dad looked at Fergus and frowned, “You're wet!”

Fergus pressed his finger against his temple like he just got an idea or was getting a psychic message from someone and then said, sarcastically, “Next time I'll take my clothes off before I get into the bath.” The he gave Campbell’s dad a somewhat loony-esque look as he walked out.

“I thought he was a doctor.” Campbell’s dad said, confused and slow.

“Only part time.” Campbell said with a slight nervous chuckle.

Campbell’s dad then decided to ignore this, not having his son’s acceptance and love for “loonies” as his son put it. “I was wondering if you'd thought about what we were saying.”

Neither noticed Y/N appear at the door, leaning against the door frame, watching the scene with scrutiny but not interrupting.

“Yes. I have. And I've decided that you're absolutely dead on. I'm nineteen years old and it's time I started thinking about my future.” Campbell said with a big smile.

“Oh, aye?” His dad asked.

“You're gonna be proud of me, Dad.” Campbell hoped, but somehow, this was doubtful with what was known about Campbell’s close-minded dad. “Because I've decided that my future, my life's work, my soul's passion is gonna be this.” He pulled his headphones from around his neck to over his ears.

“...You're going to be an airline pilot?” His dad asked.

“Nooo!” Campbell drawled out, making Y/N lips twitch into a smile before her glare settled back onto his dad. “A radio disc jockey! And I can get all the experience I need right here in the hospital station!”

Campbell's dad was not proud in the slightest, just disappointed and exasperated for what he assumed to be his son’s latest “obsession” but was actually more accurately a Bipolar hyperfixation. “Back to that, are we?” He asked, sitting down.

“Back to what?” Campbell frowned, pulling his headphones down.

“Well, six months ago you wanted to be a pop star.” His dad reminded him.

“That was different. I cannae sing.” Campbell told him.

“Two years before, you wanted to be a racing jockey.”

“I'm afraid of horses.”

“Before that, you wanted to be an actor!” His dad complained.

“I cannae remember lines. But this is different! I'm good at it! I know I am! Y/N told me, I mean not so much with words, but she did in her own way!”

“The mute girl?”

“SHE’S NOT MUTE!” Campbell shouted, angrily, gesturing to Y/N at the door who waved sarcastically at Campbell’s dad with a sarcastically sweet smile.

“Ah, well, there's a lot of things are gonna be different from now on. Your mother and me have been talking, and... we've decided it would be a good idea if you went to your auntie Susan's for a bit.” Campbell’s dad told him.

“But she lives in Perth.” Campbell said, shocked.

Y/N’s heart fell at this. Campbell wasn’t just leaving the hospital, he would be even further away. If he meant Perth, Scotland then he’d be sixty miles away, that would be over an hour’s drive. If he meant Perth, Australia, then that was in a whole different time zone.

“Yes, but you can go to adult classes there. You'll get the peace and quiet that you need.”

Y/N scoffed at his dad’s reasoning. It sounded more like if Campbell had another episode, he didn’t want to deal with it and he was using his education as an excuse.

“I cannae go to Perth! I've gotta stay in Glasgow to work in the station! I need the experience!” Campbell freaked out, holding up his headphones at his dad, Y/N eased over to behind Campbell, sensing his anger rising.

Y/N took Campbell’s headphones from his hands and replaced them with her headphones.

“You need to get well!” His dad protested like he was arguing with someone who was actually ill and Perth was actually going to help do that. How exactly?

“BUT I'M NOT ILL!” Campbell screamed and just as Y/N had predicted Campbell threw his headphones at his bed, they bounced and hit the floor, she could hear them break even though Campbell was shouting as she slinked back out of the room, “YOU CANNAE MAKE ME GO TO PERTH! I'M NINETEEN YEARS OLD, AND I'M STAYING IN GLASGOW TO WORK IN THE STATION! I'M GONNA BE A PROFESSIONAL DJ WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!”

“You stand there, shouting at the top of your voice, throwing your arms about like some mad scarecrow, and you're telling me you're not ill?” His father scoffed as Y/N glared with him with such hatred. “You're not capable of thinking straight, and some straight thinking needs to be done. Now, your mother and me have done our best to look after you.” Y/N clenched her jaw as her hatred increased, “If that's not good enough for you, then there... there's nothing left but... to have you sectioned, and let the doctors decide.”

Campbell’s anger turned to shock and brokenheartedness as Y/N’s turned from fiery hatred to ice-cold hatred. There was officially one person she hated more than she hated Campbell’s father. She could see that he wanted to love a normal son but he didn’t have that so he tried to shape Campbell into being normal, but he wasn’t but he just didn’t have the capacity to understand that and just blamed Campbell for things that wasn’t his fault.

“...Oh, Jesus. You'd have me sectioned?” Campbell breathed, looking at his father with horror through his floppy light auburn hair.

“I'll come round on Monday to collect you. Your uncle has loaned me his car.”

Great. Y/N thought, Then I could key it with curse words.

Campbell’s father went to turn to leave when his son spoke again in a heartbroken tone, “Have you never been young, Dad? Was there never anything you wanted to do, you wanted to be, more than anything in the world?”

His dad paused and then said, “Oh, aye. Goalkeeper for the Glasgow Rangers. Lot of fucking good it did me.”

Yeah, because you have no talent whatsoever, nor compassion, empathy, or unconditional love for your so. Only if he’s the way you want him to be. Y/N thought with sardonicism.

Campbell looked up to see Y/N blocking his dad’s way, glaring daggers at him before he shuffled past, muttering about loonies.

Campbell looked at her with tears in his eyes, “WHAT!? YOU THINK I’M JUST AS BROKEN AS HE DOES! THAT’S WHY YOU FOLLOW ME AROUND BUT NEVER SPEAK TO ME!” He lashed out but Y/N showed no emotion on her face, she just took it like she was used to being screamed at… she was. Campbell got up and ran past her and she ran after him.

Evelyn was showing her true colors to Eddie, to her the only normal who worked at the station.

“Eddie, nobody could admire you more than I do for involving the patients. But I think the intention when we decided to fund the station was that there would be a regular staff of outside volunteers. Reliable people.” She voiced her opinion. Which was wrong in every way imaginable because in her mind, they were dangerous, unstable, and every stereotype their mental illnesses and/or disorders presented via said stereotype or movies or discrimination in general when in actuality people with mental illnesses which was over one third of the Earth’s population were eleven times more likely to be the victims of crime and/or violence than the general public.

“I've never been let down.” Eddie frowned.

“Eddie, some of these patients have horrendous problems. It's not fair to expect too much.” Evelyn explained to him like she was explaining what a surplus was to an eight and then to a five-year-old. Even though each “patient with horrendous problems” had done just as much if not more than Eddie had.

“They keep telling me how much they enjoy it.” Eddie said, shocked and confused. Wasn’t this woman supposed to be the Assistant Administrator of mental health? It was becoming more clear why she was Miss Evelyn MacDonald and not Mrs. Evelyn MacDonald or Doctor Evelyn MacDonald.

“You can't always listen to them.” Evelyn said, even though that’s what people already did that and when it should be the opposite with less screaming at them that their view of the world was wrong and the normals’ view of the world was right.

Then she left as Eddie looked after her, not understanding why she would think that, he had spent ten minutes in this hospital before realizing that his initial assumptions towards the patients had been wrong, thanks to the contrast between Stuart and Campbell.

Then he noticed that Francine had been eavesdropping on the quite upsetting conversation and she ran off.

“Francine!” He cried after her.

Campbell visibly upset and trying to light a cigarette with his lighter stalked past behind Eddie.

“Campbell? Campbell!” Eddie called as Y/N ran past him after Campbell with his new headphones around her neck.

Eddie had never seen Campbell so upset before, given Campbell was either always happy, manic, or overwhelmed, so he followed Campbell and Y/N. Campbell stormed into the studio, sulked over to the chair next to Fergus and flung himself into it, dejectedly before Y/N opened the door and knelt by Campbell’s side but he twisted his torso so the swivel chair turned him away from her, refusing to look at her, feeling guilty for what he said and not wanting to look her in the eyes.

“I thought you said you were gonna give up cigarettes.” Fergus told him.

“Aye, well, I also said I was gonna become a DJ.” Campbell said, bitterly and depressedly.

Eddie came around the corner and traded looks with Fergus. Eddie nodded at Campbell like, do you know what’s wrong?

Fergus shrugged like, No idea and I have no idea how to help him.

Y/N held up her hand, reassuringly like, I got this, boys.

Y/N grabbed Campbell’s arm and pulled him but refused to get up so the chair rolled until Fergus grabbed the back of the chair, making Campbell reluctantly stumble after Y/N who pulled him to his room, closing the door behind them and sat him on his bed and sat next to him so he could vent.

“Maybe, my dad’s right. Maybe following your dreams only exits in television.” Campbell sighed and tried to take another puff of the cigarette but Y/N took it from him and put it out on his ashtray. He looked at her and took out another cigarette which she took from him. He tried three more times in which she did the same.

He finally looked her in the eyes, “Well, that’s the least fun game ever, Y/N,” He deadpanned and she gave him a smile as she tilted her head and a sparkle twinkled in her eyes like, come on. Come on, buddy. Interact with me. He let out a half-scoff, half-chuckle and said, “Look, I’m sorry that I shouted at you, Y/N. I really am and I know you don’t think I’m broken and I don’t think you’re broken—I know I didn’t say that but I know you think you are because I know that look in your eyes. I’ve been here a while and I’ve had that look in my eyes for a long time.”

He stopped his rambling when Y/N placed her hand on his, sending waves of warmth through his body like hot cocoa on a cold day, “Maybe I need to be more like Eddie, a realist. Get a job to get by. Maybe, I’m just not that good. Maybe idealism is for suckers and I’m not as talented as I thought I was.”

“No.” Y/N spoke.

Campbell shook his head in disbelief and looked at Y/N with wide eyes, “Did you just…”

“Don’t give up, Campbell.” She said, softly, her voice was soft and bit hoarse from going ten months without speaking and so her vocal chords had atrophied a little but nothing too bad.

Campbell let out a laugh and cupped her cheek, “you’re talking. You’re really talking.”

“Your dad is close-minded arse who’s just miserable with his life and takes it out on you. I wanted to attack him and I wanted to key his car but he took the bus here… I checked. I wanted to scream at him and make him go crazy so he’d know what being loony is like.”

“You’re a really dark person, aren’t you?” Campbell chuckled, not at all worried or upset with her for wanting to commit physical and psychological damage upon his father.

“Manic-Depressive disorder is eighty percent genetic and most likely passed down from the father’s side of the family, just because there’s no known family members of your family doesn’t mean there weren’t any. Until seven years ago, they called attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, ‘hyperkinetic reaction to childhood” despite the disorder being known since either the late seventeen-hundreds or the early nineteen-hundreds. Stress, emotional abuse, neglect, being bullied, loneliness, isolation, pressure, etcetera, etcetera.”

Campbell studied her as she spoke, seeing she was rather intelligent though he had expected that from her engineering skills but this was knowledge of mental health that even some of the therapists he saw didn’t seem to know as they just insisted that he needed to calm down or he wouldn’t be able to function in society or lazy or over enthusiastic or a slacker or pointed out whether he seemed happy or sad that day like he needed it gauged and vocalized or that he was faking his episodes before they finally diagnosed him with manic-depressive disorder. She had a Y/A (Your accent) accent that sent his heart a-fluttering.

“You are not mentally incompetent or unwell. You are not acting out or putting on a daft act.” His eyes became misty with happy tears, “You are perfect just the way you are. You’re so much stronger than all the white noise in the world,” She gestured out the window, referring to the normals as white noise, “You’re stronger than your father, you’re stronger than Stuart, you’re stronger than Evelyn MacDonald. You’re so much stronger than anyone I know. You are holding the station together, you are holding the show together, so please, please, don’t let go.”

He nodded and cupped her cheek, stroking her soft skin with the pad of his thumb, “Why’d you wait until now to talk? You’ve been here for weeks and according to Stuart, you haven’t spoken in eight months and that was nearly two months ago, so ten.”

“You.” She said, “You were going to give up. Don’t. Please, don’t.”

“You’re talking… because of me. To encourage me?” He asked, touched and surprised that she cared for him that much.

She nodded and touched her forehead against his as she spoke softly, “You are more brilliant and talented than your dad ever could imagine. He doesn’t understand your disorder, he doesn’t see how brilliant it is. You know creative people are twenty times more likely to be manic-depressives? Creative people are more likely to be loonies.” Campbell chuckled softly, loving the sound of her voice and the passion twinkling in her E/C-colored eyes as she placed his headphones around his neck. “You have ambition, genius, loyalty, and compassion that doesn’t even rival your father’s by a long shot. Your disorder reminds you to relate to others and know when they’re struggling. You saw me. My parents only sent me here because I refused to talk but you knew there was more than that. They never did. And I see you and I understand you and I accept you.”

Campbell had tears of joy in his eyes and he pulled her towards him, hugging her, making her straddle him so not to be in an awkward angle, she stiffened before relaxing, hugging him back.

She turned her head to whisper into his ear, “And I have a plan.” She pulled away and looked into his brown eyes, “How’s your acting?”

Campbell raised an eyebrow at her before getting distracted, “I thought I broke the headphones, I threw but these aren’t broken.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s…” She nodded to the floor where he spotted her headphones now broken.

“Oh, shit! I broke your headphones, don’t-don’t worry, I’ll replace them.”

"Campbell... the plan." She reminded him.

"Oh, right, right... what's your plan?" He asked.

Y/n leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, however he didn't get a single word from being too distracted by their closeness.

"Could you say all that again? I didn't get any of that."

Campbell started the show the next day with Y/N as Eddie was a bit late but anyways, it was his show today—his last show.

As This Ole House by Rosemary Clooney played, the patients danced outside the station and Campbell, looking more restrained and calmer than usual. He also seemed deeper and more lost in thought than his usual spur-of-the-moment, impulsive, didn’t-think-this-through self. They sorted through the records and looked at the ones that Y/N handed him as she spoke softly with her back to the others so they couldn’t see and take her away now that they knew for certain she could talk because then she’d miss this and she didn’t want to miss this.

“What about Tears for Fears’ Mad World? It’s one of my favorites.” She suggested, holding up the 1983 song. “It can explain a looney’s tiredness of the world around us. To everyone else, we’re the ones that are mad but to us it’s the everyone else in the whole world that’s mad.

“Mmm. Great choice but I think some people are going to be a little bit depressed already with what I’m going to do.”

“Or I could play it after you leave.” She shrugged.

“Oh, you trying to take over my show, L/N.” He teased, spinning his swivel chair to her.

“Maybe, I am, Bain. What are you going to do about it?” She teased back.

The song ended and Campbell took over as Eddie entered, “This is Campbell Bain's Looney Tunes show, and I hope everyone in this old house is tuned in and ready to rock and roll.” Y/N pushed the button and the Looney Tunes jingle played as Eddie gave Campbell a proud smile, being far more supportive to him than his dad ever was, “That's right, because it's time for the Looney Tunes show, and I want you dancing, loonies, I want you singing along, I want you clapping your hands and stamping your feet! If there's a strange voice in your head, get it to sing along! If there's a catatonic sitting next to you, WAKE ‘EM UP!” Y/N giggled at his antics, making him give her a grin, “This is for all of you having ECT tomorrow; I hope you get some good vibrations.”

He started playing Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys and grinned at Y/N as that was one of her suggestions which he rather liked as it resonated with his feelings for her.

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Outside the stations as per usual, Hector sang along to the lyrics of the song into a spoon while as per usual Alastair was annoyed that they were interrupting his TV time

Campbell put the fader on, so the song faded out and he spoke into the microphone again, “Well, I suppose you're all wondering why I asked you here tonight. As you may know, this is the fourth and last Campbell Bain's Looney Tunes show. The good news is that it's because I'm being discharged. The bad news is, I'm gonna be living in Perth. And our first competition tonight was to find a special dedication to the town of Perth. And the winner is Margaret on Ward eleven, and she dedicated this song to the town of Perth.”

He started playing We Gotta Get Out of This Place by the Animals. He looked at Y/N and winked, giving her the signal while forcing himself not to look happy or manipulative. She smiled, then she leaned forwards and kissed him on the cheek before leaving to join Fergus and Eddie and actually spoke to them, “He's hot the night.”

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They did a double take at her but she wouldn’t say anything else when she was questioned about it as she closed the door, watching Campbell with amusement at what was going to happen and because his cheeks were now bright red.

Campbell waited a minute so that her leaving right before wouldn’t seem planned before taking his headphones off and looked at the studio door, as he pieced together what he was going to do. He walked over to the studio door and locked the door, locking eyes with Y/N.

Fergus and Eddie exchanged looked before Campbell walked over to the record player and pulled the tonearm off the record with a scratch and he sat back down, placing his headphones back over his ears and spoke in a manic pace of voice, “Ach, that's no dance music, is it? We're supposed to be rockin' an' rollin'! Because we are loonies and we are proud! I'm a manic-depressive and I'm proud, my friends. Some of the greatest geniuses in history have been manic-depressives on a manic roll! Vincent van Gogh, Handel, Schumann—”

Outside the station, Isabel the only good nurse apparently opened the medicine cabinet to see that Campbell hadn’t taken his pills and then looked over towards the studio door, concerned, given how severe his episodes could become if untreated.

“Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Spike Milligan, Vivien Leigh—” Campbell continued, “that is one hundred percent true, folks—and this is for all you manic-depressives out there; we are loonies and we are proud!” Then he let out a sort of shout/howl, “AAAOOOOW!”

Then he put on Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher by Jackie Wilson and the patients continued dancing while Alastair yanked the spoon from Hector’s hand and then sat back down, grinning triumphally as Hector frowned.

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He exited the day room, only to run into Y/N who handed him a new spoon. He grinned and started to sing along into it. She walked into Alastair’s view who was frowning in disbelief at her as she gave him a sarcastic smile and then gave him the middle finger before taking Hector’s arm and leading him out of the day room and to the hall so Hector wouldn’t take the second spoon away from him too.

“Have you ever noticed how much mental illness imagery there is in popular music? Tonight our guest on the Looney Tunes show is professor of musicology, Doctor Boogie!” Then Campbell started to speak in bad German accent… or Romania given how he was pronouncing some words… somewhere near Transylvania where Dracula lived, “Aye, aye, in the popular music we find much imagery of ze mental illness, indicating an underlying fear and faskination vith madness. For example…” He started to play A World Without Love by Peter and Gordon.

“He's away.” Fergus said, a bit concerned.

He stopped the song with another record scratch, Campbell’s voice seemed to be increasing speed, “And this expresses the deep anxiety about going a little bit crazy, huh? Another example is…”

The needle scratched on the record and Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis. “This expresses the deep anxiety about going a lotcrazier with a,” His eyes were bugging out of his head and waggling his fingers, manically and Y/N had to force herself not to giggle at how he looked, “pyromaniac overtones. And then again in a song like—"

A less prominent record scratch before Paint it Black by the Rolling Stones played,“—We see a fascination with obsessive behavior. And some songs provoke the greatest fears of all, in this case—”

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He took the needle off without a scratch this time and then he played Sugar, Sugar by the Archies.

“—the tvin fears of abject mediocrity and of writing crap songs. Ah ja! But zen of course—” Campbell said, still speaking in the odd Central to Eastern European accent as Eddie finally tried the door, only to find it locked., “—there is, uh—"

He started playing Da Doo Ron Ron by the Crystals as Isabel and two assistants (thankfully not Stuart) hurried down the corridor. He dropped the accent, “—which has got nothing to do with loonies, but it's a great song!”

He glanced at Y/N with the silent message of: should I up the mania? She subtly nodded, he flashed her a grin as he tore off his headphones, “Whoa! I'm sweating! I'm just going to open a window.” He went to the window and opened it as Margaret from Ward eleven bit her thumbnail with concern, Campbell stuck his head out of the window and looked around, “Whoa! It's a long way down from this window, but I'm so high I'll bet I could fly.”

Eddie growing more and more concerned now that Campbell seemed to be threatening suicide or at least several shattered bones, banged his open palm on the studio door window glass.

“Oh, cue the song, cue the song!” Campbell shouted as he put on Fly Like an Eagle by Steve Miller Band.

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“Jesus, Campbell!” Eddie shouted.

Campbell leapt on the windowsill and Y/N shifted as this was getting a bit too close for her but surprisingly she trusted Campbell and saw that he was clutching onto the bottom of window sash frame as he shouted enthusiastically and manically into the microphone

“What do you think, boys and girls? Do you think if we close our eyes and say ‘I do believe in magic’ that Peter Pan will really be able to fly?” Everyone was concern by now, realizing how serious Campbell’s episode was by now as he pushed the window sash up a little more and Y/N smacked the window, making him look over as she gave him a message like, don’t be so manic that you kill yourself because then I will kill you! “Let's try it, eh!?” He turned away from the window, locking eyes with Y/N through the floppy bangs in his brown eyes,“I do believe in magic.” Then he shouted, loudly, stepping away from the window thankfully, “COME ON! I DO BELIEVE IN MAGIC!”

Isabel pushed her way through the concern crowd to the door, Y/N refused to move out of the way.

“Oh, they're coming to get me, folks! They're coming to get your very own Campbell Bain! BUT WAIT!” He shouted, throwing his hand out, “Wait, I've got the perfect song!” He ran to the record player and scratched the record off as Isabel pounded on the door with her palm, finding it locked as he scratched on They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Ha by Jerry Samuels.

“Oh, yes, we're really seeing some action now, Brian!” Campbell shouted, his voice getting even faster, Y/N was sure that not even the Doctor from Doctor Who could talk that fast, he put his fingertips to the top of the shell of his ear, like a sports commentary, speaking into an earpiece, commentating what was happening as he saw it to those who were only listening, “Oh, the nursing staff have been at a temporary disadvantage, but I think they're beginning to get the upper hand now! YES! They found the spare key! It may be all over soon, and,” The key couldn’t turn due to the first key being in on the other side of the lock, “Oh, nooo!” He dramatically fell to his knees, “the key's in the lock from the inside and there's not a thing they can do about it!” Then he spotted Stuart approaching, “Oh, wait! Oh, it’s wee Stuart's got something, and he's not happy. If he can't break through the doors then I don't think anyone can.” Stuart aggressively pushed Y/N to the side which made her scream and fight back, suddenly, punching Staurt and clawing his skin off, “He tried to manhandle Y/N and she’s not happy; he’s made her angry! He’s pressed her trauma button!” Isabel then pulled her away and she immediately calmed down, “Ah, Isabel to the rescue.” Stuart then smashed the studio door window with a fire extinguisher, making Y/N flinch violently.

“YES! He's done it! He's broken the glass! And he's in! Wait, I haven't told you my loonies joke yet!” He shouted as Stuart and another assistant grabbed a hold of Campbell, picking him up as he continued to tell his joke at full speed, “This loony walks into a pub with his dog. The barman says, ‘Can't be any dogs in here, bud.’ But the loony tells him ‘it's a talking dog’, and he says to him ‘Look, if he can answer three questions, can he stay in the bar?’ ‘Let's see it.’ So the guy says to the dog, says, ‘What's the texture of sandpaper?’ And the dog says, ‘Rough.’ And then the loony guy asks, ‘Who was Scotland's goalkeeper in the 1978 World Cup?’ And the dog says, ‘Rough’.” The crowd followed them as Stuart carried Campbell, even Alistair had gotten up from the TV to watch with concern, “And then, ‘Who was the greatest American baseball player of all time?’ And the dog says, ‘Ruth.’ The barman's definitely not impressed. He grabs the guy by the collar and throws him into the street.” They brought Campbell into the treatment room with Isabel stopping Eddie and Y/N from following them in.

They slammed Campbell against a wall roughly, making Y/N flinch as Campbell, now slightly disorientated from the impact done to his head, repeated the last sentence he said, “Then he grabs the dog by the collar—” They pulled his jeans down, leaving him in his underwear, making Y/N flinch, violently as he continued to tell the joke, “—and throws him into the street. They slammed him aggressively against the treatment table, making Y/N flinch again, “And as they're lying in the gutter the wee dog looks up with tears in his eyeee—!” He cried out in brief pain as Isabela jabbed the needle into his buttock cheek with the sedative, making Y/N flinch. He was quiet for a few moments as the sedative took effect, making him drowsy and relaxed and then he spoke in a much more slower speech to finish his joke, “The wee dog looks up with tears in his eyes and he says... ‘DiMaggio...?"

He chuckled at the joke before succumbing to the sedative as Eddie watched ruefully and Y/N guiltily through the window before walking back to the station. She stepped through the glass and sat down, “Hello, this is Y/N, sorry for the craziness but our Campbell Bain has suffered a violent mania attack thanks to his father’s closed-mind, judgmental, disappointment in his DJ career, neglect, and general awfulness about him. So, I fucking hope you’re happy, Mister Bain, you think your son is the only looney in the family, you likely made him that way. This next song is Mad World.”

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She played the song as Eddie looked at her through the window. A little bit later, she spoke again, “The last song of the day will be Bang and Blame, dedicated to all pathetic waste of spaces that are abusive parents, once again Mister Bain, thank you for making your son ‘unwell’ as you put it and putting pressure on him to find a job like you have such high standards, you road sweeper.” She played song as she looked through the window to see Stuart and Isabel waiting for the song to be over so they could deal with her and the fact that she’s talking.

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The next day, Eddie walked in to see Campbell still groggy from the sedative with Y/N by his bed in the same clothes as yesterday, holding his hand. He was awake and they were just looking at each other in a comfortable silence.

Campbell groggily looked at Eddie to see him in a suit and in a slow yet facetious tone said, “What's this? Did somebody die?”

Y/N fetched a glass of water and made him drink it, he resisted at first more just to be a nuisance than anything but gave in and complied as Eddie chuckled and said, “I came from work. Big day today.”

“Ooh, did your boss get fired for overworking his employees? Or drop dead from exhaustion because he’s working seven days a week?” Y/N asked, sardonically yet with a cheerful tone.

Eddie chuckled again yet not sure if he liked it better when she didn’t speak, considering he was finding out she was a very sarcastic and sardonic person. to vastly contrast Campbell's personification of sunshine-ness. He pointed to his tie tack, “Salesman of the Month.”

“Salesman of the Month, eh?” Campbell asked in disbelief.

“What were the other salesmen like?” Y/N teased.

“How are you?” Eddie asked Campbell.

“Great. Y/N slept with me last night, yet I still remain a virgin. He teased and Y/N slapped his shoulder, playfully as he smirked, cheekily, “Saw my shrink this morning. He says I'm definitely not stable yet.” Y/N grinned and leaned down, pressing it against Campbell’s hand to hide it while pressing a kiss to it. “They're, uh, going to keep me in another six to ten weeks.” He briefly got distracted from the hand kiss, “Do you realize how much we could make of that station in six to ten weeks? Anything's possible now. And Y/N could be my protégé, now that she speaks again.” He wanted to ruffle her hair but his limbs felt like lead, so he just let out a half-hearted noise of not-really exertion.

“Aye, well. If you think you're up to it. Both of you.” Eddie told them.

Campbell looked at Y/N like, can I tell him. And she nodded, enthusiastically.

“Great acting, eh?” Campbell grinned as Y/N giggled.

Eddie looked confused as both teenaged patients looked up at him, then they both winked out of sync and it dawned unto Eddie that there was no manic episode. That’s why Y/N had left the room just before the “episode” started, why she remained calm up until Campbell was fake-threatening-implying to jump out of the window, why Campbell kept looking at her during the episode, why Y/N had looked so guilty and then blamed Campbell’s father like she had rehearsed it.

“It was Y/N’s idea. She’s an evil genius.” He smiled at Y/N before looking back at Eddie, “We’ve beat them, guys. I'll beat the bastards.”

After Eddie left, Campbell looked at Y/N as she climbed back in the bed with him just like she had last night and cuddled next to him letting the blanket act as a barrier of platonic intimacy between them, she rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped a loose arm around his covered waist.

It was silent for a little bit before she moved her hand so it went to Campbell’s hand, resting on top of it and she stroked Campbell’s hand with her thumb.

“How long have you been here?” He asked.

“As long as I could. They wouldn’t let me in at first but I kept finding ways in. I needed to be by your side.” She said, “They kept pulling me out, especially when I started shouting… well, it was more like whisper-shouting due to my likely atrophied vocal chord and they tried to take me away to some shrink but I wouldn’t let them. Eventually, they gave up and let me stay with you.” She whispered, “as you know, I slept next to you. I’m sorry if my plan hurt you.”

“It worked, didn’t it?” He asked and he managed to shift so his arm was on the other side of her and able to just barley touch her waist and to her surprise she didn’t flinch. She felt him move his head and press a kiss to the top of her head and again, she surprised herself by not flinching.

She was surprised herself on how this little, hyperactive, persistent kid had somehow gotten past her guarded defense walls, gotten under the wire, despite all her efforts to forevermore keep another heart from touching hers, the one she tried so hard to hide in the past ten months. She had been successful until Campbell Bain had crashed into her two months ago.

But the last time, she had trusted someone to be their best friend, she got hurt and was violated and therefore traumatized into a nearly year-long muteness.

There is a couple Doctor Who references. One straight out states it and the other is a reference to a quote from the Tenth Doctor in Fear Her.

There's also a reference to a line from Queer as Folk, but I've never seen this show but I have heard the audio clips of this scene in fan videos.

Personal Mental Heath Rant (Skip if you don't care)

Sorry for being tough on Campbell's dad but I have severe ADHD (since I was three and getting worse with ever presistent pessmisstic criticism I'm given), Anxiety, Depression, and possibly two ambigious and debatable types dylexia and if complexes count an inferiority and guilt complex and I have spent my whole life being shouted at for seeing things differently, for seeing that there is no metaphoric box to think in, for focusing on so many things at once that it's just as useful as not focusing on anythingat all and so people think that I', not even trying, for being overwhelmed with tasks that are so simple to everyone else yet near impossible for me (due to being yelled at my entire life for everything I did. I was once shouted at for about or over thirty minutes because I didn't put something down right after I was told to do so becuase I was so terrified of the person who shouted at me, I was convinced they were one meltdown from turning verbal abuse to physical abuse though then I would be able to call the cops of them, I tried to see the silver lining in my own dark and twisted way of thinking). People expect me to act like I don't have a disorder or they treat me like I'm stupid because apparently I'm the one with the issue rather than them googling the symtoms (IT'S FOUR LETTERS) and try putting themselves in my shoes. (My mom once told me that ADHD was not a learning disorder; techinically she's right because IT'S SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A LEARNING DISORDER! It can affect your entire life and shouting at me is just making it worst! But I have to be the calm one and force my temper down. Somehow I'm the most patient persn in the house in terms of temper. How!?

I have been forced to try and learn and study to only two type of intelligence rather than the one I understand best I have been forced to try and think socieity's way of thinking when my mind just doesn't work like that. I'm literally wired differently.

(About the "ambiguous and debateable types of dyslexia, I was tested for Bipolar when I was young and somehow they got I was dylexia because I kept drawing lines in the opposite directions that they told me and if you were to give me directions, it would be like in a cartoon when a character spins an arrow sign and it points in like every direction at once just indicates "Directional Dyslexia" or "Left-Right Confusion" but I don't like that term as it sounds like I have the intellect and common sense of a first grader who can't tell the difference from right and left.

A few years ago, I went to the therapist and I was diagnosed with a math learning disorder but wasn't told what kind so I went to my most knowledgeable ally: Google! And the only one I can find is Dyscalculia which is basically math dyslexia. In my head, it's like some astronauts in a kid's game or show is placing number down in outer space but the moment I let go of them, they float away and I can't place more than two down, I can barely think about numbers without getting a headache as if I'm trying to understand time travel.

These two types of dyslexia I suspect I have, have been debated on whether or not they're an actual form of dyslexia

So I haven't been "officially" diagnosed with these but I'm not just saying, "hey, I have trouble with (insert dyslexia-induced trouble), maybe I'm dyslexic too", I hate that (Like don't say "I get distracted too, maybe I'm ADHD"), I have sufficient reason to believe this.

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pizzaboat · 1 year

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What do you think of Eda’s nightmare? Where not only is she captured by her mom and sister, but seeing her dad who was apparently hurt by her again.

I think it did an awsome job telling us more about what I already suspected about Eda's whole mental state. (You probably didn't ask for an analysis but I'm giving one lmao)

It told me that Eda is still afraid. She's afraid of how the curse impacts her life. She's afraid of the progress she made with her sister and her mom being erased and she's afraid of being a monster

And I think her dad is like, the symbol of her inability to forgive herself. Dell already lost his eye and his ability to carve to the owlbeast. The implication of her taking his last remaining eye and blinding him forever would be devastating.

Dell represents there being no hope of redemption of forgiveness for Eda in this dream. He's covered in blood and crying over how she could do this to him and that he'd already forgiven him and in canon Dell could never get Eda to accept his forgiveness because its implied it would just turn into an argument

Eda wasn't ready to repair things (accept that she could move on and accept his forgiveness in part) because she was afraid that at any time she could break that forgiveness and lose control again.

Which is what the nightmare is telling us happened to her.

And I think having Lilith and Gwendolyn turn their backs on Eda again here makes me think that a part of Eda believes that it was a mixture of her and the curse that turned her sister and mother against her.

Now, that's not really how things went down in canon, but it's a messy bunch of emotions that she'd have felt during the whole thing. It's not hard to imagine that Eda felt abandoned by Lilith and Gwen.

Like, its a fact, and she did have that episode where Gwen has to realise that she's been making Eda feel isolated and unwanted for a very long time. When gwen tells Eda that she loves every part of her, including the curse it brings on a shift in how Eda treats her own kids

Because again, she starts to believe just a little bit, that she's not so broken and so monstrous that her loving King and Luz like her own won't screw them up. This isn't a complete mental shift in her of course because she's still shown to be insecure and she spirals pretty quickly in episode 7 of season 2

And since Eda has spent a long time feeling abandoned, believing she deserves to be abandoned, that there's something wrong with her and that she's too inadequate to function as a person that makes changes in people's lives its really easy for her to forget all of what gwen said to her and the good times she's had with her kids

Cause when you're mentally ill and you're spiralling it's so easy for the things that are triggering you to dwarf and block out all the good things. And it's not as simple as being told one or two really needed positive messages once, to fix decades or just years of really bad trauma and a mentality like that

And her relationship with Lilith? That never got resolved in canon and I feel like the show acknowledges it with Lilith being back in black and looking at Eda with no familiarity or love anymore

There was never time to fix their relationship in canon. Maybe we would've seen more of a change if we got more seasons but we'll never know now. But it is important to note that Eda tried to connect with Lilith emediatly in the first episode of season 2 and nothing ever came of it because Lilith brushed her off

And then she left 3 episodes later for nearly the entirety of the season

What gets me about it all is that dispite how angry and hurt Eda should rightfully be at how Lilith treated her and her kids, she emediatly tries to have some sort of a relationship with her again

Which doesn't say great things about Eda's uh, self worth? Like. No boundaries are set down after all of this. And from what happened in episode 7 and everything we learned about how Eda views herself as a monster

It really gives "you hurt me, but if I push you away or set a boundary now then you'll leave me and I'll be alone."

That's sorta how I read it, as someone who can be like that I found myself recognising it in her and it makes a lot of sense to me because Eda sees herself as this unfit, monstrous person deep down, or atleast she's afraid that's what she is

And I think that all of this is important to remember when we see Lilith back there in this dream. Maybe Eda is afraid that all of her efforts to fix things between them will never be enough? That them falling out again will be her fault

It's super interesting that Eda acts so close with Lilith and Lilith with Eda at the end of the show, like how they ran to hug eachother and cry. Like this pure familial love that is sweet

But the nightmare kinda overshadows that for me when I remember just how not okay Eda is. Like, Lilith has healed somewhat but still needs so much therapy to be able to love herself and others and Eda just needs therapy.

Tough thing is I don't ever see Eda willingly going to therapy like Lilith would because Lilith has been told she needs therapy and brought to that conclusion and feels receptive to it and Eda would insist that she's fine and that nothing is that wrong with her

It would probably take Raine on her case because they saw her try to kill herself months prior and Lilith or her family learning more about how she's thinking, for them to decide to start talking her into it

But ultimately it would be Eda's decision. A lot of heartbreak would lead up to it to be honest

But back to the nightmare!

My conclusion is that

Dell represents her ability and right to be forgiven and redeemed by both herself and others

Gwendolyn represents Eda’s right to exist as a person in society

Lilith represents Eda's internal beliefs about herself. A bit about how much she deserves to demand and how she blames herself

They're all kinda different forms of how she blames, devalues, distrusts and dispises herself. (Look at all that alliteration!)

And the final obvious thing is that she's in chains, and starts of in the dungeons after hurting her dad because deep down she's terrified that people are right to want to persecute her, that there's no version of living where she lives freely and no one gets hurt (that others are better or without her) and that being locked up and caged is away is exactly where she belongs

#god shes such a poor meow meow #the owl house #toh #eda clawthorne #toh eda #edalyn clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #toh lilith #gwendolyn clawthorne #dell clawthorne #toh analysis

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l-e-e-woso · 1 year

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Edit Dat - Rihanna

WARNING MENTIONS SWEARING, MATURE THEMES AND DRUGS!

I had been asked to do an interview which didn’t happen as often as you would think but somehow Robyn had convinced me to actually start doing more interviews.

So here I am sat with Jada (Will Smith’s wife) on her Red Table Talk, I’m just prepared for this to go off the rails cause I've watched a few episodes and they get really deep. I mean I have quite the background, there’s even a few things that the public doesn’t know but I had talked to Robyn yesterday and she said to not say anything that you don’t want to and if I do, ask the producers to take that shit out.

Jada came over to me and introduced herself and we sat down at the table to begin the interview.

“Alright Welcome to another episode of Red Table Talk, today we have Jordyn Fenty with us! How are you?” Jada starts up the show and introduces me.

“I’m good, a bit nervous but good.” I laugh nervously, rubbing my hands on my jean covered legs and took a sip of the water in front of me. “That’s understandable, this is your first interview you've had for awhile.” Jada says as she looks over the table at me which makes me a little more nervous.

“So you're now a married woman, how has that been going?” Jada asks, making me think of Robyn which makes me automatically start grinning like a love sick puppy.

“It’s been great. It’s even better than I had imagined it would be. We’ve obviously had our ups and downs but we have always been there for one another. I’m telling you, Robyn has got me wrapped around her little finger, I’d drop everything if she needed me and I know she would do the same for me.” I intertwine my hands and rest them on top of the table as I talk about Robyn.

“How did the two of you meet and when did you get together?” Jada asks me and I laugh thinking about the time we first met.

“It’s uh quite the story actually. I met Robyn in Barbados, I lived in the street next to her but I didn’t meet her until we were about 15. I had gotten kicked out of my home by my Father cause he had found out that I’d been dealing weed. So I was couch surfing for awhile before I met Robyn at a house party and we ended up getting along really well, we swapped phone numbers and we became really close friends then she found out that I didn’t have a permanent place to stay so she told her Mama. I tell you Mama Monica is not a force you wanna come up against, she told me that I would be staying at theirs from then on. A year later she went to the states to pursue music and I came with her. We didn’t start dating until 2010, Robyn confessed to me after Melissa, her best friend, convinced her to take a chance for once. I have had feelings for Rihanna since I was 15 but I didn’t want to hold her back so I didn’t confess any feelings to her until she did.” I say as I thought back on some particularly tough memories of mine as my eyes started tearing up but I quickly wiped them and took a gulp of water.

“Oh wow, so you’ve known each other almost all your life. I assume you have a good relationship with her family if you lived with them for a year?” Jada asks curiously.

“Ah yeah definitely! They are my family and have always been there for me, I love them.” I say smiling at the camera then wink know that Mama Monica was most likely gonna watch this along with Rorrey and Rajad.

“Was it hard for you to witness Rihanna in other relationships?” Jada asked as she took a sip of her drink.

“Yeah definitely. It wasn’t the best experience but I tried to be there as much as I could for her throughout any relationships she had but there were many times that we would get into arguments about the way some of the guys would treat her cause I wanted the best for her and knew she could be a hell of a lot better.” I said thinking back on some of the relationships that Robyn had been in and how crappy she had been treated. I made a promise to myself and Robyn that I would never ever treat her like that, she is the love of my life and I would treat her as such.

“How did you feel when you found out about what Chris Brown did to Rihanna?” Jada asked curiously.

“Honestly? I was angry and all I wanted to do was beat the shit outta him but that isn’t what Robyn needed, she needed someone to be there for her and that's what I did.” I said not really believing that Jada would bring this topic up when it happened just over a decade ago.

Just as Jada went to ask another question my phone started ringing and I quickly looked at the screen to see that it was Robyn calling me. “I am so sorry, it’s Robyn.” I say and Jada motions for me to answer the call so I do exactly that.

I put the phone on speaker and all I heard was Robyn sniffling. “What’s wrong?” I say concerned as it wasn’t very often that Robyn would call me crying and stood up, pacing back and forth.

“Babe…it worked, we havin’ a babyyyyyy!!!” Robyn shouted down the phone excitedly, making my eyes go wide as I looked around the room and noticed that Jada motioned for the camera crew to stop recording. “Uhhh…shit Robby, I’m doing an interview.” I say rubbing my neck nervously as this is definitely not how Robyn would want people to find out.

“You ain’t think to tell me dat?! Eh they can edit dat shit out.” Robyn says with her bajan accent coming out slightly and the producers and other crew burst out laughing.

“Rob I gotta go but I’ll call you as soon as I finish this up, I promise. I love you.” I say chuckling as Robyn makes kissing sounds down the phone. “Luv yuh too.” Robyn says then hangs up the phone and I laugh shaking my head in disbelief, we were having a baby together.

_______________Later In The Hotel__________________

I was finally back at the hotel and just about to phone Robyn as I got ready to go to bed. She picks up after the phone rings a few times, she was laying on a hotel bed in a robe when she smiled at you. “Hey babe.” Robyn says as she looks at me lovingly through the phone.

“Heyyy baby.” I say as I do my skin care before going and laying on the hotel bed to talk to Robyn. “So were havin’ a baby?” I say excitedly as Robyn laughs which makes me smile cause she has such a gorgeous laugh.

“Yeah. How would you feel about joining me for the rest of my tour? If you don’t have any more press to do?” Robyn asks me and I nod yes as soon as the question leaves her mouth.”Course I wanna join you! Why would I turn down time with my girl?” I say wiggling my eyebrows with a suggestive tone which makes her glare at me playfully.

“You play too much boo.” Robyn jokes as she laughs at my playfulness and shakes her head.

“WASSUPPPP JORDYYYY!!!” Melissa says running and jumping on to the bed next to Robyn so she was in view of the camera causing Robyn to roll her eyes. “Don’t roll yo eyes at me bitch!” Mel says pushing Robyn and she pushes her back and Mel falls off the bed onto the floor.

Me and Robyn look at each other through the phone and burst out laughing.

_________________________________________________________

Taglist: @fanofstuffzs@micaluvssoccer @beardeddionsaurcreation

#rihanna #rihanna imagine #rihanna x reader #rih masterlist #rihanna masterlist #rihanna fics #my fics #my masterlist #robyn fenty #robyn rihanna fenty

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marvelousandproud · 2 years

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Listen. I am only three episodes in but I NEED to make sure people are watching this show and supporting it so it gets the views and support it deserves to make sure they keep making seasons. This is Dead End: Paranormal Park based on the graphic novels DeadEndia by Hamish Steele who is also the creator of the show. I was told to check it out for the positive rep and it’s rep that needs to be shared, loved and encouraged to stick around so that kids (and cartoon loving adults like myself) have this sort of rep. The two main characters are Barney, a mlm transboy and Norma an autistic girl of color who both get hired in this spooky theme park. As someone who is trans and autistic I can only somewhat speak on some of it but already I am loving the rep! I am loving these characters. The other characters that I’m starting to meet are also VERY diverse. This is the type of show I wish I’d grown up with and as a former big Scooby Doo kid, this Spooky fun cartoon is filling such a hole in my heart that I didn’t even know was there. It’s great. Again I am only on episode three right now but I can’t wait to watch more.

Even if this isn’t your usual cup of tea, please check it out. Let the first three episodes run in the background if you’re really not into cartoons because I think three episodes counts towards Netflix’s views as binge watching? Which is a positive sign for them and their ratings as I was told once upon a time.

Check it out and if you enjoy it. HYPE IT UP. Make gifsets. Make fanart (I see some! Keep it up). Post headcanons. Talk about it! Check out the Graphic Novels too! Make sure the network makes sure these are the types of shows viewers like seeing because too often do we see lgbtq shows fizzle out or get cancelled. And with everything going on in the world, transfolxs could use this type of rep and I am not sure I’ve even ever seen a brown autistic girl shown in animated media? So uh. Big win there too. I probably would have figured out I was autistic myself a lot sooner seeing rep like Norma as a kid and I hope she does the same for others <3

FANS are what make good shows last. FANS are what people here. And it’s fans in the moment, not years later after a show has been cancelled because it didn’t catch on in time. So. Please help out <3

#LGBTQ #ASD #actuallyautistic #dead end paranormal park #PRIDE #DeadEndia #Cartoons #barney guttman #norma khan

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thelador-s-mclargehuge · 5 months

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Episode 1 Behind The Scenes!

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Welcome to Amateur Hour! I mean this whole series is amateur hour, but stating out was REALLY amateur hour. So most of the way our videos worked is we would do a weekly video (Either podcast or Over The Shoulder game review). And I’d release a Funny Joke Video every two weeks. I was given Carte Blanch over my videos and basically just kinda did them on my own. So everything I did was suuuper rudimentary My scripts weren’t formated very well, there were tons of spelling errors, stuff I’d cut out I’d leave in the document and just remember I cut it out. But all this worked just fine because I was the only one looking at them.

And the way I’d send people their lines was I would *send* people their lines over discord and have them send me back an audio file that they’d recorded. I didn’t even really do any audio directing aside from a couple of notes. I might have directed Dalsson and TheDragonLover (heretofore referred to as Dergo), but that was it.

For anyone who might want to make a narrative series, uh… don’t do this with your main cast. If you have a guest star who knows what their doing and might not be comfortable being directed in a discord call with a stranger, that’s fine. But for everyone else you’ll just end up playing phone tag for a a couple of VA lines that won’t be nearly as good if you just set the people down in a call and told them what kinda performance you want them to give. A thing that, And I cannot stress this enough, they will be fine with you doing and in fact would much prefer this to the alternative.

And if you sit multiple people down in the call and do their voice lines in one day, that’s just way better! Your actors will be more comfortable with more friends around, and after the session is over, you have multiple scenes worth of voice lines to work with! It’s one of those “We do this thing like this for a reason.” kinda deals.

But ultimately a lot of the What Worked for those videos I’d put out every two weeks, and the video essays, did not really work here. But anyway lets look at the actual video.

The like first scene you can see how the cutting around is really off. That’s because the footage of me just standing there lasted, like, 3 seconds and I had a minute of dialogue, so I HAD to keep cutting if I wanted to use that footage. I should have just started a new save and rerecorded it but… again amateur hour.

But. The first joke here I think is really good. I have a lot of thoughts about it, so I’m going to make it a separate thread. There’s quite a bit going on there and I’m really proud of it.

But the beginning of the video, and the beginning of the series as a whole, is just kinda me moving from bit to bit like I did in the previous Joke Videos. These started out as those with a tiny bit more structure.

The Conversation with Elderbug here is what got Lordfrezon to get a better mic. Like this video convinced the man to get a better microphone. But you’ll notice Elderbugs mouth keeps moving when he’s not taking. I didn’t start putting a still picture over the talking characters yet

The quirrel scene is probably the best put together in the entire video. The editing is sharp. and I realized I could like, just reverse the video of him looking at the Black Egg to make it a little more dynamic.

But most of the dynamic-ness of these scenes comes down to me zooming in and out of characters faces for emphasis. The footage I’m working with is a character with a one second animation loop and another character staring up at them. So I gotta do a lot of cuts and zooms to make it look like a conversation with multiple emotions in it is happening. And I already had a pretty good grasp of that thanks to the joke videos! Say what you will about youtube video editing, but it sure teaches you how powerful quick cutting for emphasis is!

This was also before I started putting Reverb on every scene that takes place in a tunnel… which most of them do, and if there’s one thing I love, love, love playing with, it’s reverb. Sound design is my passion tbh. It is also the only thing I have any formal training in! I was taught it by a bunch of 80s rockers who showed me how to use an old analog soundboard for live mixing! And I’ve always held to the idea that 75% of video editing is sound editing, and 95% of that sound editing is shit no one would notice unless it wasn’t there.

There a little after the Quirrel scene I got *extremely lucky* and found a sign mender. Which is a really rare event. Just immediately out of the gate I see that man. I’d never seen him before I was getting footage for the video and he blessed me with his presence like an angel. Thank you Sign Mender! You gave me a great bit about property destruction!

The Cornifer scene is firstly, a great look into how a voice role evolves over time, and secondly, a great exemplification of what I started this with. Just Direct Your VA’s. You’ll notice how Saine’s performance on his first line here are worse than any of the other ones he’s given. He didn’t know what I wanted. And if I would have simply directed him, that wouldn’t be a problem!

He did, however get to delever the funniest lines of the video. And he did a great job with those! And, another thing to Saine’s credit is he does a fantastic job as Iselda! Man eats up that whole scene! Just great shit there!

Sly’s change is less in that the voice evolved as time went on and more I changed the character. I focused more on the Shopkeeper aspect rather than the teacher aspect as his Central Thing, and ultimately I think that was the best choice. Surly Shopkeeper who can “Show You Da Ropes” Is always a great character and he’s a lot of fun to write. Also all the thing’s Sly says about ‘God’ put me in a bit of a bind because “Okay, so why the hell does this guy know about The Radiance… a thing that a lot of people were lied to about for decades?” So I had to come up with some stuff for that. But that’s the kind of problem I love solving. Because it goes from “Weird plot hole” to “Ooh new character aspect! let’s give this man some depth!

Dergo’s performance as Myla is the best one in the video. And it’s great that’s the case too, because of how much *that* kicks off a lot of the story. But, yeah 10/10 no notes. Dergo is incredibly good at this shit.

The end bit with the snail man is probably my biggest regret of the video. It very much does not fit in with the tone of everything else. It’s kinda something that just happens in the first episode and I hope everyone forgets about. The implication he just murdered the snail guy is funny but it doesn’t fit in the wider whole. Whole scene just is not very good tbh. I also probably should have had someone else voice the Snail man as well.

And I wholeass forgot I used a different font for the credits! But I think that’s that for the first episode. IT’s kind of just a collection of thoughts, but the episode is just kind of a collection of scenes so, there we go!

#HKR-BTS #hollow knight meme #hollow knight #quirrel #content creation #youtube #Youtube

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howhow326 · 1 year

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Mattholomule is Gus Shadow

Oh boy! I sure do love everything about Watching & Dreaming but I have to say my favorite part is when Gustholomule became canon and that's a thing that happened actually!!! Anyway, it's neat that most of the TOH ships have a sort of opposites attract dynamic: Lumity has the shoujo rivals trope; Huntlow is crushing-watermelon-with-thighs meme; and Gustholomule has the best dressed boy with an unwashed rat-man.

But with I told you that Gus and Mattholomule are more similar than they seem? What if I told you that the two boys are so similar to each other that they are like two halves of the same person?? What if I told you... ehh, you already read the title.

What is a Shadow?

First we need to go over what a shadow is: A shadow is: "an unconscious aspect of the personality that does not correspond with the ego ideal, leading the ego to resist and project the shadow. In short, the shadow is the self's emotional blind spot..." (Wikipedia). In other words, the Shadow is the shadowed side of one's personality, the part of themselves that they don't want others (or themselves) to see. However, ignoring the shadow dosen't make it go away, it just makes it stronger, seeping into one's everyday life as flaws and bad choices. Or in the case of Persona, giant fetish monsters (this is a joke, the persona games actually do a really good job of writing psycho-analysis even without the video game bosses). So, what does any of this have to do with Gustholomule? EVERYTHING!!! Which get's clearer in the next few paragraphs :)

Gus & Mattholomule's backstories

From TOH wiki: "Augustus Porter is the son of reporter Perry Porter, who wants his son to be a master illusionist (there's a source for this but I deleted it so Tumblr dosen't hide my post). Due to his skills in illusion magic, Augustus is one of the youngest students at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, taking high school-level classes despite being twelve years old. However, due to his young age, Gus was often overlooked and ignored, and he was gullible to the various students that took advantage of his intelligence. The only place where he felt he mattered was the club he led, the Human Appreciation Society. Besides the other members of the H.A.S, the only other student he befriended was Willow Park, who helped him calm down from an illusionary memory with a breathing exercise he remembers to this day."

In short, Gus comes from a history of people tricking him in order to advance themselves (this is in Bold because it's gonna be super duper important for my argument later). Despite that, Gus wasn't destroyed by his backstory because he had people like Willow to help him (also important).

For Matt: "Mattholomule used to attend Glandus High, where he was friends with Bria, Gavin, and Angmar. Due to Glandus's social structure favoring the strong, Mattholomule was bullied by other students, including his three "friends" who had manipulated him. Eventually, he switched out of Glandus and started to attend Hexside, but still stuck around Bria, Gavin, and Angmar due to having nobody else to be his friend."

Just like Gus, Matt comes from a history of veing bullied and used by others. Unlike Gus, Matt didn't have anyone in his corner but himself (and Steve but like apparently adults are weirdly useless at helping their kids witch school problems which is actually extremely realistic now that I think about it).

In otherwords, Gus and Matt have nearly identical backstories, but turned out differently because only Gus had a real friend. And in my next few paragraphs, we find out that the "difference" between them is a lot smaller than it seems.

Something Ventured, Someone Framed

So if you've been paying attention, you have probably come to the conclusion that Gus is "good" person. And while that definitely isn't a bad conclusion to come to, this episode is going to hit you like a truck:

Gus: L-Luz, a-about the ban, I, uh, used my H. A. S. presidential authority to pull some strings. You've been given a full pardon!

Luz: You mean...

Gus: I got the ban lifted!

[Does a little dance when she's gone lol]

Willow: You lied to our best friend and told her you got the ban lifted. That seems like a potential problem to me.

Gus: You don't understand. The members were going mad. They were bloodthirsty. They were touching objects. I had no choice!

Note: instead of saying something like "one of the members is lying to the others" or something like that, Gus "had no choice" because... they were breaking his rule of no touching?!

Now, some people did catch on to Gus behavior and were mad at him for it. I'm not one of those people, in fact, I'm the exact opposite. This episode made me LOVE Gus' character! Before SV,SF Gus was just comic relief that was attached to Willow's hip. But now, Gus has flaws! He can exist as his own character!! He's lying to and mainipulating people like the little illusionist he is!!!

... wait a minute, "...and he was gullible to the various students that took advantage..."; "...Gus comes from a history of people tricking him in order to advance themselves."; "...ignoring the shadow dosen't make it go away, it just makes it stronger, seeping into one's everyday life as flaws and bad choices." This is Gus Shadow: a hurt child that's willing to trick people the same way that other people tricked him. Heck, there's even a name for the exact shadow that Gus possesses: The Know-It-All Trickster (I swear Im not anti gus wtf). From Artofmanliness .com (That name is so much worse than it seems), "The Know-It-All Trickster knows how to charm his way out of trouble. He’s adept at deception and manipulation and will gain the trust of those around him, only to betray it when they least expect it." While this is a lot more sinister than Gus at his worst, it dose perfectly describe what happened in SV,SF: Gus became friends with Luz recently and deceives her at a time when she would never expect it. Although, that description also sounds a lot like another character that shows up this episode (Mattholomule is inside your walls).

Of course, while Gus has flaws, he isn't the same as the people that tricked him. The older kids got their homeworks worth out of Gus and left without taking any responsibility for their actions. But Gus didn't do that, he endanged himself in order to save Luz from detention, and then he took responsibility for the mess he caused. He even saved Mattholomule from detention because "no one get's left behind"! Gus has flaws, but he was able to rise above them during his first focus episode, which is highly impressive for a twelve year old.

Through The Looking Glass Ruins

This episode's plot is interesting in that, while Gus is technically lying to people again, it wasn't even his idea! Gus was the one that didn't want to hang out with the Glandus because "he's just an illusionist" (an idea that Gus Shadow, Matt literally echos) so Luz goads him into hanging out with him in order to build back his self confidence.

Unlike SV,SF where Gus creates a lie that endangers Luz, Luz starts the lie that Gus is a "super witch" and Gus only upholds it to hang out with the Kool Kidz. Basically, Gus did nothing wrong.

Anyway, Gus gets a crush on the Boneghazi girl. Weird. I don't want to spend too much time talking about Bria because she's crazy shaped, but she is the next entry in a long line of older kids that trick Gus and ruin his self confidence. Then, the most important part of the episode happens:

Mattholomule: This is exactly how it was at Glandus. Always Bria's stooge.

Gus: Better a stooge than a clown. Bria was right, illusions are nothing but high-def party tricks.

Mattholomule: Yeah, I used to think that too. [He makes a saw of rock to cut the vines trapping Gus and The Keeper.] But then I met some dork who used his powers to save me from a man-eating detention pit. All I'm saying is, if a dumb illusion can save a jerk like me, maybe it's not as useless as you think.

Replace illusion with "Gus" and this conversation is practically the same. Gus is saying he can't help anyone and Matt is telling him "you already helped me" (the perfect start for the perfect ship).

Focusing more on Matt, this moment is a bit more than just him reaching out a hand or doing the right thing. As I said before, Matt has the same history of people using him just like Gus (it even happens in this episode). But unlike Gus, Matt didn't have anyone in his corner but himself. So instead of staying the victim, Matt became "villain". He most likely joined the H. A. S. with the intention of replacing whoever was in charge by using the same methods that Bria uses, trickery. Matt wanted to be on top of the social ladder through any means nessasary, and when his plan failed in SV,SF he went crawling back to Bria so he could gain some sense of power.

So why does Mattholomule help Gus in this episode? Simple, He's not Bria. Even when Matt tried to walk the same path as his bullies, he could never fully suppress the part of himself that had morals, that wanted to help people. And by choosing to help Gus even though the odds are stacked against them, Matt finnaly accepted that he wasn't a 100% jerk.

Plot twist: Gus is Mattholomule's Shadow. Just like how Matt represents Gus's capacity to become like the people that took advantage of him, Gus represents the part of Matt that was weak enough to be taken advantage of, a good person. There's even a word of Matt's Shadow: a Golden Shadow, the positive qualities of one self that they suppress.

Conclusion

Gustholomule is a deep relationship between two people who are really the same person that walked to different paths. However, it's only through meeting each other and forming a tight bond with each other that these two boys were able two accept their hidden selves and complete the process of self actualization. Truly a magnificent journey of self growth indeed.

Gustholomule is best ship fight me

#gustholomule #toh gus #gus porter #toh matholomule #matt tholomule #toh willow #toh bria #toh luz #luz noceda #the owl house #toh #character analysis #black representation #black characters #psychoanalysis #jungarian psychology #shadow psychology #shadow

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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 3 months

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Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 4: Mouth Candy

*Light maturity warning*

~In the Man Cave~

Ray had come up with another one of his crazy ideas: a Captain Man and Kid Danger podcast. Yep, a whole hour of him and Henry rambling on about the daring deeds they got up to as Swellview's greatest crimefighters. Of course, they were one fighter down, but (y/n) had been in a mood all week, ever since Ray had decided to take a dive out of the car after the Gizmo Show.

She'd forgiven him mostly, but she was still a little sour over the fact that he'd nearly killed three innocent teenagers and Schwoz, so she'd been withholding giving him what he wanted. And boy, it showed.

"Chest. Chest one, po-po-potato pants. Pretty Polly wore purple potato pants to her party in Pittsburgh. How's that sound, Henry?" He asked the boy as he tested the mic. Everything was set up, the table, the microphones, the recording software, all they had to do was get started, but that was easier said than done when Ray was so wound up.

"Painful, please p-stop."The boy answered, not knowing why his boss had been so tetchy in the last couple of days. He had a feeling it was something to do with (y/n), who was sitting at the couch observing them and every so often, would smirk at Ray as he gave her a pouty face. Okay, maybe he didn't want to know.

"Okay, let's start the podcast." The large man told him and Henry quickly agreed. This was gonna go down so well with their fans.

"In five, four, three, two...Hello! And welcome to...Deep in the Man Cave!" Henry and Ray introduced enthusiastically, making (y/n) giggle at them. Why they wanted to do a podcast was beyond her, but it was entertaining to watch, particularly when Ray's shirt was tight in all the right places. Yes, she was desperate too, but she couldn't help but tease him, it just made the chase more fun. That, and payback's a bitch.

"Yessiree, this is the very first podcast, starring your very own Captain Man and..." Ray looked at Henry expectantly, leaving it up to the boy to say his name.

"Kid D--Hold up, I got a text, sorry." An incoming message on Henry's phone interrupted the boy and he paused the podcast to answer it, which didn't go down very well with his boss since they were recording.

"Dang it!" Ray shouted and ripped his headphones off of his head so he could throw them to the floor. He really didn't want anything going wrong, he felt like he was gonna explode if he didn't get his girl to his bedroom right now.

"Raymond!" She yelled at him as he walked away from the table and glared at Henry. Did she have to say his name like that? It was just making his lower belly burn hotter.

"This isn't live, we can start again." Henry reminded him, not seeing the big deal about mucking up the first go. Honestly, Ray was such a drama queen.

"Okay, uh, why don't we just start World War Two again? Why don't we just call up Leonardo Da Vinci and say "Hey, Leon, can you build the Eiffel Tower again?"," Ray asked his sidekick rhetorically as his girlfriend sat behind him with a confused face. 'Note to self, Ray gets weird and angry when he's horny.' She chuckled mentally.

"Well, because World War Two killed seventy-three million people and because Leonardo didn't build the Eiffel Tower." (y/n) said, giving him an alluringly sweet smile when he turned around to glance at her. God, she was killing him.

"Okay...take two." Henry moved on and Ray grumpily sat back down so they could keep going. He just had to stay calm and ignore the seductress sitting a few metres away on the right. Passing Ray another pair of headphones, Henry pressed record again, but this time, the superhero was noticeably less chipper.

"In five, four, three, two...Hello! And welcome to Deep in the Man Cave! Yessiree, this is the first podcast, starring your very own Captain Man and..." His enthusiasm was back as soon as they were recording again.

"Kid Danger," Henry answered without any interruptions this time and things were going smoothly...so far.

"That's right. So, Henry, couple months ago, you and I got into a scuffle with the stupidest criminal in Swellview, a guy named Jeff. You remember that guy?" Ray started, not seeing how Henry and (y/n) shared a look of annoyance. He hadn't picked up on his mistake and Henry had to end take two right there.

"D--d-dude. No, no, you called me Henry. You called me Henry! You gotta call me Kid Danger." He exclaimed loudly as Ray took off his headphones and then promptly slammed them onto the floor again, shattering the pair beyond repair. Temper, temper.

"Ray, those are like one hundred dollars a pair! Stop destroying them!" (y/n) whined as he moodily stood in front of her.

"Okay, that one wasn't my fault," Henry told him cautiously, aware of his anger and how they were running out of headphones.

"Can we just do the ding-dang podcast?!" Ray asked him in an exasperated tone. (y/n) sighed and saw how irritated he was, so she stood up from her seat and walked up behind him.

"Calm down, Henry's sat right there." She soothed him, placing a calming hand on his back so she could guide him back to the table. Was it cruel to deny him what he desperately craved?

Ray sat back down and held out his hand for Henry to pass him another pair of headphones. This podcast was more trouble than was worth.

"Good boy. Now, do your thing and stop being so grumpy." She smiled at him and placed a light kiss on his cheek, which didn't help his situation. He wanted those lips elsewhere.

"In five, four, three, two...Hello! And welcome to...Deep in the Man Cave!" They started again for the third time and it all went well until Charlotte came running in from the secret door.

"You guys!" She greeted them, causing Ray to angrily stop the recording as his frustration got the better of him. He just wanted to record one episode, was that too much to ask?

"Aw, come on!" He yelled in rage and ripped his third and final pair of headphones from his head, making poor Henry sigh.

"Please, don't--" He tried to stop his boss, but Ray was already leaping from his chair and stomping on them. He even kicked them into the air, making (y/n) flinch as she ducked for cover. Maybe it was time to let him have what he wanted.

"Okay, that's it. We're outta headphones." Henry told his friends and (y/n) facepalmed. If they kept recording like this they'd soon be outta money too.

"We have an emergency!" Charlotte exclaimed, causing her friends to rub their faces tiredly. They wanted a break from those, especially if it was from who they thought it was from.

"What is it this time?" (y/n) asked, scrubbing her cheek and eyes with her hand as she tried to not groan. Still, at least she had Ray on hand to rub her tense shoulders, although that could have just been his way of trying to get her in the mood.

"It's Jasper!" The young girl answered and the superhero trio groaned loudly. Not again, he'd been calling them up for so many dumb emergencies lately it was starting to get on their nerves. Even (y/n)'s, and she was usually so kind and tolerant towards the boy.

"He says there's a crazy man at school, setting a bunch of snakes loose in the hallways!" She explained, making (y/n) gulp. She wasn't very good with snakes, actually scratch that, she hated them.

"S-s-snakes?" She stuttered, leaning back against the couch so she could get closer to her boyfriend. His warm hands on her shoulders were comforting and she knew that this would be a particularly difficult mission for her.

"I guarantee you that's not what's happening," Ray told her, bending down so he could press a kiss on the top of her head. He knew of Jasper's tendency to exaggerate and he didn't like how his tall story of snakes in his school was scaring his girl.

"But Jasper sent me a---" Charlotte tried to tell him, but Ray wasn't having it. He was frustrated in more ways than one and Jasper throwing in his fibbing wasn't helping.

"Oh, who cares? Last week, Jasper called in an emergency because he saw a cloud shaped like a dinosaur." Ray recalled and (y/n) knew that the incident really pissed him off. She had to admit that Jasper had gotten carried away and it was pretty annoying to be called away from home for a cloud.

"Yeah, remember Fourth of July, when he got all freaked out by the fireworks 'cause he thought America was being attacked by Canada?" Henry added, having hundreds of stories all about Jasper and his tendency to freak before he knew the facts.

"Yeah. I'd like to see Canada try to attack us." Ray scoffed as (y/n) lifted herself over the back of the sofa so she could stand with her friends. Honestly, her doofus was such a drama queen sometimes.

"Well, before you guys ignore this, you better watch this video Jasper just texted." Charlotte rolled her eyes and showed them a video of a panicking Jasper and the corridor of their school. He was right it was full of snakes and it wasn't something they could just ignore.

"Come on, we gotta go check this out." (y/n) sighed, trying to settle her nerves at the thought of being surrounded by all the snakes.

"Great, yeah. Let's ruin our afternoon to go help, Jasper." Ray growled as his sidekicks popped a gumball each. Ugh, that boy really knew how to ruin his chances.

"Oooh, somebody's got his manties in a bunch today." Charlotte joked, making (y/n) giggle and Ray frown. She loved a good pun, especially when it was delivered with sass.

"I don't wear manties, thank you." Ray pouted as his girl chuckled at his red cheeks. Aw, he was adorable when he was embarrassed.

"No, you don't, sweetie." She cooed at him, loving it when his cheeks flushed darker and the kids wrinkled their noses in disgust. What? She was a woman in love with her boyfriend, she was allowed to drool over him a bit.

"I wear boys underwear." He mumbled in embarrassment and shoved a gumball in his mouth before he could get any more embarrassed. He definitely didn't need to think about (y/n) and underwear right now. They transformed into their super suits, but it was safe to say that Ray wasn't looking forward to leaving his home. He had something else in mind...

"Come on," Henry said and the three ran over to the tubes. Of course, Ray and (y/n) were sharing, which gave her the perfect chance to press her ass back against him.

"Stop it, you're killing me." He whispered into her hair, but she just giggled in response. Despite his boredom, she made his blood pump fiercely.

"Up the tube!" Henry called out, not hearing how Ray was whining as his girl wiggled her hips slightly to make him squirm. He knew not to jump out of a moving car again, that was for sure.

"Stupid Jasper, I swear that kid---" He grumbled as they shot off, probably to no emergency at all. Ray had no idea how he was gonna get through this call, especially when (y/n)'s cute skirt made her look so hot.

~Swellview High~

"Hey, I'm here!" Henry announced to his friend as he walked through the doors of his school. Thank god, it was the weekend, or this would be an almost impossible mission for stealth. Jasper had already taken matters into his own hands and the suspect was tried up on the floor with a taser wrapped around his legs. Well, that was an effective capture, even if the motorcycle helmet obstructed his identity.

"Finally! What took you so long?!" Jasper questioned his friend sternly. He'd called them ages ago and they were only just strolling into the building.

"He made us stop and get shaved ice. And now, he won't stop feeding it to (y/n), because they are gross." Henry rolled his eyes and the two teens looked at the couple as Ray scooped a spoonful of shaved ice into (y/n) awaiting mouth before scooping some into his own. It was cute, but it had also made them super late.

"I like the watermelon." (y/n) mumbled since her mouth was full of the sweet melted ice and she giggled with Ray at how silly she sounded. It almost made them forget how they were burning up inside from their rampant desire.

"She likes the watermelon," Ray confirmed and gave her another spoonful when she open her mouth again. He was her provider and her dumb cavewoman DNA was more than happy to accept the frozen dessert.

"Hey, what's up with these snakes?!" Henry moved on and that's when (y/n) suddenly became aware that in some corners of the room, the floor was...moving? Okay, the shaved ice wasn't tasting that good now.

"I don't know. Look, there's one right over there!" Jasper pointed to a red, white and black snack chilling by the door. The sight of it made (y/n) glue herself to Ray's side in fear, her arms wrapping around his waist as she quivered, but he was more sceptical. That thing was tiny and not moving, real his ass.

"Oh, you mean this fake snake over here?" He asked, prising (y/n)'s arms off of him so he could go pick it up. She didn't want him to go, but he was insistent. That thing wasn't real.

"How do you know it's fake?" Henry asked, looking at the snake with cautious eyes. He didn't want to chance the thing snapping out at him or his friends, even if two out of three of them would be fine.

"Captain Man, I don't think it's fake. In fact, it looks pretty real to me!" (y/n) spluttered, bringing her hands up to her face as she panicked. Sure, if a snake bit her or tried to squeeze her to death, she'd be fine, but they were still creepy and crawly.

"Oh, come on. They sell these things for five bucks a pop at the Swellview County Fair. Sweet girl, you seriously thought this thing was real---ahhhhhhh!" Ray's eyes widened in horror and he freaked out when the snake's very real tongue flickered in his face. He chucked the thing down to the floor harshly and sprinted over to where his girl was shaking in fear.

"It's real! It's real!" He shouted and grabbed (y/n) so he could pick her up bridal style and keep her safe in his arms. Her arms automatically went around his neck as he kept away from every slithering thing he could see. She was terrified and he was her protector, even he was scared, she came first.

"Will you quit being so gross? (y/n)'s not a baby." Henry screwed his nose up at them when Ray looked down at the woman in his arms with a soft smile. She looked so pretty from that angle and he couldn't help but give her a soft kiss, but it wasn't the time for romance.

"Look, there are more snakes over there!" Jasper shouted and pointed to the stairs, where two small, but still creepy snakes were slithering around. Henry jumped into Jasper's arms in fright and it made the couple he'd mocked look at him in amusement.

"Who's a baby now?" (y/n) smirked as Ray gently put her back on her feet and Henry straightened himself out. It was just a few dozen snakes, no biggie.

"W-well, how'd they get here?!" The boy asked cooly, acting as though he hadn't just screamed like a girl.

"That freak brought them! I saw him pullin' snakes out of a sack, so I hit him with that fire extinguisher and tied him up with those extension cords!" Jasper explained, pointing to the guy who was still wriggling against his bounds. Ray looked at (y/n), who then looked at Henry and the three walked forward to unmask the guy. Taking off his motorbike helmet, he was revealed to be...the janitor!

"You!" He snapped when he saw Jasper and recognised him as the kid who'd beaten him up so cruelly.

"Jed the janitor?!" Jasper gasped, not believing that this guy would try to infest the school with reptiles.

"I swear I hate you more than I hate myself!" Hissed the janitor, who was furious with the way he'd been treated.

"Okay, will someone tell us what's going on here?" Henry butted in, seeing how Ray was getting antsy again.

"Well, I-I saw..." Jasper tried to tell them, but Jed was more than happy to snitch on what he'd really been doing.

"I'll tell ya what happened! This school has rats! So, I rented this protective suit and helmet, and bought twenty-five snakes so they'd eat the rats!" Jed explained, pissing Ray off as the truth came to light. Although, (y/n) had another question too.

"You let snakes out into a school? What's wrong with you?" She frowned at the man on the floor, but he just shrugged. It seemed like a good plan, but before he could explain himself further, Captain Man had something to say.

"See? No emergency. I knew it. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Way to go, Jasper!" Ray called his hands together and smiled bitterly. He'd given up working his charms on his girl for nothing and it was all this kid's fault.

"But I-I-I--" Jasper stuttered, trying to tell his boss that he'd made a genuine mistake. Jed had looked like some weirdo letting loose snakes in the building and it had seemed like a job for Captain Man, he didn't mean any harm.

"I'm gonna be talking about this on my podcast, you can count on that." Ray snapped, making (y/n) rush over to him to calm him down. She was just the thing he needed, but thanks to Jasper, he hadn't had the time to indulge in his desires and he was mad.

"Uh, can I please be untied?" Jed interrupted his anger, but that wasn't their only problem. Miss Shapen suddenly came crawling around the corner and judging by her moaning and groaning she was in pain for some reason.

"Ah! Owww! A snake...a snake bit my elbow!" She grumbled and showed the group the puncture marks on her sore elbow. It sure looked like it hurt, but they weren't quick to help. her.

"That's our teacher, Miss Shapen," Jasper told Ray and (y/n), but they were more than aware of who she was. They'd had quite a few fracases with her so far in the two years they'd known Henry.

"Oh yeah, uh..." Ray trailed off, not knowing how to handle the weird woman. He'd seen enough of her on Valentine's Day and the chicken thing she had going on, so he was reluctant to get close again.

"Aw, don't you remember that lovely date you had with her? You should go over to her." (y/n) smirked at her and put her arm around his waist as his face paled at the memory. Literally, the worst date he'd ever been on and the only one she found amusing. The horror story of Miss Shapen and her revoltingly large big toe had come up on numerous occasions and never failed to make her laugh. Ray was just grateful that she was the only one he got to take care on dates now and he was determined to keep it that way.

"Kid, go handle...that." Ray gestured to the wailing teacher and Henry looked at him in shock.

"Wh--? I don't know how to handle a snake bite!" Henry blanched at him, but Ray was determined to stay with his girl.

"Just go over there, put her elbow in her mouth and suck out the poison." He told the sidekick and wrapped his arms around (y/n)'s shoulders.

"But...but that's gross." The boy grimaced, not knowing where Miss Shapen had been putting her elbow. Probably near her cats.

"It's the only way to save her life, so get your ass over there and save her life!" (y/n) chuckled at him and shoved his body over to the woman and her strength was enough to get him there, despite the way he was dragging his feet.

"Okay..." He swallowed at the task ahead of him, but Ray's attention was already on Jasper, who gulped nervously. (y/n) tried to get him to focus on her, but it was no use.

"Okay, for the next two months, I don't wanna hear about any more "crimes" from. you. We clear?" He told the boy firmly, feeling fed up with his constant phone calls. He just wanted to stay at home with his girl and only go out to real emergencies.

"What if I see a burglary in progress?" Jasper asked, thinking that it was his moral duty to report such a serious crime if he saw it.

"You shut up," Ray answered, making his girl frown at how mean he was being. No one ever liked being told off by their boss and when it was Ray, a six-foot wall of muscle, it was terrifying.

"What if I witness road rage?" Jasper asked further. He still didn't get that sometimes, it's best to just be quiet and let someone shout.

"You shut up," Ray repeated in a strained voice and his girlfriend could see how agitated he was getting and she gave him a look that told him to take it easy.

"What if I hear a ticking bomb?" The boy questioned and Ray decided to go for the gentle approach.

"Just chill...Oh, and shut up!" He hissed at the end and the young woman had had enough. She needed to speak to him, alone.

"Okay, Jasper, go untie that snake-releasing moron on the floor." She told the boy and he obediently did as he was told. He didn't want to piss Captain Man off anymore, which gave her the perfect opportunity to get Ray against the lockers so he'd look into her eyes and nowhere else.

"What?" He asked in a breathless voice, suddenly feeling lightheaded as she trailed her flat palms up his chest and gazed at him with a seductive smirk and dilated pupils.

"Jasper's just trying to be helpful." She whispered to him and the mention of the boy's name made his grasp on her waist tighten. Thank god, everyone else was focused on poisoned elbows and tied-up guys, otherwise, there'd be a lot of gossip going around.

"Yeah, but he's been pissing me off so much lately." Ray sighed, but the look in her eye and the widening smirk on her face made him gulp too.

"If you stop being mean to Jasper, I'll let you do whatever you want to me tonight," She grinned at the way his eyes grew impossibly dark and the hold on her waist became almost painful, but she didn't mind. To see him like this, made her feel powerful and confident, two things she rarely was. Sure, she was playing with fire, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to feel his burning lips on her body as he pinned her down and took what he wanted.

"Sweet girl, the things you do to me..." He growled and leaned in to kiss her senseless as his hands moved dangerously close to her ass, but she wasn't going to let him have his way in the middle of a school corridor. Not a chance.

"Tonight." She smirked and pulled away from his grasp, despite her instincts telling her to give in to the flames and to just let him love her. Staying strong, she left him standing there with a clenched jaw and tight fists as he struggled to keep himself calm when she walked away. Tonight seemed so far away, he didn't want to wait.

"Come on, Kid Danger. You and Captain Man have a podcast to finish." She told the boy as she walked past and turned around briefly to give Ray a teasing stare as she ran her tongue over her bottom lip. The way she said her name was anything but innocent and he couldn't follow out of the door quick enough, even though she would strongly ignore his advances in the Man Van.

Tonight couldn't come quick enough.

~Back in the Man Cave~

With the promise of finally getting some tonight, Ray was in much better spirits as he and Henry sat down at their podcast table again. He was holding (y/n) to her word, but she was going to stick to it, she was human too. After a quick trip to a tech store, she'd brought back a bunch of new headphones and now, they were ready to record.

"Okay, Captain Man and Kid Danger. First podcast, take four...Hello! And welcome to...Deep in the Man Cave!" The introduction went well, although, they had noticeably deepened their voices for the title. Ray was happy, Henry was happy, it was all good.

"Yessiree, this is the very first podcast starring your very own Captain Man and----Ah, fudge and kumquats!" And the happy mood was gone. The podcast quickly ended as soon as it had begun when the emergency alarm started blaring over the recording. Ray stood up in frustration and smashed his fourth pair of headphones on the ground and even kicked his chair over as Henry went over to check it out.

"You know, if you do that again, you're sleeping on your own tonight." (y/n) told him as she put her book to the side and stood up for the emergency. There was never a moment to relax in the Man Cave, what with the alarms and Ray chucking stuff about, but her words made him look at her in panic. Alone? Tonight? Not a chance.

"Ray, (y/n), pop a gumball, there's something going down at that store, Mouth Candy," Henry told them as he pulled up the information on the monitor. Little did he know that this was another situation that Jasper and his school's resident bully, Mitch Bilsky, but he'd find that out in about five minutes.

"Give me a roasted chicken." Ray ignored the urgency in his sidekick's voice and slammed his hand against the auto-snacker's screen so he could grab some food.

"Roasted chicken." The automated voice repeated and out came a perfectly cooked bird, all ready for him treat, even if it did irritate (y/n) and Henry.

"Raymond, we don't have time for chicken." The young woman sighed at him as she and Henry took out their gum tubes so they could transform.

"I'm not gonna eat it..." The large man grumbled and all of a sudden, he picked up the chicken in a single hand and launched it across the room, making the woman and boy duck for cover. He couldn't help but feel moody and whilst he knew that throwing a chicken wasn't the way to take out his anger, it felt good.

"Okay, that chicken did nothing to you," Henry commented as he stood in the middle of Ray and his frustration. Seriously, what was wrong with him? He just wished (y/n) would sort out it out before he destroyed more food all over the place.

"Do you want to sleep alone tonight? Do you? Because I will gladly sleep in my old room and leave you alone." She folded her arms and gave him a pointed look, not liking how the chicken had gotten grease, bones and meat all over the floor.

"No..." He mumbled and looked off to the side as he obediently took out his gum tube. Geez, whatever was going down between them was intense and Henry wasn't sure if he wanted to know any more than he already did.

~Mouth Candy~

Well, one more Jasper incident was the straw that broke the camel's back. Ray was pissed off, the store's owner was pissed off, Jasper was mildly pissed off, Mitch Bilsky was always pissed off and Henry and (y/n) were somewhere in between.

Upon arriving at Mouth Candy, the superhero team had immediately descended into a big argument over Jasper getting all excited again, with Ray being the biggest complainer. He had to leave home for Jasper again and now, he was at the end of his rope.

"All right, all right..." Henry tried to quieten the crowd, but in this situation, quiet words weren't going to get this lot to button it.

"SHUT IT!!!" (y/n) shrieked above the noise and the boys immediately fell silent. Well, that was effective.

"Now, you two wait here, whilst Miss Danger, Kid Danger and I go interrogate the...suspect." Captain Man said to the shopkeeper and Mitch, who patiently moved off to the side as the three turned to Jasper, who was accused of stealing a candy boot or something. It didn't seem like a lot, but theft was theft and Jasper had a lot to answer for.

"Yeah, whatever his name is," Henry added nonchalantly, acting as though he'd never seen his best friend before.

"They call him the Hot Broth Burglar." Mitch lied, trying to make himself seem like the innocent party in the situation, even though he wasn't and that infuriated the usually cheerful Jasper.

"No, they don't!" He snapped and picked up a jar of candy so he could throw some lollipops and jelly beans at Mitch's head. Ray and Henry rushed to keep Jasper back as he tried to beat the kid up and thankfully, they prevented a full out brawl.

"Owwwww! See that?! Do you see his violent nature?!"The bully whimpered, playing it up so it seemed like he'd been really hurt by Jasper and his fury. They knew it wasn't true, Jasper was a really sweet kid, but they couldn't deny that something was going on here, especially when Jasper raised his candy jar to throw some more stuff at him.

"Okay, okay, you put the jelly beans down." (y/n) stepped in front of Jasper and blocked Mitch from his line of sight. She knew that Mitch was being a dick on purpose, but she couldn't let Jasper make stuff even worse for himself. The boy grabbed another fistful of jelly beans and aimed them at the bully's face, but she was quick to calm him down.

"Curly...haired-boy, put the jelly beans down." She soothed him and he let up by putting the jar down on the table, giving the supers the chance to talk to him as Mitch sneakily shoved fistfuls of candy into his pockets. Yeah, he wasn't innocent, not a chance.

"All right, did you really try to steal that candy boot?" Henry whispered to his best friend, whose eyes widened at the accusation. Like he'd ever do that, he wasn't some Mitch Bilsky dickhead, who stole from his favourite candy store.

"'Course I didn't! Mitch framed me!" Jasper hissed, making Ray roll his eyes. Was this the big emergency? Give him strength.

"Great, crime solved. Now, can we go do our podcast?" Ray brushed him off and turned to go back to the Man Van so he could get home, finish that damn podcast and then finally relieve his stress.

"Wait." (y/n)'s hand on his arm halted him in his tracks and he internally groaned.

"What am I gonna do? Mister Sugarman wants to put me in jail!" Jasper panicked as Ray subconsciously drifted his body to his girl's. Aw, she felt so warm and small against him, not that he could do anything else.

"Ok, relax. You're not going to jail." Henry calmed him down and Ray knew that as per the deal, he had to be nice to Jasper or else, he'd be getting nothing.

"We'll just make him think you are." He clarified for the boy and grabbed him from under his arm so he could drag him over to the store's owner.

"All right, sir. My sidekicks and I are gonna take this rotten, curly-haired misfit to jail." Captain Man "glared" at Jasper as Henry took his other arm.

"Yep, that's right. He's a...danger to society." (y/n) made up and waggled her finger in Jasper's face like she was scolding him.

"Ha!"

"Good!" Mitch and the owner agreed that it was the best course of action and the bully's smug face made (y/n)'s blood boil. Honestly, she'd like to give him a good pasting for causing so much trouble, but there were bigger things to worry about, mainly the police officers that just walked through the door.

"Hey, Captain Man, Kid Danger, Miss Danger." The officers smiled at them as they entered, making the superheroes feel very nervous. What the hell were the police doing here?

"Uh, hello." Ray gulped, suddenly not liking that they were here. Swellview Police were known for their incompetency and their exceptional talent for either showing up unwanted or not showing up when they were really wanted and today, it was the former.

"Officers." Henry squeaked and they pulled Jasper back with them as the police came towards them.

"We were just walking by here and we saw you guys in here." One police officer said and he didn't pick up on how nervous they really were.

"Need our help?" The other one said and that's when they really panicked. They couldn't have Jasper be catered off to jail for real, that would be awful.

"Oh, no, no, no, thank you, officers. We've got everything under control here." (y/n) laughed anxiously and she tried to usher Ray, Henry and Jasper out of the door, but...

"Wait a minute...I've seen this kid before." The police officers took a closer look at Jasper and that's when it hit them.

"Oh, yeah. Didn't he get arrested last year Swellview Park?" The woman asked her partner and he agreed. Jasper was a bad apple in his books.

"Right, for using the ladies' bathroom. That's messed up, man." The officer grimaced at the curly-haired boy and his bad deeds, but the truth was, Jasper just had a knack for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

"No, it was 'cause my friend's little sister--" He tried to explain, but the police weren't finished.

"Hey, and didn't you also get arrested last Christmas, in City Hall, for wearing more than one hat simultaneously?" The police officer recalled and Jasper could really excuse that one. Ray and (y/n) remembered it well, their first kiss. It seemed so long ago and now, they were happily in love, no secrets between them.

"And he tried to steal this!" Mr Sugar pointed to his pride and joy, the candy boot on sale for forty-thousand dollars and Mitch was more than happy to make things worse.

"That's right, he did!" He smirked evilly, enjoying how poor, innocent Jasper was taking the wrap for what he had done.

"No, I didn't! I-I-I was just holding it!" Jasper stuttered, trying to uphold his innocence, but no one would listen.

"Well, you know what they say."

"He who holds it, stolds it." The officer made up, not caring about how weird they sounded. They just wanted to nick Jasper for being a repeat offender.

"Okay, someone gets me a dictionary and show me the word stolds!" Jasper snapped, making the superheroes rush to calm him down before he got done for threatening behaviour.

"Look, officers, we got this. We're gonna take him to jail." Henry told the police and Ray gave them his best "Captain Man" smile so he could persuade them, but it wasn't working.

"You, Miss Danger and Kid Danger, you do so much to help this city." The policeman praised them, but they weren't blushing, they just wanted them to back off.

"No, no, really. We're fine--"(y/n) tried to stop them from grabbing Jasper too, but they were determined and that's when Jasper freaked out.

"Captain Man, Kid Danger, Miss Danger, they're cuffing me!" He cried as they led him away and the couple and kid looked at each other in a panic. They couldn't fight the police, but they couldn't let Jasper go to jail either.

"Well, shit." The young woman cursed as they watched the officers lead their friend out of the store and away into a cop car. Well, that was a disaster.

~Back at the Man Cave~

"I'm telling you, I've had enough of that kid!" Ray told his girlfriend as they finally arrived back at the Man Cave after dropping Henry back home. Thank god, it was finally the evening, today had been a long day.

"He's spending the night in jail, you gotta feel sorry for him." (y/n) sighed as she blew another bubble and transformed back into her civilian clothes, Ray doing the same. Poor Jasper, he'd never survive in prison and she knew that Mitch Bilsky was the real delinquent here.

"Eh, he'll be okay." The large man mumbled and watched with predatory eyes as she flopped down on the couch. She didn't pick up on his hungry gaze, nor the way he was carefully stalking towards her.

"That Mitch kid should be the one in jail. He's obviously the real suspect." She grumbled, not thinking anything of it when Ray sat down next to her and pulled her into his lap. It was normal for him and so was the way he buried his face into her neck.

"Yeah..." He said absentmindedly, more interested in trailing kisses down the side of her neck. Now, she was noticing and she suddenly remembered that it was "tonight" and he hadn't forgotten her promise.

"What are you getting at?" She smirked, feeling the way he was running his hands up and down her legs in tandem with the way his lips were exploring her neck. He'd been waiting weeks for this, no more.

"You promised, sweet girl..." He growled into her ear, sending a shiver of desire down her spine. She did promise and she was more than happy to give him what he wanted.

"Anything you want." She grinned and angled her hips to brush against the arousal in his jeans. His knuckles turned white around her hips as he caught her mouth in a passionate kiss to stop her teasing smirk. She knew how to press his buttons, but he wasn't in the mood for teasing, not now.

"You've been driving me insane." He hissed in her ear as she sat back and took in his wrecked state. Poor baby, so desperate for her and she knew just how to make it worse for him.

"I know." She giggled and raised her arms so she could shrug off her shirt and throw it on the floor. With her torso semi-exposed, Ray nearly lost his mind and his hands slid up the smoothness of her stomach to where her lace-clad breasts awaited.

"So beautiful and all mine."He mumbled, feeling stunned at the angel that was above him, letting him see her so intimately and swivelling her hips against his so expertly that he felt faint. Trembling hands came around to her back and after a few fumbles, Ray released the catch, leaving her top half completely bare for him.

"Ray..." She whimpered when his rough fingertips tweaked her nipple harshly and took the other one into his mouth. He was determined to treat her like a queen and leave her trembling as no other man had before.

"Sweet girl, so good for me, I love those noises you make." He whispered against her skin and her fingers grappled at the shirt still covering him.

"Off." She whined simply and he followed her command, quickly stripping the shirt from his body and throwing it some unknown corner of the Man Cave. Her hands explored bare skin as she admired his chiselled chest, all hers.

"You know, I used to dream about this, you and me." She told him, feeling bold at how she had this Greek God of a man quivering under her fingertips. His eyes squeezed shut at the thought and he wasn't sure if he'd last if she kept talking.

"S-stop..." He ordered her firmly, although his slight slip of the tongue told her everything she needed to know. He liked to think of her alone at night with nothing else but him on her mind because, for years, he'd been in a similar situation.

"Does that turn you on, Ray? Thinking of me in my bed, all alone, trying to think of anything but you sliding into--" She was cut off as his superhero strength lifted her from the couch and kept her against his body in a bruising hold.

"You need to stop when I tell you, little girl. You think it doesn't? You think I never thought about the same things when you walked around in those tiny fucking shorts you wear for bed? Hmm? Answer me." He growled when she bit her lip to silence herself as he kept her legs around his waist to provide some relief for the tightness in his jeans.

"They're comfy...and I've seen how you look at my legs when I wear them." She whimpered, but it drifted into a giggle when she thought about how she was now able to tell when he was checking her out. He wasn't exactly subtle and she was shocked at how she'd never seen it before.

"Not just your legs, sweet girl." It was his turn to smirk when she became jelly in his arms, leaving him free to return to biting and sucking at the tendon on her neck.

"Ray, take me to the bedroom." She mewled, suddenly realising how cold the open air of the Man Cave was. The thought of soft sheets and closed doors was much more inviting.

"Sure, my sweet girl." He growled and speedily walked off to their shared room, not caring about the few clothes they'd left around the couch. He had better things to think and he was gonna enjoy them, with no distractions and no interruptions.

~Henry's house~

Ever since he'd gotten through his door, Henry had been trying to get a hold of Mrs Dunlop, Jasper's mom. The woman was notorious for not giving a shit about her only child, but Henry didn't want her to panic about her son spending the night in jail, or worse.

"Hey, Mrs Dunlop." He said cheerfully into the phone once she had finally picked up.

"What?" She replied in a dull tone, obviously not liking that she'd been interrupted doing whatever.

"Jasper is going to be spending the night at my place tonight." It was a small lie made with the best intentions and Henry hoped she bought it. Not that he needed to hope, Mrs Dunlop didn't give a toss.

"Who cares?" Henry could practically hear the eye roll and he was grateful that he had a mom that actually cared about him.

"Oh, you don't care." He repeated, making Charlotte roll her eyes as she listened in. Typical Mrs Dunlop.

"Nope. I gotta go." The woman said curtly and ended the call before Henry's thumb could even get near the button.

"Okay, how are we gonna get Jasper out of jail?" Henry asked Charlotte as he walked around the back of the couch. They had to get him out soon, otherwise, the ever uncaring Mrs Dunlop would find out and know that Henry was lying.

"I don't know," Charlotte replied, looking up from her magazine. She was worried about her friend, sure, but she knew him and this was just another example of Jasper being arrested for dumb things.

"Well, it's his third strike! And if they convict him, he could get twenty years." The boy shivered at the thought of Jasper coming out of prison in his late thirties. God, he wouldn't survive.

"Then we better figure out a way to prove that Mitch is the one who tried to steal that stupid candy boot." Charlotte sighed and that's when Henry's whiz watch began to flash and beep. Ah, Ray, he must've put his girlfriend down and figured out a way to help them.

"It's Ray." Henry pointed out like Charlotte didn't know at this point. Geez, he said some dumb stuff sometimes.

"Yeah, okay." She shrugged and left him to it. Charlotte didn't need a notification for every little thing that happened with Henry.

"Henry, I got some good news." A cheery Ray greeted the boy once the watch was open. He was unusually chipper considering his foul mood lately, although Henry couldn't figure out why. Maybe because the hologram couldn't pick up his flushed cheeks and glazed over eyes.

"About Jasper?" Henry looked at his boss hopefully, thinking he'd found the answer to their problem.

"Better. Got some new ideas for our podcast." Ray smiled at him brightly, feeling amazing since he'd gotten everything out of his system and experienced the most magical evening with his girl.

"Okay, Ray, it's the middle of the night, I got school in the morning, and one of my best friends is looking at a possible twenty years in jail." Henry recounted all of his problems, voicing his irritation with his boss, who could only focus on the stupid podcast. He couldn't help it if life seemed rose-tinted in his post-sex haze.

"Y'know, I'm starting to feel like I care way more about this podcast than you do," Ray whined, not hearing the light footsteps coming up behind him.

"That's probably because you do." (y/n) giggled as she came wandering into the hologram and wrapped her arms around his waist. All she was wearing was one of Ray's old t-shirts that were tiny on him but dwarfed her and Ray couldn't help but feel a stab of desire go through him when he noticed that she was wearing his clothes and nothing else.

"Ray, go...play with (y/n)." Henry groaned at him, not implying anything by it. He just wanted his boss to go away and leave him alone since he wasn't coming up with anything sensible.

"I already have." Ray gloated with a smug smirk and (y/n)'s eyes widened at his confession. The blush on her cheeks, plus her attire told Henry everything he needed to know, making him snap the watch shut before he could see or hear any more filth.

"You hear that? All he cares about is recording his dumb podcast and fuc---doing stuff with his (y/n)." Henry grumbled, feeling grossed out at the thought of the adults alone in the Man Cave. Ew, he was glad they weren't causing all the tension anymore, but ew.

"Well, I think I got something better for you to record," Charlotte smirked, having come up with a bright idea whilst he was talking with their boss.

"What?" Henry asked, ready for a good suggestion.

"Mitch." She answered simply, confusing Henry. Maybe she didn't have a sensible suggestion after all.

"You want me to record a podcast with Mitch?" He questioned in a muddled tone, wondering how that would help anyone. Mitch would probably beat him up.

"No! I'm saying you wear a wire." She clarified and that's when the penny dropped for Henry.

"Oh, like a microphone?" He smiled. Okay, that was an idea he could get behind.

"Uh-huh. And then, at school, you casually start a conversation with Mitch, get him to admit that he's the one who really tried to steal the candy boot. Then, we take the recording to the cops and boom, Jasper's out." She explained succinctly. It was risky, getting close to Mitch, but for his best friend, Henry would do anything.

"Okay, okay, that's good. But how am I gonna get Mitch to admit it?" He asked, gulping at the thought of getting pummelled by the biggest bully in school. Yeah, he'd beaten supervillains before, but Mitch packed a punch and no one liked to be on the receiving end of it.

"Dude, you're like a million times smarter than he is." Charlotte shrugged and Henry smirked at that information.

"You really think so?" He looked at him with a smug face, liking it when people called him smart.

"Yeah." She looked at him weirdly. He didn't need to let it go to his head. Henry was no Mitch Bilsky, but he sure as hell wasn't Albert Einstein either.

~The next day, Swellview High~

Okay, target acquired. Henry rounded the corner in the school corridor and spotted Mitch on the other side of the school's entrance. Putting the wire that (y/n) had given into his ear, he switched the thing on and mumbled into the static.

"Hey, can you guys hear me okay?" He asked casually, hoping that no one was looking and watching him talk to himself. That wouldn't end well.

"Yeah, kid, we can hear you," Ray answered him as he, (y/n) and Charlotte staked out in a grotty van outside the school. They had to be in close range to pick up the signal, even if it looked a bit weird for them to be camping outside of a school.

"We're in a van across the street," Charlotte told him as (y/n) tried to get comfy on Ray's lap. They were there for the duration and were kitted out with headphones, microphones, snacks and soda, leaving Charlotte stuck with the couple as they got cosy.

"Okay, cool." Henry copied, glad that he could hear them loud and clear. If Mitch killed him at least someone would know.

"Just remember to get as close to Mitch as possible and try to get him to admit that he was the one who tried to nick that candy boot." (y/n) spoke into her headset as she took a gulp of Ray's/her soda. They could share and he never got mad when she stole his drinks, which was always.

"This is dumb..." The large man grumbled as he slouched into his swivel chair, earning himself a sharp smack on the leg from his girlfriend. He was just grumpy that they'd had to drag themselves out of bed early for Jasper again. Sure, they'd already had another round of fun before then, but Ray didn't like to be rushed.

"Okay, whew, here we go." Henry calmed his raging nerves before casually strolling over to where Mitch was slurping away at the water fountain. All Henry had to do was get the recording and get out of there alive.

~The van~

"So, this is your van?" Charlotte asked Ray as they monitored the sound equipment. It was dark and gross in there, but the only stake-out van they had that would do the job. (y/n) had to admit that she wasn't a fan either, but she couldn't complain when she was sat on Ray's lap with a strong arm around her waist. One year ago, she could never have dreamed that he felt the same way she did and she wasn't gonna take the sweet feeling for granted.

"This is his old van." (y/n) replied, looking over at the girl as her boyfriend flicked a few switches and knobs in the backs. She remembered this thing, way back when she had just joined Ray and his crazy life; she had never expected to fall in love with him, not when he was a few years older than her and already so popular with the ladies. She was still gobsmacked that he'd fallen for a shy, fresh out of college girl with a toolkit and a knack for fixing things.

"I have a way better one. The Man Van." Ray smirked as he thought about the exact same thing. He had never expected her to fall in love with him, not when she was just starting her life other own and could've picked any of the college jocks that chased after her. He was still awestruck that she'd fallen for a complex, egocentric superhero, who took her away from her friends and family for a life filled with danger and lonely nights.

"Well, where is the Man Van?" Charlotte asked, breaking them out of their daydreams. Surely, it would be better to sit on quilted leather seats with air conditioning and not in some rust bucket from the noughties.

"Oh, Schwoz took it to go see Charlie Puth. Didn't even invite me, jerk." (y/n) grumbled, wrinkling her nose at how Schwoz had just driven off before she could throw a rotten tomato or egg at him.

"Really? Schwoz is a Puther?" Charlotte smirked, not knowing this information about the little man. Well, you learn something every day, even though no one could picture Schwoz bopping to any of his songs.

"Oh yeah, big Puther." Ray smiled at the girl as both of his arms came around the young woman in his lap and he pressed a kiss to her temple. She'd get her revenge on Schwoz when he got back and it would be sweet.

~The school~

"Heyyyy, Mitch." Henry greeted the bully nervously as he walked over and the larger boy glared at him. Who was this limp-dick loser with a flower pinned to his shirt trying to talk to him?

"What do you want, Hart?" Mitch snarled, making Henry's stomach drop in fear. Boy, he was a lot bigger up close.

"Nothin'. Nothin', I just...uh, I heard that you saw that jerk, Jasper Dunlop, get arrested yesterday at that Mouth Candy store." Henry smiled friendlily and it seemed to work on Mitch, who thought that this was just laddish banter.

"Oh, yeah. I did. Yeah, man, it was hilarious. You know, he didn't even do nothin' wrong. I was the one who tried to steal the candy boot. Haha." Well, that was easy. Henry laughed along with Mitch's confession, acting as though he was laughing at "Jasper the Jerk" when really, he was laughing at how dumb Mitch was.

"That is--that is awesome!" He praised Mitch and began to walk away, wanting to leg it before the kid could get angry or something. He had the info, that was all that mattered.

"I know, man." Mitch giggled and Henry decided to make his escape.

"Well, see ya!" He smiled, not wanting to screw anything up at the last minute. He had to keep Mitch happy.

"All right, man, take care." Mitch grinned and sauntered off, leaving Henry to gasp at how his adrenaline was running high from the conversation. That went remarkably well and he still had all his arms attached to his body. A roaring success, one might say.

"You guys, I did it! I did it! Did you hear?" Henry's excited voice came through on the speakers, but the three chilling in the van weren't paying attention. They'd been on the topic of Schwoz and his music taste ever since Charlotte had discovered his love for Charlie Puth and as such, they hadn't heard a thing.

"I just think Schwoz would be more into music like Coldplay or some band like that," Charlotte mentioned nonchalantly and Henry's heart dropped at their relaxed, unfocused chatter.

"Nah, he's been into Puth for, like, way before it was cool--" Ray replied and Henry had to know whether they'd been recording or not.

"Look, guys did ya hear him admit it?! Hello, can you guys hear me?" Henry asked them urgently and the three slid their headsets back over their ears when they heard the boy's faint voice.

"Uh, we were just talking about music. What's going on?" (y/n) bit her lip as she answered the boy, hoping that they hadn't missed anything important.

"Wh-what's going on?! I just got Mitch to admit that he's the one who stole the candy boot! Were you not recording?" Henry asked them and they all looked at each other with pale, guilty faces. Oops, maybe they should've been recording.

"Uhhhh, no...Charlotte forgot to hit record. Sorry." Ray tentatively told the boy as (y/n) cringed and Charlotte's mouth dropped open. He was pinning the on her? What a dick!

"I forgot?!" She reiterated and gave Ray a sharp glare, which made him cower into (y/n)'s hair.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Henry snapped as he inwardly screamed. This was a nightmare and he couldn't believe that his friends had let him down when he needed them to stay on task.

"Uh, no biggie, just go get him to say it again." (y/n) offered nervously, knowing it wasn't the best thing she'd ever suggested, but there was little else they could do.

"Ok, fine, but you press record, you press it, right now." Henry hissed and Ray promptly flicked the switch behind his chair. Henry couldn't believe he had to talk to Mitch again and he was praying that Lady Luck was still smiling down on him.

"Recording," Ray told the kid in an annoyed voice. He didn't like being dictated to.

"Thank you." Henry sighed and walked off to go find Mitch. Hopefully, he'd get away with all his limbs on his body again.

"Uhhh, what is this?" Charlotte asked as she pulled a long, mouldy, brown...thing upon the floor. It was smelly, vile, revolting, disgusting, literally, every word in the dictionary that she could think of and (y/n) had to pinch her nose to stop the stench from attacking her nose.

"Uhhh...that was either a banana or a hot dog," Ray replied calmly as he poured himself a coffee from his flask and the girls shrieked in disgust as Charlotte dropped the brown log thing back on the floor. Honestly, guys were so gross.

"Ew, oh my god, Raymond!" (y/n) grimaced at his bad hygiene, but he just sipped his drink as Charlotte sprayed her hands with an anti-bacterial spray.

"Ooo, me too, please, just in case." The young woman smiled at the girl gratefully as she received a spray too and she rubbed it across her palms.

"It's not that bad," Ray grumbled, swirling the half-filled cup of coffee in his hands as his girl wafted the alcohol-based disinfectant away from her hands. Seriously? Having decomposing food in the van wasn't that bad?

"Just for that..." (y/n) gave him a sarcastic smile and took the cup from his hands, downing the coffee in one gulp. It was a bit hot, but the burn didn't last very long and the grumpy look on his face was satisfying enough to make it for it. She always stole his coffee, that was just her thing.

"Heyyyyy, Mitch." Henry greeted the bully again, trying to bring back the same friendly energy that they'd had before. He wished he could be sipping coffee right now because Mitch didn't look that happy.

"Dude, we're not even friends." The guy frowned, wondering why this lanky boy kept pestering him and lightly punching his shoulder like they'd known each other for ages.

"I know, I know, I'm just...I'm still not clear on, y'know, exactly what happened at that store, Mouth Candy." Henry lied and he tried to stop his hands from trembling as Mitch looked him up and down.

"All right, man. I'll tell you one more time. Here we go." Mitch sighed, making the crew in the van perk up as they heard his voice crackle through the mic.

"Oooh, here we go, let's nail this little shit." (y/n) rubbed her hands together and leaned forward with Ray's chin on her shoulder.

"When the guy who owns the place went into the back...I was the one who--" Mitch leaned in close and was on the verge of confessing when a girl opened her locker and let out a piercing scream.

"AHHHHHHH!" She shrieked and this sharp noise made the three in the van fall off of the seats as they jumped from the pain in their ears. At least (y/n) had her fall broken by Ray's muscly body and he wouldn't have it any other way.

"Gotcha!" Oliver Pook appeared from a closet and the girl looked at him like he was crazy. And let's be honest, he was.

"Th-there's a dead bird in my locker!" The girl stuttered as she saw the bloody carcass of some poor bird and Oliver was the one who put it there. He handed the bird's lifeless body to the girl and told her to read the note he'd tied to its legs. This kid was messed up.

"Your school is full of weirdos." (y/n) groaned to Charlotte as Ray guided her back into his lap and fixed his skew-whiff headphones.

"It says...do you wanna be my girl?...No, thank you, I have to go now." The girl panicked as Oliver jiggled his eyebrows at her and ran off when he added a "seductive" smile. He sure knew how to treat his ladies right.

"Late." Mitch tried to walk away from Henry, having seen enough freaks for one day, but Henry wasn't done yet.

"Wait, no, no, no, no, no, wait!" He tried to stop him, but the bully just walked off, leaving Henry back at square one.

"Henry? What's happening?" Charlotte's voice came through on his wire and Henry was more than happy to tell her all about how this plan sucked.

"Yeah, this isn't gonna work, that's what's happening!" He hissed into the mic and Ray pondered the predicament for a moment, although what he was thinking wasn't what Henry wanted to hear.

"Hey, kid. You know what'll make you feel a lot better?" He asked his completely unsuspecting sidekick.

"What?" Henry asked.

"Doing a podcast." The man crooned into the mic, making (y/n) groan and Charlotte roll her eyes. They didn't have time for dumb podcasts, Jasper was facing twenty years in the clink!

"Okay, listen, Ray! I'm not doing a podcast with you or anyone else until Mitch confesses and my friend Jasper is outta jail! All right?" Henry snapped, but Ray wanted to push his luck and wasn't quite ready to give up yet.

"Please?" He asked in his begging voice, the one he usually used on (y/n) when he wanted something from her, but unfortunately for him, it didn't work on Henry in the same way.

"No!" Henry yelled and that's when (y/n) had had enough of the bickering.

"Enough! Come on, handsome, plan B." She smirked at her moody boyfriend and passed him his gumball tube. She was gonna end this thing once and for all so Jasper could prove his innocence and Ray would stop picking a fight with Henry.

"Keep recording." The young woman instructed Charlotte as the adults each chewed a gumball. It was time to kick ass.

"What are you guys gonna do?" The girl asked, unaware that there was a plan B. She just thought there was a plan A, which at the moment, was going so well.

"What we should've done a long time ago," Ray growled and he and (y/n) stepped away from the chair.

"You mean clean this van?" Charlotte quipped, making Ray whip his head to her with a scowl on his face whilst (y/n) just cackled with laughter. Oh, that was a good one, she had to admit, but it was more likely that she'd be the one cleaning this cesspit of a vehicle. Messes irked her, plain and simple and this was just asking to meet her bleach and scrubbing brush.

"Okay, you have to really rough him up." (y/n) reminded her boyfriend as Captain Man and Miss Danger stormed towards the school. The few students loitering by the doors gawped at the superheroes' arrival but quickly got out of their path. They were glaring and psyching themselves up for pressuring Mitch into confessing, something that the young woman was looking forward to. Mitch was gonna shit his pants.

"I know, sweet girl, I know." He growled and burst through the entrance doors with an angry snarl on his lips. The student body erupted into excited chatter when they saw the celebrities in the hall and Henry immediately stood straighter. This wasn't part of the plan...

"Where's Mitch Bilsky?!" Captain Man bellowed, letting the kids know that he wasn't there for idle chit-chat, he meant business.

"We want a word with him." (y/n) told the kids harshly and peered around the room through her blue mask as a group parted to show the boy sitting on the stairs. Ah, there he was and boy, he looked nervous.

"Bilsky!" Ray stalked towards the boy, his beautiful sidekick following closely behind and they looked pissed.

"Admit that you framed Jasper Dunlop!" (y/n) ordered the bully and confidently stood in front of him, but he wasn't one for being bossed about by someone smaller than him, especially when they were an (on face value) unremarkable woman.

"You can't force me to admit anything, bitch!" He snarled at her and it was a fatal mistake. Ray grabbed him by the collar and bashed his body against the lockers like he weighed nothing, fully intent on making him cough up the truth. His fury was evident, no one talked to his girl like that, particularly little boys who thought they were hard.

"Admit it, so I don't have to punch you in the face and smash your groin, even though I really want to." Ray snarled at him as (y/n)'s heart fluttered from his defence of her honour. Protector, always.

"Y-you wouldn't hurt a kid!" Mitch tried to bring up his minor status, but Henry knew that it wouldn't wash. Mitch had been incredibly rude to Miss Danger and Captain Man couldn't tolerate that. The blond boy just stood calmly with (y/n) near him and observed his boss give Mitch what he deserved.

"Oh, please, you look at least twenty-six years old and no one talks about my sidekick like that!" Hissed the superhero and on second glance, Mitch could see why he was so fond of her. Those legs, those curves, nice...

"Fair point, she's pretty damn fine, I wouldn't mind a go on her--" The vile words tumbled from the boy's lips as his eyes trailed up the woman's figure, making her awkwardly fold her arms across her boy. Ew, he was in high school, what a creep and Ray wasn't having it.

"Admit you're the one who tried to steal the candy boot!" He roared, slamming Mitch's skull into the locker as his jealousy and protective side flared up. This pathetic boy had no chance with his girl, she loved him, she cared for him, she cried his name into the night, not this loser, but his disrespect struck a nerve and played on Ray's worst fears. She could leave him for someone else at any moment and he couldn't help but lash out.

"O-okay, I did it! I framed Jasper. I'm a thief and a bad person and Jasper's a really great guy!" Mitch confessed, shaking wildly as Captain Man's stone-cold gaze burned into his eyes. He'd pissed a superhero off, now, he was paying the price.

"Charlotte, did you get that?" Henry asked into his wire, praying that she'd been recording this time.

"Yep. Got it!" She confirmed and it made Henry and (y/n) smile as they huddled together to listen in. A small tap on the shoulder from the young woman told Ray to let the boy go, despite his gut telling him to beat him to a pulp. His brain knew better though, if he did hit Mitch, a minor, (y/n) would kill him and that would be equally bad.

"Come on, you." She smiled at him and dragged him away from the quivering boy, ready to go home.

"And now, I've got a podcast to do! And everything I need to do that podcast better be there in the next ten minutes." Ray announced just before they left, hinting to Henry that he better haul his ass to the Man Cave so they could finally crack on, but (y/n) had a slightly different schedule.

"Make that thirty minutes..." She breathed out, looking up at Ray and nodding her head to the door. He looked confused for a second, but her blown-out pupils and rapid, shallow breathing told him that she wanted him all to herself. Oh, oh! Maybe seeing him threaten a dickhead for her was something that got her going and it made Ray smirk proudly.

"Don't do drugs." He told the onlooking kids and the couple briskly walked out of the building so they could run back to the Man Cave for their "alone time".

"Uh, what--mom? Oh, okay, be right there." Henry pretended to answer his phone and then strolled out of the school like he wasn't on his way to record a podcast with Swellview's best crime fighter.

Still, he'd have to take the long way to Junk-N-Stuff, after all, Captain Man didn't like to be rushed, it just made him grumpy.

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therealestpodcast · 11 months

Text

SPIRIT ARCHIVE: EPISODE ONE SEASON ONE; BLOCKBUSTER HORROR

"NOW WE ARE ONE IN EVERLASTING PEACE WE HOPE THAT YOU CHOKE, THAT YOU CHOKE" - EXIT MUSIC (FOR A FILM); RADIOHEAD

YOU ARE WATCHING EPISODE ONE

CLICK HERE FOR EPISODE TWO

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN THE STUDIO

TIME: 7:30 PM

Jae: I'm Jae!

Ona: And I'm Ona!

Jae: And you’re watching The Spirit Archive.

Ona: The Spirit Archive?

Jae: …What?

Ona: The Spirit Archive???

Jae: What the fuck are you talking about now?

Ona: You added “The”.

Jae: Okay??

Ona: It's just Spirit Archive.

Jae: ……

Ona: ….

Jae: ANYWAYS!

Jae: Welcome to the very first episode, this is insane.

Ona: Literally.

Jae: We came so far in the past two in a half years…already have our on TV show.

Ona: It was about time; So Jae Jae on the way way.

Jae: “Jae Jae on the way way”….?

Ona: Explain to the people how this will go!

Jae: Basically you guys send us emails, and we read them, think of our theories, and then investigate the “Haunted” areas.

Ona: Afterwards we come back to the studio, go back over evidence and finally come to our conclusion. You'll see us back here in the studio every so often during the episode giving our opinions on what we thought during the investigation too!

Jae: Sadly, the camera crew cant explore with us.

Ona: I’m gonna miss you Dave…

Jae: So, heres our first letter from… South Park's very own! Ryen Miller!

Jae: Shelly says, “i told craig and kenny about this but they’re being so useless rn so i’m calling the best podcast out there. my friend mimi and i are at the video store i run, hiding behind a shelf of old war movies because there’s an apparition in my stock room. i’m pretty sure it moved to the basement but i’m not sure. advice?”

Ona: That's your fucking fault for not asking the pros first.

Jae: They asked for advice, not for you to start ripping into them.

Ona: They KNEWWW what they we’re doing.

Jae: Oh my goddd, what's your guess Ona?

Ona: To be honestttt, I have no clue, not enough info. What about you Jae Jae on the way way?

Jae: Oh you GOTS to stop.

Jae: My guess is it's a poltergeist spirit.

Ona: Whys that? Those are rare.

Jae: Uh well my guess is that Shelly seems pretty scared, right?

Ona: Okay..

Jae: And it could've knocked things down ya’know? We dont really know how everything first started. we definitely need to ask more details when get there.

Ona: Truuuue, mhhh okay. Well…Are you ready to start? Like this is our first big investigation.

Jae: Ready as I’ll ever be I suppose. Autobots.. roll out.

Ona: Are you dumb..

Ona: Let’s just go.. I can’t stand you right now.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN FRONT OF THE VIDEO STORE

TIME: 5:15 PM

Standing around the outside of the off brand blockbuster-esque store, Jae can't help but wonder why exactly this is the spot for the first episode. The camera crew that were unable to enter behind them so they didn't get in the way standing around, making sure the equipment was all up and running alright.

"Are you not gonna help me with the equipment? Jae? Hellooooo?" Ona complains, holding a duffle bag of things the duo will need for checking out the store.

"It's not even that heavy," Jae responds, grabbing the bag from Ona's hands, "It literally just holds the stuff we need to put on ourselves."

"Okay.... so hold it while I put it on me first, duh!"

Jae turns to look at the camera that's currently recording with a blank stare, but looks back at Ona as she connects the equipment to her, holding a spirit box in one hand and a FLIR digital thermometer in another. She waves at the camera connected to the vest Ona's wearing.

"I look hot as fuck don't I? Don't answer I already know, your turn!" Ona giggles.

Jae puts their own stuff on them and checks their laptop feed to make sure it's working, when everything is set Jae slings a backpack containing other important equipment on their back, picking up an EMF recorder, she turns to Ona, "Ready?"

Ona shakes her head, "No. Is it too late to back out of this? Like what if we... die? Bro I don't know about this."

Jae blinks, once, twice, and a third time, "Girl if you don't get your ass in there."

"Why me first? Do you have some death wish against me?"

"Absolutely. No! Bitch, if I go first you'd probably leave me alone with this spirit to go get McDonalds!" Jae scoffs.

"Oooohh.. I could so go for McDonald's right now actual-"

"GET YOUR ASS IN THERE."

"You got it!" Ona jumps and speed walks into the store with Jae following closely behind her.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN THE STUDIO

TIME: 7:35 PM

Ona: You are so mean to me.

Jae: YOU THREW THIS RUBBER DUCK PENCIL AT ME FOUR SECONDS AGO.

Ona: Why can't we be friends...

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: INSIDE THE VIDEO STORE

TIME: 5:25 PM

"Oh shellyyyyy," Ona sings.

Jae lightly hits the side of her shoulder, "You're probably more scary than the spirit right now."

"We're here!" The duo heard a voice speak up in the back, cautiously walking towards the back, they find themselves staring at Shelly who are huddled in a corner the 'War' movies section.

"Uh... Have you two been here this entire time?" Jae asks

Shelly nods, "Yes! I keep hearing crashing noises in the basement! At first it used to just be the in the stock room but awhile ago it moved to the basement." Shelly explains.

Ona glancing around the room, her eyes shifting the rather dark store, "And you two just sat? In the dark?"

Shelly pipes up, tone shaking, "We think it broke the fuse box! The lights went out like ten minutes ago.. I think."

"Just our luck.." Ona sighs.

"Any other information you can lend us?"

Shelly thinks for a moment, "No.. it's just been throwing things around quite often.. if you wanted I'm sure you could check the stock room and see the absolute mess in there."

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN THE STUDIO

TIME: 7:42 PM

Ona: And this is where you confirmed in your head that it was a poltergeist?

Jae: Well, not necessarily, a lot of spirits interact with their environment and often or not manage to throw something around a few times. The distinguishing factor is how many items they throw or how often they mess with the environment around them. They almost always solely mess around with things and they can be dangerous, especially if the items they're throwing around are, but they are more like a nuisance.

Ona: Like a baby!

Jae: Sure, Ona.... like a baby..

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: INSIDE THE VIDEO STORE ; BASEMENT (FIRST ROOM)

TIME: 5:39 PM

Shelly groans holding a camcorder and now equipped with some basic equipment, "How did you get me to agree to do this for you guys again?"

"You agreed to a deal of a 30 year supply of monster, five cents an hour, and early access to merch. Don't come for me here." Jae shrugs.

"Right but like I work here so shouldn't I get to be let FREE? Away from this place and outside in the parking lot? I don't know.. how about not record an episode for you guys?"

Ona rolls her eyes, "Bro, shut up. You're being paid what else do you WANT? You know what? Let me play you a tune on the world's smallest violin."

Ona starts rubbing her thumb and index together, humming a high pitched tune.

"Oh my god get out of my face, Ona." Shelly grumbles.

Before anyone could do anymore talking Jae abruptly stops walking, Ona nearly stumbling into her, "Dude what are you doi-"

"Sh."

Shelly and Ona still.

The basement is quiet and there are no sounds, it's scary and dark and you could probably hear the dust settling around you if it wasn't for the fact Shelly then sneezed extremely loudly.

"Bless you." Jae utters quickly, still scanning the rooms in the basement.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN THE STUDIO

TIME: 7:51 PM

Ona: Shelly sneezing pissed me off.

Jae: Does anything like.. not piss you off?

Ona: Stan Marsh.

Ona: Anyways, what do we know about the video store?

Jae: Well it says it was built in 1952 by Mr and Mrs. Boldswell and it was their pride and joy, it was eventually passed down to their son Harry Boldswell before being renovated by him and sold to a Calvin Checker.

Ona: Can't trust bitches who have the same initial for their first and last name..

Jae: .....

Ona: Would you QUIT with that blank stare at the camera I know you use it to make fun of me.

Jae: Anyhow, Calvin Checker accidentally had three employees killed in the mid 90s when a fire broke out in the room now known as the electricity room located in the basement. It sat vacant after the incident and then another renovation in the late 2000s came after another change of owner, this time to Harry's daughter Lyra owns it, and has been a staple in South Park ever since.

Ona: Any hauntings reported?

Jae: Yeah once, in 2014 a couple who were passing through reported to the manager on duty at the time that there was weird noises coming from the basement and that in the 'Comedy' section a few discs fell onto the ground.

Ona: So why are we going here again..? Like I don't wanna be anywhere near this place.

Jae: Because we got asked to? Ona, do your job oh my god.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: INSIDE THE VIDEO STORE (BOILER ROOM)

TIME: 5:46 PM

Ona was scared shitless, she was checking out the boiler room all by herself and was nervous for anything to pop out, per Jae's words, the spirit box was a way for communication with the poltergeist to happen. So here she was, asking questions with a camcorder propped behind her surveilling the room, to essentially... an empty room.

Gulping nervously, she asks "Is there anyone that wishes to talk?"

The spirit box ticks away before a random "no" is heard, and Ona frantically looks around the room.

"So..you don't want to talk?"

"Hi."

"Girl make up your mind the fuck? Okay.. if you want to talk.. uhhhm say my name?"

"Yasmine"

Ona scoffs, "Girl I said MY name not yours this is MY show."

"..na"

"I'm sorry what was that?"

"Ona."

"Nuh uh, I'm out this bitch." Ona turns the spirit box off, grabs the camcorder and runs out the room.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: INSIDE THE VIDEO STORE (STORAGE CLOSET)

TIME: 5:46 PM

Shelly was upset, not only did these two ditch them, but the two also made them do his OWN segment for their OWN show. This was not worth the deal that she made with Jae. Not at all.

Shelly sets the journal Jae gave them onto the ground with a pen beside it and sat there.

"I'm not talking to this thing, it can kiss my ass." Shelly thought, sitting on a chair, camcorder in hand.

Shelly looked around the storage room, it was rather big and hadn't been used recently, gathering from all the dust that lingered. The upstairs storage room was used a lot more often, as it was even bigger considering it used to be the manager's office before sales dwindled and now the manager's office was downsized to a different room.

Shelly thought about dozing off, but quickly shook that idea out of his head when she realized just where he currently was.

'Scratch'

Shelly abruptly sat up, trying to determine the noise they heard.

'Scratch, scratch, scratch, SCRATCH, SCRATCH, SCRATCH'

Shelly stood up and looked around the room before remembering about the empty journal and picks it up, shock evident all over their face when he reads what was on there.

'It hurts' and a bunch of scribbles all over marked the pages. Shelly didn't need to be told twice about anything and immediately ran out the room.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: INSIDE THE VIDEO STORE (ELECTRICITY CLOSET)

TIME: 5:46 PM

Jae hums as she sets up the cameras around the room. Once the final camera was set she took a look at the set up she had; a few various non life threatening items were scattered about, such as a small pillow, a plastic cup, a tissue box, and an empty Pringles can.

Jae stood in the corner of the room and started calling out, "Oh ghosttttt... are you in here..?"

They could hear running, presumably from Ona and or Shelly, and sighed.

Jae waited a few more minutes in the dark before sighing and moving to start taking down cameras. When they got to the last one, the empty pringles can rolled onto the ground from where it was set, causing her to jump.

They look over their should to glance at the pringle can and just shake their head before turning back to removing the camera. The tissue box then is flung to the side of the wall near Jae's head and they pause taking in account of what just happened.

"Oh." Jae murmurs, "Well that was a dick move."

Jae collects the camera and grabs the items, being careful to not be hit by any of them, but fails because once she turned to grab the pillow, it was picked up by the spirit and flung at their head. Once it hits them on the top of their head, they pause and leave the room rather awkwardly.

"This ghost is a dick." Jae states, heading up the stairs.

CURRENTLY:

LOCATION: IN THE STUDIO

TIME: 8:03 PM

Ona: I'm sorry you called the spirit a dick?

Jae: Well it was... bro did not need to throw the pillow at my head.

Ona: Oh girl you are just asking to be killed by this thing.

Jae: We stream anyways, we don't need to be going there ever again.

Ona: Can't poltergeists like... I don't know.. attach to someone?

Jae: If they can then you should so hit up Di'ona [BLEEP] in South Park, Colorado, she lives i-

Ona: CAN YOU QUIT THAT!!!! I don't need a ghost haunting ME, besides if a spirit is haunting me it's haunting you too idiot.

Jae: What if I want the ghost to haunt me? Wouldn't that be sick? A little spirit buddy.

Ona: NOT A PISSED OFF SPIRIT. Are you dumb?

Jae: Ehh.. Tomato tomato, anyhow the evidence was pretty damning that there was a poltergeist haunting the video store.

Ona: Yeah, sucks Shelly works there, because we have no clue how to get rid of it. That's why our show isn't meant on getting rid of them! Just finding out if you really are being haunted of if it's a fluke.

Jae: Yeah well in South Park I'm not gonna be surprised if all these events we get are going to be turning out to be real.

Ona: True that.

Ona: I'm glad our first episode though was something real you know? Sure I was scared shitless but... we can edit my screams out later right?

Jae: .....

Ona: We're going to edit my screams out. Right. Jaeyoung.

Jae: We're glad you enjoyed this epi-

Ona: HEY! Answer me!

Jae: -sode and we hope you continue supporting us! Thank you for everything and..

Ona: ... Girl you got me fucked up.

Jae and Ona: We can consider this spirit... archived!

YOU ARE WATCHING THE CUT SCENES:

"AHHHH GET ME OUT OF HERE GET ME OUTTTT" Ona screams, frantically running out of the basement and out the door.

"Haun.. haunted definitely haunted." Ona gasps out, "I need a minute."

Shelly soon runs out after Ona, screaming her head off too, "OH FUCK THIS PLACE HELLLLLLL NOOOOOOO."

Shelly stares at the doors anxiously waiting for Jae to come out and soon she does, calmly exiting the video store, "Well? These two are freaked? Anything? Anything at all?"

Jae shrugs, "The spirit is rude as hell."

EPISODE ONE IS OVER WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONTINUE?

YES [SELECTED] NO

SEE YOU IN EPISODE TWO!

#south park #spirit archive series #south park ocs #jaeona podcast

20 notes · View notes

hertzwritings · 2 years

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The Barber boys and the bakery chapter 2

A/N: I’m trying to take care of my physical and mental health these days, and it seems like an actually IMPOSSIBLE task. Which is why I escape into this fluffy world of the Barber boys and their baker. I’m BLOWN AWAY with the response to this, and I’m glad to see you guys loving it as much as I do. Also, a GIANT I love you and thank you to @buckyshattergirl who pretty much co-wrote this.

You can buy me a coffee here, and I’ll write you a personalized something – the sky is the limit, my loves!

Remember, feedback feeds the soul (min in particular) and my requests – and askbox – are always open – there’s no limits, because I am me and I have none.

MASTERLIST

CHRIS EVANS MASTERLIST

SERIES MASTERLIST

ASK ME ANYTHING/REQUESTS

Pairing: Andy Barber x female reader

Contains: language, fluff, mentions of panic attacks, mentions of PTSD, a sliver of angst, spoilers for Defending Jacob (mostly the last two episodes)

W.C: 3.000

The sleepover

Andy was normally never one, who got surprised or taken aback about anything. He usually stayed on top of everything, knew the most outcomes, but Y/N had kind of invaded his life and he had no idea how anything was about to go, when she was near. Since the first time they met, she and Jacob spent a lot more time together at the bakery. After a while, Andy told Jacob that he could just bring Y/N home, because he was worried about Jacob walking home alone at night. If he was being completely honest, though, he kind of also wanted to see her. It was also nice knowing someone was around to keep an eye on Jacob, when Andy couldn’t be home. It actually added something, he hadn’t experienced in his house in a while, which was Jacob’s laughter and the smell of baked goods. The house became a home, slowly, but surely. One thing was a new house, but even in the old house with Laurie, it didn’t feel like this. Happy.

Which is why he wasn’t surprised to see her shoes – covered in flour, of course – in the hallway, when he came home from work and toed his own shoes off, before letting his bag fall to the ground. What he didn’t expect, though, was the loud noises coming from the living room – it sounded like a mix of singing and two cats dying. He frowned and walked towards the sound, and – though it shouldn’t surprise him – found Y/N and Jacob standing across from each other, screaming out the song that played in the background. At further inspection, he saw that it was a movie, not a song, and before he had time to figure what movie, they both began singing (dying?) again.

“YOU” Jacob screamed. “ME, we’re FACE TO FACE BUT WE…” Y/N gestured wildly. “DON’T SEE EYE TO EEEEEEEYEE!” Jacob jumped on the spot, before continuing. “WE’RE LIKE FIRE AND RAAAAIN!” Y/N screamed. “FIRE AND RAAAAIN!” Jacob was in his feelings, clearly, because he was on his knees now. “YOU REALLY DRIVE ME INSAAAN… Oh, Hi, Andy.” Y/N stopped singing and waved, and Jacob paused the movie before standing up and waving at Andy. “Hi, dad.” “Hi, kiddo and hi, Y/N. What’re you guys up to?” He asked, slipping his jacket off. Y/N’s eyes lingered on his arms for a moment. “We’re doing a duet. Clearly.” Jacob said with a grin. “Oh, that’s what that was? I could’ve sworn it was a catfight.” Y/N gasped. “Heathen. We sounded amazing.” Andy raised his eyebrows at her. “What, uh… Have you guys had anything to eat yet?” He asked, rubbing his neck – he tried very hard not to stare at Y/N, who wore a gorgeous green dress, that let him see a lot more cleavage (and tattoos) than he had expected. He shouldn’t be looking, but it was kind of hard to tear his eyes away, when all he could think about was tracing her tattoos with his tongue. What on earth was happening to him? Jacob’s eyes moved back and forth between Andy and Y/N, before he scoffed and pointed at Y/N. “Disrespectfully, dad, Y/N is here.” Y/N laughed a little at that and pointed to the kitchen. “I accidentally made enough pasta to feed a small army.” It wouldn’t be the first time. Andy had come home after a late night at the office and found that Y/N and Jacob had made pizza, which was just about enough to last them for a month (“Dad, we needed to make all of them, how else were we going to get all the toppings on there?”), and the time before that, she made lasagna. There were still two full lasagnas in the freezer as they spoke. “A large army.” Jacob interjected, and Y/N playfully rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m used to cooking for one, sorry if my pasta-proportions are a little off.” “By like… A lot.” Jacob grinned and looked at his phone. “Oh, I’m headed up. We’re playing Resident Evil.” “Who’s we and what’s Resident Evil?” Andy asked, slightly confused. Jacob rolled his eyes. “You’re seriously too old for your own good. We are Derek, me, Ashleigh, Hope and Sam. And I’m not even going to try to explain the beauty of Resident Evil.” And with that, Jacob turned on his heel and went up the stairs to his room. Andy laughed a little and his heart skipped a beat, when he saw how Y/N looked up at the stairs, her eyes soft and a sweet smile on her lips. She turned to him. “Teenagers, right?” He nodded. “Are you hungry?” She asked and smiled at him – it kickstarted his entire system. How a smile could make him feel like this, he didn’t understand. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I could eat.” “Well, come along then, Hotshot.” She laughed and led the way to the kitchen, where she began heating up the dinner – it smelled amazing, and he couldn’t help but admire her as she stood in his kitchen, an array of very inappropriate thoughts running through his mind. How she would look bent over the breakfast-bar. How she belonged here. He pulled himself out of his head when she spoke again.

“I think Jake might need a therapist.” She said softly. He frowned. “Huh?” He already asked Jacob if he wanted to go to therapy to deal with everything that had happened, but Jacob had responded with “If Imma be sad, Imma do it with pizzaz”, and they kind of left it at that. She piled a bunch of pasta onto a plate and handed it to him, before she opened a wine next to her like it was second nature to her to give him a glass of wine – his favorite, he realized. She placed the glass next to his plate and poured herself some too, before she sat down in front of him, biting her lip. “I know…” She paused and took a sip. He followed her, allowing the wine to calm his nerves a little. “I know Jake’s been dealing in his own way.” “With pizzaz, if I recall.” He said softly, jabbing his fork into the pasta. He liked the pride on her face, whenever he ate something, she made. “Yeah, with pizzaz. I think…” She sighed. “Listen, I know I’m not really in a position to say anything about this, but lately… He’s been off. I don’t know why, maybe we’re nearing the anniversary of something…” She looked pointedly at Andy, who swallowed thickly.

Truth was, they were nearing the anniversary of that fucking day. The day, where Laurie drove the car into the side of a bridge, hysterically asking Jacob if he killed Ben, and it left a lot of marks on Jacob. Not physical, but Andy knew his son, and he knew that Jacob was dealing. Not well, but he was trying. “All I’m saying is that maybe he’d do good with a few sessions. I know a few great therapists, that specializes in trauma in young adults and PTSD. I can give you their numbers, if you want them.” He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “Listen, Y/N, I appreciate you trying here, I really do, but…” “I get it. Not my circus, not my monkeys, right?” She narrowed her eyes at him, and he saw a sliver of the same fire, she had in her eyes the day he met her. “Listen to me, Andrew…” He almost lurched back in his chair. Oh, she was scary when she was like this – and it was the first time, she’d ever used his full name and not just called him Hotshot or Andy. “That kid? He’s the single most amazing kid, I’ve ever met. He’s kind, he has the biggest heart, he has a hell of a lot more understanding of the world and the people in it, than anybody who’s been through what he has, should. He is doing his best to hide the fact, that he’s terrified, feels alone and scared, because he doesn’t want to burden you with it. I’m telling you right now, that kid would walk through hell and back if it meant keeping you happy.” “I am…” “I’m not done.” She cut him off and took a sip of her wine. “He doesn’t want to talk about what happened, but I read the news when the trial started. I know what he went through, although I’m pretty sure there’s way more to the story than he’s been willing to let on. I also know that he cannot bear this alone, Andy. He needs help.” She leaned back in her chair and her eyes softened. “I know you think you’re helping him by not talking about it, but you’re not. I… he loves you so much, that little shit, but you’re both knuckleheads, that won’t talk about your feelings.” Andy was reeling. Was he hurting Jacob by not forcing him into therapy?

“I don’t want to force him.” “You don’t need to. You need to be honest with him, tell him you know he’s dealing with a lot, and you want to help, but you understand why he doesn’t want to talk to you about it. That it’s okay to admit you’re not okay, because it is.” He sighed and he almost had a heart attack when her hand softly laid on top of his. How was she so warm? He was quiet for a moment, before he turned his hand and held onto hers tightly. “My ex-wife is…” He said slowly. “She, uh… She tried to kill Jacob.” “Excuse the fuck you me?” Y/N was seething. “It was the nail in the coffin. Laurie had been… We were creatures of habit, I suppose, that’s why the marriage lasted so long. I was already considering leaving, and then she drove the car into the side of a bridge with Jacob in it. They got away both relatively unscathed, but…” “I’m going to murder her. You’re a good defense attorney, right?” He smiled a little. “I don’t think I can defend you if you’ve made your intentions on murder clear.” “Damn.” She sighed. “I know he needs help; I know he bottles up… I just have no fucking clue how to reach him, Y/N.” “I’m telling you, if you would just talk to him…” She stopped talking and her eyes narrowed, looking up the stairs. “What?” He asked when her hand slipped out from his. “Something’s wrong.” She said simply, before she stood up from the table and ascended the stairs with wide strides. He frowned. How could something be wrong? He listened for a second and realized that the sounds of chatter had stopped completely from Jacob’s room. In the same second, he stood up himself and moved to go up the stairs himself, Y/N appeared again, but carrying Jacob. At first, Andy was mostly surprised at the fact that Y/N was strong enough to carry a 15-year-old who was just as tall as she was, but then he saw her face, and the way Jacob had buried his face in her shoulder.

“Can you get me ice-water, Andy?” She asked frantically. He nodded and quickly poured ice and water into a cup for her. She gently moved to the living room, where she sat down on the couch with Jacob still clinging to her frame. His shoulders were shaking. “What’s going on?” He asked, handing her the ice water. “Panic attack, I think.” She mumbled, her free hand carding through Jacob’s hair. “Listen, I need you to do two things, okay?” He nodded, his eyes on Jacob. He looked so damn small and frail in this moment. “Yeah, I…” He wanted to take over, but he was frozen. His hands felt cold. “Andrew, look at me, please.” His eyes snapped to hers. She smiled softly. “He’s going to be okay. I got him here, we’re good. Just listen to me, it’ll help him, okay?” He nodded. “Good. I need you to go get the stuffed bunny in his room.” “The stuffed… He threw that out.” She shook her head, dipping her fingers in the ice water and gently moving her cold fingers over his face. “No, he put it in his closet. Go get that for me, okay?” “Okay, yeah.” He ran. When he got to Jacob’s room, he barely had time to think over the picture, he saw on his nightstand, and went straight to the closet, searching for the bunny. He found it, and when he turned again, he saw the picture again. His heart skipped a beat, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it, and rushed down the stairs. He heard her voice before he saw them again. “Hey, Jake, you’re okay. You’re safe, okay? Just focus on the way, I’m breathing. Breathe with me, baby. You’re okay, I’m here. Your dad is here.” Andy swallowed the lump in his throat and ran to the living room, handing her the bunny. “Thank you.” Her voice was leveled, calm and soothing, and she slowly pried Jacob’s hand from her shoulder and put the bunny in it – he instantly began rubbing the matted “fur”, and it seemed to soothe him, because after a few seconds, he lifted his head from her shoulder and exhaled a shaky breath. “Good, Jake. You’re doing great. Andy, come here.” She patted the space next to her, and Andy didn’t hesitate. He sat down, wrapped an arm around her shoulders to card his fingers through Jacob’s hair, and Jacob stretched his legs out to rest on Andy’s legs. He moved his free hand to his legs, gently rubbing circles on it. “Why did you want the bunny?” He asked softly. She smiled. “Uh, textured objects like this can help ground a person having panic attacks.” He nodded. “Oh.” He looked at her. She exhaled, and Andy saw the fear in her eyes; he knew it all too well, because he felt the exact same way. “What’s the other thing, you needed me to do?” “This.” She replied. He nodded and they stayed like that for what felt like forever, silence enveloping all three of them. Despite the reason why, they were sitting like this, Harry’s House playing softly in the background (Y/N must’ve put it on at some point), he couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the younger woman next to him, while also feeling something akin to… Well, he didn’t know. She felt like home, and it looked way too natural for her to sit with Jacob like this. She could be his mother, if he didn’t know them. The thought passed him as quickly as it left him, but it left a wide crater in him, because he realized that maybe he wished that she was. That he had met her, not Laurie, and had a life with song and too much food and a happy Jacob, if she was in it. Fuck.

“You want to talk about it, bubba?” She asked, when Jacob’s breathing had evened out. She bit his lip and looked to Andy, who smiled comforting. “You can say anything, Jacob. You know that.” Jacob nodded, and his fingers played with the ear of the bunny. “The game…” Jacob began, and Andy almost cried – his voice was so small, like he was embarrassed. “There was a car-crash in it. I just… Couldn’t.” Andy saw her eyes flare. “Hey, that’s okay. You’ve gone through something bad, Jacob. You can’t always control when or if these things happen.” He said, squeezing Jacob’s leg. “Listen, I think…” Jacob nodded. “I need therapy, huh?” Both Andy and Y/N nodded. “Maybe it would be good. Maybe.” Jacob said, and Y/N stroked his hair. “Jake, there’s nothing wrong with needing help to sort out your feelings. It doesn’t make you wrong.” “Y/N?” he looked up at her with big eyes. “Yeah, bubba?” “Can you stay? Like… For the night?” She looked to Andy, who nodded once. “Yeah, of course. Anything you need, Jake.” He sighed in relief and slowly got up from her lap. He suddenly looked so much younger than his 15 years. “Thanks. Dad, uh…” “I’m coming.” He stood up too, and led Jacob up the stairs, looking at Y/N. “I’ll be right back.” “Take your time.”

He helped Jacob get ready for bed and tucked him in just like he did when he was younger. It brought a strange sense of comfort to them both. “Are you okay, buddy?” Jacob nodded, hugging the bunny to his chest. “I think I just… I don’t know.” “That’s okay.” Andy kissed his forehead. “Listen, I think that we might need something else than just therapy.” “Like Y/N staying here for the rest of my life?” Andy chuckled. “I don’t know if she’d want that, buddy.” Jacob scoffed. “You’re both idiots.” “I’m going to ignore that, bud.” Andy sighed. “How about this weekend… We’ll go to the shelter, huh? Look at a dog or something?” Jacob’s eyes lit up. “What? I thought you didn’t like dogs!” Andy thought about it – he thought he didn’t. but whenever he said the words, I don’t like dogs, and I don’t want one in the house, it was Laurie’s voice echoing. “I do. I thought I didn’t, but I do.” Jacob grinned widely. “Also…” Andy grabbed the picture frame from his nightstand and held the picture out to Jacob, who blushed. “What’s this about, Jacob?” Jacob shrugged. “She fits better.” He simply said.

Andy couldn’t deny that. The family picture from a vacation in Mexico, where he, Laurie and Jacob held each other, was as he remembered it; except the fact that Laurie’s face had been covered with a cut-out polaroid of Y/N smiling widely. She did fit in better.

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crystalninjaphoenix · 9 months

Text

Friction Friendship

Paranormal Preteens AU: Episode Fourteen

A JSE Fanfic

As promised, here’s the second fic part for the week. Don’t expect this to happen a lot XD But be prepared to see these two AUs a lot this week as I inevitably reblog them both. Anyway. Onto the summary. The boys (and Stacy) don’t know how to deal with the planetarium situation, but they discuss it anyway. Without any real solutions, the next few days pass as Chase deals with personal drama and the twins ask the others to a birthday party. And then guess which shadowy entity shows up? :)c It’s not a lot of action this chapter but a lot of character building! Hope you enjoy that XD

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It was October, and that meant two things: a lot of school, and more importantly, Halloween. Chase had always loved the holiday. Not as much as Christmas, of course, but it was his second favorite. He remembered being really disappointed when his family first moved here and he found out that they didn’t trick-or-treat here like back in America. But he was a bit too old for that now. At least Mom still put up decorations and went costume shopping with him.

This year was going to be a bit different. For a couple different reasons. One was Schneep. Apparently he’d never celebrated Halloween before. “What?!” Chase had gasped when Schneep told him that. “They don’t have it in Germany?!”

“I think they do?” Schneep said, confused. “But it is not a big celebration that is all over.”

“Do you at least wear costumes?”

“I never have.”

“I can’t believe this.” Chase shook his head. “Don’t worry, Schneep, we’re gonna have the best Halloween ever this year.”

Another reason was the twins. Their birthday was actually on October 31st: the spooky day itself. That was probably why the two of them were already super excited. They were basically wearing orange and black all the time. Marvin could be seen wearing a black witch’s hat at school (which he had to take off during class) and JJ was frequently doodling little pumpkins in the corners of his notebook.

On Monday, Chase’s mom had a meeting after work, and couldn’t pick him and Schneep up from school. She called Jackie and asked if he could get them after classes were out, and maybe do some babysitting for a couple hours. Jackie’s own classes ended earlier than theirs, so he agreed. Chase decided that meant today was a good day for a meeting. He texted Marvin and JJ to ask if they could come over after school. They could. And... for the first time, Chase asked someone else.

“You want me to go over to your house after school?” Stacy repeated what he’d said, surprised.

“Yeah, I mean... you’re kinda in this,” Chase said. “We sometimes all meet up and talk about the, uh, you-know-what stuff. So I thought... yeah.”

Stacy frowned. She glanced around their classroom. Mr. Bartley had stepped out for a moment so everyone was taking the moment to talk to their friends while he wasn’t there to quiet them down. Half the students were out of their desks, including Chase, who’d walked over to talk to her. No one was paying attention. “I can’t tell my parents I’m going to a boy’s house!” she whisper-shouted.

“Well don’t tell them, then,” Chase said. “Right, Schneep?”

Schneep’s desk was still right next to Stacy’s, so he could hear everything. “Yes,” he agreed. “It may be hard, but it is better than missing out on things.”

“Yeah. They won’t even have to pick you up, Jackie can drive everyone.” It would be a bit crowded in the car with Stacy there, but probably fine.

“I... guess I could tell them I was going to hang out with Heather and Kat,” Stacy said slowly. “But no one else can know I went over to your house, okay?! I don’t want anyone to think I like like you.”

“Got it!” Chase gave her a thumbs up and quickly hurried back to his desk. He could see Bartley moving around through the bubbled glass window in the door. No doubt about to walk back in. He’d have to wait until after class to text JJ and Marvin.

The twins could come over, too, no problem. So after class let out, the kids all met at the school’s front doors, where Jackie was going to pick them up. They all piled into Jackie’s car and drove all the way to Chase’s house.

“Why is your house so big?!” Stacy said the moment she walked inside. “There’s only three of you!”

“I dunno, I guess we got lucky?” Chase shrugged.

Stacy glanced back and forth between him and Schneep. “Do you two have to share a room?”

“No,” Schneep said.

“Luckyyyyy. I have to share with Roxy, and she goes to bed super early so I can’t hang out in there before I go to sleep.”

“Nice decorations, Chase,” Jackie said, tapping a paper bat taped to the wall. “Did you make them?”

“Yep!” Chase grinned. “Mom and I showed Schneep how to do it! Look at that spider he made, it’s so cool! And he made that bat, too, to look like that stuffed animal he has.”

The twins were also examining the Halloween decorations. They were currently picking up the fake jack o’lanterns on the staircase to see how they worked. Marvin found the switch for one, and amused himself by turning the light on and off. Chase, are you going to carve pumpkins? JJ asked excitedly.

“Oh yeah! Definitely! We just need to find them. Mom says there aren’t any pumpkin patches anywhere nearby so we need to get them from the grocery store.”

Marvin and I never get to carve pumpkins, JJ complained. We ask every year and Dad always says it’s a waste because we’re going to throw them away right after Halloween.

“Well, maybe if we did it earlier, then we would have them out for longer,” Marvin muttered. “But no, he and Mam always ‘forget’ until a couple days before.”

And then they say that same thing about getting the pumpkins from the shop, JJ added. And that they’ll all be bought by then.

Stacy watched the sign language with a slight frown, trying to figure out what JJ was saying. Chase had seen her carrying around a book on BSL recently. It looked like it came from the library. Maybe that was why she hadn’t brought it today; she might have had to return it. “Uh... so are we gonna talk about this greenlight stuff and the planetarium and everything?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah, we haven’t really talked about the photos I took,” Jackie added. “They’re, uh... strange.”

“Alright, we can go sit down or something,” Chase said. “Uhhh let’s go.”

They all ended up in the living room, with Chase, Schneep, and Stacy on the sofa. Stacy was on the end next to Chase, sitting straight up and shifting awkwardly. The twins sat on the floor, leaning up against the TV stand, while Jackie took the armchair. His digital camera was in his hands, along with printed copies of the photos. He’d been prepared for this.

“So... Jameson and I still have not seen the planetarium basement,” Schneep said. “Was that crack there when you guys were?”

“Yeah! I got my foot stuck in it!” Stacy said.

“Oh shi—oh really?” Jackie asked. “Must not have been roped off at the time. Maybe that’s why they set up those barriers.” He looked down at the strangest photograph: the one that had been tinted green. “Did... while you guys were down there, did you feel like you were being watched?”

“I didn’t,” Chase said, and Stacy shook her head. “Uh... Marvin?”

Marvin was messing with the back of Chase’s TV remote. He looked up. “Huh? Oh, uh, no. Not until we heard those guys in the stairwell.”

We still don’t know anything about this mystery group, JJ mused. It’s been over two weeks. Nobody’s found anything out?

“If we did find something out, we would’ve talked together a lot sooner,” Chase said.

“We have been busy with homework and everything,” Schneep agreed. “But even if we were not, how? How are we supposed to learn anything about this group? We cannot spy on everyone in town, and we cannot go to the planetarium all the time. The group would notice us.”

“Y’know, I kept asking Mincy stuff about the planetarium staff,” Jackie said. “She says that all the senior employees are acting really weird. They’re being really hard on the other employees. A lot of people have quit because of that. She says she might soon, too. Maybe that’s what they want. They want everyone who doesn’t know about the basement to quit so they’re in total control.”

Are we going to DO anything about the basement, by the way? JJ asked.

“I mean... what?” Chase asked. “It’s not something we can fight. It’s a room. How do you defeat a room?”

“Take out the support pillars?” Marvin suggested.

“What?! Then the whole building might collapse!” Stacy gasped.

“Perhaps that crack in the floor has something to do with it,” Schneep said. “Jackie, can you show everyone the pictures?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jackie handed them to him, and Schneep began passing them out.

“We all notice the weird stripes in the carpet, yes?” Schneep asked, pointing them out on his own photo. “They all go to the crack in the floor eventually. Maybe if we seal up the crack then all the weird things will stop.”

“Okay, but how?” Marvin asked.

Cement? JJ suggested.

“How the fuck are we gonna get cement, JJ?”

JJ shrugged.

Marvin sighed. He looked down at the picture in his hands. “...wait a minute.” He stared at it. Schneep had handed him one of the crack in the ground. “I think... I’ve seen this before.”

“Yeah, when we were down there and I got my foot stuck,” Stacy said.

“No, before that. Jackie, can I see the weird green picture?”

“Uh... yeah.” Jackie handed it to him. “What’re you thinking, dude?”

Marvin brought the photo real close to his face. Then he held it out at arm’s length. He squinted, narrowing his eyes until his vision went a little blurry. “This was under the pool!” he gasped.

“Was?!” Schneep cried.

“Wait, really?!” Chase shouted.

“Yeah, I saw it when Jackie and I went down to fight the water monster. Its weird-ass body was sitting on top of a crack in the bottom of the pool, so I only saw it when the monster moved. But it was all black inside like this!”

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait.” Jackie’s eyes widened. “The pool—the water monster, it—did it cause the crack?”

Maybe! JJ said. Did anyone notice weird cracks anywhere else?

Everyone else shook their heads and muttered “no”s. “There has to be a connection,” Schneep said quietly. “Maybe, if we saw something else with this greenlight stuff... Has anyone heard of anything weird?”

“Ohhh there are weird things everywhere,” Marvin muttered. JJ looked at him, confused and concerned.

“A few months agoI you guys mentioned hearing stuff about the hospital and the secondary school,” Jackie recalled. “Maybe we should focus on those places. It shouldn’t be hard to poke around the school, since we’re there all the time.”

“Hey, are you guys coming to our birthday?” Marvin suddenly asked.

“Uh...” Chase blinked. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned it before. Are you guys having a party?”

“We’re having cake and presents on Halloween,” Marvin said. “But Mam always wants us to have a big party with lots of people. But we don’t really know anyone we’d want to invite before this, so we’ve never done it before, it’s always been our parents and our grandma. It’d be fine if you guys are busy or something, cause it’s Halloween, but I think you should come over to our house.” JJ stared at Marvin, even more speechless than usual, still with that expression of confused concern.

“Uhhh I don’t think we were gonna do much,” Chase said slowly. “I mean, I promised Schneep we’d have the best Halloween ever, cause he’d never celebrated it before. But a party sounds like it’s part of the best Halloween. So sure.”

Schneep nodded eagerly. “Yes! I have never been to someone else’s house before! Well, we went to Jackie’s for his birthday, and I have been to many relatives’ houses, but I mean for other children. Other kids. I want to see!”

“If you guys are including me in that, I’d love to go,” Jackie said. “My friends and I were planning on doing Halloween and Fawkes stuff on the first, anyway.”

Stacy looked nervous, chewing on her lip. “A boys’ party? What do boys do at parties?”

“I dunno,” Marvin said. “When we had Schneep’s party we just opened presents and had cake and did video games.”

“Well... sure. I-I’ll see if I can go,” Stacy said slowly. “But my parents might not let me. They might want to do family stuff together.”

“That’s fine,” Marvin said. “You’re fine.”

Silence fell. It lasted for a few seconds, but it felt much longer. “Well, uh, glad we’re doing that!” Chase said quickly. “Mom’s not gonna be home for a while! So, uh, what now?”

Jackie sighed. He put his camera in his hoodie pocket. “I don’t think we’ll get very far with the planetarium or mystery group stuff. Unless someone can figure out how to fight a basement or seal up a weird crack in the floor. But I don’t think we have any ideas.”

But speaking of birthdays, JJ said. Something happened Friday night. Hang on, this will be too much sign language for Stacy to understand. He pulled his notebook out of his shoulder bag and quickly wrote down what happened, explaining the brief encounter he and Marvin had with Anti. Then he handed the notebook to Stacy, who read it and then passed it around.

“I don’t like that,” Jackie muttered as he read what JJ wrote.

“Why would this Anti... person... wanna do that?” Stacy asked. “Is that something he normally does?”

“No, we don’t really see him that much,” Chase said. “I dunno why he’d show up to you guys if he wanted a happy birthday. Which is... weird. Cause like... does he have a birthday?”

“Everything has a birthday, because everything is created one day,” Schneep figured.

“Well... yeah, but... it’s still weird.” Chase shook his head. “I dunno. What are we supposed to do about this?”

“It’s hard to know what to do about Anti,” Jackie agreed. “He doesn’t show up that much. I’ve never even seen him. Can you, like, punch him or something?”

“Ha!” Marvin grinned. “I don’t think we’ve tried, but next time I see him, I’ll fucking deck him.”

Everyone smiled. “Anyway, uh... I think that’s everything we wanted to talk about,” Chase said. “D’you guys want to play something?”

“That’s not fair, I’ve never played a video game before!” Stacy protested. “Why do you guys get to do something but I can’t?”

“Wait... never?” Chase asked. Stacy shook her head. “Well we have to play something now so you can try. I mean, you don’t have to, cause Schneep never plays, but at least watch. What’s something easy?”

The next couple hours passed with Chase and the other guys showing Stacy some of their favorite games. She wasn’t all that good, but she was clearly enjoying herself. Chase’s mom arrived home soon, causing the hangout to break up as Stacy, Jackie, and the twins headed out, leaving Jack and Schneep alone to do their homework.

But Chase couldn’t concentrate. He couldn’t stop thinking about everything they had brought up. Anti, the mystery group, the planetarium, the cracks in the ground, the greenlight... What did it all mean?

++++++++++++++++++++

Chase was still distracted in school the next day. He didn’t pay attention at all during the first class. In fact, when the bell rang he couldn’t remember a single thing that just happened.

“Chase?” Schneep poked his shoulder. “Is everything alright?”

“Huh?” Chase shook his head. “Yeah, I was just... thinking about stuff.”

“What stuff?” Stacy asked, standing behind Schneep. “Like... the secret stuff?” she whispered.

He was, but he didn’t want to talk about that right now. “No, I was thinking about—about Chad,” Chase said. “Uh, he’s my friend.”

“That tall kid with curly brown hair?” Stacy asked. “You were hanging out with him a lot last year. But I haven’t seen him around you this year. Is that what you’re thinking about? What happened?”

“Uh... I don’t know,” Chase said honestly. “He just... hasn’t talked to me. At all. This year.”

Schneep’s brows furrowed. “That is rude.”

“I guess, but like, maybe he’s busy,” Chase defended. “I mean, it is bothering me. I want to know what happened or if I did something wrong or something.”

“Can’t you ask him about that?” Stacy asked.

Chase blinked. “What d’you mean?”

Stacy rolled her eyes. “Just ask him why he’s not talking to you.”

“But... he won’t talk to me in the first place,” Chase explained. He glanced at Schneep to see if he was seeing the obvious problem. But Schneep looked thoughtful. “Right? I can’t ask him if he won’t listen.”

“Well, then, Schneep and I will go with you,” Stacy said. “He can’t ignore you if there are people watching.”

“Ah! Yes, that is a great idea.” Schneep nodded eagerly. “We all have a lunch period together, so you can talk to Chad then.”

“But—but he won’t talk to me!” Chase repeated. Why didn’t either of them get it?

“But it’s better to try than not, right?” Stacy said.

“Yes, talking has always helped,” Schneep agreed.

Chase looked back and forth between the two of them. Then he sighed. They clearly weren’t going to leave this alone. “Alright. Fine. If we can find Chad at lunch we can talk to him.”

“You can talk to him,” Stacy repeated. “We’ll be there for support and nothing more.”

“Fine. Whatever.”

And so, that day in the cafeteria, Schneep dragged Chase over to the corner table where Stacy said she would meet them. She was already there, clutching a pink lunch box and waiting for them to approach. “Ready?”

“Yeah, sure,” Chase mumbled. He idly scanned the cafeteria. Every available spot was packed with round tables, and every available table was already packed with kids. “Uhhhh I don’t see Chad anywhere.”

“He usually sits near the middle, ja?” Schneep prompted.

He did, and Chase knew that, but he was trying to find an excuse to avoid this. Sure, he wanted to know why Chad hadn’t talked to him once in months, but he didn’t want to actually ask him about that. What if he didn’t like the reason? What if Chad didn’t want to be friends anymore? As long as Chase didn’t bring it up, he could pretend that nothing had changed and Chad was just being weird about it. But the moment he found out...

Stacy climbed onto the bench attached to the table, using it as a stool to see over the heads of the other students. “I see him,” she announced, and climbed back down. “C’mon.” She started weaving in between the tables. Chase hesitated. Then Schneep nudged him, and he had no choice but to follow Stacy.

Chad was sitting at a table with a bunch of other guys. Keith, Terry, Alex, Miguel—Chase recognized them all. They’d already gotten their lunches and were all laughing at something. Chase stopped walking. “Chase, for the sake of god,” Schneep muttered, just barely loud enough to be heard through cafeteria chatter.

“I can’t do this in front of a whole group of guys, Schneep,” Chase muttered back at the same volume.

“Well it looks like Stacy will not let you do it some other way,” Schneep pointed out. Stacy had noticed that Chase stopped and was now staring at him as she stood right next to Chad’s table. All the guys had noticed her and stopped laughing. They looked like they weren’t sure what to do about it.

Chase sighed. “God... dang it,” he whispered. He adjusted his blazer, took a deep breath, and kept walking. As he got close, he put a grin on his face and tried to relax. “Hey, Stacy,” he said as he got closer to her, as if he’d just met her randomly.

“Hi, Chase,” Stacy said, not smiling. Her eyes darted back to the group of guys.

“Oh hey, Chad,” Chase said. He managed to keep a casual tone despite the way his heart was pounding with nerves. Schneep walked up next to him, staying slightly behind.

“Hey, Chase!” Chad gasped. “Bro! I haven’t seen you since I got back from camp! I don’t think we have any classes together, that’s crazy. How’ve you been?”

Chase laughed. “Uh, yeah, I’ve been good, bro. I’ve, uh, been wanting to talk to you for a while.” He noticed the way Stacy stepped back but didn’t actually leave. Her eyes drilled holes into the side of his head.

“Oh shoot really?” Chad looked over at the rest of the guys. The four of them had started eating lunch, but they were paying attention. Chase knew because they were quiet. They would have started talking about something else if they really didn’t care. “About what?”

“I mean, uh...” Chase swallowed a lump in his throat. How was he supposed to phrase this? “I’ve, uh, seen you a couple of times in the hallway and stuff, and here at lunch, and you like... haven’t said anything. And I have your phone number, I called you a couple times. So I was just wondering... is there, like, something going on, or...?”

“Oh. Uh...” Chad stopped smiling. He leaned back, but didn’t stand up. “I mean... I dunno.”

“Right.” Chase nodded. “I mean... I just want to know. Cause like... if I did something wrong, I want to know... so I can stop doing the thing.”

“Yeah, uh... that makes sense.” Chad stopped talking. The silence stretched between them, somehow louder than the surrounding chatter. “I, uh, I’d love to hang out sometime,” Chad finally said. “If you’re, like... not busy.”

“I’m not that busy,” Chase said. True, he and the others had stuff to deal with. Like Anti and the planetarium and the mystery group. And school. But he’d drop all that if Chad wanted to do something. “I dunno if you thought I was, but I’m not busy.”

“No, I didn’t think that. I just wasn’t sure if...” Chad hesitated. “If you were gonna keep being all...”

“All... what?” Chase prompted.

“You know, like... being a bummer and stuff.” Chad looked embarrassed. It wasn’t clear if that was because he didn’t want to say it to Chase, or because he didn’t want to say it in front of other people.

Chase blinked. “What? What’re you talking about?”

“You know, like, all last term,” Chad continued. “You never wanted to do anything or talk about anything. And when we did stuff you just kinda... sat there. We went to the park to skate once and you just stayed on the bench the whole time. And if we got snacks you never ate what you got. Like, why’d you get it in the first place? It just... wasn’t all that fun.”

Chase could only stare at him. “My dad left.” His voice was completely flat.

“You talk to him on the phone and stuff, right?” Chad said. “And you still get presents for your birthday. It’s kinda like you get two parties, hah. And he can come back whenever he wants. It’s not like he’s gone forever.”

The silence continued to stretch. Chase continued to stare. This... couldn’t be real, could it? It had to be some sort of dream. It was too unbelievable. This wasn’t a real conversation. This wasn’t really Chad. It couldn’t be.

Someone coughed behind him. “Chase, we still need to get lunch,” Schneep said, grabbing Chase’s hand. “We should go right now.”

“Oh hey, you’re the new kid!” Chad said, eagerly changing the subject. “What’s your name again?”

“Henrik. I am Chase’s cousin.” Schneep’s voice was cold. Businesslike.

“Oh cool! I don’t think he’s ever mentioned you. But I’ve seen you around. You guys hang out with the Jacksons together, right?”

“Yes.” Schneep took a step back, pulling Chase’s arm. “Come on, Chase.”

“Yeah, we have stuff to do after you get your lunches,” Stacy jumped in. “C’mon.”

“...yeah.” Chase nodded. He took a step back. “Bye, Chad.”

“Uh... bye.” Chad looked a bit confused. But as Chase, Schneep, and Stacy walked away, he turned back to the other guys at the table and started talking again, the confusion instantly vanishing.

The three of them didn’t go to the line to get lunch. Instead, Schneep pulled Chase around the tables, out of the cafeteria, and a little way down the hall. It was empty out here. Most students were inside the cafeteria, and the ones skipping lunch were gone by now. The three of them were completely alone. “Is everything okay, Chase?” Schneep asked gently.

“I-I don’t know.” Chase’s voice was quiet. He couldn’t make himself talk louder.

“What a jerk!” Stacy put her hands on her hips.

“He’s not a jerk, he just doesn’t get it.” Chase stared absentmindedly at the lockers across the hall, not really seeing them.

“Well, he should want to get it, and he didn’t!” Stacy huffed. “I know you don’t like Heather, but at least she would try to understand! I mean, I don’t think she’d really... do anything about it...” She trailed off for a moment. Then shook her head and returned to righteous anger. “But this isn’t about Heather! It’s about that guy, and that guy’s a jerk!”

“Who would—who would say that to—to someone who looked—” Schneep struggled with the words. He suddenly cried out and shouted something in very angry German. Then kicked the base of a nearby locker.

That got a smile out of Chase. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so mad.”

“You deserve to be mad over!” Schneep shouted. “I should be mad when the bad things happen to you! And you should be mad, too!”

“It’s fine.” Chase let out a breath and leaned his head back against the wall. It hit a locker with a gentle thunk. “At least I know what it was all about now.”

“Yeah.” Stacy nodded sharply. “Now you can forget about him and move on.”

“Sure.” Chase didn’t think he would forget. But maybe he could move on. “I can’t believe the Jackson twins were better at... what they said when I told them about Dad...” he mumbled.

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Stacy narrowed her eyes.

“I dunno. I just...”

“Is it because they’re magic weirdos?” Stacy asked in a weirdly demanding tone.

“Bro, don’t call them that,” Chase said defensively.

“Omg, you called them that first!” Stacy gasped.

“I what? When?”

“When we were walking up that staircase from the weird basement beneath the planetarium! You said you hung out with magic weirdos!”

“Oh!” Chase suddenly remembered. “No, I didn’t mean it like that, I meant it like that’s what other people would say.”

“Yeah, and you said you didn’t want other people to say that about you! That you didn’t want to be called a weirdo, too!”

“Well I don’t.”

“Chase!” Schneep gaped at him.

“That came out mean, I didn’t mean that,” Chase said, turning to him. “Look, no one wants to be called names or insulted or anything.”

“You’re right, no one does!” Schneep agreed. “I don’t want to be! And yet, I have heard what other kids have said. You know, Chase, I am also a weirdo to them, because I am short, or I talk different, or I am too smart. Anyone will be a weirdo! It means nothing! I do not care what other kids say. You should not care either! Especially when you know that someone is not weird!”

“I... the twins are weird, though,” Chase whispered.

“And so?” Schneep challenged. “Have you not fought monsters with them? Are they not your friends?”

“N-no, of course they are, I just...” Chase trailed off. Shame heated his face. He looked away from Schneep and Stacy. “I know I shouldn’t care,” he muttered. “But I do, and I don’t know how to not care about it the way Marvin and JJ do.”

“Are you sure they don’t care about people calling them weird?” Stacy prompted.

“I... I was sure, up until you said that.” Weird people didn’t care that others thought they were strange. If they did, they would have stopped being weird a long time ago. Right? That’s how Chase would have reacted. Was he doing it wrong?

“O... m... g.” Stacy stared at him. “Of course they care! Didn’t you notice how Marvin reacted when you called him a magic weirdo?!”

“...No?” Chase squirmed. “Am... am I a bad friend?”

Stacy sighed. “No. You’re not. That Chad guy is a bad friend. You’re just dumb. Just say you’re sorry the next time you see them.”

Schneep nodded. “These sort of, ah... mistakes seem to be common with you. I think Marvin will understand.”

“Right.” Chase nodded.

“Great.” Stacy grinned. “Now we have to eat before lunch period is over. You guys should go get your lunches.”

“Uh...” Chase glanced back towards the open cafeteria doors. “I kinda don’t want to go back in there...”

“Is fine, Chase,” Schneep assured him. “Stacy and I can get food and take it out here for you. That is allowed, ja?”

“I think so.”

“I have to go through the lunch line? Ugh.” Stacy shook her head. “I hate that. It’s crowded.”

“Is that why you always bring your own lunch?” Schneep asked, pointing at her lunch bag.

Stacy shrugged. “My parents don’t like the school food. But anyway, I gotta get your lunch before they stop serving food. C’mon, Schneep.” And she headed back inside.

Schneep patted Chase on the arm. “We will be right back,” he said quietly. “You... be... take, ah, care of yourself.” And with that awkward but heartfelt wish, Schneep followed Stacy inside.

Chase would later learn that students were not, in fact, allowed to take food out of the cafeteria. But for this lunch, the three of them sat on the floor of the hallway together, silently eating. And even though it was a bit uncomfortable, Chase was much happier sitting here than he would have been sitting with Chad.

++++++++++++++++++++

“Chase, do you still have homework?” Mom asked in the car after school.

“Uh... yeeahh,” Chase admitted, squirming in his seat.

Mom sighed. “You have to keep on top of it this year, you know,” she said gently.

“I know, I know.” Chase nodded. “Why don’t you ever ask Henrik if he has homework?”

“I do not have homework,” Schneep offered from the back seat. “If you need help, Chase, I can help.”

Mom chuckled. “I don’t ask Henrik because he always tells me. Which I really appreciate, Henrik, but you don’t have to worry about it so much. Chase, however, might have to worry about his grades.”

“I’ll do it right when we get home, I promise,” Chase said.

And indeed, the moment he got home he took his backpack right up to his bedroom, Schneep following him up the stairs. “I did mean it when I said I can help,” he said. “I do not mind.”

“Nah, bro, you don’t have to. Go have fun reading or whatever.” Chase reached his bedroom and pulled open the door. “I can handle some—”

There was a person in his room.

Chase stared. Schneep gasped. Anti, sitting on Chase’s bed, smiled and waved. “Hi,” he said quietly.

“Wh...” Chase glanced over his shoulder. Mom was still downstairs, but if he shouted, she would definitely hear it. Should he? He looked at Schneep, who was pale; he reached out and gripped Chase’s arm tightly, but didn’t run from Anti. Chase took a deep breath and turned back. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? What are you doing?” Anti asked.

“Uh... h-homework?”

Anti stood up. His shadowy body was a bit less translucent than Chase remembered. “Why?”

“Because... it’s... important?” Chase said, confused.

“You have more important things to do,” Anti insisted. “The planetarium. Do you remember the planetarium? Did you forget?”

“Um, no, but... but what do you mean?” Chase asked. He noticed Schneep moving slightly in the corner of his vision, but didn’t dare look away from Anti.

“You haven’t done anything about the greenlight in the planetarium,” Anti said in a low voice. “Why? You’ve done something about all the other greenlight things you’ve found. Take care of this one!”

Chase took a step backwards. “Do something? Like what?”

“I don’t care. Just something.” Anti tilted his head to the side and narrowed his eyes. “Like you’re supposed to. You’re ruining everything by just waiting.”

“W-well, we...” Chase’s eyes flicked to the side. Schneep had entirely disappeared from his field of vision, and was now crouching down close to the ground. “We don’t know what to do yet. It’s a big empty room, not a monster.”

“You’re all smart, aren’t you?” Anti took a step forward. “You should have a plan by now.”

“Maybe we just haven’t had enough time!” Chase protested. “I mean—i-it took us all summer to catch that monster dog, right? And we didn’t have school and homework and stuff taking up all day.”

Anti seemed to consider that. His posture relaxed slightly. “School, hmm? Making you busy?” He giggled. “That’s funny. What’s the word? It’s ironed.”

“...Ironic?” Chase asked hesitantly.

“Ironic. It’s ironic that the school is keeping you from the greenlight.” Anti grinned. “Maybe it’s not as far away as you thi—”

Suddenly, Schneep stood up straight and moved his arm. He threw something! Chase’s baseball had been lying by the bedroom door. He’d grabbed it and thrown it right at Anti. But the ball went right through Anti’s shadowy chest and bounced against the glass of the window behind him.

Anti’s smile vanished. “I was talk͠ing̢,” he growled. His voice sounded strange. Crackly, like an untuned car radio.

Schneep stiffened, white as a ghost. “Es tut mir Leid,” he whispered.

Chase stepped in front of him. He could feel Schneep trembling slightly, his grip on his arm squeezing tighter. “Our mom is right downstairs,” he announced. “If we scream she’s gonna hear it and come running.”

Anti’s green eyes stared into his. The lightbulb in the overhead light flickered on, then off. “That’s nice,” he said in a flat voice. And then without another word, he disappeared.

The two boys waited for a few seconds to see if he would reappear. When he didn’t, Chase immediately whirled around to look at Schneep. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Ja—yes.” Schneep nodded. He’d stopped shaking and was regaining some color. “I thought—I-I wanted to see if he could be touched—and then I—I did not like... the way he said that.”

“Yeah,” Chase said. “But you’re okay. He left.”

“He did.” Schneep nodded again. “Ah... thank you. That was very brave, stepping in front.”

“Well what’s he gonna do? He’s like a ghost. You just proved he can’t touch anything.” Chase looked at the spot where Anti had been and stuck out his tongue. “He’s just a jerk.”

Schneep laughed. “H-he is.” A moment passed. “You... said ‘our’ mom.”

“I did?” Chase blinked. “I didn’t even realize. But, uh, are you okay with that?”

“I... do not know,” Schneep said slowly. “I like ‘our.’ But... things are complicated.”

“Alright. I’ll try not to do it again, then.” Chase paused. “Y’know, actually, can you help me with homework? I’m having trouble with some chemistry equations.”

Schneep nodded. “Yes! Of course! I have those in my memory.”

“Already?” Chase laughed. “Okay. In that case, you can sit in my beanbag and quiz me.”

As the two of them settled in, neither of them noticed the strange shadow outside the open window. Neither of them realized it watched them for a couple minutes before finally leaving.

++++++++++++++++++++

“Hey Jackie, did you hear?”

Jackie jumped slightly. He’d been staring absentmindedly into his locker, still thinking about the meeting he’d had with the kids at Chase’s house the day before yesterday. Anti appearing in JJ and Marvin’s room had really worried him. So had everything about the mystery group. But he put that out of his mind for now. “Hey, Syl,” he said, turning to look at Sylvester, who’d walked up next to him. “Hear about what?”

“The planetarium collapsed last night!” Sylvester said.

“What?!”

“Yeah, crazy, right?! Mincy told me everything in Math this morning.”

“That’s—what?” Jackie repeated. “How?”

Sylvester shrugged. “No one knows. Maybe it was built on a sinkhole or something. Or maybe something happened with the structure, like it was weak or something.”

A sinkhole wasn’t very likely, but... there was a big, wide-open space below the planetarium. That strange basement. If something happened down there, could the whole building have collapsed into it? “Was anyone inside?”

“Uh, some of the senior staff members were, so that sucks.”

“...yeah.” Jackie nodded. He turned back to his locker and grabbed the textbook he was looking for. “Yeah, that... really sucks.”

As he closed the locker, he could have sworn it was darker inside than normal. As if there was an extra shadow there.

He left too quickly to notice the faint laughter.

#jacksepticeye #jacksepticeye fanfiction #jacksepticegos #septic egos #septic egos au #jacksepticeye au #chase brody #dr schneeplestein #marvin the magnificent #jameson jackson #jackieboy man #brigid writes fanfiction #pnptau

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