The wages of a typical worker have barely risen in four decades, many recent college grads are facing unbearable student loan burdens, housing costs are hugely outpacing inflation in many cities, making life especially hard for low- and moderate-income households. Naturally, the problem is the Social Security and Medicare received by baby boomers. More
hey losers so here’s chapter four of divide and conquer im emo thanks
ALSO! i am looking for proofreaders so if you’d like to know more about that message more or do it in the comments of this post thanks
terezi uses a spell this chapter and here it is stolen directly off my google docs:
ALL RISE: Terezi can make anyone in a 20 foot radius tell the truth and only the truth. Lasts until she casts another spell or says “ALL LIARS BELIEFS.”
you can also read the fic on ao3 here
[read chapter under the cut]
You want to run until you can’t breathe anymore and your legs give out.
There’s something keeping you rooted to your seat though, and you don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the judging eyes of John. He’d never seen this side of you, the one that had to scratch and bleed and steal for survival like it was instinct. Because it was. It wasn’t second nature, it was exactly what you did anytime you needed to. The ways had crawled their way out of the place you tried to hide them, out of a place that was dark and gritty and you didn’t want to see, and you wanted to completely rid yourself of it. As much as you hated to admit it, you were a liar and thief more than you were a magician.
As you’re self-loathing takes over, Karkat and Terezi talk. You’ve tuned them out and you’re staring at the wall, and then you notice Terezi move. Her hand is propped up and there’s a smirk that’s overflowing her face.
“All Rise,” she says, snapping. A rush of euphoria washes over you. Your fingers tingle and your stomach does a flip, this must be what magic feels like.
“Why’d you go and steal from dear old Karkat, Dave?” Terezi asks. You’re formatting a lie in your head, but the truth comes out before you can say it.
“I was running off and I didn’t have any money,” you say. Terezi’s smile falls, and she sinks back into the couch.
“Why’d you choose Karkat’s store?” She asks.
“I know that most people who have stores in one spot keep their money in their store. Not a smart move for store owners, but very good for people who have to steal things for a living.”
“Why were you running away, Dave?” Terezi asks. The unease washes over you. You can’t tell a lie, either. You physically can’t and you think it’s because of Terezi’s spell.
“I’m scared,” you state. “I’m scared because this feels like it could be a home. This is a home, and I know that if I stay I’ll fuck it up. And you know what? I already have because we’re doing this right now. I’m so fucking scared that I’m going to begin to care for you people, think you’re on my side, but I know you’ll stab me in the back if I’m not careful enough.”
A simple, stunned silence passes over the two people in the room who are awake. You hear John stop rustling around in the kitchen and think that he’s heard you. You wish you could go back in time, wish you could take the last hour back, take everything back, and go back to before you ran away. You wished you’d never ran into John and you wished he’d never fucking taken you here.
You wanna go home, but you are home.
“All liars beliefs,” Terezi says, taking you out of your head. Karkat looks slightly shocked, and you feel the pressure that was once on your chest leave. Another thing is that you feel a little freed after admitting all of this, after admitting that you are fucking scared. There are eyes on you, everyone but Vriska is staring at, and you think that John is in the doorway of the kitchen, gaping at you. You’re nervous, to fucking nervous. You begin to scratch at your bicep, scratching the skin raw, but not enough to break it and make it bleed. God let you out of here, let you out of here. Please, God, let you out of here.
Karkat’s grip on you slacks.
You bolt.
“Dave!” You hear John shout, and someone is bounding towards you moments later. You fiddle with the door as fast as you can, your hands are shaking for you to much to quickly unlock the door though, and someone grabs you by the back of the shirt. You gasp and try to escape their grip.
Suddenly, you’re at home, you are with Bro, and you are not safe. There is nothing in your hands to protect you from Bro and there are tears in your eyes, and you can’t let him see them because if he does he will actually fucking kill you. You aren’t sure where you are suddenly, the world disassociates from under you, and you are so, so scared. You can hear yourself gasping for breath and you are scrunched up, hands over your ears and you think you’re crying but you aren’t really sure and you just want everything to fucking stop.
It does, somehow.
Slowly, you uncurl yourself. You wipe your eyes and look around. John is frozen in place, he’s pulling Vriska back and Vriska looks like she’s about to claw his throat out if he doesn’t let her go. Terezi looks bewildered, standing up from the couch it looks like she’s feeling around for her cane. Karkat hasn’t moved at all though. He just looks horrified, and his hand is in midair where he was holding your arm. You don’t think he meant to let go of you, but you want to thank every star in the heavens that made him let you go. The room, though time has somehow stopped, still feels too tight. Too small. You race through the front door, and to the backyard. Terezi’s, maybe John or Vriska’s, garden is beautiful. The lush growth of flowers, trees, and shrubs makes it easier to hide and makes everything feel less like it’s closed in. It feels good out here. You easily find a closed in place of shrubbery and flowers, and you tuck yourself away in there. You’re exhausted, emotionally and physically.
That’s how you are most of the time though.
You stretch yourself out on the grass, taking your shirt off to use it as a pillow. As if it were a wave, sleep overcomes you easily and quickly. You don’t feel like you’re drowning though. You welcome the wave, welcome the sleep that you know you need.
BOOKS READ IN 2024: divide & conquer by madeleine urban and abigail roux
Unsure of what to do or say, Zane simply closed his arms around Ty. He turned his head and pressed a kiss to the crown of his lover’s head. Suddenly there were all sorts of words crowding on Zane’s tongue, and he couldn’t get a single one out, much less three that would prove he knew the best thing to happen to him in his entire life lay right there in his arms.
