It's been a weird year to say the least lol. But hard times show you who your friends are and reveal people's true nature.
Looking back I am floored by the overwhelming amount of support that Autumn in Philadelphia has garnered. I am humbled by the talented writers who have contributed to the series: @mrsmungus, @sliebman10, @tsunderesalty, @the-orion-scribe, @stealing-your-kittens and Yotato.
I am also humbled by the talented @obscureobsidiandraws use of Audrey in My Boy Meets World Reboot.
My readers are incredible, and I appreciate everyone who has given AiP a chance. Whether you've been following for years or just joined the journey, whether you comment or not, I really appreciate you. So much.
I also have to mention @axolotlsupremacyowo, my seriously talented neice, and her beautiful art of Audrey.
To my chaos family, you know how much I love you, but I don't think I say thank you enough for your support. I could not have made through this year stronger than when I started without you.
As far as the rest of it, one thing I've learned is that if you get a bad feeling when talking to someone for any reason, stop. Get out of the situation. Don't assume you're the problem. Step back until you can figure out what's going on. Block liberally. Don't allow someone to make you feel guilty for stepping back and blocking. If they follow you from platform to platform, block. You are not wrong to do this for any reason.
Since I gave into guilt, I've been made pretty miserable and wished I'd followed my instinct from the beginning. Since I didn't, I learned a few more things, best expressed, I think, by Gibbs and Abby. See highlighted items.
#42 is figurative in my case but it applies.
Happy New Year, everyone. May it be bigger and better than all the past years combined.
warnings: Foul word usage, dirty Romanian words for semen, Latin for insulting, Gibbs Rules, Shakespeare words to insult, Alucard teasing. Terrible Humor!.
You have been warned!
•slow night for you. You hardly pay attention to the patrons as you wipe a table down. It's Rugby night. You appreciate the unhurried pace.
•an elbow nudges you. You look up to an unusually tall man. You swear his skin is pale as chalk and you wonder if it's just lighting. The crimson overcoat and hat disguise the rest except for the long ebony and unruly hair. It's as if the hair has a mind of its own. The stranger is dressed all wrong for the type of establishment. The poor lighting, which you just noticed, adds to "aura" of unease you feel when you look his way.
"That's him."
• You simply nod your head. You had been told about this customer and his specialty red wine. You move quietly to the bar, to fill his usual order when a chill fills the room. Your muscles pull tense as your primate part tells you an apex predator is about. Your domesticated portion says it's all in your imagination.
•There is no such thing as boogeymen...
•as you take his drink, to the man dressed in red, you can't help but study the crowd. They seem completely unaware, as if sheep, to a crafty wolf standing among them. If anything Anna, the good times slut, is extra horny at the moment. She's so stupid.
"Damn, hedge-born canker-blossom is in rare form tonight," you mumble under your breath.
"Evening to you, draga mea/meu…" a low thick baritone voice announces.
•You're known for being a bit of a smart ass, so you decide those wasted years of Latin, should be put to good use. You say one that kinda fits the scene.
•"Saepe ne utile quidem est scire quid futurum sit," you tell him.
Instead of looking confused he smiles then says "Often, it is not advantageous to know what will be."
•Oh no! Busted! He knows Latin!
"Do not worry, I found the comment refreshing," the man tilts his head just enough to grin devilishly at you. His upper canines seem exceptionally thick and sharp. You raise an eyebrow then decide it's none of your business.
• He's paying to drink, not your company.
"Let me know if you need a refill Dominus…rex," you say, half paying attention to what you called him. Anna is bellowing, like a cow in heat, for another round of cheap ale.
•)"Vacca gorda, utinam coniurati te in foro interficiant." (Dirty cow, may conspirators assassinate you in the mall.) pours out of your mouth like water.
•Well, that was unprofessional and the scary man dressed in red, understood every single word of it..
"Hasmaz coclita…" the man smirks.
•You raise an eyebrow. Did he insult you or Anna?
•You don't have time to contemplate. The human bovine is mooing again. You collect the used glasses and ask if there are any changes in the brand of ale, other than cheap. You hate Anna and her crew of beefy loggerheaded men. Anna plants a wet kiss on your cheek and someone grabs your ass.
• Anna is definitely in a mood, of what you can’t say but wish, it would go away.
“Meretrix my love, are you wanting anything else,” you say sickly sweet.
• She has no clue that you just called her a prostitute in Latin Anna thinks it's some version of the word Dominatrix. A low carrying chuckle reaches your ears. Somebody found it amusing and you don’t need twenty guesses to who that is.
•Maybe it's not a good thing, that you have caught the attention of an eccentric serial killer?
•" Lupușor?" a maculine voice rings out, like the toll of a church bell, announcing a death.
•you turn to Anna's loggerheaded crew and let that bitchy tongue loose, in Latin of course. "Recedite, plebes! Gero rem imperialem!" - (Stand aside plebeians! I am on imperial business.)
"Oh sweet thing and your seductive tongue!" Anna coos. She doesn't seem to get a clue you're insulting them all. You are even insulting the man dressed in red.
“On my way Dominus rex (lord king)…” you say quickly over your shoulder. Fuck. Why are you calling him that? Oh now you're the dumbass of the bunch tonight. The crimson stranger has ‘way’ about him. Like an aura that your primal mind can’t shake. Hes’ dangerous yet you have nothing to base it off of. Have you just insulted a serial killer or worse, you gave him a hard on, as he is a sadist?
•You and your smartass mouth. Well time to take a rule out of Gibbs' book. This would be Gibbs Rule #6: Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness.
You return to your lone stranger, dressed in red. The glass of red viscous fluid moves across the table. You say with a nervous laugh. “Ad astra per aspera - (to the stars through difficulties)."
The stranger decides to give you, a dig, about the comment to Anna, “ I thought it was plebeians causing your difficulties, Lupușor?”
“Dominus, exigo a me non ut optimus par sim sed ut malls mellor - (I require myself not to be equal to the best, but to be better than the bad.)” you even add a confident head bob.
“This is a waste of your talents little wolf,” the lanky man purrs. “Get yourself a drink and come sit with me.”
“I’m sorry Sir but I have to tend the bar or I would…”this does make you a bit sad. Serial killer or not, he’s the most interesting person to come through the bar in a long time.
“Go and gather yourself a drink,” the ebony haired man rumbles softly. “No one will bother you to talk with me.”
•A shiver goes down your spine and you believe him. You walk briskly back to get yourself a drink. The customer insisted so you are going to get a drink of the good stuff. You return with a second glass of wine for him and a Pimm's No. 1. You sit yourself across from him and wait for him to start a conversation. It's definintal now what you expect coming out of his mouth.
“ Lupușor, sit closer. I am not going to bite you unless you want me...to” his voice is deep and smooth.
“ Dum spiro spero - (while I breathe, I hope)" you reply as you sit closer to the Crimson dressed man.
"It's Alucard, (Y/n)..."
"Oh! Nice to meet you Alucard," you smile sheepishly. " What did Hasmaz coclita…mean?"
"Hmm... perhaps not best for your ears to hear little wolf," Alucard studies your face intensely. "Your eyes are quite beautiful, you know…"
"I guess," you then take a swallow of your Pimms. “I really would like to know just because I have a feeling it really fits Anna.”
“So be it but try not to laugh so hard you spill your drink Lupușor,” his fingers lightly cross your knuckles. “It means the state of cum after it stayed under sunlight for a few hours.”
Your eyes grow large and you cover your mouth to not cough on Alucard. “That is so perfect!”
“I thought you would agree,” Alucard removes his hat and cards his left hand through his long mane of black hair.
“Fuck Alucard. Your hair…” you blurt out.
“You are not much for subtle, are you?” he chuckles.
•You feel that shiver roll down your back. You look at him more closely. There tucked under each arm is a large pistol.
•Fuck. you. Up.
•That’s what those are! He’s a paid serial killer sitting next to you.
“Little wolf, something wrong?” Alucard hints that you may or may not be, needing to worry.
“Dominus rex you are a trained and most like extreme efficient killer,” you swallow more of the Pimms.” Aut insanit homo, aut versus facit - (the fellow is either mad or he is composing verses).”
•You close your eyes as you feel something rush through your body. You fight your instincts, not to flee because you know he will kill you, before you can stand. It physically hurts you, to not obey the adrenaline rushing through your body. Finally you open your eyes to see that "Meretrix "and her loggerheaded crew are completely clueless.
•You turn your head slowly to Alucard and let a small gasp out. His shaded glasses have come off now. You should be terrified but his eyes are mystifying, the way the colors and hues of red, orange and the sliver of yellow, seem to move. His head notions to the rest in the bar.
"Little wolf, only you passed the test. You saw what I was the moment I entered here. The cows are unable to see the danger that sits right among them.”
“I see, “ you finish your Pimm's. "Gibbs Rule #8: Never take anything for granted and Rule #8 a: Never assume."
"Gibbs' Rules?" Alucard laughs then finishes his second glass. "Do tell me about these rules."
"Does that mean I get to live long enough to explain them?" you feel brave for a dead person walking and nudge his arm.
•The tall and lanky man, with the unruly hair you wish you had, stands and offers his white gloved hand. You raise an eyebrow when you see a sigil on the glove. You blink and shake your head. Just go with the flow you say to yourself.
•You stand up now and look around the bar. This time the rushing sensation flows around you. You think you see a black aura roll across the floor then smash into your patrons. One minute they are drunk and laughing then next trying to get their inebriated bodies moving away to the door.
“Ready Lupușor?”
“Ready Dominus rex…”
•You didn’t know where you were going. You didn’t know if you were going to stay alive. Yet it seems you were off, on a grand adventure, with a man you should fear and didn't.
• You had seen him right away and knew what he was. The wolf among the cattle. You seem to be his little wolf. So that smart ass mouth just had to say one last something.
"Alucard I forgot about Gibbs' Rule #9…"
"Which one is that?" he flashes a toothy grin.
"Never go anywhere without a knife…"
•Words related to semen
sloboz: roughly equivalent to "cum" (sperm)
smecleu: another less common word for 'sloboz'
malachie: a word that has its origins in Greek or Romany, that refers to semen seeping from the vagina.
mehlem: it describes a state of cum, after a few minutes in open air.
zmatca: it is the second grade of cum degradation, after 'mehlem', meaning the state of cum after it stayed under sunlight for a few hours. It now has a certain smell of rotten egg and a disgraceful view
hasmaz,carmaz: it is the final state of cum degradation, similar to 'zmatca coclita', used to describe something particularly disgusting
