Some girls just wanna watch the world burn

“Yup.” Taliesin replied to his sister, perhaps a little too quickly. “Stone cold.” If he was honest, he hadn’t trusted himself to light up after he discovered Caleb was missing. He’d always been so careful to make sure there was no possibility of Caleb seeing him high, that giving in felt eerily like giving up. He’d tried once in a fit of defiance and had one of the worst trips of his life. (He could’ve sworn the trees were moving, though he was now realizing in retrospect that there might have been something to that.) So when Amir had asked him what he had, he’d given it without a thought. He’d done a lot of things without a thought that week. He was still trying to live with that shame.

He coughed like someone who’d never smoked before, somehow caught by Viola’s confrontation even though he’d intended to plan for it. He really didn’t know how to ‘get creative’ in a way that she wouldn’t see through. And she had none of the same nostalgia for roughhousing with him that Ruby had. Fuck. He had to lay his cards on the table. “You’re a little easy to find here, Vi. I don’t like that. And I don’t think Ruby does either.” He almost started the following with ‘Lou wants’ before realizing he’d be laughed out of the room. He swallowed and corrected himself. “Lou’s parents have a bathtub in their room and an attached bathroom. It’s on the first floor right next to the kitchen, so way easier to navigate then our hallway of doom here. You and Ruby wouldn’t have to see us. Food would just magically appear. And in a kitchen Ruby likes better, right Rubes?”

Was he laying it on a little thick? Maybe. But he also really didn’t want to carry a wriggling concussion risk out of his poor excuse for a home.

@rubymauk

“You can do whatever you want, Vi. Always.” Ruby would never take a single fucking choice away from her. It might scare the shit out of her if Viola wanted to do something reckless, but she had enough people bossing her around. Ruby wouldn’t do that.

She studied her brother. “But… why?” He hated being sober more than any person she’d ever met. And there was no way he was empty before hand. She didn’t believe it. “Strong of you to just face all this with no help. Fucking stupid, but strong.”

Ruby didn’t really care for being liked. The ones who got her were the ones she appreciated, but she wasn’t like yelling to be known. And yet, Poppy’s thanks felt genuine. She liked it more than she was comfortable with. “No prob, doc.”

Whatever Viola wanted was the play they were making. She wouldn’t negotiate with Tail on that front. But, he did make a good point or several. “Also, think about how much Lou will fucking hate it that we’re in her parents lush bedroom making it a disaster zone. It’s worth it for the constant disappointment on her face alone.”

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

You can do whatever you want, Vi. Always. Viola let our a laugh so loud it hurt. "Can, maybe. Doesn't mean I should." She'd learned that the hard way. Really it was absolute bullshit. Wit was supposed to be better than fists. It might have been, actually, if it had been just her and Finn. But she was an alley cat. She'd believed she was always going to be safer with her claws out, surrounded or no.

"I think I can do that, Doc." She allowed herself a very small stretch that she immediately regretted. "The not going anywhere part. The rest of it's not my kink. Sorry, Rubes." She neglected to acknowledge Tal's offer of help. It was like dealing with a beggar. If you made eye contact, they'd never leave you alone. They might even end up dating your bio-mom.

But she had to admit Ruby's house kind of sucked. And Bea's house was kind of... gone. If life was going to suck, why not suck around rich people who would leave you the fuck alone? "Trying to get rid of me, huh? I should have known."

But one thought lingered in her mind: bathtub. She sighed. "Fuck. Fine. But if Tail mentions any of his Zelda shit I will expire just to spite you."

@poppy-morris

Phase: Day Ten

Poppy was concerned that she didn’t know, but it wasn’t unusual for a trauma like this either. It just made her recommendations a little harder, but she was also aware that whatever she said, Viola would likely not do more than the bare minimum to heal herself. It was the part of her limited experience working with people that bothered her the most. You had to meet them where they were. “Yeah. It definitely can be.” Poppy said, opting to reassure.

Poppy had never been given consent quite like that before, but she would take it. “Thank you.” She sanitised, put gloves on and started working as quickly as she could. Thankfully she had practiced this a lot and there weren’t too many so she was able to keep her promise. Anti-septic, bandage for protection, move on. Thank god none of them needed stitches. That would have been its own battle.

She tried to listen to Tal and Ruby talking behind her, but couldn’t quite catch it. Something about carrying. Good luck to them, whatever they were discussing.

Poppy laughed at Viola’s gibe at Tal. “Yeah, no hotboxing around the patient,” she confirmed. She wondered what Tal’s stash was even looking like at the moment. Was he running as tragically low as the rest of them?

“Perfect. I’ll get you some more so you don’t run out, but take two every six hours. Don’t take any more than that. It’ll fuck with your liver.” Could she say fuck as a doctor? Poppy wasn’t sure she cared. She looked over her shoulder at the siblings. “Can you get two for her now and some water?”

@taliesinmauk

Get creative, Tail. It was just that easy, right? When Ruby had been drunk on the floor with a knife in hand, it hadn’t been creativity that made him take it from her. It was instinct. The more Taliesin slowed down, the less likely he was to be able to “find” that creativity again, but there was nothing for it. Poppy wasn’t done with her work. He needed to think, even if the thinking just felt like it made it all worse.

“Noted.” He agreed good naturedly, but he met Poppy’s searching look with a pained one. “Been out more than a week. You know I wouldn’t hold out on you.”

He let Ruby extricate herself from him and head for bathroom. Ruby’s room was unfortunately the farthest from it. Which made him realize…

Lou’s parents had an ensuite. On the first floor. With a really nice tub.

“Poppy… You want Viola on her feet as little as possible, right?” He caught her eye carefully. Please play along. Please.

@rubymauk

Ruby’s heart clenched as Viola mentioned going in and out on her walk. She should have fucking been there. It’s probably the kind of shit Jordan would have done. Didn’t all those books involve stalking or was that just Twillight? She had no idea. But Viola… Viola deserved so much better from everyone.

“You’ve been doing all of this sober? Really?” Ruby wasn’t sure she’d seen her brother sober for a week straight before. It was mildly unsettling. And she didn’t want to know what he was using to cope instead because she could take a fucking guess at the answer and it made her want to puke.

She stared at him. When he didn’t move she went to the medicine cabinet, her heart rate speeding up as her anxiety spiked. She needed to be by Viola. Bad things happened less when they were together. She grabbed the bottle and started opening it on her way back. Ruby handed the open bottle to Poppy so she could double check the dosage. “Here ya go.” She dug around her room until she found her water bottle and placed it in Viola’s hands, her fingers lingering against Vi’s for the briefest second.

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

"See, Rubes?" Viola said, somewhere between putting on a brave face and gloating. "I'm fine. I can nap."

She winced where the antiseptic touched her skin, but she didn't pull away. She'd stuck her fingers through flames enough to be able to push through. Even if it made her look more compliant than she actually was.

Viola stuck her tongue out at Tal as Poppy agreed with her. Maybe he was right in this small instance. His friend really didn't suck. How he'd gotten her to stay by him was a mystery to Viola.

She let her hand linger on Ruby's a little as she took the meds from her hand. She could tell that Ruby was just as scared as she was. Potentially more. Ruby didn't have as much experience feeling helpless as Viola did. Viola took the pills with a dry mouth and then washed her tongue out with water.

Viola squinted at Taliesin, suspicious. "Where are you going with this, Tail? My ass isn't walking anywhere."

@poppy-morris

Phase: Day Ten

“It’s normal to feel nauseous after a head injury,” Poppy agreed. “It’s good you haven’t been sick. Do you know if you lost consciousness?” Poppy began rifling through her bag for the supplies she needed for Viola’s wounds.

“Soon, I promise. Do I have your consent to dress your wounds?” she asked, not too firmly and not too gently. “I’ll be quick and then the risk of infection will be much lower.” It was clear Viola wouldn’t tolerate much more, so she wanted to at least do the essentials. “No infection means seeing me less.” That had to be a positive.

“Do you have Tylenol here you can take?” she asked, directing the question at Tal and Ruby too. “If not, I can get you some. I want you to just stick to that for at least the next two days. Other pain medications and substances can be dangerous for head injuries.”

@taliesinmauk

Taliesin was getting more and more upset, but he knew he couldn’t show it. He focused on holding Ruby, rubbing her back gently like he used to do when they were kids and she’d been angry enough to scream at their parents. He couldn’t think of a time when he felt more useless. And his dad wasn’t even here making him feel like shit.

But Poppy was absolutely killing it. He didn’t want to mess up anything for her. So he kept his voice low again as he whispered to his sister. “I know she doesn’t want to move but we need to get you both out of here. Just in case someone comes looking. I don’t want to push, but it’s not safe. Do you think she can move under her own power or could we carry her?” @rubymauk

Ruby’s shoulders relaxed as Poppy said the symptoms were natural. She’d been scared out of her fucking mind this whole time. And there wasn’t even a webmd to google to make sure that things were okay. She’d have to make Poppy tamales. The bitch deserved a meal that took twelve hours to make. She’d basically saved Viola’s life.

She wanted things to be over just as badly as Viola did, but they had to get this right. The risks were too damn high. They needed… she needed Viola to be on the road to recovery. Not worried that there’s a brain bleed or some shit.

“Yeah, we have some.” Ruby didn’t want to leave Viola for a second. She jerked her head towards the bathroom. “In the medicine cabinet. I don’t know what the right dose is for, like, legit injuries.”

Tail’s presence at her back was a balm. She was going to ask where they were supposed to go until she realized the obvious answer. Lou. Of fucking course. At least she’d be back in the kitchen that felt like home. “She doesn’t wanna walk, so no. We have to carry her, but we can’t make her feel like she has to be carried. You gotta get creative, Tail.”

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

"Consciousness is a state of mind." Viola said with a dark chuckle. Then she shrugged. Then she winced. It fucking hurt to shrug? "No idea. I know it was a long walk back. And I zoned the fuck out. But that's the stress, right?"

She wasn't really used to people asking her consent about well... anything. Somehow maybe she was considered too grumpy to give it. Poppy's question staggered her into holding out her forearms like she praying to some kind of weird saint. The saint of gauze and bandaids.

"I don't know what we have." Viola said, turning her head in a searching motion before wincing one more time. She really was doing a terrible job of reassuring Ruby. Some part of her old self was still there, so what Poppy presented the opportunity, she took it, grinning through still slightly swollen eyes. "You hear that, Tail? You'll have to smoke your shit somewhere else. Because I have a headache."

@poppy-morris

leograviano

Leo didn’t know if she meant that as a compliment but he would take it as one. “Thank you,” he said, inclining his head at her. He shrugged. “Yeah I just like games I guess. Some of the older stuff is really cool. But you can’t get SingStar on modern shit so I mostly use it for that.” He had an old Nintendo DS for his Nintendogs, he had a pug and everything. And a Game Boy Color for all his old Pokémon games. So fucking cool. He wondered if Young would ever be interested in playing anything with him or seeing his consoles, he knew Young was even more into gaming than he was. He didn’t know. Maybe he’d ask Tee what they thought. “If you wanna borrow any hit me up. I can text you what I have.”

“That’s sort of what I did,” he said, his expression growing serious. “I’m not really… talking to any of them right now. Between you and me. Dunno if I’m happier or not yet but I think I could get there.” It was all way too fucking intense right now for him to be able to see past the current moment. But at least Tee was with him in it. Even if he felt like shit for dragging them in with him. They meant everything to him. “Sorry. I said I wouldn’t make you listen to my woes again.” He offered her an apologetic smile.

Leo perked up immediately. “You have them?” he asked. He’d hoped but he hadn’t known if she still would. It warmed his heart that she’d kept her promise. “It’s a thing,” he said, a wide smile spreading across his face. “We’re back together.”

#// /I/ missed your son #phase: day ten #too easy as well #thread: boy why are you crying

I have a life, thanks. Viola was proud of herself for not letting the words leave her head. "I don't think I will. Full disclosure. But like, more for you, right?"

"Shit." Viola stifled a laugh of surprise at the notion of someone truly leaving the Alessis. "Sorry. I mean. It's not funny. It's like... cool." Fuck. Who knew Leo Graviano could be cool? "That's like... Man." She was usually more articulate than this, but God, it was making her feel better. She didn't know much about the organized crime shit, but she'd been in the room for some sequences from The Godfather. She knew you didn't get out without getting gunned down at a tollbooth. But she supposed they were fresh out of tollbooths. If Tony couldn't keep his own family in line and Finn was Finn, she was fine.

Viola shoved her hand into her bag, pushing aside her usual potentially incendiary shit and a few tampons. She pulled out a manila envelope and handed it to Leo. A normal person would have said 'congratulations' or whatever, but instead she said, "You're lucky. I've been cleaning out some caches. In exchange, be like seventy percent less gross. You're a political spouse now." She wasn't sure why she found the PDA so irritating. There was just this strange ease to Tee and Leo that unnerved her. Like she should be embarrassed for them, but they didn't know any better.

She didn't understand how adults, even new ones, still indulged in puppy love. She wouldn't even know how, of course. She only indulged in the nineteenth century novel kind. Halting, intense, punctured by fits of ill advised passion and property damage. That had been the problem with Jordan. He was a romantic, but he never fully matched her energy. Well. He tried once and got scared. He was Harlequin, and she was Brontë. But Ruby? Whatever our souls are made out of, hers and mine are the same. "And like, don't do anything stupid. I may not be around to hear your woes or whatever."

Phase: Day Ten

“Good.” Poppy nodded, satisfied with their agreement. She turned her attention back on the blanket mound that was Viola, and waited for her to lower it. Her expression didn’t change when she saw her injuries, she would not give this girl any more reasons to worry or feel self conscious. It wasn’t good though, it was honestly kind of heartbreaking. She was hurting in more ways than one, that much was obvious. “I’ll be as quick as I can so you can lie down again,” she told her. She opened her bag of supplies and pulled out a small flashlight.

“I just want to see how your pupils react to light first, then you can close your eyes, okay?” She knew it would make her head hurt worse, but it was important. Poppy waited for her agreement before shining the light in her left eye first, then her right. Both of them constricted how they should, which gave her a small amount of relief. Ruby said they’d been blown earlier, but they seemed okay now. “Alright, you can close them now.”

Poppy moved around Viola, gentle and slow in all of her movements. She looked at the wounds, impressed by what she saw. “Ruby did a good job. I’ll get some antiseptic on these too and bandage you up to avoid any infection, but I don’t think they need any more cleaning,” she told her.

“Sleeping is good,” she confirmed. “I know there’s pain, but have you noticed anything else? Nausea, seeing stars, your ears ringing. Things like that?” Poppy wanted to barrel on, ask all of her questions at once, but if she was concussed she wasn’t going to be able to keep up with that. She forced herself to be patient.

Taliesin really considered backing out of the room. He didn’t want to be here, and he was pretty sure Viola didn’t want him here either. But Ruby was squeezing his hand behind her back so hard that he wasn’t sure he could feel it anymore. He gave two quick squeezes back, partly in encouragement and partly to make sure the nerves stayed awake.

He hadn’t ever seen Poppy like this. Answering questions in class, of course, but he’d (luckily) never had to be up close and personal with her EMT side. She was… softer than he expected. He’d never say it out loud, of course, but he did enjoy the irony. Once she was an attending physician, she’d win awards for bedside manner the same week she made every single resident cry.

Taliesin whispered near his sister’s ear, as quietly as he possibly could. “See? She’s got this.”

@rubymauk

“You don’t have to sit up for long,” Ruby cut in. She couldn’t help herself. She was so used to her and Vi always sticking up for each other. It didn’t matter if Poppy was sympathetic to them. She still had to do it. “And if you need support… I got you.”

She tried to go quiet, seeking Tail’s hand. This whole thing had been so fucked up and she didn’t want to show how scared she was, but it was getting harder. Viola was always so big, like she’d swallow the fucking sun. And right now she was a blonde dot in a sea of blankets.

Poppy was the right person to call. Taliesin had been right. She was kind, but also no nonsense. The kind of person Viola could almost respect. Ruby tried not to smile as Poppy complimented her. Viola’s face had looked like something in a slasher when she got home, but it looked a lot better now. She almost looked like herself.

“Yeah,” she whispered to Tail. She wasn’t going to tell him that he made the right call. “Hope it doesn’t take long.” She should’ve been taking notes or some shit, that would have been the smart way to handle things.

“Vi was a little wobbly on her feet earlier. I don’t know if that counts? No puke, though.” That had to be a good sign, right? Right?

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

The light hurt Viola's eyes, but she forced herself to focus. It felt like an eternity, and she swore for a moment that she could feel her pupils getting smaller at Poppy's demand. She let her eyes flutter close as soon as she had permission. The darkness was blissful. Seductive.

She nodded to confirm Ruby's account of things. "I've been real nauseous, but I assumed that's the situation." She swallowed the last word, unsure how to put it. "My ears rang at the time. Like a fucking cartoon. But not for a while."

It was something one of Go's many boyfriends had said to her once. One of the nicer ones. He was a boxer. Irony. But he'd let Viola, no more than ten run her small fingers alone his purple cheek. Got my bell rung, he'd said, almost soothingly. The way you talked to a kid when they first figured out what pain was. (She'd known. Fuck, she'd known.) It was no surprise when Go scared him off, but every now and then, she missed him. It was a shame she couldn't remember his name anymore.

"If I say I can walk but I don't want to can we be done?" She was being far too nice about this.

@poppy-morris

Phase: Day Ten

“Yeah dumbass,” Poppy echoed, but she gave Tal a reassuring smile. She’d apologise for using him as a punching bag later. He already knew but she wanted to remind him too that she didn’t get intimidated easily. This was well within her wheelhouse. And to be fair, Poppy rarely noticed who else was in her classes unless they were 1. her friends or 2. hot.

“You got yourself a deal,” Poppy said. She wasn’t going to point out that doctor patient confidentiality applied well before she said any of that. Whatever got her to agree. “Right?” she said, turning to Ruby and Tal. She wanted their verbal confirmation too. “If it’s a no, then you can wait outside.”

Poppy did not love the timer situation. It put more pressure on her to do something quickly she hadn’t done often before. If it took longer she’d just get Ruby to pause it for a few minutes or something. She needed to do this thoroughly.

@taliesinmauk

“I’ll find something better.” Taliesin said diplomatically. That vodka was gone. That had been true less than 24 hours after he’d realized Caleb wasn’t where he was supposed to be. He’d been resentful at the time that Ruby had been spending time with Viola and not him. Like she was supposed to sit in the dark and mope with him. But now he was glad she hadn’t seen it, and he wasn’t going to acknowledge the evidence now.

He nodded gentle encouragement to Ruby’s ice move. It was a Ruby interpretation of his approach, but he knew Viola didn’t really respond to anyone other than Ruby’s approach. Except Poppy now. Perhaps he should have been able to predict that.

“…That’s fair.” he said, because it was. “Dumbass status accepted. Temporarily.” He did have a tendency to treat Viola like a child because she so frequently acted like one but this definitely wasn’t the time.

All he could do was nod to Poppy’s question. He was honestly grateful for another excuse to keep his instinct to ride over to the Alessi house in check. He was likely to need a reminder once he saw what Viola actually looked like but there was no harm in starting early.

@rubymauk

Ruby tried not to flinch as Viola shot down her idea. It wasn’t the yelling that bothered her. It was the bribe. She wasn’t trying to bribe her, she…didn’t matter now. Viola was upset. Ruby slinked backwards, closer to Tail.

“They won’t say anything. Tail has lots of practice.” She wasn’t just talking about herself. She knew that some of his students confided in him and he took that shit to the grave. Poppy she knew less, but Poppy was cool. “Poppy’s a fucking doctor, they won’t let her near medical equipment or whatever if she tells people.”

This must be what Tail felt like sometimes with her. Desperate to make something happen, but knowing that you couldn’t force it. The whole thing was a special sort of hell and she wanted out. Pity she couldn’t move her fucking feet when her heart was bleeding on the bed.

“I’ll fuck em up if they do.” It was an empty threat. Everyone here knew that. She didn’t care. She had to say it.

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

It was a cheap move on Poppy's part, but Viola still appreciated it. She always liked dividing people, and it was rare for anyone to agree with her aside from Ruby. And Jordan... long ago. Her head found a new way to hurt.

She snuck a peek out from beneath the blankets, then lowered the comforter to just below her chin. She knew it was bad. She hadn't looked at it yet, but she could feel how bad it was. The way it stung and tightened, raw and lumpy. She could feel the abrasions, the epicenter of each bruise probably blooming on her face. And the way that her nose probably needed to be set. How did one actually set a broken nose? Maybe she could just get used to it. Owen Wilson did have a distinctly lesbian energy at times. "I don't want to sit up for long." She swallowed, more apologetic than she'd likely ever been. "If I can help it. But it's the, um, back and front. Ruby cleaned it, but it... it hurts." God, saying those words, admitting it, hurt just as much.

She couldn't believe herself, but she tried to be helpful. "I went to like, sleep, and stuff. But I'm not dead, so. No concussion I guess. That ought to shorten the exam a little." She really wanted to sleep again. She wanted to curl up beside Ruby, against Ruby, and forget where she was until all there was was Ruby's so well hidden gentleness.

@poppy-morris

Phase: Day Ten

Random bitch. That was encouraging, actually. Poppy briefly assessed which tactic she would try to take with her. She had a feeling that kind and gentle wouldn’t be all that helpful. Viola had sharp edges, much like Poppy did herself. What would make her want to cooperate in a situation like this?

“I’m actually a very specific bitch, but I appreciate the recognition,” she said, walking into the room but stopping far enough away to give Viola space.

“Tal asked me to come and make sure there’s nothing preventing you and Ruby from continuing in your anarchic ways. Someone’s gotta do it,” she said, shrugging. She’d place the blame for her being here on Tal as long as she needed to. If she could do anything to prevent Ruby from having to wear that she would. Tal and Poppy could handle it. Ruby shouldn’t have to, she needed to remain a friend and ally in Viola’s eyes for both their sakes.

“And then you can have the dark back. And anything else you want within reason.” Poppy wasn’t against bribes if it made things easier. As long as she didn’t want anything that would make her health worse, she’d make it happen.

@taliesinmauk

Well this was going better than Taliesin had anticipated. Though he had anticipated needing to grab the fire extinguisher. He was surprised he’d even got a ‘Tail’ out of it. Her greeting to Poppy was less than ideal but to him it was at least a small sign that she was alright with ‘family’ being around, and that was comforting in some small way.

“This is Poppy Morris, Vi. She was an EMT before all this shit happened, so she actually knows her stuff. This doesn’t have to take long at all. Then I can make you guys some food and then disappear or just disappear in general.” It was a tactic. He was going to get them out of the house if he had to drag them but it wasn’t a good idea to bring it up just yet.

He’d kept his hand on Ruby’s back as they entered, invisible to the patient but hopefully still a benefit for his sister. He whispered softly as he eyed the blanketed lump that was Viola. “Do you think we could get her to show her face for a start? Is she self conscious about it? Does she need ice or a warm wash cloth or something? Like I’m sure you did that already but maybe she needs a refresher.” The closest he and Ruby had ever gotten to their current dynamic tended to come when Ruby herself was sick. She’d accept ice and warm compresses and teas and soup and any number of comforts she’d usually rebuff. (Tal, on the other hand, tended to self isolate or attempt to muscle through it, much to Lou’s chagrin. Or wrath really. Yeah. Wrath.)

@rubymauk

Ruby stifled her urge to flinch. She heard the bitterness in Viola’s voice. This had been a horrible idea. She knew she should’ve waited a day or two for Viola to deal with her anger first. But she was so small and covered in blood and Ruby had panicked.

She felt Tail’s hand on her back and tried to visibly relax so he couldn’t feel how upset she was. She blinked a few times, making whatever dust was fucking her face calm down.

Poppy was fucking good at this. If she’d been in Viola’s position, she would have actually listened to that. Maybe Tail did know what he was doing. “Tail has at least one liter of vodka he stole from me. Maybe he’ll give you that.”

Ice. Ruby wanted to laugh. Living with Lou had really made him forget how things worked in this house. “Yeah,” she whispered back. “I can help.” Ruby approached Viola with caution. She reached for the soggy bag of peas resting on the bed. “I’m gonna swap this.”

She headed back to the kitchen and tossed the peas in. She grabbed another bag of frozen vegetables and a new kitchen towel. She had no fucking clue where the other one had gone to. As she walked back to her room, she wrapped the vegetable in the towel. “Here,” she handed it back to Viola before ducking out of the way. “Twenty minutes.” She pulled out her phone and started a timer.

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't #phase: day eight

"Well agree to disagree, huh?" Viola said, voice almost comically muffled by the comforter. Someone did not have to do it. People generally didn't do it, in fact, because most people understood that Viola 'liked her space.' But she'd made several mistakes this week, not the least of which being letting several people think she allowed her space to be encroached upon.

Perhaps later, when cooler, less likely concussed heads prevailed, she would acknowledge that trying to light Finn Beaumont's hair on fire wasn't the best plan for a peaceful solution but she hadn't really meant it, had she? At this point, after she'd felt the swelling around her eye and nose and let very reluctantly let Ruby wash the blood out of her hair with trembling fingers, she thought she might have meant it. But only in retrospect.

She groaned as Tail used his teacher voice. "I know it's Poppy, dumbass. We have English together." The one AP class Jules and Bea had finally managed to cajole Viola into taking had backfired on her. Who was surprised? "With you." She added pointedly. Yes, Ruby was her person, but Viola was technically in Tal and Poppy's year while still being closer in age to Ruby. This was what happened when someone decided to use kindergarten as all day child care as soon as possible. "Or is your head just so far up Lou's ass all the time that you didn't notice?"

Still. She slid a hand out of the blanket to drag the peas to her throbbing head. "I don't want a fucking lollipop, booze soaked or otherwise." She wanted to say she wanted them to leave again but she realized quite suddenly that the thought scared her. It was very dark under here and she was still seeing stars from time to time. "If I come out, and I do mean if... you are not allowed to tell anyone what you saw." It came out more vulnerable than she'd intended but she might have a TBI. She was trying to give herself some grace.

@poppy-morris

Phase: Day Ten

Poppy was glad that Ruby hadn’t been there. Witnessing it would have been more trauma on top of everything she was already dealing with. Hell, she could have been hurt too. It just meant Poppy would have to ask Viola if she had been unconscious. And she knew she wouldn’t necessarily be able to give her accurate information.

She felt relief at that at least, no medications she had to try and work around. “Hey Ruby?” Poppy said. “You have nothing to apologise for. You made the right call. It could have been dangerous to give her anything when we don’t know what she might be dealing with yet. You are doing right by your friend. And I never say shit like this. Tell her,” she said to Tal.

“Okay. I think we should go see her now,” Poppy said. “Before we do, though. If Viola needs anybody to leave the room, we listen. I’ll stay and try to do as much as she’s okay with. I know this is hard but we need to make sure she consents. If it takes all night, it takes all night. If you don’t want to come in or need to leave for any reason, it’s okay. I think you’d be very helpful in there Ruby but I don’t want to make you do anything. No judgement here whatsoever.”

@taliesinmauk

Taliesin squeezed Ruby right back, placing his hand on her head to stroke her hair. They hadn’t been this close since… well, ever. But he would have given anything to never know what this was like at all.

He had always laughed at the stories about his father’s uselessness when his children were born. He’d even witnessed it firsthand with Caleb. But he was starting to develop an understanding. How immense it all felt and how strange. He’d always known Poppy was good but not this good. She had better bedside manner than any doctor he’d taken Caleb too, that was for sure. So he mouthed thank you to Poppy over Ruby’s head as he rocked her a little. He owed Poppy every snack, truly.

He understood where Poppy was coming from but he also was pretty sure she hadn’t seen Viola in action. Still he’d back her play. She was the boss. “If you want me in there, Rubes, I’m in. With or without you. You want me to be the bad guy? I’m there. I’m good at that.” He bowed his head a little, correcting. “While respecting her consent. But if she needs someone to kick out first so she feels like she’s in control, I’m just saying I’m a good candidate.”

@rubymauk

“Thanks,” Ruby whispered to Poppy. She hugged Tail a little bit tighter. There was a small pricking of relief worming its way through her, but it was still too tiny to appreciate. Poppy was going to take care of whatever Vi needed. Things would be okay. If she just said it enough, it’d have to be true at some point.

She wanted to laugh, but it came out more like a cough. Her throat was dry from crying. “Yeah, I don’t wanna do this alone.” For the most part, she and Viola were solid. But this was the kind of shit that could turn that solid into nothing. There was a real chance she’d end up losing her but keeping her alive. It wasn’t a question for Ruby. She would do anything for Viola. She just wasn’t excited about the fact that Vi might hate her for it. “C'mon,” she pawed at her eyes.

The walk to her room was short. There wasn’t enough space in their house to give them too much time to think. Ruby usually liked that. She took a deep breath and opened the door. “Vi, you got visitors. They want to help and they’ve already promised not to tell anyone anything.” Her eyes met the ground, “Poppy has to examine your head.”

@violaparker

#phase: day ten #stable support system #tail #tail's stoner friend #thread: an offer you can't

"Ruby?" Ruby wasn't there. For the first time in almost a day, Ruby wasn't there. It hurt her, frightened her. What if Ruby was hurt? What if she'd abandoned her? Viola's voice was small, hoarse, yet it was too loud for her ears. Her head was still pounding, breath still panicked when Ruby returned with visitors. Anger swallowed fear as she snuck a quick look at who was invading her space before covering herself up again.

"Tail." She spat. "Random bitch." She knew who Poppy was. She'd seen her around. She even kinda admired her resting bitch face. This was an admittedly juvenile attempt at a power move, but this was all Viola had. She felt like her brain was swimming in molasses, struggling for words, meaning, anything really. A thousand insults waited on the tip of her tongue, just out of reach. It infuriated her, but she was too tired to move, too tired to storm out. So she kept her splotchy, swelling face hidden beneath the sheets out of spite.

Her dark chuckle at Ruby saying she needed her head examined made her headache worse. It pounded and pulsed, setting off a lightning storm that became a wildfire right behind her eyes. "I get that a lot. I'll try not to take it personal. But I didn't invite you here. I can be real unpleasant and have few reasons not to be so please leave. Ruby helped." Now wasn't that noble of her? Acknowledging Ruby's contribution even when she'd betrayed her. "I'm stable." She laughed again, hard enough to make her dizzy. "Stable for me. I just need the dark."

@poppy-morris

tonyalessijunior:

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Tony was genuinely surprised by Viola’s resiliance and speed. Less surprised by her pathetic choice of how to fight back. He could feel his skin slide open as her dirty fingernails slid along it. He pushed back the stinging pain to grab hold of Viola’s clothes and half push half throw her back into the booth. Her head hit the wall, hands slid along the lacquered table with a sharp squeak. She slumped. He considered walking up to her, grabbing her face, making it clear why that was the worst mistake she’d ever made.

But somehow, he was confident that she hadn’t learned. Not yet. In a weird way, he wondered if she was like him. If the adrenaline rush needed to recede for her to know what she’d done wrong and why. So he decided to leave her there, lying limply agains the dark wood. He watched her casually as he adjusted his button down sleeve to cover the scratch.

“You know, I was this close to calling you the c-word. But my mom raised me better than that. Later, Parker. And I do mean later.”

Tony strode towards the door without a second look, half kicking it open. He waited for Finn to follow him out and closed it behind him. Then he reached forward, looping his arm around Finn’s neck to pull him in, forehead to forehead. “Hey. Hey. You’re okay, alright? I shouldn’t have let that happen. I’m sorry. That wasn’t supposed to be the job.”

#phase: day ten #poor little rich boy #not as tough as he looks #thread: an offer you can't #violence.cw #gore.cw

Somewhere outside herself, Viola could hear a high pitched keening. Like a banshee or a work whistle. It was raw and angry.

Then she realized it was coming from her mouth.

She closed it. It hurt. She couldn't feel her jaw. Her ears were ringing and the light hurt her eyes.

She didn't have her lighter. She wanted her lighter. Her limbs felt heavy, foggy, like she was in the deepest depths of the sea, but she forced herself to stand. She took a step.

Her legs gave out from under her and she plummeted to the floor. Had the wood been bloody before she got there? Maybe. But now there blood on her hands. Her blood. It had to be. That was why her head felt sticky.

What did Go always say? Someday, Vi, you're gonna piss off the wrong person, and I won't be around to help you. It had been a promise, and Viola had always replied that she took solace in it. At least then you'd leave me the fuck alone.

Alone. She was alone. They were gone. They were gone.

The truth was Viola resented her mother. She liked Jules and Bea, if she was honest with herself. She liked her life in West Ham. She'd liked being with Jordan. She needed Ruby like fires needed oxygen. She even liked Adrian. She liked that he cared. He was helping her learn how to care back. And Go, appearances obsessed bitch that she was, was always trying to ruin it. "One more chance, Vi. Just one. You don't want to be stuck in that place do you? It's too small for you. You need lots of space, just like me. You know how you get. You'll do something stupid."

Viola coughed up blood, reaching her finger in her mouth to pull a tooth free like she was in a fucking boxing movie. Yeah, yeah, Go. I got cornered and did something stupid. You're right. Fuck you. she thought, lying back down on the floor of the bar for just a little while. She'd get up. She'd walk home. She'd think of some dumb cover story for Ruby, and when Ruby asked too many questions, she'd shut down the way she usually did so Ruby would let it go. Everything would be back to normal. She just needed to close her eyes for a little while. Just a little...

(intermission)

leograviano:

Leo pretended that seeing her flick that lighter like that wasn’t as intimidating as fuck. “Cool. That’s cool. I guess everyone has their ways.”

Oh! He knew that song. He snapped his fingers and pointed at her excitedly. “That’s on SingStar ‘80s. A fucking bop. Got it on my vintage PS2. Sucks about the bombs though, I didn’t know that. Material Girl is probably my fave on that one.”

Leo grimaced. Not doing what his family told him had never felt like an option until like, the other day. And if their parents and Nonno were here right now he didn’t know if he’d be in this position. Leo knew he was glad for it, though. Would he have ever gotten out if he hadn’t had a push like this? He liked to hope he’d get the courage on his own.

“Errrrrrr.” Leo didn’t know how to answer that question. “I don’t know that I did. I think I just got good at pretending. Which is kinda bad I think.” Leo laughed nervously. “It’s better to piss them off. Yeah. For sure better. Tony does this funny thing with his nostrils when he’s mad. Gets me every time.”

#phase: day ten #too easy as well #thread: boy why are you crying #// dramatic irony bitches

"You would be a Material Girl. That makes sense." Viola nodded solemnly. "I'm more of a Joan Jett person but I get it. Why do you have a PS2? Aren't you rich? Or is it like some hipster shit? So you can play like.. I dunno. Old stuff." She felt like everything was getting remastered these days. She didn't even want to know that but one of Go's boytoys was like really into 'vintage' Sims, whatever the fuck that meant.

Well this was different. Viola had really no way of knowing what was going on in the Alessi family. She wasn't sure she wanted to. She'd never been a Sopranos fan. "Yeah I don't recommend pretending. Not that I know how but, you know, I imagine. Really, if people can't handle you, throw a match and leave. That's what I do, metaphorically speaking." And sometimes literally, but less often than people might think, Dylan and Finn's assumptions aside.

She'd never noticed that about Tony, but she also never really paid attention to him beyond a glance. Height could only make a girl overlook a certain degree of sociopathy. She preferred to be the toxicity in a relationship. She wasn't Go. "Nice tip. Thanks, puppy dog." She'd have to be on the lookout for it when she got to the Lion.

She considered Leo for a moment, taking solace in his dumb pretty face. If Tony had let this dork wander off, maybe this meeting didn't have to be as tense as she'd imagined.

She reached into her bag. "Did you, uh, want your pictures back? I saw you with them at the election. Unless that was like... not a thing. In which case I guess sorry or congratulations depending on your mood."

Families of West Ham

#not my keeper

king-a: Adrian didn’t answer her question. He got the feeling it was rhetorical anyway, and she already knew the answer was never. He was okay with being embarrassing. It was more than a little surprising when she didn’t immediately leave or insult him some more. Adrian was ready for it, but he hadn’t been ready for genuine Vi. Whatever defenses he still had up were somewhat disarmed. “Thanks,” he said, slowly unfolding his arms, letting them hang at his sides instead. “Nah. You can’t make it worse,” he told her. It was hard to know what to say next. Asking a question risked ending this too quickly. Adrian hadn’t managed the art of navigating a conversation with her that didn’t end in a fight. Not like Bea and Jules had. He wished they were here. “You probably got everything you need right?” He asked it like she obviously did. She was Vi. She had it in hand. But if she didn’t maybe he could help. Indirectly. “Living it up over at the Mauk’s.”

#phase: day eight #not my keeper #thread: been saying yes instead of no

"Oh I can always make it worse. Should put that shit on my resume." Viola really was a career counselor's nightmare. She prided herself on it. Unadoptable, unhireable, mostly unlovable but she was working on it.

Speaking of, Adrian knew her business. Who said she was allowed to know her business? "I mean, it's a glorified trailer home so at least it's kinda familiar." It was a far cry from Jules and Bea's fancy ass house but it beat at least 90% of Go's crash pads. Aside from that one tech bro's penthouse. How she talked her way into that one she'd never knew. Probably not talking actually. Talking and a mommy kink. Viola shivered. "What about you? Are you like... okay or whatever?"

beaumontf:

tonyalessijunior:

Phase: Day Ten

When this was done, Tony was going to tell Finn how well he was doing. That it wasn’t his fault that Viola Parker was a fucking psycho. We were all good at our own things. Finn’s was following orders, being a good brother, and being an awesome person. Tony’s was putting blond bitches in their place.

The flame was up for about.six seconds before he grabbed hold of her wrist. He locked his hand and turned until heard a satisfying crunch and a scream. He used his other arm to slam Viola’s head into the table. “I’m curious, Parker. Has someone ever actually fucked you up before or do you just always look like it?” He heard a ragged growl beneath him. “Guess that answers that question. I’ll keep in mind that it’s your first time.”

He gave Finn an understanding nod. Sometimes you just couldn’t work with people. “You don’t want to play ball. Fine. Be less of a bitch about it next time. If you can.” He liked that use of ‘next time.’ So that she knew she wasn’t actually off the hook. Then he lifted Viola’s head ever so slightly and bashed her against the table again. She mumbled another protest but he was already done. He picked up the lighter and pocketed it. Then he released her and held his hand out to Finn to pull him out of the booth. “Let’s go.”

@beaumontf

There was pee on his leg. He could feel it leaking down the front of his boxers. That psycho bitch was actually going to try and burn him alive. He knew it wouldn’t work. But that didn’t stop him from feeling the fear and the pee.

He was relieved when Tony bashed her head in, but not even a little bit surprised. He couldn’t help but smile. She could make all her dumb little “jokes” but what he and Tony had was real. It transcended pretty much anything in his life except his role as best big brother.

Finn wasn’t going to wait around for Viola to try and get a last word in. He slid out of the booth and tried to ignore the vinegary smell on his clothes. He’d toss it in the dumpster later. “Thanks, dude. I knew she was crazy but I didn’t realize she was that crazy.”

There wasn’t anything particularly special about the lighter. It hadn’t been given to her by Jules and Bea or Go or her bio dad. She didn’t even know who her bio dad was. But it was hers. It was hers because it could fit in her pocket, the same way that the only things that were really hers could fit in her backpack, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

So while her whole body hurt, and her head was reeling, and she was pretty sure she was going to vomit after this, she didn’t actually care. All her desire, her entire existence hinged on the pocket of Tony Alessi’s stupid probably $1000 khakis. Trying to lift her head felt like stabbing an iron bar right through it. Her vision was swimming and out of focus, like a glass bottle beneath the sea. She could taste blood in her mouth and could feel the stiff tightening over her nose that let her know it was broken. Still, she moved. She had to.

Viola let out a sound she couldn’t quite identify. A screech and a roar of rage and pain. Then she lunged. She grabbed hold of Tony’s arm and pulled, fingernails raking his flesh as she reached for his pocket.

#phase: day ten #poor little rich boy #not as tough as he looks #thread: an offer you can't

beaumontf:

Phase: Day Ten

“I’m sure you have some cute little yelp system for your clients or whatever, but in the free world people don’t really go around leaving reviews.” Finn sneered. She just couldn’t figure out when to stop. He was used to people just rolling with things. This was different, much more annoying.

He rolled his eyes. Pretty weird that a queer girl was trying the make you uncomfortable about your homoerotic friendship card. Little did she know, he didn’t care. What he and Tony did was their business. This was one piece of bait he was immune to.

“Anything taking space up. Loot it if you want, there’s a lot of empty houses right now. It’s dangerous. Someone’s going to get hurt.” If they played their cards right, they could create an entire culture around this one little incident. If she would. Just. Fucking. Agree. To. It. “So, you get to burn stuff. We get to brag about solving an upcoming problem. It’s a win win.”

“I don’t think you’re hearing me, Beaumont. I don’t like being lied to and I don’t like being fucked with.” It wasn’t the first time she’d been accused of doing sexwork. It kind of went with the whole infrequent runaway generally grunge trash territory. But something sparked in her. Something deep and angry and feral. Then, something sparked in the lighter. The flame went up a little too close to Finn’s face. She leaned forward, feeling truly happy for the first time in almost a week. When his hair went up, she was gonna giggle.

#phase: day ten #poor little rich boy #not as tough as he looks #thread: an offer you can't

leograviano:

Phase: Day Ten

“You know what? I’ll take it,” Leo said with a smile. He had a feeling he didn’t actually get a say, but he would pretend he did.

Leo pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes at her. “’Kay. Sorry about that. I’ve got a question…s. How do you deal with that? And what the fuck is a luftballons?” He held his hands together in front of him, waiting expectantly. If it was anyone else he was talking to he would have probably replied seriously, but a part of him knew that if he poked she would probably bite. And he wanted to leave with his photos safely in hand.

“I mean, not usually,” he said. “You just happen to have waltzed on up at two of the most significant changes I’ve had in my life. You’re pretty talented like that.” Leo chuckled, finding himself distracted for a minute from the loud feelings he’d been having. “Most recently I’ve started making my own decisions. It’s been a long time coming but some people get really pissed off when you stop doing what they want.” Leo shrugged like it was no big deal. “Who woulda thunk it?”

How did she deal with that? “Uh.” She considered one more time. “I supposed the way that I usually do.” She snapped the lighter open for a moment before clicking it closed again. “Everything burns.”

She stared at him. “99 Red Balloons? From the 80s?” She hummed a terribly mumbled version of German. “You know? It’s actually about bombings. I think. I dunno. My foster moms are old. They like old stuff.” Jules and Bea weren’t going to disagree whether they were here or not.

“Huh.” Viola put her hands on her hips. “I’d take responsibility, but that would be gauche.” She wasn’t much of a corruptor. An instigator, certainly. But corrupting someone sounded like work. It’s why she’d never tried with Jordan. And something gross about liking him how he was. Maybe.

She had to laugh at Leo now. “Yeah. That’s where you fucked up. You did what people said in the first place. Though I guess your people are a little more, uh...” She mimed a throat slitting. She’d been paired up with Anu for a project once. It had been literal hell. She’d been perfectly happy to let Anu complain that she wasn’t doing anything. Better to take a 0 than deal with the one person who was a bigger bitch than her. “How do you deal with that?”

#phase: day ten #too easy as well #thread: boy why are you crying

leograviano:

Phase: Day Ten

Leo winced loudly. She had no idea how much baggage those two words could carry. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the feelings that had brought up. He’d just decided he was moving on. How long did that last? Like 37 seconds? Damn. “Yeah if we could stay away from that I’d appreciate it,” he said. “Even Graviano is okay, if Leo is too hard to remember. Or just hey you! Any of those work.”

“For some reason I don’t believe you,” Leo said. He didn’t expect her to actually share anything with him. Even if he would be happy to listen. He thought he could be pretty good at advice on the odd occasion.

“How am I?” he asked, pursing his lips. “Well, pretty shit. Don’t worry though, I won’t get you to listen to all my woes again. That was a one time thing. That was really cool of you, by the way.”

Well this was intriguing. Leo setting boundaries. And around the Alessis no less. Well, maybe not intriguing. She didn’t care that much. Amusing, let’s say. And definitely something to use against his cousin if needed. Trouble in poolhouse paradise would at least provide a distraction in a pinch. “I’ll go with ‘hey asshole.’ But affectionate. Promise.”

She grinned brightly. “No one should believe me. I’m a compulsive liar because I’m so insecurely attached that I think anyone I depend on is going to float away like neunundneunzig Luftballons.” That was especially prescient, since this was the apocalypse.

Shit. He was feeling shit again? That sounded exhausting. This was why she tried to not feel anything at all. Especially when people were thanking her for doing things. She chuckled. “Well I can’t say I’m sorry to hear that, but it’s not malevolence, just boredom. Does this really happen to you often? You’re a hot rich white man. Where are you going wrong?”

#phase: day ten #too easy as well #thread: boy why are you crying

Phase: Day Eight

Well that went smoothly, didn’t it? No guns were drawn. No dead bodies appeared. What’s a threat to turn off utilities between friends?

But once power is placed in chosen leaders’ hands, it’s time to start leading. Making the hard decisions. The ones that may make us wonder if leaders can really be trusted at all.

So press play, and go.

king-a

@violaparker

Adrian hadn’t seen Vi for a few days. He didn’t have a good excuse, he knew he should be doing a better job at being a brother of some variety, even if she didn’t really want him to be at all. Truthfully he’d just been trying too hard to keep his mind on good things, and it wasn’t necessarily Vi’s fault but he had a harder time with that if they were fighting or whatever.

Still, he knew he needed to check up on her. Wanted to check up on her. Not to mention Ruby would have his fucking head soon if he stayed away any longer.

He arrived at the picnic to see Vi and Ruby looking like a couple of squirrels storing nuts away for the winter or some shit. He just pretended not to see it. If they felt like they needed to have enough food for the next three days that was their business. He’d gone to talk to Frankie, but now he needed to check in with his foster sister.

“Hey,” he greeted her, catching her in a rare moment where Ruby wasn’t glued to her. “Look, I wanted to apologise for the other night. I don’t wanna fight with you. I just care, and I know that pisses you off. But I’m sorry.” Apologising would probably piss her off too, but he needed to say it. He didn’t want things to be shit between them. If he had any say in that. “Are you okay?”