Hiya Descendants,

As promised, Friday's update.

After that chat we got to have with you tonight, I'm sure many of you are really going to enjoy this chapter.

We've got a little Geez protection going on, and a little Harry trying to get through to T.

Enjoy, and don't forget to leave us a comments/review. And make sure you ask your questions so we can answer them next Friday on our Facebook live :D

Lots of Love

-Dark-

"I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that." Deez frowns as she walks down the stairs beside Gil. It worried her that his usual carefree expression had been replaced with a more somber one. It made her think of all the times she walked Carlos home after school.

"Nah, it's okay." Gil folds his arms tightly over his chest, "We're workin' on helpin' you with your fear, an' I promised you I'd work on mine if you let me help you with yours. I'd be a complete coward to back down now."

Deez frowns, "That's not true. You're so far from a coward. You're," She blushes, stopping herself just before she says something that would probably only be embarrassing, like the fact he was kind of maybe like her hero, "I just- You waited for me to be ready, so you deserve the same. That's all I meant."

"Were you ready though?" His eyes slowly sweep over her. "I know you built the pool, but the first time we got in it was an accident."

"Well, ok. Yeah." She purses her lips. He had her there. "Sure, I didn't mean for it to happen like that, but I was going to ask for your help once the pool filled. So, no, not exactly the way I wanted it to happen, but, we did what I wanted." She awkwardly pushes her hair out of her face, "You just held me and talked to me- made it feel like everything was okay."

Gil's steps falter as they get further down the stairs, his eyes darting around the narrow hallway in front of them. "I-Well yeah, I did do that but- um. Are you breathing okay?"

Deez blinks in confusion as she takes a test breath. Breathing okay?

Her eyes soften when she looks up and sees the panic in his eyes. "I feel great. Still plenty of air from the stairs." She smiles encouragingly.

Gil clears his throat. "Good, good, good. That's good." He nods, as he looks up the stairs behind them longingly.

"Let me just-" Deez walks over to a hook in the wall. She frowns before she stretches on her tiptoes and jumps to hang the lantern from its handle. "Is it the hallway?" She asks as she walks back to him, holding out both of her hands.

Gil bites his lip as he looks between her and up the stairs before landing on her again. After a moment he finally loosens his arms to take her hands in his.

Her heart thuds painfully in her chest when he rips his hands away again.

"It's not helping," Gil admits. "How does T spend so much time down here? Is it getting hot? I swear it's getting hot." He sits on the bottom step as he wipes the sweat off his forehead.

Deez frowns as she looks down at her empty hands before she drops them to her side. He was shaking. And he clearly didn't want her to know, "Is it better for me to stay close or give you more space?" She wanted to jump in his arms and keep him talking, but she was worried it would make things worse for him. And that was the last thing she wanted, to make this harder.

Gil looks away from her, silent for a moment before he mumbles something under his breath as his ears redden.

He needed space but was embarrassed to say it. She bites her lip, but nods and walks over to sit with her back to the wall across from him, "It's okay Gil. I'm here to help. I just need to know how."

"Sorry. I can do this. I just- I just need a minute." His breath becomes shaky.

"I know you can." She smiles, though it took everything in her to stay put, "You don't have to apologize. Take all the time you need."

After several moments of deep breathing, he places his hands on his knees before he pushes himself back to his feet. "Okay." He says firmly. "I can do this." He walks over to her and offers her his hand. "How bad can the hold really be?" He asks, sounding unconvinced.

Deez looks up with a grin as she lets him pull her to her feet, "Not so bad once you get used to it I bet." She laced her fingers with his.

"I hate being down here." He squeezes her hand before he takes another gulp of air. "But if you can learn to swim… I can do this."

"If you can run into my old room, you can do this." Deez reminds him.

His breath becomes shallow, "That was different." He bites his lip. "You were alone, and everything was bigger..." His eyes dart around the hall. "Are the walls getting closer together?"

"The walls are staying put." Deez tilts her head to the side, "We'd hear if they were moving."

"I guess that's true." He chuckles hollowly, "Everything on this ship creaks." He takes a couple of hesitant steps down the hall.

Deez smiles as she follows him, letting him lead her to the hold. She was so scared she was going to do something to make this worse for him. "You know, you make helping me with my fear look so easy."

He turns to look down at her. "Do I?"

"Effortless almost." She nods, "If you feel like I do right now, you never let it show."

He bites his lip before he nods and turns to face the path to the hold. "Are we sure the walls aren't getting smaller?" He takes several rapid breaths.

Deez nods before she walks over to the wall and presses on it, "Standing firmly where it belongs. Like a good wall." She knocks her small white first against it lightly.

"Good, good, good. Just checking. I mean-of course the walls aren't moving." He laughs, though the sound was nothing like his usual, jovial laugh, "I just, I mean, it would be stupid if they moved."

"They're too afraid I'll burn them if they try to move." Deez lightly giggles as she walks back over and takes his hand.

He squeezes her hand again, his grip so tight his knuckles whiten. "Good. Do that."

"Hear that walls?" Deez glares as she holds up her free hand with one finger in the air, the tip burning a low orange, "I have permission. Don't try me."

"I-" He pauses, as he looks back at the stairs. "I can do this." He takes a few more tentative steps.

Deez bites her lip as she looks from the flame dancing on her finger to him, "Oh, hey, look at my fire." She holds her hand in front of them, waiting for Gil to turn as she lets it sway in the light cross-breeze, "Do you know what it means when it flickers like that?"

Gil shakes his head.

"It means there's a breeze." She explains with a smile. Pain and Panic drilled into her over and over again that if she ever got lost in the tunnels under the temple to follow where the fire wanted to go because a dancing flame meant air.

"What if it's just our breath doing that?"

"Want us to hold our breath for a few seconds to see?"

"NO!" Gil shakes his head emphatically. He clears his throat as his cheeks heat up, "I mean no."

"Sorry." The fire dies as she drops her hand back to her side.

"It's okay." He rubs his neck. "Are we sure it's not hot down here?" He wipes his hand off on his pants.

"I'm not hot, I did just have a small fire going, but I was trying to keep the heat low." She frowns.

"Right, Right." Gil chuckles hoarsely. "Duh." He shakes his head. "I mean, I just-" He takes a deep breath before he lets it out slowly. "I can do this. Uma expects me to do this. And I'll do anything for Uma. So I can do this."

"I know you can." Deez blinks before she presses a hand to his chest surprised when she can feel the rapid beating thumping against it. "Wait. Here." She takes his hand and puts it over her chest, "Feel that?" She takes in a slow breath.

"No," He sighs, his cheeks darkening as he tries to drop his trembling hand from her chest, but she puts her hands over it before he can.

"Shhh. You taught me this." She smiles, "Just, feel, or listen if that works better."

"I can't hear anything over the pounding." He admits with a quiver in his voice.

"That's your heart. Mine does that when I'm scared too." She lets him drop his hand, but crooks her finger at him, "Listen to mine though. It's okay." She smiles confidently up at him, though the fear tinting his beautiful warm eyes hurts, "Gil. Take another deep breath for me." She smiles as he does, "Now, the stairs are right there. We still have tons of air. Just- slow down for a moment and try this with me. I promise it's okay." She rests one hand on his chest.

"Try what?"

"Listen to my heart." Deez grins.

"I tried-"

The waver in his voice breaks her heart. She wanted to take him back to the deck, take him away from this and end his suffering. But, he stayed steady for her. He held her through her tears and screams of terror, never wavered as he helped her face her fear. She had to do this, had to find a way to help.

"It's okay." She runs her thumb over his knuckles, "Try putting your ear to my chest." She coaxes, "I do that in the pool all the time. When I start to panic, I just listen to how calm you are. It helps me, so maybe it will help you." She pleads, "It doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

He chews his lip before he slowly nods. He hesitantly kneels in front of her and places his ear to her chest. It takes several moments, but eventually, he takes a deep breath before he releases it with a relieved sigh. "I can hear it." He looks up at her with a smile before his eyes narrow. "It's so slow. Are you okay? Are you sure you're breathing okay?"

Deez chuckles, "It's slow because I feel safe with you. Whenever we're in the water your heartbeat is like a slow, steady drum. Like the beat of one of the sea lullabies you play for me."

His gulp is audible, but he slowly nods. He stays with his ear pressed to her chest for several more heartbeats before he lets out a long-suffering sigh. "I can do this." He goes to stand to his feet but she stops him, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I know you can. I believe in you, Gil." She looks into his eyes, ignoring her blush, "and I'm sorry, I know you need space, but, when you do this for me it always helps, and I- I can't even tell you how much it means that you're letting me help you like this."

He coughs, "I couldn't do this without you." He breathes so low she barely hears it.

Deez smiles before she leans in and kisses him. She had to. Even at the risk of taking up too much of his space, she had to kiss him.

His eyes widen, and though it takes a second, maybe two, he does kiss her back. She smiles and closes her eyes, letting him bend her back slightly as he takes the kiss over. She fists her hands into his jacket, keeping him solidly connected to her.

"Thank you." His lips brush against hers in a whisper.

"You can do so much Gil, I know you can do this too." Deez whispers as she slowly breaks the kiss to press their foreheads together, "It's amazing what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it."

"Right." He looks up to her with confidence for the first time since they'd come down the stairs. "Right. I can do this." He nods curtly before he takes her hands from his shoulder and stands to his feet, more steady than he'd been before.

"There he is." There was the man that tossed her into his arms with no care in the world, the one who ran into her room because she screamed and he thought she was hurt. The guy who made her life brighter simply by being in it.

Gil gives another curt nod, "Let's do this." he takes her by the hand and with sure steps leads her down the hallway till they stop at the door that led to the hull. "If you and Uma think I can do this-" He takes a deep breath, "Then I can do this."

"We know you can." Deez chuckles, "Difference."

He lets out his held breath before he takes the handle and turns it, revealing the darkness. "How the fuck does T breathe down here?" He sucks another breath in with a rush as he looks into the room like it was going to swallow him, "Or navigate?"

"Wow." Deez blinks. The space itself was huge, but there was so much packed into it that there was hardly any room to move. What once looked like it had been crates set in patterns to form thin halls were now ramshackle open boxes. It was too dark for her to make out all the details, but she could see enough to know it was a mess.

Chaos. It was chaos. Thank all the gods Carlos had never seen this place. He'd have been stuck here for years trying to organize it all.

She turns her wide eyes on Gil, "Do not feel bad for being uncomfortable in that," She exclaims sternly, "That. That's-" She shakes her head, "Gil, that's a lot of stuff. And it's such a mess."

"You can- Oh yeah." He swallows, "T said you can see in the dark- I just didn't realize he meant pitch."

"Oh! Sorry, want me to go get the light?"

"No!" Gil shakes his head, squeezing her hand as if he was afraid she was going to take off. "I mean-" he clears his throat, "I don't wanna know…" He's silent for a moment. "Can you just lead me, please?"

Deez blinks up at him as her heart thumps strangely. "You trust me that much?" Her voice cracks.

"Of course." He squeezes her hand. "So much. I wouldn't be down here with you if I didn't."

She nods slowly before she chuckles, "You can't see me," she chides herself before she pulls his hand to her and presses a kiss to his palm. "Why don't we just open the door all the way and adjust? Like we're doing for me with the pool."

Gil closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he nods. "Okay," he agrees, not releasing her hand as he reluctantly sits cross-legged on the floor and tugs her to his lap. His arms cage her to his chest as if she were a child's toy.

"I'm proud of you, you know," Deez whispers as she relaxes in his hold.

He places his chin on the top of her head. "I don't-" He breathes out. "Thank you."

"See this isn't so bad," She smiles as she wraps her arms around his, hugging them to her chest the way he was hugging her to his, "We're just hanging out on the ship."

"Mhmm." He gulps in a mouthful of air, "We're just hangin' out on the ship."

"We're home." She adds as she nuzzles the back of her head against his chest.

"Yes, we are." He agrees with a smile in his voice. "Thank you." He breathes in deeply, "I know living here is hard for you, but it means so much that you'd call this home."

"Home is wherever you are." Deez explains before she blinks, "I mean you, Uma, Harry, T, Family. Home is where our family is."

"It really is." He nuzzles his cheek against her hair before he leans back, his head hitting the wall with the smallest thud. "I'm so glad that you finally see that."

"I finally got tired of being dumb." She shrugs.

"You are so many things Deez, but dumb has never been one of them." He squeezes her again. "You're just slow to accept things sometimes. It's okay, Harry an' me were slow too."

"I feel pretty dumb over it." She admits as she leans against him, turning her head just enough so she could see his chin, "I've always wanted to belong here, but I kept telling myself all the reasons it wouldn't work, so I never let myself see the ways it could."

"You've always belonged here, even when you didn't understand or see it." He squeezes her again, "You do like to overthink things. I'm not surprised you couldn't get it." He chuckles.

"But I've got you now." Deez traces his fingers, making little designs as she plays with his skin. She trusted he would save her from herself any time she needed it.

"You do." He nuzzles against her again, "All of us, Forever and always. We're pirates and you're our treasure. We can't let you go now that we finally got you."

Harry silently works to clean T's feet, gently scrubbing the more stubborn dried blood with the rags.

Once he can see the extent of the small cracks and scrapes he looks up at T and sighs, "Ya be okay there?"

T glances at him before his eyes flit back to the ceiling. "Yeah…" He couldn't even be trusted to clean his own fucking feet now. Wonder-fucking-ful. How fucking far had he fallen?

"Gotta say, it's been ah long while since Uma last be taking up arms like that." He chuckles as he opens a jar and dips a fresh rag into it.

"Well, I've always been great at dragging the best outta people." He deadpans.

Harry sighs again, "I know ya be aimin' fer sarcasm there, but ya ain'nah actually wrong." He swirls an ointment over the abrasions, "Ya do be draggin' the best outta people. Whether ya be ah meanin' to or not."

"Tch." T rolls his eyes. That was whale shit if he'd ever heard it.

"Don'nah ya be 'tch'in' me none." He scolds, flicking the rag at T's face before he tosses it aside, "It be true. I be seein' it, well, I be ah seein' it, an hearin' 'bout it." He shrugs, "And me source be ah reliable one."

T's mouth opens before he shuts it again, he didn't feel up to arguing. "If you think so."

Harry chuckles, "Be ah thinkin' back. Ya be ah helpin' Deez out. Ya poked and poked until ya be ah gettin' her ta be sayin' something that were ah weighin' heavy on her. And then ya were there when she be ah needin' ya, helpin' her control her fire so she could be findin' her place with us. Ya be ah wantin' me ta list us all out? I can be doin' it." He wiggles his eyebrows.

"Not particularly." T frowns as he crosses his arm over his chest to grip his bicep as he looks away. That felt like ages ago. He hadn't done anything like that in months. He'd been too busy with his head up his ass.

"So defiant." Harry snorts, "I were like that when Uma first be savin' me." He shakes his head as he pulls bandages from the box Uma left him.

T glances at the bandages before he sighs and looks away. "I can-" He had to be the twentieth time tonight where he almost said 'I can take care of myself' before realizing that clearly wasn't true. He couldn't even help fucking Faustina properly anymore, let alone himself and the people he'd come to care about. "I'm not trying to be defiant." He turns back to the ceiling. He puffs up his cheeks before letting out a whoosh of air, "This is the longest I've ever stayed in one place."

"I can be believin' that." Harry shrugs as he gently wraps one of T's feet.

"I-" He shuts his mouth. "I'm not trying to be an ass hole… I know I owe you guys, you, a lot."

"I be knowin' ya ain'nah meanin' ta be an arse-" Harry sighs, "And ya still be ah missin' the point. Ya don'nah be owein' us, or me, shit."

"Tch. Whale shit." He owed them his life. More importantly, Faustina's. The thought makes his skin crawl. He was supposed to be the protector, not need to be protected. So much for that.

"Whale shit it be?" Harry ties the bandage before he shifts, turning his dark lined blue eyes on T, "If it had been me, if ya had been ah findin' me laid out on the docks, missin' me hand, would ya have been leavin' me for dead?"

"No- But that's-"

"So, ya would have been ah draggin' me ass somewhere safe?"

"Yeah- But that's-"

"Would ya have been ah patchin' me up? Helping me fight sickness?"

"It's not the same."

"But it is T. It is. And that be what hurts us, the fact ya don'nah be seein' it. Ya would have been doin' the same for me, for Deez. Gil, Uma. I know ya would be doin' it for Jay. Carlos. Evie, Mal. Dizzy, fuck, probably Freddie and her lil' spit o' ah sister too. Ya would'ah been helpin' with everythin' you had."

T's eyes narrow as he clenches his jaw, swallowing his response like the bitter acid it was. He didn't want to hear it. The others deserved help. They'd kept Faustina and him from going even more mad than they apparently were. He just didn't know how to articulate how much they meant to him, no, them. How much these people meant to them through the years. He was already so deeply in all of their debt.

"You can be ah layin' there," Harry grins, "hissin', and spittin', an' madder than ah wet shrimpy, but it be the truth."

"I fucking-" He sighs, what was the point? He didn't want to hear this shit right now. Didn't understand why Hook was even saying it. "Probably." He shrugs instead.

"Good lad." Harry nods before he starts on the other foot, "Now were that really bein' so hard ta be ah sayin'?"

T takes a deep breath before he lets it out, "No…" He squeezes his bicep so tightly his knuckles turn white, "But-" He stops himself. Hook wouldn't get it. He'd just say some stupid shit if he continued what he was about to say. He just knew he didn't deserve it. Right now he wasn't even sure he deserved to live. He'd caused them so much fucking trouble already. "Just, no it wasn't."

Harry narrows his eyes at T, "What ya be ah buttin'?"

Fuck him. T is silent for a moment, "But- uh," His eyes narrow, fuck him. He should've just kept his mouth shut. "I just- It sucks." He stumbles over himself.

"Ya think I be ah ray of sunshine if it be me being laid up?" Harry chuckles as he ties the bandage. He grins as he looks back up, "Oohhhhh, Uma be wishin' I be this easy ta be carin' for. Ya be ah poster child o' goodness when ya be ah compairin' this ta what I put her through."

"You just enjoy the attention." He sighs. He didn't feel like he was being easy to take care of. He just felt like an ungrateful shit head because of how much he loathed it.

Harry chuckles again, "Aye, ya ain'nah bein' wrong. But," he frowns as he looks away, "that be the way o' it now. I were talkin' 'bout when she first be ah draggin' me ungrateful ass into the chip shop."

T frowns, "I think there's a difference. I'm old enough to know I shouldn't be actin' like an ungrateful douche for what you guys did."

"I be knowin' it back then too, but I were lashin' out at everyone. The biggest difference I can be ah seein' be that I thought I hated everyone, but really, I were just hatin' meself. Ya just be goin' straight ta hatin' yerself. That might be what age be ah gettin' ya, ya be ah understandin' yerself better."

"Tch." T scoffs.

Harry snorts as he flicks the leftover bandage at T's face, "What I be ah sayin' 'bout 'tch'ing me?" He asks with a grin.

"Don'nah be tchin' me none," T frowns, squeezing his arm harder. When his fingers sink into his arm, his eye twitches. He frowns as he moves his grip down.

Harry tilts his head to the side as he watches T. He sighs before he drops his head, "Ya be wantin' bandages for yer arm?" He holds the box up with one hand, lazily rolling his wrist back and forth.

Of course Hook would fucking notice that. He takes a deep breath before he reaches over and pulls out a roll. "When I collected all this shit, I didn't think I'd be the one needin' it." He grumbles.

"How that be the thing that be escapin' ya?" Harry chuckles as he inches the stool back towards the bed so he can lean back.

T frowns as he rolls up his sleeve, rolling his eyes when it won't go all the way up. "I have my own shit…"

"We did be ah figurin' that. Deez also be ah sayin' ya be ah stockin' Mal's hangout as well."

"I used to have nothin' but time."

Harry shrugs, "And once ya be mendin' proper like, what be makin' ya think that be changin'?"

T pulls off the hoodie and throws it to his lap, opening his mouth before snapping it shut. "A lot." He frowns as he looks down at the blood dripping from his arm where his nails had dug into one of the cuts. He scowls at it, scoffing before he starts wrapping it. "I used to be able to take care of my fucking self." He grumbles under his breath.

"The fuck ya be callin' what ya be doin' there?" Harry points out, gesturing to the bandages T was wrapping around his freshly injured arm.

T's silent for a moment, opening his mouth several times before he sighs. "I guess that."

"Aye." Harry nods, "Just cause we be ah patchin' ya up don'nah be meanin' ya ain'nah bein' able ta be helpin' yerself. It just be ah meanin' ya needed help. Help ya would'ah been willin' ta give others yerself."

"But I fuckin' couldn't." T glares at the stitches still covering his arms. "I was a fucking stupid asshole, an' I fucked the fuck up and dragged other people into my bullshit."

Harry sighs as he sits up, "I know ya be ah hell 'o' ah lot smarter than this." He shrugs out of his jacket, letting it fall to the floor behind him, "Ya just be ah missin' points ah purpose now." He sighs, dropping his hook to the floor before he shoves his wrist in T's face.

Was he? It certainly didn't feel like that right now. T opens his mouth just to shut it as he finishes tying off the bandage. Damn it. He didn't want to admit how fucking much this shit didn't make sense to him. How little he deserved it.

"Same as afore. Ya find me bleedin' an' laid out on the dock." Harry turns his forearm, exposing his paler underarm for T's inspection, showing off deep threads of white and pink scars running like lightning bolts and crossing over themselves from wrist to mid-arm, "What do you do?"

T's silent as he throws his hoodie back on. What would he do? "Get you back to the ship. Patch you up. And probably smack you for being an idiot."

"Ah." Harry nods before he bends and picks his hook back up, "Is that what I be ah forgettin' to do?" His eyes narrow as he grips the handle of the hook before he uses it to catch the narrow opening of the hood at T's throat, "Silly me." He mockingly smacks his free hand against his head, "Knew it were somethin'."

He slowly pulls T up by the hook, "I were bein' nice before when I be ah beggin' ya, now I be ah tellin' ya, don'nah be doin' shit like that again." He leans over T, their faces only a few inches apart before he bats the back of the other boy's head, "Ya be hearin' me?"

"I woulda hit you harder." T grumbles as he shoves his hands in his hoodie pocket and looks away, concerned when his stomach does something weird at the threat. He wasn't sure what the fuck it was, but it felt like fucking bats had been set loose. Great. Just what he fucking needed. A new confusing sensation. He better not be about to throw up. He'd throw himself on Hook's fucking hook if he did.

"Oh, it ain'nah the last ya be ah gettin' from me." Harry smirks as he grabs a fist full of T's hoodie, freeing the hook so he can catch T's chin and make him face him again, "Do. Ya. Be. Ah hearin'. Me?"

His eyes drop to Harry's chest as his stomach does the weird thing again.

"You be lookin' at me T," Harry growls as he tilts his chin back with the hook, "right in these pretty blues o' mine."

It takes T a moment before he glances up to make eye contact for a brief second, too ashamed to keep it longer. He hadn't looked any of them in the eye since he'd woken up. "Yeah. I hear you."

"An' ya ain'nah gonna be goin' off half-cocked when ya can just as easy be ah askin' for me help?" He pulls T closer.

T swallows as he studies Harry's chest. He'd barely known what he was doing last time till it was too late. How was he supposed to make that type of promise? The last thing he wanted to do was lie about this. He was pretty sure he'd never hear the end of it. Or more accurately didn't want to deal with the disappointment. "Not on purpose."

Harry glares, "I be ah supposin' that be the best I'll be ah gettin' for now, so I'll be ah takin' it." He sighs, "Deal."

T glances up before dropping his eyes again. "Deal?"

Harry grins before he pulls T up just enough to kiss him, "I'll be ah holdin' ya to that." His soft lips brush over T's in a whisper.

What the fuck? His nose scrunches as he pulls back, disgusted that Hook would still want to touch him like that. He wanted to flay his skin off, probably would have tried a couple of times if he actually had a knife on him. He felt fucking disgusting. Constantly.

Harry wasn't wrong. He wasn't sure he'd ever felt this level of self-loathing before. His hand absently rubs his hoodie roughly against his forearm at the feeling.

Harry frowns as he looks T over before he sighs, "T…" His voice trails off as he slowly releases his hold on T's hoodie and drops his hook to the floor at his side.

T frowns as he stares at the hook on the floor. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Harry drop his hook, let alone twice. The weapon was his pride and joy, and the sight had him feeling some type of way he couldn't recognize, yet again. Great.

"T, it won'nah be feelin' like this forever." He bites his lip as he puts a hand over T's. "I can'nah be sayin' I know exactly what this be for ya, but it won'nah be like this forever. I promise, things are gonna be gettin' better."

His arm twitches at the touch before he moves his hand away from Harry. As if the contact had burned.

Seriously, how the fuck could he be touching him?

It certainly didn't feel like this was going to get better. If anything it had only gotten worse since he'd woken up.

He bites his lip as his vision gets blurry before he blinks the tears away, the disgust with himself soaring to new heights. He still couldn't bring himself to look at anything else but the fallen hook.

Why hadn't Hook picked it up yet?

How the fuck was this going to get better?

He opens his mouth to ask before he shuts it. He swallows before he just nods his head. "Right…"

Sup?

So what did you guys think of this chapter?

It was rough watching Gil try to deal with his fear. He really isn't a fan of small places and its gotten even worse since he's bulked up. Poor bastard, but at least he's trying. What do you think of his effort?

Deez is the sweetest, isn't she? She does a great job of trying to guide Gil without pushing him too hard. She's patient and as kind as always.

What did you think of her little slip-up? That she felt safe with Gil- Oh and the rest of the family- lolz. It was cute to write.

If you're wondering why the hold is a shit show it's because Uma tore through that shit like a hurricane when she was looking for stuff to send for Geez (Thank you) when they got shipped to Yensids.

I know all of you want to straddle T and shake some sense into him, we don't blame you- We do too. Shame Harry couldn't bring himself to hit T harder isn't it?

It's really hard to write T like this. He's usually so care-free. Unfortunately what he lived through left him worse for wear. Will he ever return to the T we love? Fucking gods, as his writer, I fucking hope so. But the other boot of T's luck had to fall sometime.

Still, it was a fluffy scene. Cute and so necessary for T to hear even if he can't register what Harry's trying to say right now.

Much love and appreciation

-Twisted

Covid Chat...

We're really hoping you guys are all doing well. It's so not a pleasant world out there right now. We know it's not much but we really hope our isle chats have been at least a bit entertaining for ya'll watching. We appreciate not having to twiddle our thumbs for two or three hours as we scramble to come up with topics that aren't plot for the stories...

That being said we're hellafucking worried for some of you- I mean we're worried about everyone of course, but there are a few of you that haven't checked in in a while and we're extra worried about you. We really hope you guys are just recuperating or are just... Ya know, busy and shit.

Much love and prayers

-Twisted