In My Life- From the Author of In My Life
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Steady rain was gingerly rapping on the roof, gliding down the window of a second-story bedroom. It wasn't dreary in Aja Weinstein's eyes, and she could almost see the sun over Mother's Hill if she looked hard enough for a moment. It didn't take her mind off the words she was just spilling frantically on the open journal pages on her lap, but it managed to slightly lift the guilt from her heart.
'I just want to realize something outside of this, my dream. I don't know, sort of need to follow the sun.'
The next drizzly morning, a Wednesday, Aja pulled her bedroom door shut, careful not to make any stray noises. She crept on her tiptoes along the hallway to the ambiance of her father's buzz saw snoring. As she inched closer to the bedroom door, she pulled the folded journal pages from her pea coat pocket, kneeled to slip it under the door, and just as quickly turned and silently slinked down the stairs.
She made her way downstairs, where empty wine bottles occupied one end of the dining room table, and through the kitchen. Clamping her eyes in a fruitless attempt to catch tears, she pushed open the backdoor and stepped into the chilly, misty air.
------
Soon after meeting Aja, Makoto made up his mind that she was crazy. Initially, he tried to convince himself that he was the one who couldn't keep up with her, but that theory was shot down harshly after she inadvertently came too close to killing him within five minutes of knowing her. And she didn't even know his name at the time.
Makoto rued the moment he gave in to Aja's pleas, and he wasn't sure why he did it. The whole time after that, Aja was running up every reason why she thought drag racing was perfectly safe since Makoto was springing with reservations before the race.
There was no need for peripheral vision at the drag races. Aja assured Makoto would be fine, but he thought otherwise when he could barely walk straight to his own car with the bulky helmet and polarized visor. The stiff, rubber-like suit Makoto had to wear restricted his movement too, and made him look more like a giant walking banana or the Bride from Kill Bill, or the Bride from Kill Bill posing as a giant walking banana.
The only detail she skipped over was her reason behind asking Makoto to race. It didn't make any sense to him. But the races themselves didn't look like a terrible ordeal to undergo to Makoto. The only persistent problem he had to nitpick under his breath was feeling like he was driving a clown car or a sardine tin. Even then, he didn't have long to complain to himself. The short guy in the pink bunny costume was already standing between Makoto and his competitor with the checkered flag, hanging on anticipation.
"Welcome to today's Amateur Drag Racing! And it looks like the racers are ready to start the first race," the commentator announced from his box above the bleachers. That enticed the camera crews to fix their focus on the two cars.
The guy in the other car revved up his engine and attempted to catch Makoto's attention with a cocky smile. When Makoto didn't look over, the guy revved again, this time more forced. His smile was still tacked on his face through Makoto's dirty look.
A gunshot popped from behind, the overgrown bunny chopped the air with his flag, and Makoto went completely lead-foot on the pedal. The car reacted with a fearsome jerk, taking off past the other racer. The fans and other racers hooted and cheered from the benches, all the way through Makoto's realization of impending pain when he realized the cars were built with only one pedal.
The other racer deployed his parachute, while Makoto's car swerved out of control past the finish line and into the only other thing that would save him- the wall.
------
"Owww... my head..."
Aja frowned at Makoto once he pulled the helmet off his sweat drenched head, gripping her own helmet in one hand. She was lucky enough to get a slick cobalt suit, as was the rest of the team. Makoto was the only one who looked like a banana.
"I told you it was safe!" Aja said, sticking her tongue out at Makoto. The farmer boy was glaring at her through little slits for eyes.
"I was on fire," he muttered, waiting before he stepped up for Aja to ascend the bleachers to her favorite spot, the top.
"At least you didn't get burnt," Aja argued over her shoulder. "The suits protect you from that."
"I think I have a concussion," Makoto retorted, climbing the bleachers after her.
"No, no. The helmet keeps you really safe."
Makoto shook his head.
"No, I mean from when you dragged me down the hill, and I fell off," he replied as Aja took her seat. Within five minutes of meeting him, Aja took him for a speeding roller coaster ride down the side of the steepest slope that side of Mineral Town on foot. He was also whipped around by his fair share of obtrusive tree branches, all out to batter any poor soul over six feet tall. He was unconscious for a good five minutes after that ordeal.
"I wanna see a nur-" he began, only to be shoved by Aja as she pushed herself in front of him to get a good view of the race that had just started. With a heaving sigh, Makoto sat down on the cold and dirty steel bleacher. He watched hopelessly as Aja bounced around with all her pent-up fervency for racing, cheering when the cars passed the finish line, another one crashing into the wall and bursting into flames.
"It's a coincidence this time that two cars caught fire," Aja explained once the clamor from the racers died. "I guess he didn't get to his parachute fast enough."
"I never knew there was a parachute," Makoto deadpanned.
"I could tell," she commented with a giggle, sitting back down. "That happens to everyone on their first race." She looked over to see Makoto's reaction, who stayed quiet for a moment.
"You're mad," he finally said. Aja shook her head hopelessly, flashing him her brightest smile. He arched his eyebrow, she stuck her tongue out, and he rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, my race is starting," Aja suddenly sputtered, springing out of her seat. "I should've been down there five minutes ago!" Makoto watched her leave, slapping his forehead when he realized that he didn't get to question her.
It looked like her circuit manager was reprimanding her over being late, but Aja took every finger wag with stride. She coolly slid her cobalt helmet over her pony-tailed head, waving and shaking her hands and head as she slipped into her car. Her manager sighed with a slump, dragging his feet off somewhere else.
"And this race is the big one! It's between Aja Weinstein, rising star of our Amateur Circuit, aaaand… some other guy!" the announcer beamed, clutching his microphone with both hands in excitement. A roar of applause and cat calls for Aja rose up from the bleachers.
Makoto watched intently from the moment the flag was waved. Aja tore up far ahead of her competitor. But somewhere between the two instants when the race started and ended, one of her front tires swiveled loose and rolled away, sending Aja into a tumbling spin for the wall.
------
Aja was pulled out from the wreckage of her car by two other racers and brought to the medical tent. A very professional-looking man dressed in a white lab coat seemed engrossed in examining her, nodding to himself as he picked up and dropped her wrists. She looked up at him from lying down on the examination table, and just as Makoto jogged over with a confused expression, she said:
"It's the left kneecap, Doc." She let out a smirk. "I know it."
"Is she gonna be okay?" Makoto asked flatly, looking at the man. The man looked back at Makoto with grave eyes.
"I have some bad news," he said, drawing Makoto's attention. He didn't say anything for a while, and with every passing second, Makoto was drawn in closer.
Finally, he spoke up.
"I'm not really a doctor."
"What??" Makoto hissed. Aja looked shocked.
"See," the man continued. "Since this is the amateur circuit, there's no insurance forms to be filled. And that's why Aja was able to invite you to stand in. But she had no idea about insurance forms to begin with, as with the rest of our racers. Most of them don't even speak English. In fact, it's all a TV gimmick for FOX." He took a moment to chuckle. "A few deadbeats found out about this though, and they ditched us. So that's why we asked our racers to look for some stand-ins today. Isn't that all funny?"
Makoto nodded very slowly, and without another word, he let loose a driving punch into the guy's face that took him down.
"Looks like your nose broke," Makoto deadpanned, looking down on him. "Too bad you're not a doctor."
He looked over his shoulder at Aja, but the man's words hit her a lot harder than they hit nonchalant Makoto.
"That can't be…" she moaned. "That jus--"
"Let's split," Makoto said curtly.
They were gone as quickly as they wordlessly changed, finding themselves back in the forest before they knew it.
------
Makoto plodded through the forest for a while in silence. For most of the time, he thought Aja nodded off to sleep, until she piped up suddenly.
"Where are you taking me?" she asked in a quavering voice, muffled from Makoto's sweater. He didn't look down when he replied.
"To my farm. You can stay there till you can walk again," he said curtly.
"You… you have a farm?"
Makoto was silent for a moment, mulling over what to say.
"It's not quite mine yet," he finally replied. "I inherited it."
"Where is it?"
"Mineral Town."
Aja jerked her head around to get a good look at Makoto, mouth agape.
"N-not there!" she sputtered. "Anywhere but Mineral Town!"
"I have responsibilities there, and you need credible medical attention."
Aja wrapped herself up in a thought, and then piped up again.
"Then why'd you leave Mineral Town, Makoto?" she retorted, with Makoto taken aback by the thought of the word spreading around town. The pestilence was savory to some, and more and more thoughts began piling in his mind that he struggled to shove away. The last thing he wanted was to turn away from Mineral Town after forcing Aja to go.
"It was stupid of me to run," he blurted out. He seemed to be going off on his own tangent, almost forgetting that Aja was there. "That's just my problem," he continued in a low voice. "Everything's a hang-up for me ever since I..." He trailed, and it didn't seem like he was going to continue.
"I feel the same," Aja admitted, her voice crackling. "I feel like... like I can't go back home."
"Like you hurt someone too much to face them."
There was a brief silence.
"Look, Aja," Makoto began, eyes ahead. "I'll only tell one person you're in Mineral Town, I promise. You're hurt too badly to go anywhere on your own."
"This wouldn't be happening if I had just been careful at the races," Aja groaned. "That's my problem. I never take anything into consideration."
"You have to face everything eventually," Makoto replied curtly. "But you do what you want to once you get there."
Aja had nothing left to say after that. She was overwhelmed by the sensation of shrinking in her coat, and the icy air slipped in under all the layers of clothes she wore. Somewhere between that and the crick in her neck, she found a comfortable spot to nuzzle her head on Makoto's chest.
The sky seemed to be an amorphous pool of wet cement, casting a lamp-shade shadow over the whole forest. It wasn't doing much good for Makoto's state of mind either, while his eyelids were growing heavy and his head lighter. By the time a gash was ripped in the sky and first myriad of raindrops touched ground, Aja decided to stop fighting the inevitable and let Makoto carry her to Mineral Town.
The townsfolk were tearing their home apart.
------
Upon hearing about Makoto, a lot of the townsfolk didn't know what to think at first. There were the confused ones, shot down to the point of hopelessness, who buckled under the grating of the nucleus of villagers who wanted to bring out the voting box earlier than the agreed date. And those pushy people were waiting since Makoto first showed up in town for the slightest reason to get rid of him, with Duke at the helm of that campaign.
Everyone went on their business as usual, not letting the prospect of Makoto's return escape their minds. And when the opportunity came her way, Elli snuck out of the end of the day at work and headed for Strawberry Fields, leaving a disappointed Doctor standing at the window.
Maybe, just maybe, Makoto was there, hiding out in his newly repaired house and waiting for the time to show himself again. She approached the wooden fence, and rustling sounds drifting through the air picked up her hope. There was somebody there.
It was Cliff, dragging stray leaves strung around the farm under his wet feet. As he approached Elli, he left the wicker basket full of pink lady apples next to the shipping bin, and his glum mood became more apparent the closer he came.
"I wish he'd get back," he sighed, sprawling his arms and shoulders over the fence and leaving Elli with enough room to prop her elbows. Cliff leaned his head as far back as he could, staring into nothing.
"Have you heard?" Elli asked.
"Heard what?"
Elli sighed.
"Duke was talking to the Mayor about Makoto, and the Mayor gave in and agreed to a town meeting," she choked out, her forehead sinking into her hand. "That means Duke's going to propose to have him kicked out of town."
Cliff's eyes widened at that.
"That's all people have been talking about at the Inn," he added. "I was with Carter at the church, and he's probably one of the few on his side."
"We've got to stop this somehow..."
"You're damn well right we will," Cliff agreed, and with that he promptly shoved himself off from the fence and stood up straight to face her. "I don't care what Duke thinks, I don't care if Doug's disappointed…" He paused. "Even Ann disagrees with me, and I'm sorry for that, but Makoto can't leave. There's gotta be something we can do."
"There is," Elli immediately began. "There was a pact that Makoto gets his three years fairly. It's a long shot now, but something's gotta be done."
With that, Cliff looked down at his watch, and back up at Elli.
"Let's get going," he said. "The meeting starts in twenty minutes.
------
Impromptu meetings at the Inn always lead to incessant clamor amongst the townsfolk, and that night was no exception. Just as the evening swallowed up the sun, the townsfolk found themselves dragged out of dinner to discuss the late arrival of Sergeant Makoto Ogawa.
Mayor Thomas stood sighing on his soapbox. Every method he tried to hush the chatter was to no avail, and there was no wonder why. Sergeant Makoto Ogawa had been the subject of all the speculations and most of the opinions floating around town since the old man had died that previous autumn, and since his will was read.
What became of the old man's fortune remained unknown, but his property was bequeathed on a complete stranger to the entire town. There were tones of jealousy, leading to contemplations as to why the old man would choose Makoto over anyone else. Basil could've done a good job with it, as Anna thought, but Basil wasn't hung up over it. Gotz and Zack both had the muscle for farm work, Zack also with a great eye for crops, but they were lucky they could tell a sheep from a cow. People even considered Barley as a qualified heir to the farm, but the arthritic man wasn't up to dedicating himself to the arduous task.
Some people didn't object to a complete stranger moving into town. They knew the prospective farmer would have to be a hard worker anyway, since he would have to earn enough to make the house suitable for wild animals at the least.
So the clamor continued, until Thomas pulled an airhorn out from the podium and slammed on the buzzer. Finally, the simultaneous scraping of chairs across the floor signified that everyone noticed that Mayor Thomas was standing on his soapbox. He cleared his throat and mumbled a "That's better".
A few stifled coughs still hovered for a moment after that, and just as Thomas had his mouth open to start, Officer Harris let loose a roaring sneeze. There were a couple of chuckles and snickers after that, and Thomas slumped his shoulders, feeling like he was dealing with a lot of school kids. He quickly straightened out again, clearing his throat.
"NOW THEN," Thomas deliberately spoke loudly, but the screech the microphone produced did the job of hushing the townsfolk." You might've all heard this already, but Sergeant Makoto Ogawa has finally arrived."
He went on, and Popuri leaned in to face the other girls sitting with her at the table.
"I've been dying to see him!" she said in a whisper bubbling with excitement. Rick immediately frowned and groaned his sister's name, sitting half-turned to her from the next table. The other girls couldn't help but admit they were curious about this stranger in the past, but they still had their reservations.
"Hmm... I don't know..." Elli pondered. "He could be way older than us for all we know."
"I thought you liked older guys," Karen said, feigning a breezy manner. Elli faced her with her glare, but that dissolved into crimson embarrassment once she turned away. She could brush off Karen, but Popuri had caught everyone's attention. Her face was redder.
"No, Popuri, I'm not telling you if he was..." The Mayor was fumbling for the word. "'hot', as you kids say these days," he said, oblivious to the working microphone sitting in front of him. "You'll have to find that out for yourself."
Karen and Ann were rolling together with laughter, and the mortified Popuri's only defense was to scrunch up her nose in disgust.
"Ooooh!" she started in a trembling moan. "You guys make me so mad!"
Mary's eyes ping-ponged back and forth, watching from behind her sinking glasses as Karen and Ann exchanged catty remarks and hisses with Popuri. Even Elli participated with a tone of indifference.
"Jeez... you guys can fight when we get out of here."
The decibel level of each volley steadily rose, until the Mayor's speech was perceived as nothing more than a muted trumpet cruising on its lower-mid range by the rest of the townsfolk. By that point, Elli had given up, and Mary was stealing peeks at the exit. The Mayor didn't know how to cut through the divided attention with any effect.
"Can... can we at least agree on a pact?" he murmured into the microphone.
"But I don't CARE if it was a pact!" Duke roared from the tips of his toes, heavy emphasis on each syllable. "This goes TOO FAR!!"
Mayor Thomas once again assumed his position leveled on his soapbox, his mouth agape and his thoughts hampered. The people close enough to him were debating amongst each other in hushed and concerned voices, some able to discern tears in his eyes.
"Makoto's a good kid... Makoto's a good kid..." he repeated in a phlegm-ridden voice under his trembling breath, all while Duke's tirade rang through the air and ossified in the minds of the townsfolk.
"I'm just scared what he might do next," Jeff admitted in a hushed voice, clenching the table.
"I didn't trust him at first, and I don't trust him now," Anna said haughtily, enticing a nod from Basil.
"HE ATTACKS ME! HE ROBS MY WINERY! HE PUBLICLY INSULTS ME! HE SHOWS COMPLETE DISRESPECT FOR THE REST OF US!!" Duke continued to roar.
No one in the Inn would be courageous enough to stand up to him.
"That's not the way to do it, Duke!" Elli shouted from the doorway. Everyone's attention snapped to her and Cliff, standing in the doorway. Cliff finished wrapping the snap around the umbrella Elli took with her soon enough to exchange upset glares with the discontent villagers.
-----
Nighttime was falling, and the winding trails of Mother's Hill had long since turned up under Makoto's muddy boots. In spite of all the danger and the undercurrent of ominous, chilling zephyrs, the thought of Elli being near again sprang into Makoto's mind once he touched soil on Strawberry Fields.
"The old man's farm," Aja half sighed, weakly craning her head to get the best view she could. Makoto nodded, passing the chicken coop. He noticed that someone had harvested the apples from the nearby tree, knowing exactly who did it.
Someone else was at his farm too. Makoto gave a passing glance to the note Gotz had taped onto his new door, unconsciously picking up the message that his house was ready for him to live in again. The first thing he noticed upon bursting inside was the new, unfinished leg for the piano Gotz managed to fit. The wall along the left was entirely rebuilt, and Gotz took the liberty of adding an island counter and overhead cabinets in the space next to the sink.
Looking down at Aja, Makoto said:
"You can make yourself comfortable. I gotta find out what's going on."
He burst into his bedroom and placed Aja into the bed with one movement. The bedroom was still the little hole in the wall it always was, and just as soon as Makoto spun around through the doorway, he felt Aja grip the back of his sweater.
"Where are you going?" she asked, and Makoto turned to face her. Their eyes met, and Aja wanted to look into Makoto's for as long as she could.
Makoto shook his head, saying "I'll be back." before dashing back out of the room. He didn't even look behind him to see if his front door had shut, and nearly took half of the porch steps with his huge feet on the way down.
He knew exactly what he wanted to say, passing the blacksmith, winery, and library without a glance. Elli's house was straight ahead, and if Makoto didn't stop soon enough, he would have crashed through the front door.
Instead, he took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. He heard a pair of tiny feet scuttling to the door, and Stu yelling "I got it, Grandma!" before the seven-year-old pulled the door open. He looked up at Makoto with vexed eyes, groaning.
"Ugh, you! My sister's not even home!"
Makoto arched an eyebrow.
"Umm... do you know where she is?"
Just as Stu shrugged and Makoto was half ready run back outside, Ellen had hobbled over to the foyer.
"She went to the town meeting, dearie," she said endearingly, rubbing Makoto's icy cheek as he nodded.
"Thanks, Ellen," Makoto told her. "I've gotta find her now."
He turned to leave, but before he was gone, Ellen called him.
"Call me 'Grandma' from now on, Makoto!"
Makoto turned over his shoulder, nodding warmly.
------
Duke had lowered his voice considerably, but his whole face and neck was just as red as ever. He stood facing off across from Elli, who still stood at the entrance with Cliff.
"Well, you can object all you want to!" he shouted across the room, his voice echoing.
"Yeah!" Manna squawked, jumping up to her feet to stand at Duke's side. "Everyone in town knows you just want to keep him around for yourself! No one in their right mind would want that psycho in town!"
"Quiet, woman!" Duke hissed, motioning to Manna. The woman frowned, sinking back into her seat. He cleared his throat and continued. "Like I said, everyone in town knows you just want to keep him around for yourself! No one in their right mind would want that... de-gen-er-eight... in town."
"Degenerate, Duke," Elli corrected with a slight eye roll, folding her arms. "But anyway, what you don't even realize is that the old man wanted Makoto as the heir to his farm for a reason." She paused, shaking her head. "I thought we trusted the old man, and loved him. This isn't the way to honor him."
"I'm afraid she's right, Duke," came a voice from behind Elli. Once again, everyone's eye turned to the meeting crasher, and this time, it was Makoto.
Elli gave a sigh of relief, staring up at him. But he passed her, calmly striding up to Duke and glaring into the man's beady eyes.
"I'm here for three years, hate it or hate it," Makoto continued in a rumbling voice that was low and intense. He kept his hands at his sides as he spoke, barely leaning in. "I want to better myself, and work on the old man's farm. I killed someone in the past, but I will not let that leave me hung up about living now anymore. And I don't care if you, or anyone, or everyone is against me. I have a farm to restore."
He left Duke and everyone else at the Inn on that note, not even giving a passing glance as he exited. Nobody else had anything to say, and most of them were still gagging on the shock.
Mayor Thomas broke the silence.
"Does that mean we can all go home now?" he asked into the microphone.
"NO!!" Duke roared, turning to the rest of the town. "WHOEVER WANTS HIM OUT, FOLLOW ME TO STRAWBERRY FIELDS!!"
That got everyone to jump out of their seats, even those who didn't want Makoto to leave, and they all began pouring out of the Inn. Arguments flew back and forth amongst the crowd, and about half the town tried to no avail to stop those intent on driving Makoto out of town.
Makoto peered down from a high tree branch, watching them march off to Strawberry Fields with wide eyes. Finally he noticed Elli, and when she was near enough without anyone else looking, he flipped over the branch and landed on the ground.
"Follow me," he whispered, taking her as quietly as possible out of view of the town square. Once they were out of sight and an earshot, Elli spoke up.
"Case you haven't noticed, you have an angry mob heading for you farm."
"They'll tire out and go to bed soon," Makoto promptly replied.
"Yeah, there's not much they can do anyway," Elli agreed.
"I'm not even at my farm," Makoto said with a nod.
Elli nodded too, and without another word, threw her arms around his waist and rubbed her head on his chest.
"Makoto, I was so worried about you!" she told him. Makoto nodded, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her head.
"I'm sorry I left you," he replied. They shifted around, holding each other closer. Elli looked up at him, and for a brief time, Makoto backed slightly away from her long enough to meet her advance.
The feeling had to travel to the base of the spine before electrifying the brain, and suddenly there was no furious mob stampeding Strawberry Fields, nor did the air feel cold at all. When they broke away, the tingling sensation still buzzed on their lips. They half-smiled at each other, and Makoto said:
"And I won't do it again. I like you too much."
In the end, it was Duke, Manna, Anna, Saibara, and Ann storming Strawberry Fields. The mob's chanting bored into Aja's mind, and whether she hid under the covers or not, she couldn't escape it. The villagers knew they couldn't get Makoto to leave, but they had no other means of expressing their fury and loathing for him. Mayor Thomas would no longer listen to them.
Aja curled up in a fetal position under the covers, yanking the blanket over her head. It seemed the chanting would never stop, even through the moment Duke's voice rang up over the crowd.
"YOU DISGUST US!!"
The wall was the only thing to give anything near condolence. But the chanting was fizzling out, and Aja poked her head out of the blanket.
An apparition had caught someone's eye, and people were turning one by one to see if they could discern it. One by one, they met eyes burning with disgust. He clenched his teeth and block-like fists, and still towered over the villagers.
"I-It's the old man!" Manna sputtered. She was gone the next split second, leaving the foursome to quake miles below at his feet.
"I was right. By the time I got back to Strawberry Fields, everyone else had cleared out. Anyway, I'm the luckiest guy in the universe, and I don't care how cheesy that sounds."
-From Makoto's Journal
Makoto was brimming with poker-faced ecstasy right through the moment he collapsed onto his couch and zoomed off to a sweet dream.
------
Shout-outs!
...- Thanks for pointing out the error in the last chapter. I must be beaten for every one from now on. Thanks for reading!
pvc- Yay! New readers! You know, I'm amazed that someone actually hated Makoto... that's a first! When I first started writing this, I was wondering how readers would receive Makoto. Thanks for reading!
Rage Aomori- More new readers! Moo? Moo? Awww... it's heartwarming. Thanks for reading!
Lemurian 04- More new readers! Wow... are you sure? Anyway, thanks for reading!
azn anime addict47- And then I got a psuedo-writer's block. Or maybe an editing block. I was nervous about this chap either way. Thanks for reading!
Quack-Wabbit- Hmmm... ever since I picked up AWL and FoMT, all that mentioning of going from one town to the other and whatnot (too early for me), I thought that there was more. Maybe it's a really big island. I have no idea. Then again, I'm geographically challenged. I can't even navigate the supermarket after working there since August. Oh, and Kai is so totally hotter. Thanks for reading!
anime26angel- Wow... I'm really bad. I forgot to write you a shout-out. That's terrible of me. ;;''' But I knew you'd be happy at least with the ending.
Zinovia- New readers! Well, one prediction was right. I'm sure Rick would dance at some point. (The Milkshake?), but lesbian chickens? Ahh, well, I've heard of lesbian seagulls. Thanks for reading!
Ferocious Death-Kappa- Of course, thanks for being my partner-in-crime/beta reader.