Was getting us into trouble worth it? Because it doesn’t seem like it was, in my opinion.

Timeline/World: Story – What?
Current Date: September 30, 2022

Character: Cody Taggart
Race: Human
Age: 32
Current residence: Lake Charles, Louisiana
 

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Since we moved here years back, Aidan hasn’t really had to play shining knight in armour to anyone that I can really think of. We’ve turned that need to protect and keep others safe in fostering and we still do. We still foster kittens as they need and, since our first set, we’ve actually ended up adopting two. They were from two different fostering moments, but they got along superbly well.

Earlier this year, as we were doing our yearly cleaning—yeah, I know, doing our clean-up in autumn instead of spring, what a pair of weirdos—we located some of our older photo albums and yeah, we let ourselves be swept up into looking at them. It delayed the cleaning for half a day, but I think it was worth it.

It’s not that we don’t locate this album every year, but there are times when we clean up and we’ll look at things that we haven’t really touched in a long time and we’ll put them away, then, the following year, we’ll be looking through old boxes, find those things and ask ourselves if we’re leaving them in the boxes or taking them out again. As far as photo albums are concerned, we never really throw those out, but we’ve thrown out old trinkets and things that we felt no real connection to anymore in this way.

This album was fairly old in itself. It was a joint album we’d put together after we started to be serious about our dating, photos of us as kids, photos of us as teenagers, together, alone, with separate friends though Aidan had more of those than I ever did since I was so self-conscious. I’m sure that a lot of people out there would be shaking their heads at the idea of joining baby and childhood pictures in the same album as your spouse. So many people separate or divorce, then you have to split everything back up, go through bad memories and the rest.

The thing is, though, I’m not worried about that happening, so it’s fine. I mean, it could. There’s that whole never-say-never thing that some people go by, but we grew up together, he got me out of trouble a few times, I got him fixed up when he’d show up in my apartment all beaten up because he’d stepped in to help someone else, always being that beautiful shining knight.

We’ve had our ups and downs, but our pathways remain together.

As we look through the old photos, we’re reminded of things we’d mostly left behind. At least, since we moved away from where we’d grown up, several states away, and then here. We still keep up with our families, we visit a couple of times a year, but I don’t think that either one of us misses the old place.

It was a bad neighbourhood, I’m sure this is why Aidan turned out the way he did. Protecting his friends, protecting those he saw as innocent and helpless, protecting me as the need arose. He didn’t come home battered often but when he did, it was to my door and I’m the one who fixed him up because it seemed to be the way we were. It seemed to be the way we were doing things, especially after we’d moved out of our parents’ places.

I was there, now and again, the following morning when he’d check in on the people he’d helped. Most of the time, it was just a quiet little moment to see if they were all right, but there were other times when he was angry because things had really turned out bad and he’d get on their cases. Asking them if getting everyone into trouble had been worth it because he sure as hell didn’t seem to have been, in his opinion.

People respected him. The ones who didn’t know him couldn’t understand it, but the ones who did, fell into two categories. The ones who steered clear of him, and the ones who were happy to see him when he was around. I don’t know how he managed to keep up with it all through the years, to me, it felt like it could have turned out just so exhausting, in the end.

Since we’ve been here, that hasn’t really been a thing. We do have a few friends, people we see a bit more often than others, but it seems as though, as adults, we get into less trouble than we used to as kids. I know that this is possibly just to do with us because I know that certain adults will get into even more trouble than they might have ever done so before in their lives.

The photo album? In the long run, it still went back into the box. We don’t really need to sit down and coo over these old photos often, once in a blue moon is more than enough. We did finish our yearly cleaning within the scheduled time we’d set for ourselves, so I was happy about that.

Final Word Count: 851

Sometimes I watch the two of you do something terrible and ask myself why I didn’t stop you, but then I’d have to admit I actually look forward to seeing what happens.

 
Timeline/World: Story – What?
Characters: Cody Taggart
Race: Human
Age: 31
Current residence: Lake Charles, Louisiana
Final Word Count: 751 words
 

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For a short while, we fostered puppies. We realized, a few months down the road, that puppies were more than we actually really had time to deal with so when the pair were finally taken in for adoption, we stepped out of the group for a while. It’s only earlier this year that we offered to foster kittens and those, on the other hand, turned out to be easier.

Not because they require less care, though in a way they do, but because it was easier for both of us to not have to remember to take the pups out every so often because they needed to, we didn’t need to go on walks with them, we didn’t need to make sure to play hard with them every night to tire them out so they’d sleep through the night.

The cats don’t need to go outside, we clean the litter box every day, we fill their food and water bowl every morning. We play with them once a day because it feels natural and not because we have to tire them out. They do climb to places the puppies never had but we’ve adapted to that and they’re precious things. It’s always sad when we see them go and we’ve considered adopting a couple.

I still remember the first week with the dogs, though. I think we were both sort of enamoured because it was something new and sure, they were adorable, but it became clear that the middle-of-the-night wake-ups to let them out got tiring fast. Of course, within about three weeks, they slept through their nights but the idea of having to do that all over again with new dogs is another one of the reasons why we switched to cats.

We’d watch them play tug of war with toys and it was cute, we’d watch them dig in the yard and, I’ll admit, I let them do it because I figured that I wanted to know what they’d find. I knew that it wasn’t a good idea, neither one of us really wanted to have to patch up holes but the first time or two that they did dig, and we let them, they’d found old things—safe things—buried not too deep on the property. I still don’t know how they managed that, but they did.

After that, though, we had to keep a vigilant eye on them because they’d start digging around the fence areas and just, we couldn’t let them do that. We started having to keep them on long leashes. They still had all the freedom of roaming the yard but when we found them doing something they weren’t supposed to, we’d give them a tug and they’d stop. They wouldn’t come back but, after a few weeks, that became a learned habit, too.

I think, at least for me, what really changed my mind, was the one day that we found them digging up the flower beds. Now, they were not expansive flower beds but we’d both worked really hard on them, and they’d started blooming. We’d taken our eyes off of them for a minute, discussing the fact that we needed to change the clothesline as it was getting old.

It was a minute too long and when we both tugged them back in, they were muddy, and the flower beds were mostly ruined. Mind you, we didn’t just decide to bring them back to the shelter, we were fostering them, and it was for a good cause but, thankfully, they adopted—together—about a week after the flower mishap.

It took us an hour, almost two, to take everything apart. Most of the flowers had been trampled and were broken, the rest had been either chewed or ripped out. It still was late in the spring, so we took a chance, and we seeded the garden all over again. We’d grown everything from seeds, after all. It was cheaper than buying the plants themselves and it just felt like work better done.

We still get a small bit of a garden going while summer was in full swing, but it wasn’t much of anything. This year, we got everything started inside and early, in a separate room where none of the cats had access and I can happily admit that it was a success. The whole garden was bright with colours, and it felt good to be able to have all those flowers growing and blooming and all of it from seeds.

Wow, both of you need to chill. Literally—take yourselves outside and think about what you’ve done.

 
Timeline/World: Story – What?
Characters: Cody Taggart
Race: Human
Age: 30
Final Word Count: 735 words
 

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I never thought I’d be a witness to someone’s wedding—even just the kind in front of the Justice of the Peace. Though, in a way, I suppose it makes sense. We’d asked the pair to be our witnesses in the same situation just the year before. It mostly came by as unexpected for us because we hadn’t even heard about them dating and yet, here they were tying the knot. Aidan told me, as we were driving over, that he suspected it was more out of need—insurance—than love but I couldn’t fault them, she was pretty sick, he had good insurance and they were childhood friends, so why not?

For the most part, the little thing was quickly set up and done with. No fancy or anything. It resembled Aidan’s and my own quick ceremony though we had a gathering after we’d gone home as a small celebration. In their case, they did not but that might also have had with the fact that she was due another treatment at the hospital. I believe she still looked pretty radiant in her pale summer dressed and small bouquet of flowers.

What turned out to not be okay was the pair of his older sisters. Two grown-ass adults who whisper-complained and whined, bitched and muttered throughout the whole ceremony. At one point, I could see Aidan twitch at the need to get these two to get out but we were both up front near the pair and we couldn’t really do anything about it.

Once the Justice was done, the pair up front shared a tender embrace—no kiss but it could have had to do with her health—and the few others in with us cheered. Except for his sisters.

Man, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Aidan pissed off but he quietly stalked over to them and I sort of tagged along mostly to keep him level. Not that he needs me for that, not really, but I still wanted to be near him.

He kept his voice low, but he told the two witches—to not use an uglier word—that they needed to chill. Leave it to him to keep his words as civil as possible. He went on to tell them that they seriously needed to step the hell outside to think about what they’d done during the small ceremony. That if they couldn’t accept that ‘their baby’ was marrying some, they very well could just have not come.

As I understand it, his sisters helped to raise him; their parents were never around much so I can understand that they would feel protective of him but to go as far as join in on a near private ceremony just to bitch and complain—even under their breath—through it all is an immature reaction to things.

Both of them stood their ground for all of a minute before they were storming out of their seats and the room. I had to fight with myself to not smile. Aidan seemed to have that effect on people. He hadn’t done or said anything threatening, he’d just told them to cut their shit out, in the end. One of them was in such a rush to get out from under his glaring gaze that she nearly tripped on the chair legs as she was doing what she can to get up and out of the way.

Once they’d both left, we joined the pair and the others up front. We were told that they had to get back to the hospital for her next treatment and we just sort of bid them good luck.

As we’ve last heard, and it breaks my heart, her health as not improved and the doctors are only giving her a few months left to live, at the most. Though she’d been given a similar diagnostic as a child and yet, she’d lived this long. I want to believe that, in some way, she’ll win this fight against the sickness and live a long, fulfilling life but, as I know it, this time, the sickness is a much more aggressive strain and it’s just, it’s not looking good. Marriage of convenience or not, they still grew up together and even if they do not love one another in a romantic way, I know they still love one another and her passing will hurt.

Who was there that night?

 
Timeline/World: Story – What?
Characters: Cody Taggart
Race: Human
Age: 29
Final Word Count: 611 words
 

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A lot of people mistake possession for love. When you want to possess someone, it’s very rare you love them. Love is actually pretty rare. It’s a sharing of everything, it’s a trusting of the other, it’s… well it’s a lot of things. Possession is a lot of things too but most of them aren’t so good. Arguing about who gets to watch what, wanting to know where that person is at all times, not being open about that person spending time with their friends, there’s just so much.

One particular friend, though she’s a closer friend to Aidan than she is mine but we still hang out at times, just got out of a possessive relationship and she’s currently staying at the women’s shelter because that’s the kind of guy her ex was. What I know of it is that she shared his apartment over the last few months, he asked her to move out of her own and in with him a couple of weeks after they first met. If it were me, that would have been the first red flag but it’s not me, so I guess I don’t really get a say, do I?

Because really, who moves in with someone they haven’t known for much more than a couple of weeks?

It was in the little things he did though. He didn’t really like her spending time with any guy friends she had and she’s always been one of the boys more than one of the girls, so that was an issue too. That particular ‘request’ of his cut her off from most of her guy friends. Nearly all of them but Aidan, to be honest. When she’d leave to go somewhere, she had to tell him exactly where she was going, how long she would be gone and if she were to be gone for more than an hour, she had to text him every hour to let him know how things were going.

She never really mentioned it though, not openly. It was the last time she spent time with us though, she stayed with us for about three hours, they were playing video games and I was watching them because games are more his thing than mine but I still love watching him, and her phone buzzed once after about half an hour… a second time half an hour later and after that, texts were just constantly coming in and she was ignoring it but she looked close to tears.

As it turns out, what we did learn the following day while she hid out at our place, waiting for him to vacate the apartment so she could get her things and essentially flee, was that she’d told him one thing—that she’d be spending the evening with some girlfriends—and that she’d done another clearly since she was with us. The issue is that he called said girlfriends, somehow finding their phone number and not a single one of them knew where she was. So, of course, he started blowing up her phone with constant text messages.

It was an ugly week or so of her hiding out wherever she could while waiting for him to get out of the apartment so she could pack her things. Aidan went with her every time because that’s just who he is.

She’s spending her time at the women’s shelter for the time being while she’s trying to find a place to live and get the cops to agree to file in that restraining order she rather badly needs. I do hope it all works out for her though, I do. The guy’s an arse.

The last thing I want to do is meet your parents, honestly.

Timeline/World: Story: What?
Characters: Cody Taggart
Race: Human
Age: 27
Final Word Count: 595 words

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Cue warning bells and pop up lit up signs that are all telling me this is a terrible idea. It was a terrible idea back then and I’d been too blind to see.

I’ve always been a little shy about letting people know I was gay. It wasn’t really a good thing back then and we didn’t live in a great neighbourhood.

So when I’d found a boyfriend at the time, though I knew a few people didn’t care much for him, and felt ready to introduce him finally to my parents who had been pretty supportive of me, I’d expected him to go ahead with the idea but he backed out. Told me it was the last thing he wanted, it broke my heart. I should have known right there and then that something was wrong but I didn’t want to see it.

I was in love; I thought I’d spend the rest of my life with this guy. I really should have known better even Aidan was uncomfortable around him and Aidan’s always been the neighbourhood’s knight, he stands up to bullies, doesn’t let anyone bother him or anyone else, he was perfect and my oldest friend. I’d always been fond of him but I’d been of the mind that he was that, my oldest friend and I couldn’t recall him ever having shown any sort of interest in me. So I went for second best.

Second best broke my heart, my arm and bruised several ribs. It was the first and only last relationship I ever had until Aidan and I talked things over, realized what we both felt for one another and decided to give it a try. Best decision ever, of course. The ring on my finger is all the proof I need that this is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

Aidan had already met my parents, we’d lived in the same building while growing up and had been babysat by one and the other times and again, they loved him, they almost sang his praises, really! So when I timidly approached him about telling our parents about us, he just grinned at me and told me it was the perfect idea, that he’d been thinking about it too but was remembering how that situation had last worked out for me. So yes, I was uncomfortable with the idea but I knew he’d stay by my side and he did. We stood literally side by side when we told my parents and his, over dinner at our place. We’d found a small little apartment just a few months back and everyone just thought we were two roomies sharing the cost of rent. It had been the plan at first but it had just worked out in the best of ways in the end.

Our parents were receptive, they were elated, actually. They were even more elated when we told them, three years later, that we were engaged. We haven’t tied the knot yet, we’re in no rush though we’ve discussed it, and I think it’s going to happen soon. I’m looking forward to it, not that it changes the way I feel about him or he feels about me, it really is just a small bit of paper that ties us together but we know it’ll make our lives easier as far as several small little things are concerned, it might be the only reason we’re moving forward with the whole thing.

He’s mine, I’m his. End of the story, happily ever after for the most part.

What? v1.0 – scene 1

The week had been unusually quiet in the neighborhood. That might have had to do with Aidan’s return however. Aidan was something of the neighborhood’s knight, when he was around, the so-called bad guys’ were normally calmer, they didn’t go out of their way to look for trouble. So when his friend had had to leave for some trip he didn’t have any details about, hell had broken loose. It wasn’t that they couldn’t defend themselves when the young man wasn’t there, it simply seemed as if the number of troublemakers doubled and there was nothing any of them could do. They were outnumbered and some could say outsmarted.

Cody was more than a little pleased that his friend had come home from his trip, the past month had been like hell and the young healer, if such a term could be used, had been stretched thin. There had been more emergencies than he had cared to think about and many had come to his door seeking his help. He never had turned anyone down and for most of the past four weeks he had slept on his couch because someone or multiple someones were sleeping on his bed, recovering from one thing or another.