#mark tag

The Philadelphia Flyers; time loops, curses, loving and chronic repetition

for: @celbrini

did we make a gift based solely on words and reading for the most dyslexic person we know? yes. but it was done out of love. kyle, our friend and beloved, happy birthday. me and markus @russilton think you're pretty neat, in case you haven't realised by this giant fucking thing we made for you.

if you don’t know who you are your story cannot be pronounced — excerpt from 'on naming yourself (a cento)' by jamila woods

TWs: OCs, tooth rotting fluff and references to depression, violence and other fics, minor profanity and mentioned Candybats. Also Streber's dead in this one.

Patty didn't understand why Lila wanted to go outside in the backyard and look at the stars. But she didn't see the purpose of arguing against it or anything. Patty wasn't super interested in looking at the night sky and seeing what pale dots from far away were positioned. She was more interested in what was on earth more than whatever was outside the Earth.

But Lila really wanted to spend some time with her after how extremely busy they were recently with their jobs and Skid and that one incident where Lila got her skull busted open for getting into a fight with a completely insane homophobic stalker. And Patty really wanted to spend a lot more time with the new little family she had here as well. Patty felt completely drained and all she wanted to do was be with her lavender haired girlfriend and spend some time doing something memorable more than anything else.

Everything felt amazing when Lila was around. Whenever Patty had a terrible day at work, she was there to make the end of the day a little better. Whenever something strange happened, Lila was there to help Patty deal with it in some way. And even when she was not prepared Patty would fight tooth and nail if she had to so she was safe. Being close to Lila in any way was beautiful, from touching her hands or cuddling on lazy mornings or nights. Lila brought some joy in Patty's life that made things better. Even Patty's relationship with both of the costumed spooky kids was way better than before. Patty could easily see why Skid was Lila's son, she could see the similarities between the two.

So when Lila asked Patty if she wanted to do that this weekend Patty didn't even have a second thought when she said yes. She even agreed to invite others to the house for it. Both women knew more than anything that Skid definitely would have wanted Pump around, and Patty knew pretty well she had a community of people that would have wanted to go and be here too. Especially very close friends and coworkers.

They made several precautions before then, they cooked enough food to feed at least twenty people. They set up some blankets in the backyard and they sent all the people they knew a call that it was going to happen. They even had a baseball bat on standby in case someone or something decided to attack them. Patty knew she was now a cop and had her service gun but she was still cautious of all of it.

Eventually at around eight PM, the dark night sky was in full force now and Skid was running around with Pump who somehow snuck in an hour ago. Patty had to call the wonder house and ask what to do since she didn't deal with Pump before. He was allowed to stay for three hours or earlier according to Susie, which Patty agreed to. Patty promised they'll keep him safe too, which Susie already knew. Patty was in the front door, watching for anyone to really show up. It felt like the right time for people to show up, it was the scheduled time after all, she made that very clear.

Lila walked over to Patty, wearing a purple hoodie she got since college and never worn in a long while and cargo pants. She checked on her phone for a little bit before she looked at Patty, which gained Patty's attention really quick.

"I got some texts, Jaune and Aaron won't be going. They're going to visit Carmen and Richard tonight. I don't know why though," Lila said.

"It's because all four of them are massively in love with each other and have something going on that I will never understand," Patty replied, leaning against the door. "John and Jack are not coming either, they have things to do. I'm surprised I got the day off out of all the people in the station,"

"I don't know either honey, wait..." Lila's eyes squinted a little bit as she pointed at Patty. "What about Ben then? Is he going to show up?! He didn't respond to any of our texts. And we all know he and John are usually very stay at home,"

"Beats me, he's probably out there doing some crazy shit that involves getting into some sort of physical pain," Patty said. "I wonder how he's still even alive,"

At that moment the door rang and then came in Ben, he looked pretty fine and cleaned up besides the obvious bandage around his head stained with his own blood. He smiled wide as he handed Patty a pizza he definitely made by himself before laughing.

"Hello ladies!" He said in a terrible Johnny Bravo voice impression. Lila and Patty both stared at him wide eyed as he closed the door and high fived both of them. "Sorry I was late, I had to drop off my nephew and then I had to save some guy from a vampire using piledrivers and barbed wire covered baseball bats. Y'know, the usually. I got the teeth from the sucker I killed too! I should probably show you before I leave,"

"Ben, it's literally eight on the dot, you're in time," Patty said. "You're not late at all,"

"Why are you bleeding?!" Lila asked, voice sounding a little worried.

Ben just gave Lila a stare like she just told him the earth was flat and then just said, "Oh I got my skull cracked open again. It's fine though, it'll heal in a week. It's been the forty fifth one I got in my life. So I'm not totally freaked out,"

"Ben," Patty said. "How are you not a vegetable by this point?!"

"I'm too hyper and crazy to be one," Ben replied.

"Ok," Patty said, not even bothering to argue or anything. "Just go to the backyard and please for the love of all that's holy don't light anything on fire like last time. I know you needed that to deal with the wendigo but you almost burned down the house and our son was thinking of committing arson without knowing it for a week,"

"I promise I'll not bring any flammable liquid for now on then deputy!" Ben said saluting to Patty and running over to Skid and Pump shouting "Hey kids! Want to see some real vampire teeth while we wait for everyone!"

Skid and Pump immediately both yelled out "Yeah," followed by a "YAY!" And the three were preoccupied outside. Lila looked at Patty and they both chuckled a little bit, enjoying the moment. Ben was a CRAZY guy sure but... He was very nice despite that. They both would trust him with children, as long as he didn't set anything on fire to hit someone with before suplexing them in the ground or giving anyone who breathes stunners. Patty still remembered all the times with Evermore, or when they were in the worst college campus ever. Or a million other instances that both Patty and Lila saw.

After a few minutes since Ben went in and began hanging out with Skid and Pump. The doorbell rang again and Patty answered for their last house guest for tonight. Patty was speechless when she saw her friend Mark, manager of the local CandyClub and was tired as Patty but somehow still acted polite and social around strangers along with... That candy kid that got into slight trouble with Jack and John before. And just like those times the candy kid was freaking out like he was seeing the rapture happen in front of his eyes. He was sweating all over and looking around while Mark was just giving Patty an equally confused look.

Mark was wearing the usual brown slightly baggy cargo pants and black hoodie while the candy kid was wearing a tee shirt that said "I can't catch a break and I want to die" and was pulling his hair. Lila frowned and immediately went to check on the candy kid, asking concerned questions and escorting him to get some coffee.

"Is it ok if we let him in babe?" Lila asked, pointing at the candy kid who was calming down to an incredible degree. He seemed to relax when he was in another person's house. "I've seen him before, he's a really nice young man,"

"Thanks, I appreciate it," muttered the candy kid, frowning when he saw Skid and Pump.

"Patty said I could take a guest with me here if I wanted to," Mark added, just for clarification. "I decided to bring the best employee to my place of work because well... He's been through a rough time recently and I wanted to cheer him up a little bit,"

Patty nodded to Lila, "Of course. Just make sure he's not like doing something he shouldn't be doing. Which I assume he's not, I hear our son talk a lot about him and how cool of a guy he is,"

Patty looked at the candy kid who immediately looked away. Patty understood why he reacted like that but still felt a little saddened by it. She understood cops were not perfect but the police department in this town was pretty good (if you ignore Captain, Shotgun Man and ESPECIALLY that one cop who never died) despite the fact this town's still very crime ridden. Once Lila brought the candy kid to the kitchen where everything from meals to snacks to desserts and drinks were all put neatly on a counter. Patty turned to Mark and sighed while Mark just tilted his head in response.

"I should have told you this in the original text message, but you should have told me who you were bringing with you in here before coming in," Patty said.

"I know, I wanted to but I was busy with a lot of things, including Kevin," Mark said, pointing at the candy kid. Patty was surprised that the candy kid even had a name for some reason. "He's been losing his mind ever since his theater kid boyfriend who dressed up as a vampire is y'know,"

Mark did a slit throat gesture with his thumb. Patty nodded a little bit as both gave Kevin a quick glance. He was doing better, albeit still very paranoid.

"I'm sorry about that, I'm a dumbass sometimes," Mark said.

"I don't think you should be calling yourself that," Patty said.

"People tell me that all the time, I find it hard to listen though," Mark said before he walked over.

Patty didn't continue the conversation further. She just closed the front door and then followed Mark over, ready to see some stars. Even if she wasn't super into outer space as a whole.

After about half an hour, everyone was set up and seeing stars. They were scattered across the sky, all some bizarre shades of blue. All of them seeming a little enticing, a little more than regular stars. Like they would brainwash you if given the chance. Silence was apparent, no one spoke. Not even Skid and Pump, who were just staring at each of them with great interest.

Ben was passed out after drinking some beer, for some reason Lila had a spare six pack from Jaune and Ben took it. Luckily it didn't affect anyone, and for some reason everyone knew that Ben wouldn't hurt anyone. Not even when drunk, the man was more durable than anyone gave him credit for.

Kevin/the candy kid was drinking some hot cocoa Lila made while sitting on a blanket. Mark stood a few feet from him, leaning against the fence and listening to the System Of A Down album known as Hypnotize in his headphones as he looked at them with a neutral expression. Neither of them made a sound besides that, they were just staring at it, thinking of the wonder in there.

As for Patty and Lila, they were both on the blanket in the middle of all the others. They were both holding each other in a large blue and purple blanket Ben out of all people made for them by himself. Patty was holding Lila in her arms as Lila clung to her while laying down on Patty's lap back first. Patty looked at the stars, trying to fight the urge to sleep as Lila talked about zodiac signs and stars and the overall interesting facts about the greater cosmos. It was mostly things Patty was probably not going to remember besides anything connected to Greek mythology. But it was nice just to hear Lila's voice talk about... Well anything really.

Lila's voice was just the nicest sounding thing in Patty's mind. No wonder why I'm trying to keep myself from sleeping, Patty thought to herself. I'm listening to the voice of an angel in the flesh, at least my angel.

"Pretty nice stars right?" Lila muttered tiredly. "I can't count the times I've seen them and just loved them. They've always had a special place in my heart,"

"Yeah... I can see that," Patty muttered before looking down at Lila. Lila smiled as Patty impulsively closed her eyes and kissed Lila on the cheeks and moved on to her forehead. "They're not as pretty as you,"

"That's not true at all, I'm not as bright as them,"

"Your personality is way brighter then them though. That's not going to change y'know?"

"I love you Patty,"

"I love you too Lila,"