I think something important to recall is how digestive issues are a major health problem and a disability. They usually come with chronic pain, difficulty absorbing nutrients, major life style changes, diets, difficulty to find places to eat, mental health issues and a risk of developing something else due to the chronic inflammation and low nutrients.
As someone who has IBS, bile reflux, chronic gastritis, has been on treatment for Helicobacter pylori, SIBO, might have food intolerances, and due to this all have struggled with low weight, anxiety, and now muscle and joint pain and tendinitis, I beg you to take people with digestive disabilities seriously.
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I decided that Knarrens would be based on birds of prey (or raptors as their called?). They're predatory birds, which works perfectly for them. I based Reflux on a Great Horned Owl! Now that I'm looking at it, he kinda looks like a yeti.
As for the other two designs, they are meant to be his outfit post-Rayman 3. André (somehow) manages to resurrect Reflux. André prepares to get his shit rocked for the complete failure of the plan, but Reflux actually decides to stay and fully side with the Hoodlums! It surprises André to know someone is willing to stay by his side and this and delights him! André makes these clothes as a gift to him :) (also because his last pair was pretty roughed up).
If I were to ever make Reflux's Leptys-empowered form (which I'll probably do down the line as I get better with monster designs), I'd like to imagine it'd dwell closer into an actual appearance of a Great Horned Owl, just EXTREMELY horrifying.
Violet watched as Prism, she recognised her from her steams on the internet, showed Lucius and her Dad around the SDN branch. Her Dad was fidgeting with his hands, something he only did when he was worried, which was most days.
“Hey.” A woman’s voice got her attention, making Violet look up, “You alright, kid?”
The woman had short black hair, black jeans, a black crop-top under a purple jacket.
“I-I’m fine.” Lied Violet, not wanting the stranger to know how scared she was.
“Okay.” Said the woman, before vanishing.
Violet blinked, before a loud thud made her turn around, seeing the same woman stagger back, holding her forehead.
“Okay, that was a dick move!” Yelled the woman, before she vanished as a portal opened and an empty beer can was thrown at where her head was.
“Your brother’s going to be fine.” Violet turned and looked at Robert, at Mecha Man, “We’ve got people we trust watching him and, even if he does have the issue that Track Star has, it’s early enough for us to figure out a fix.”
Violet gave him a meek nod, she knew that all her classmates, including Tony, would kill to have Mecha Man, the powerless Superhero, talk to them. But, with what Dash could be at risk of, she found it difficult, and having the urge to throw up wasn’t helping either.
“Your parents,” Said Robert, sitting down across from her, “said you have a few… problems.”
“L-like what?” Asked Violet, looking at the man.
“Your teachers have told them that you stutter,” Said Robert, “and your Mom has said that your force fields are hit a miss at times, especially if you’re feeling pressured. In fact, the only power you don’t have a problem with is turning invisible.”
“I-I j-just want t-to be normal.” Violet tried to sound less like herself, since this was Mecha Man she was talking to, the only hero with enough bravery to go out without powers and do the right thing.
“Violet,” Said Robert, “you are normal, having powers, not having powers, neither of those things choses what normal is. I’m going to tell you, what I told one of my team, you don’t have a stutter or a problem controlling your powers. You have a confidence issue.”
“H-how a-am I s-supposed to be con-confident w-when I-I’m l-like t-this?” Asked Violet, getting a sigh from Robert.
“Violet, to be confident, you need to be comfortable with yourself,” Said Robert, “so, I want you to tell me one thing that you want to do, that you’re scared of messing up.”
Violet blinked, before her mouth moved on its own, “Prism’s autograph.”
Robert froze, before slowly nodded, “Okay…, I thought it was going to be something a bit more risky, but, hey, Prism loves having her ego stroked.”
“Hey!” Prism called over from the other side of the floor, “Fuck you, Roberto!”
“She’s joking.” Said Robert, getting to his feet, “Alright, let’s—”
One of the computers started wailing, cutting Robert off. Obviously recognising the tone, Robert paled and bolted to the computer.
“W-what’s going on?” Asked Violet, as Prism rounded the office space and guided her out.
“Don’t worry about it.” Said Prism, obviously knowing what it was, “Let’s go to the gym and other recreational shit.”
Robert, now with Mandy and Brainbook joining him.
“Who is it?” Asked Mandy, as Brainbook looked over Robert’s shoulder.
“Waterboy,” Answered Robert, as Brainbook frowned, “his vitals just spiked, then they stopped.”
“They stabilised?” Asked Mandy, glancing at Robert.
“No,” Corrected Brainbook, “they stopped. As in, the monitoring system isn’t detecting anything to monitor.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.” Said Mandy, frowning.
“It’s the same thing that happened with Pom-Pom, Bullet Train, Quake and Inferno.” Said Robert, turning his chair around, “I’m going to check on Phenomaman, see if he can find Waterboy.”
“I’ll handle that,” Said Brainbook, “you keep trying his comm, the monitoring software could simply be damaged.”
Robert frowned, before nodding and turning back to the computer.
I
“Sweet Talker, Pom-Pom, Bullet Train, Thunderbolt, Echo, Quake, Inferno, Boomerang, Waterboy, and, now,” Robert tried not to wince as Daniels listed off their MIA heroes, “Phenomaman. All missing in action, after being sent to an island in the middle of nowhere.”
“It’s near the Easter Islands,” Said Evelyn, resting her goggles on her head, “but, given that their vitals spiked and then, just as quickly, stopped, we may be looking at a trap situation.”
“We’ve also failed to contact Universal Man, Psycwave, Blazestone, Downburst, Vectress, Blitzerman, Apogee, Phylange, Everseer, Macroburst, Gazerbeam, and Hypershock,” Sighed Robert, “we managed to recruit Tradewind, but he went AWOL.”
“But, we have found Gamma Jack, Stormicide, Frozone and the Parr family.” Stated Mandy, “We also have leads on Plasmabolt and Fironic.”
“Two of your… ‘additions’ are children.” Said Daniels, raising an eyebrow.
“One of whom has the same problem Track Star did.” Added Evelyn, leaning back, “I fitted an inhibitor cuff to him, until we can figure out a fix.”
“So,” Said Daniels, frowning, “more bad news.” He glanced at Mandy, “Any more for the second round of the Phoenix Program?”
“Yes,” Mandy seemed to be more than eager to change the subject, “We’ve managed to collect Bulbox, we offered placement for his daughter at a school not too far from here.”
“He’s a super?” Asked Daniel, getting a nod from Mandy, “What about this… daughter?”
“She’s…, got powers,” Said Mandy, after a moment, “She’s roughly the same age of the oldest of the Parr kids, Violet.”
“Two flowers,” Mused Daniels, “is there going to be a third for this ‘bouquet’ you’ve started to build?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean,” Mandy tried to cover, “I just thought that they might make good friends.”
“Might be worth seeing about organising lessons, for them,” Suggested Robert, “teach them how to control their powers, just as a precaution.”
Daniels sighed, “Which means we will have to do a Psych-Eval on them. Speaking of,” he pulled a file from his desk, “I have some concerns about one of the dispatchers you’ve brought in.”
“If this is about Gamma Jack’s… opinion, we’ve already taken that into consideration.” Said Mandy, sitting up, “He didn’t allow it to colour his opinion on the training simulation and—”
“It’s actually about Robert Parr.” Interrupted Daniels, “It took a while, but Cummings managed to get him relaxed enough to talk. Parr has some deep-seated fears about keeping his family safe, believing that if he isn’t strong enough to protect the public, he would not be strong enough to protect his family.”
“Shit,” Swore Robert, leaning forwards, “I can talk to him, see if I can help.”
“While that is noble, Robert,” Sighed Daniels, “you are not an officially licensed psychologist or counsellor, which reminds me, CSPP need an address to send your diploma to.”
“You went to university?” Asked Mandy, looking at Robert.
“Started, I only finished recently.” Answered Robert, before looking at Daniels, “Bob might be more open to me than anyone else, he was able to figure out my identity within thirty minutes of meeting me outside of the mask.”
Daniels frowned, but said nothing.
“There also the issue of how we’re going to address nine of our heroes suddenly going missing.” Added Evelyn, “I mean, if I was trying to erase heroes from the world, I’d ruin their reputations to the point of all of them giving up.”
“We don’t need you to run another Screen Slaver program, Evelyn.” Said Daniels, glancing at her, “But, you do bring up a good point.”
“Let me bring up Waterboy and Phenomaman with the Z-Team,” Said Robert, getting up, “they’re both part of the Z-Team and, if anyone else were to tell them…”
Daniels sighed, before nodding, silently dismissing Robert and Mandy.
“Well, if they’re going,” Said Evelyn, getting up, “I’m going to pick apart that piece of tech that Robert brought back from that Kronos gang bust.”
Daniels nodded, before looking at a file, “Evelyn, while you’re at it, see if you can find Buddy Pine.”
I
Helen blinked at the heroes in front of her, she’d been given six heroes as her ‘dispatchees’, as Robert called them, the first one was Voyd, a young woman who could create portals, she reminded Helen of Violet, with the confidence issues she had, the second was He-lectrix, a musician that could control and absorb electricity. Krushauer, the third hero assigned to her, had telekinetic powers that allowed him to ‘crush’ objects, he also had superstrength and superhuman durability. The fourth hero, Brick, was similar, as she also had superhuman strength and durability, she could also jump large distances and her file said ‘metamorphosis’, whatever that meant, Brick’s main problem was that, while she was a strong as a sack of bricks, she was as smart as a sack of bricks. Screech, Helen’s fifth dispatchable hero, could fly, see in the dark and release a supersonic screech, although he also seemed to be nocturnal, which was something to work on. Reflux, the last hero Helen had been assigned, had a molten stomach and regurgitation, which more or less translated to that he could throw up lava and not get hurt.
“S-sorry if I-I was too, y’know, over eager,” Voyd tried to laugh, “b-but you’re… you, a-and I-I’m me, s-so…”
“That’s… alright, Voyd.” Nodded Helen, “It’s alright, you don’t need to apologise.”
“Yeah,” Snickered He-Lectrix, “leave that for Reflux.”
“It’s a genuine medical condition.” Said Reflux, just as Mecha Man ducked his into the room.
“Hey,” Mecha Man’s voice of everyone’s attention, “it’s past clocking out time, so you can all go home for today.”
“Why’re you suited up?” Asked Helen, getting up.
“Press conference,” Answered Mecha Man, looking around, “the uppers think I’m a safe bet, since I don’t have powers, so the crowd might listen to me more than the others.”
Helen blinked, “Okay, good luck, I guess?”
Mecha Man nodded, before leaving the room. Looking at the clock, Helen sighed, “He’s got a point, let’s head home and resume tomorrow.”
I
Courtney carefully spooned some mashed-up apple and banana into Robin’s mouth, the baby, caught mid-giggle, gummed on the food, just as she heard the front door open and close.
“How’d the press conference?” Asked Courtney, looking towards the door.
“The less said, the better.” Grumbled Robert, hanging his coat up, “Mandy’s making sure Sansweet’s still alive.”
“The asshole behind the lawsuit that made heroes illegal?” Asked Courtney, twisting to look at Robert, “Why was he there?”
“No idea.” Sighed Robert, before focusing on Robin, “Now, why do you let Mommy feed you, but not Daddy? Huh?”
Robin squealed and knocked her bowl to the floor, laughing as she reached for Robert.
“Sansweet’s not going to sue.” Mandy’s voice from the door made them look up, “Brainbook and Daniels somehow managed to convince him not to.”
“Daniels probably offered to throw him off the roof.” Said Robert, picking Robin up, with the baby grabbing his nose.
Mandy looked around, “Where’s Bertie?”
“BOO!” A small boy appeared behind her, making her jump, “I gots you, Momma.”
“Yeah,” Laughed Mandy, picking him up, “you did.”
“He’s managed to get turning invisible down,” Said Courtney, getting up, “especially when it’s bathtime.”
Bertie, freezing in Mandy’s arms, looked at his mother, and vanished, turning Mandy invisible in the process.
“You do realise I’m going to help bathe you, right?” Came Mandy’s disembodied voice, before the bathroom door opened and the two of them reappeared, with Courtney joining them. Robert, not for the first time, wondered if Bertie and Robin liked having two Moms.
I
“An SDN press conference went awry last night, after Oliver Sansweet, a former president of the Municiberg Bank, who sued Mr Incredible for quote-unquote ‘saving’ his life fifteen years ago, tried to go head-to-head with Mecha Man, who’s last press conference ended with him throwing a journalist out a window.”
Helen reached over and turned the TV up.
“As the footage shows, Mr Sansweet brought up Mr Incredible’s actions against him, as well as bringing his lawyer with him.” Said the news caster, as Sansweet and his lawyer stood and postulated, “Mecha Man had this to say;”
“For someone who was suicidal,” Mecha Man’s voice was his signature mix of cold and dry sarcasm, “you really found the will to sue a guy, when you could have done us all a favour and gone back up to the roof and thrown yourself off.”
“Mr Sansweet then threatened to sue Mecha Man for harassment and slander, which produced this response;” Helen watched as Mecha Man sauntered off the podium and up to Sansweet, and punched him square in the face, before dragging him to a stairwell and returning without him a second later, “SDN has already closed it’s ranks, with the rehabilitated villainess Prism ‘offering’ to ‘flash’ Mr Sansweet, which is what she calls blinding someone. SDN has also refused to cover Banks, Insurance Firms, and Chain locations, with Mr Gilbert Huph protesting the decision, claiming SDN had ‘poached’ Insuricare’s employees and customers.”
Helen didn’t find that surprising, since Bob had mentioned the Insuricare often refused to pay out on their policies, which was why Bob had been temporarily seconded by the SDN upper management to help set up the SDN insurance office. Allison and Jack had gone with him, since Allison was good with computers and Jack was, somehow, very proficient with legal paperwork. He’d suggested that he go into SDN Legal, since he was a fully licensed attorney, which was a shock to the rest of them.
“You’ll never guess who turned up to work today.” Bob’s voice made Helen look towards the door.
“Sansweet?” Guessed Helen, making Bob shake his head.
“No, Gazerbeam.” Bob put his brief case on the table, “Apparently, he heard that SDN were looking for him.”
“Jack must’ve told him.” Reasoned Helen, looking at the folder with her heroes files in it.
“No, Jack was as surprised as we were,” Said Bob, “but he’s on board, which I think is great.”
Helen looked at Bob, since starting at SDN, he’d started to lose weight, and he seemed much happier in himself.
“How’s getting to know your team going?” Asked Bob, making Helen sigh.
“Voyd’s a lot like Violet, if they were closer in age, I would suggest they spend some time together,” Said Helen, “He-Lectrix seems a bit haughty, but he’s a guitarist in a band, Reflux seems nice, but I wouldn’t put him out on… heavy calls, you know? Krushauer can, well, crush things, but he can’t reverse the damage, which could be a problem. Screech is, well, interesting, to say the least, but he’s primarily nocturnal, meaning he’s more or less useless in the day, and Brick’s… she’s…”
“As dumb as her name implies?” Violet’s voice made them jump, before she appeared at the table.
Violet looked different, the main difference was that she had her hair tied back, but she seemed to be slightly uncomfortable.
I make his mask pattern look like Dynaguy eyes mask,make his super suit more appealing,remove the silver from his cape,make his symbol look interesting and make his anatomy appearance look more human than a frog.
Used to be a popular super back in his prime but popularity takes on his toll when the other supers took his fame and popularity he quit being a super when he became unpopular and everyone never heard of Reflux again.
He have a 5 sons and 1 daughter as he got 9 grandkids some are adults,teen or children.
His powers hurt him since he burnt his lips a lot when using his lava stomach power when his medical condition makes him feel worst that he have them when he was 45.
He uses a cane to keep up with the youngsters because he is slow and old at his age.
He also uses his cane as a weapon to hit the enemy legs.
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”Please come back from bowels of black, from silent shores to me once more.”
The brain worms have decreed that I must repair the awfulness that is Rayman: Hoodlums’ Revenge, so what better way to start than with art of my favorite garbage fly communing with his dead eldritch boyfriend?
(And yes, I did put Annabel Raises The Dead on loop while I sketched this out. Go check out The Dolls of New Albion, it’s an amazing indie musical!)
"Marilyn texted," Bella was at the top of the stairs when Luke walked in, a fist pressed to his lips as he muffled another nauseated burp, "she said you were sick."
He shook his head, making a bee line to the downstairs powder room in order to spit in the sink. Luke groaned, hanging over the bowl and waiting for his stomach to stop spasming.
Suddenly he felt a hand resting between his shoulder blades, rubbing in circles in a soothing manner and he let out a heavy sigh, head still hanging and stomach still aching with all the acid bubbling inside. His throat hurt and he wanted to lie down, but at least Bella wasn't so pissed at him that she still was concerned about his wellbeing. He felt weirdly comforted by it.
"Hey," her voice was soft, "are you done?"
He forced his eyes open, meeting his reflection in the mirror. Pale, sunken eyes and looking sick, despite the fact that he wasn't really. Bell met his eyes on the mirror and his stomach squeezed once more, now out of guilt.
"I'm really," he turned around to face her, "really sorry."
The soft concern on her face vanished and she let out a scoff, pulling back and crossing her arms.
"It's fine, Lucas-"
"No," he grabbed the belt loops of her pants before she could move out of his reach and kept her put, "no, it's not. I shouldn't have forced you to take a test, I should've trusted you about your body. I shouldn't have prioritized my anxiety over your wellbeing, I'm really really sorry I made it all worse than it already is for you. Can you forgive me?"
She chewed on her lip, looking away from him, then nodded, jaw flexing, "I won't forgive it a second time." Bella said, in a small, but serious voice and he let out a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer.
"There won't be a second time," he promised, burying his face on her hair and inhaling the smell of her conditioner. It took her a second, but she hugged him back, pressing herself even closer and squeezing him by the middle.
"You really hurt my feelings," she mumbled, her voice muffled by his shirt and Luke winced, heart physically aching.
"I'm sorry," he repeated, feeling her melt against him. They stayed wrapped up on each other for a minute more, before Luke pulled back, as he took in stock the state of his body. He was covered in clammy sweat, he wanted to shower and curl up in bed, even if it was just barely past 5 PM.
His stomach let out a hungry growl and Luke muffled a chuckle, because of course the nausea would vanish as soon as he got back on good terms with Bella. She was the axis of his whole world.
"What's wrong with you?" Bell promptly misinterpreted his stomach noise, cupping his face in her cold hands. They felt heavenly against his clammy skin, "is this a bug?"
"No," he wrapped his hands around her wrists, pulling them back just a smidge so Luke could press a kiss on the inside of each of her palms, "just reflux. I'm actually hungry."
"Oh," Bell's brows met in an inquisitive manner, "reflux doesn't make you throw up, normally..."
"Bad day," he shrugged, lowering both their hands and stroking the bone of her wrists, staring at them. The purple finger marks he had seen on Marilyn flashed before his eyes and he scoffed, continuing to look down to Bell's hands. He'd have to squeeze with intent and hatred to bruise her like that, no one left such a mark by accident.
"Luke?" Bella lowered herself slightly, since his head was bent as he stared at her wrists, meeting his eyes, "baby?"
"Sorry, zoned out," he forced a smile, then wrapped an arm around her shoulder and guided Bell outside the bathroom.
He didn't know if he should tell her. In one hand, he hated keeping anything from Bell and he'd like to go over it... It was all hitting a little too close to home, although Kit had never been physically abusive, the way his mother had deteriorated in front of his eyes stoking a flame for a man who was too preoccupied with his own ego was too close for comfort... But then there was the rational, less sympathetic part of him, who wanted to keep Bella as far away from Marilyn as possible, who knew she had a huge heart and too much courage, that she'd for sure end up getting hurt in the process of helping a friend.
For now, he kept his mouth shut.
"You said it was a bad day, what happened?" Bell leaned against his side, touchy and he reciprocated the clinginess, pulling her so close his words were muffled by her hair. It was a little ridiculous, that they had been at odds for a grand total of two days and yet he still missed her like crazy.
"You see, I hurt my wife's feelings by being a fucking jerk," they waddled to the stairs, refusing to pull apart even though this was a safety hazard, "then the mayor was a major dickhead, rescheduling my meeting to be with his wife... A grand waste of time." There, not a lie, but not all of the truth.
"Doesn't sound like that bad of a day," she teased him, hands curling on his shirt and falling backwards on their bed, bringing him with her. Luke let out a groan as he bounced on the mattress, muffling a sickly belch against her stomach and burying his face on the soft fabric of her old iron maiden shirt. Bella smelt like clothing softener and the cinnamon candle she had in her office. Her fingers ran through his hair, nails scratching his scalp, "still feeling sick?"
"Uh-huh," he mumbled, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her like a teddy bear, ignoring the uncomfortable gurgling in his stomach, hunger and nausea trying to figure out who'd win. Bell felt small in his arms, a thought he didn't have often even if it was objectively true when comparing their heights and weights. She was a head shorter than him, but generally Luke thought of her as tall, commandeering... It pained him to think of her as fragile. Was this what Joshua Till thought when he held his wife? How breakable she was under his hands, how easy it would be to wound her and get things his way?
Who did that to someone they loved?
"Hey," Bell whispered, hand dropping to his nape, "you're trembling, are you okay?"
"Just feeling crappy," he promised, eyes remaining shut a she resumed the hair pets, "tell me about your day?"
"Not as bad as yours, but no good either," she shuffled on the bed, so his head was pressed to her sternum and her lips brushed against his temples as she spoke, "I hate when we fight... My boss was being annoying today, called two different team meetings and the client kept pestering for alterations. One would think they'd know the user experience comes first, but they kept insisting we were simplifying the app because we were lazy-" Bella let out a little scoff.
Luke breathed out, body relaxing under the constant caress and her voice. Bella had a velvet, soothing, tone, but her voice wasn't particularly deep, "what client was this?"
His stomach whined, unhappily, complaining about the lack of food and Bell's fingers stopped moving, "Luke?"
"I'm hungry," he sighed, defeated by his own body and sitting up against his will, "have you had dinner yet?"
"Nope," Bella stretched like a cat, hands touching her toes before she jumped up, "what are you in the mood for?"
He was in the mood to lie down and curl up with her, ignore his stomach and all obligations, just go full nonverbal and melt into a puddle. Of course, that wasn't an option, so he just shrugged, "whatever you want to eat, I'm still a little queasy."
"Soup sounds okay? It's a little chilly tonight," Bella started walking out of their room and he followed, as if there was an invisible line tying them together.
"Soup's fine," Lucas muffled a yawn in his hand and jumped the last step of the stairs as he chased Bell into the kitchen. She had opened the fridge and was bent over in search of veggies and he acted on pure instinct, swatting her ass and causing her to giggle. He smiled, her laugh making his night a little less crappy.
"Keep your hands to yourself, I'm already a bad cook, I don't need the distractions," Bell scolded him in a playful tone and he rolled his eyes, reaching to grab the random assortment of veggies off her hands.
"You've been improving," he said, as if he wasn't taking over the task. His stomach was already uneasy, he wouldn't risk Bella poisoning him by accident.
"Uhmmm," she sounded skeptical, fishing the veggies peeler from their cluttery drawer and snatching a beet root out of his hands. Luke leaned over her to grab one of their knives and a cutting board, on the other side of the counter, "Vin is coming for dinner? Should we make more?"
"And he's gonna eat our food?" Luke snorted, amused, "you know he won't touch whatever we cook, too much of a wuss."
"Not enough garlic!" Bell cried out, faking an italian accent that was far too prominent to be Vin's and Luke grinned right back.
"Do not break the pasta!" He teased, then karma immediately bit him on the ass, his stomach flipping strongly enough he dropped the knife and rushed to press a hand to his mouth, thinking he might be sick.
Bell's smile flickered, "Luke?"
He moved in order to be in front of the sink, just in case, gulping down convulsively as his mouth flooded with sticky saliva. Her hand came to rest on his back, "baby?"
He drooled over the metal basin, panting as the acid nearly came up, only to settle down back in his belly, "urgh," Luke moaned, washing his mouth and wiping it with the back of his hand. He shuddered, "sorry."
"What happened?"
"Stomach just- Wanted up," he took a drink of water directly from the tap, then splashed it on his face for good measure, "dunno."
"Are you sure you wanna have dinner?" She eyed him, cautiously, and he nodded.
"Yeah, I skipped lunch and I threw up breakfast, I'm starving," which was true, but only partially. He was also queasy enough to doubt his own words.
"Okay," Bell patted his arm, "why don't you sit down and I'll cook?"
Uh... Leaving her unsupervised in the kitchen seemed risky.
It must've shown on his face, because Bella rolled her eyes dramatically, "it's soup, I've done it for you a thousand times before. Sit down for a little, you're pale as a ghost."
"I don't wanna," he sounded whiny, but Lucas didn't care. The idea of being a whole room away was in no way enticing, "I want to stay here with you."
"Velcro husband," Bell huffed, smiling, "well step out of the way, can't have you vomiting on the ingredients..."
He stepped back to let her work, sliding down the wall and collapsing straight on the ground, on the opposite wall, near the door that led to their backyard and laundry room.
Bella snorted at his antics, but continued to move around and he let his head hit the wall, wrapping an arm around his stomach protectively and watching her.
His mind kept racing back to the purple bruises around Marilyn's wrist, it was as if he couldn't erase it from behind his lids.
"...-She said something about core temperature, do you know what that is?" Bella's voice drifted in through the haze and Luke blinked several times to situate himself.
"Uhm- What?"
"Core temperature?" Bell was filling a pan with water, sounding impatient, "Marilyn said something about that, I don't even know what it means. I just stared at her as if I was stupid-"
"I have no idea, Bell," Luke frowned, "what's the context? What were you guys talking about?"
"Weren't you listening to a single word I said?" Bell pouted, "I was talking with Marilyn about us trying for a baby, back Saturday when we went for lunch with the Tills and your boss- What's with the frown?"
Luke scoffed, crossing his arms, "you told Marilyn Till about us trying to conceive? What the hell, Bell, you guys aren't even friends-"
"Well, no we're not, but we're friendly," she shrugged, "and she brought pregnancy up when I said I was queasy, so I was giving her some context and I'm happy I did, because apparently her and her husband are on the same journey... It was really nice to talk with someone who gets it."
"I get it," Luke said defensively, "why aren't you talking with me about these things, Bell?"
Her face got a puzzled expression on, "uh... You know-"
"No, I don't," he interrupted, remembering his previous fuck up and her yelling at him, "you never told me how hard it was until yesterday... I mean, I could guess, but- Why do you open up to anyone, except for me?"
"That's not true," Bella rolled her eyes, "you're being dramat-"
"You told Marilyn and before that you went to fucking Doveport to hang out with Daniels when we had just lost-"'
"It's not the same, Luke," she stepped away from the stove, leaning on the fridge with her arms crossed, "you didn't care about the - About the miscarriage. You told me you felt relieved. And Marilyn... She's been through all of this bullshit and she's a woman, it's different, I don't have to explain most of the things-"
"But you didn't tell me how badly this was affecting you until I pushed for it, Bell!" He exclaimed, causing her to wince, "look, I- I don't wanna fight again..."
"Good, then let's not," Bella said briskly and Luke shook his head vehemently.
"It's not a fight, Bell," He grabbed on the wall to push himself up, stepping closer. Bella was once again pouting, and she squirmed when he cupped her face, forcing their eyes to me, "I want you to talk to me. If- If you can't open up to me, who are you going to open up to? Marilyn Till?"
She let out a little scoff, chin on his hand, "you know all of it already, Luke," Bella sounded defeated, "I feel useless and frustrated and I'm angry because it happened before when we weren't ready and now that we are- And I'm scared, what if something is wrong? Clinically? What if we lose-"
"No, don't go there," he pulled her closer, pressed his mouth to her temple, "that's not gonna happen-"
"You don't know that-"
"I'm gonna schedule an appointment with a doctor this week," he promised, "and we'll go from there, okay? No point in you freaking out before we have any concrete results."
Bella nodded, arms wrapping around his waist, "your soup is gonna burn."
His eyes widened and Luke jerked to the side, so he could look inside the pot Bella had put on the stove, where all the water was bubbling, long past the boiling point and just escaping into steam.
"Let's."
"I'm not that hungry anyway", he lied and Bell chuckled, pulling back so she could cup his face and steal a kiss.
"That is a lie. Let's microwave one of the frozen pizzas."
