#( just tel me if i should change something ! )

[lgchyoseop]

sliding around

it was, fun, being an idol, different than hyoseop had expected, but fun. there was more diversity it felt like, being a trainee was a lot of practicing, and though hyoseop still practiced a lot and hard, there was now other things on his schedule as well. he had solo stuff going now, modeling for ice cream brands and joining variety shows by himself. he also of course got to do a lot with his members, modeling together with them, preparing for comebacks and such together, and of course, performing together.

they’re at the waterbomb in singapore, waiting for their turn to go on stage. he turns to baek, a smile on his lips. “how are you feeling? i’m quite excited” he runs a hand through his hair. “finally getting the chance to show off my body” he runs a hand over his stomach, a laugh escaping his lips. “do you think we’ll be very wet once we leave the scene…? i think they have some sort of water guns we can wet the audience with”.

<3 @lgcbaekhyun

[vesora]

consciousness is the only reality

posted by sensibly_aesthetic on reddit

“This sentence explains absolutely everything when it comes to manifesting. I hope these explanations help things click into place the way it did for me.

Stop reacting to the physical world. For now and evermore. If consciousness is the only reality that exists, why react to the physical world?

That also involves this: stop trying to change the physical world. It doesn’t exist. If you want your problem to go away, just stop focusing on it. Lack of attention to something makes it fade away. You can’t be successful if you keep focusing on and changing the old. You just bring more struggle into your experience.

As your consciousness is the only reality that exists, you already have what you want. There is nothing you have to change (in the physical world) when you have what you want.

The only thing you have to change is your mind. It is all that exists. Absolutely nothing else does. You already have what you want. Creation is finished. Realise and be aware that your wish already exists, it doesn’t need you to help create it, it just needs you to be loyal to its existence. Get used to being aware of your desire, instead of being aware of its lack. You have to BECOME. Not try to get, not try to manifest, but become. All these thoughts are references of something that already exists. So live the life you would now that you have what you want. Let the old story of trying go away, and the new story of having come in.

None of the things you see outside is the ‘truth’. To be honest, nothing is. As consciousness is the only reality, what you think or believe is the truth is what you’ve paid so much attention to in your mind. With all those thoughts and feelings, it had to come into your physical world. That’s why manifesting isn’t about something contradicting the other. It’s about paying all of your attention to something else so it can arrive in your experience instead.

Once you truly understand what you’re supposed to do, which is simply becoming, you might wonder about the when’s, the how’s, the “is it even possible” questions. Let me answer each of them. It is a universal law. The very fabric of reality. It will deliver, no matter what. The fact that you have it in your mind is proof enough, as it is in the only reality. The world will reflect that. As for the other two, it doesn’t matter. The world isn’t based off of ‘this is more logical and likely than the other outcome’. It is based only off of your mind. It doesn’t change, it reflects. Absorb the meaning of that. As long as you have a clear and powerful image in your head, it will bend to answer you. Anything is possible.

The physical manifestation will and must come. As Neville said, the time difference is inversely proportional to the amount of naturalness. I like to think of the physical world as a screenshot of your mind right now. You might ask, if I have it right now, why can’t I see the corresponding screenshot? The thing is your mind is filled with all the old thoughts too. The more you sink into the right mindset, the more evidence you will see. The world doesn’t reflect all of a sudden. It takes every thought and reflects it physically. So it’s happening physically little by little, to reflect the perfect whole image in your head of already having it. That’s why this is a practice. Neville said something similar, to focus on the feeling fulfilled until it crowds all other ideas of consciousness. Don’t keep on changing to having the old story or your progress will be slower, or it’ll even stop. Your mind should be full of this new reality where you already have it. The less you focus on the old story and the more you focus on the new one, the more evidence of your desire you will see.

I’m going to quote myself from the previous point: ‘Your mind should be full of this new reality where you already have it.’ And that’s what Neville was trying to say all along when he talked about changing your reality. He wasn’t telling you how to change the physical world. The physical world reflects your mind, it isn’t a reality. And that process is automatic, you don’t have to meddle with that. He was explaining how to change your mind. By accepting that you have it, and living life from there. He was teaching people how to change their mind to realise that.

Sometimes it’s hard because you see the world and you think, oh no, this stuff is happening, nothing is changing. Remember, the world in every moment is a screenshot of your mind. Nothing is happening, it’s just screenshotting and reflecting. Your new desire is crowding out everything else. You might still see evidence of your old story. But if you’re loyal to the happenings in your mind, that won’t be very long. You have already determined the end result. Stay true to it. Live in that state of mind. You already have it all, so none of the things you see matter. They’re fading away, being crowded by the new image.

[unidentified-ending]

Coming out to Aizawa

Aizawa x student ftm headcanons

Takes place during the dorms

Sorry guys, this kind of sounds like a oneshot

First headcanon post, hope yall like it

If you prefer directly talking:

If you directly come out to him after class has ended it'd be easier for him to speak to you

But if you wrote it down on a piece of paper or any nonverbal communication, he'd try and talk to you at the dorms, when just you too were there

When everyone left for the day, unhappy coz they got extra homework because Mina and Denki were messing around. after class you'd knock on his door

"If your going to ask for an extension on the extra homework, the answer is no" Aizawa said not looking to see who it was

"Uh-no it's not because of that" You say and Aizawa turns to you

"What is it then? I'm kind of busy" He says

"I just wanna talk to you but its fine now" you say, thinking your bothering him

"Kid, come talk to me if you want to, i dont mind" Aizawa says realising what he said was a bit harsh

You go into his classroom and he signals for you to close the door

When you close it, you go to sit in a chair. Fidgeting with your hands and sweating.

Aizawa notices your discomfort and says "You know, you can tell me anything. I would never judge you, I'm your teacher for a reason."

You felt reassured and muttered up the courage to say "I'm transgender"

He looks at you, slightly surprised but its only noticed by the slight widening of his eyes. "Oh okay, would you like me to use different pronouns and a new name?" He asks without questioning you

"If you wouldn't mind." You say, slightly nervous

"What would you like me to call you and what pronouns are you comfortable with?" He asks, looking at your nervous face for an answer.

"I would like to be called Y/n and could you use (insert pronouns) on me please" You say

"Sure Y/n, would you like your provisional license exam card to be changed?" He asked

"Yes please!" You exclaimed, happy that he was able to do that

"Alright Y/n, you should go back to the dorms, it's getting late"

"Thank you for this sir, see you later" You say

"Goodbye, Y/n"

As soon as you started to release he called you name and you turned to him

"If you ever need anything, I'm always here to help you" He says and you smile and thank him

If you prefer indirect taking:

It first started when you finally wanted to tel your homeroom teacher you were transgender but you didn't want to tell him upfront

You were too shy so you decided to leave a note on his table ,when he let his classroom at lunch, saying "I would like to tell you something" and you had no choice but to put your deadname on it

When he returned to his classroom you were gone, he read the note, not really surprised because lots of his students do that when they're to shy to tell him something

When he say it he write on a small piece of paper "what do you want to tell me" and then left it on your desk

When you saw the note you woite on the back, with great difficulty mustering up the courage to actually write it, "I'm trans" and left it on his desk when he wasn't there

The next day you saw another note on your desk, it read "Okay, thank you for telling me, if you would like your name and pronouns to be changed just write it down and leave it on my desk, ul get that sorted for you"

In the end, he does what he said he would and it all turns out well. The end

Hey guys, sorry for the kind of oneshot, hopefully you like it :D

[xclowniex]

Every time people talk about how Israel isn’t losing as many people in wars, I want to groan so much that my throat gives up on me. Like, dude, why do you think that is? It’s not because Hamas doesn’t try. It’s the fucking Iron Dome, which takes a huge amount of money and portion of the budget to keep going. It’s because the buildings are specifically been designed with a shit ton of infrastructure that can survive missiles and rockets. It’s because there’s the bare fucking minimum in Israel of bomb shelters

You know that it’s actual regulation that almost every building needs to have some sort of shelter? They do this with flats too, my cousin and her boyfriend’s shelter is literally their bedroom because they NEED this and there wasn’t enough space to put it in other places. It used to be just shelters below buildings, but they’ve changed it to other rooms too because in the 90’s the chance of missiles which used toxic gas were becoming increasingly high (this is something my parents went through, once there was a missile attack, they were told it could be gas too so they couldn’t go to the shelter. What they had to do was stay in their homes and just put wet towels on ever window and door that had a gap in it. My parents were on the phone the entire time, they were both beyond terrified and my mum thought she was going to die)

And here’s the thing— Gaza could absolutely have that too! Gaza could have missile diverting technology, Gaza could have shelters, Gaza could have strong infrastructure that can survive bombings much better. But they don’t. And the reason— Hamas takes all of this aid supplied, billions of dollars, and either siphons it off for their leaders in Qatar to enjoy, or uses it to build their tunnels and buy more weapons. And it’s a fucking tragedy, when I think about it I start to feel sick and you should too. Because this is horrible, and Gazans deserve so much more than this. But they can’t have it, because their government (if you can even call the mess that is Hamas a government) has decided that their lives aren’t valuable enough

You can criticise Israel for its current assault on Gaza, absolutely. While the idea that the idf as a whole (not talking about individual soldiers, which is still horrific when it’s only a person and not a system, don’t get me wrong) is actively targeting civilians is ridiculously wrong, and leans into the ‘bloodthirsty Jew’ trope. What you can say is that while the idf provides warning, they still aren’t putting civilians high enough on their priority list. They’ll warn a family and help them get out if they’re about to bomb their house or near it, but they won’t not bomb it if the family refuses to evacuate. You can absolutely cut criticise that (just make sure you understand that, very upsettingly, this is a very common thing in war). But this— acting like Israel using aid to help its own civilians, and then implying that it’s its fault for somehow not doing the same for Gaza? This? Is fucking bullshit, and all you’re doing is showing that you care more about the perceived reality of the ‘evil oppressor Israelis who have never faced anything in their lives’ than you do about the truth and real people’s lives

(Also side note, why do they always point to Tel Aviv to be like ‘see! Israel isn’t affected by the war at all’?? Like, of course Tel Aviv isn’t going to be affected by rockets and missiles much. It’s well in the Iron Dome’s territory and very far from Gaza. If you want to see the devastation from this war for Israel you can go to Sderot, or any Bedouin village, or the Golan if you want to see what Hezbollah’s done. They just live in a fantasy world lol)

I 100% agree.

[ingek73]

Interview

Michael Moore on how Harris-Walz can defeat Trump: ‘Do weird and cringe until the debate, then nail him’

Edward Helmore

Progressive film-maker says he’s more optimistic than he’s ever been since Trump announced first run eight years ago

Thu 15 Aug 2024 11.00 BST

With Joe Biden looking for re-election Democrats feared they were looking at an electoral catastrophe. Now, with Biden dropping out and Vice-President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, it suddenly feels like it is Donald Trump who is staring at possible defeat.

The liberal film-maker and Democratic whisperer Michael Moore says he’s more optimistic than he has ever been since Trump stepped on to the escalator in Trump Tower to announce his first run for the presidency eight years ago.

“This isn’t just a sugar-high or what [recovering] heroin addicts call a pink cloud,” Moore says. “It was so depressing for so many weeks and then it was instantly not depressing. I am hopeful now but it’s ours to blow – and we have a history of blowing it.”

Moore, 70, has in recent years become something of an electoral sage. He predicted Donald Trump’s victory in 2016, in part because of the sense of political-cultural superiority Democrats emanated and because he had noticed that the campaign was fearful of inspiring Maga supporters. He predicted, too, that Democrats would buck the trend and be fine in the 2022 midterms.

In this election cycle he is in some ways in line with the pollster Nate Silver, who recently said that “the strategy of the Harris campaign should be to triangulate the strategy of Hillary 2016, the Harris 2020 primary campaign, and Biden 2024, and do the exact opposite.”

But Moore says he understands why Democrats are nervous that the Harris-Walz ticket could come apart, though it shows no current signs of doing so, particularly if Harris gets tarred with Biden’s unpopular “Bidenomics” or responsibility for his full-throated support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

“Biden, sadly, is going to be remembered for funding the war in Gaza and providing the armaments to Netanyahu, not arms for protecting Israel, but extra money to kill Palestinian civilians,” Moore says. He remains “saddened and surprised” that Biden, who had refused to meet Netanyahu last September, flew to Tel Aviv after the 7 October Hamas cross-border attack and hugged him.

“You can say what’s in a hug?” he says. “But ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Neville Chamberlain to you. It doesn’t take much for history to see that in the moment you needed to display courage you did the opposite.”

But he’s cautiously optimistic that Harris is signaling a change of direction. She did not pick as expected the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, who had harshly called out student protesters against the war in Gaza and settled a former employee’s claim that she was sexually harassed by a senior aide.

Harris, he applauds, went against the conventional wisdom, upending the predictions of many TV pundits, and chose “this guy from the midwest, a football coach who had offered to be adviser to the gay student group. It’s pretty stunning.”

And while as vice-president Harris has no power to speak against Biden on Israel, Harris has made her feelings plain. She declined to sit in on Netanyahu’s address to Congress, which echoed Pope Urban II’s 1095 call for the first crusade, instead traveling to a Zeta Phi Beta sorority meeting in Indianapolis.

“Couldn’t they have made up something that sounded important with foreign policy attached to it? No, She’s busy at a sorority meeting … and she refused the traditional diplomatic “grip-and-grin” after meeting with Netanyahu. It was very public.”

The first days of the Harris-Walz ticket have shown precisely the change of direction that Moore has argued for. The ominous but complicated “threat to democracy” anti-Trump platform has been dropped for “threat to freedom”. Trump’s folk story confabulations resist fact-checking, so that’s been refined to a kind of medieval textual charm, “weird”.

Jibes over JD Vance’s “couch capers” and eyeliner discussions work in much the same way. What Harris-Walz are doing is much as Moore advocated when he offered the Clinton campaign “satirical support” to come up with lines that would get under Trump’s thin skin, especially in a televised debate.

“I think I’m going to see what I was hoping for for eight years,” he says. “Once anybody gets under that thin skin anything can happen. On live TV? Trump could explode, start talking like a 12-year-old, though no offense to 12-year-olds, or get up and leave.”

But didn’t Democrats bet on the Biden-Trump debate being a success? And the Trump prosecution in New York? The Republican candidate’s polling and fundraising went up after both.

“It’s a holding pattern until she gets on that stage with him. I understand why people are nervous it might be a sugar high but Harris and Walz are people of substance. They’re being slow and cautious enough to get it together. It’s just been a couple of weeks. They are going to have to tell us what they’re going to do and hopefully come up with the right thing. And there will be mistakes.”

As the Harris-Walz campaign “humanize” the ticket it is clear that the November election represents, on the Democratic side, a generational shift.

“I’m so happy to hear Gen Z and X are over half the vote because it’s called facts and data,” Moore says, pointing out that the number of boomers over 65 who have died since 2016 is exceeded by Gen Z and millennials who have become eligible to vote. “How many of them do you think are going around in hats saying Make America Great Again”? They’ve never known it to be “great”, let alone “again”.

“It’s not just a cultural shift – it’s a generational shift. The boomers may not be the No 1 voters in this election. And that’s why Gaza is so important. Young people hate war and they’re totally against Biden and his support of the war.” Harris, he says, needs to tap into “affordable housing, student debt, peace and the dying planet”.

His prescription? “Do weird and cringe until the debate and then nail him,” Moore said. “But nail him with irony, satire and a simple way to point out the beyond weird absolute idiocy and insanity of what these two men are talking about. Reach them on a commonsense level so it doesn’t matter if you’re Democrat or Republican.”

“Once anybody gets under that thin skin anything can happen. On live TV? Trump could explode, start talking like a 12-year-old, though no offense to 12-year-olds, or get up and leave.”

[photogirl894]

"Sun and Rain Part 2: Age of the Empire"

Chapter 29

"All Too Easy"

A "Bad Batch" fanfic!

Pairing: Hunter x fem OC, Echo (more best friend pairing)

A/N: Back again, my lovelies! Another new chapter just in time before Bad Batch season 3 (y'all, I am NOT ready 😫😫)

However, I wish I could say this chapter will be all sunshine and rainbows...but I'd be lying 😅 Cuz you know, we're on Bracca...we all know what happens there. Also, I skipped over a couple parts of the episode for the sake of brevity and cuz I didn't wanna split it into two chapters 😝

Enjoy anyway!!

Taglist: @the-sad-batch , @nimata-beroya , @intrepidmare , @cole-kenxbi , @tech-aficionado , @ladykatakuri , @d1n0-dan , @sammi9498 , @darthzero22 , @scarlettrose9901 , @thebadbatchscyare , @chxpsi , @ilikemymendarkandfictional , @4pplecider , @locitapurplepink , @l-lend , @nekotaetae , @eternalwaffle , @merkitty49 , @avathebestx , @idoubleswearimawriter , @techs-stitches , @fantasyproductions , @sverdgeir

《 Chapter 28

》 Chapter 30

All chapters (Part 2) (Part 1)

Explanation: While still on Bracca, things take an awful turn for the Bad Batch.

Kimber found herself somewhere in the middle of the Bracca shipyard, sitting on an edge and watching the sun setting in the distance. For the first time in a long time, she felt content; like everything was back to the way it was.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a sunset,” said a familiar, nasally voice.

She turned and smiled at Crosshair, who had just seated himself beside her. He was back in his Bad Batch armor, which made her smile even more. 

“I’d imagine. The sun isn’t seen much on Kamino,” she said.

He didn’t say anything and just simply grinned.

“I’m glad we get to watch them together again,” Kimber told him, nudging him lightly with her shoulder. 

His arm came up round her shoulders and he answered, “Me too, sunshine.”

Her smile grew even more as she laid her head on his shoulder. Hearing him call her “sunshine” again on top of him just being there made her happier than she could ever put into words. This was the way things were meant to be; the way they should always have been. 

As the sun got lower, her eyes drifted down slightly and watched the line of the sunlight going down Crosshair’s body. However, as it descended, she noticed something was happening to him. As the sun line passed, his armor was shifting from red and gray to black...changing back into his Imperial armor.  

Just as the realization hit her, Crosshair’s hand that had been resting on her shoulder suddenly moved up and grabbed her roughly by her face, pulling her up right next to his head.

“Did you really think it was going to be that easy?” he hissed in her ear. 

“Crosshair--!” she gasped, but he silenced her by moving his hand up over her mouth. 

“I’m not coming back for you,” he said with a growl. “You’re leading me straight to all of you, which is what I want. You will be Clone Force 99’s downfall.”

She struggled against his hand. “No!” she cried.

There was a rumble next to her ear as he chuckled, amused. “I’ll be seeing you soon…sister.”

Next thing Kimber knew, he shoved her off the edge and sent her falling towards the ground. As she hurtled towards the ship parts down below, she heard Hunter’s voice crying out for her, followed by the sound of a blaster shot and then Omega screaming for Hunter.

Kimber jolted awake with a gasp and it took her a moment to process that she was out of her nightmare and back inside her bunk in the Marauder. It had been a while since her last one. 

The bed shifted slightly and Hunter came into her peripheral vision. “Kimber? Are you okay? Did you have another nightmare?” he asked her, laying a hand on her arm. 

It took her a moment to compose herself and then she nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he then inquired.

Any other time, Kimber would’ve relayed her dreams to him without question, but this was a different situation. Her nightmare had been about Crosshair and in order to explain why, she would have to tell him about the conversation she’d had with him prior…as well as all the messages she’d secretly sent to Crosshair for weeks. Despite not wanting to keep secrets from Hunter, she knew she had to keep this a secret for now. Hunter hadn’t been very receptive to talking about Crosshair for some time now, which was part of why Kimber had to cope with Crosshair’s absence in a different way. If Hunter found out what she’d done, it would not go over well. She just figured it’d be better to reveal everything once Crosshair came and she could explain everything. Hopefully once he and the others knew that Crosshair was going to get his chip removed, they’d be more receptive to him and then everything could go back to normal like they all wanted.

Instead, after taking a deep breath, she just responded to him, thinking it would be enough to deter him, “It’s nothing…I dreamt that I was drowning and being pulled underwater by the dianoga we faced earlier. It just…startled me.”

Hunter seemed convinced and just gently hugged her close to him. “It’s all right, sweetheart. I'm here, you’re safe. Nothing’s gonna hurt you.”

She snuggled up closer, nestling her head in his shoulder and taking in his warmth. “I know.”

Instead of leaving Bracca right away, the Bad Batch had decided they would stay the night and rest and then figure out their next plan the following day. They were all exhausted from the day’s events, so luckily they all rested well. Then the next day, Wrecker and Omega went out for a while because they’d found a thermal explosive and, realizing there could be lots of them throughout the shipyard, Wrecker wanted to teach Omega how to disable an explosive as a precaution and test her.

Hunter and Tech stayed behind at the cruiser while Kimber and Echo went out on their own, as well, to just kind of scout the area as well as seeing what else they could find. 

“Keep your eyes out for any scrappers,” Echo warned Kimber as they walked through the shipyard. 

“Got it,” she answered. 

Though, as they kept going and searching, she kept her eyes on Echo. Something about him seemed off and she couldn’t exactly place why. Maybe he was just still recovering from the surgery and wasn’t quite feeling himself at the moment. Though, she still couldn’t help but wonder if it was something else.

“Hey…are you okay, Echo?” she inquired. “You seem a little…off this morning.”

He stopped and sighed loudly. “I’m fine. I just…I talked to Rex last night sometime before he left.”

“Oh? What did he say?” she asked.

Her best friend looked a little dejected as he responded, “He told me of his plan to find other Clones and get their chips out. Not only that, but he’s hoping to build up a network to resist against the Empire eventually. I just think we should’ve gone with him instead of staying here.”

She then understood his predicament and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve always been unwaveringly loyal to Rex as well as your reg brothers. I don’t blame you for feeling the way you do.”

Turning to face her, he asked back, “Do you agree with me, Kim? Don’t you think we’re meant for more than this? There’s more we could do to fight against the Empire and helping Rex build up a resistance would be better suited for us.”

She gave it thought for a few seconds and replied, “If we were up against the Separatists, I would’ve agreed in a heartbeat…but this is the Empire we’re now facing, an enemy of a much grander scale than they ever were. Not to mention an enemy that’s hunting us specifically. It’s better for us to remain under the radar the way we are now.”

“But think of all the good we can do for the galaxy if we’d gone with him,” he countered.

“I know and I don’t disagree,” she said back. “Perhaps, one day, we will be able to join up with Rex and help him find more Clones, but it’s just not the right time for us at present. That doesn’t mean we still can’t help in our own way, but we have our own problems to figure out first.” 

Still mildly dissatisfied, he turned away, diverting his gaze to the ground.

However, Kimber brought her hand to Echo’s cheek and gently guided his eyes back to look at her. “You’re not wrong for wanting to do more. I understand what you’re thinking, I do. The time for greater bravery will come. We just need to wait everything out until that time comes.”

“I’m just impatient,” he stated. 

“I know you are,” she said, nudging him with her elbow. 

“I don’t want us to have to keep working for Cid. It’s a waste of our time and skills,” he added. “You know she’s just using us to make money and doesn’t care about us at all.”

She rolled her eyes. “Believe me, I know. I don’t like working for that miserable, old dragon lady either. It’s not ideal, but we still have our debt to pay and it’s just what we have to do for now.” Then she muttered, “Though, I’m half-tempted to see if Kida has any family funds she can pull from to just cover our debt and we can get out of it.”

“I’m sure she’d do it,” he commented. “At this point, I’d try anything.”

However, Kimber shook her head and said back, “No, I won’t do that. We’re not that desperate yet.”

Then Echo groaned in exasperation. “You really had me going there.” 

“Sorry to disappoint,” she said with a chuckle. 

He bumped her with his shoulder teasingly, causing her to laugh a little more. 

Just then, Echo’s comm chirped and they heard Hunter’s voice, saying, “Echo, Kimber, head on back to the cruiser. Get Wrecker and Omega, too.”

“Copy that,” Echo replied. 

Putting her hands on her hips, Kimber declared, “Well, let’s go find the two troublemakers.”

The two of them ventured off and didn’t take them long to find Wrecker and Omega as they heard Wrecker loudly yelling, “Too late! Run for it!” in the distance.

“Something tells me Omega messed up on diffusing the explosive and he’s messing with her,” Kimber commented to Echo.

He snickered. “Good thing he thought to use a smoke bomb,” he responded. 

They made their way over through the wreckage until they came to a hill, where down below they spotted Wrecker teasing Omega about being afraid of a smoke bomb instead of a real explosive. Echo called down to the both of them, telling them to pack it in because Hunter wanted them all back at the cruiser. Then both he and Kimber jumped down from the ledge they were on to meet up with the other two.

“How’d the test go?” Echo asked Omega, who looked frustrated.

To further confirm that she was, she looked away and grumbled, “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Cheer up, kid. I failed my first disarming test, too,” Wrecker reassured her. “With my help, you’ll be a pro in no time.”

“I failed my first, too,” added Kimber. Then she smirked up at Wrecker and said, “I think Wrecker’s just a lousy teacher.”

“Ouch, that hurts,” replied Wrecker, feigning pain by putting a hand over his chest before punching her lightheartedly in the arm. “I’ll remember that the next time you want a swimming lesson.”

They all laughed and proceeded to all walk together back in the direction of the cruiser. However, as they were walking, they could see light reflecting off of something in a crevice nearby and realized it was a scrapper watching them. Echo and Kimber then spotted more than one hiding together, watching them.

Keeping casual, Echo muttered under his breath to warn the others, “We’ve got eyes on us.”

“Yeah, I see ‘em,” Wrecker replied quietly.

“How many?” Omega whispered. 

“At least three,” Kimber answered. 

“Stay casual,” Echo told them. Then turning slightly over his shoulder, he asked, “Wrecker, Kimber, you ready?”

Wrecker responded, “Waiting on you.”

“Ready when you both are,” answered Kimber.

They all threw on their helmets and took off running towards the scrappers, hoping to catch them off guard. It seemed to work because once the scrappers saw them coming, they panicked and started running back to their large, round speeder. Wrecker was quick with his blaster rifle and was able to stun two of the three, but the last one managed to dodge the stun blast and got the speeder ready to take off.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Wrecker cried out, grabbing the edge of the speeder to keep it from leaving. However, as he grabbed hold, the one scrapper started to speed away, taking Wrecker with them. “I've got this under control!” Wrecker called over his shoulder. 

“Not good,” Kimber commented. Then she got on her helmet comm right away and said, “Hunter, Tech. We were spotted by scrappers.”

Then Omega chimed in, “Wrecker is in pursuit. He says he has it under control.”

“Kimber, get a visual,” Hunter ordered over the comm.

“I'm on it!” she answered. 

Quickly, she looked around for a good vantage point. The scrapper was driving in circles around the area in an attempt to shake Wrecker off. There was a tall, makeshift hill made of ship parts just a couple yards away that would help her.

“Echo, cover me!” she cried out as she took off towards the hill. 

Without question, Echo followed after her, keeping his eyes out for the scrapper’s speeder coming back around. 

Kimber climbed up to the peak of the hill, getting her rifle ready as she reached the top and crouched down. She raised it up, peering through her scope as she looked for the scrapper.

“Kim, on your left!” she heard Echo call to her. 

As he did, she saw the speeder come around a corner just as Wrecker let go and dropped to the ground into a roll. The scrapper zoomed by, passing just meters in front of her. 

“I don't think so,” she said out loud as she took the stunning shot. 

She hit her mark and the scrapper fell unconscious at the wheel, sending the speeder crashing into a wall and the driver was thrown from the speeder over a ledge. 

As she stood up and rested her sniper rifle on her shoulder, Echo commented, “Nice shot.”

“I still got it,” she replied, giving a confident shrug of the shoulder as she started walking down to join him.

They jogged over to where Wrecker had landed and where Omega was now handing him his things he'd dropped in the pursuit.

Kimber asked him, “Are you okay, Wrecker?”

He took his blaster rifle from Omega and responded as he put it on his back, “I was just waiting to make my move.”

Chuckling, she replied, “Of course, you were.”

“Come on, let's grab the scrappers and then meet back with Hunter and Tech at the cruiser,” ordered Echo. 

After gathering all the unconscious scrappers, the four of them went back to the cruiser just as it was beginning to get darker outside. Hunter told them he wanted to go through the ship and gather as many weapons from inside as they could in order to clear their debt with Cid. Tech also indicated he could gather intel from the ship's central system that could be worth selling, as well. Omega and Wrecker were indifferent to the situation, but Echo didn't fully agree with it, arguing that they were soldiers, not arms smugglers. Kimber understood both sides. Echo was still stuck in the past of being a dedicated soldier as well as wanting to fight more against the Empire, but they were in a difficult predicament with Cid and Hunter was doing his best to try and get them all out of it. They wouldn't, at least, be doing this for forever. Hunter didn't leave much more room for debate as he stated they had to take this opportunity while they could and retreated inside the ship. The others went after and Echo was the last, following reluctantly. 

Everyone was going to the artillery bay while Tech was heading for the bridge to gather the intel as well as getting the power to the ship back online. Kimber decided to go with him in case he needed any help. The bridge was dark inside, save for some natural lighting coming from outside and the occasional sparks that fell from the ceiling. Once they got there, Tech began pushing a few buttons and switches on the central console.

“Will this banged up cruiser still have power left?” Kimber asked him. 

“Most Venator cruisers have rather large power reserves that last a long time,” Tech informed her as he started doing some scans on his datapad. “Even if the ship is out of commission like this one, it's still possible to tap into the backup power.” 

After his scans were done, he began trying his hand at the buttons again until finally, there was a hum that emanated from the console and spread through the bridge. The lights on the switches flashed on and the ones in the room flickered dimly.

He activated his helmet comm. “The power's back on,” he told the others.

“Yeah, we can see that,” Wrecker responded. 

“Nicely done, Tech,” said Kimber. “Now the question is: is there still salvageable intel in the central system?”

“A question I intend to answer momentarily,” he stated as he got to his knees, laid down on his back and inched underneath the main console, getting out his welding pick. 

While Tech got to work, Kimber glanced outside the viewport at the landscape full of crashed ships and wreckage of all sorts. The sky was beginning to get cloudy and dark as evening was falling. Her gaze wandered up to the sky for a moment, wondering when Crosshair would be arriving. After she’d told him where they were, he said it wouldn’t take him long to get there. It was a bit difficult to determine if she was excited to see him again or not. While she was glad to know he was coming back so they could all be together again, she had a feeling the meeting with the rest of the squad wasn’t going to go over all that well at first. Especially with Hunter. Despite that, she was certain they’d be able to get things worked out. After that, they’d get Crosshair’s chip out and then they’d be a complete family again. 

After a short, contemplative moment, she shook her head and brought herself back to the situation at hand. She peeked down at Tech, who was still prodding away with his welding pick. “How’s it looking?” she asked him.

Coming out from under the console, he responded to her, “We’re in luck.” As he then plugged in a cord connected to the console into his datapad, he informed her, “Whoever scuttled this ship didn’t wipe the hardware’s data imprint. I’m transferring the files, but I still need to copy the master drive.”

“I can do it for you,” she offered.

Tech then withdrew a computer spike from his belt and told her the master drive was under a certain panel on the console. Kimber took the spike and was about ready to plug it in when a button on the console started flashing red. 

“Tech, this button’s blinking. Isn’t this the proximity sensor?” she asked him. He’d taught her a couple things regarding ship controls, but it had been a while since they’d last discussed such topics, so she wasn’t entirely sure of what the button was off the top of her head.

He came out from his spot, stood up and walked up next to her. “You are correct. It signals when there’s an approaching vessel. It’s most likely a short circuit,” he answered dismissively.

Right then, they both heard the sounds of incoming ships…and to their surprise, three ships zoomed overhead of the cruiser. 

Recognizing the types of ships they were, Kimber stated aloud, “Those are Imperial attack shuttles.” The Empire had found them! But how?

Immediately, Tech got on his comm and said, “Hunter, we’ve got company.”

Hunter’s voice came through, inquiring, “Is it more scrappers?”

“No…it’s the Empire,” Tech answered. 

“You’d better get up here,” Kimber added over the comms.

“I’m on my way,” Hunter replied. 

Tech quickly unplugged his datapad from the central console and started typing things out on it right away. Kimber went up to the console, got down onto a knee, withdrew her sniper rifle and set it on the console, using the long-range scope to keep an eye on the shuttles. How had the Empire discovered where they were? Had they gotten to Crosshair? Is that how they’d figured it out? She saw Imperial Clone troopers exiting the two shuttles on the sides and forming up in lines outside. The middle shuttle was the last to let its troopers out.

It didn’t take long for Hunter to get to the bridge. Just as he got there, he took out his binoculars and watched the last group of soldiers coming out of the shuttle. “That must be the command shuttle,” he pointed out. 

Just as he said that, a group of soldiers in dark armor dismounted the shuttle with one soldier at the front without a helmet…and Kimber’s blood ran chill.

It was Crosshair. 

Hunter sighed and then said, irritated, “It’s Crosshair, all right.”

Kimber couldn’t move or speak as she watched Crosshair through her scope. No…it couldn’t be. He was supposed to come alone; he was supposed to come back to them. Yet there he was with an entire battalion of soldiers to come after them. Then it all hit her at once what was going on.

Crosshair had used her. 

He had lied to her and, in her desperation to have him back, she’d given him their location, thinking he’d been truthful about his intentions…which now, she realized she should’ve known better. He still had the chip in his head, so why would he suddenly show interest in returning to them? How could she have been so stupid?  

“Oh no…what have I done?” she whispered, her rifle lowering.

Behind her, Tech relayed to Hunter, “He won’t be able to detect us. I’m blocking their scanners.”

“That won’t stop him…,” Kimber told him in a low voice. If she knew her old partner, this was not going to be an easy escape from him by any means.

She felt Hunter’s hand on her shoulder and when she looked up at him, he told her, “Don’t worry, we’ll get out of this. Come on.”

As he turned and ran out with Tech, Kimber had a feeling he was mistaking her reaction for fear at seeing Crosshair there. This was not going to be good. Preparing herself for whatever was to come, she put her rifle back in its place on her back and followed after Hunter and Tech.

They found Echo, Omega and Wrecker already waiting for them outside of the corridor that led up to the bridge. Echo had a cart full of crates--most likely filled with weapons or artillery of some kind--and Wrecker had a proton torpedo resting on one shoulder and another crate slung over the other.

“How many troopers we talking about?” asked Echo as they all came together.

“Three attack shuttles’ worth,” Tech told him. 

“We already got what we came for. Let’s get to the Marauder,” suggested Wrecker.

“Wrecker’s right. We need to move now and fast,” added Kimber.

Hunter stated that they needed a covert way out since Crosshair and the Imperial troops were already on board the cruiser. Echo suggested they alternate corridors as he predicted the Imperials would do a forward-to-aft sweep. With that plan in mind, they moved quickly yet quietly through the corridors. Tech was tapping into the enemy's comms to monitor their movements. At one point, they had to hide in one of the halls to avoid detection as troopers came marching through. Just as the soldiers left, Tech got through into the enemy's comms and they heard Crosshair's voice give his orders: to push the Bad Batch towards the hangar…which was where they were already headed. With that in mind, Hunter told them to cut through the artillery deck instead, hoping to get ahead of the Imperials. 

As they went, Kimber could feel her anxiety building with every step. If they ended up crossing paths with Crosshair here, she was in huge trouble. He would definitely reveal how he figured out where they were. If they somehow managed to elude him, she could easily lie and say she didn't know how the Empire found them…but she knew it would kill her even more to lie and keep such a secret from her boys. Even more so from Hunter. 

Soon, they got to the artillery deck; a long, wide room with several huge cannons aimed through the sides of the walls. Echo, Tech and Wrecker went and peeked over the edge to see the long drop down to the ground. 

“Okay, I'm not going out that way,” Wrecker stated nervously. 

“Hopefully, we won't have to,” Kimber assured him. 

“There they are!”

Doors on all sides of the room burst open and suddenly, the Bad Batch found themselves surrounded by the Imperials. Wrecker, Echo and Tech ducked behind one of the cannons while Hunter drew his blaster and pushed Omega behind him. Kimber pulled out her rifle and positioned herself behind Omega, keeping the girl protected between her and Hunter. 

Then a voice she hadn't heard in person for some time spoke up mockingly behind her: “Tapping our comms to track our movements? So predictable.”

“Blast! He really does know our every move,” Kimber thought to herself. Slowly, she looked back over her shoulder and sure enough, there was Crosshair, standing on the other side of the room with his rifle aimed at them and several Imperials standing behind him, all with their weapons drawn. 

Wrecker scoffed aloud and peeked out from behind the cannon. “Nice to see you, too, Crosshair,” he retorted sarcastically. 

Kimber gulped at seeing Crosshair. She had a bad feeling about this. 

“Look at you all, scavenging like rats,” Crosshair taunted them, his attention on Hunter for the moment. “How pathetic.”

“Why come after us?” Hunter demanded.

“You're traitors,” Crosshair answered, giving the signal to the other soldiers to surround them.

“Crosshair, wake up!” Hunter pleaded. “You're being controlled by an inhibitor chip.”

Kimber’s grip on her rifle tightened. “Oh no….”

Then Omega stepped out and said, “He's telling the truth. The Kaminoans put chips in all the Clones.”

She was about to say more, but Crosshair interrupted her, “I know all about the chip already.”

“What? How? When?” Hunter asked.

There was a small moment of silence before Crosshair gave his answer. Three words that changed everything:

“Kimber told me.”

She flinched at hearing him say her name and she clenched her teeth together, having been dreading this moment. Then she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Then she turned fully around to face Crosshair, ignoring the fact that Hunter was staring at her and glad that she couldn't see the inevitable look of shock and disappointment underneath his helmet. 

“What is he talking about, Kimber?” Hunter asked her, a slight tremor in his voice. 

Before she could answer, Crosshair spoke up in a snide, condescending tone, “Oh…she didn't tell you, Hunter? She's been sending me secret transmissions for weeks, pleading for me to come back. I knew the moment I decided to answer her and play along, she would tell me anything in her desperation to get me to come back...and she gave me everything I needed. She led me straight to you.”

All the Clones’ eyes were back on her. However, Wrecker then cried in defense, “Kimber would never do such a thing!”

“If you don't believe me…ask her,” Crosshair jeered back. 

“Kimber…please tell me he's lying,” Hunter implored her. “Please tell me you didn't do what he said.”

She turned away in shame for but a moment and then looked back at Crosshair, her anger boiling within her. “You used me,” she said, seething. “I thought you wanted to come back. You manipulated my feelings and you betrayed me!” 

“You made it all too easy,” he said back dismissively. 

“A mistake, I swear I won't be making again,” she vowed, raising her rifle up and aiming it at him. 

Crosshair stepped forward. “I suggest you drop your weapon--”

Suddenly, the cannon next to them where Tech, Echo and Wrecker had been hiding behind activated and fired a shot, causing a kickback in the machine that slammed into Crosshair and his troops and knocked them off their feet. The rest of the room trembled from the shot, but the Bad Batch used that to their advantage. They all began firing at the remaining Imperials around them that were still standing. Some of the ceiling began to collapse and they had to jump out of the way of the falling debris. Once it seemed the way was clear, they all ran at Hunter's orders towards the doors on the other side. They were stopped in the doorway by a trooper who shot a jet of flame at them with their flamethrower, but Wrecker was quick to act and he launched his proton torpedo at them, knocking them back.

“Direct hit! Yeah!” he cheered before picking up his other case and running with the others. 

“I've got a plan to get us out of here! Follow me!” cried Tech. 

They didn't stop running until they reached a corridor that they were able to seal the doors behind them so the Empire's forces couldn't pursue them. For further insurance, both Tech and Hunter welded the edges of the door together. 

Once they finished, Tech stated, “There. That should keep the Empire at bay for now.”

Kimber stepped up and stated, “Guys, I can explain.”

“I don't want to hear anything right now,” Hunter abruptly cut her off, simply walking past her. 

Echo then asked, “Hunter, shouldn't we at least hear her out?”

Stopping and turning back, Hunter responded, “Nothing she says will matter if Crosshair or the Empire catches us, so let's get out of here.” Then without waiting, he continued onward.

The rest of the boys looked back at her for a second and then kept walking after Hunter. 

Kimber stood there, watching them walk away and doing her best to fight back tears. She knew she'd messed up big time and now, her boys were angry at her. Hunter, more than the rest…which she'd predicted right away. They all were now paying the price for her mistake. Even if they all made it off of Bracca after this, it wasn't going to feel like a victory at all. 

She felt a hand on her arm and she looked down to see Omega looking sadly up at her. “Don't feel bad, Kimber. I'm sure you had your reasons for doing what you did,” she tried to reassure her.

“I thought…I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was helping him…but he lied,” Kimber replied. 

“He can't help it. It's not your fault,” Omega said. 

“The boys won't see it that way,” said Kimber. 

Omega took her hand and began pulling her along with her. “They'll come around. I'm sure they will.”

Unfortunately, Kimber did not agree with that sentiment, but she chose to say nothing as the two of them went after the rest of the squad. 

They were led into the ion engine chamber of the Venator, where Tech stated it was their ultimate egress off the cruiser. They made their way deeper into the chamber all the way to the other side that led to the outdoors. However, as they came to the edge of the engines, a shot rang out that nearly hit Tech and Hunter had to catch him before he fell out. To their dismay, Crosshair had headed them off and had been waiting for them outside with another shuttle of Imperials. Hunter ordered everyone to double back, but as they did, they felt the whole engine starting to rumble. Hunter surmised that it sounded like the engines coming back online, but he didn't think that was possible. Although, Tech countered saying that it was possible since he'd restored the ship's main power core when he accessed the central system, so the engines could technically still be activated. 

“Crosshair wouldn't do that…would he?” inquired Omega nervously. 

“Honestly…I wouldn't put anything past him at this point,” Kimber grumbled. 

The air around them began to swirl around and get ducked into the engine as the engine continued powering up. They wondered what they could do and couldn't come up with anything right away. Wrecker suggested Plan 7, but was quickly chided by Echo who reminded him that Plan 7 had nothing to do with their current situation whatsoever. Luckily, Hunter and Tech speedily devised a plan to use the explosives from the armory on the cone of the engine to break away before the engine engaged. They each took an explosive and placed them where they could around the ring of the engine. The quaking intensified, which meant that the engine was close to activating and they were running out of time. Wrecker took out the control to activate the explosives and everyone got down to the ground just as he pressed the button. The explosives all went off, severing the cone from the engine with multiple small explosions. Once that happened, the floor beneath them lurched along with them. The cone fell straight down and they had to run along the floor, which soon turned into a wall they had to climb and grab onto to keep from falling. Soon, the engine cone hit the ground and lurched again, causing most of them to fall. Wrecker caught Echo, but Hunter and Tech fell a few feet and landed on a ledge. Omega landed right onto Hunter and he tumbled over the edge, but quickly flipped back and grabbed the ledge with one hand while holding Omega against him with the other. Tech caught Kimber’s hand and halted her fall. 

“Hang on, Kimber!” he called to her. 

The cone began to lean again, prompting them to get back to their feet, but seconds later, it crashed and split down the middle. Kimber felt the ground beneath her jolt and she fell backwards as the half she fell into started rolling. Her body rolled and she was getting tossed about painfully, colliding with the ridges of the cone for a few moments until finally it stopped rolling. It took her a second to get her balance and regain her bearings. Once she got to her feet, she realized that Hunter and Omega were close by, but there was no sign of Echo, Wrecker or Tech. 

Just as she was about to get on comms, Echo's voice came through in her helmet: “Hunter, Kimber, we landed on the port side. What's your status?”

Hunter looked over to see Kimber was with him before answering, “We're by the engine and we've got company.” 

Just then, one of the shuttles flew overhead and shot down at them. Fortunately, it missed, but the shots came close to hitting them.

“Meet back at the Marauder,” Hunter ordered the others as he and Omega took off running. 

Kimber followed them for a few yards until they ducked behind a large metal pillar to stop and catch their breath. 

“Do you think we'll make it back all right?” asked Kimber. 

“You'd better hope we do. You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place,” he spat back.

“Hunter, I'm sorry,” she said with despair, his stinging remark cutting deep.

“Let's hurry,” he said before running again, seemingly ignoring her apology. 

The three of them ran as fast as they could, making their way through all the ship wreckage back in the direction of where they had parked the Marauder. All the while, they kept their eyes out for any Imperial shuttles in the sky. 

They climbed their way up into the area where the ship was and were surprised to see a docked Imperial shuttle next to the Marauder and a few Imperial soldiers…all lying dead around the ship. 

“What happened to them?” Omega whispered. 

Hunter and Kimber stealthily moved forward to examine the closest dead soldier. 

“Someone's here. This wasn't the scrapper's handiwork,” Hunter stated quietly. 

Then another voice; a deeper, alien-like voice spoke nearby, “Wasn't much work.”

All three of them looked up to see someone leaning against the open doorway to their ship. A Duros; a blue-skinned, red-eyed alien with tubes attached to his neck, who was wearing brown leather armor and a wide-brimmed hat. Two blasters rested against his hips in their holsters. Whoever this guy was, he looked very dangerous. Very much like a bounty hunter.

“Omega, get behind us,” Kimber told the young girl. 

The newcomer casually strode down the steps of the ship towards them, being followed by a small boxy Droid hovering on two boosters in its legs. 

He said to them, mostly to Hunter, as he nonchalantly took out a toothpick and put it between his razor teeth, “I've taken down so many Clones over the years. Once you figure out one, the rest are easy.”

“You're in for a surprise,” Hunter challenged him. 

“I doubt that,” the Duros responded. 

Omega then observed aloud, “He's a bounty hunter.”

“Ain't you smart?” the now-confirmed bounty hunter said to her sarcastically. Then he said as an aside to his Droid, “The kid's got it all figured out.”

Kimber took a step forward. “Don't you dare speak to her.”

“Better watch yourself, missy,” the bounty hunter warned her, “or things are gonna get messy real fast.”

The little Droid then taunted them in a higher-pitched voice, “You're in trouble now.”

“Who hired you?” Hunter asked firmly. 

“Son, that's confidential information,” the Duros simply replied back. “Now hand her over.”

He was looking at Omega. 

“She's with us. She's not going anywhere,” Hunter told him, moving forward into a defensive position. 

The bounty hunter also stepped forward, drumming his fingers on his blaster. “That's unfortunate…for you.”

Kimber watched Hunter carefully as he ever so slowly edged his hand just above his own blaster, never taking his eyes off the bounty hunter. The tension in the moment was almost physical; like she could feel it or even taste it. There was no telling how this was going to go, but she was confident in Hunter's abilities. He'd surely take care of this threat without issue. She sidestepped slightly to put herself in front of Omega.

Then everything happened so fast.

Both Hunter and the Duros whipped out their blasters and fired and suddenly, Hunter dropped to the ground, unmoving and with a smoking blaster hole in his chest. 

His own shot had diverted and hit the Droid in the leg. The Duros quickly holstered his blaster without a second thought.

Kimber's heart ceased beating. This couldn't be happening. She wasn't seeing this; it wasn't real. Her Sergeant couldn't have been beaten like this. Flashes of a previous nightmare she'd had a long time ago of seeing Hunter shot in front of her and then her recent one of hearing his voice followed by a blaster shot filled her mind.

“Hunter!” she shrieked in terror. 

In her anger, she went for her own blaster, but then she heard Omega cry out Hunter's name behind and suddenly, out of her peripherals, she could see the young girl running towards Hunter. 

“Omega, no!” she shouted, moving and reaching out to grab her. 

There was the sound of another blaster shot and searing pain shot up from just above Kimber's knee through her whole leg, causing her to fall to the ground with an agonized yelp. Omega halted, calling out for Kimber before looking back at the bounty hunter, terrified. 

“Sorry, little lady,” he said to her, pointing his blaster at her and firing a stunning blast at the girl just as she drew her bow, making her drop unconscious. 

“No…!” Kimber cried through a pained moan. She reached for her blaster, but as she grabbed it, the bounty hunter's Droid swooped in and knocked it from her hand. 

The bounty hunter came over and towered over her, his almost glowing red eyes leering down at her menacingly. “I wouldn't do that if I were you, missy. If you know what's best for the kid…and unless you wanna end up like your Clone friend….” He then raised his boot and stepped down right on her leg where she'd been shot, pushing slowly down on her and eliciting a scream from her. Then he finished his threat with, “Then you'll stay down and not cause a scene.”

She clenched her teeth tight and tears spilled out the corners of her eyes as she fought the agony in her leg. Even if she wanted to risk fighting this bounty hunter to protect Omega, she knew there was no way she'd be able to even stand on her leg, let alone walk or fight. He'd wounded her badly and she knew, to her great dismay, that she was down for the count. 

She watched in despair as the bounty hunter scooped up Omega’s limp form and slung her over his shoulder, calling for his Droid to follow. They got into the Imperial shuttle and before long, the ship lifted off the ground and took off. A yell of anguish, both from the pain of her wound and the pain of losing both Hunter and Omega, ripped itself from her throat. Her nightmare from the night before returned to her mind. She heard Crosshair’s voice telling her she would be Clone Force 99’s downfall…and for once, her nightmare had come true. 

Because of her, everything had gone wrong.

Kimber had failed.

She crawled her way--albeit painfully--over to Hunter, tears falling down her face as she cried his name. He couldn’t be dead…he just couldn’t be. When she reached his unmoving body, she pressed her hand to his neck. To her immense relief, there was still a pulse. Hunter was alive.

Knowing that, she activated her helmet comm and spoke through grunts of pain, “Echo…Tech…Wrecker…help!”

“We hear you, Kimber. Where are you?” she heard Tech respond.

The wound in her leg was throbbing intensely and she moaned again, getting out what words she could, “Marauder…Hunter…and I…been shot. Hurry!”

Then she heard Echo reassure her, a hint of urgency in his voice, “Hold on, Kim. We’re coming!”

Kimber collapsed next to Hunter, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tightly. “I’m…so sorry, my love,” she whispered, knowing he most likely couldn’t hear her. “I’m so sorry.”

He stirred slightly and she heard a light groan from under his helmet.

“Hunter?” she asked, inching closer to him.

Just then, she heard running footsteps approaching and heard Echo call out for them as he, Tech and Wrecker appeared in front of them. Echo knelt at her side and helped her sit up.

Picking up Omega’s bow that had gotten left behind, Wrecker demanded, “What happened? Where’s Omega?”

“Bounty…hunter,” she answered as she sat up, gritting her teeth from the burning in her leg. “He…shot us…and took her.”

“Hunter has been shot through the chest plate. We have to get him onboard,” Tech informed the others.

As Echo got Kimber to her feet, Wrecker yelled out, “Incoming!” and started firing behind them just as more soldiers came into view. Tech pulled Hunter up and pulled him into the ship while Echo scooped Kimber up into his arms and carried her inside. Once they all were onboard and the door was closed, Tech practically leapt into the pilot’s seat, powered up the ship and they sped away from the planet. 

Wrecker removed Hunter’s helmet and his eyes were open. He clutched at his chest where he’d been shot and then inquired, “Where’s Omega?”

“A bounty hunter took her. Kimber told us,” Wrecker informed him.

To everyone’s surprise, Hunter whipped around and asked Kimber angrily, “You let him get away with her? Why didn't you protect her?”

Echo was guiding her down into one of the chairs and she replied in equal anger, “I was shot, too, Hunter! There was nothing I could do.”

Hunter’s eyes flashed wide for a second at hearing and seeing that Kimber had been hurt, but his own frustration at her and what she’d done was more powerful in the moment. 

“That isn't very fair, Hunter,” Tech stated over his shoulder at him. “Crosshair was one thing, but I'm certain Kimber had nothing to do with the bounty hunter being there.”

“Though if Crosshair hadn’t shown up and chased us around everywhere, we could’ve been off planet before the bounty hunter even got there,” Hunter said back. 

“Hunter, please!” Kimber pleaded.

He spun his chair around with a slight wince of pain and declared, “No! You put all of us in danger and because of you, Omega’s now gone!”

Echo stepped in between and exclaimed, aggravated, “That’s enough! We can discuss everything later, but right now, we need to tend to both your wounds and we need to get out here before the Empire catches up to us.”

Hunter said nothing and simply cast a look of disappointment at Kimber, a look just as sharp as his vibroblade that cut down deep. She didn’t know what hurt more at that moment, her leg or her heart. Her head fell back against the headrest of the chair and she sucked in air through her teeth.

If they managed to evade Crosshair and the Empire, the rest of this flight was not going to be enjoyable at all.

[nianeyna]

I kept a bullet-pointed liveblog in a notes document as I played the new ffxiv expansion. now I have finally finished the story so I can share with the class without fear of someone responding to me with spoilers. speaking of which everything below is dawntrail spoilers, for the entire expansion, in case that wasn't clear.

⬇️ SPOILERS. FINAL FANTASY XIV DAWNTRAIL SPOILERS BELOW. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⬇️

Dawntrail Liveblog

- ok so the mean claimants are obviously not going to win, but catboy promise is a dark horse. also not ruling out "nobody wins"

- Urqopacha is super cute

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- Erenville's deal continues to be very mysterious no matter how much he contrives to appear to be telling us about it

- lol Erenville dialog: "I spoke too much" YOU BARELY SAID ANYTHING BABE

- Kozama-uka is sooooo pretty

- I like how the entire first dungeon was totally unnecessary since we would have got there FASTER if we'd just stuck around and helped Alisaie and Erenville repair the boat lmao. but that's not how the WoL does things!!

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- erenville lurking in the background... siddown boy lmao

- unknown dude: hey you uh... forgot something. yeah back there. come with me and get it this is definitely not a trap

- oh no it was a trap! who could possibly have predicted this??

- awwww, Koana. wasn't sure about him at first but he's just a cute little muffin isn't he

- wuk lamat getting all excited about eating the xibruq pibil was so cute omg. she just likes food!!! I appreciate that in a woman

- oh shiiiiit wuk lamat origin story?! dun dun dun...

- aaaaaand solo duty... ulp

- haha get wrekt

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- the mamool ja should look into tourism... this place is pretty as hell

- ok koana shooting the tablet was a pretty cool move

- have my doubts about the golden city being in yak tel... like if it was there why'd they go to xak tural then

- ok, I guess it... was there? or... the *entrance* was there... according to gulool ja ja, anyway...

- road trip alone with erenville be still my heart!

- out of context erenville quotes: "this is your first time, so let's take it slow"

- no need to apologize erenville... you can drag me into anything you want

- oh wow this is really fucking sad. wow. I wasn't expecting that!

- the ridiculous train plan is cheering me up a bit thank god (editor's note: it didn't last)

- sigh... there always has to be at least one zone per expansion that's all dark and gross-looking. did they sign a contract to that effect or something??

- I can't believe how mean this plotline is to erenville

- this is fucked up... this is so fucked up

- npc: "sorry to darken the mood" NO THAT'S FINE I DON'T THINK THE MOOD CAN GET ANY WORSE!!

- I want to rip Spene's crown off and push her off a cliff. her little I'm so cute and innocent and helpless act makes me want to puke.

- CAMPFIRE SCENE!

- if any more parents die in this story I am really truly gonna lose it

- YES finally we get to fight these horrible people. machine army. whatever.

- I hope the next trial is sphene... I want to kick sphene's ass SO bad

- well there goes otis which brings the fucking dead parent toll to at least 4

- finallyyyyyy made it out of heritage found... *collapses onto the floor of tuliyollal like a shipwrecked sailor reaching land*

- (ok obviously I've technically been back to tuliyollal while I've been doing these godforsaken quests but THIS IS DIFFERENT!)

- we didn't fight sphene but the prospects are looking really good for me getting to punch her in the face soon. probably not literally like we got to do with zenos, but I guess you can't have everything :(

- wow sphene really BELIEVES she's just a helpless little girl. fucking incredible.

- next expansion let's have a final zone NOT populated entirely by ghosts. change it up a little

- so should I count namikka and cahciua's deaths twice on the parent death toll scoreboard or what

- you know what I still don't get. is why the yok huy went to xak tural to look for the golden city. *why did they think it was there*? I mean heritage found is there *now* but it definitely wasn't hundreds of years ago!

- that face on the tower looks more like meteion than sphene tbh

- two more dead parents!

- I can't. believe. sphene erased herself before I could beat her ass. this is the most unfair thing that has happened in this expansion, and it is up against some STRONG contenders

- it's just not satisfying to pummel a weird robot that has none of her memories!

- oh sphene's SORRY? *loudest fart noise ever*

- it's a good thing wuk lamat is here to be nice cause if I had to do it I'd throw up

- "their lives remain unchanged"? uh.... we shut off the afterlife. which was a real physical place you could go to. I feel like that changes things a bit!

- I DID IT I'M OUT CREDITS ROLLED UP I'M DONE THANK GOD

First half I rate: 9/10

Second half I rate: 3/10

Overall I rate this expansion: 5/10 I guess

Up until the lightning dome appeared I was having a blast. after that the gameplay experience became one of gritting my teeth so I could get out and be done with it. all the alexandrian zones are dark and unpleasant to be in, which would have been bearable except the plot was literally nightmarish and any new characters I didn't hate either died or were already dead (except gulool ja, who's cute of course, but his story was still pretty upsetting in a different way). This is not to say the writing was bad, because I don't think it was. In the alternate universe where I was LOOKING for a tragic existential horror game I might have even really liked it. However I really really wasn't looking for that at all, so in the real world I feel pretty betrayed and upset. There's a line between "plot twist" and "false advertising" and I think they left it behind in the dust.

But hell, at least we got 4 campfire scenes.

[thewatercolours]

King's Quest Fic: "Priorities," Chapter 3

Lady Piernoir,

I have done some thinking about the conversation we had at the Lily and Throne last week. I told you I would write to you once I had made up my mind about whether serving Count Carolus was for me. Well, I have decided. It was kind of you to offer me a place in your household, but I think I can do better here in the Count’s castle.

I would like to take the chance to remind you that I have a sister who is looking for work, and that if you ever have an opening for her, I’d be glad for you to write to me. So I can get in touch with her. You can pass the note on to me through the guards at the gate – they’ll make sure I get it.

Grimm

Dear Amaya,

I’m just praying that they’re right and milk works just as well as invisible ink as lemon juice does, because I sure couldn’t get my hands on any lemons. But if you’re reading this, I guess it worked well enough.

I know we’re trying to keep letters to a minimum, but there’s new information you have to know about before any more time goes by. I have to keep this short, so I’ll stick to the most important things:

Whisper and Acorn are definitely here . I rub shoulders with Whisper just about every day, and I tracked down Acorn too. They’ve been made servants too – or slaves, really. Amaya, the Count doesn’t seem to have any magic himself, but he’s got a collection of these horrible rings that make the servants and guards’ minds warp. When you’re wearing one, it starts changing you slowly, making you feel loyal to the Count.

And there’s no way to take them off without the key. I know, because he fitted me out with one too. I have tried everything to get it off – sliding it off with butter or axel grease, filing at it, smashing it against the stone wall. I thought if I could just get it off, there might be a way to fake I was still wearing it, at least to anyone not looking closely. But nothing works. It might as well be a diamond for all the good  filing does to it, and it won’t budge no matter what I do with my finger.

But I’ve got to get it off. That thing started working instantly the moment I got it locked on. I don’t know how to explain this, but the whole time I’m writing this, I feel just so. Guilty. Not like I’m nervous to get caught. More like I’m doing something ungrateful, or even downright wrong, telling you the Count makes us slaves or that I want to take the ring off. I feel like going to him and making a clean breast of it all. Of course I won’t. I can reason it through, and I know what’s actually happening to me. But I’m worried about whether I’ll be able to do that long term, just based on what I see in Acorn.

He's much further gone than Whisper, even though I guess they were brought here at the same time. They’ve got him working down in the armoury (one place in the castle you’d probably like, if the situation were different.) I’ve managed to meet with him twice. The first time he recognized me, and Amaya, he was furious with me for coming there, even when I told him it was a rescue mission. He kept talking about how the Count depended on him, and he couldn’t up and leave, and he wasn’t going to stand for bad talk about him. He seemed to realize the ring was affecting him, but he said the magic in the rings only magnifies what you already believe, and he believes in the Count. I couldn’t get through to him, and I was worried to push too far. I was afraid he might turn me in. The second time I was sent down there with a message, he had a hard time knowing who I was. Like I was familiar, but it was hazy. I am still trying to decide if I should try to remind him who I am, or if I can do him more good by just being another servant who’s noticed some disturbing things.

Whisper’s all right, I hope. Further along than me, but when we were alone it seemed like a big relief to him that I was there. He wanted to know if I was going to get them out. Of course I told him I would. He’s trying to put a brave face on it, but I can tell that “loyal” voice in his mind is louder than mine is. He wants to get out, but he also wants to obey. But he’s hanging on for now. Funny that Whisper should be doing that better than Acorn could.

I have no idea what timeline my own mind is on. I need to check in with you somehow, so that if things start getting bad, you can intervene. Maybe it’s good you weren’t able to visit Lady Carolus because she was giving birth that day – this gives you a fresh chance to try and call on her and try to strike up a friendship. Which I will need you to do if you ever suspect I’m losing myself. I can’t write you check-in letters. That would be too suspicious. We need to save these for the really important news. So, I don’t remember – can you see the tallest tower from the Lily and Crown? I’m a family servant, so I’m housed up there. Maybe the whole signalling with a lantern thing is overdone, and suspicious, but I think it’s the best we’ve got. Every three nights, around midnight, I’ll put a lantern right in the window, just for a minute, and then take it away. If you see it, you’ll know I think I can keep going. If I miss it twice, please find an excuse to come here if you can. Make Whisper and Acorn the priority if it comes down to it.

(I hope I forget about this signalling thing if my mind goes too far. It would be awful if I remembered and tried to use it against you. But what else can we do?)

There’s barely any room left on either side of the paper, so let’s leave it at this: I have a few plans to try to get our friends out. I won’t write them here for now, but things are underway. If it’s safe to, please keep Number One up to date with everything going on here in Arkney.

I’d tell you to be strong, Amaya, but that would be ridiculous coming from me to you. So – all the best.

KG

[dirtybitfic]

TRIP-pt.2

Shower, getting ready, flirting, talking about being turned on

You and Chris were just finishing up your food and drinks when you heard a knock on the door.

You got up to answer .

You opened the door to see Mrs. James she smiled at you as you smiled back.

“Hi y/n I was just making the rounds to check on everyone and make sure y’all were settling in well.”

“Oh yes thank you Mrs. James were doing great just ate and ate about to get ready to go to the bonfire” you said smiling at her.

“Oooh sounds fun we’ll y’all have fun and be safe . Me and Mr. Bendoza will be staying the night at a different resort for a couple nights since the room we had booked had some issues and they are fully booked but I have you guys numbers so if you get a call from a random number please answer since it will be me and I will be checking up on you guys”

“Okay sounds good thank you ! Have a good night Mrs James” you said as she waved at Chris behind you and went on her way.

“Shit we got a whole room to ourselves for two weeks on the opposite side of everyone else and no teachers to bother us for a couple of days… you know what that meannns” you look at Chris concerned for what he was about to say.

“ We can literally do whatever we want whenever we want for however long we want” he said as he smirked at you.

You blushed a little bit not knowing exactly if your picking up what he’s putting down.

“And what you do you mean by that Christopher “ you asked a little nervous for his answer. All your mind was thinking is dirty things.

“Oh you know we can get up to some mischief. Run around early hours of the morning . Drink as much as we want and go anywhere the resort takes us” he says smirking more seeing the blush on your face.

“Oh yeah no for sure to be honest I did not know where you were going with that “ you laughing nervously.

“Well anyways we should pick out our outfits for tonight. I could you use your help . Since you’re so good at finding good fits.” He says smiling at you.

“ I’m not that good sometime I hate my outfits and think I look like shit and when people tell me they like them I never agree “ you said.

“Oh nah you always look good trust me “ he said as we walked to the closet to unpack his bag .

You blushed at the compliment not knowing if he meant it the way you took it.

You went to the closet to find something to wear which won’t be to hard since you over packed way to many options.

“Should I do a dress , matching set or pants and a top” you asked Chris .

“How about you try on the options for me and I’ll tell you which one looks the best” Chris says smiling down at you.

“Okay I’ll change in the bathroom and I’ll come out and show you” you said grabbing all your options and walked to the bathroom.

“Okay option 1 what do you think” you said walking out to show him.

“Dayum okay this one is gooood” he said smiling wide at you as he looks all around your body.

You laugh a little bit blushing from the way he’s looking over you intensely. You go back to the bathroom to put in the second option.

“Okayyy option 2 “you walked out and looked up at him .

“ OH YEAH this is the one no more option this one “ he said as he stared at you smiling .

“Okay well glad you like it . I’m gonna shower real quick if that’s okay and then I’ll throw up some makeup then help you with your outfit okay?” You said to Chris.

“Yeah sounds good just don’t lock the door cause I have a feeling that drinks gonna hit me in a little and ima need to pee” he says laughing .

Okay I’ll leave it unlocked just knock before just incase I’m still in the shower and the whole walk is glass so don’t wanna be accidentally giving you a peep show” you said laughing.

He blushed a little bit and shifted in tel bed as he laughing a little with you.

You went into the bathroom and started the shower . Not gonna lie you didn’t really need to shower but you wanted to just because of how fucking cool the shower was.

Like come on who wouldn’t want to shower in here there’s rain showers coming down on you no matter where you stand . You look of all your clothes and hopped in jumping a little and screaming from how hot you had the water . You heard Chris knock loudly on the door.

“Y/n you good I heard you scream” he said sounding a bit worried.

“Oh yeah sorry I didn’t realize how hot I had the water just hurt a little when I got in” you said laughing .

“Okay good I got scared you fell or something” you heard him sigh out of relief.

“I’m good thank you for checking though “ you said.

“Yeah of course “ he said and you heard him walk away. You said notice before you got in that there were speakers on the shower walls and that you could Bluetooth your phone to them to play music. You hit shuffle on the wall console and music started playing . It echoed through the shower making you hear it from all angles.

You started singing along and you washed your body and hair. And letting the water fall over your body relaxing you.

You heard a knock on the door and yelled out what.

“Hey I really gotta pee I swear I’ll look anywhere else but the shower “ he said kinda frantically.

“Okay come in just turn away from the right walk as you walk in and we’ll be good “

Okay thank you he says as the door opens and you see him covering his eyes as he fully turns to the left wall and walks side ways to the toilet that was behind a little side wall to create a little privacy.

“ I don’t know you listened to nardo” Chris says as he finishes up and awls side ways to the sink trying his very best to not look at you even though he’s very tempted.

“Oh yeah I like some of his stuff since you play it a lot in the car you put me onto him “ you said .

Chris’s pov-

god how could a girl be so gorgeous , sweet, kind, funny , and have good music taste. I thought to myself as she answered my question.

I heard the water turn off and heard her feet hit the bathroom tile while she probably was grabbing a towel off the shelf.

“Okay you can look at me now I have a towel on” she says.

I looked up at her and smiled . “That was very stressful making sure I didn’t look over especially as we were talking “ I said laughing a little .

She giggled so softly god it was music to my ear to hear her giggles. They were always go soft like a nice ocean breeze when it hits your skin .

“You gotta see how cool the shower is though !look” she says as she turns it back on.

“Damn that’s the fanciest shower I’ve ever seen” I said.

“I know right “ she smile at me as she turns it off.

“Okay I gotta change sooooo” she says.

“Oh yeah my bad I’ll be in the room if you need me “ I said walking out closing the door behind me.

God . Seeing her in that towel with water droplets on her skin and her hair wet got me hard . She has no idea the effect she has on me .

From the first time I met her I was so enamored by her beauty and after getting to know her I love her personality even more . She just . Well perfect .

If I get drunk enough tonight the truth just might slip out and I don’t know if that would be good or bad but I guess we will find out.

Y/n pov-

I just finishing drying off and getting my outfit on . I decided to just let my hair dry in its natural wave pattern since I didn’t wanna blow dry it and started butting on some light glowy makeup.

Then I was done.

I walked out and met eyes with Chris.

“Fuck . You look gorgeous y/n “ he said looking you up and down.

You blushed hard core and looked down smiling to yourself “thank you Chris” I said .

He got up walked over to me putting his hand under my jaw to me look up at him. I looked up at him and blushed even more from the eye contact he was maintaining.

“Anytime gorgeous” he said as he caressed my jaw softly . Then let go to walk to the closet .

“Okay help me pick out what to wear please I’ve tried but I just can’t figure out what looks good together” he said sifting through his clothes.

“Ooh do this shirt with these plants you’ll look so good “ you said as you handed them to him.

“Thank you “ he said as he set them on the bed and started taking off his shirt. You couldn’t help but stare. The way his back muscles moved as he took his shirt off and the way big broad shoulders looked . God your mouth was begging to dry up as all the wetness in your body moved down wards between your legs as you imagined how much better it would look with scratches from your nails down it.

You hadn’t realized he turned around to show you his final outfit since you were so deep in your thoughts .

“ helloooo earth to y/n” he said waving a hand in your face laughing.

“Oh… fuck sorry what” you said looking up at him. He looked down at you smirking.

“I was just asking if you liked the fit ma” he said as he ran his hand through your hair that was getting in your face.

Your breathe hitched at the way he called you ma and the way he moved your hair out of your face.

“Oh y-yeah it looks really good” you said feeling your cheeks heat up.

He moved his hand to your neck softly caressing the side with his thumb.

“ God your so beautiful y/n” Chris said .

PART THREE COMING SOOOOOON. 💋

[lgchyoseop]

scales and flowers

hyoseop had been surprised when he was told he was the younger out of the pair, and that he needed to pick their date spot. he’d been used to being older than many as a trainee, he would argue it wasn’t because he was old, but because these trainees and idols kept getting younger and younger. he’d originally chosen another spot, but as he talked with his sister and talked about the idea, she took the idea and left him to find another spot to have his date. he wanted to look good in front of his date, hence he’d chosen ‘cafe jool’, a place they could get something to drink, and paint a piece of pottery, which meant, hyoseop would get to show off his painting skill.

who his date was though, he had no idea. he’d been given an item as a hint who it was, a ‘justice scale’ had been shown to him, he’d stared at it for a long while before asking if he was going on a date with one of legacy’s lawyers. safe to say, he had no idea who his date was. still, he’d dressed up for the occasion, dropped his usual look that consisted of sandals, white tight shirt and sweatpants. changed it out with denim pants, converse and a shirt with flowers on it. he stood with a rose in his hand, waiting for his date (whoever they were) to show up.

<3 @lgcyein

[toskarin]

VesalBlood Reader Poll #1

-

so I'm going to try something just because I like the idea of reader surveys and understand the inherent bias of reading an audience solely through comments from people who feel safe leaving them

introducing the first of hopefully many VesalBlood polls, where I'm going to periodically check in on what people find interesting about the setting and its characters

this isn't going to change the way stories go or anything, because I've got everything I'm planning to make planned out up to at least December of this year. think of it more as me seeing if things are being received the way I intend them to be, or if I'm off the mark entirely

to repeat: this isn't a direct "what should I do next" type of poll, but is a way to check in with readers instead of just telling you about my side of production. I might even put out surveys sooner or later, but that's way more involved than doing polls

anyway, here's question 1: listed below are the primary characters of Diesem Fernen Traum. of these, which are you most interested in hearing more about? this is not necessarily your favourite character

[oliviasecrets]

This is Life

Part I

Number 248 it’s your turn. Here thank you, oh okay I can do this it’s just another day pretending I can do it. As I entered the room my mindset changed drastically and put on my famous smile , hi I’m y/n I’m so excited for this opportunity thank you so much. It’s lovely to meet you y/n we’ve heard so much about you now for the important part we would like to see your walk please. As you prepared yourself to do your very known differ model walk one of the agents asked “sorry can we do it without the heels first” um yeah sure you said. As the music started playing in your head more specific maneares by Nelly Furtado, you stated to do your thing and in less than a minute you got the part! You finally did it a dream that seemed to good to be true. In just a couple of months your life change drastically you were now the it girl for Calvin Klein. Everything seems like the dream right what could go wrong.

——————————————————

Good Morning Sunshine!!! Can you please get yourself together we have to be at time square in 2 hours. Your agent a close friend Liv stormed into you apartment screaming. Ugh hey yeah I’ll take a shower you can grab my phone order some bangles, and just to be sure I won’t be doing any press today right you asked scared of the answer. No honey just do some poses for the paparazzi and take some pictures with fans. Great thank Liv for everything you said with a very forced smile. Everything was going well until you got a very intriguing notification on your phone, @JackHarlow stared following you

HOLY SHIT you said out loud, now sitting on your bathroom stall taking everything in. Huh who would’ve thought that your teen crush would follow you back. Trying to remain calm while getting ready you couldn’t help but smile a lot which caught liv’s attention. What are you smiling about now don’t tell me there’s a boy or anything like that. You couldn’t help it but laugh a bit, actually yeah someone very special to me started following me on instagram, can I know who this someone is? Hmm promise not to do anything crazy if I tell you who he is? What ofc I only care about you and your surroundings so yes please tel me who. Okay okay it’s this rapper who you might have heard about his name is Jack Harlow, you didn’t face Liv only cause you could imagine her reaction. NO FUCKING WAY the Jack Harlow the one you cried about in our senior year of high school?! Yup that one should i say something a little hey what’s up or just let it be? Are you asking your friend or your agent honey. That broke your heart a bit suddenly everything clicked you were the new it girl and had to stay single and available for the media and the fans to love you. Um just forget I asked I forgot, a sad smile pressed on liv’s faces said it all, she got up to press a kiss on your hair and said it’s for your own good you know I love you and admire you but remover why we’re here it’s the price of fame.

———————————————————

Y/N here please! Smile y/n to this camera, Y/N are you single who’s got you smiling like that.

One, two, three, breath was all you thought of when you walked on the small carpet on time square, you were promoting the new line of Calvin underwear with what else than a huge spectacular of you posing. Your younger would be so proud to be one of the few plus size models to have not just a spectacular but many many covers of magazines. Once you enter the vip area all you could think about was getting a very cold and wrong drink at the bar. As you approach the bartender you could feel something on your stomach like if something was going to happen, hey could I get a cosmopolitan please with one olive, sure thing coming right up. As you were waiting on your drink you felt a large and cold hand pressed on your lower back that made you turn around, and no one could have expected this but no other than Jack Harlow was smiling at you. Hey I’m Jack we haven’t meet probably but I’m fan of your work been following you for a bit. Holy fuck um hello yeah I know who you are also a big fan of your work as you probably greeted him by kissing his cheek. Huh I heard somewhere that latinas always greet like that, guess I’m in luck right. You looked deep into his ocean eyes and studied his cute curls that made him look so cute. Mind if we take a picture he said while grabbing your hand to lead the way to where the photographer was. All you could thing about was how good your kids would look very creepy from just formally meeting Jack. As he placed his hand on you lower hip you turn to look at him with love eyes and for your luck that was the picture that immediately went viral of course you didn’t know that until after the show was done but in that moment you forgot about everything. And yes even about why the number one rule of your life at the moment was no dating, no hookups, no relationships at any cost. Guess we’ll see where this goes now that that picture was in everyone’s instagram.

——————————————-

Hii this is my first ever fic, just a heads up this story will contain some heartthrob like, #JackHarlowChris Evans, Henry Cavill, Travis Kelce, Drake, ASAP Rocky, and best for last Timothee Chalament

Thank you for reading hope you like it !

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers LOST EDEN ー Azusa Ecstasy [Prologue]

ー The scene starts outside of Kino’s manor

Yui: ( Azusa-kun wanted to retrieve his left arm to put an end to the Sakamaki’s... )

( And Ruki-kun ultimately seemed to accept his decision as well... )

( But still...I feel as if he doesn’t actually agree with it deep down. )

...

( However, there’s something that worries me even more right now... )

ーー W-Wait! Azusa-kun...!

ー Yui runs up to him

Azusa: Eve...

Yui: Listen...You’re heading out with the group again?

Azusa: ...

Yui: ( Ever since he got his left arm back, he’s been heading out together with Kino-kun and his ‘Raven’ friends quite often... )

Hey, Azusa-kun. Where are you going today?

You aren’t doing something risky, are you...?

Azusa: ...Don’t worry. I’m not injured.

Yui: ...!

Basically you’re admitting to going somewhere dangerous...

You can’t, Azusa-kun. I...don’t want you to get hurt.

Please...Don’t go anywhere today...

Azusa: ...Ah...

Kino: Azusa! I’m going to leave you behind if you keep dawdling!

Azusa: I’m on my way...

See you...Eve. I believe I’ll be back by morning...

Yui: B-But...

Azusa: Don’t worry. I’ll be alright...

I promise that I’ll protect everyone without fail.

Yui: ...Ugh...

ー Azusa leaves

Yui: ( Whatever he’s doing with Kino-kun and the Raven, yet refusing to tell us... )

( I can sort of imagine it, but I don’t want to acknowledge it... )

( I mean...There’s no way someone as kind as Azusa-kun would do such things. )

ー A flashback ensues

Azusa: As things are right now...Demons...as well as fellow Vampires already think of us as the enemy, right?

In which case...I will have to fight them. I believe it simply can’t be helped...

I want to...keep all of you safe.

I simply can’t stand the thought of all of you getting hurt...because I’m too weak and incompetent...

ー The flashback ends

Yui: ...

( What he said back then isn’t how he truly feels, is it...? )

( Please, say it isn’t so, Azusa-kun... )

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts to the guest room at Kino’s manor

Yui: ( I can’t stop thinking about Azusa-kun... )

( Why would someone as kind as him do this...? )

Yuma: I sent one of my Familiars to sniff out the area but...

Seems like the demon huntin’ has gotten even worse than before over in the human world. 

Yui: ...Ugh...

I mean, it has to be Azusa-kun, Kino-kun and the others behind it, right...?

Yuma: I mean, that’s the only logical explanation...

Ruki: ...It would seem that we’ve come to a point of no return.

We can no longer turn a blind eye to what Azusa is doing.

Kou: ...But it isn’t just his fault.

Yuma: Right. It’s those Sakamaki bastards who are to blame for tryin’ to push all responsibility on us, no? 

Ruki: However, if this means the whole Vampire Clan will meet its demise, that’s beyond the question. 

Kou: So you want us to pay for this whole situation!? 

Ruki: Yes. If that is what necessary to ensure a future for our clan, then that is what we must do. 

Kou: But...

ー Azusa enters the room

Azusa: ...

Yui: Azusa-kun...

( Don’t tel lme he was listening the whole time...!? )

Azusa: ...Hey, Ruki.

Isn’t our family more important than the future of the Vampire Clan to you...?

Ruki: ...Ugh...

From the moment we stole Eve away, we most likely went against Karlheinz-sama’s will. 

I think of that of a grave sin as well. 

...I just don’t want to get in the way of the future he envisioned any more than I already have.

Azusa: ...So you believe that we should let Kanato-san do as he pleases, correct...?

Ruki: Yes, exactly. 

Under normal circumstances, our lives should have ended way back. In which case, I am ready to accept death at any point...

Yuma: Hell nah, bro! You’re bein’ way too extreme right now!

Kou: Exactly! I don’t want to just wait here for those Sakamaki’s to come and kiss us!

Yui: Yuma-kun, Kou-kun...! Calm down...!

Yuma: But!

Ruki: ...I won’t change my opinion. 

Furthermore, I don’t think there’s any reason to go on a suicide mission of hunting down other Demons, at the very least.

Right, Azusa?

Azusa: ...Oh...

I just...I’m willing to do anything as long as I can protect you guys...

Ruki: ...I see.

I’m responsible for things getting to this point, since I failed to truly understand how you felt.

Azusa: Eh...?

Yui: No way...It’s not your fault, Ruki-kun. 

Ruki: ...No, I brought all of this upon us.

I can’t stay here with you guys as long as Azusa-kun insists on continuing to hunt down other Demons.

As the eldest brother, I shall take responsiblity for our family’s blunder.

Azusa: Ruki...?

Ruki: ...

ー Ruki leaves

Yui: Wait, Ruki-kun!

ー The scene shifts to the outside of the manor

Yui: ーー Ruki-kun!

ー She runs up to him

Yui: ...Haah, haah...

Ruki: ...

Yui: Hey, let’s go back inside? It’s wrong for you to have to take responsibility for your whole family.

Let’s talk everything over one more time? Azusa-kun might finally understand as well... 

Ruki: ...I doubt that’ll work.

We’re at that point where Azusa and I can never agree with one another. 

Yui: No way. Don’t make such assumptions...

Ruki: ...Yui. I’m begging you. Stop Azusa for me.

Yui: Eh...?

Ruki: ...I’m leaving him in your care. I’ll go and take my responsibility. 

ー Ruki leaves

Yui: Ruki-kun...

*TIMESKIP*

ー The scene shifts back to the guest room

Azusa: ...

Yui: ( ...Azusa-kun. What happened earlier must have come as a shock. )

Ugh...

( Stop Azusa-kun, huh...? )

( That’s what Ruki-kun told me but, how can I...? )

Kou: Don’t take it to heart, Azusa-kun. 

Ruki-kun’s such a blockhead!

He’s not thinking at all about why you’ve been trying as hard as you have.

Yuma: Exactly. We just can’t understand how his mind works. 

Azusa: ...

Hey...Did I do the wrong thing...?

I only wanted to protect you guys...But should I not have...? 

Yui: ...Uu...

Azusa: The Church and Kino-san want to get rid of Demons...

And I...want to keep my family safe...from the Demons coming to hunt you all down...

That’s why I’ve been trying so hard...

Yui: ...That’s not true. You weren’t wrong, Azusa-kun.

Azusa: ...Yeah.

Yui: But...

About what Ruki-kun said earlier. While he may have sounded extreme, I also believe that what he said is correct. 

Azusa: ...

Yui: I’m sure you guys have realized as well?

There’s no reason why Azusa-kun would have to suffer for us to remain safe...

Kou: ...

Yuma: ...

ー Kino enters the room

Kino: ーー Ah, there you are!

Wait...What’s with this mood here? I don’t do well with gloomy atmospheres. 

Yui: Kino-kun...

Kou: ...Are you here to take Azusa-kun with you again?

If that’s the case, could that wait for another timeーー

Kino: Geez, I’m not. I’m going to the Demon World, so I was wondering if you guys would like to join me. 

I’m heading towards Rotigenberg with the Ghouls.

Yui: Rotigenberg...?

Kino: Yup. It’s the place we were born and raised, also often referred to as the Demon World’s wastelands. 

Don’t you think it’d be in your best interest to come with me? You could be attacked if you say here.

Yui: ( I’m sure we should be wary of his words but...He’s not wrong this time, is he? )

Azusa-kun, what should we do...?

Azusa: ...

Yui: ( Azusa-kun... )

Kou: Fine. We’ll come with you.

Everyone agrees, right?

Yuma: Well. Pretty sure it’d be more risky to remain here under the current circumstances. 

Yui: B-But what about Ruki-kun? Shouldn’t we go looking for him...?

Kou: ...Just leave that guy be.

He said all those horrible things to Azusa-kun. I’m pretty sure he’s regretting it right now. 

Yuma: ...Right. Pretty sure he’ll follow suit if we leave a note for him behind. 

Yui: ...Yeah, you’re right...

*TIMESKIP*

Monologue

Following the lead of Kino-kun and the Ghouls from Raven,

the place we eventually arrived at,

was the home of the Ghouls,

also known as the wastelands of the Demon World.

ーー Rotigenberg.

This place where gasses fill the air,

almost seemed like a warning sign,

telling us what the future had in store for Azusa-kun and his brothers...

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

[mischiefmaker615]

Tears of a Mermaid (Loki Love Story) Ch.12

it had nearly been two days and Loki still saw no sign of Mara. the only relations he had were mentions from passing servants of the sudden waves that had happened the day she disappeared. within that time period, he had checked every place they had ventured together, land and water and still no sign of her. the thought of her gone was always pushed away in his mind and just maid him search harder.

''what are we exactly looking for Prince Loki?'' the servants would ask and Loki would merely reply,

''anything out of the ordinary.''

it was merely a wold goose chase to others considering Loki was the only one who knew what they should be looking for-er- who, but it needed to try everything he could. her voice..eyes..body.. her mere wonder at something so simple and the innocence she had with anything new. her laugh was just as beautiful as her smile and her thoughts were just as wanted as the scent that left her. oh Mara..

Loki ducked under the branch that had hit him the day they had met, his horse walking along the trails slowly as his eyes searched for the thousandth time that day. he even searched beyond their roaming points, and he only fears something might had happened to her even more..

eventually he pulled his horse to a stop, allowing it to drink from the lake as he continued on foot, muscle memory guiding him on the same path he had taken before he made his way up the side cliff and to the bushes. silence. he walked forward, his eyes scanning the horizon before he stopped right at the edge of the cliff and looked down. nothing but calm yet empty water, no Mara. his fingers played with the small vile in his pocket, the mere shape pulling his attention as he pulled it out and held it up in the sunlight where the single tear of Mara stayed captured.

''i did this to you my love..the vile is filled with nothing but pain, the pain i brought upon you. if it weren't for me..you'd be here now..'' Loki whispered, his grip tightening on the vile as he blamed himself and shame filled his eyes, bringing forth his own tear..

~''since when have you let a female draw your attention to whats really important?'' Amora scoffed as she watched him through her cell.

''i just need the spell. if you wish for your time here to be a pleasant one, and shorter than deemed, stop wasting my time.''

''i've just never seen this side of you Loki, and i have seen quite a few'' she smirked as she leaned forward for her eyes to see better in his. ''she must really be that different to you-''

''she is. power has..always been my focus, with power it can fix everything.. the thrown, Thor..it is my birthright, and regardless of Thor being the eldest son i will not have Asgard be undermined. upon this, everything will change for the better.'' Loki told her, the vile in his hand with his grip tightening.

''and yet it will cost you a sacrifice…''

''she will live, that's all that matters..she may hate me, but who hasn't already'' Loki brushed it off and looked away from her, her lips threatening to smirk and yet her eyes almost feeling sorry for him as she sat up and straightened.

''a good king will do whats best for its people, not its walls..''

Loki's eyes moved back up to hers, his mouth opening to speak but words failed him as she spoke for him

''tel yht erutan eb tcerroc dna eodnu..'' ~

flesti..'' Loki breathed as the tear slid out of the vile and dropped down, falling from the cliff as it shinned in the sunlight before dropping into the water. ''power isn't worth it if you're not here by my side..''

Loki starred down at the waters below, knowing he was where he began, powerless, having to deal with Thor, and alone…but now with the feeling of even more emptiness. his eyes closed as he took in a breath and straightened. he'd continue for her, and get to where he need some day..without hurting the one he loved again..

he began to turn, pausing as a glitter of light flashes down below. he quickly looked back and leaned over the edge, looking down at the waters below and his heart raced. the light seemed to flash brighter, grow and expand as small waves seemed to slash around the light and foam began to evolve. ''by all the nine realms..'' Loki thought out loud as the light almost seemed to make the water jump, looking to be an explosion underwater as he squinted to see what exactly was going on before-

a hand shot out of the water, upward and trying to grab anything it could reach before it fell back into the water. the other hand shot out before both began to splash and a head came up as she gasped for air

''Mara!!'' Loki yelled, almost falling off the cliff himself as he looked down at her, heart racing

''hel-'' she cried and Loki got up off his knees. his armor couldn't have come off faster before he jumped down, not even hesitating before he plunged into the water, a strong arm wrapping around her torso and the other bringing them back up for air

''Mara by gods- how-''

"Loki!'' Mara cried as she clung to him, her arms around his neck as she stayed close to his bare chest and he held her.

his eyes closed as he held her, their skin on each other and her sweet scent he loved so much surrounded him ''Mara you-'' he paused as he glanced down at the water and looked back at her as she leaned back to do the same ''..you have legs-''

''i looked up and saw you on the cliff..did you drop-''

''the tear..'' Loki nodded and his eyes widened ''as i said the spell..Mara are you-''

''human again?'' teared filled her eyes as she smiled, nodding as she clung to him and a smile grew, his mouth struggling to speak as he cupped her cheek gently, his thumb wiping away her happy tears.

''but..i thought you were..''

''i had to recollect myself..everything i had learned in such a short amount of time needed time for acceptance and..i forgive you Loki'' she whispered, her hand resting on his on her cheek and smiled at him ''and..i love you…''

Loki 's eyes returned her own tears as he looked at her, not knowing where to stare first as he drank in her beauty and her words ''gods..'' he breathed, his heart light and racing as he finally felt..complete..

a hand gently rested on the back of her head and brought her closer, his lips resting on hers as he kissed her. her fingers tangled themselves in his own hair as she kissed him back, earning small moans from each other as they stayed close, heart beats beating at once together and Loki pulled away for a small moment, his eyes looking dazed as he grinned ''i love you too Mara..''

Mara's back gently laid down onto the mattress, a soft blush touching her cheeks as she clung to the cape close to her chest. Loki removed his full leather and didn't hesitate to crawl up so he was hovering on top of her ''are you okay?'' he whispered.

Mara took a deep breath as she looked up at him, giving him a little nod as her fingers loosened ''..i'm nervous Loki..'' she whispered and her body trembled a little.

Loki's hand gently rested on her cheek as he kept his voice low, hiding a smile as he noticed her blush even in the dark ''it's going to be okay Mara..i promise i'll be nothing but gentle..''

Mara looked up at him, reaching up to stroke his own cheek and smiled ''..because i'm with you..i know i'm going to be okay..'' she told him, her hand gliding to his shoulder and nudged him down so he leaned and pressed his lips against hers. he kissed her gently, his hand resting on her cheek as he added a bit more passion to the kiss and she felt his other hand slowly grip the cloak and it slowly slid off of her, revealing herself and her new self. Loki gently lowered his body, not for once breaking the kiss and rested his body against hers, being sure to support his weight as he rather felt her body with his own than look with his eyes. he slowly pulled back so he could look at her, leaning his forehead against hers as they starred into each other's eyes ''you are absolutely beautiful Mara…''

Mara bit her lip as her blush deepened and she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck as his lips gently caressed her jawline and to her neck, a hand gliding down slowly, always slowly and ready to stop if she would ever ask, but she didn't. he gently used one hand to pay attention to her chest, his lips lightly leaving small marks on her neck and earning adorable noises from her lips. her fingers tangled themselves in his hair, another hand sliding down his back as she felt his muscles move and show off shape from his back line and shoulder blades. he found his other hand sliding down to her outer leg as he used his finger tips to glide over her skin, giving her the feeling of goose bumps and a pleasant way of getting light headed. his lips moved down her neck and to the crook of her neck, burying his face in her hair as he took in her sweet scent that sent him intoxicated, making him lower himself more against her body and earning a small squeak as he quickly heightened himself a little.

''my apologies darling..'' he smiled sheepishly and she held back a small giggle as she cupped his face and brought him back down to her lips. he moaned as he bit her bottom lip, her teasing him a little by doing the same before giving him entrance where he instantly took, earning a moan as he deepened the kiss. he then slowly pulled back, sitting up as he looked down at her softly and a hand slowly moved to her leg, his fingered stopping towards the inner thigh and used slight pressure to ask for permission, as did his eyes. her eyes looked back up at him, just as gentle as he was and as she bit her lip..

and spread.

[fairlyabookie]

Future

Author's note: Day 17 of February Prompts! Enjoy!

Content warning: One-sided romance | retainer x lord | mentions of incest

“Well then, what have you considered for your future?” 

The lord inquiries, scrutinizing his betrothed with steeled eyes. [Reader] regards him with a respectable answer, their demeanor cool as a serene lake. 

“I have no qualms being your retainer, my Lord. If it means helping you with your empire, I am honored to be your pick for the position.” 

A slight annoyance overpowered the blooming sensation of flattery. Beautifully articulated, as he had expected from someone from a noble family, yet lacked sincerity. He couldn’t read [Reader]’s expression; he couldn’t tell if they were troubled or mocking him in a way. Either way, he couldn’t read them at all. If anything, they could be riding on his coattails and commit a dastardly deed later on.

“Is there a way I can provide for our relationship, [Reader]? Noted, you’ve done more than I am grateful for.” 

Crewel watches for any changes in their expression, their lips curling to a thin line. 

“You don’t have to trouble yourself, my lord. My services with you is enough to consider our relationship as groom and wife.” 

“There has to be something more, [Reader]. Something from me that you wish to know, or at least wish to have now that we’ll be married in a month.” 

Crewel’s tone intensifies to a stern one, borderline hostile and domineering. 

“Would it offend you if I say I am satisfied with you as you are now?” 

Needlessly to say, Crewel was helpless. What did they mean by that? Should he prod them a little more about the true intentions? If I continue on, [Reader] might be suspicious of me. 

A sigh escapes from the lord’s lips. [Reader] was truly an enigma. Their facade was admirably infallible, untouchable like a revered deity’s statue or the scripture of a Classical text. The taste of cool, bitter tea snuffs out bits of his fiery temper. He resisted the urge to request for more tea - [Reader] would always heed his call, wordlessly and obediently. Regardless, at least asking for [Reader]’s hand in marriage was plenty of times more convenient than asking a complete rascal ho would leech off from the lord’s wealth. 

“[Reader], tel me, how many years has it been since you’ve worked with me?” 

“6 years, My Lord.” 

6 years! Crewel was stumped; at this point, he’d just discount their dynamic as a married couple if [Reader] had been with him this long! Admittedly, even if [Reader] had worked with him for that long, any form of dynamic between the both of them, save for the civil formality exchanges and briefings for important affairs, was never present. 

“If you’re willing to wed me, you must be aware that our relationship will not be the same. By offering your hand in marriage, you’re devoting yourself to me as a partner, as someone significant in your life. Do you realize this, [Reader]?” 

They nod demurely. Crewel averted his eyes from their silhouette, casting his gaze to the myriad of scrolls by his desk. How long has it been since he was given the position of Chancellor, per the Prince’s first choice? 

“You served me well in the years, [Reader], devoting your time to assisting me with paperwork and maintaining relations with the common folk,” 

Encroaching thoughts creep into his words, his thoughts manifesting into the words he always wanted to say, 

“I’ve been told by my mother that one of our servants took you in out of the kindness of her heart; your biological parents must’ve abandoned you to save their hides - they only left a cloth for you to keep warm and nothing else. If I recall, the servant came home quite distressed, holding you in her arms. I was but a child during this time, not knowing that one of our own had brought a child outside our lineage to our household. Believe me, I was shocked to see a display of their compassion - begging my own father to keep you and raise you as it were her own.” 

A frown creases on the lord’s lips. 

“I’ll spare you the details about the drama afterward. You know how much you were doted by everyone in the household. I can’t say if you were spoiled rotten, or if you were treated as royalty as much as me when I was younger..” 

He sighs, inhaling slowly. 

“You may have served me for 6 years, but you’ve been with my family for more. We may be related on paper, but not by blood. You could be a sibling, a long-lost cousin, or some other individual relating to our family, but after years of investigating, we found that your former parents had already moved on - going by different names in a different region somewhere. Unless you strongly remember your parents abandoning you at such a young age, I’m sure you don’t harbor any resentment towards them.” 

Crewel spares a glance over to [Reader], whose expression remains indifferent. 

“My past doesn’t matter, my Lord. All I care for now is that I am here, years of working the particulars of your family, your work, and your profession. True, we have inadvertently paused your parents’ prattling for marriage with my outburst on my hand a month ago. I’m sure you understand that we’ve made our choice by becoming a couple this way - you don’t have to see anyone else, you don’t have to go through your mother’s painstaking efforts of matchmaking.” 

[Reader] continues, leaving Crewel to his thoughts. 

“I don’t expect you to come to an answer right away; though, I appreciate you taking time from your routine to finally sit down to have this conversation about our relationship..” 

They approach their superior, matching their gaze with his. 

“Maybe it’s admiration, affection, or both that has made me feel this way; when I first met you in court, taken in by the servants; when I first worked with you in class as we struggled in understanding literature and arithmetic; when I was given the honor of becoming your retainer after years of working alongside your family. Gratitude understates how much I feel at this very moment.” 

They feel compelled to glance over to Crewel, who had snuck a glance over his shoulder, glimpsing what had seemed to be a shy [Reader]. They hold themselves back, finding proper words to explain the overwhelming sensation encompassing their being. 

“Perhaps, it is what your mother believed in: the powers of fate bringing us together,” 

[Reader] clears their throat, adding a quick note before continuing, 

“I’m personally a skeptic person myself, but perhaps she has a point. In other words, our relationships span more than just a retainer and lord, my Lord. Sure, I’ve served you long enough, but my love and loyalty to you resembles that of a true maiden’s.” 

Crewel detected a thickening voice by [Reader]’s explanation, a sort of emotion building up in their bosom as they attempt to correct their demeanor. 

“If you feel that our relationship is inappropriate to reconsider our future together as husband and partner, I don’t feel offended in the slightest. Besides,” 

They rest a gentle hand onto his forearm. 

“I don’t mind waiting for your answer. As your aide, I value your personal thoughts and sentiments and prioritize them before mine.” 

With a small smile by their lips, they place a kiss onto their betrothed’s cheeks. Wordlessly, they leave Crewel speechless, the words stuck in the back of his throat.

[ariel-seagull-wings]

“ you've made me the happiest i've ever been. “ Janegon

@janeb984 @professorlehnsherr-almashy @angelixgutz @amalthea9 @bixiebeet @budcortfancam @stantzed

At 7 o’clock, Sylvia’s was full of people talking about all the variety of subjects, and the words mixed to the point that they sounded like a new language.

Janine and Egon shared a tri-tip steak and grilled corn, and Egon smiled while Janine laughed remembering old stories of going to that restaurant with her family and her father teacher her sister Dorine and her how to transform the food in little dolls on the plate as a way of expanding the quantity of food and enjoying the meal for a longer time.

- You can be sure that I will teach our little Spengler how to play with their food. 

She said, briefly looking at her belly, that now showed a growth of seven months.

Janine could repeat the same story, with the exact same words, a million times, and Egon would always enjoy them like they were novelties to his ears. He loved listening to Janine's voice.

- I have been talking since we left the Firehouse. And you barely said anything. Now I remember there was something you wanted to tell me: what was it?

Egon then looked at his hands, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had been rehearsing all day, in his mind, how to tell her the news that he got from the University.

Now was the real deal: he would just say the first words that came out of his mind.

- The committee at Columbia University made me the offer of sharing the results of my research about Physics and their relation with Ghosts as a Professor, in a teaching institution outside of the country.

- A position in an international institution? Where?

- It's the University of Tel Aviv.

Janine putted her hand in her mouth and gasped

- Oh my goodness, they asked you to go represent us in Israel?! And how long must you stay there?

- If I take the offer, then… for two years.

Janine’s face got serious. Two years… away from her husband? When they were starting their family?

- Well, I can’t hide that I will miss you during those years. And what about the baby? You at least will be present for the birth, before going, right?

To her surprise, Egon started to laugh, and taking her hands to kiss them, Egon:

- I’m sorry, Janine, I should have chosen my words more carefully: I don’t intend to leave you and our baby alone. I told to the committee that I would ask you first if, after giving birth, you would agree to move to Tel Aviv. 

Janine’s mouth made an “OH” form, before slowly changing to a smile accompanied by a sigh of relief.

Egon continued to talk:

- That’s why I wanted to take you to dinner, because I needed some privacy to ask you this question. Moving to another country is a big deal, and your roots are here in New York: your parents and sister are in Brooklyn, our friends are in Manhattan. So I will only accept this offer from the University if you want to move to Tel Aviv and live there for two years with me. If you don’t want to go, I won't go.

- And what about the Firehouse? Do you know who you would trust to take care of our business while we are out?

- Winston is the most qualified to lead the busts and take care of the technology. He learned fast. And Louis will take care of the finances and paperwork.

The auburn red woman took another deep breath, and closed her eyes to think. It took three minutes, but she finally opened her eyes to look at her husband and answer:

- Let me talk to my parents and sister first. I want to be the first that tells them that, after I have the baby, we will move to the Holy Land.

-Janine… are you sure you want to move? Aren’t you taking this decision just because you think it's the one that will please me?

- I want you to take this opportunity and make progress in your career. But it is not just for you that I took this decision.

-What are the other reasons?

-I always wanted to know Israel. I imagine you will mainly be busy in Tel Aviv, but I intend to find a way for us to see Jerusalem, and Tzfat, the city of the artists. If we don’t take this chance now, when shall we have another? And I want to imbue our child with a spirit of adventure. What better way to do that than traveling with their parents as a baby? 

Janine took a sip of water, then continued:

- You are right in being concerned about my roots here. And you said that we will stay there for two years: two years run fast. We will come back. As a way to learn to value New York even more, I think it will be good to be outside for a while, to really miss it, and get to know a new perspective about the world. Tell the committee that the Spenglers accept their offer.

After his wife finished talking, Egon brought his face closer to kiss her lips. They kissed and laughed, then, caressing her hair with his right hand, the Physicist whispered in Janine’s ear:

- You’ve made me the happiest i’ve ever been.