#((I'm about ready to start blocking people on sight if they're a personal like stop reblogging my HCs???????? ))

[queenharumiura]

((When someone reblogs your HC post and so you consider going to them to ask them to not reblog your things again or to take it down and you read through their blog and get intimidated from all the anti content you see. //quietly blocks and hopes to never see them interacting with my posts again))

[bitemedotmp3]

🌀 !

50. — punctual

Uzi's got an internal clock. Humans should be so lucky. Or maybe they should be more considerate. They were trading favors, so the least this guy could do is show up on time.

She pulls out her phone again, 8:52. The show's at 9 PM, and if she ends up missing it because someone can't be bothered to-

"Hey, sorry I'm late," says Yuri, emerging from the other end of the alley. "Place is kind of a maze."

"Thought you came down here a lot," says Uzi, pocketing her phone. "You need a map next time?"

"Hah, maybe. Or a guide, I don't know why we couldn't meet up somewhere a bit easier to find."

There's a few reasons, like the fact that she doesn't really like spending time with humans, or the fact that she hadn't thought about it, but they're not super important. "Maybe I just need to lower my expectations next time. And look, I love small-talk, but did you bring them?"

"You and Rita would get along great. Or at least be too busy at each others' throats to bother me," says Yuri, reaching into his own pockets. He pulls out two small slips of glossy paper, waving them between his fingers. "Two tickets to tonight's show at Brass Tacks. And me, your chaperone."

"Ew, don't say it like that!" she hisses. "But a deal's a deal. Here."

Uzi pulls a smartphone from her hoodie pocket, handing it to Yuri. "Complete admin access. Do whatever the heck you want with it. And here, a manual in case you have any questions," she says, adding a few sheets of folded-up paper.

"You think with a name like 'jailbreaking,' it'd look a little fancier," says Yuri, tucking it all away safely.

"It's all software-side stuff. Now c'mon, show starts soon, and I don't wanna miss it." Uzi waves him to follow as she leaves the alleyway and emerges into one of Fibonacci's lower levels. They're not too far from the surface; the rumble of people living above is still audible here, but you won't find a dive like Brass Tacks in the upper levels. The bar is a few blocks away from their meeting place, just far enough that Uzi starts sweating when her internal clock ticks past 9 PM, but not so far that she needs to berate Yuri for making her miss the show. Yet.

When the place finally comes into sight, the two stop, and Uzi looks up. "Okay, phase two. You ready, Yuri?"

"Born ready, not that this is a particularly tough one. Gotta admit, I might just be here to see if this backfires."

"Shut up, bite me. Alright, gotta get into character..." mutters Uzi, trying to get into the right headspace. "You know what to do, right?"

"I didn't forget," he hums. Taking the lead, the pair cross the street to the bar's front door, and Yuri holds his tickets out to the bouncer. "Hey, I'm here for the Scrapyard Gods show? That's tonight, right?"

"Barely made it," says the burly man, taking the tickets. "Doors close at 9:15."

"Nothing wrong with being fashionably late. Anyways, wasn't sure if she needed one too, but I figure she's taking up space, so..." he says, gesturing to Uzi. To her credit, she holds her tongue, simply standing stock-still, a neutral expression on her face.

The bouncer grunts, uninterested. "ID?" He squints at Yuri, then shrugs. "Good enough. But I need to see that thing's, too."

"Oh, sorry, guess I wasn't clear enough. She's one of those helper models. Isn't that right, Uzi?"

Here it comes. Uzi's time to shine. She stares straight ahead, trying to modulate her voice to be as flat as possible, and tries to give an amazing performance.

"Affirmative."

Nailed it.

"Yeah?" says the bouncer, cocking a brow. "Whaddya need help with?"

"That's pretty personal."

"Fair. If it's one of those helper models, though, why's it got clothes? And I don't remember them makin' them that short..."

"You rather she just be walking around naked?"

The bouncer seems to weigh his options against his pay, and shakes his head. "Whatever. Just get in there."

"Thought you'd never ask. Come on, Uzi," says Yuri, gently guiding her by the shoulder.

"Beep boop, or whatever," says Uzi. Once she's sure they're out of the bouncer's sight, she flips the bird in his direction, sticking out her tongue.

"Can you believe that?" she mutters. "Why does he have clothes? Why does anyone? Frickin' humiliating..."

"This whole thing was your idea, kid," says Yuri. "C'mon, show's already started, don't wanna miss it."

As soon as they step into the actual bar, the sound of heavy metal blasts across them. Uzi can see Yuri wincing, but her eyes light up, because this frickin' rules. The band is rocking, the crowd is pumping, and-

Everyone is so much taller than her. Not again.

"Can't... Can't frickin' see anything..." she grumbles.

"You say something?" says Yuri, voice raised.

"Can't frickin' see! I'm too short!"

"Yeah? Here, I'll toss this in for free." Uzi feels Yuri's hands around her waist, but when he lifts, she only goes a few inches off the ground. "Holy- You're heavy as hell!"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm made of metal, dude. Don't strain yourself."

"Nah, I got this, I got this. Just wasn't expecting it. Oh, wait. Here." Shrugging, Yuri grabs a chair from a nearby table and slides it over. "That should be enough, right?"

Uzi hops up, and... "Yeah, it'll do," she shrugs. It's not perfect, but better than nothing. And now that she's at the venue and can actually see it, it's time to enjoy the show.

"Didn't have concerts like this back on Copper 9!" she shouts to Yuri, sticking up the horns with each of her hands.

"Yeah? Not enough robot rock?"

"Not enough space! But you should see my human skull collection! It's frickin' sick!"

"Your... You know what? Not my business."

She can't tell if he's enjoying himself, but he promised he'd stick around until the end so she doesn't get kicked out. Reliable, if nothing else. More humans should try to be like that.

[thefirsthogokage]

Ok, so this post lead to a couple offshoots with someone who I was about ready to block before they blocked me. So, I can't reblog with them in chain anymore, but I spent a long ass time responding to their reblog that came after this part here. So, I don't want all of my time to go to waist on my response, I'm posting what they said under the cut, and my response after that. I am being a petty bitch, and I'm fine with that. Plus, their responses were pure BS, and bafflingly short-sighted. I may come off a bitch here, but this person seemed willfully lacking foresight or any comprehension of the job loss their ideas would lead to.

Their response to the post linked above (most of which is copied into my response, so you can skip down to that if you want):

Hypothetically? I literally explained how to ethically train an ALMS in my comment. You train it on things that you have permission to train it on. The unethical part that everyone is upset about is "stolen art", you don't have to do that part.

A lot of the next part of your argument is conflating production with distribution; both the streaming and music examples specifically. What I was talking about would be like if animators started getting paid less when they moved to making cartoons on the computer rather than drawing everything by hand on cells, or if musicians started getting paid less when switching from analog to digital recording.

Cgi gets paid less than practical fx because they don't have a union, not because of the medium they work with. They certainly Don't get paid less for using simulation software to crate water effects rather than painstakingly and tediously doing it by hand. (I guess unless it's hourly pay, then I suppose the pay for that specific task would be less but presumably you'd spend that freed time doing other tasks.) Also, this is all even predicated on the idea that corporate would even know when an ALMS was used or not, and I don't really think they're fully reporting every step of their workflow, just showing the progress images, not every detail of how they were made.

I'm not going to argue over the semantics of op saying ai doesn't belong in art.

Admittedly, up to this point I had been speaking about how ALMS could be practically beneficial in a more general sense (pointing out how they could be used in a good way in other industries.) And I admit, I don't have a good idea for similar use-case in writing. (At least on the professional level, I could personally have used it back when I was writing to fill in dialog as I was always terrible at that.) Maybe something of a more analytical tool, used to study writing structure, quantify relationships between regional dialects, analyze shifting regional grammatical structures, or some such.

As for the rest of what you said I'll just reiterate that it's not the technology that you are mad at, it is the people using it and the way that it is being used; problems that can be solved with regulation without needing a full ban.

Ok, my response (I'm just gonna cut and past here, no adjusting for them finally leaving me the fuck alone):

I hate to be at it again, but you've made new points in here that come from other uniformed or uncaring places. And then I'm stopping.

Hypothetically? I literally explained how to ethically train an ALMS in my comment. You train it on things that you have permission to train it on. The unethical part that everyone is upset about is "stolen art", you don't have to do that part.

I absolutely just laid this out about the unethical parts about ethically trained ALMS in my other response to you: regulation speed and efficiency and paying that artist fairly. The part I missed: that doesn't include the legal battles that can ensue over the artist. Is it a living artist? Will the company claim copyright to everything that artist makes after they sign over everything to the company they've done so far? Or would the company not be allowed to claim ownership? That is something the legal and judicial system would take time to figure out and get done an implement. And again "a fine is a price" and they will continuously cross lines.

What I was talking about would be like if animators started getting paid less when they moved to making cartoons on the computer rather than drawing everything by hand on cells, or if musicians started getting paid less when switching from analog to digital recording.

And you know how companies have gotten around the regulation in place over payment in these things? in animation: It's out sourcing to Asia where they can have a team there do it cheaper and faster do to lack of regulations there. Even when it's done by hand. Pretty sure it was Legend of Korra that was done by hand in South Korea. Turned out at ridiculous rates fore cheap pay because they have virtually non-existant labor laws. People lost jobs in the US because of animation being outsourced to places like that.

Cgi gets paid less than practical fx because they don't have a union, not because of the medium they work with.

Right, and they need one. They are being worked to death for no pay at Disney. But because they aren't, and practical effects people are union, the CGI people are getting hired to do things that would look so much better in practical effects, an they get slammed for putting out shit work in short amount of time that isn't their fault, because the company wants cheap fast labor, instead of the physical artists that did prop work. CGI vs practical effects is literally a perfect example of one art medium replacing another because it's technically able to be done faster and cheaper (because it's non-unioned) at poor qualities. This is a thing that has been pointed out to you: companies do care about final product quality of if makes them money. And you can see it in action with poor CGI in superhero movies RIGHT NOW, as I believe the last person pointed out to you. And of course, I will briefly mention digital painters and book artist cover designers are already having their jobs, their livelihood, being taken away by people using ai art generators to do THEIR ONE JOB for free so they can cut corners and not pay someone do to it.

They certainly Don't get paid less for using simulation software to crate water effects rather than painstakingly and tediously doing it by hand.

Right, water effects being made by original human digital programing artists. Not styles compiled by an ai bot. Again, see my arguments on "ethically trained" bots and why they aren't going to be used and how they wouldn't be ethically in practice after training.

(I guess unless it's hourly pay, then I suppose the pay for that specific task would be less but presumably you'd spend that freed time doing other tasks.)

YES IT WOULD BE LESS SO! THAT THE POINT! But you aren't getting it in the second half of that sentence. No, their jobs would be cut, that is a significant part of the problem here. They wouldn't just have more "freed time," they wouldn't be working as long of hours, and their pay would get cut. No one would just pay them double for have the time they work on the project. THat doesn't happen. They would have to take on more projects to make the same amount of money. There would be not freed time because they would have to continue to work to feed and house themselves. And there wouldn't be enough jobs to go around if one person is taking more and more of those jobs just to make a living.

Let me put this another way. Let's use the job of digital background painter (DBP) for animation as an example. This DBP used to spend, say, eight months working on an animated series. They would be paid for their time on that. But say that DBP starts using ALMS to cut that that time down to, I don't know, at longest for them, a week. They will get paid a fraction for that job, and have to find 31 more jobs to make up that difference in pay. And what does that mean? Those 31 other jobs that could have been done by 31 different who are not using ALMS are now being done by one person. And they can't go find other jobs because those just aren't happening. They are mostly gone because they have been replaced by ALMS people. Maybe there are four or five projects left willing to do it the slow way, but that is 31 plus artists competing for those four or five jobs.

Also, this is all even predicated on the idea that corporate would even know when an ALMS was used or not, and I don't really think they're fully reporting every step of their workflow, just showing the progress images, not every detail of how they were made.

This is bad. You do realize this is bad, right? That they don't know if they are getting a product made by hand or not? If they don't know, people could report they are doing the work by hand when they aren't, and getting a little bump in pay because of it.

So, say, a company is trying to decide between to artist comapnies that claim they will design and make, say, a mural for the side of their building. They are given two weeks to get ideas in. One of those "artist companies" is actual using ai to generate several different ideas, maybe will adding in a few things here and there to make it look like human works, all while claiming their ideas were entirely cranked out though them painting digital original ideas. They pretend it takes them a little over a week, when it probably takes them a few minutes, or hours if they include those extras, not that the company would notice either way. They come back sooner with "their" ideas earlier than the time limit while the other company needs another day or two.

Say the company is "nice," and gives the other design company those couple of days because they paid for the proposals anyway [let me state here, if they find on of the ai generated pieces to be to their liking, they wouldn't bother waiting for the other company, which didn't lie to them, to finish they're work, because they've found what they wanted already. Boom. Job lost to a fake human creation]. The company using ai came back with four designs they said they made through digital art themselves instead of ai. The one's who actually did digital painting only had the time to create two options.

Already, you have the lying company come back with twice as many chances for the hiring company to pick from, and thus, have more chances to get picked. The lying company also charges less, because they are secretly lying about how they get their work done. Who do you think the hiring company is going to go with? The one who produced more ideas and was cheaper? Other one who produced less ideas and was more expensive because they actually did things in the way they said they did? As long as the ai art looks good - and it usually does - you can bet they'll go with that one.

And I admit, I don't have a good idea for similar use-case in writing. (At least on the professional level, I could personally have used it back when I was writing to fill in dialog as I was always terrible at that.)

That's when you get living people to help you! Someone who teaches dialogue writing or a co-collaborator! If you don't you are preventing someone from doing their job in favor of an AI generator that doesn't really understand how people speak! And again "at a professional level" I have linked in a previous reblog to you that the WGA doesn't want ai anywhere NEAR writing like that. Go back, find that link (I know you won't but you should) so you can see at the different levels of production ai would not be allowed to take part in script writing. Ai has no place in writing because there will always be a human that can help fill in the gaps of people's ability. That's how that works. Writing is collaborative. It's research, it's learning. All of that the previous person said and you seemed to have skipped over.

Maybe something of a more analytical tool, used to study writing structure, quantify relationships between regional dialects, analyze shifting regional grammatical structures, or some such.

...Teachers, professors, linguists, linguistic researchers, literary experts literally already do this. It's a whole field of study. You want a whole fields of study to go away and be given to an AI analytical program?...That honestly tracks with the rest of how this is going. You just can't see job loss. You are showing time and again, you have zero ability for forethought on job loss. Or what careers are out there, apparently.

As for the rest of what you [he's talking about the person he reblogged from here that wasn't me] said I'll just reiterate that it's not the technology that you are mad at, it is the people using it and the way that it is being used; problems that can be solved with regulation without needing a full ban.

She knows what she's mad at. You don't have to explain her feelings to her and you shouldn't. It's beyond rude to dictate what you think someone's feelings are to them. I personally am analyzing you different than that. And I know I'm personally mad not just at the way it's being used, but the fact is was created in the first place without safeguards or rules in place from the companies that made them on how their technology is to be used. And I have explained how regulation isn't going to happen anytime soon before job loss - which has already taken place - and it's not goinf to happen efficiently and effectively because there are literally holes everywhere else in the system that things fall thorough, or people can pay a fine to get out of consequences. AI use will 100% be no different. You aren't getting this.

So, to reiterate what I recently said: what is fundamentally going on here between us is that you are having a very narrow view of of this situation and we are trying to broaden that view and you are choosing to ignore it. That is the best summation I can come up here for these circles. You aren't learning anything we are trying to teach you, and it makes it absolutely worthless to continue this further.

If you still feel like you are running around in circles with me, as you said, then you can stop responding. I know I'm going to do just that. But if you don't want to get blocked so that I can put an end to seeing you show up in my notes again, I suggest you stop engaging with any of my posts. I will not read anymore comments from you before blocking. If you change your mind, great! But keep it to yourself if you don't want to get blocked.

And they blocked me before seeing this. Shame, really, this was a bit different than our previous thread. Not that they would have learned anything from this either, though, considering how much they ignored and misinterpreted from our last exchange.

Once again, I hope SAG strikes too

We could lose acting, filmmaking, television as we know it.

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UPDATE: THEY MIGHT!

[enamouredfae]

♡ Pick a Card ♡

What you need to know in order to be ready for the love you so longingly seek!

This reading is looking at anything you might need to heal or grow into in order to enter future relationships as your higher self. I am not looking at your future, but simply trying to guide you towards your highest good in the field of love. Many of us have internalized certain perceptions of love that we must unlearn, or have lived through difficult moments which have closed us off or made experiencing love more difficult. If you are in a toxic relationship/situation, please do not take any messages that might seem to tell you to stay in it. With this reading, I will hopefully open you up to some introspection and hopefully growth. You may very well be attracted to multiple piles and that is ok! Read all that attract you and take what resonates. Each pile has three pieces of advice, so mixing and matching is invited!

This reading is for entertainment purposes only.

This is a timeless reading for the collective, therefore it is likely that some messages will not resonate with you. Please only take the messages that do! The messages that do not, are meant for somebody else. Remember that the future is never set in stone and that you possess free will! Love you! ♡

Pile 1

Charm: Knot

1. Yang

Yang tells me that you need to learn to become more proactive in love. You cannot wait around. You must act! You need to manifest your desires into the material world by doing. It's perfectly fine to do the first move, no matter what society deems "acceptable", it is even invited with this card.

23. Peace

Radical acceptance is necessary for inner peace and in this case for a higher love. You must first love yourself fully, light and shadow self, before loving someone else in the way that you both deserve! And you deserve radical acceptance, we are all flawed and intricate people! As long as we are willing to change and grow and put in the work, past mistakes can be atoned for.

38. To be fair

This card tells me that you need to learn to be more balanced in relationships. Are you giving more than the other parties? Are you giving less? We must be fair to both others and ourselves. When someone in the relationship gives more, they may feel underappreciated which can become unmotivating, but they can also overwhelm the other person. You must learn balance.

Pile 2

Charm: Cactus

7. To the sea (reversed)

"When fishermen cannot go to sea, they stay at home and repair their nets." This is a quote from the guidebook that I had to rewrite here because it encapsulates the advice perfectly. You probably long for love like fishermen long for the sea. This card is telling me that the problem isn't coming from you, but the external world. An idea that just popped up in my head is a queer teen living in a homophobic area or with homophobic parents, so it is likely that this could be your situation. If it is, I love you, please take care of yourself, love and better days will come, don't worry! But you must wait a while longer until the external world matches your vibration, perhaps you'll have to move, wait until you're safe to go out to the sea. Until then, go with the flow.

50. No place like home (reversed)

This card seems to work perfectly with the previous one, it reminds us that what is familiar isn't always the best, because it keeps us from growing. If you want change, you can't keep going to the same things/people that haven't worked before, it's counterintuitive. It is natural to go back to what's familiar, but try something new. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Choose unfamiliar.

34. A leg up (reversed)

You are carrying the burden of your world all alone. You probably don't feel safe sharing what you feel, or are very uncomfortable with vulnerability. To be honest with you, right before writing this part of the reading, I started tearing up, you are holding in so much hurt... You need to voice your struggles, being vulnerable is proof of immense strength, believe me! I know it's hard! Start little by little with someone you really trust!

Pile 3

Charm: Star

35. Loyal Heart

Ok if one pile is ready for the beginning of a relationship it's this one. It is the perfect time for you to create loyal commitments. It is possible that you are already in a committed relationship, but at the very least you are surrounded by loyal, devoted people. Don't forget to be devoted and loyal in return!

4. Higher Power (reversed)

This card is inviting you to trust in whatever divine power you believe in, trust that the universe is divinely guiding you and protecting you. I feel like if a certain religion or spiritual path attracts or fascinates you, you should start looking into it, careful with being disrespectful or appropriating it, especially with closed practices, please do your research! But connecting to Source would be beneficial to you in the long run!

25. Round and Round

You are stuck in a cycle that you must break. Do not worry, you shouldn't feel bad, it's all part of the learning process. Remember: you've been through this before, think back on how that made you feel the previous times, are you sure you want to go through that again? Breaking this cycle is a form of self-care, and you need to care for yourself! You are subconsciously punishing yourself by staying in this cycle, try thinking about the root of why you're doing so! It could help you in breaking it!

Pile 4

Charm: "Love"

8. The tribe

You may want to find your tribe, or you have recently found it. You might feel like you finally belong, or are longing for that feeling. Whenever I get this card, I think of the astrology/witchcraft/tarot community here! It may be the same for you! You are welcome here, and hopefully, you feel like you belong! Contributing to any community that you are passionate about, whether online or in real life, will bring you great joy and satisfaction. Your tribe awaits and needs you! It's possible that that's where you'll find love as well!

6. Not for you (reversed)

Let them go. Whoever you first thought of, it's time to stop obsessing over them. "Don't chase after what flees you." I'm sure you realize this is not serving you, but how do you stop? This card is suggesting radical acceptance and surrender, that this is a sign that someone or something much better is waiting for you. I suggest reminding yourself that they aren't perfect and that you have just come to idealize them.

52. Mending (reversed)

You are very likely going through a grieving period right now. There is so much hurt and disappointment. "Heartbreak is a strange healer of souls." It may feel awful now, but trust that when you look back one day, you will see that the hurt you're feeling now, transformed you in a powerful way. This card is inviting you to accept the heartbreak and push through it, situations like this open us up to seeing the world in a new way, to growing. Better days are coming!

Pile 5

Charm: Angel

28. Building blocks (reversed)

Are you acting according to your belief system? Are you following the advice you give others? You must look carefully at your core foundation. It seems to me that you have done a lot of inner growth, but are still stuck in your old ways. Your outer self isn't matching your inner self. Start doing what you preach!

47. Go the distance

I feel like you're someone that wants love right now! For it to come fast and smoothly, like a sprint. You must learn to see love more realistically, as a long-distance race of endurance. You may be the type to immediately run at the sight of a problem. You must learn to be dedicated and work in love, it won't always be the idealized version you keep reading about or watching. Love demands work!

32. Here and Now (reversed)

You live in the past, don't you? So much regret and nostalgia... Or perhaps you live in the future? Daydreams and ambition. There is a need to learn to live in the here and now, you cannot change the past, and the future is infinite. They're both elusive, and unreliable; now is tangible, real, and full of immediate possibilities.

Pile 6

Charm: Mars Symbol

22. Blessed

This beautiful card talks about an unexpected and "unearned" wonderful event, that seems like divine intervention, a gift from the universe. The advice I take from this card is to practice gratitude because you seem to be blessed in the love department. Perhaps you already know who "the one" is for you. If you don't, trust that the universe has someone wonderful for you!

31. Why?

Ask yourself why you feel as you do about/in love? It is time for some introspection. You need to think and identify unhealthy patterns in your love life. Why do you act as you do in a relationship? Identify what in your past has caused this behavior. It won't solve the problem right away, but it's a good first step. Understanding the problem will be validating.

27. Exchanging gifts (reversed)

"Be careful what you pray for because you might just get it." You need to be ready for the energy exchange that will happen if this happens. This card talks about an imbalance between giving and receiving. You must learn that if you receive a lot, you must return a lot, love needs to be balanced. If you give more, you aren't actually in control, the other party could be consciously or unconsciously taking advantage of your generosity!

Pile 7

Charm: Eternally Open Heart Locket

17. The Fates

You must learn to accept that there are things and people you simply cannot control and change. You cannot blame yourself for things beyond your control, nor can you blame others for things they cannot control. Just be wise enough to tell the difference between things one can control and things one cannot!! If you have a tendency to mold people into your ideal, making them lose their essence, you must learn to accept people for who they are. It is not your job to change them: the desire to change must come from them, for them.

15. Message in a bottle

Try asking for specific signs from the universe, or start becoming more aware of them. Synchronicities are all around you, they're the way that the universe confirms that you're on the right path! Listen carefully to those you communicate with, they could be delivering a cledon to you. This card itself is a good sign, a favorable answer to the question occupying your mind.

9. Treasure Island

You might've already, but if you haven't, MANIFEST YOUR LOVE!! You will be greatly rewarded when you embrace the law of attraction and your intuition. Depending on your belief in how manifestation works, try being mindful of free will! If you believe that love spells on specific people are influencing their free will, then it is immoral to manifest a specific person. If you don't believe that that is how manifestation works, do as you will, just be in line with your beliefs! This card is also a great sign, you're on the right path, and have good fortune on your side. Very lucky pile!!

Pile 8

Charm: Boot

2. Yin (reversed)

You must learn to receive, only being the giver isn't good for you. You deserve to receive! Be open to embodying yin and yang equally. "You stop the flow of abundance when you constantly insist upon being the giver." Be the listener, the one that learns, the one that is being led.

33. Chaos and Conflict

You may be afraid of chaos and conflict, but you must remember that they can rid you of what's no longer serving you. Conflict also implies two sides, remember that yours isn't the only one, and conflict can lead to mutual understanding. Learn to put up boundaries, but also to respect those of others. When you finally see the potential of healing that conflict can cause, you'll be ready for mature communication in relationships.

20. Imagine

Remember that you can create what you imagine! Your imagination is powerful in manifesting your desires, but it can't do everything for you! Manifestation is work, when an opportunity arises, act! This card can also be a sign that the person you're manifesting will be entering your life soon. When they appear, don't just wait, and daydream! The imagination part of manifesting is done, now it's time to act.

Pile 9

Charm: Knife

21. Clean it up

It's time to let go and declutter your mind. Think about what is no longer serving you, about the things that only overwhelm you, and make you overthink, they aren't good for you. It might also help you to declutter in general, your house, your closet, your phone, your feed, etc. Make room for the new and the better.

48. Poised (reversed)

Think carefully, are you really ready for love right now? Because this card is telling me that you aren't. It's ok to be a "late bloomer", and it's important to be ready for love, as to not hurt the one you love, and yourself. Being single isn't a sign of "failure", it gives you the time and space to focus on yourself, on your growth, on your healing, on exploring and understanding yourself. Being single can seem like a curse, but it's a blessing, it's what you need right now.

16. All that glitters

Are you being yourself in love? Are they? Don't succumb to the power of superficiality. Either let go of the mask or look beyond theirs! "Imagine that all the glitter is gone. Would you still desire the object or person?" If one falls for the glitter, what will happen on the day they forgets to glue it on?

Thank you for reading! Love you all.♡

You can buy me a coffee if you feel called to do so! This is never necessary, but always appreciated! ♡

[baka-monarch]

Innocent

Part 2

Trigger warnings: vore, mouth play, dehumanization

Part 1

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For the past week Wilbur had been taking care of Tommy, teaching them things that kids his age should already know, and becoming more attached to them then ever- oh and also he'd been failing at teaching the kid to hide from other humans. Wilbur had quickly learned that this kid had absolutely no fear of humans, which wouldn't be a bad thing if it weren't for the social norms that were eating tinies, killing tinies, and basically torturing them. Most humans didn't view tinies as people (Wilbur included a few weeks ago), so much so to the point that it had taken Wil twelve hours to find a kids show without eating tinies in it for Tommy to watch; and he wanted to make sure that Tommy knew to hide from humans because of it. The problem was no matter how many times he told Tommy to hide, played hide and seek where he'd pretend to be the "big bad human" to teach them to hide, and no matter how many times he told them to stay hidden whenever someone came home- Tommy always, ALWAYS, would run out into the open to see Wilbur whenever he came home from work, and even playing hide and seek. There seemed to be absolutely nothing he could do to teach this kid to avoid humans and he was running out of time. 

Wilbur's roommate Dream had been gone for the past few weeks to visit an out of town friend, and Dream was like Wilbur. He was raised with the same social norms and ate mostly the same things which meant if Dream came home while Wilbur wasn't there and found Tommy- well, Wilbur really didn't want to think about what would happen, but he knew it would be bad. All he knew was that Dream was coming home at the end of this week, and Wilbur still had yet to instill some sort of instinct to hide from humans in the little tiny he'd decided to adopt, and unfortunately he had to work this weekend… so Tommy might end up being alone when Dream arrived… fuck. 

"Tommy…." Wilbur spoke up, looking down at the tiny kid curled up in his hand as they looked away from the TV and up at him. "I have to work again this weekend, do you remember what I told you what to do when I'm at work?"

"Hmmmm oh- uhm, wait for you!" Tommy smiled up at Wil and he couldn't stop himself from smiling softly back, and ruffling their hair with finger.

"Yeah, and what else?" He asked and watched as their adorable little face scrunched up in concentration as they tried to remember, their tiny little cheeks puffing up to show just how concentrated they were. 

"I gotta…. I gottaaaaaaaaaaaaa eat food when the clock is loud!!!" Tommy smiled as he assumed he got the right answer. They weren't wrong, Wilbur did leave out lunch for them and they weren't supposed to eat it until an alarm he had set went off- but that's not what he meant.

"True- but I mean hiding Tommy, you need to remember to hide if someone comes here." Wilbur lifted the kid up to his face to show how serious he was about this- but Tommy only jumped onto his nose to hug it.

"But what if it's you! I gotta say hai!!!" The child whined, and Wilbur couldn't stop the small giggle that escaped him as he went crossed eyes to see them.

"You can say hi once I say it's me- you remember how to know if it's me right?"

"Mhm, you yell AYUP!! Whenever you're home!" Tommy smiled, happy he could remember.

"That's right, so if anyone opens the door this weekend you need to hide until you hear me say-"

"Ayup!!"

"Yeah! You got it bud! You're going to do such a good job!" Wilbur praised them, but silently hoped Tommy actually did it this time unlike all the other times this week when they'd just run up to the door in excitement. 

"I know I am!!! B'cause I'm the amazing Tommyinnit!!!!" Tommy giggled as he tried to climb higher on the bridge of Wilbur's nose.

"Yeah kid… yeah of course you can…."

•••

"Alright Tommy, I'm going to work now- you remember what to do?" Wilbur shoved his trenchcoat over his yellow jumper as he stood at the door, looking into the living room where he could see Tommy sitting on the coffee table watching TV.

"Yep! Hide and wait for you!!!" Tommy yelled back.

"Good- I'll see you in a few hours okay?"

"Okie!!" Tommy yelled, and watched as Wilby went out the door and closed it behind himself. Now Tommy was alone, a familiar feeling to him after spending so long in his cage, but this time he could go around and do stuff while he waited for Wilby!

Tommy walked over to one side of the coffee table where there was a small starch of square sticky paper (what did Wilby call it? Post- pots- pass? Eet? Not? No? It was something weird-). Tommy climbed on top to the small stack, grabbed the edge of one, and started to pull it back while walking backwards. It didn't take long for him to fall over with the sheet of sticky paper, and once he had it he stuck it down to the table. Now for the easy part; AKA, grabbing the led (it's led right? He's pretty sure Wilby called it led) that was off to the side, and now he could draw!

Tommy layed down on top of the paper as he drew, sticking his little tongue out in concentration as he made little marks on the paper. At the moment he was really just drawing whatever came to mind: Wilby, himself, the sheep from inside the TV, his cage- anything that really came to mind. 

He had been drawing for almost an hour before he heard the familiar clicks and scratching noises that meant someone was unlocking the door. It must be Wilby, he thought to himself as he stood up and went to the edge of the coffee table where a blanket was taped down. Tommy quickly slid down to the floor and started running to the door; he felt like he was forgetting something, but it probably wasn't important, and if it was then Wilby could tell him what it was. Tommy only stopped running once he was in front of the door, bouncing on his feet as he watched it open, smiling with excitement to see Wilby-

The big person who was on the other side of the door was not Wilbur. He was shorter and had dirty blonde longish hair, and green eyes. His face was peppered with freckles, and he was wearing a green hoodie. 

Dream walked into the familiar house carrying a backpack full of dirty laundry after weeks of being away with him. He looked around curiously, he knew Wilbur was probably going to be at work when he got back, but it was weird that the TV was left on while they were gone. He shrugged it off, and just closed the door behind himself, and was looking at the floor as he turned around- Dream let out a startled noise at what he saw. There on the floor staring up at him with a face full of wonder, was a tiny, one that seemed younger then most.

"Oh… one must've gotten away from Wil" Dream reasoned to himself and reached down to grab it, satisfied as it didn't even try to get away- actually it started to giggle as he picked it up. 

"Do you know Wilby?" The small thing asked, and Dream was a little confused by the nickname. It was obviously talking about Wilbur, but why would it be calling him that.

"Uh yeah?" As he answered, the tiny only seemed to smile more. Weird, usually it'd be scared by now.

"I'm Tommy, it's nice to meet you, Wilby's friend!" The tiny waved at him, and he just kept getting more and more confused.

"Nice to meet you too I guess…" Or more, nice to eat you, Dream mused to himself. He was sure Wilbur wouldn't mind if he ate this tiny, they were probably just saving it for later anyways- plus eating it would finally end the confusion he felt when thinking that food was adorable when having a goofy little smile like that. With that in mind Dream opened his mouth and tossed the tiny inside, trying to ignore the way it giggled at being thrown. He quickly closed his mouth around it and started to lick.

"Excuse me, big person" The tiny spoke up and he could feel it push back on his tongue a bit, but it wasn't much, almost like it wasn't actually fighting… "Wilby said I'm not supposed to let big people eat me."

"And why's that?" Dream asked, not even bothering to move the tiny out of the way as he spoke, and simply tossed it around in his mouth as he moved his tongue to form words.

"Well, he said mama isn't ready to see me yet!" Mama? Dream asked himself internally. Tinies don't have familial bonds, they're all just little snacks that people eat, yeah they're alive but that doesn't change the fact that it's just an animal meant to be eaten. 

"He doesn't know what he's talking about, I'm sure she's ready to see you." He mused, since he might as well play along if only to not gag if this tiny started squirming.

"Okie!" The tiny shouted and suddenly it stopped pushing on his tongue at all, anything that had felt like the tiny might've been fighting against him stopped, as it just laid on his tongue. Then, when Dream began to lick again he heard some adorable (-not adorable, remember it's just food Dream) giggled from the tiny as he coated it with saliva. He didn't hear the tiny say anything else about the fact that it was about to die until he started to push it towards the back of his throat to swallow, "Bye bye Wilby's friend- oh can you please please please tell him that I went to mama? Thank you!"

With that Dream stopped. He pushed the tiny to the front of his mouth as he started to think about this weird tiny. He didn't know how but it… it was acting like an actual child. Like a real human child. Why had Wilbur really kept it- them? Him? What was actually going o-

"Dream stop!!!" Dream's thoughts were suddenly cut off as he was shoved to the ground and his mouth was for ed open. He coughed a bit after a hand grabbed the tiny out- and when he looked up to see who it was he was surprised by the sight.

"Wilbur!? What the heck!?" Dream shoved the other human off of himself, and didn't miss the way that they hugged the tiny child to their chest protectively.

"I could ask you the same fuuu- freaking thing!!" Wilbur scooted away from Dream and continued to cup the tiny to his chest, blocking them completely from Dream's view with two hands. 

Dream took a moment to process the situation, glancing back and forth between Wilbur's hands and Wilbur's face and things slowly started to click. "You…. When were you gonna tell me you adopted a kid?"

"Well I was hoping to do it after we were both home and I could keep Tommy safe."

"Keep Tommy- keep the tiny- KEEP IT SAFE!? If you didn't want me to try and eat it you should've called or texted me before I got here!" Dream yelled, knowing that this would've been an easy solution that should've been quickly thought of- but of course, Wilbur in his dumbassery hadn't thought of that.

"Him."

"What?"

"He is a him, not an it." Wilbur corrected.

"Seriously!? That's the part you're focusing on!?"

"Yes, because Tommy is a person, a bit dumb for running out to see you, but a person." Wilbur smiles fondly as he says this and ruffles Tommy's hair with his thumb. 

"Sure- but still, why didn't you just message me about him, you still have a phone-" Dream points out and notices an embarrassed look quickly grow onto Wilbur's face. 

"Well I didn't really think of that…" They say and it makes Dream let out a small groan.

"Okay, I'm going to go do laundry, and when I'm done you can tell me all about this… Tommy." Dream stands up and leaves the two alone- but as he glanced back and sees the kid again he can't stop himself as he gains a fond smile. Okay, maybe he was a little adorable...

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Mcyt g/t list:

@trashpumped @lorie-the-little-ghost @encaos @i-am-a-weeb @wyforyu-gaming @5unfl0writ3r @colorfulsiren @moonmwah @iwasgoingtohellanyways @echoslime @wilbur-simp @trouble-off-grid @lilsyxx @smogs-0 @hello-world-im-snow

[tastyykpop]

𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑢𝑝𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

•pairings: enemy, barista and student!jaemin x student and barista!reader

♡𝑠𝑚𝑢𝑡♡

<next>

•warnings: dom!jaemin, brat!reader, brat taming, crying kink, hair pulling, choking, small praising, small size kink, degradation (slut, whore), dumbification (sexual and non sexual use) nanas kinda mean :( but gets a lil nicer :), jaemin refers to himself as nana a lot mostly when they do the dirty, bulging kink, pet names (princess, baby, baby girl, little girl, pretty girl), unprotected sex (please be safe), slight face slapping (he slaps her once), rough sex clearly, some sexual tension, I hope i got everything

You were fuming!

The boy in front of you not even batting an eyelash, just laughing at the mess dripping down your face.

You smelt like an iced americano.

People around you held their hands to their mouths in shock and others tried to hold back their laughter. Some even pointed at you or gave sympathetic looks.

It wasnt like people were surprised anymore. Jaemin always had something up his sleeve for you. But he never went as far as pouring his coffee on you.

"Aw poor baby. Do you need a napkin?" He faked sympathy with a pout and his friends began laughing. You just got up and walk by them, making sure to bump into jaemins shoulder on your way through.

It was almost everyday that Jaemin would do something so uncalled for. It was like he was made to push your buttons. Even as you're walking out of the college building, you can still hear the boy laughing at you. Or maybe it was the other students. Either way, you wanted to kill him.

As you trudged towards your car, a sense of relief washed over you. A great happiness that only comes when you finished your classes and could go home. Only this happiness stayed for a good 2 hours until you have to go to your part time job at the cafe with your favorite person of course. But its not like you can quit. You need the money so you can live and get the education you need, no matter how hard it is being with him.

It was then when you sat in your car and the squishing in the seat made your face curl into a scowl, only made you think of ways to get away with murder. It was gross really. The seats were sticky, plus your hair and clothes were sticking to you like lip gloss. A shower would be perfect right about now.

"Hi y- oh..." Your roommate, jimin, stared at your messy state. Giving you a good up and down before shrugging his shoulders, "jaemin?"

You sighed, walking over to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, "Who else? Its always him."

Jimin gave you a small smile and came closer as if ready to hug you but didn't because he didn't want to get sticky. "You know, maybe you should quit that job."

"No."

He groaned and snatched the water that you were about to sip, "Why? You'd only see jaemin in school. And you wouldnt have to stick with his bickering in work." He huffed, shaking his head, "Girls are so difficult sometimes."

You tried leaping up to grab the bottle from jimin, but all he did was hold it above his head. You stomped on his foot in return. Jimin huddled over and you snatched the bottle, smirking with victory as you put it to your lips.

"You fucking snake." Jimin hissed in pain.

A laugh fell from your lips as you walked by him, completely ignoring his words and his pain, "Im gonna take a shower."

Once you got to your room, the first thing you did was grab your work clothes, a towel, and underwear and got ready for the warm shower.

After you switched on the water and let it heat up, you stepped in and immediately felt at peace as the water cascaded over your body, cleaning off the almost dried coffee. Your hair felt lighter, like a feather and your fingers could now slip through the strands easily without an issue. The scent of your body wash overpowered the coffee smell and you felt much better. Water, soap, and coffee were beginning to fill the drain as you finished washing up. You rolled your eyes at the sight of the murky water. What a bastard.

For once you were actually happy to wear your work clothes after what had happened earlier. The clothes actually felt comfortable and jimin was becoming more and more confused as to why you were hugging yourself with a huge smile on the couch.

"No one should be that happy after a shower." He started flipping through channels on the t.v.

"Dont tell me how to feel, I dont smell like jaemins coffee anymore." You gushed overdramtically. Jimin could only role his eyes.

"Please...you act like he's a demon of some sort."

You squinted your eyes at jimin and flared your nostrils, "he is. Hes a nasty, dumb, annoying, self centered-"

"Okay okay I get it! You hate jaemin! The funny thing is you can never get his name out of your mouth." Everything stopped and your head snapped in jimins directions.

"What are you saying?" A frown found itself on your face, jimin leaned closer.

"Im saying that maybe you might like him."

You shrieked in disgust, blocking your ears with your hands. Jimin laughed at your reaction. Almost falling off the couch in the process. "Ew! Gross! Why would you even think that!"

"Like I said, you can never get his name out of your mouth. I think its pretty obvious you like him." He was still giggling at you except your face was anything but happy, more grossed out at how he thought you could like such a person

"I can't stand you. I'm leaving for work." You stood up and jimin did nothing to stop you from going. Even though you still had about 15 minutes until you normally leave. "Ill be back at 9." The door slammed behind you, leaving jimin alone with another laughing fit.

You got in the car and drove off to your work, still trying to come up with a reason as to why jimin is saying all this. Sure maybe you talk about jaemin a little lot but that doesn't mean you like him. Its very much the opposite and jimin should know that. It only frustrates you the more you think about it. Liking someone like jaemin? Please. That would be your nightmare.

As you pulled up to the cafe, there were only a few other cars parked. Few were from other workers but the majority were most like customers or people just trying to get a free parking space. Lucky for you, there were many open spaces, unlike when you come later and they're filled. Maybe leaving earlier wasnt such a bad idea. It saved you the 3 minute walk.

"Y/n! You're just on time!" One of your coworkers, irene, called out as you stepped inside the shop. "We need help back here!" You had no time to even begin to say your shift hasn't started yet when irene took you by the hand and dragged you to where the coffee was being made. "We have a bunch of online orders coming in so can you please help us with the coffee and food?" She tossed you a brown apron for you to put on and you nodded, trying to get your brain to speed up with everything in the world.

It was so quiet when you walked in that you never even realized that the back was busy. Coffee cups were filled and put into trays for orders, food was being heated or baked. It was a chaotic place right now and all you could do was help. So as fast as you could, you began with the first order on the screen. A large mocha with extra extra sugar, whipped cream, and chocolate curls. Easy enough you thought as you reached for a cup but a hand beat you to it.

Your eyes looked up at the person in front of you and just when you thought everything was going fine, it wasn't, "What are you doing here so early?" You asked bitterly.

"I always come in early. What are you doing here so early?" Jaemin asked whilst holding a death grip on the cup.

"Just felt like coming early." You muttered, watching as jaemin turned away with a scoff, quickly cutting the conversation short. "Bastard."

Jaemin was busy making what you were originally going to do, so you looked for another order to get ready. It was just two cake pops and a small strawberry banana smoothie. Something you've been craving recently from the lack of sweetness and fruit in your day to day life.

The cake pops and smoothie were quick to make and were soon sent off to the customer. You happily beamed and wished them good day once they left.

After then there was a familiar face with a friend right next to him, he was quite handsome you must say. He was indeed so handsome that he just looked unreal. "Hey jimin. Whose this?" You nodded towards the bright black haired man.

"This is taemin! He wanted some coffee so I brought him- hey stop staring at him!" Jimin snapped you out of your trance and taemin chuckled.

"Its okay shes cute." He eye smiled, showing off his perfectly white teeth. He's definitely not real.

Jimin tsk'd, "Until you get to know her."

"Yeah yeah... whatever." You smiled at him, completely oblivious to what he just said.

They both ordered and took a seat next to the window. You were still staring at taemin with your head in your hand until someone tapped your shoulder, "Who are they?" Jaemins voice rang in your ears, making you stand up straight.

"Thats my roommate, jimin, and his friend taemin." You glanced back at the boys, mainly at taemin and just stared like he was your first crush.

"Quit staring your gonna scare him away." Jaemin said earning himself a chuckle from you.

You stuck your tongue out, "He called me cute."

The boy smirked from ear to ear and leaned in close to your face, "He was lying." You grumbled and pushed him away from you, getting annoyed by his presence very quickly.

"Jaemin and y/n, get back to work we have orders to do!" Irene called out. Both of you quickly returning to your stations and getting things ready.

"Look at him. Hes basically waiting for me to come over to him." Seulgi, another person in this school you dispise, said as she looked at jaemin in the back of the room. She wasn't very quiet either considering you were only a few seats away from him. So it only meant that jaemin could hear her, but chose to ignore it. Typical boy.

"Honestly. He looks so good today too." Sana, her best friend, commented.

"Oh and did you hear what he was planning on doing today to y/n? Apparently he's gonna-"

"Class get back in your seats, we have much to discuss." The professor stood in the front of the class. Everyone shifted and moved to their appropriate places and waited for the teacher to begin. Unlike you, who was wondering what seulgi was going to say next. If its something worse than coffee being poured on your head, you may just have to bury yourself six feet under after this.

As you were taking notes something flung towards your head and hit you on the side, looking over was jaemin with a smirk was he held his fingers in a sling shot shape. A rubber band was laying on your lap. Then another one. One even hit your cheek creating a small smack sound as you winced in pain. Oh you desperately wanted to get out of this seat and punch the boy in the face.

"Excuse me sir!" You called out, raising your head. The whole class looked at you and your cheeks began to heat up. "May i go to the restroom?" The professor nodded and you headed out. Not until you stopped in your tracks from a loud smack to your butt, causing the whole class to turn around again.

Jaemin was enjoying this, the way you stared at him with wide eyes and open mouth, made him just want to do it again. He never thought this reaction from you would be so entertaining and he tried his best not show it, with only a small smirk covering his face.

You rushed out of the room, faster than ever and leaned against the nearest surface you could find. Not only were you questioning reality, but also why jaemin just did that.

"That little bitch." You said to yourself as you paced back and forth in the hallway, staring at the ground.

"Excuse me?" Jaemin voice rang in your ears as you looked up with a angry red face. Steam was even coming out of your ears and nose. "Did you just call nana a bitch?" He put his hands to his chest and pouted, "Little girl you need to learn some manners." Jaemin tilted his head to the side and began walking forward.

"Shut up." You had nothing else to say as you grit your teeth, looking at the ground.

Jaemin didnt like that and grabbed the back of your neck to make you look at him, "What? Did your stupid head stop thinking? Your normally so chatty for nana what happened?"

"Jaemin i-" you cut yourself off as you felt jaemin grip the back of your neck tighter causing you to moan in pain.

"Stupid girl." Jaemin whispered, forcefully pushing you away. It was not strong enough to make you fall but at least stumble.

You glowered, earning yourself a chuckle from him. "What will it take for you to leave me alone!?"

"Bring this to table 15 please! Thanks!" Irene smiled as she handed you a small cup of iced coffee and you took it, taking it to its designated place. What you didn't except was to see taemin again, gleaming up at you.

"Hi y/n." He smiled and you tried to remain calm.

God how is someone so beautiful?

"Hey, I didnt except you to come back." You returned the warm smile and started to play with the apron around your waist.

Taemin giggled, "I actually quite like this place, its cozy." He began to take a sip from the straw, eyes still trained on you. If only you weren't so awkward with him, you wouldve found something to say other than staring at him and indulging in the beauty before you. But lucky for you someone behind the counter called for you, quickly averting your attention back to work.

The next order was a shake, so you grabbed the correct ingredients and began using the blendor, when someone came next to you, doing the same thing "You seem like your having fun flirting around." The unwanted conversation with jaemin began, "makes nana kind of jealous."

"Hm funny." You ignored him and continued blending the ice cream.

Jaemin casually rolled his eyes and glanced down at your nonchalant face before returning back to the blender, "you know you really do piss me off."

You sneered and snickered to yourself, "what are you gonna do about it?"

"I was thinking of fucking you dumb or until you know your place but maybe thats a bit too rewarding."

The cup was removed and set aside from the blender with your hands placed on your hips, "Im sorry what?"

"Did I stutter?" Jaemin raised an eyebrow and also put the cup down. You went silent, not knowing whether or not to just laugh it off or quickly run away. "And I'm still waiting on my apology."

"One, I am not going to apologize to your bitchy ass. Two, even if I did let you, you could never 'fuck me dumb', it just wouldn't happen. Now stop trying to get in my pants."

Jaemin opened then closed his mouth about to say something, but didn't and just put on a sweet smile, "Go take these to table 7 for nana." He said like he was testing yoj.

"Why? You made them."

"Nana told you to do something little girl, now do it." Jaemins sweet smile was still plastered on his face yet it intimidated you enough to do as he said.

Taemin was long gone when you walked out and you were kind of sad as you weren't able to say goodbye before he left. You placed the shake down on the table and was ready to walk away when you heard your name being called.

"Y/n? You work here?" Seulgis voice spoke as you turned around. Both her and sana were looking at you with shit eating grins.

"Doesn't jaemin also work here seulgi?" Sana asked the girl in front of her and seulgi looked as if she got the brightest idea.

"Oh yeah! Y/n can you get jaemin over here? Pretty please?" She asked sweetly yet with a hint of sourness and you listened, not feeling like ignoring her at the moment.

You told jaemin that seulgi and sana were out front looking for him and he nonchalantly went out without question. Leaving you to do some of the work alone, which you didn't mind considering its jaemin, the annoying bastard who won't leave you alone, but he does help you whenever you need it. And right now, it was a bit busy, and you needed it.

After doing 4 more online orders and sending them off through the driveway, jaemin finally came back with a scowl on his face looking ready to beat someone up. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" He raised his voice only loud enough for you to hear. But you were quite confused on what was happening.

"What are you talking about?" You asked, tilting your head to the side like a puppy.

Jaemin groaned, "I knew you were fucking dumb but come on y/n! Why is seulgi covered in the shake i gave you?"

You paused for a moment, unable to answer that. Is he assuming you spilt her shake on her? Why would you even do that in the first place. Yeah you don't like her, but you're not going to stoop to her or his level. "I dont know."

He slammed his hand on the wall near your head, startling you a bit, "You dont know huh?" You shook your head slowly. "Seulgi and sana both said you purposefully spilt the shake on seulgi. Now answer me honestly. Is that true?" You shook your head again, feeling really small and helpless under his strong gaze.

"I-i didnt spill t-the skake." You muttered quietly.

He inhaled sharply, "Then who did huh? Or maybe you don't know because you're so dumb."

"S-stop..." you frowned, looking down at floor, but jaemin had other plans and made you look up at him. A single tear slide down your cheek and you swear you saw a small grin appear on his face.

"Tell nana what happened." His voice became softer as he swiped away the stray tear on your face.

You huffed, still afraid that he'd do something to you although you knew he wouldnt purposely cause you pain. "W-well she asked me to go get you, which I did, a-and her shake was perfectly fine when I left."

"Are you saying she purposely spilt the shake on herself to make me angry at you?"

"Y-yes."

"Ill believe my little girl for now, but if I find out you are lying, you will be in big trouble got that?" Jaemin lifted his hand off the wall and proceeded to walk back out of the room. Leaving you shocked at his words and still frightened by an angry jaemin.

You went to the cash register once jaemin left to get ready to count the bills until you heard jaemin and seulgi arguing. Lucky for them, no one but you and him were working right now. Irene went home earlier and the normal crew always leave around 6:30, leaving just you and jaemin.

"It was only a prank nana. No need to get so worked up. And besides you didn't even prank her today, be glad I did for you." Seulgi said smiling at the boy in front of her.

Jaemin physically cringed when he heard his nickname roll off her tongue, "you didn't have to do that."

You stood there watching, astonished how jaemin was standing up for you. Hes supposed to hate you. Jaemin didn't even bother going with the girls when they offered him a ride, instead he stayed with you and even helped close. Something he normally doesn't do because he leaves before you and gives you all the hard things to do.

"Hurry up and finish." Jaemin spoke. A little bit of anger still laced in his voice.

"Whats your rush?"

He sighed, "I wanna go home. Plus I can't stand this place right now. I'm pissed."

You finished wiping down that last table and walked over to him, "Just go home then."

"Not without you."

You gave him a dirty look, "im not going home with you."

Jaemin leaned down, his face only inches from yours and whispered, "Remember what I said earlier hm? I wanna fuck you dumb." He then grabbed your waist bringing you closer to him, if that was possible, "Can I do that pretty girl? Can nana fuck you so hard you won't even remember anything but my cock?" You were so lost in your mind that everything became a blur. Jaemins words sounded so sweet but were so lewd. And you were so close to kissing him until he put his finger on your lips, "But you have to wait." You frowned and were only getting more angry by the second. You went from not wanting anything to do with jaemin to just about ready to beg him to kiss you. Was it that easy for him to get in your head? Or were you so sex deprived that now jaemin seemed somewhat interesting?

You laid on jaemins bed getting bored with the constant teasing. He never did anything but that. Jaemin would get close to your lips and back away as you chased him. Hed chuckle and coo at you for being so desperate. But that wasn't the point of all the teasing. He really just wanted you to beg him to kiss you. No words will come out of his mouth telling you to beg, he just excepted it to happen sooner or later. But youre too stubborn to do so, so you grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss him, catching him by surprise.

Jaemins hands gripped your wrists and pulled them off his face, pinning them to the bed, "You didnt even ask to kiss me." Jaemin pulled away, raising his eyebrow high, "Dont you think thats a bit mean."

"So was teasing me, but I let you continue." You huffed, trying to free your wrists from his death grip but it was no use.

"You dont have a say on whether i continue or not. I'm in charge here and you take what I give you, understand?" You rolled your eyes. It was your intention to make jaemin angry. You wanted to push his buttons.

What you didnt know was that not answering jaemin correctly would earn you a slap to the face. And jaemin was not even fazed by it.

"Dont roll your eyes and answer nana." Jaemin smiled. "Can you say 'yes nana'?"

"Y-yes nana."

"Good girl." Jaemin muttered and began slowly kissing your jawline down to your neck, sucking here and there creating shades of purple and red marks. Oh how he loved the marks he was leaving.

You so desperately wanted to grip onto jaemins hair and pull it but he never budged his hands, only tightening his grasps. As he continued attacking your neck, you began to lift your hips up to get some sort friction. Jaemin noticed and shifted so that his thigh was in between your legs and rubbing against your clothed core. A spew of quiet moans left your lips but you wanted more. Jaemin was going to soft and slow for your liking.

"I thought you were going to fuck me dumb?" You said and jaemin lifted his head to give you a quick kiss on the lips.

"Patience baby. You aren't ready yet." He let go of your wrists and took your shirt off. The cold air made you shiver and jaemin chuckled. "I wanna make you cum at least 2 times before I fuck you."

"Then stop talking and do it." You replied, pushing your hips up to rub against his thigh, but they were pushed back down on the bed.

"Didnt I say to take what I give you?" Your head slowly moved up and down and jaemin smiled, "so why arent you happy with what nana gives you?"

"I want more..." you sighed as he started to slide your pants and panties off, discarding them somewhere in the room. His mouth slowly started kissing your inner thighs and you could feel your heat dripping with anticipation. You whined for more but only got a slap to the thigh telling you to be quiet. Needless to say you didn't listen and continued to try to get him closer to where you needed him most but pulling his hair.

Jaemin groaned grabbing your wrist again and pushed it away roughly. His patience was wearing out. You were more stubborn than he thought, but that doesn't mean he can't still break you. "Next time you do that, I'll flip you over and beat your ass till its purple." Your breath hitched and as much as you were tempted, you wanted to be able to sit for a few days so you stayed put and kept your hands to yourself.

But the desperation was getting to you and you wanted relief which jaemin wasnt giving you until you felt his two fingers circling around your clit. "P-please jaemin." You moaned as he flicked your clit with his middle finger. Then soon enough he stuck two fingers inside you. Your pussy automatically clenching around his digits as he moved at a steady in and out pace.

It felt so good. His fingers felt so good. They made your body twist in pleasure as more moans left your mouth. Jaemin was watching your face closely as it contorted with pleasure. He loved seeing your eyebrows bunched together, so focused on the way his fingers worked inside you.

"My pretty slut. Taking nanas fingers so well." He gushed, still watching your face. Jaemin could feel himself get even more painfully hard but he didn't want to fuck you just yet. He meant it when he said he wanted you to cum 2 times. So he picked up the speed with his fingers, your hands landing on his forearm that was resting on near your hip. "Are you gonna cum for nana princess?"

You frantically nodded your head as a wave of pleasure washed over you. You could feel your cum leak out of you as jaemin leaned down and began eating away at your cunt.

"J-jaemin! So...go-good!" Your head flew back as his tongue sucked on your clit and a loud moan filled the room.

Jaemin smirked against your heat, "I haven't even fucked you yet and your already sounding like a dumb whore. Its so easy to break you princess."

"N-no its j-ju-...." you whimpered as your brain wasnt even trying to help you function right. His tongue was extraordinary. "Mmmm."

"Aw my dumb little princess is so cute." He muttered diving back into lapping at your soaked cunt. It was almost as if on cue and without warning, you were cumming again. Jaemins hasty tongue took it all. Groaning at the taste of you in his mouth.

He sat up over you, grabbing your neck, pulling you into a deep kiss. You tasted yourself on his tongue. Deepening the kiss by grabbing the back of his hair, jaemin couldnt help but moan a bit as his cock brushed against your thigh. He felt big. Bigger than the few guys you've been with and you were ecstatic.

You tugged on jaemins pants and shirt as a way to tell him to take them off and he did after getting off of you and sitting on the edge of the bed. His abs were more defined than you thought and when his cock sprung free, your mouth started watering. Jaemins smirk only grew watching you stare. He was starting to get cocky

"What? You wanna suck my cock?" Jaemin asked sweetly.

"Yes please." You reached over to try and touch him but he didn't allow you. And smacked your hand away. It was a way for him to tease you and you hated it.

"So kind for nana now. Ealier you were so cock hungry that you decided to be a brat. Did nana finally break you?" Jaemin whispered as he moved a piece of hair out of your face, looking at you with fill admiration.

"No you didn't break me. But I wanna suck you off." You whined as jaemin picked you up and sat you just above his cock, the tip teasing at your entrance.

"Too bad. Now I want you to sit." Jaemin said looking into your eyes. You obeyed with a little hesitation. His cock was surely going to hurt you so you took it slowly and started lowering your hips. "Fuck...thats a good girl." Jaemin praised, watching his cock dissappear between your legs and your tummy get full with his cock. "My baby's so tiny you can see my cock in your belly." He said, pushing down on the area where he was imprinted in you.

Slowly you started moving, lifting your hips up and down. You were wet enough that he could easily slide in and out with no problem.

Jaemins head fell back as he sighed with relief, grunting as you picked up the pace, "So tight for nana." He whispered and you moaned back loudly. His cock stretched every inch of you to the point where it felt like you'd split.

"More more more." You whined against jaemins neck, gripping his shoulders tightly. Carefully jaemin flipped you both over so he was on top and continued pounding into your destroyed cunt. He kept a hand around your neck squeezing it every so often as a choked out moan left your throat.

His cock was so deep and fast that you couldn't think straight. You kept blabbering about his cock. Only thing on your mind was how nice he felt inside you. Jaemin bit his lip as he smirked at you, grabbing your hair and bringing your face close to his, "Now will you admit that I fucked you dumb and say your nanas dumb slut?"

"Y-yes, I'm na-nanas dumb sl-slut." You cried, tears falling down your face from how good he felt inside and if you thought jaemin couldn't go any faster, he did. His thrusts were hard and rough, sure enough to hurt your thighs tomorrow as he pounded relentlessly. "So close." Your voice came out choked as your eyes rolled to the back of your head. You held on to jaemins hand that was on your neck as he helped you with your orgasm.

Jaemin wasnt far behind you with his and groaned loudly, "fuck, where do you want it princess?"

"I-inside." You moaned as the feeling of hot cum was shot inside you. Jaemins hips kept moving him through his orgasm until he slowly came to a stop. Both of you panted loudly, there were even a few tears falling down your cheek here and there.

Jaemin slowly pulled out, making sure not to hurt you, and he laid beside you. "You did so well." He kissed your forehead. "Cmon ill carry you to bathroom so we can take a bath." He said picking up your worn out naked figure with so much care. Making you forget he was your enemy.

[hawksugarbaby]

Shinso x reader - Burning sensation

Fluff

Every morning at 7:00 you would meet shinso outside your dorm to head to school "Hey Hitoshi how ya doin this mornin" you asked sideling up to the boy who you had gotten to know quite well through your walks too and from school, and your time in class, and lunch, and training after school, you were never really away from each other actually. He took comfort in the time you spent together and you enjoyed talking to him and being his friend. It was pretty understandable why he didn't want to be friends, to begin with, but there was no way in hell you were letting the boy go through 3 years of school without any friends! So you made it your own personal mission to change his mind about you, and you were pretty chuffed when he actually stopped pushing you away yep this boat was firmly tied to the dock now. "I'm fine just tired" he was always tired.

The gleaming white windows of your school came into view lighting up the area around it like a child shining a magnifying glass on a bunch of tiny ants swarming to their colony. You nudged his side with your elbow getting his attention "SO I heard someone is getting transferred into the hero course next year!" you were so proud of him! This was his dream come true and he was finally getting his big opportunity "yeah it's pretty crazy" it was true he was more than thrilled to be joining the hero course but he felt like he was betraying you in some way, you should be in there with him! You were just as powerful if not more than he was. It didn't feel right leaving you "I can't believe it Hitoshi! I'm so happy for you, we should go get ice cream later to celebrate!" you walked through the door together weaving through the other people dotted around the corridor to reach your own classroom tucked away at the end . the thought hadn't even crossed your mind about how lonely you would be without Hitoshi, and it was coming up for the end of the year, you would have to cherish your time more than ever. "Ice cream sounds nice."

Th day went on rather uneventfully, thankfully it was lunch now so food was on the top of your mind "what should I get today?" you asked your lavender friend, you were determined to have everything on the menu at least once before you left school, you had quite a few options to go "what about a cappuccino and the udon?" it was pretty lucky he was keeping track of what you had and hadn't got yet otherwise you would never get close to finishing the challenge "you just want my cappuccino huh" you stepped up to the counter and ordered your food and drink which was ready in a flash thanks to lunch rush (give the dude some credit he does lunch for that entire school every day!) "maybe" he gave a lopsided grin and you rolled your eyes.

you both set off for a table near the back where you usually sat when a green-haired boy waving his arm caught your eye "hey Hitoshi is that one of your new classmates" you questioned gesturing to the freckled boy who was frantically trying to get his attention "oh yeah that's midoriya" he brushed off the topic and continued off to your table "hey wait you should go sit with them!" you called after the boy who groaned and span round his purple locks dangled in front of his eyes blocking his view fully but he could tell you weren't gonna let him leave. "but... why?" "because they're your classmates silly come on" you pulled him over to the table much to his dismay "h-hey shinso do you want to sit with us?" midoriya asked and everyone else at the table eyed him up like a flock of vultures inspecting there pray "can (y/n) sit too?" wait no what you weren't in that class why would you sit there? That was like... the top dog table right? "Of course!" oh well oh kay then guess you were one with the big leagues now. "Hi it's nice to meet you, I'm ururaka" she introduced herself with a big grin, you noticed she was holding her juice with 4 fingers and had pink pads in the middle of her fingertips "I'm (l/n) nice to meet you too" you sat down next to Hitoshi excited to make some new friends, maybe if you liked them he would like them more.

"So you and shinso are really good friends huh?" you nodded as you took a sip of your cappuccino and ultimately decided it was one of the less amazing things on the menu "yeah he's like my best friend and I'm pretty much his emotional support dog" you giggled and handed off the warm, bitter drink to him which he was more than happy to take off your hands "in all honesty she should be the one joining your class, daughter of the number 2 hero couldn't cut the hero programme" he teased and everyone else gasped "YOUR DAD IS HAWKS!" yep it was true you were the daughter of the number 2 hero hawks and someone else?? Mum didn't stick around long, your quirk was a little HOT TO HANDLE (roll with it) "what's your quirk! Can you show us!" midoriya begged from across the table which Hitoshi was not happy about he didn't like it when people gave you more attention than he did "um no I definitely cannot show you! But I can tell you what it iss" you sang and the boy grabbed a pencil and notepad out his bag "uh it's called Pheonix I have retractable wings... made of blue fire... and I can fly and shoot the feathers and I have the feather blades like dad and all that jazz" "she also has the same dumb personality" Hitoshi added and you gasped looking at him hurt "don't talk about my dad like that he loves you" he did actually like Hitoshi a surprising amount and you were pretty convinced he shipped you like a 15-year-old girl watching 2 boys in an anime about superheroes (-_-)

"But if your dad is the number 2 hero how come you aren't in the hero course" ouch. You gripped your chopsticks harshly "some bitch thought it would be funny to knock me out during the entrance exam and it was too late to get me in by recommendation" the chopsticks snapped splintering off into a bunch of smaller pieces. The lively nature of the cafe suddenly turned to one of concern when 2 mini puffs of thick smoke filtered out from the back of your blazer blanketing the roof and the smell of burning fabric infiltrated your noses "your burning" Hitoshi said from beside you "OH sorry sorry I didn't notice" you said and started to calm yourself down by stealing Hitoshi's lemonade "you must be upset about having to be in different classes after the new year" the boy with the bird head said. Well yeah but he wouldn't be leaving you completely, you opened your mouth to speak but before you could start Hitoshi started "I don't intend on letting her go half a year alone in that class, either she moves up or I go back down" he grit his teeth at the thought of you being alone in that class by yourself, and if it meant he had to give up his dream of being in the hero course he would. You smiled and then sighed when you realised you couldn't finish your udon since your chopsticks had transformed into toothpicks.

Ah yes, finally the end of the day. You and Hitoshi walked out of the nicely air-conditioned school into the dry blistering heat of the outside world "oh god whyyy" you cried and shook your fist at the sun then immediately regretted it as a bunch of white spots danced around in your eyes (FUN FACT THOSE ARE CALLED PHOSPHENES. Y'know, like phosphor) "so ice cream" you stumbled around trying to your friends and jumped when he put his hands on the back of your shoulders "just keep walking dummy" he said and you did so until you gained your sight back. "It's such a hot day this is evil" you crossed your arms angrily as you made your way to your house since you had decided to get changed before you got ice cream so that the sweltering heat didn't melt you both to a puddle of sweat and ew (THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING WITH OKAY).

"HEY DAD ARE YOU HOME?" you shouted into the house and a little red feather shot down to where you were standing "I'LL TAKE THAT AS A YES THEN" you and shinso wandered up to your room dumping your bags with an audible thud "crop top and jeans?" you asked holding up your clothes and showing them off to Hitoshi "sure why not," he said and pulled out the bag of clothes in the bottom of your wardrobe that you kept there for him. "Vest and shorts?" he held up the clothes and you nodded and he descended down the hall to the bathroom waving to your dad as he went past. It was such a perfect day, it was too good to be overthinking little things like clothes or how lonely you would be without Hitoshi or what he meant when he said when he wasn't leaving you behind or how he really felt about you or- "how's my chicklet?" (hawk's most defining personality trait is that he likes chicken don't @me) your dad asked ruffling your hair "it is too hot to exist right now but Hitoshi and I are gonna get ice cream" you grinned and cracked open your window hoping a breeze would come through and cool you down a smidge. "Like a date?" "No dad it's not a date" "finneee have fun" he pouted and left you alone to get changed.

"Hey, Hitoshi what ice cream do you want?" you asked looking over the menu on the side of the truck that was parked in the park... "it's a vanilla day I think," you stepped up to the counter ordering your ice creams both with a flake obviously and sat on a cool metal bench which was hidden by the big weeping willow tree, it was your favourite spot in the whole park because it was always shady and the big tree made you feel like little kids again, you were so small in comparison and when the wind picked up the branches whipped around like a carousel and tangled together like a curtain to hide behind.

"hey you'll be okay in the class by yourself for a while right?" he asked and took a pit off his ice cream "I'll have to be won't I. I'm really proud of you you know that" you stole the flake that he was about to bite into and took a bite out of it letting the chocolate bit's fall off and land on your crop top melting almost instantly "I know. But I promise I'm gonna get you up there with me. You won the sports festival I don't know why they're taking me" (ROLL WITH IT) he stole your flake in retaliation and started eating his ice cream "because you deserve it stop doubting yourself" you preached. You listened to the cars drive by and the angry drivers honking at each other, in all fairness there were indicators for a reason. The bustling life of the city drowned out by the calm bubble surrounding the 2 of you "well you deserve it too (y/n)" he argued and you both burst into a fit of laughter knowing that it was almost impossible to be mad at each other and this wasn't even close to a reason.

"Hey I need to tell you something" he whispered taking a bite out of the sugary cone "oooh~ are you going to profess your undying love for me" you giggled not knowing what you were getting into in the next few minutes "yes... I am" ".....WHAT!" WELL, THIS TOOK A TURN "I like you. Like in a girlfriend type of way" he sighed when a big flake of his cone cracked and fell into the dirt under him "oh. This is unexpected" you whispered taking a bite out of your own cone getting crumbs down your top "if you don't feel the same it's okay I just wanted you to know" he pursed his lips and drew little circles in the dry dirt "no I do, I do feel the same I guess I just didn't realise I felt the same... does that make sense?" it probably didn't.

Of course, you felt the same, he had been your best friend for a while now so obviously you caught some feelings but you had never given them a title like, a crush or love or anything like that, they were just there. They would either go away or they wouldn't and now you were here. You were glad they hadn't "yeah it does" he smiled and the wind picked up a bit lacing the branches together to create th perfect veil as he leaned down and kissed you softly, it was nice and filled with love and admiration and your face turned soft pink and matched the heat of the sun beating down right now.

It didn't last long unfortunately as 2 pillars of smoke started coming out of your shirt and burning fabric once again took over your senses "NO NO NO NOT NOW COME ON" you shouted feeling the fabric separating on your back and you held the front of your crop top on your front "okay well we're gonna not do that for now" Hitoshi said calmy and you shot him a panicked glance gesturing to your unfortunate situation with your other hand. The back of your top fell off and you arched your back when it came into contact with the cold rugged bark of the willow tree "OKAY WELL NOT WALKING HOME LIKE THAT" he shouted and took off his vest throwing it to you and turning away.

You put it on quickly after you calmed down a bit and you weren't burning anything. "Okay you can turn around," you instructed focusing only on the branches in front of you "what not gonna look at me?" "nope" "why not?" you cleared your throat and clicked your tongue "because if I do this shirt will just burn off too and then we'll have to phone dad and get him to bring me a shirt and then he'll ask how I managed to burn two of my shirts off and then I have to listen to him go on and on like a 15-year-old girl about how he totally called that we would get together and then-" "alright I get it," he said putting his hand over your mouth 'well you just set yourself up for failure' you thought and licked his hand which he pulled back and wiped on your jeans "your gross" he chuckled and stood up wiping the dirt off his jeans and standing directly in your eye line putting his hand out to help you up. Which you didn't accept since you were rather busy ogling those goddamn washboard abs "well your not burning yet but you might be brain dead" he flicked your forehead and you shook your head slightly accepting his help up.

You started to walk home as the bright blue sky turned to a medley of tangerine and lavenders with pink brush strokes in between. "We should get ice cream more often," he said his honeyed voice cutting the silence held between you "I agree, we train so much we deserve it!" you exclaimed "you just wanna see me shirtless" he teased. It took every ounce of willpower you had to not burn the shirt off by accident but thankfully you didn't "pfft no. I want ice cream the shirtless thing doesn't have to be exclusively an ice cream thing" you pointed out nudging his shoulder with yours as your house got closer and he rolled his eyes wrapping his arm around your waist pulling you next to him like 2 magnets sticking to each other.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Hitoshi," you said once you reached your door "yeah see you tomorrow," he said pecking your cheek and walking off down the road leaving you astonished at your door. "DAD YOUR NOT GONNA BELIEVE THIS" you screamed as you entered the house.

4 weeks later

"We have another student joining the hero course" the grumpy teacher announced and you bust into the 1-A classroom with your wings outstretched behind you "PUT THE GREMLIN BACK" shinso shouted from the back of the classroom "GO BACK UNDER THE BRIDGE YOU CAME FROM" you shouted back and took your seat next to him "dad wants to know if you're staying for dinner after training" you whispered, "yeah what are we having?" "chicken" 

[alice-angel12x]

Leech Twins X Gem! Reader

It was another slow and cold winter in the Coral sea, as the icebergs slowly blocked out the sunlight from the surface. Yet lately many Icebergs have been falling apart lately, they would suddenly collapse and reveal the sun's rays from above.  Azul and the twins would wonder why that's been happening lately. Out of the many years, they lived there this was not a normal occurrence during the winter season.

"I don't mind it, finally we get some sunlight down here in the winter," (child)Floyd sighed.

"It fine I guess, but I don't like the banging noises it makes when they start falling apart. Plus it makes it dangerous to swim near the surface when that happens,"(child) Azul groaned.

Suddenly the iceberg above started to screech and whine as two large icebergs scrapped against each other. The three covered their ears as the sound became unbearable when suddenly that was a loud bang above the surface. Large chunks of ice fell into the water as it revealed an opening to the surface, letting in the sunlight from above.

"Ahh, warm sunlight,"(Child) Floyd smiled.

"What is that?" (Child)Jade asked as he pointed to a sinking figure.

"Probably just some unfortunate human, but I don't think humans are supposed to sink that fast. Jade, Floyd catch them," (Child)Azul said simply.

Jade and Floyd shrugged and same to catch the figure, which was surprisingly heavier than they expected. The twins managed to softly land the figure on the soft sand, and when they stepped to examine the figure they gasped at the sight. The figure had a lovely face, but what was off was the large cracks that ran down her face, and her hair didn't look like anything they've seen. It gave off a beautiful shimmer of Aquamarine.

"Nee, Jade this person is so shiny,"(Child) Floyd smiled as he hugged the figure, " But not so squishy, they're solid as a rock,"

"Careful, you might shatter them,"(child) Jade said with a smile.

"Jade, Floyd what is it?" (Child)Azul asked as he swam as quickly as he could.

He looked over the figure and gasped at the large cracks on her face. Thankfully Azul was able to fix it with coral sap, making the figure look good as new. Suddenly it began to stir as its eyes slowly fluttered open. Revealing beautiful ocean blue eyes she stared blankly at the three faces.

"W-who are you?" The girl asked nervesly, " Where am I?"

The poor girl had lost her memory, and couldn't recall who or what she is or even where she even came from. So Azul simply gave the girl a name, Y/n, but Floyd would nickname Y/n as Aqua or Aquamarine at times. 

Y/n was a freak of nature to the twins, she wasn't soft and completely made out of precious stones, from her hair down to her feet. She didn't require food to keep her going, or even air for that matter. She just required sunlight or light from glowing jellyfish.

"Nee, Aqua-chan try this, it's Takoyaki. It's delicious,"(Child) Floyd smiled as he shoved food in Y/n's face.

"O-oh, no thank you, Floyd," Y/n smiled as she feeds it back to Floyd. He happily chomped down with a smile.

"You never eat, are you sure are okay?" (Child) Jade asked.

"As long as I have light, I should be fine," Y/n smiled as she patted Jade's head.

Floyd and Jade smiled as they hugged her arms. Y/n was nothing Like Floyd or Jade had seen before, so they like to drag her around everywhere they went. As they glided through the water Y/n quickly followed behind as she ran across the sandy ocean floor. 

"I don't see why I'm needed to go to school with you," Y/n said as the twins pulled on her arms.

"Cause school is so boring, We want you to be by outside," Floyd said as he pulled at Y/n.

"Plus it will be interesting to see how our classmates react," Jade laughed.

The powder that covered Y/n's arms, legs, and face soon washed off revealing her gem surface underneath, but as time went on Floyde and Jade grew. Once small children that were half of Y/n size grew to be taller or longer than her. The twins and Azul grew to be handsome young men, but Y/n seemed to be forever frozen in time and remained the same. 

-----------

As Time went on as the twins and Azul started to prepare for the expected arrival of the black carriage. Y/n's mind began to wonder, as she began to wander near the town edge of the Coral Sea, but the Twins don't let her wander too far from them.

"Nene, Aqua-chan what are you doing all the way out here?" Floyd asked as he hugged her from behind.

"Yes, home is the other way. You wander off again," Jade smiled.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but shouldn't you two be making your way back to shore soon?" Y/n asked the twin.

"Huh? You're not going to see us off?" Jade asked with a pained expression.

"You want me to come to see you off?" Y/n asked.

"Of course, you have to be there," Floyd said as he nuzzled Y/n's neck.

Jade picked Y/n up bridle style as they swam to a nearby shore, where Azul was waiting for them. Y/n staring up at the blue sky with wide eyes, this was the first time she saw the sky and sun in 9 years. She slowly wiggled out of Jade's grasps and took her first steps on land in what felt like forever. The microscopic organisms inside her gem body started to make more energy than it has before, she had never felt more awake in so long.

"Nee, Aqua-chan slow down," Floyd whined as Y/n turned to see Floyd and jade slowly crawling up the beach.

As they tried to stand on their new legs, Y/n chuckled and quickly tried to help the two stand. Yet the three once merpeople simply clung to the gem girl for support. So for the first few days, was full of Y/n helping them walk on their own, and watching them fall over many times, but they soon got the hang of things. 

-----------

The time arrived when the carriage arrived, and Y/n though this was where they would part ways. Nope, Jade and Floyd managed to drag her into the carriage with them and bring her to the school, claiming she was the twins Familiar. Surprisingly the headmaster was okay with this, seeing that there was a couple of other students who had similar "Familiars". As the twins and Azul sat with the other students Y/n looked around the room to see other people like her. Near the Scarabia dorm students stood a girl with diamond hair, by a red-headed Heartslabyul student stood a girl with ruby hair, a Pomefiore man had a girl with Ametrine hair standing next to him, a girl with obsidian hair was holding a tablet that the Ignihyde dorm leader spoke through. Savanaclaw had a girl with long hair made of bort. Heck, the Headmaster seemed to have an assistant with Rutile hair.

Y/n simply stared in awe at the many varieties of gem people in the room. When the ceremony finished everyone funneled out of the room, as Y/n walked she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see it was the diamond girl from the other dorm. The two chatted away when they had to part ways into the dorm. The Octavinelle Dorm reminded Y/n a lot of the Coral Sea, and the sense of sleepiness came over her at the sudden lack of bright sunlight.

"Nee, Aqua-chan who was that other girl you were talking to?" Floyd asked as he hugged Y/n from behind.

"That was Dia, and she told me that rutile plans to put us to work and we will be helping around the school," Y/n explained.

"So you won't be staying by our side then?" Jade frowned slightly.

"Awww, that sucks, I was hoping to have Aqua-chan by our side the entire time," Floyd whined as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

_______

So while Azul and the twins studied in the classrooms, Rutile leads the gems outside to help around the school. From wiping down the windows to mowing the grass in the fields. One day during P.E while the 2nd and 1st-year students ran laps the Gem girls were on the side slicing grass with some obsidian blad and while Vargus had to step out of a few minutes. As the students rested, Y/n noticed something odd in the sky.

"Riddle, what is that?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know, Ruby," Riddle said as the rest of the students stopped to look as well.

As everyone watched in awe as the sounds of instruments could be heard. The black cover vanished revealing something odd.

"It's so pretty," Obsidian awed.

"I don't know, something is off about it," Idia whispered.

"What even is that?" Vil wondered.

Y/n stared up in wonder when memories flashed in her mind as fear started t wash over her. The figures in the sky drew their bows and readied their spears and tossed them down on the gem humans below. A spear sliced through Ruby's neck like butter, time slowed as everyone watched Ruby's head and body fall to the ground. Everyone screamed in panic as more arrows and spears rained from the sky.

"We don't have our pens!" Leona growled.

"Everyone back to the school !" Jamil shouted as everyone tried to run.

But when they tried to run spears and arrows cut them off. Y/n turned back to see Riddle trying to carry Ruby's body with him.

"Riddle!" Trey gasped as he hurried Riddle and let ruby's pieces behind.

Y/n looked down at her blade and back up at the attackers in the sky, suddenly her body acted on its own as she ran towards the cloud.

"Y/N!" Jade and Foyd gasped.

"What is she doing?!" Azul gasped.

As Arrows and spears rain down she deflected them with a swing of her sword and tossed some of them back at the enemy. suddenly weird golden lines that ended with hooks and gem spheres. They quickly extended down and wrapped around a fellow gem Ametrine, and quickly dragged her closer to the cloud.

"Ametrine!" Vil cried out.

Ametrine dug her heels into the ground to stop herself, the moment she struggled and pulled. The pins in the gem spheres were pulled out and exploded. When the smoke cleared, Ametrine was blown to pieces. Everyone watched in horror as a few figures from the cloud climbed down to collect the shattered gem pieces. Dia quickly acted and sliced through the enemy. Bort and Y/n jumped up to the vessel and began to slice away at the enemy, who poof away once defeated. 

Y/n ran to the tall enter figure and sliced it in half with ease, but more grenade hooks shot out from the bottom half of the figure. Before they could wrap around Bort, Y/n quickly pushed them out of the way and grabbed at the rope. She hopped down from the vessel and pulled at the rope above the pinned hooks. Dia quickly helped Y/n pull as they ripped the center figure off the vessel, causing the who thing to poof out of the air, but not before a pin was pulled causing the grenades to explode.

"Aqua-Chan!" Floyd called out.

Vargus and Rutile ran out to see the shaken students and shattered and Damaged gem figures.

-----------

"Y/n, Y/n please open your eyes," Said a familiar voice.

"Aqua-chan," Said another voice.

Y/n's eye's opened slowly as her vision slowly came to her. Staring down at her were a pair of 2 mismatched eyes staring down at her.

"Floyd...Jade?" Y/n groaned as she slowly sat up.

But was tackled back down in a bear hug from the twins.

"Your back!" Floyd smiled.

"What happened to.. outside?" Y/n asked.

"Rutile came and put you and everyone back together, while Vargus took the human students back to the school. You were asleep for a week. You managed to defeat the strange enemy from the sky," Jade explained.

"What were you thinking, running towards danger like that. That was stupid Aqua-chan," Floyd pouted.

"As long as I can be put back together, I cannot die-,"

"They wanted to take you away from us," Jade said as he pulled Y/n close to him.

"They were going to steal you from us. Your our treasure, no one else's," Floyd said as the twins sandwiched the girl in a hug.

[echo-three-one]

Whatever It Takes

Sequel to A Forgotten Memory

Roach's stealth skills are put to the test as he sneaks past an alleged Augustus base to capture him and gather intel about the recent EMP based attacks. Will Roach be able to impress Captain Price?

Previous Chapter : Soap - Experiment 001

Chapter 9 to another story made by Ray (echo-three-one) Comments and Reviews appreciated! I hope you enjoy! Love you all ❤️

"A SurPRICE Visit"

Gary 'Roach' Sanderson

Task Force 141

400 meters outside Augustus' Mountain Base

Germany

The winds were picking up when they landed and Roach flew about a few more meters away from Price.

"This EMP blast is messing with my signals. Captain, can you find Roach?" Ghost spoke over comms, his voice crumbled over the static.

"He landed not too far from me. Come on boy, let's get a head on." Price replied to Ghost as he helped Gary get up and untangle himself from his mess. Gary nodded and followed his Captain into the edge of the mountain.

"There it is. Augustus' base." he mused as Gary scoped through his supressed silencer. Trucks were leaving the area filled with armed hostiles.

"Ghost, you see this? They're leaving the hive." Price informed the recon man.

"Aye, sir. Looks like they're headed to Alex's direction. If we time this right you'll have less people inside there." he replied. Gary wondered why they were leaving. It didn't make sense to back-up an already reclaimed base back at Alex's.

"Let's go Roach. I'll take the one on the left tower, you take the one on the right. I'm currently spotting four Tangos by the gate. Fire when ready." Price instructed. Roach took a deep breath to steady his sights, quickly pulling the trigger once the crosshairs aligned with their heads.

"Good kill. Your sniper skills are improving, Sargeant." Price mused as he signaled them to move forward. For a Captain who's left him a solid first impression as a strict angryman, Roach didn't expect the kind words from him. It almost felt overwhelming.

"You go ahead and take what's important inside that guardhouse. I'll cover you from this position." he commanded and Gary sprung safely into action, switching to his suppressed pistol and into the guardhouse.

It was simple, a few cameras, some photos of people who they let in and a few map layouts. Gary quickly snapped all of them for Ghost to see. Roach also grabbed the radio and placed it near his ear. Gary set his sights on an AK-47 lying on the ground.

"Roach, be careful when using unsuppressed weapons. It might reveal our existence." Price muttered to which he nodded. It just made sense.

"Jäeger, kopierst du?" the radio muttered. Roach's German wasn't on point and any non-reply from the other end would result in an investigation.

"Ja, alles klar." he replied, trying to replicate the accent. There was no more reply on the other side which meant Gary actually nailed his reply.

"Captain, behind that door is heavily guarded. I suggest a reroute to the back door just a few meters east of your position. This isn't Augustus' base, it's a remote research facility studying plant life by the border and he seemed to take it over." Ghost informed after gathering the photos, Gary waited on the edge of the wall covering his Captain's six. The duo proceeded as suggested and climbed over an unguarded fence.

"We're at a greenhouse. Labeled 6." Price whispered.

"Do you see any cameras?" Ghost asked.

"Yeah. Looking at the plants." he muttered.

"Circle around it and find cover behind the safehouse labeled 5. If my German is correct, the central area should have 2 scientists on their way in there." Ghost informed.

"Right on schedule." Price nodded to Roach as they both knocked them down quietly and non-lethally as they were civilians. Gary quickly slung his weapon and hid it behind the huge white lab coat the both of them now wore.

"Keep your weapons hidden, until I say so. Okay?" Price said as he pulled the bodies somewhere hidden. Gary nodded as they confidently waltzed inside the base, using their fake ids pinned on their coats for entry.

Gary watched a lot of sci-fi fics and most of them depicted labs as white walled, glass-divided rooms with hundreds of scientists working on some random machineries. Except here, it's plants. It seemed normal as if they infiltrated the wrong base. Price seemed to worry too, his steps were further apart and he seemed to be in a hurry. They were losing hope on a lead, until one armed guard, different from those outside started climbing up the stairs.

"Finally. Some good news." Price muttered as they made their way up the stairs.

"Authorized personnel only." an armed guard stood by the steps blocking the duos way. It was too crowded and too risky to engage him and press through and they both needed a new plan.

"Es tut mir leid." Gary replied as he pulled Price to the restrooms.

"It's no use. We can't go guns ablazing right here." he noted to his Captain.

"Bollocks." he cursed.

"We need a diversion." He added.

"Way ahead of you, Sir." Gary smirked and showed him his c4 trigger, pushed it and an explosion followed.

"Nice. By the guard house?" Price asked while they waited for reinforcements to assist the blast.

"Yeah."

"Quick thinking lad. I like that."

Several armed men came rushing down the stairs, yelling in a different language, all going to the exit. They stomped to the stairs and carefully breached the second floor of the building, shooting armed tangos using suppressed weapons. They had to act fast and stomp on their comms as soon as they're down so that the others outside will not fall back.

Ten guards were left behind to protect the second floor, and with the help of stealth, Gary and Price took them out smoothly. All that's left are the intel waiting to be harvested.

Gary snapped all possible evidence, every nook and cranny was investigated while Price tapped his heavy fingers on the keyboard.

"Looks like they're going large. They're planting something by the major cities cell towers. Here's one in Berlin." he muttered, printing a copy of the blueprints.

"Price! R-ch" Ghost's static crackled across their comms.

"Th- found- guards!

Get. Out. There. NOW." he added.

"Kill every civilian in there. That will let our little friends out of the shadows. I know they're after us…" a menacing voice said over Roach's stolen receiver.

"Shite. They're killing civvies." Gary said, worried.

"I'm sorry Roach. But we can't save them. It's a trap. Now protect that camera and let's get the fuck out of here." Price consoled as they continued pressing on toward the exit.

Screaming people followed by gunshots echoed across the white halls of the research facility, Gary didn't want to look back, Gary didn't want to hear any more screaming but it was all around him. Whoever commanded this act to be done must be eradicated from this world.

LOCAL MILITIA SETTLEMENT

Alex greeted the duo as soon as they stepped inside the village. It felt lively as everyone was celebrating their victory.

"Captain." Alex nodded and Price returned the gesture with a handshake.

"This is Blitz. Their leader." he added, introducing the man to Price.

"Thank you for helping us." Price acknowledged.

"No. Thank you for helping us. You have good men fighting for a good cause." he remarked, nodding at Alex and Gary. Gary also got acquainted with the leader, exchanged a few words and got offered soup.

"Tough day, huh?" Alex nudged over Gary, who's still sad about the situation earlier.

"You and me, both." Gary muttered as Alex patted his shoulder.

"We'll get him soon enough, Roach. Justice will be served." Alex consoled as Gary took a deep sigh.

"They're planting EMP bombs on major cell towers. Maybe incorporating it with them to perform large scale blasts." Gary pondered, taking a sip off the delicious soup.

"Yeah. That's our go signal. It's now a terror activity. Imagine a day without communication. International trade would crumble." Alex explained to which Gary nodded in agreement.

"Global cripple. People's minds get hurt, Economy gets hurt and we aren't focused enough to defend ourselves."

"That's what he's up to." Gary finished.

"And we have to stop it. Whatever It Takes." Alex looked at Gary with determination, that kind of pep talk that makes him a little less sad.

"Yeah." Gary agreed.

~

Another briefing, but this time, it was going somewhere. Operation Burn, the task is to eliminate Nero and all his allies, if possible. Funny enough, the real Nero burned everyone else. Whoever thought of this name was smart enough to connect the dots.

There's another person added to the team, the redhead leather jacket agent, Alexandra Ryder. An interpol agent tasked to destroy all traces of said EMP machinery. She looks tough, acts tough and basically is tough. France seemed to be going along well with her. That's a bonus for alliances such as these.

"So, I heard Price noted your sniper improvement." Ghost nudged.

"Yeah. Thanks Simon. Your training sucks but it helped a lot." Gary complimented.

"Tried talking to France and the new girl today." Ghost reported. Gary turned to him, clearly interested about his story.

"It was actually good. They're both intimidated by the mask and that's why they can't initiate conversation with me. But the talk went pretty well so I guess you needed to update your scoreboard or something." He muttered.

Gary chuckled. "That's one step towards her."

"I'll let the Interpol handle Berlin. Since it involves just the weapon, as for other news. I think it's time to transfer our two hostages back to the USA." Gary quickly turned his head back to the screen. No. It can't be. He had to stop this decision.

"With all due respect sir. I do not agree with this!" Gary stood up and all eyes were on him. He's still concerned about the welfare of the two plus he didn't want Maxine to leave. Not yet.

"I've read the report on their case sir. And it's not that I don't trust the system there but what if there's still another one in there with ties to Nero. He was able to slip by under our noses once or more times than that but let's consider the possibilities here." Gary explained as he looked around. Alex seemed to agree with him.

Shepherd let out a soft sigh.

"We'll discuss this possibility Sgt. Sanderson. You can sit down now." he said and resumed briefing.

"Brave move you did there, soldier." Ghost remarked as Gary let out a sigh. He wasn't sure on he's really concerned, the IP Address being extracted from Samantha or Maxine's smile that he will be missing if she left.

Next Chapter : The Heart Knows what the Brain doesn't

Notification Squad, my beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @whimsywispsblog @enderio @beemybee @ricinbach

[adragonhoardingstories]

Of Blood and Bonds - Chapter 4

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On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

___________________________________

"Colin this is Marinette, my sister, Marinette this is Colin." Damian introduced the redhead who seemed a bit bewildered but he recovered quickly. 

"Pleased to meet you ma'am. I didn't know that Damian had another sibling."

"Well neither did he before yesterday." Marinette laughed good-naturedly. "So you're his best friend." 

"Yep!" Damian didn't refute the statement. 

"So Miss Marinette where are you from?" 

"Just Marinette is fine Colin." 

"Bu-"

"Miss makes me feel old, you don't want that now, do you?" The boy looked scandalised. "I'm only about two years older than Damian anyways so if you want to call me by a nickname, that's fine too."

The boy grinned shyly. "Okay Marinette."

Damian looked distinctly surprised. "Well done, he still calls the others Mr, they are going to be annoyed by this development."

"Oh Damian." Marinette turned on her heels and winked at them, eyes full of mischief. "This is nothing. I got Alfred to  call me by just my first name?" 

Now, both boys looked very impressed but still disbelieving. "I'll believe it when I see it." The redhead claimed. Marinette laughed but said nothing more on the matter.

"So where are you bringing me?" 

"The Gotham's Botanical Garden. I think you'll enjoy it. However, I must warn you to stay clear of anything that may anger Poison Ivy. "

She took it in stride. "Of course, I'll ask before I do anything." 

"It'll be so fun. People don't talk about it because of Ivy but the gardens are so beautiful." Colin started ranting and Marinette hid a smile at the fond expression on her little brother's face. If one didn't know what to be looking for, they would miss it but Marinette had become very very attuned to emotions, especially after she gained the Miraculous and became Guardian. 

"-attract so many different kinds of butterflies."

"Huh." Marinette mused. "It'll be nice seeing some actual butterflies and not akumas for once."

"You mentioned akumas before too." Damian interrupted. "What are they?"

She seemed a little surprised. "Do you - do you really have no idea of what's going on in Paris?" 

Both of the boys shook their head. Even Colin looked curious now. 

"It's pretty surreal but, when I was twelve, this guy surfaced. He calls himself Hawkmoth. He sends out these magic butterflies called akumas to anyone who's experiencing any negative emotion to possess them. He makes a deal with the victims to give them powers for them to be able to take revenge upon whatever wrong happened to them and return he asks for the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Who?" Colin interrupted and Marinette blinked. She had sounded so...old, so burdened as she spoke - so different from the bubbly macaroon making girl that Damian had learnt to know. 

"Right, context. After his first akuma, two heroes surfaced in Paris too. They're powered by the Miraculous too. Hawkmoth wants Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring. No one knows why exactly and well we're not interested to find out. More power in that madman's hands can only cause harm." 

"You mean to say." Damian's voice was flat. "That there has been a sociopathic terrorist in Paris for five years and no one knows of it. Why didn't the mayor call for the Justice League?"

Marinette's face darkened. It almost made both if the boys shudder and take a step back. 

"Oh but we did. More than once, more than ten times in fact. We only stopped whenthe Leaguers asked us to stop wasting their time with pranks."

"What?" Damian exploded. "They just disregarded all the damage that must have been caused, all the phone calls. They didn't even look into it."

Marinette placed a hand in his shoulder, urging her aura to seek his and calm him down. "The thing is one of Ladybug's powers is the Miraculous Cure. It fixes all the damage caused in the midst of battle."

"All the damage?" Even Damian didn't seem to believe it at that point. 

"I know it seems too good to be true." She fished out her phone and tried to look for a video. "And we understood that but everyone in Paris is pissed that they didn't even bother come verify our so called claims. I mean for God's sake, they have aliens, shapeshifters, magicians and even guys who are themselves powered by magical jewelry if I'm not wrong." 

Marinette huffed as she found a video. It was one of the first ones from the Ladyblog, when Alya was still a reliable reporter. She played the video. It was of The Mime and it showed how he cut the Eiffel Tower in two as well as the Miraculous Cure taking effect. 

The boys especially Damian seemed horrified and Marinette felt a little of guilt for subjecting them to that. 

But then Damian looked up at her and his lazarus green eyes of reminded her that he probably had seen worse. 

"That's…" He didn't seemed to know what to say. 

"Terrifying." Colin said. "Are they all really that strong?" Marinette winced, debating whether to tell them the truth of not. 

Damian seemed to sense that. "You can tell us." He prompted and she sighed, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

"That's actually one of the tamer villians." She admitted. "The Mime appeared during the first year of Hawkmoth's reign of terror. One of the worst akumas back then that come to mind is Syren. She flooded the entirety of Paris, about three quarter of the population died and were brought back by the cure." She took another look at them and decided that she wasn't going to be the cause of their further trauma. 

"Hey, this is it, right?" She promptly changed the subject, knowing very well that she hadn't been subtle at all. "Gotham Botanical Gardens." She beamed down at them. 

"Wow, it's beautiful." She took a moment to appreciate the sight. "Hey you're right, there's a lot of butterflies. Can we go there first?" She was basically bouncing as she turned to look at her brother and his best friend. 

Colin looked gleeful while Damian seemed just amused. "You act like a child." Her brother informed her. She stuck out her tongue at him. "And you speak like an old man but you don't see me complaining." 

"Fair enough." He chuckled. "What are you waiting for? Let's go then."

He couldn't help the full-blown smile appearing on his face as both his sister and his best friend literally ran to the butterflies and started gushing together. 

He started to make his way to them when someone appeared in front of him blocking his view. His usual scowl and glare were back on his face when he looked up. The boy seemed to recoil slightly at his look but it didn't deter him more that that. 

"I don't know who you are." His tone clearly gave away that he felt like he was the one in power here. Damian cursed the time when he used to act like that. He had learnt that lesson the hard way - had learnt not to underestimate an enemy. "But you're gonna stay away from my princess. She doesn't need children like you around." 

Damian took a second to analyze him. Blond Hair. Green eyes. He remembered  reading those as Marinette's triggers during his research. He had to clench his fists to stop himself from reaching out to his weapons.

"She can decide that for himself." He said instead and went to walk around him but the boy grabbed his shoulder. 

The next thing he knew he was standing behind his sister. "Adrien." She cut in smoothly. "I didn't expect to see you here, especially not without your bodyguard." Damian could see that she was tense, her back muscles were coiled as if she was ready for a fight. 

"Princess." He was beaming. "I snuck out." He said almost proudly. "We need to talk."

"Gotham isn't Paris." Her words seemed more like a warning rather than the facts they were which the blond idiot obviously didn't catch on. "And I want nothing to do with you, haven't for  three years. I owe you nothing. Give up."

That was a clear dismissal if Damian knew one. "Princess you need to listen to me-" He reached out to grab her hand but was cut off.

The younger boy had seen her lurking but she hadn't seemed a threat so he didn't know whether he was thankful or not that she had jumped in. 

Ivy spoke "The girl asked you to go away." Thankful, he finally decided.

The boy looked a little nervous - so he did have some braincells. "Ma'am, respectfully, this does not concern you." Well not enough it seemed. 

"Oh well, respectfully." Her plants towered behind them. "I don't give a damn. Stay away from them."

The plants grabbed him and threw him just outside the park boundaries. It seemed a little tame for the likes of Ivy but then again she always did go softer for children even if they were brats.

Damian watched as the boy scrambled back to his feet and glared in their direction before he stomped off. 

"Damian." His sister was clearly fretting over him, he would never admit it but it felt good, he felt loved. "Are you alright? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"I'm alright, I'm alright. I told you, I can take care of myself." 

She smiled, soft and relieved. "I don't doubt it but promise me if you see either him or Lila from yesterday, you need go the other way."

"Why?" He frowned. He had a doubt on blondie but what about that Lila girl? 

"And by Lila, do you mean the sausage haired girl?"

His sister cracked a grin at that thought she was still serious. "Yeah her."

"Why?" He repeated and she became grim at once. "Because he's sick in the head and she's a psychopath so please, promise me." She met his eyes and really, faced to that did Damian have any other choice but to accept?

She beamed at him as Colin approached them. "That was so cool. Are you okay Dames?" He turned to talk to his best friend and gave him a once over before nodding. 

"Thank you for stepping in." He heard his sister and turned around. Ivy may be one of the villains-turned-anti-hero but it didn't mean that people didn't need to be wary around her. What was Marinette thinking?

"Boys like him need to be taught a lesson before it's too late." Damian's mind immediately went to Harley's and Joker's relationship. 

"I don't think a lesson would do him any kind of good at this point but thank you." 

It was very apparent that her words made Ivy re-evaluate her. 

The woman gave a nod. "Don't mention it." She said nothing else but didn't move away. 

Marinette smiled. "By the way, I love that flower in your hair. That's a lily right?" 

"Yes." She said slowly but the spark in her eye showed that she was now interested. "You know flowers?" 

"I have a garden of my own." Marinette revealed. "I tried growing some lilies but they're no where as beautiful as this one." Marinette fished for her phone again and started showing her images. The older woman didn't say anything but Damian could see that she was interested and she seemed almost pleased.

Deeming it safe for now, he slowly turned to Colin who was staring at the scene with amazement. 

"Colin." His friend turned to him wide-eyed, "Your sister is amazing." 

He couldn't help but feel smug at the words. "Obviously." He said but then lowered his voice. "Tell me, how did she get to me so fast when she was watching butterflies with you." 

Colin sobered up at that. "She was talking to me when suddenly she just snapped her head up to look at you. I think that's when the boy came. She told me to stay there and started walking towards you. The thing is when the guy touched you, she was about half-way there, I didn't register but the next thing I knew she was standing between you and the blond." He shook his head. "There's something about her…it's not necessarily bad but she's just...different…special."

"I know what you mean." Damian agreed.

~

"-and then she spoke with Poison Ivy for one hour straight about plants and gardening. Ivy even gave us a personal tour of the botanical gardens." 

"Seriously? She usually takes forever to warm up to someone especially if the other sirens aren't with her."

"Marinette seems to be the exception." The youngest Wayne said as he but into another macaroon. Once again, he had been ambushed on his return home - this time however, it was only his brothers and that had demanded he tell them all about her. 

His felt his phone vibrate and knew it was the message he was awaiting. "She's busy during the day." He informed his brothers. "But she invited us for dinner."

His brothers looked at each other and grinned. Tommorow looked promising.

[guigz1-coldwar]

"A place in your heart" : New chapter for "Redemption in a Spirit in a Cold War" is out !

"A place in your heart"

Chapter Summary : Bell return to the safehouse with Park and take a nap, reliving an memory......

To read it on AO3, click here !

Words : +3500

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'Come on, let's go back to the safehouse' was the first thing Park said after she recomforted me. I don't know how Park is able to have this effect on me but she is really someone competent in it. By an simple move, she is able to make myself calm down and to not stress anymore about my bad thoughts even if it's temporary. I can only thanks her with my love and by her presence with me, I know that she can't let me down because she promised me to be at my side and I promised her to stay with her, she was the main reason that I came back.....the only reason that is keeping me alive.

After our little recon mission and that 'incident', we decided that it was better to get back to the safehouse as we weren't going to stay more longer to listen to Duvall and his politics bullshit and anyway, when I came back to the car, his little speech was already done, meaning the end of our mission and our 'liberation' from that guy. On the way back, I didn't even look outside the car to see the surroundings, more focused on having my head in my hands, trying to clean up my thoughts away.

We arrived at the safehouse and we could see that Wolf & Sims weren't there meaning that they were still on their mission, keeping an eye open on the places that Derazio was 'protecting'. We entered the house and the first thing I did was to get myself on the couch, lying down on it and looking at the ceilling without saying an thing. My body was like looking tired after having worked on decrypting some transmissions during 3 hours and listening to Duvall. I think I could take a little nap.....

I was in an apartment and by looking at it, it was mine, looking very casual and not very fancy with some pictures of me, sometimes in a sort of military uniform or sometimes, me in my younger days....with Perseus at my side. It was apparently located also in the outskirts of Moscow as I could see the city from my window. I was very thinkful as I looked through it, seeing the snow, falling outside in the night.

Sit on my chair, I start to take a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket and have a cigarette out of it before I light it up, putting it on my lips. I was sort of dreaming away, wearing my usual uniform with the top shirt button removed and my hair in a bit of a mess. When I was finally comfy in that very chair, I could start to hear some knocks at my apartment door, causing me to get up my chair, a little bit annoyed as I was hoping for some peace. I breathed a little before I opened the door.

"Zed !" I first said, surprised to see them here, wearing big clothes to protect them from the snow.

"Hi, Yirina." They waved at me, enthusiastic to see me.

"I'm surprised to see you here, I thought that you were back home to take care of Dedov." I exclaimed to them, looking behind them, seeing nobody.

"Yeah, I did that but when he was going to sleep, I told him that I needed to come see you and he agreed, saying that he has Beans with him." He scoffed at the end, making me a little laugh.

"Beans is always here to recomfort you both." I added after my laugh, happy to say that. They nodded in approval,

"Good thing that I accepted to have her, Beans is our moral support." They continued before I took a last look behind them.

"Oh, you can enter, you're not going to stay outside all the time." I snorted, pulling myself aside from the door, gesturing to Zasha to enter my apartment and they complied to it.

"Freya is not here ?" They asked, fully in the apartment as I was closing the door, I stopped myself by hearing her name.

"No." I replied in a low voice. "Because of two reasons." I then pointed to them the couch, gesturing them to sit on it before I decided to go in the kitchen. "Want coffee ?" I asked before getting into the kitchen part.

"You know me well !" They answered and that would mean yes. The kitchen was just at the couch sight allowing me to discuss with Zasha.

"First reason is that we don't want to attract Perseus attention on us, you know his opinion on the subject."  I started, preparing their cup of coffee for them, I didn't decide to make one for me as I didn't want to drink.

"Oh yeah, a stubborn man like you said !" They affirmed, making me look at them with a grin as their coffee was ready. "And what's the second reason ?" They questioned as I arrived in the living room with their coffee.

"Might hard to tell." I said, giving them their cup and thanking me before walking to get sit on my own chair. "I have doubts about my relationship with Freya."  Hearing me almost caused them to choke themselves with the sip they just taken from their coffee and then, give me a confused look.

"You're serious ?" I nodded to their question.

"Since a week ago, there's been someone called Sonya that arrived in the Perseus Collective and they're a mysterious person....and somehow, Freya is been too friendly with them." I added to my nodding and they were still confused with me. "Two days ago, I saw Sonya literally kissing Freya in Perseus base in the Ural Mountains and I watched them from a safe place."

"Wait, are you saying to me that Freya is cheating on you ? Do you think that Freya is not happy about that ?" They asked and I rolled my eyes from that question.

"You're joking...." I started to scoff "Freya was taking a lot of pleasure.....enough to undress herself as Sonya was watching them doing that, I was so angry that I left the base to return here." I wasn't joking anymore but I couldn't get myself angry about it. Zasha was literally troubled by that, maybe they thought that they arrived in the bad times.

"I never think of that from Freya, did you feel yourself like.....manipulated ?" They were feeling worried about me, I slowly nodded, biting my lips at the same time.

"Even if I'm so enraged about this, I can't let myself show my anger to her." I told them, trying to look away to a picture where I was with Freya at my side. "I think I might need to take my distance with her, like a big break.....maybe break up with her."

"It's been almost 3 years that you're together." They whispered before slowly taking a sip.

"There's thoughts telling me that...I shouldn't have never engaged myself into that kind of relationship with her, you know." I exclaimed, putting my arm on the chair armrest and they nodded, understanding my thoughts.

"As you said, Freya & you were more like sisters." They affirmed to me.

"Yeah, we should have keep it that way." I added to their statement, breathing about thinking about it. "It may take time for me to tell her that but I will do it anyway." I looked at the ceilling in desesperation, trying to clear my mind. "Do you want to know the first time I kissed a girl...my first kiss ?" I asked.

"Why not ? It can change from talking about Freya." They joked, very curious to hear my story, getting themselves comfy in the couch.

"At 17 years old, there were a new girl that came into our military class. She was named Julie, she was french and we became great friends." I started, all serious in my story. "One day while I was in the girls toilet of our academy, she came in, saying she needed help with....kissing as her date was waiting for her."

"I guess at that time, you weren't an expert on kissing ?" They joked not badly and I laughed a little about it.

"Let's just say that I posed as someone who know it well !" I exclaimed with wide eyes, trying to justify myself. "Anyway, I gave her advices from people who already told me until she asked for a demonstration and then, we kissed."

"Wow, that was your first kiss : learning to someone as you don't know it too." They looked at me with an funny face,

"Wait because it's not done...." I started, raising my index finger. "When we were finished, she was leaving but then, she came back and kissed me again : I was HER date !" I added, making them stunned from that. "We finished making up in the toilet during an hour. It's since that day I realized that I was loving only woman."

"Damn, I'm really surprised to hear that story you never told me." They said, pretty amazed, having just finished their coffee. "I guess that this Julie stayed in your memories." I nodded,

"We stayed together until she had to leave the USSR. After that, we never had contact with each other again but I still have her in my heart as my first kiss." I finally finished my story, making me take a deep breath. "Since Julie, it was only minor relationships I had as it was something uncommon to do....until Freya came in." I bit a part of my lips, saying again her name, trying to not be sad and angry.

"If you think you have to break up with her to be better, do it !" They suggested as a friendly advice and I take it well. "By the way, I didn't tell why I came here." They added, putting their cup on the table before trying to search for something in their jacket.

"That's right, you didn't tell." I admitted as I talked about my problems instead of the essentials.

"Don't worry, it's nothing bad but see it as a great news." They affirmed before they finally grab the thing they were looking for : a ring with a diamond incrusted in it. Seeing it and I was jaw-dropped.

"No...." I said, smiling, having guessed their intentions as they were showing the ring perfectly to me

"I'm gonna ask Portnova to marry me, she's going to move in with me & Dedov next week." They exclaimed, enthusiastic as hell, happy about their own news. I started to move to get a closer look at the ring. "I will ask for her hand at Christmas."

"My god, Zed !" I was like speechless as I decided to sit myself on the couch with them. "It's incredible !" I then moved to give them a friendly hug as a sign of my gratitude.

"The only thing that is blocking me is my status : you know that the laws is avoiding me to do this official." They were looking sad for a second before I decided to reassure them.

"Don't worry, I will make sure that your marriage with Portnova is gonna be an exception from the laws." I told them, making them grin of happiness. "So, now it's gonna be Zasha Smirnov and Yirina Smirnov or the contrary : Zasha Portnova & Yirina Portnova or maybe joint names ?"

"I don't know, I'm waiting after Christmas for that to talk about it." They sniffed, still happy about that move.

"Yes, you're right !" I smiled about it, laughing a little. "You deserve all this happiness, Zasha. It's more important for you than our work for Perseus."

"About work, when do we go back to work ?" They asked like that, making me roll my eyes.

"Zasha, I just learned that you're going to get married and you're talking about work." I breathed before deciding to tell them. "We're going back to work in two days : someone from the CIA is apparently willing to give to us some files to decrypt, must be nothing big but, it's our work."

"Yes....it's our work !"  They repeated my words in a low voice.

"Anyways." I tapped gently my legs before I got up from the couch "For the moment, let's forget our personal problems to celebrate your news." I then grab their cup of coffee in my hands and started walking back to the kitchen.

"We might need more coffee for that !"

I was happy to see that memory : relieved to hear some good news but also troubled to learn about Freya apparently cheating on me. But that part of that dream and its bad thoughts were quickly replaced by the good news that Zasha brought me. Inside of me, I was just feeling so good to hear this, Zasha is a good person, they deserve all the happiness in the world to be with Portnova and their brother. They need that and I need to know where they are.

I finally wake up slowly, still on that couch, arms crossed and I could feel some details : I wasn't wearing my jacket anymore and my legs were posed on something. When I opened my eyes, I could see Park, having my legs on her lep as she was also sit on that couch as an support for them. She was smiling at me and I returned the favor as I slowly open my eyes.

"Hey, Park." I said in a low voice, seeing her entirely.

"You have a pretty good nap, love..." She breathed, sounding lovely, her left hand posed on my legs moving it alongside them.

"If you were there, it's always good." I affirmed before I was wondering about something. "How much time I was sleeping ?" I asked and then she showed me 3 raised finger from her right hand. "Three ?"

"Yes, you got lucky that Sims & Wolf didn't came back from their mission." She make a silent laugh about it. "They will come back soon as they radio'ed us...well more me than you since you fall out in that couch very quickly." She continued, giving me a good look.

"I just wanted some rest from.....well, you know...." I affirmed, truly. I wasn't thinking of it anymore after spending 3 HOURS on that couch. "We don't need to talk about this."

"It's okay like I said." She told me, giving me lovely tap on my legs with her left hand before she look back at me "I hear you talking for a few minutes in your sleep, you had a memory back ?"

"Yeah, first part a little bit sad but more happy after." I replied, not sure if she already know because I talked in my sleep.

"I just heard the part where you talked about....Freya cheating on you with that Sonya." She exclaimed, having her eyes on the picture of them, still on the dashboard.

"I was considering to break up with her but I don't know if I did it as it was looking to be more on December 1980....a few days before me & Zasha discover 'Greenlight'."  I wasn't smiling at the last part as in that memory, we were still unconscious of that. "I think we better talk about something else than Freya, if you want."

"Okay." She whispered, approving my choice. "Maybe we can talk about that Zasha ?" They asked, curious.

"Well, I worked with Zasha since 1975 at the KGB, we were working as a team to decrypt and encrypt files for Perseus and I saw them like an family member." I responded, giving her the important details at first. "I helped them by giving them money for them and their brother in need, they survived thanks to me but I can't tell what happened to them after December 1980." I added, sounding a little bit worried at the end.

"It's relieving to hear that : it's showing me that you are truly a kind person, Yirina." She affirmed, recomforting me in the inside and the outside. "I don't know Zasha but I can say that I'm willing to meet them if we can."

"I'm pretty sure you are going to like them." I said, sure of my words as Zasha was the most brave person I have been friends in my old life. "In that memory, they revealed to me that they were going to marry their lover."

"Wow, that's very good news !" She told, enthusiastic too about hearing this news.

"I was willing at 100% to help them secure their marriage with her." I smiled about it. "She was named Yirina Portnova."

"Oh...." The tone of her voice was sounding surprised by it and she stopped herself doing her moves with her left hand

"You know her ?" I asked, curious

"No, it's just that I never thought that their lover's name was also Yirina." She replied, sure of her answer and my suspicions goes away like that, she was just stunned to hear that name.

"They were so happy about it and I was too...." I started, taking a deep breath. "They deserved all the happiness that they needed to have." I then decided to redress myself on the couch, getting sit next to Park, close to her. "Do you think I deserve it too ?" I asked, she nodded.

"We deserve it." She simply said before her lips met mine, making me move my hand on her face gently before we broke the kiss, our foreheads against each other.

"I love you 3000 !" I said, relieved to be able to kiss her again in the lips as I put my arms on her shoulders.

"I love you too....3000 too !" She breathed, serious and smiling at me as we slowly start to move to kiss again....until.....

"Uhm, uhm !" Someone coughed by purpose in the room and in a second, we quickly moved away from each other, discovering Sims, leaned against the door frame of the living room, looking at us with an face that could say 'got you both !'

"Sims, that's not...." Park started to said before she lost her own words, redressing her own clothes back to normal as me....I was faking a embarassed look, knowing that Sims know.

"It's okay, it's been 3 years that I know !" He exclaimed, removing himself from the door to get next to the couch, without sitting on it "Don't worry, I will tell anything." He added, giving me a approving look.

"You better be !" Park ordered in a normal voice and I could feel her angriness deep in her voice before she decide to look at the door "Wolf isn't here ?" She asked, changing the subject

"He's just outside, taking a quick call." Sims replied before looking at the dashboard "So, how was Duvall's speech ?"

"Very boring and very shitty." I responded, rolling my eyes to talk about it and honestly, I don't know if it was the thing Sims was waiting. "We can remove that person from our priority target list." I pointed at Sonya's picture "They're named Sonya but they have left the country after having enough of protecting Duvall's ass around in public !" I added, giving him the intel about them, joking at the end.

"They were the Perseus agent in charge of protecting Duvall." Park gave him more about their identity.

"Guess we have no choice but to stay here to get Duvall." Sims put his hand on his wraist before looking back at us "For us, we have finished to spot the places Derazio is 'protecting"....."

"And we finally know where that guy is living !" Another voice arrived in the room, revealing Wolf that just cut Sims, with an satellite phone in his hand. "Derazio is living at the penthouse of the Royal Hotel, a building right in the middle of the New Orleans skyline !" He added as he walked to get to the dashboard to put an picture of the building on it. "Of course, since Derazio is a freaking paranoid person, he never left that penthouse and when he does, it's only for extreme case."

"Well, that's mean that we had no choice but to get rid of Derazio into his own penthouse ?" I suggested, getting up to get a closer look at the phto as Wolf & Sims nodded at the same. "It will be risky but let's get along with it since Derazio is paranoid."

"Also, it will take time to have a perfect plan against him." Park added, also getting up to look at Sims. "Anyway, I'm in too....well, we all in !" She continued, getting sure that it was our only plan that we have on Derazio : strike him right into his heart ! I was thinking, looking at the picture of the bulding, about things.....

"Guess Derazio will have to die hard !

[lordofthenerds97]

Hi, how are you? I've never sent an ask for ships purposes haha mostly into reading it because they're incredibly entertaining and fun. Now finally I will leave mine. Well, I'm pretty sensitive girl, caring, kind to almost anyone except rude ones, or any situation that seems unfair, I just can't bear it. I will fight anything. I love literature, I speak 3 languages, obsessed with arts in general. Kinda daredevil, equestrian here. Cons, too passionate, idealistic and sometimes stubborn.

Hey hun! I'm doing much better now! Enjoying catching up in everything in my inbox, haha. You came to the right place love! Let's see...

I ship you with...

Billy!

You were never one to draw attention to yourself. Quite the opposite, actually. You preferred staying hidden and not running with all the popular kids

Jonathan Byers was your best friend and he understood your reasons

But if there was one thing you hated with your entire being

It was bullies

You were never afraid to stand up for the little guy. It was something you were known for. And surprisingly, you didn't mind that reputation

Since Jonathan had started hanging out with Nancy and Steve, you were dragged along as well. Nancy became like a sister to you and Steve was rapidly gaining older brother status. It was impressive how quickly they became close to you

Things were good for a couple months. No more Demogorgans, no more Upside Down

But then, Billy Hargrove rolled into town

And that's when the nightmare started

He had his heart set on becoming the new King of Hawkins. You weren't surprised, it seemed to be in his nature to want to be the center of attention. But you also knew that Steve held that title for a long time and wasn't ready to give it up quite yet

You had watched from the sidelines as Billy charmed his way through at least half the female population of Hawkins High during his first week in town. You had also been witness to how he set his sights on Steve

Needless to say, you were less than impressed

Seeing the way he treated people was getting on your nerves. And you'd had enough

You had been minding your own business, talking to Lisa and a few other girls in the corner when you heard his obnoxious voice over the thumping music. You rolled your eyes as you realized a fight was about to start

So, doing what you did best, you made your way to where Steve was facing off against Billy once again. There was a crowd of people already gathered around, chanting for them to fight

You'd had enough

Taking a shot of the liquid courage in Taylor's cup, you stalked in between the two boys. You stepped in with your back to Steve and your arms crossed as you glared at Billy. "And just what do you think you're doing?" you snapped

Billy raised his eyebrows in surprise as your small stature blocked his line of sight for Steve. He seemed lost for words at the surprise of seeing you jump into the middle

Seeing that he wasn't going to give you an answer, you whirled on Steve. "And you know better!"

He looked rather taken aback by your outburst. But then he looked at the ground in shame before muttering an apology

You looked back at Billy, who was still lost for words. Your glare shifted between the both of them before you rolled your eyes. "That's enough, boys. This petty fighting is going to stop." You shoved your finger into Billy's chest, making him stumble back slightly from the surprise. "You're going to stop picking the fights. I'm tired of seeing the two of you at each other's throats." You turned to Steve, your glare enough to freeze the fires of hell. "And you're going to stop antagonizing him. All you're doing is making thibgs worse."

They both looked at you in varying degrees of surprise. You could hear a pen drop in the silence from the crowd as they watched with bated breath to see what was going to happen. When you received no response from either of them, you spoke again. "Do I make myself clear?"

Still, neither of them were willing to answer. So you did what any logical person would do. You grabbed the both of them by their ears and yanked their heads down to your level. "Do. I make. Myself. Clear." you hissed

Both boys squirmed under your grip and let out sounds of pain. But neither of them were willing to back down. So, you squeezed harder

"OW! All right, all right. Jesus Christ woman!" Billy snapped. "I'll play nice."

You lessened your grip on him before turning to Steve. "Stevie?"

"Fine," he grunted. "I'll try to get along with him."

Satisfied, you released both boys before looking menacingly between them. "Good. And I swear, if either of you don't keep your word, I'll beat your ass so hard you'll be seeing stars for a month."

And with an annoyed huff, you made your exit

Things went smoothly for the next couple of months. Everyone was in awe of what you did, stopping the petty bickering between the two alpha males. It was something no one had been able to manage before. But when they noticed you were in the vicinity, they were on their extra best behavior to not incur your wrath once more

Billy seemed to be actually making an effort to play nice with Steve. And he was also making an effort to get to know you as well

At first you weren't having it. You knew of his reputation and you didn't want to get involved in that. But the effort he was making seemed to be a genuine one

You decided to give him a chance. At first it started ouht innocent, talking with him at lunch and offering to help with his English homework. It progressed from their and the two of you surprisingly became good friends

And somehow, he managed to worm his way into your heart

It wasn't planned and it most certainly wasn't expected. But you accepted the fact that the bad boy from Cali had rooted himself deep in your subconscious. There wasn't really a lot you could do about it

So when he asked you if you would have dinner with him at Benny's and catch a movie afterwards, you were all for it

[blueriverhayes]

[2] Alone (Daryl Dixon)

This is a reminder: this is an AU, so I'm not exactly following the storyline of the show. That's why some characters are alive, others are dead, and they're still at the farm.

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

Eva couldn't help but feel nauseated as she followed Rick out of the forest, away from her camp, and closer to his. It had been three years since the epidemic spread, and since then Eva hadn't been able to trust anybody except for herself. She wanted to trust Rick, but she just couldn't.

"I don't think I ever caught your name," Rick said, breaking the silence.

"Evelyn. But I usually go by Eva."

"So, Eva," Rick said, smiling, "you been alone this whole time?"

Eva tried to push down the sick feeling in her stomach as memories of what happened flooded her mind.

"No. I was with my best friend at the beginning. He didn't make it."

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

"Eva, get ready! We have to go, now!" Shep yelled from his bedroom. He was packing a duffel bag in his room while Eva sat in the living room of his apartment, her eyes transfixed on the television. She was watching the local news channel, where they were showing live footage of a. . . well, a zombie.

"Evelyn! Now!"

Eva snapped out of her trance and grabbed her suitcase, following Shep out of his apartment building. Outside, it was nothing but widespread panic. Feeling claustrophobic, she grabbed Shep's shirt and closed her eyes, not opening them again until they reached his car.

"The majority of the people are going to try to take the highway out of here. I think we'll have better luck on the backroads, if we can get there," Shep said, maneuvering his car through the crowds of people.

Eva tried to block out the horrifying screams that filled the air, but nothing she did helped. She looked out of her window and watched the people running around, screaming, but when she saw what they were all running from, she couldn't help but let out a scream herself. Right in front of Shep's car was an elderly woman with a metal pipe sticking out of her chest. Eva watched as she stumbled around, grabbing the nearest person and taking a bite out of their arm.

"Eva," Shep said, "Eva, look at me."

Eva slowly turned away from the window and looked at her closest friend. Shep stayed focus on the road, winding in and out of traffic as they made their way closer to the less crowded backroads just outside the city.

"I know you're scared. I am, too. But we can't afford to be, not now. I love you, Eva, and I'll always have your back. But you've gotta calm down, or you'll get one of us killed."

And that's exactly what happened.

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

"Sorry to hear that," Rick said, coming to a stop at the edge of the trees. Eva stopped beside him and looked out into the clearing ahead. She could see a large white house with an even bigger barn beside it. The house was surrounded by huge, beautiful fields, and in the middle of one of the fields was an RV and a handful of tents. There were maybe a dozen or so people milling about, laughing amongst one another, when Eva heard something she never thought she would hear again. The sound was coming from inside the house, and Eva watched as a small lady with short hair walked out, holding something in her arms.

"Is that. . . is that a. . ." Eva started, pointing at the woman. Her eyes began to water as the sound of a baby crying continued to fill the air.

"A baby," Rick said, with so much pride in his voice that Eva knew that the baby was his. "Her name's Judith. You wanna see her?"

Eva looked back at Rick and softly nodded her head. She thought she would never see another baby again, and it was almost too much for her. She didn't know something so pure and beautiful could exist in this new world.

Hesitantly, Eva followed Rick as he made his way to the woman holding Judith. She tried to ignore all the stares and looks people were giving her, until she caught sight of Daryl looking her way. He was standing beside a small tent that was pitched away from the others. Eva subconsciously stopped walking and held Daryl's stare for a beat before Rick called.

"This is Eva," Rick whispered in Judith's ear, smiling as Eva walked up to him. The baby gurgled and waved her hands as Eva walked up to her. Rick handed the baby over and Eva hesitantly took her into her arms and began whispering little nothings into her ear.

"Hi, baby," she said, rocking Judith from side to side, "you're so beautiful. You know that? So pretty." Eva almost lost herself in Judith before a boy, maybe thirteen or so, walked up.

"Who's this?" The boy asked Rick.

"This is Eva. Eva, this is my boy, Carl. Eva's thinking about staying here."

Carl looked up at Eva and smiled. "It'll be nice to have some more help with the chores."

Eva smiled down at the boy and handed Judith back to Rick.

"Well, that's if I decide to stay. Still haven't made my mind up yet." Eva looked around the camp again and saw how happy and almost carefree everybody seemed. She missed that feeling.

"Why dont I introduce you to everybody?" Rick asked, walking towards the tents. "Everybody! I got someone I want ya'll to meet!" Within seconds, everybody formed a semi-circle around Eva, Rick, and Carl, and Eva noticed how different everybody seemed. There was that small woman who stood beside a menacing-looking Daryl, an older man with a beard and half a leg missing, an Asain kid standing awfully close to a pretty brunette, and a woman with dreads that had a sword on her back. They all looked so different, but it was obvious that they all shared a close bond.

"Eva, this is Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Beth, Hershel, Michonne, and you've already met Daryl. Everyone, this is Eva. She's considering staying with us," Rick introduced everybody, pointing out who was who, while everybody took their turn saying hello to Eva. Well, everybody except Daryl, who was already making his way back to his isolated tent.

"Nice to meet you, Eva," Carol said with a sweet smile, offering her hand for a shake.

"Nice to meet you, too," Eva took Carol's hand and noticed how calloused it was. "I've never seen a camp with so many people in it. How long have y'all been together?"

"Rick, Daryl, and I have been together since the beginning. We've lost a lot of people, but we met more along the way." Eva saw the look in Carol's eyes and decided not to ask any more questions about her past. "Here, let me help you set up. We don't have another tent, but I can fix something up for you." Carol smiled and led Eva to the RV.

"Aren't you worried?" Eva asked as Carol handed her a stack of blankets.

"Worried about what?"

"Worried that I'll kill you all in your sleep and take everything you have."

Eva was shocked when Carol looked at her and started laughing. "I'd like to see you try," she said, and Eva left it at that. "Here, nobody's claimed this spot. You can stay here for the night."

Eva looked around where her and Carol were standing. She noticed that she was right in the middle of the camp, surrounded by the RV and other tents. So far, the people hadn't given her a reason not to trust them, but she just couldn't shake the bad feeling. And like Shep taught her, better safe than sorry.

"Actually, could I set up over there?" Eva asked, pointing to an empty field that was nearly half a mile away from everybody else.

"Are you worried?" Carol asked, a knowing smile on her face.

"A little."

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

After Carol helped Eva set up her makeshift tent, which was just a blanket propped up on a couple sticks, a few people came by and said hello, but other than that she spent the rest of the day alone. Once the sun started going down, she built a small fire and watched as the bigger group sat around their own, sharing a meal. Eva could hear their laughter and voices from her camp, but couldn't make out what they were saying. She could imagine, though. She used to have those same conversations with Shep.

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

"I can't believe you ate dog food!" Eva almost couldn't breathe for how hard she was laughing.

"Listen, twenty bucks is twenty bucks. Plus, it was chicken flavor," Shep said, grinning down at Eva.

It had been nearly a month since they left Atlanta, and since then they had only encountered a handful of the dead. Even though Eva was scared out of her mind most of the time, Shep was good at making Eva forget all of it. He was good at making her laugh.

"You're an idiot," Eva sighed, laying her head on Shep's shoulder. It had to have been past midnight, and the fire they made earlier was dying out, but they both couldn't sleep.

"Eva?" Shep said, nearly a whisper, and Eva could sense the change of tone.

"Hm?"

"I'm scared."

Eva sat back up when Shep said this, turning to her side to get a better look at him. Eva knew that Shep had to be scared, but this was the first time that he admitted it since they left Atlanta.

"I'm scared, too. But we've made it this far. And we'll make it to the end. We're going to make it." Eva brushed Shep's shaggy hair out of his eyes and saw that what she said didn't make him feel better.

"Evelyn, I wasn't built for this world. If you weren't with me, I'd already be gone. And if something were to happen to you-" Shep choked on his words, bringing his hands up to cover his face.

"Sheppard!" Eva scolded, "Stop that! Nothing is happening to either of us! You can't think like that. It's just like you said - we can't afford to be scared. We're gonna be alright. We're both going to make it out of this."

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

The sound of a twig snapping woke Eva out of her daydream, and she turned around to see Daryl looking down at her.

"You stayin'?" He asked, not meeting her eyes.

"Dunno yet." Eva turned back and looked down at her dwindling fire. Daryl hadn't spoken a word to her since that day in the forest, so she was uneasy with him standing over her like he was. Just as she was about to politely ask him to leave, her stomach growled.

"We got food, ya know," Daryl mumbled, and Eva could sense how uncomfortable he was. She was, too.

"Yeah, I know. Rick gave me some."

"Then you should eat."

Eva just shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want to eat any of the food Rick gave her in case she decided not to stay, and she didn't feel comfortable eating with the group yet. After a few moments of awkward silence, Eva turned around to see if Daryl was still there. He was.

"Do you need anything?" Eva asked, not unkindly.

"Naw." And then he walked away.

《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》《《》》

Part 3: