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toournextadventure · 2 years

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everyone but her pt.6

a/n: we get a bit of backstory about our dear little reader. let's see how she handles parents weekend, shall we?

Word Count: 2.3k Warnings: light swearing Pairing: Wednesday Addams x Reader Taglist: @extinctspino @basichextechml @cfvgbhndun-new-blog @jinxscatbomb @awolfcsworld @n0p35 @suzhiman @gengen64 (Masterlist)

Parents Weekend. Most of the students at Nevermore loved it; it gave them an opportunity to show their family how they were doing, who their friends were, what they were doing with their young lives. And truthfully, it was a joyous weekend. There was more laughter and joy than any other point of the year, even the Rave’N.

Even in the past, you had enjoyed Parents Weekend. The few days Momma and Pop could come up and visit and talk and give you the family you never truly had. Filling that void and giving you the space and opportunity to just be a child. You and Nicky had never been more grateful for something you hadn’t realised was so important.

You understood why they hadn’t been able to come the past few years, truly you did. The others had plays, concerts, events, exams. They were all a little more important than a weekend away, especially when it was a full day’s train ride. They had offered to come, but you told them to stay; being one of the oldest definitely had it’s downsides.

But you enjoyed seeing everyone else’s families rolling in, all the excited chattering and hugs. Even Enid’s family had arrived. You gave them a quick wave and polite smile before running off to hide. If Mrs. Sinclair made one more comment about no one coming to visit you, you were going to scream. The concern was sweet, but there was no point in dredging that fact back up.

“Will you be heading out soon?”

Even though your heart rate accelerated at the sudden appearance of a voice, you shouldn’t have been surprised. Principle Weems knew of your plans for the day and had already given explicit permission to be out all weekend. So why you flinched at her voice, you had no idea.

Must have been nerves.

“A lot sooner now that Mrs. Sinclair saw me,” you said, sending a smile to Mr. Sinclair when they all turned to look at you. “I’m trying to avoid the attention this year.”

“I know you were planning on staying away for the weekend,” Principle Weems started, “but maybe tomorrow you and I could socialise with the other families.”

The tone in her voice, now that was a reason to be surprised. An uncertainty accentuated by the slightest shake behind her words. Without drawing any attention to you both, you looked at her out of the corner of your eye to see that yes, that forced smile of hers was real.

It would mean cutting your trip in half. These trips only happened every other Sunday and this was your one shot at a full weekend. Would it be worth it? Is it what he would want you to do? Probably, you thought with a silent sigh. As much as it felt like throwing your heart into a juicer, you knew what the best thing to do would be.

“I would love to,” you said far too softly. Hopefully Principle Weems had heard you because you weren’t sure you could say it again around the tightness in your throat.

But Principle Weems smiled. “Then we will see you tomorrow.”

She left you standing there with nothing but a dry mouth and an uneasiness in your stomach. It continued to plague you on the flight to Hanover, and reached a crescendo as you greeted Nurse Jackie at the desk and walked into the room. Only when you sat down in your chair by the bed did you feel that anxiety and fear metamorphosise into a comfort you couldn’t put into words.

“Hey bubba” you said as you started digging in your bag for the book. “You look like shit, when was the last time you shaved?”

The high pitched, headache inducing beeping of the heart monitor answered.

“We’ll clean you up before I leave,” you huffed, “I’m not kissing your scruffy cheek.”

The ventilator hissed.

“I told you about that girl I like, right?” You asked. The chair creaked underneath you as you pulled your legs up and crossed them. “The goth girl that looks like she wants to murder everyone, except it’s kinda hot?”

One spike of the heart monitor.

“I was thinking of asking her out again.”

An increase in the beeping of the heart monitor.

“No, it’s not a date." You rolled your eyes. "She doesn’t use that word.”

Another rapid increase.

“I know that’s what it is, she just doesn’t like the word.”

The heart monitor returned back to normal.

“Anyway, I need your thoughts. Would it be stupid to ask her to the Rave’N? It’s not either of our style but it’s still tradition so I just… need some brotherly advice.”

Three breaths from the ventilator before the heart monitor spiked twice.

“You were supposed to say yes,” you said with a huff. “Fine, I’ll ask. But if she turns me down, I’m blaming you.” You pointed your finger at the bed. With a smirk to yourself, you flipped the pages of the book open. “Okay, let’s see, we stopped after Gandalf and the Balrog, right?”

The heart monitor spiked once.

Your smirk turned into a smile before you started reading. Line after line, page after page. At the end of each chapter, you would look up to check on your captive audience, listening for any indication of his thoughts from the heart monitor. With each new chapter your stomach dropped all over again, some sad desperation for a response that was never going to come.

A groan escaped your lips as you shifted in the chair, stretching your legs out until they rested on the bed and you could lean back a little further. You made the mistake of looking up in the middle of the chapter. Your throat constricted, the words becoming harder to force out.

“Sorry,” you said as you cleared your throat. You picked up where you had left off.

Nicky laid there and listened as you read through the rest of the book, the uneasiness in your voice disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

—---

There was nothing in heaven or hell that was quite like love. It came in all shapes and sizes, from romantic to familial to platonic. That unbearable queasiness that settles in your stomach like a body settles at the bottom of a lake and gives a certain sort of intrigue and comfort. To know that someone would kill for you, to die for you. That was what made love so exciting.

Morticia could see it in everyone present at the Parents Weekend events. Although the day was rather dreadful - far too bright and sunny - everyone was filled with love for whoever they were with. She could see it in Enid Sinclair’s family, whom she had introduced herself to. It was present in Wednesday, although a much different expression (she knew Wednesday still loved them).

And she saw it in Larissa and the young woman accompanying her.

She had noticed Larissa immediately, as she so often did, but the young woman caught her eye. The way she would look up at Larissa as if she hung the moon in the night sky. Morticia knew Larissa had no children, and yet she looked at the young lady the same way Morticia looked at her own children.

“I’ll be right back,” Morticia told Gomez before making her way to where Larissa was standing.

“Morticia,” Larissa called out once she was near. She sounded far more joyful than usual. “Always a pleasure.”

“I see you’re enjoying the festivities for the day,” Morticia said even though her gaze fell to the young woman who was actually quite tall, now that she was up close.

“We are,” Larissa said, her smile softening as she looked at her companion. “Allow me to introduce you both, this is Morticia Addams.”

“Oh, you’re Wednesday’s mom,” the young lady exclaimed with a grin and enthusiastically reaching her hand out, “I’m Y/N.”

Ah. So that’s who you were. Morticia knew exactly who you were. Numerous times she had heard Wednesday or Enid talk about you, even just in passing, with an admiration that she rarely saw from her own daughter. Her features would soften and she would threaten you bodily harm far less often than usual.

It had been so unusual at first to hear Wednesday talk about anyone, let alone someone that brought out a completely different side of her. They were only occasional mentions of you, but they were enough for Morticia to catch on to it. One mention of your name and Wednesday’s eyes would go wide before trailing off to the side, her train of thought completely derailed for a fraction of a second too long.

While Morticia would never proclaim to know for a fact that her daughter had feelings for you, it was easy enough to tell. And when Enid had let it slip all those weeks ago that you had taken Wednesday to perform an autopsy? Then the immediate darkening of her daughter’s cheeks and nose before changing the subject? It was all Morticia needed to know.

And now she could put a face to the name.

Across the field, Wednesday stared in abject horror as her mother shook your hand. The same horror that she assumed one would feel when witnessing something traumatic, such as a car accident. A feeling that settled deep in her stomach, clawed it’s way up her throat because as horrifying as the scene was, she just couldn’t look away.

That feeling of horror slowly morphed into one that she couldn’t explain when you smiled at her mother and your feather’s twitched at something she had said. That single twitch, the ruffle, put a weight on her heart and forced it to beat harder, so hard that she could feel the physical pain within her chest. Why were you smiling at her mother like that? What had she said to make your wings twitch in that childishly giddy way?

Oh no.

Her heart’s struggle to beat came to a full stop like a car hitting a brick wall. Her mother was leading you over to where Wednesday and her family were situated. The way you followed her, with your hands swinging at your sides, reminded Wednesday of an avenging angel; dark and foreboding and your eyes on every little thing that passed.

She wanted you to follow her around like that. Would you keep her safe from those who wished her and her family harm? Her heart told her you would, you always would, you had already done so time and time again. But as you got closer and closer to seeing her family, her entire being, her mind told her no. No, you wouldn’t keep her safe, you wouldn’t keep her family safe. You were far too innocent, far too sweet, so adverse to trouble.

But she wanted you to stay. She needed you to stay the way a gaping wound needed stitches. Craved your touch the way a an infection craved moisture. It was humiliating to think such thoughts, Wednesday knew that, but if it was the truth then it was the truth. She needed you to stay and be near even if it was as nothing more than an acquaintance.

Though she refused to ever admit it. It was a weakness she would never act upon.

Her mother finally brought you to the family and introduced you to Wednesday’s father and brother. You shook their hands, a polite smile on your face, and Wednesday felt that budding feeling in her stomach again. Your smile should have been reserved for someone more deserving than her father and brother.

You were invited to sit with them for a time, and you agreed quickly. Most would have tucked tail and ran, no one quite understanding how her family could be the way they were. But you sat down beside Pugsly - why would you not sit beside her? - and engaged in conversation far easier than most.

All Wednesday could do as you talked was stare at you. At the way you gestured your hands wildly as you talked, or how you held eye contact with everyone when they talked. You got along with Pugsly; why could you not get along with her the same way? Your conversations with him flowed as effortlessly as a river flowed into the ocean. Wednesday certainly couldn’t hold the same amount of engagement.

She noted the way your eyes flicked over to her every now and then as you talked or listened. Whenever someone would ask you a question, you would look at Wednesday first, almost as if asking permission to answer. She would give you a singular nod, and you would continue. What would cause you to look to her in such a way? Surely you knew how to answer questions on your own, did you not? And yet, she almost found herself enjoying the attention, no matter how discreet.

“I should probably get back,” you finally said once the conversation had lulled. “It was a genuine pleasure to meet all of you.”

You gave a polite wave, shook her father’s and Pugsly’s hands, kissed her mother’s knuckles, and walked back to where Weems was standing. Wednesday already felt feelings about you leaving; feelings that she didn’t know what to call since she admittedly hadn’t felt them before. She didn’t know why, but she desperately hoped her family had liked you, had seen you in the same light that she oh so often did. She-

-were you wearing her sweater?

#wednesday addams x reader #wednesday x reader #wednesday addams #everyone but her au

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plasticflwrs · 7 months

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—﹒ ∬ ﹒PLASTIC FLOWERS RETURNS TO BAR PERFORMANCES AT CHEEKY'S IN SEOUL!

—﹒ ∬ ﹒DESCRIPTION TAKEN FROM AN ALLKPOP PUBLISHED JULY 15, 2023.

In 2023, Plastic Flowers made their return to their hometown bar CHEEKY'S for a new era of live performances! Located in Gangnam, Seoul, the bar takes takes inspiration from the bar culture of Nashville and has been in operation since 2017.

Cheeky's popularity began to rise with the attendance of Plastic Flowers on weekends soon after their lead vocalist, Oliver, became a legal adult in 2019. Plastic Flowers performed there for three years straight ( 2019 — 2021 ) until their 16 month hiatus from public life. Since then, Plastic Flowers has become a mainstream success both domestically and internationally with multiple tracks peaking at number one since 2022.

In a surprise post from Cheeky's Instagram, they announced that the band would return on July 14, 2023 for the rest of the year. The five band members and even their agency were quick to repost the news to confirm.

—﹒ ∬ ﹒IF YOU WANNA GET IN, YOU GOTTA FOLLOW THESE RULES (TAKEN FROM A TIKTOK POSTED BY JUNYEONGLUVR ON JULY 18, 2023)!

"So, you want to attend a Plastic Flowers performance at Cheeky's in Seoul? Here is everything you need to know to avoid getting kicked out!

First: don't be weird with the band. They are normal people and are here to make money and have fun on stage. This is not time to have an Y/N fantasies about the members falling in love with you. Unless it's Junyeong, then you probably have a chance at sleeping with him.

They are keeping the same rules about requests from 2021! Unless specified otherwise, all requests are 25,000KRW. The more money you pay, however, the more likely they are to play that song sooner and you can request a specific member to sing that song! For example, back in 2020, I requested a cover of Clario's BAGS with SERIN as the lead vocalist and got it pretty quickly for 40,000KRW!

However, there are multiple songs that will cost 100,000KRW because they are requested at every show. This is often achieved through crowdfunding and is very rarely paid for by a single person. The songs that cost 100,000KRW are ANY OF THEIR TITLE TRACKS, FREE BIRD by Lynyrd Skynyrd, anything by DEATH VALLEY, and MIROTIC by TVXQ.

You can also buy the members drinks! They are always so thankful for this and every one has their own favorites. There will (hopefully) be a sign of all their drink orders at the bar since they have changed since 2021.

Don't be afraid of audience interaction! Oliver and Salem particularly love going into the crowd and taking pictures and videos with fans. Sing along and dance like an idiot, it makes them more excited to be performing if the audience is also having a good time."

—﹒ ∬ ﹒THE MUSIC.

Coming into the nights, Plastic Flowers does have a set list they prepare for the beginning of the show and requests are just starting to come in. If you like the darker side of Plastic Flowers music, this is the perfect place for you as they often cover old emo hits from the 1990s and 2000s. For the right price, they will truly play anything unless it's by nature controversial or a weird request.

The full set list has not been reveled yet and all the songs played are always complied by their many UPDATE ACCOUNTS across Social Media. Because of all the difference audience they play, no set list is ever truly the same and is either played in a different order or features completely different songs. Some common requests and songs played include: FOR YOUR LOVE, I'M ALIVE, READY TO FLY, 505, FREE BIRD, MAMA, NO SHAME, and BALLAD OF MONA LISA.

Depending on whose in the crowd, you can also get some COVERS of songs by their friends and other idols in the audience!

They also often play UNRELEASED songs that will either never be played again or make it into the next few albums, it's a fun guessing game with them! Songs previously unreleased that were performed here include: WAR , THE CHAIN , SINNERS & SAINTS , SOBER , and NORMAL PEOPLE.

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badcaseofcasey · 10 months

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one single thread of gold (tied me to you) | Part 3 aka: my Steddie soulmates au, Eddie's POV Part 1 | Part 2 | Steve's POV

guess who's baaaaack? Sorry for the long wait between parts, but here's part three of Eddie's POV! I'm back to working on this fic primarily, so will hopefully have the next part sooner rather than later! As always, let me know if you'd like to be added or taken off of the taglist!

As Eddie settled into life in Hawkins, he quickly realized that the universe must be playing a practical joke; there was no way in hell that Steve Harrington was his soulmate.

His assumptions that first day at Hawkins High had proven correct: Steve was popular, painfully mainstream, and had zero time or attention for anyone outside of his circle of influence. In some ways, being so utterly ignored by his soulmate hurt worse than if he’d been outright rejected. It was a reminder every day that Eddie wasn’t even significant enough in his soulmate’s life to merit rejection.

Eddie had learned how to use his outcast status to his advantage well before he’d moved to Hawkins - how to wear the mantle of “freak” like armor. He found the other outcasts and was able to use his reputation (and the fact that he supplied weed to most of the popular kids) to protect them, too.

He carved out a section of Hawkins that was his own and made just enough space there for the people he cared about. Over time, he slowly brought more and more lost sheep into the fold, founding Hellfire Club and Corroded Coffin with people he could legitimately call his best friends. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as someone like Eddie could ever hope to get.

Corroded Coffin’s practices were often one of Eddie’s favorite parts of his new life in Hawkins. Gareth had started at Hawkins High Eddie’s Junior year, but he saw Eddie’s Dio patch on his first day of school and was ballsy enough to approach the older teen to ask if he played any instruments. Since then, they’d added Jeff, and Freak (who was actually also named Geoff, but happily went by Freak to avoid any confusion). They were sounding more and more like an actual band these days, and they had a standing gig at the Hideout to prove it.

Of course, sometimes the peace of shredding through whatever insane guitar solo Eddie had learned or come up with that week was shattered by one of the other guys bringing high school into the mix.

“Are you guys thinking of going to the party this weekend?” Gareth asked.

“What party?” Jeff responded. “I haven’t heard of one yet.”

“Harrington’s parents are out of town again,” Gareth said. “He’s hosting; I heard Carol Perkins talking about it during Bio.”

“Probably not,” Jeff said. “My mom’s been on my ass about homework lately - she like, actually wants me to get into college, especially since my brother got denied from everywhere except Ivy Tech.”

The rest of the band nodded sympathetically. Even Eddie had Wayne on his ass to apply to college - as if they both didn’t know he’d be repeating senior year. He had way too many absences and D’s on his transcript for them to give him a diploma this time around.

“What about you, Eddie? Are you going to be there selling?” Gareth asked. “I hear Harrington’s crowd has enough money to throw around.”

Eddie strummed loudly and let the feedback echo through the garage. “I would love it if I didn't have to hear Steve Harrington’s name during band rehearsal for once.”

Gareth looked acceptably cowed by Eddie’s response, but was clearly not going to be deterred. “Come on, guys. You’ll be graduating soon and I’m going to be stuck at Hawkin’s High with Freak and zero street cred.”

“You don’t get street cred by going to parties like that,” Eddie argued.

“Okay, maybe not - but what about girls?” Gareth challenged. “You know all the girls show up hoping to hook up with Steve and when they are inevitably disappointed, they’ll be looking for a shoulder to cry on. I could be that shoulder!”

“Don’t you ever wonder if the King Steve thing is all an act?” Freak piped up. “You hear about all these girls, but do you ever really see him dating anyone? For all we know, he and Hagan could be hooking up behind closed doors. The way they act around each other, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were the ones who were soulmates, not Tommy and Carol.”

Eddie whirled around to glare at Freak. “What are you even saying right now?”

“I’m just saying that all that bravado is there for a reason,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to cover up something.”

To this day, Eddie isn’t sure what made him do it. Maybe all the talk about Steve’s words and his sex life had gone straight to his head and stopped him from thinking straight. Maybe he’d been waiting for an excuse to do it and it seemed like as good a time as any. Or maybe, Eddie desperately needed a distraction to a different topic.

Whatever it was that made him do it, Eddie found himself saying, “Would it be so disgusting if he did get his words from a guy? Pretty ironic to be a homophobe as a guy named Freak, huh?” His tone of voice made it absolutely clear which side Eddie found himself on.

“Woah,” Freak said, holding up his hands defensively. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Really?” Eddie said. “What did you mean it like? The only reason it’d be big news if Harrington was a queer is if you have some sort of problem with it.”

“C’mon, Eddie,” Jeff said, always the peacemaker, “you know it’d be a big deal if the ladies man of Hawkins High was actually into dudes. Freak didn’t mean it like that.”

Eddie took a deep breath and blew it out forcefully. “Sorry. I got defensive.”

“No worries, man,” Freak said. “But you know I don’t have problems with people like that. Us freaks have to stick together.”

Eddie huffed out a laugh and accepted Freak’s handshake as everyone went back to their instruments. Luckily, his little outburst seemed to at least have gotten them off the topic of Steve Harrington. They messed around with a few cover songs and even got an original song or two started before Jeff had to leave to go work on homework.

As Eddie was packing up, Gareth came over, trying to come across as nonchalant but missing it by a mile.

“You know, we’d all be cool with it if… if you got your words from a guy,” Gareth said quietly.

Eddie snapped his guitar case shut and turned to look at Gareth. “Yeah, man. I know. Thanks for saying it, though.”

“Imagine if Steve Harrington was the person you got your words from though,” Gareth said. “That would be hilarious.”

Eddie just huffed out a laugh, trying not to give anything away.

Unfortunately, Gareth knew him too well.

“That would be hilarious, right?” Gareth asked, skeptical.

Eddie looked at him and raised his eyebrows, mouth stretched into a grimace.

“Oh no,” Gareth said. “No way, man.”

“Trust me, I’m just as disappointed as you are.”

“No, I mean - I’m gonna have to put up with you falling for Steve Harrington one of these days - if it hasn’t happened already - oh god, tell me it hasn’t happened already.”

“As if,” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh good, I still have time,” Gareth said, theatrically relieved. “I need to enjoy my Harrington-free life while I’ve still got it.”

“Fuck you,” Eddie said fondly, shoving Gareth just hard enough for him to lose his balance.

As they walked out to the car, still laughing at each other’s ridiculous behavior, Eddie couldn't help but feel a little lighter. He might not have the same faith as Gareth that he and Steve would ever end up together, but it was nice to know he’d always have friends like this by his side.

taglist: @awkwardgravity1 @infinitetrashbag @vampireinthesun @swimmingbirdrunningrock @maya-custodios-dionach @thev01dd @obsessivlyme @a-little-unsteddie @anything-thats-rock-and-roll @spectrum-spectre @red-panderz69 @magpiemuseum @minjintea @finalmoondragonn @thatonebadideapanda @estrellami-1 @freyaforestafay @biatcgh @sadcanadianwinter @im-sam-fucking-winchester @bidisastersworld @justanothergirlwithobsessions @anaibis @thing-a-ling @rosered93 @newtstabber @void-o-chaos @thegingerrapunzel @baron-zemo-trash @katireads @child-of-cthulhu @the-s-is-silent @i-must-potato @hellomynameismoo @lovelylilbadone @theotalksalot @lydi-cyan @background-noise-headache @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @slitherynchiken @grapefruitgalaxy @bookbinderbitch @luthienstormblessed @blues-tunes @murdblurdock @grtwdsmwhr @xpaperheartso @anaibis @thedyingwriter

#my fic #eddie munson #steve harrington #steve x eddie #steddie fic #steddie #soulmate au #met as kids au #Stranger Things #steddie soulmate au

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chirpsythismorning · 1 year

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Day 1 of new talks between the AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA has wrapped up, and according to a joint statement from SAG and the AMPTP, they will pick back up on Wednesday, October 4th. So basically a one day break in between before they are set to return back to the table for renegotiations.

It's worth noting that today was the first time the actors guild has met with the studios since the strike started, back in July, after that one and only initial offer from the studios, with them unwilling to negotiate beyond that with SAG.

It's likely that the studios' new offer has changed from what it was previously back in June, so I would imagine it would be asking a lot to expect SAGs negotiating committee to agree to a new deal the same day they were offered it, without the option to think it through properly and potentially counter offer even, with the studios being willing to continue negotiations beyond that in good faith.

In the case of the actors, who again have not met since pre-strike, I do think they could benefit a lot from a day hiatus after this new offer, to properly think over what the studios are bringing to the table this time around, and how to move forward in a way that honors all their initial concerns, assuming all of their demands are even all being acknowledged in these new talks.

What does intrigue me is that it could go one of both ways.

It could be a situation where SAG has so much they need to re-work in terms of how they want to negotiate this new offer, maybe because it is just that bad and they have a lot to cover. And so they didn't think meeting the next day, like 15 hrs from now, with 8 of those hrs being spent sleeping, would be their best approach going into this. Whereas taking a full day to really look things over and then come back on Wednesday with all their responses to the counter offer more fleshed out than they would have been if they had rushed, just makes a lot more sense.

Or it could be a situation where SAG actually got a decent offer, one maybe even comparable to the calibre of the deal the WGA just got, and so, just like WGA last weekend, they needed a day to really sit on it and work through every aspect of the offer to make sure their concerns are being addressed and that there aren't any loopholes in the language of the new deal that could end up screwing them over. Bc yeah, it could sound great, but does that mean it really is.? They have to be very smart about this.

It's likely a combination of both of these, with some things being close to SAG's demands while other aspects might very well not be.

If the studios are serious and know of an offer that could win over SAG, just like the one that won over the WGA, it does beg to question if they are ready to just go through and get that over with as soon as possible, or play back and forth for the next couple weeks.

I think given that maybe one or two executives might be ready to bow out, with a sweet deal that the guild(s) can't refuse, it would also make sense why they are in agreement to get this done swiftly, even if it means backtracking on all their points in their initial offer, giving in to demands they said they never could/would.

We'll have to wait and see how things go moving forward even just with statements on behalf of SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP. It's possible they could be a lot more under-wraps about it, which seems to be the case thus far because I'm not seeing near as much coverage about these talks as we did with the WGA negotiations last week.

But to be fair, joint statements and quiet talks with little to no leaks are arguably a good thing and likely means that the studios are hopefully negotiating in good faith, to the point where the guild is taking them seriously in return and are ready to get the ball moving in a way that leads to a fair deal sooner than later.

If anything changes, I'll update!

#byler #stranger things #sag-aftra strike update

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pockymun · 2 months

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2024 Garden - Week 7 (7/21-7/26)

Quiet start to the week. The cucumber plants have started to climb their trellis, slowly. There were more small cucumbers , but nothing big enough to pick.

Both green bean plants have reached the top of their poles, and started to climb back down. No beans yet, though.

The tomato plants have started getting really big. They have big fruits, too, but no hint of red yet.

The dill have been putting on a lot of foliage--I might get some seed heads next week! The cilantro plant seems to be done; I'm waiting for it to dry out for good before I try to harvest seats. The carrots are persisting behind the tomato plants.

The jalapeno plants are beginning to produce more and more, although they're not very tall.

I checked back on Wednesday morning, mostly to see how many cucumbers would possibly be ready for canning this weekend. On Wednesday morning, there were only 3-4 medium cucumbers, which I planned to just leave on the vine for another week. What was more concerning was the discolored leaves.

The tomato plants have started to crowd the carrots and the green beans next to them. They definitely need to be on a trellis next year.

The green bean plants have started to put on more foliage, which hopefully means green beans soon! It seems that the jalapeno plants will have one harvestable jalapeno a week. Even so, I don't know what to do with all these jalapenos.

We had heavy showers on Wednesday, along with the rain on Tuesday and Thursday. As before, the cucumber plants exploded in growth, except this time they grew fruits instead of foliage! The leaves continue to yellow and have white/gray spots on them. I pull them off as I see them.

The tomato plants started to have yellow leaves with brown spots, too. I pulled a bunch off. I hope it's just that the leaves weren't getting enough sun because there's so many of them. The fruits continue to get bigger, but are still green.

The tomato plants have begun to really crowd the carrots. One vine on the ground has even grown root feelers. I'm interested to see what this will do, but I need to defend my carrots!

Green bean plants have made bigger leaves, but still no beans! Maybe next weekend I'll see some. My supervisor at work apparently already has been picking beans off of her plants.

The dill continue to get bigger, and look like they might put out flowers next week!

Lastly, the harvest! Like I said before, Wednesday morning looked like there wasn't going to be enough to harvest for canning this weekend. Since then, the plants have taken that rain and made 7 large cucumbers! And the weekly jalapeno, of course. I will be canning after all!

One cucumber did get stuck in between the chicken wire, leading to a split appearance. It was better to harvest it sooner than later. I have another medium cucumber on the vine that I think I will let overripen, so I can harvest seeds for next year.

I'm going to be swamped when those tomatoes start turning red.

#long post #summer 2024 project #my garden

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intubatedangel · 2 years

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Code Red : Chapter 6

The flu has pretty much gone, I didn’t get this done sooner thanks to a busy weekend. I’m glad so many of you are enjoying this and are invested in Anna’s story. Will she live or will the team lose her? I’d love to see your thoughts.

Story Index

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

* * *

Carl's arms were starting to burn. He'd only been delivering the forceful compressions for 2 minutes. He was out of practice. He usually ran a code, giving the orders and performing procedures. He always had Anna on hand to give compressions. She was incredible, she could do compressions at a perfect depth and rate for over 5 minutes with ease. But she couldn't give those chest compressions to herself. Not when she was lying underneath his hands in full cardiac arrest.

Carl looked around the trauma room, taking stock of what needed done. They needed to start a central line to get the plasma and TXA into Anna's body alongside the cross matched blood that should all be arriving soon. With the rapid infuser and a surgeon on site they would hopefully get Anna's blood pressure back up, they'd need to constantly monitor that with an arterial line. There hadn't been any point up to now, messing around with a cuff would have wasted time just to tell them that Anna's BP was practically non-existent. Anna's abdomen would need sterilised too.

Next he checked who he had to work with. In the trauma room with him were four nurses, a paramedic, a surgeon and a cop. He liked Officer Jones, but at this point he wouldn't be of any use. Jessica still looked worn out. Mark was an option to take over, but Carl knew the nurse had been shaken by his own attitude. The situation was too important, Anna was too important, to put in someone he wasn't absolutely confident in. He struggled for a moment, his gaze drifting down to her face. Her eyes were closed, her skin ghostly pale. He could only see a small portion of her lips in the gaps of the tube holder, but what he could see was a bloodless grey. He shook his head. He couldn't dwell on it. Right now, she needed Dr Teague the professional. Not Carl, the man who loved her.

"Sarah." He said to the nurse closest to him, her hand squeezing the ambu bag every few seconds. "Take over after this cycle. Lucy, swap onto the bag." He told the paramedic, who swiftly skirted around to the head of the bed and took the rubbery blue bulb from Sarah. The nurse shifted into position opposite him, mounting the step attached to the gurney. "No pulse check, straight in." He told her. They all knew they would feel nothing. "3...2...1!" He pulled away, Sarah instantly taking over, her hands thrusting Anna's sternum down to the perfect depth.

Carl took just a moment to catch his breath, then launched into orders. "Trish, get an arterial line in her wrist, I want a constant BP on the monitor. Jessica, prep her abdomen. Mark, handle the blood order when it gets here, full units in the infuser, I'll set a central line for the others."

As he was grabbing the central IV kit he glanced over to the phone, where Dr Edwards was requesting equipment from upstairs.

"Just bring a variety of grafts down, I have no idea what I'm going to find, but I need to get in there now." She was saying. Her gaze lingered on Anna's belly as it popped and rolled from Sarah's efforts, as she listened to whoever was on the other end of the phone. "Now dammit! It... It's one of our own."

* * *

Carl had to locate the jugular vein mostly by touch, Anna's blood volume so low that the vessel was almost hidden. At least it gave something to concentrate on, instead of how deathly cold her skin felt, even through his latex gloves. He managed to find it, framing it between his fingers before he took the wide bore cannula and slid it through her skin, into the vein. As soon as it was in he took the included bandage and laid it over the needle and around the port, securing it. He finished the line with a 3 port connector, ready for the TXA, FFP and leaving a spare for quick drug insertion.

He was still leaning over when he looked up, checking the progress of the others. Instead, he got a full view of her breasts, wobbling and shaking each time her chest was forced down then recoiled. His tore his eyes away, clenching a fist. He closed his eyes tight, gritting his teeth as he tried to banish the images from the weekend before, when he'd made those breasts jiggle in far more pleasurable circumstances.

He failed, and in doing so all the other walls broke down. It wasn't the sexual element that shattered him. It was who it had become attached too. Thinking of that evening drew out the feelings he'd felt then. The depth of his love for the woman he'd spent it with. The woman whose heart had become so tied to his own. A heart that, were it not for the pounding compressions, would be laying unmoving in her chest.

From the moment he had seen her lying on the landing, drenched in her own blood, he had been forcing the fear away, attempting to contain it. To bury it. To focus on being the doctor. It was nowhere near enough. He had never loved anyone as much as he loved her. And now he was losing her. The grief was smothering him, punctuated by the persistent whine of the monitor.

He couldn't do this. He opened his eyes, looking down at her face. Her hair was spread out around her head like a dark halo, framing her pale and lifeless features. He didn't have the strength to fight his hand as it reached out and stroked her head, his fingers gliding across the silky smooth locks of deep auburn. He felt the tears stinging the corners of his eyes as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

She needs you.

I can't watch her die.

Then don't. Save her! Take that fear and use it!

It was similar to what he had told her, when she was struggling with the interest they shared. When it was distracting her from the work at hand. Don't fight it. Don't bury it. Utilise it. Let it become an enhancement to your efforts.

His eyes snapped open, letting a tear splash down onto Anna's cheek. He took a deep breath as he pulled himself back together. He was Carl, the man who loved her. And Dr Teague, the professional. Both of them together, ready to do anything to save her.

* * *

Trish managed to establish the art-line in just a handful of seconds. As diminished as Anna's blood vessels were, the radial artery was easy to find. It was the one they palpated for a pulse, they all knew it by heart. They could find it, even if there was no heart beating.

Trish inserted the needle and hooked the line up to the monitor within just a single minute. She looked up to Carl for further orders. That was when she saw the clear conflict within him. She felt like an absolute fool. She'd come so close to losing her head, so close to falling apart completely. She was Anna's best friend.

Carl was so much more than that. The kiss he gave her was so tender, his tears so painful to see. Then she saw the shift in his manner. He stilled, the shuddering fear disappearing in an instant. He straightened up, looking straight at her, his eyes ablaze with something new. It took her a moment to realise that fire within him was determination. As frantic and desperate as the situation was, Trish felt a core of steel settle within herself.

By then Carl had already looked at the cannula in Anna's wrist, then the trace it reported to the monitor, a gentle bump each time Sarah's hands caved in Anna's ribs, squeezing her heart and pushing blood through her body. The flashing reading beside it was grim. 37 on top, a pair of dashes below. And that was with nearly four full units pushed in by the rapid infuser.

Trish followed his gaze as he then looked at Anna's bloody abdomen. Jessica had taken a bottle of iodine and had liberally splashed it over Anna's belly, an orange brown flood washing over the lingering scarlet swirls and becoming a deep dirty brown as it mixed with the fresh blood that trickled from the wounds each time Sarah sent an artificial pulse through Anna's body. The nurse used a small swab on a stick to spread the disinfectant, creating a wide area of yellow tinged skin for the surgeon. No one bothered with drapes, there wasn't time. What was necessary had been done, that was all that mattered.

Dr Edwards rolled over a trolley loaded with surgical instruments, not a full complement, but what they kept in the cupboards of the trauma room. For situations that were at least similar to this. Not even those bureaucratic types who managed and planned the trauma rooms would ever have expected the tools would be used to try and save the life of a nurse who had been stabbed in the very hospital she worked in.

It was a moot point now. One of their nurses, their best even, their colleague and their friend, was lying on that trauma bed, her heart stilled in her chest because she had lost so much blood. They couldn't allow it to stand. They had to do everything in their power to stop the bleeding, to get that small heart in that petite chest to beat once more.

Edwards had scrubbed up and donned a pair of cream latex gloves that reached almost to her elbow. In her hand was a gleaming scalpel. "Have that suction ready," she said, looking at the steady rivulet of blood being forced out by the compressions. "Two units at least." She told Jessica, who had just finished adjusting the large articulated lights over the trauma bed. The nurse quickly pulled a different trolley over then rushed through a pair of connecting doors to fetch a matching unit from Trauma 1.

Trish watched as Edwards stepped up to the side of the bed, taking a deep breath. It was clear that she could feel the tension in the room. "Hold compressions while I make the first incision." She said aloud. As soon as the rhythmic distending stopped she lowered the scalpel to Anna's belly, the insanely sharp blade seeming to meet no resistance as it cut through skin and flesh, drawing a thin red line across Anna's yellow stained abdomen.

* * *

Carl motioned to Lucy and Sarah to switch places, then watched as the surgeon cut through flesh and muscle, the thin red line rapidly thickening as she got through the final layer, the free blood in Anna's abdominal cavity rushing out. "Resume compressions!" Edwards commanded, then glanced to Jessica. "Hand me the retractors." Anna's belly began to bulge again as Lucy started to thrust down on her sternum, each compression forcing a gout of blood from the incision. The scarlet flow doubled when Edwards inserted the retractors, cranking them open to create a gaping hole into Anna's abdomen. Blood cascaded down her side, the existing stain on the white sheet beneath her shorn scrubs expanding in seconds, saturating the fabric to the point that Anna's blood began to drip off the side onto the floor.

"Get that suction in there!" Edwards shouted at Jessica, who had been momentarily stunned by the sheer scale of the flow. She started, grabbing the suction tube in one hand, flicking on the machine with the other, before plunging the end of the suction in to the turbulent crimson pool. The machine hummed, quickly drowned out by the slurping sound coming from the tube itself. Carl knew that much blood had to mean a completely severed artery. He felt his fear rising again but took it and pushed it towards action. He was moving towards the second suction unit when the door opened, drawing his focus.

It was the blood order. He diverted away from the suction, meeting the tech halfway, snatching the bag out of his hands. He took it to the counter, grateful to see Mark already moving over. He pulled open the bag, taking out 4 red bags and handing them off to Mark, who went to swap the near empty bags. There was another 6 units of blood still in there, along with 2 trios of different bags. He took one of each of those, spiking them with an IV line. While walking back to the bed he looked over at the tech. "Is there another batch ready to go?"

The tech nodded, but also shrugged, drawing an arch look from Carl. "We've got another full batch, but that's it."

"What? How?" Carl had to fight to contain the flare of anger. This was a major trauma centre, they should be carrying much more than 20 units of a single type.

"This is the third trauma patient in 2 hours with that type, plus a dozen surgeries through the day." He shrugged again, speaking with a blasé tone. "It's just bad luck."

Carl let his anger come through. He spun the tech to look at the bed. "That is one of the best nurses you'll ever see. One of the best people you'll ever see." The tech paled as he realised who was on the bed and saw the state she was in.

"We...we've already called the regional bank, a resupply is coming in an hour or so." The tech told him, dragging his gaze away from the intensive resuscitation efforts.

"Not good enough." Carl said. The regional blood bank was only 10 minutes away at a normal driving speed. "Call them again, tell them to have matched blood ready to go. Jones!" He called to the police officer who had until now been keeping out of the way of the medical professionals. "You know where the blood bank is?"

He nodded. "Donated there myself just last month." He said, already moving for the door, giving Lucy a quick glance before disappearing. The paramedic was too focused on compressions to acknowledge him. The tech was still stood there.

"Go!" Carl's voice wasn't loud but carried enough command to send the tech scurrying to comply, almost crashing into a green scrubbed young man pushing a cart through the doors.

* * *

Edwards stayed out of the discussion about blood, silently wondering if Carl's overstepping was going to cause trouble in the future. Not that she disagreed with anything he had done. The damage inside Anna's belly was severe. She was going to need a considerable amount of surgery to fix everything that had been caught by the knife and it would require a substantial amount of blood products. That was a secondary concern right now. Edwards didn't need to fix everything. She just needed to repair the worst of it and reduce the bleeding enough to get the nurse's heart beating again.

If only it was that easy.

The single suction unit was barely keeping up with the blood being forced out by each compression, it didn't have a chance of clearing the field. Edwards was able to make some headway with large gauze swabs, plunging them in and removing them seconds later, having already reached their limit. She was finally getting a half decent view when there was a commotion at the door.

"Steady on!" A voice she recognised exclaimed. She raised her head to see one of the surgical department's trainees dodging around the tech, finally arriving with the requested equipment.

"Zach! Get that tray over here then scrub in to assist!" She called, before turning back to the mess of Anna's insides. She hadn't cleared all the blood, but she had enough visibility to identify one of the major bleeds. Carl had come over and hung the additional bags running into the central line and was now looking to her. "Renal artery has been completely severed." She told him, before looking at Jessica. "Hand me a vascular clamp." The nurse kept the suction in place with one hand, reaching for a clamp with the other. "Next one along." Edwards told her, prompting the nurse to hand her the more suitable metal device. Delving deep with her fingers into the pulsating sea of blood, she followed the spilling vessel back enough to give her plenty to work with, then guided the clamp along the back of her digits and secured it on the artery, reducing that flow to a trickle.

Zach stepped up to the table opposite her, immediately operating the second suction unit, poking the end of the tube deep into the surgical opening. Edwards waited for a few moments. With two suction units removing blood, and the major artery no longer spilling it, the field should be clearing. The level of blood reduced somewhat. But not enough. Fresh blood was still pumping into Anna's abdominal cavity. Clamping the renal artery had only served to redirect it.

Edwards looked up at Carl, shaking her head. "There's another major bleeder, maybe more than one. It's just too much. I can't stop what I can't see."

Carl didn't say anything, couldn't say anything. The monitor continued to scream, the ecg showing an unbroken asystole. The blood pressure reading had barely changed, the line showing only small bumps. He looked at the clock. 3:57. Anna's heart had stopped 15 minutes ago. She was running out of time, and he was running out of options to do anything about it.

#Resus Writing #CPR #Defib #Anna Swift #Asystole #Dark Cardiophilia #Medical Drama #Intubation

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galaxietm · 10 months

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so mini updates on my situation under a read more!

mini updates aside- i'm going to be easing back into activity here, because hopefully, this means i'll start having energy to be online / write more (because, hoo boy, all that's been going on has been taking it out of me BIG time!) thanks for being patient ya'll! i miss being here and writing with you guys, but alas, life got chaotic for a while there /sobs i've been looking at some muses that i wanna pick up- partially as a form of comfort during all that's happened, but also because yeah, i'm trash and i love them lol

- we're waiting to hear back from my lawyer w/taking one of the roommates being evicted to court because he's being an ass / refusing to leave. either me or my mother are going to call the lawyer tomorrow since he's not open on the weekends. hopefully he filed that paperwork because i'm tired of waiting / of not being able to relax in my living room because of the roommates being evicted. (watch, he gets served with his paperwork and they get salty yet again that they're being kicked out and try to cause more bs lol because hooo boy, i do NOT want a repeat of the week before this last one because of them) - the roommate who was harassing me through messenger just up and left a week and a half ago, came back for some of her things when i was at work a few days ago but she's gone and thank goodness - i'm waiting to see if the other 2 who were evicted are going to be just as bad with moving out, but they have until the end of this month to be out, so unless they've completely stopped packing / start unpacking their stuff, we don't have much to worry about - however, i'm irritated because they're causing certain things with this house to deteriorate and?? dude i'm just so done and want them gone lmao - my mom's got a theory that one of the main people causing issues since they got kicked out is jealous, because i'm the one the landlord wants to rent to, because i have a job and coworkers who support me (as well as a department manager that's been giving me more hours) and because i'm happy being by myself / because i'm content being single, while she's said to me before she doesn't know how to be by herself / doesn't want to be lonely, while i'm okay with being by myself-- and honestly?? i can see it. i'm just so tired and the sooner they're gone, the sooner i don't have to worry about dealing with them. -- so fingers crossed they'll be out soon!

#;; ‘the nerd speaketh’ ( ooc tag.)#tbd later //#// i may start going through and deleting ooc posts on what's been going on soonish #// i've been trying not to post too much on here because i don't wanna? drag ya'll down #// bc the fact that i'm having to deal with this is so dumb #// but oh well- the sooner they're moved out; the sooner i can work on getting peace / quiet in my home again

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pokeexehasstoppedworking · 1 year

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Applin Of My Eye Ch3 An Unexpected Reunion P2

The day had been good so far.

Turrffield was a town of peace and quiet. Most of the time it was anyways. Unless some of his wooloo got out, or if he was battling at his local gym. Otherwise it was pretty peaceful, which was how he liked it most of the time. Nothing could beat the way the breeze quietly blew through the fields and the wooloos cutely baaed their own language as they played in the fields. That day had been no different, when he had gotten up bright and early and started the day by making breakfast for himself and Felix. They had a lot to do today so they were going to need a good meal to start off. Speaking of said little brother- Smaller footsteps came from upstairs and got closer and closer until Felix appeared bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Morning Milo!," Felix greeted with a smiling as he walked right up to him, attracted to the sight, smell, and sounds of sizzling sausage and eggs. "I see you got breakfast already done."

He gave a smile of his own back to his baby brother. "Hahaha! Actually you're just in time for me to serve it to you." The pan with said food was lifted off the stove top as Milo turned to the table, spatula in the other hand.

"Oh yum!" Felix wasted no time to jump into the nearest chair with a plate set in front of it just in time for Milo to push some of the desired food on it with a tilt of his pan.

It made his brother chuckle. "Careful. It's hot since I just took it off the stove. Hows the online classes coming along?"

"Just fine! I got a B back from the history exam we did the other day."

"That's great, Felix! You're making great progress on everything. I'm proud of you! Make sure you eat up. We have a lot of work to get done this weekend."

Felix gave him a look grabbing the fork. "What's on the agenda this time, Mi?"

"Oh lots of things. We have to clean out the barn, store the hay bails in the barn once we clean it, and we have to sheer the wooloo's tomorrow so we can ship it off. It's going to be a lot of work to get done in two days but I'm sure we can get it done if we work together."

Felix nodded before pausing. "Hey. Milo." His brother hummed. "Has-..H-Has anyone called about Daisy yet?"

It was Milo's turn to pause before giving a sad frown. "Oh. Sorry, Felix. No one's seen her yet, but don't worry. She'll pop up soon! I know it!"

Felix's expression didn't look up from his uneaten food. "...I miss her Milo. I really do."

"I know, Buddy. I do too." He hummed. "...Tell you what. It shouldn't take us too long to get the barn ready and hay stored. As soon as we're done with that we can go look for her again. How does that sound?"

"Y-Yeah. I think I'd like that a lot."

"That's the spirit! Go ahead and eat up. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can take a look around town again."

Poor Felix. He's been upset ever since his little wooloo buddy ran off almost three months ago. He suspected Daisy slipped through the hole he discovered in the fence that day, but none of Milo's wooloo were missing so it was hard to say. Since then they've been doing everything they could think of to find the special wooloo. Missing posters, asking around, combing through the woods, and he even went a while step further and contacted his league friends asking that if any shiny wooloo was spotted near them to contact him immediately. But so far nothing had come up, which was starting to make him worry a bit. But there really wasn't anything they could do but keep and eye out and keep looking until she was eventually found. Hopefully it'd be soon so Felix wouldn't worry for much longer. However he had no idea how soon they're prayers would be answered.

The barn itself wasn't too hard to clean. Just move a few things around and use a firm broom to sweep away any dirt and stray wooloo fur. The real challenge would be to roll all those hay bails inside to store for later use. That's where he came in. He had a much easier time rolling the giant heavy bails from their random spots on the field and over into the barn, in the meantime Felix busied himself doing other things like watering the crops and feeding the herd of wooloo as he wasn't strong enough yet to move such heavy hay bails like Milo. He will one day, but until then Milo won't let him do any of the dangerous heavy lifting. Things were coming along real fast. If they kept this up, they'd be all done before noon even hit! He was already down to one of the last hay bails anyways when Felix came quickly bounding back up to his side.

"I'm all finished with everything else. Can we go look now?"

"There's only a few bails left for me to move. We can go looking as soon as I'm done."

"Can't you do the rest of them when we come back?"

" By then it'll be too late for anymore work, Felix. And I don't want you going off searching by yourself and getting lost. Just be patient for a few more minutes. Ok?"

Felix deflated but it would be better for him to wait for Milo to finish so they can look around together. The last thing he wanted was for Felix to get lost or hurt himself trying to search for his missing wooloo. He wouldn't be too long now anyways, just a few more hay bails and he'd be all done-

"Excuse me!"

He paused mid roll. What was-

"You in the field!" Both Milo and Felix looked over and we're surprised to see what appeared to be a woman standing by their fence waving an arm at them. What the? Who was that? "I think I found your missing wooloo!"

Those few words sparked them into pausing at that. Wha- A MISSING WOOLOO?! THEIRS?! He was pretty sure that none of his herd had gotten out again. The woman was too far away to clearly make out who it was, but the voice sounded oddly.... familiar. Was she one of the locals maybe? Wait. What was that small thing right next to her?

"DAISY!!"

He nearly jumped from the volume of Felix's voice before his brother with the speed of a rapidash on a sugar high took off towards the fence and whoever it was. The last thing you really expected was the teen dropping anything his hands right then and there before charging right at you or the fact that you would suddenly found yourself falling over. Landing flat on your back. Looking up at the sky from the ground as a brown blur bowled you over by ramming into your legs and continued on pawing at the fence happily giving out the loudest baas you'd ever heard. Felix never wasted any time hopping the fence like a desperate kangastan and running right up to the brown baaing blur arms outstretched.

"DAISY!!"

"Oh my Arceus!" Milo's mouth dropped in shock as he just literally watched someone go flying by getting knocked over by a wooloo. Of course he went running right over, one hand clutching his hat. "Oh no. Oh no. Hey Miss! Are you ok?!"

You laid there dazed for a good while just staring up at the fluffy white clouds going across the sky as your brain was slowly processing what exactly happened. ...Huh. You must've hit your head harder than it felt because the sky looked a lot like Silver all of a sudden. It even chirped at you just like him and a pink hand rapidly patted your face. It took you a good few moments to realize that it WAS Silver standing over you and patting your face.

"...Ow." You groaned slowly prying yourself off the ground to prop yourself up on your elbows, brain catching up to you finally. "I'm gonna feel that in the morning. Remind me to never turn by back on a wooloo again, Sil." Silver chirped at you. You groaned blinking your f/c eyes for a moment at some strange noises but paused at what you witnessed.

"Hey, Lady!! Are you ok over there?!" Milo called out again as he quickly got closer and closer, more worried the longer the woman didn't answer. Oh no. Did she get knocked out? Would he have to call a flying ambulance?! He finally reached the fence hand grabbing onto the white wooden fence, panting. He saw she had sat up and her eyes were open (thank Arceus) but she was stone still. "Are you alright?! That looked like a hard fall you took!" She remained silent. "Hey! Why aren't you answering? Are you hurt?! I need to know-" he glanced over. "-so I...can..."

He stopped and stared at the sight of Felix, his little baby brother, was sitting there crosslegged slightly rocking back and forth with soft sobs escaping his mouth. Wrapped up tight in his arms was a wooloo who he knew all too well, she was baaing absolutely happy and waving her little legs around not minding at all that there was a kid death hugging her with his face half way smooshed into her brown wool. If he looked hard enough he could even see a few makings of tears rolling down his exposed cheek. He stared at the sight before him. Slowly letting the scene sink in.

"....Daisy?" The wooloo turned to him hearing her name and based in greeting to him. "Daisy! It is you!" An instant smiled appeared on his face and with one strong hop, kicked himself over the fence the same way Felix did. "Hey girl! Where have you been?" Daisy only baaed happily and eagerly accepted the head Pat's Milo gave him. "But you're here and you're alright!" He blinked. "...And you've been...sheered?"

"Yeah. Sorry about that." He blinked back over when someone grunted and saw you were slowly picking yourself up off the ground and slowly stretching your body out, your back giving a few small pops. Yep. You were definitely going to be feeling that tomorrow morning. With a groan your hands rubbed your back with a hiss escaping your lips. "She was pretty roughed up when my friends found her so we kinda had to fix a few things." You waved as he blinked. "She's lost some wool and she's a bit under weight but I think she's ok. Ow."

Milo froze. The wheels whirling in his mind until it stopped and he lit up in both the color pink and realization. "I-...I-I-Its you!"

You nodded. "It's me. Hey there, Milo. It's good to see you again."

His cru- I mean the lady that saved Galar?! Here?! What was she doing here?! But most importantly -

"A-Are you alright?", He asked holding out a hand. "That looked like a hard fall you t-t-took there. I know wooloo are a lot stronger than people think."

You waved him off. "Nah. I'm fine. It's not the worst thing that's happened to me, and it's not the first time I've gotten bowled over by a wooloo either."

"Oh Arceus. Don't remind me." He frowned guiltily. "And again sorry for that. And sorry Daisy knocked you over like that."

"Daisy?"

Milo gestured to the shiny wooloo as Felix sniffed and finally looked up at the newcomer. "She's my little brother's pokemon, but she went missing a few months ago. We've been looking for her everywhere. Where did you find her?"

"Found her in Postwick." You pointed at Daisy. "Then we just cleaned her up and followed the address on her collar there."

"Postwick? How'd she get all the way there?" That was a good distance away from Turrffield even. He shook his head starting to calm down from his shock over everything now. "Well I guess that doesn't matter. What's important is that she's back safe and sound now." He smiled again. "And I can't thank you enough, but are you sure you're alright?"

"Believe me. I'm perfectly fine, plus I'm used to this by now with everything I've been through. But I did want to ask you about something -"

He held up a hand. "I know exactly what that is."

You blinked before raising a brow. "Wait. Really?"

"Yes, but I should really finish putting the hay away." He politely gestured to the farmhouse behind him. "Why don't you go inside and have a rest and I'll get right back to you." He hummed before turning to Felix who just stood back up still sniffling. "Hey. You go ahead and have a break too. Ok? I'm sure Daisy's hungry from her trip so why don't you go feed her?"

Felix sniffled but nodded and went back to cuddling into Daisy's wool before turning....Felix? OH!! FELIX!! THAT WAS THE NAME ON THE COLLAR!! Daisy must've belonged to Milo's little brother all along.

"Felix will show you inside. I'll be there as soon as I get the rest of the hay bails in the barn. It shouldn't take more than twenty minutes."

"Oh..." You smiled making him blink. "Thanks! That's really kind of you."

He coughed but nodded before quickly turning away to hop back over the fence and quickly walking back over to the remaining few bails. You slowly turned back to the house and just saw Felix staring at you from the doorway. Guess he was waiting for you. Slowly, you walked all the way up to stand on the porch, and it was only then did Felix turned, sniffled, and shuffled to hold Daisy under one arm to open the door.

"C-C'mon in," Felix said nodding his head to the inside.

"I will thanks."

With Silver waddling at your feet, you followed Felix into the house and...It did NOT look at all like you were expecting. You were expecting a farm house to have all kinds of rustic furniture or country styled decor hanging up everywhere or even a rocking chair somewhere but you saw none of that. All the furniture looked some state of new-ish and not rustic hand me down oldies you were expecting. Honestly it looked and felt more like Hop's house except everything has some kind of green and white color scheme. But then again what were you expecting from a grass type gym leader? Speaking of which there was plenty of grass type Pokemon decor around here along with a lot of wooloo things too. A wooloo shaped cookie jar. A petili themed plant pot on the shelf there. And even the sofa in the living room had eldegoss looking throw pillows. Ah. Wasn't that one of Milo's pokemon? Felix went ahead and plopped himself down on an armchair still refusing to Iet go of Daisy and just nodded politely to the sofa.

"Y-You can sit there if you'd like, Miss."

"Thank you. And you can just call me Y/n. It's easier that way." You took him up on his offer and sat down across from him. "So... That's your wooloo huh?"

He nodded and for the first time since you got there saw him smile. "Y-Yeah. *Sniff* She's my favorite pokemon."Daisy happily baaed as she was pulled tighter against the boy. "Y-You have no idea how worried I w-was about her. I thought I'd never see her again."

"I imagine it must've been a rough time. I know I'd feel the same way if I ever lost Silver here." Said drizzlie just sighed and flopped face first on the floor. Felix sniffled again as you watched. "...Here." In a swift motion, you reached into a pocket on your shirt and pulled out a handkerchief before extending it to Felix whom blinked surprised at you. "I always carry some with me since Silver's a messy eater, but you can have this one."

Felix stared at it before smiling again and taking it from you. "T-Thanks."

"It's my pleasure. It's also good to see you again too." He blinked confused from behind wiping his eyes. "We saw each other last year. Don't you remember me? I was the one who babysat everyone at the Champion Cup."

A flash of realization crossed his face. "Ooohh. I remember you. You're the one that gave my brother and I those keychains and free food last Christmas." You smiled. "You also got ran over by Willy. Sorry about that."

"...Willy?"

"He was the wooloo that escaped that day. Gave my brother a run for his money. Wooloo's are always finding new ways to escape around here. Milo's chasing them through town all the time."

Milo named his wooloo? You sighed. "It's alright. Things happen. But I haven't seen you since last year. Congratulations on making it to the semifinals by the way. It must've been a tough ride."

Felix groaned. "Don't remind me. I had to fight Kabe ten times and Raihan thirty two times before I even got through, and then I barely made it time to qualify for the finals! Everyone went through like a breeze."

"You still did a great job. Don't knock your hard work! You got really far."

"Thank you. It was great to be there even if I did lose the first match. The Champion's brother is a real good fighter too so I guess that runs in their family.''

You nodded. Hop was a good fighter, and you briefly remembered watching him fight against Felix in the semifinals before Hop ultimately won. Felix had still put up a good fight however. You remembered the last time you saw the brothers was when you were forced into a babysitting gig-

knocking.....MORE. KNOCKING!!! Came from the door again drawing a few people attention as you looked on over and stared blankly. Until another knock came and you sighed as whoever it was just opened the door, and you prayed it was FINALLY Leon-...Nope. You stared as not one but SEVEN people walked in. And your jaw dropped a bit when seeing who it was exactly. Milo and Melony!! What the heck were those two doing here? Didn't they have to worry about their battle next? ...You got your answer as five children walked in with them. Three of them, boys all around Allister's age, giggled like little maniacs as they rushed in and ran straight for the chairs set up by the windows.

"Wha- Hey! Watch where you're going!," Bede barked as the three ignored him immediately clambering up the chairs only to press their hands and faces on the windows looking out at the repair team and crowds below.

You blinked as you stared at them, the three all had hair ranging from blonde to blondish-white hair and all with blue eyes. ...They looked a bit similar to Gordie actually.

"Boys! Where are your manners? Be nice to the other kids."

You looked back towards the sound of the voice and saw that Melony was giving the three a frown as a girl stood next to her. She looked around the same age as Gloria, only like Melony she sported snow white hair and the same blue eyes as her and the boys. Were they related? The girl looked slightly embarrassed but next to her was Milo and standing right beside him was a boy also around the same age as Hop and Gloria. You blinked at first thinking you were seeing double as this boy could easily pass for a much younger Milo. But the boy looked different too. Both had the same pink hair and green eyes, but compared to Milo the boy had darker green eyes and lighter pink hair, and no freckles were on his face which was something Milo had that he didn't. Everyone was staring at the commotion that had once again walked in through the door and inevitably as the two grown ups looked around, Milo eventually spotted you staring back at them confused and shocked from the couch. He smiled back widely and gave a wave towards you.

Hello!," he greeted catching Melony's attention over to you too as you stared. "Um. So sorry to barge in like this. Definitely not our intention." He have a sheepish smile. "But we heard from Raihan you were watching everyone's children up here for them." He hand came down to pat the smaller him on the shoulder. "My brother's visiting the city today and I think he'll be better off here out of the way. I'm kinda busy at the moment with things."

"As am I." Melony sighed before placing her hands on her hips in the way only a tired mother could. "I can't ask Gordie to just watch them and I hate letting my little frostlings out of my sight. Can't turn my back for one second and their trying to climb a wall like a Bug-type."

Raihan. Of course!! That guy just had to go on and blab about this to the others. You scowled in annoyance. "Im gonna put out that dragon's fire next time I see him."

"...Pardon?"

"Uh..Nothing." You looked back to them with a small smile. "Let me guess. You guys want me to watch these little guys too?"

Aren't you a bit.." Milo gave a look over all the other kids already there. "...Booked? Maybe this wasn't a good idea after all. You look like you already got your hands full in here."

"What other choice do we have?", Melony asked looking back at him. "I can't just leave them in the stands by themselves? Elsa can't watch all the boys by herself, and Gordie's not an option either. It's either this or we'll both have to forfeit the match."

"I know. I know. It's just-"

"I can do it." They both looked back to you smiling and standing from the couch to face them. "It'd be no problem since I've babysat before."

They both looked to you before Milo asked unsure, "Are you sure? I mean Felix won't be any trouble, but we don't want to over burden you."

You waved him off. "Nah it's fine. You guys can just leave them here and pick them up after the finals are over."

Long story short...You went from five kids to watching ten now. Sigh. The triplets and their older sister immediately took attention to the window at least. Everyone seemed too distracted to really pay attention to you as you waited for your ramen to cook. You didn't even know Milo and Gordie were big brothers too.

"Ok Felix. Watch closely and learn how your big bro does things."

And then the whole Rose revived Eternatus thing happened and you had to leave everyone with Mrs. Opal to catch up with your friends. You hoped Milo wasn't angry about that. You didn't think he was Considering he never mentioned it so you guessed he was ok with what happened. But you made a mental note to apologize to him for that later anyways.

"Sorry for bailing back there anyways. I had an emergency I had to take care of."

"You guys saved an entire region, so I think I can understand the situation."

You were about to ask him another question but was interrupted by the sounds of the front door opening and closing. You both looked up and a moment later none other than Milo himself walked into the living room. Upon seeing the two of you he smiled.

"Thanks for waiting. Sorry again if it took so long," he apologized.

"No it's alright. Felix was keeping me company, but what I really wanted to ask about was th-"

"Of course. After all I did advertise it in the missing posters." He didn't let you say another word before reaching into a pants pocket and pulling out a wallet.

"What are you doing?"

"The reward money. I promised three hundred dollars to anyone who found Daisy." He opened the wallet.

"I don't want that."

He paused just as he was reaching into said wallet before blinking. "What?"

"I said I DON'T want your money." You pointed back at him. "Put your wallet away and keep your money."

He blinked. "W-What? But I did promise it to whoever brought Daisy home."

"I didn't even know about any reward money!", You insisted holding your hands up, "I brought Daisy to the address on her collar because I assumed she was lost. Even if I knew about any reward money I still wouldn't accept anything because it was the right thing to do. I'm glad Daisy's back but that doesn't mean I'll take your money."

"Well-...I-" He looked a bit lost between his wallet and your face. "..W-Well at least let me give you some money for your troubles. Traveling all the way from Postwick and getting knocked over by our wooloo should at least earn you a hundred doll-"

"Milo!," You sternly cut him off with a frown, "I appreciate the gesture but Im NOT gonna take even a penny from you. I don't want your money at all. What I did was my own choice because it was simply the right thing to do. If I want money I can go out and work for it. You shouldn't have to pay me for making sure your Pokemon's home. If you just give me money anyways, I'll just give it right back." You stood now and reaching over, you took the wallet from Milo only to close it and put it back in the stunned farmers hands. "So please just put your wallet away. It's perfectly fine."

You then made Milo's hand close around the wallet....and his green eyes went from your face and your hands holding his..before his face lit up a bright pink. Felix went wide eyed at his brother's reaction to the woman... before a sly idea went across his face. So the small teen coughed making Milo jump and you both look at him.

"*ahem* Well golly, Miss. We sure do appreciate you went out of your way to do for us. What will you be doing now?"

You finally let go of Milo's hand. "I'll be resting for the rest of today then head on back home tomorrow morning."

"Oh, I see. Where will ya be staying?"

"I have a tent and sleeping bag. I'll just camp out tonight."

"Well..Why don't you stay here for the night?"

You both stared at him. "What?"

"You don't want any money which is all fine and dandy, but we'd still like to pay you back. So why don't you spend the night here and have dinner with us?"

"Oh. No. I couldn't ask you all to do that."

"It'd be no problem!" Felix smiled. "Milo's a great cook, and you can stay in the guest room! We wouldn't mind. Do we Milo?"

"Huh? O-Oh." He cleared his throat quickly and looked away. "I d-don't mind a bit. *Ahem* Of course you're free to stay if you wish. I-It would be no problem. I W-Wont force you to stay if you don't want to however. You're free to do a-as you wish."

You stood there for a moment thinking about it. "Well..I guess it would be nice to sleep in a bed before I'm forced to camp again and sleep on train seats. But there's one thing I'd like to check out in Turrffield tho. Do any of you know about the house for sale just up the road?"

Milo looked too busy fumbling with the green scarf around his neck nervously so Felix nodded. "That's the old Jenkins place. It's been up for sale for a while now but no one really wants to do business with that grouchy rude raisin."

"F-Felix! Be nice. O-Old Man Jenkins can't help it if he's a -a little under the weather most of time."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind when I go check out that place. I'll.. probably be back before it gets too dark but I'll see."

"Y-Yeah! You do that! T-T-Take your time!" He floundered as you excused yourself and saw yourself out Silver in tow.

As soon as the door closed behind her Felix turned to Milo's still red face giving the smugest of looks only a little brother could. "Woooow. You could not have made your crush anymore obvious, Bro."

Now usually one would deny such accusations or tell their little brother to shut it, but Milo only sighed and didn't even try to deny it. Felix would only see right through him anyways. He never was good at hiding these things. "Y-You really think so?"

"Uh. Lemme check. Blushing and looking like you're about to pass out any moment while talking to her? Yep! That's obvious I-totally-have-a-crush-on-you 101 right there. She was probably just too polite to say anything or thought she might've accidentally embarrassed you when she refused the money." Milo groaned again a hand reached up to rub his face. "Hey. Don't beat yourself up, Mi. It's normal to like someone. But ain't that the same girl who gave you free food last Christmas?"

He nodded with a sigh. GOSH!! Y/N WAS SO NICE!! IT MADE HIS HEART MELT!! "Yes. A-And she helped save Galar and Leon so-so... she's pretty good hearted. That's probably why she turned down the money."

"Oh. Well anyone who gives us free food and returns wooloo's is good enough for you in my books."Daisy let out a happy baa which made Felix smile. "Oh. Your welcome by the way."

Milo rose a brow puzzled. "Your welcome for what?"

"I got her to come over for dinner. You can make a good impression on her that way. After all they say the fastest way to a person's heart is through their stomach."

He almost fainted right then and there but managed to only instead make a funny choke noise that made Felix laugh. However things didn't really go through as Felix would've liked for his big brother. She did return around dinner time and Felix was the one to show her in and too the table which already had food set on it. Felix also made an effort to impress her by thinking of setting aside some generic pokemon food for her drizzlie which Felix gladly let Milo take all the credit and wasn't afraid to tell her so.

"Milo's really considerate. That's why everyone in Turrffield likes him so much! Oh wow. He even got your Pokemon some food too. Ain't he amazing?!"

Even when dinner was served and everyone was given the sweet apple curry Milo ended up making, Felix couldn't help but put his big brother in the spotlight.

"Did you know this entire dish is home made? And everything on this plate was hand grown right here in Turrffield?"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! A lot of it's from our very own farm! Milo's REALLY great at providing things. And he's REALLY good at cooking."

Milo choked on an apple slice but Y/n only looked amused. "Oh really?"

"Uh huh! Any vegetarian curry you can think of! Bean medley curry, mushroom medley curry, plenty-of-potato curry, leek curry, apple curry, herb medley, salad curry, coconut curry- But his absolute BEST is tropical curry! He can make it taste so sweet that it's practically a desert! He memorized the recipe because it's my favorite. Did I mention how selfless and kind he was?"

Milo ended up tilting his hat down to hide how red faced he was. He did try to stop him, really he did but his throat felt so tight that all he could do was make a sound like he was dying but managed to save any embarrassment by covering it up with a cough. Although that still didn't stop Felix was talking Milo up to you. You thought it was absolutely adorable and knew EXACTLY what was going on. While you did feel a bit bad for how embarrassed Milo was, you couldn't help but be amused by how much Felix was trying to obviously Wingman for his big brother.

"Did I mention he's strong?! Milo can push up to seven hundred and seventy pounds easily! That's like almost eight hundred pounds! And did I mention that not only is he a gym leader but he owns his own land and makes a lot of money from both farming and the pokemon league? I don't like to brag, but Milo's also in charge of the entire town of Turrffield. He might as well just own everything here. He also knows how to grow his own food... Did I already mention he was a great provider?!"

"...Felix..." Both of you looked up as Milo did not dare remove his hat but slightly pointed at him and spoke in a voice barely over a whisper. "I think it's time f-for bed..."

"Wha- But I didn't get to tell her about the time you saved a little kid from a charging mudsdale! Did I mention he's heroic and kind and always helps others?!"

You giggled and nodded. "Yes, but it is getting late. I think I'll go to sleep now if that's alright."

"Oh sure! The guest room is right upstairs. You can't miss it since it's the only one that has a white door. I can show you if you want! Milo even fixed it up for you! Isn't he considerate?"

"It's alright." You tried and failed not to giggle as you stood up. "Thank you for the food, Milo. It really was good. Good night."

Milo could only give a small hum from under his hat as you left, and Felix didn't speak again until he heard the guest room door upstairs close behind you. "I think that went well! She kept smiling and laughing!"

Milo's forehead met the table in embarrassment.

He guessed he should've felt relief when he woke up the next day and found out she had already left before he could apologize and offer to make her breakfast before she left, even if he did feel a bit hurt at her gone. But he understood. Postwick was a long ways away, even by train or taxi it would take a bit to get back. So it would be good to get a head start. However he would see her again but not until later when there was a disturbance at his gym. The entire small community of Turrffield was literally shaken awake by a random dynamaxed pokemon that just happened to cut into a scheduled exhibition match between himself and Piers. They both had fled but not before making sure everyone had evacuated safely. However he wasn't expecting for two other people to show up-

"Hey! Mr. Milo!"

They both turned around and Piers spoke. "Hm? You're-..." He stopped. Blue eyes raising a surprised brow.

Milo however was just confused turning to the two of you just as you and Victor stopped in front of them, then he turned surprised, and held up his hands. "H-Hey! I'm sorry but you two can't be here right now. We're in a bit of an emergency we have to take care of."

"Hey, Hot Pink," you greeted Piers with a smile towards Piers who after a moment eventually sighed and shook his head.

Hah. How carefree can you be? There's an emergency goin' on 'ere and you're bargin' in here like ya own the place."

"Hey. We just got here actually...And what the heck is going on anyways?"

"I was actually in the middle of an exhibition match with Piers," Milo explained making you all look at him. "But then this dynamax pokemon came charging in out of no where. In was like a third party just dynamaxed a wild pokemon and sicked it on us in there. Very strange."

Both you and Victor looked at one another. Meanwhile Milo's thoughts were speeding through a mike a minute. Y/n?! Why was she here?! When did she get here?! Was there a connection to what had just happened?! Stop beating already heart!!

"The audience and staff already took shelter," Piers spoke making you look at him, "It was too dangerous to keep anyone in the stadium while that thing was rampagin'. Which begs the question why are the two of you 'ere? It's like every time there's trouble you're not far behind."

You went to go answer him and maybe ask if either of them had seen any trace of Hop, but before you could there was another shake followed by a loud cry that you both had heard on your way there but now being much closer it had everyone shaking and holding their arms out to avoid getting tripped up and falling to the ground before it stopped again with you all wobbling but standing thankfully. WHAT. WAS. THAT!? Was that the dynamax pokemon they mentioned before? Must've been. What else could've made that noise and rumble? You couldn't ask them anything yet before the door in front of the gym leaders opened and someone stepped out in front of them.

"I got everyone who was seated on the north side of the stadium evacuated!," a familiar voice panted out, making you two look up, "You must've heard right? More dynamax pokemon are running amok!"

"Much obliged, Hop!," Milo thanked the boy in front of him, "I'd expect nothing left from a gym challenger. I knew we could count on you!"

"I lost in the semifinals though-"

"HOP!!" Milo yelped as he was shoved aside and you pushed past him in order to see Hop. And sure enough he was right there. Startling he had jumped back from you shoving your way in front of him and he blinked.

"Ah! ....Y/n? ACK!"

You grabbed him by the shoulders. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? Don't you realize how dangerous that was chasing after thieves by yourself!? I thought we were done doing that after the Hammerlocke fiasco! You had us scared half to freaking death!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!," he apologized holding up his hands with a wince, "I just-...I couldn't let them get away with the stolen shield!"

.....You sighed. "It's...ok. But you are NOT doing that again! We don't know what those guys are capable of. Promise?" He nodded and you sighed again letting your hands lift from his shoulder. "Good." Thank Arceus he was ok. That was the most important part. "What are you even doing here?"

"I chased those red and blue guys and saw them head into Turffield Stadium," Hop explained to you still with that apologetic face, "The I heard the uproar and there was no way I could leave it alone! I had to help out.'' He did that family move of rubbing the back of his neck. "So..er...Sorry. I lost sight of them in all the rush."

Those guys with the crazy hair were here? What the world were they doing here?

Milo hummed with a frown. "Those suspicious characters you saw are concerning. But for now, I think we should get this dynamax pokemon to settle down first." He then turned to Victor who blinked. "I'd be glad for your help against a tough looking opponent though. You mind lending a hand?" Victor who seemed surprised ...but nodded. "Alright! Then let's head to the pitch!"

"I'll lend a hand too," Piers jabbed in, "I don't blame the pokemon 'f course, but I'm still just a bit miffed they upstaged me." He then paused before looking over at Hop who blinked at him. "You come too, Bro Of The Champion."

He blinked. "Huh? Who me?" He pointed at himself and Piers nodded. He immediately gave a face and held up his hands. "I don't know how much I can really help. ...If I come along.." He slowly lowered his hands looking down. "I might just end up slowing the rest of you down."

"Aren't ya the one who beat me in one single go?"

Hop blinked looking back up at Piers and you looked at him too a bit confused. "Uh...What?"

"I said...Didn't ya beat me back in the gym challenge in one try?" ..Confused Hop nodded. "An' ya were one of the only three trainers good enough to get into the semifinals in the first place and defeat multiple gym leaders. Right?" Hop nodded again and Piers hummed. "Hm. I'd say that makes you pretty capable o' bein' in battle. I don't really know the guy, but I don't think Leon'd be all lost about this. Though he does actually get lost a lot..." You and Hop both stared wide eyed at the rockstar because...Did Piers literally just compliment Hop over Leon's experience in this?? He turned giving a gesture to the door you assumed lead into the stadium. "You comin'?"

"Uh.....OK!" Hop smiled a little agreeing.

"Right!," You agreed with a nod. You guys had to calm down that pokemon by the looks of it. "Let's get this show on the road."

"Y/n? Are ya sure?" You turned to Victor who gave a worried face. You guessed your confusion must've shown because he pointed at you. "Ye said you've never been in a battle before. Dontcha think this..I dunno...Might be a bad idea to do as you're first experience battlin'?"

Milo paused...and slowly looked to you as you shook your head at Victor. "Well..maybe not but Silver has battle experience from you guys borrowing him all those times. I'm sure if I just give him a few basic directions he can improvise the rest. What choice do we have?"

"You can just let us take care o' it. M' sure between us and the gym leaders, we'll bring that pokemon down faster than Milo's wooloo bowlin' ya over."

You frowned a little bit at the memory of that before saying. "Victor, I'll be fine. I'm going to help-"

"Oh no you're not!" You practically jumped whirling around and coming face to face with Milo who frowned. "That's putting your pokemon in danger if you're seriously under-experienced and a good way to get hurt!" he shook his head. "And you haven't been in a battle before? NO. No, no! This!" His hands came up to gesture between you and the door. "Is not happening. Too many risks."

You scowled back at him hands on your hips. "I'm tired of standing on the sidelines while everyone else does all the hard work around here! I want to HELP!"

"You can help by standing here and keeping watch?," Victor suggested.

"Yeah! If those weird haired guys are still around, we'll need someone to keep a look out for them just in case they try to slip away when we're not looking!," Hop piped up happily.

Milo pointed at him like he agreed. "That's smart thinking! Problem solved! You're not going in there!" He gestured at you almost annoyed. "You already got run over twice on my watch. I'm not going to allow you to be hurt again with something that's my responsibility."

You deepened your frown. "You can't tell me what to do! If you want me to stay here then you can make me!"

Piers, Victor, and Hop all looked at one another. Milo blinked CLEARLY taken aback at what you said eyes widening. "W-What?"

"I said if you don't want me in there you'll have to make me!"

Milo and you stared at one another for a long moment..before sighed "Alright but I didn't want to have to do this." And he suddenly leaned down which confused you.

"What are you- EEEEEEKKK!?"

A girly high pitched squeal left you as all of a sudden two arms wrapped around your middle body, one around your lower back and the other around the back of your legs. In one hard pull, you fell forward and your body fell against another person's shoulder and back and you went up, up, up! And you found yourself in the embarrassing situation of having been literally thrown over Milo's shoulder by Milo himself. He easily lifted your entire weight as he stood up and held you firmly enough to keep you from fighting back before he began walking off towards one of the couches Milo following behind.

"MILO?," you shouted voice nearly cracking. Your face EXPLODED RED from the sheer embarrassment of it all. Your hands flew to grab the back of his shirt to help keep balance as you shouted. "P-PUT ME DOWN!! IM PRETTY SURE YOU CAN'T DO THIS!!"

"You said to make you and I am. I don't think I want to see you hurt again if I can prevent it,'' he replied back calmly much to your annoyance.

"What do you mean!? I have to help protect them!"

"I'll make sure they're both fine. YOU just need to take it easy for a bit."

Wha- OOF!" You stopped when you were suddenly leaned forward and harmlessly dropped back down onto the couch staring at him as he leaned back up to his usual height as he still looked down at you completely still calm.

"PLEASE." He held up his hands. "Stay here. I seriously don't want to see you hurt anymore, and frankly...I'm going to prevent anyone from getting' hurt. You need ta stay here and stay safe." You opened your mouth but stopped when he gently grabbed your shoulder. "I'm not letting' anyone get hurt.Especially you."

You sat there silent for a moment before he felt confident enough you wouldn't follow them stunned before Milo spoke.

"Don't worry," you looked at him as he assured you, "Piers might look scary, but he's great at looking after others. He's a big brother after all. And to be fair it would be probably safer for you in you stayed here too. I promise it won't take too long."....You sighed leaning back into your seat at his response. "Alright. We should get going too. I'll bring those kids back to you as soon as the battle's over. Ok?"

...Thanks, Mr. Milo. Appreciate it."

He smiled at you before turning and you watched them all go into the stadium after Piers one after the other before the door closed behind them...and you flopped back against the couch. MAN. All you wanted to do was help but-.....Sigh. But Piers made some good points. You never battled before outside video games and you had no experience on the battle field yourself. You couldn't risk making a mistake like that. So...You must sat there with Silver who hoped onto the couch next to you and just flopped onto his side exhausted from walking around so much. You just wished you could help out more. You sat there hearing the ensuing battling taking place and clinging to the couch every time the stadium shook from the battle which carried on for a good ten to fifthteen minutes as you waited with baited breath. No one really came in or out during that time anyways which might've been a blessing as you didn't want to really deal with anyone else at the moment. With one last final shake and cry it all ended. You waited for a couple moments waiting for some kind of response but none came. The only thing that came after a minute or two was the door opening and the boys all filing out. You immediately stood up and jogged on over to them as they came out. THANK ARCEUS THE BOYS WERE ALRIGHT! The only thing that looked off about then was Victor rubbing some dirt from his hat.

"Are you guys ok?," you shouted coming to a stop right in front of them all.

Hop nodded. "Yeah! Even with the four of us that battle was hard to win. Good thing we managed to beat that pokemon huh?"

You opened your mouth to say something before Milo walked up with something next to him. "Phew....Looks like things have finally calmed down a bit." He smiled with a Tsareena next to him who made a noise.

Piers next to him sighed and shook his head. "This dynamax stuff...No matter how many times I see it I don't like it."

"I see your dislike of dynamaxing still hasn't changed, Piers. "...The grass type gym leader turned back to the pokemon with a hum. "But there was definitely something off about that dynamax transformation."

Off? How could a dynamaxing giant pokemon be off- "There wasn't any trainer anywhere!" You turned to Hop. "And the pokemon itself seemed like it couldn't even control the power itself."

Milo nodded at him. "Quite right, Hop."

You looked at him confused. "..Huh? Do you wanna fill me in on what I missed?"

"Normally a pokemon needs to respond to a dynamax band in order to dynamax but-"

Seems there was some discord in the harmony between trainer and pokemon."

"So you noticed something was off too," Milo confirmed with Piers before shaking his head and looking back to the tsareea, "There's no trainer to be found. This is a mystery wrapped up in an enigma." He shook his head again. "Oh well. I'll make sure Turffield Gym takes good care of this pokemon for the time being. You lot helped me out here. Thanks for that. Oh! And Piers." The rocker hummed at him. "If you should ever need my help feel free to call me anytime!" Piers nodded back to him and Milo took a moment to look at Victor before reaching into his pocket and pulling out something to hold out to him. "Here. A small token of my thanks." Victor blinked before he accepted it from Milo with a smile and thanks from himself. "No need to thank me. ..I think in the meantime I should take this little tsareena over to the pokemon center in case something's still wrong with it."

Piers nodded at him again. "That's probably for the best. Wouldn't want the lil thing too banged up from us givin' it that thrashing."

Milo smiled at him before turning to all of you. "Excuse me. I gotta get going. All right then. Follow me little Tsareena." And politely side stepped around your group to walk back out towards the door leading out of the gym. The pokemon following behind matching Milo's orders. Although he did stop and looked back to you which made you blink."And M-M-Miss Y/n.....I-.." He looked as if he wanted to confess something but stopped himself last minute. "Ijustwantedtosaysorryokbye!!"

He quickly mumbled before turning on his heel and speed walking away pulling his hat over his face confusing everyone there before Victor looked at Hop. "What the bloody heck was that about?"

"Oh I think I know."

He wasn't surprised that you all were gone by the time he came back. Even Piers was but oh well. Things happened and he'd reschedule another match with Piers later. Time passed, the tsareena was later released back into the wild safely and everything returned back to normal for the most part. However a month or two later would throw him for a loop. Felix had come up to him one day to deliver some strange but not too surprising news.

"Hey. You remember Old Man Jenkins? He's finally sold his house."

Milo had looked up from the potatoes he was pulling up to look at him. "Oh really? That's great!"

"The new neighbor just moved in! I think we should go say hi considering they're so close to us. That way they won't be so mad if your wooloo crashes into their property."

Milo huffed but that wasn't a too bad idea. "That sounds like the kind thing to do. Alright. First thing tomorrow morning we'll go over and say hi!"

So that's exactly what they did. First thing the next day the two brothers, armed with a giant gift basket of fruits, veggies, and baked goods walked right up to the house and knocked right on the door. However when footsteps approached. When the door opened. When a face smiled at them. He nearly dropped the basket in shock

"Y-Y-Y/N?!"

#pokemon shield #pokemon sword #pokemon sword and shield #pokemon swsh #pokemon reader #pokemon #pokemon reader x milo #pokemon milo x reader #Pokemon Milo #milo x reader #reader x milo

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chaosdisorganized · 1 year

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My job fucked me over yet again. All my shifts for July were canceled and their needs list only had like 6 facilities, all of them 2+ hours away from me. My appointment for my physical and tb test is this Tuesday so with any luck I'll get in with that new job relatively soon.

The workers compensation stuff for my boyfriend has been slow moving. The hospital hasn't sent over his records even though his case worker has requested them 3 times now. We're going to the hospitals medical records department either sometime this weekend or on Monday and see if talking to someone there gets the ball rolling because the sooner the BWC gets those records, the sooner he can start being compensated for his injury. He also sees a spine specialist on Wednesday and they'll hopefully be able to figure out why he's in so much pain and what's wrong with his back. He's been suffering from this injury for a few weeks now so hopefully the spine doctor will be able to give him some real help and treatment. We've been to the hospital twice now and the urgent care once and all they've done is poke his back a bit and say the same things and perscribe him medication for the pain. They say it's probably a pulled or strained muscle, I think it's a torn or ripped muscle but I'm not a doctor so my opinion doesn't really matter. They did do x-rays and fortunately nothing is wrong with his actual spine, so it's definitely a muscular issue.

Still struggling a lot financially and still accepting donations. All of this has been really hard on us and our mental health is declining rapidly. We keep splitting and are unstable again. All that progress we made in therapy is lost. The host group is bigger now, more frequent fronters and new splits hanging around. It's just been fucking awful.

Anyways, DM for donation information, we have CA, PP, and VMO (abbreviated to avoid shadowban)

#vent #signal boost #boost

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refinedbuffoonery · 2 years

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Looking Through A Window (18)

macriley married undercover au

masterlist.

The two major scenes in this chapter—the phone call and the thunderstorm—have been sitting at the bottom of my draft document for forever. I wrote them independently, then spent an eternity looking for the right place to put them. So I did the only logical thing and put them together to make a full chapter of hurt/comfort. Enjoy.

*****

A storm rolls in the following morning, and they push back the plan by a day. Explosions don’t work well in the pouring rain.

When he calls Conrad to inform him of the plan, the older man is pissed about the change in weather. Honestly, part of Mac is too. He’d rather not go through with this plan at all, but since Matty didn’t give him the option not to, Mac would rather get it over with sooner rather than later.

His body jitters with that nauseating sort of anticipation.

The rain lightens a bit by early afternoon, so Mac decides it’s as good of time as any to take Harley for her walk. Hopefully they won’t get too wet.

Harley eyes the wet stairs suspiciously.

It’s still sprinkling, so Mac puts his hood up and urges her forward.

The sky is a uniform shade of dark gray, a blanket of menacing clouds that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. The air is warm and thick with the sweet, earthy smell of rain—water mixing with volatile plant oils and ozone.

Mac and Harley cross the street to take a lap through the park. It’s quiet without the usual weekend commotion of kids playing and families partying. He passes a woman also taking advantage of the lull in the rain to walk her dog, but no one else. Just some ducks in the pond, enjoying a nice bath.

Harley makes a beeline for the wet grass, sniffing and rolling in it before Mac can stop her.

When the rain picks up again, Mac breaks into a jog, but his clothes are quickly soaked anyway.

They return to the apartment complex just in time to see Carrie Ann unloading groceries from her car. Clutching her bags tightly, she sprints from her car to her door.

“Want some help?” Mac calls. Carrie Ann’s head whips around, clearly not expecting anyone else to be out here, but she smiles when she sees him.

“Oh, yes. Be a dear and get the rest, will you?” She ducks into her apartment, leaving the door open.

Her trunk is still open, and Mac grabs the last three bags of groceries before shutting it. He has to block Harley with his foot to keep her from jumping into the car. Meeting Carrie Ann at her door, she looks him up and down with that all-too discerning stare of hers.

She says, “You’re going to catch a cold walking around in the rain like that.” Her statement is scientifically untrue, but Mac simply assures her he’ll be fine.

“My wife will warm me up,” he adds, just to please her.

Carrie Ann grins back at him. “I’m sure she will.” Then, after a brief pause, she asks, “Speaking of your wife, is Genevieve pregnant yet?”

“Not yet.”

Mac feels a little guilty knowing that she’ll keep asking, and the answer will still be no. He doesn’t plan on knocking Riley up any time soon, that’s for sure.

He must be making a face, because Carrie Ann rests a hand on his shoulder and gently says, “It’ll happen. Just you wait. You’re going to be a wonderful father, James.”

Her words are meant to be reassuring, but they feel like a knife to the stomach. Pairing discussions of fatherhood with the use of his own father’s name as an alias is too much to handle. He wants to punch whoever built this cover identity. Carrie Ann’s words only serve as a reminder that James MacGyver turned out to be a shitty dad, all things considered. They made amends in the end, but that doesn’t take back all the years Mac needed him, and he wasn’t there.

And how does Carrie Ann know he’d be a good father anyway? It’s not like he had a role model. Plenty of father figures—his grandpa, Bozer’s dad, even Jack—but not the one that really mattered.

His father left after his mother died. If his wife died, would Mac do the same to his own child?

He left before, once, when he ran away to Nigeria. Proof enough that he’s capable of leaving without looking back.

Nausea stirs his stomach at the thought.

Despite that, Mac manages to smile and say, “Thank you.”

“Come by for a pep talk any time, young man. And tell Gen I say hi.”

“Will do.” He makes it three steps down the walkway before Carrie Ann is calling his name, having forgotten to say something.

“One more thing. Put a pillow under her hips. It’ll make everything better, trust me.”

Mac’s cheeks heat, turning what must be a brilliant shade of red. He does know to do that.

Carrie Ann’s laughter follows him all the way to his own apartment.

Once his face has returned to its normal color, Mac opens the door but doesn’t go inside. Blocks Harley too. Riley’s name—her real name—catching in his throat, Mac calls out, “Hey, can you please bring us a couple towels?” Oddly, there’s no response, but Mac spies two towels hanging off the arm of the couch that definitely weren’t there when he left. He smiles, silently thanking her.

“Sit,” he tells Harley. “Stay.” She whines, but obeys as he darts inside to grab the towels. Hopefully the apartment won’t smell too much like wet dog.

When he finally lets Harley go inside, she goes straight to the kitchen in search of any crumbs that may have fallen while she was out.

The bedroom door is half-shut, but Mac doesn’t think anything of it until he hears the telltale sniff of Riley crying. He pauses, keeping out of sight.

Part of him knows he should leave—give her some privacy. But a bigger part of him wants to know what’s wrong. So, he stays, listening.

Whatever it is, maybe he can fix it.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” she says, clearly on the phone. “This op doesn’t need me. Everything I’ve done, I could’ve done from the war room. Matty should’ve sent you, not me.”

Harley pushes past him, opening the door wider and exposing Mac’s hiding place. For the second time in the last five minutes, his cheeks burn—not in a good way—as Riley stares him down. He sees the plea to stay away in her eyes and takes a step back.

To his surprise, she puts her phone on speaker, letting him listen from a distance.

It’s Desi on the other end of the line, and she’s already mid-rant. “—bullshit. Sure Matty sent you instead of me because we all know Mac and I would’ve killed each other by now, but that’s not the point. Your skills are the ones this op needs, and I’m not talking about fancy computer stuff.

“You have this way with people, Riley. From what I can tell, this op is just as much about social warfare as it is anything else, and I’m definitely not the person for that. You can charm anyone, but you’re not a people pleaser. Don’t you get how hard that is? People trust you. People confide in you. Which is exactly what you need to dismantle a terrorist organization from the inside.”

Confident and no-nonsense—a classic Desiree Nguyen pep-talk.

“Thanks.” Riley sighs. “I know I’ve been doing this for years, but I still feel out of my element when my job is more James Bond than Nerd In The Van.”

Mac never knew she felt that way. Right from the start, she fit in so well, was so good at her job, that he never questioned how she felt. Now he thinks maybe he should have.

“Fuck that. Your job is to be Riley, who is brave, kind, and, more often than not, the smartest person in the room.”

Picking at her nails, a sign that she’s uncomfortable, Riley says, “You sure that isn’t Mac?”

“Mac is a dumbass who happens to be good at math and science, and you can tell him I said that.”

Riley bites her lip as she looks at him, clearly trying very hard not to laugh at his expense. Still, amusement and agreement shine in her eyes. “Oh I will,” she promises.

“Good. And seduce him while you’re at it. All this dancing around each other is getting ridiculous.”

Riley’s eyes widen and she scrambles to take her phone off speaker. Mac’s face burns even hotter. It’s moments like these when he almost misses the days when Desi resented him for his feelings for Riley. Now she gets entirely too much joy over torturing him.

“Speaking of Mac, he just walked in the door,” Riley half-lies. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for the pep-talk.”

Despite not being able to see or hear her, Mac can picture the wicked smirk on Desi’s face clear as day. She taunts, “Go get 'em, tiger.”

Riley, on the other hand, looks like she wants to die as she hangs up on their friend. But she quickly banishes that expression, and in a stunning display of pretending the last few minutes didn’t happen, she teases, “Enjoy the rain?” Mac rolls his eyes.

“Totally.”

She pushes past him, heading for the laundry room. But after what he just overheard, Mac isn’t about to let her off that easily.

“Are you really that uncomfortable with field work?” He can’t explain why, exactly, but her answer to the question is important. Really important.

“No,” she says, moving clothes from the washer to the dryer. “Well, sometimes.”

“I had no idea.”

Her back is to him, and suddenly Mac wants nothing more than to turn Riley around and hold her.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, but the things we see and do are terrifying if I let myself think about them for too long.” Mac can’t disagree; she has a point. But that doesn’t answer his question.

He rephrases, “Are you uncomfortable on this op? With me?” Has he been wrong about everything? Has she been miserable this whole time and he’s just too stupid to notice?

Finally, she faces him.

It’s both a blessing and a curse that she can read him so well; she always knows exactly what sort of conclusions his brain jumped to. “Of course not,” Riley reassures. “I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else. I had a moment of weakness, that’s all.” She sighs. “Honestly, I’ve felt kind of useless this week watching you build the bombs.”

“Nonsense.” A part of him aches, learning she feels this way. “You’ve helped so much more than I can explain.”

What he can’t say is that just her presence is enough. Staying with him, grounding him, reminding him that he’s not alone in this. That she makes him stronger. Braver.

And maybe even a little less careless with his own life.

There’s a protest waiting on her tongue—Mac can tell—but she quietly accepts the praise. He continues, “I, on the other hand, keep making our apartment smell like wet dog, which is clearly the worse offense.” Riley laughs at that.

“I’ll be sure to make a note in your file.”

Mac feigns outrage. “You wouldn’t.”

Riley smirks. Try me.

Without a shadow of a doubt, Mac knows that she absolutely would.

*****

Mac jolts awake sometime between the bright flash of light and the loud boom echoing through the apartment, rattling everything from the windows to his bones. Automatically reaching for either of his bedmates, he hears Harley’s frightened whine and the low timbre of Riley's sleep-rough voice as she tries to comfort her.

Another flash of lightning reveals Riley sitting up, clutching Harley tightly to her chest. "It's okay, honey," she murmurs. "I've got you." Quivering in her spot between Riley's legs, Harley whines again, flinching as the next peal of thunder rolls through. Afterward she licks Riley's face, and Mac's heart melts at the scene.

Through his sleep-heavy eyes and the bedroom window, Mac watches a bolt of lightning hit the ground somewhere in the distance. Its accompanying thunderclap comes almost immediately, loud enough to make Mac flinch. "I'm awake," he groans.

He can't see very well in the dark between flashes, so Mac can only imagine Riley's worried expression when she says, "She’s not handling it well."

He's awake enough now to haul himself upright, sitting beside Riley so he can comfort them both. One hand goes to Harley's favorite spot below her left ear, the other rubs Riley's back before pulling her close. Breathing slowly, Mac focuses on grounding sensations—rain pouring steadily outside, the feel of Riley's skin beneath his palm. He has empathy for Harley; thunderstorms are hard for him too.

Shaking, Harley climbs out of Riley’s lap and into Mac’s. It breaks his heart to see their brave dog like this, whimpering and terrified. Arms around her and squeezing tightly, Mac tucks her furry head under his chin. “How much did I sleep through?” he asks. Maybe he’s lucky this time, and he slept through part of the storm.

The next peal of thunder is too similar to the sounds of the Sandbox. Mac flinches.

“Only the first two,” Riley says, rubbing his calf with a cold foot. “Sorry.”

He swears. Whimpering, Harley licks Mac's face, and in a low, hopefully reassuring voice, he murmurs, “It's okay, Harley. We've got you. You're safe with us.”

It’s easier, somehow, to ignore the memories each thunderclap dredges up when he’s occupied with reassuring Harley. His mind stays focused on the present issue instead of spiraling into the past.

When Riley falls back against the pillows, he’s faced with yet another issue. With her hair fanned out and her lips slightly parted as she watches him, all Mac can think is that she is the most beautiful being he has ever laid eyes on. And the most kissable.

There’s nothing really stopping him from leaning down and pressing his lips to hers—only that implicit promise of finding the right time. As much as he wants it to be, Mac knows this isn’t it. Confessions are easier in the dark, when one doesn’t have to be seen with damning words falling from their lips, but a truth of this magnitude deserves to be shared in the light of day.

That and the fact that Riley’s night vision is so shitty that if he did lean in for a kiss, she’d never see him coming. No doubt her self-defense training would kick in right before he made contact, and Mac would more likely find himself with a split lip than a kissed one. All by accident, of course.

The next peal of thunder is softer, the storm moving further away.

A few more minutes pass, and Harley calms as the sound of distant thunder fades behind the heavy rain. Extricating herself from Mac’s arms, she jumps off the bed and wanders into the other room. Mac misses having someone to hold the second she’s gone.

He flops back down beside Riley, close enough that their shoulders touch. He’s debating how to go about asking her to cuddle when she asks, “What are you hearing, instead of thunder?”

Grateful she waited until that part of the storm passed before asking, Mac replies, “Gunshots. Explosions. Specific moments from the Sandbox, before I got used to those sounds.” Even now, all those years removed, it’s the best explanation he can bring himself to give her.

“Why is it so much worse in the quiet?” Her voice is thin, and Mac gets the feeling they’re not just talking about him anymore.

For her sake, he pretends that they are. “Adrenaline muffles things. It’s harder to think about all the past times those sounds meant imminent death when I’m actively trying not to die. There’s no room for it.” He sighs. “But when I’m safe. . . there’s entirely too much room.”

She laughs bitterly. “Government jobs really know how to fuck you up.”

As much as he believes in his job, it’s impossible not to agree with that.

Nudging her with his knee, Mac asks, “What are you hearing?”

“Just thunder.”

There’s a weight to her two-word answer, one that tells him there’s a lot more to it, but he’ll have to coax the explanation out of her. Mac gets it, gets her. He’s not the most forthright person either. He tries, “What are you seeing?”

Her silence tells him that is the right question. A brush of her fingers across the back of his hand tells him to wait, that she’s working on an answer.

“The lightning is what gets me. I catch myself holding my breath between strikes, waiting to see where the next one will hit. I have this constant feeling that the next one will be it, the next bolt will strike our roof. And just like that, we’ll go from thinking we’re safe to being trapped in a burning building.”

Always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mac understands that better than most.

Sometimes he wishes he didn’t.

“I wouldn’t mind being trapped in a burning building with you,” he jokes, attempting to lighten the mood. “Actually,” he reconsiders, “I have been trapped in a burning building with you. More than once.” And he’d like to forget all of them.

She doesn’t laugh. In fact, she’s so quiet that Mac wonders if she fell asleep until she breaks the rain-soaked silence with a single, desperate word. “Mac?”

“Yes.” Not a question. A statement. An answer. Whatever she needs, he’ll give.

Riley curls into him, and he draws her in close, rubbing her back. “I’m so tired, Mac.” His own words, mirroring the first heart-to-heart they had in this apartment. One of many.

“I know, Riles.”

For a while, they just lay there listening to the rain. When Mac’s mind starts to drift, it’s brought back by the weight of Riley’s head on his chest. He’s grown accustomed to the sweet scent of her shampoo, now finding it more soothing than arousing. There are times when it feels like his skin is burning by just being in proximity to her, but lately there are just as many times when skin-on-skin contact with her is steadying and helps him think more clearly. Such is the control Riley has over the state of Mac’s neurons.

When Harley re-enters the bedroom, she pauses in the doorway and simply stares at them, head cocked slightly left. Then without further adieu she pounces on the bed and lays behind Riley. It’s like she took one look at Riley’s exposed back and decided that wouldn’t do at all. Now she’s keeping watch as the barrier between them and the door.

Mac’s eyes close, resting, even though he’s far from sleep.

“I’ve started thinking about what I would do if I quit field work,” Riley says randomly.

He’s surprised enough that his grip goes slack, and when Riley’s whole body tenses and starts to pull away, he knows she’d bolt from his arms entirely if she wasn’t trapped between him and Harley. “Don’t leave,” Mac whispers, rubbing her shoulder in a way he hopes is reassuring.

She doesn’t relax. In fact, she sits up entirely. “It’s not a done deal yet. I’m—” Riley misunderstood him; that’s not what he meant.

“No,” Mac corrects, “lay back down. Let me keep holding you.”

“Oh,” she breathes, sounding a little stunned. Mac racks his brain to figure out what he must’ve done to cause that particular reaction, that doubt. So he can scold himself for it later. Riley settles back into his side, and together they take a few deep breaths to release some of the tension that permanently lives in their bodies.

Brushing a curl behind her ear, Mac asks, “What would you do?”

Yet another deep breath. Then Riley explains, “I think I’d like to help girls like me—the old me. Give them a place to use their skills for good before they end up with rap sheets. Like Matty did for me.” A lump forms in Mac’s throat just thinking about not having her as a teammate anymore. Somehow realizing that, Riley reassures him, “That being said, I won’t quit field work until you do. We’re in this together.”

“Just don’t make me have to explain to Jack how I got you killed. In this life or the next.”

“No promises,” she taunts. Mac groans.

In a rare moment of bravery, Mac hooks Riley’s leg over his hip, bringing her even closer. It’s his favorite way to cuddle; he likes how easily two bodies fit together this way. She nuzzles her face into his neck, and Mac decides this is how he’d like to fall asleep every night. He presses a kiss to her forehead.

I love you, Mac says in his mind. Because he doesn’t dare say it out loud.

Tomorrow night, they won’t get any sleep at all, no matter how efficiently they plant the bombs. Nor does Mac expect them to sleep well any night afterward; he has a feeling blowing up the capitol will only accelerate the Patriots’ plans. So just for tonight, he banishes those thoughts from his mind and focuses on the comforting weight of Riley above him.

He needs to tell her how he feels, soon, before this op takes that opportunity away from him.

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#beth writes #macriley #macgyver #angus macgyver #riley davis #looking through a window au #macgyver fanfiction

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