#Augustine just makes it so easy to like him and think of him as a friend

[vaguely-concerned]

Thinking about the symbolic weight of smoking in the TLT universe that comes to the fore in The Unwanted Guest -- the way it moves through from person to person: Pyrrha smoked, and Augustine wanted to impress her in all her stone cold fox MILF James Bond glory (and tbf who wouldn't) so he started too. and even though as far as he knows she's been gone for a myriad and is never coming back, he keeps the habit. Ianthe sees something in the hollowed-out Faberge eggshell of Augustine that resonates with her, all that gilded eloquent emptiness and disdain through the ages, so she picked it up from him to try to emulate it. She picked it up so hard that Palamedes -- the exact spiritual antithesis of the 'smoking! on a space station! what a powermove' ennui Ianthe so admired -- spontaneously unnerded enough to even known how to, simply from a sort of contact contamination of the soul.

G1deon and Augustine sharing a jittery smoke after their near-Harrow experience during soup night, and it's the closest thing to any real sense of brotherhood that remains between them. Pyrrha going ten thousand years dying both literally and for a smoke (and then Camilla sold her fucking cigarettes (for a third of what they were worth, probably Pyrrha's own good, and also more importantly grocery money). what an entirely haunted time to be alive etc.). Augustine and Mercy trading a cigarette back and forth in the middle of their collusion over the love and murder of god.

An act of small and measured self-destruction in the name of something a little bit like connection when you're stuck somewhere in yourself where love itself dares not or cannot tread (ritualized, transmissible)..........

[eruden-writes]

Scent Match - Part 9 (Augustine & Amber)

lycan x human celebrity x non-celebrity

Summary: When Amber Dyer decided to attend a Creator Con, she never expected to run into Of Wolf and Blood lycan heartthrob, Augustine Prime.

But, there he was, stooping over her table, asking to buy the unflattering drawing of his character. Valuing integrity over taking money from a celebrity and running (though she was sorely tempted,) Amber finishes the sketch and delivers it to Augustine.

However, he continues to doggedly pursue her and entwine their lives.

All because of her scent.

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Given Augustine’s consent, Amber hummed and closed her eyes to focus on her task. For a time, she focused on him. It was easier to focus on pleasuring him than to combat the simmering embarrassment at the edges of her thoughts. As her mouth worked up and down his length, her fingers toyed with his knot with light touches. The heat emanating from him, the graze of his fur against her, the way his breath caught when her tongue traversed over a particularly good spot.

Yeah, this was simpler than her own deep-brewing emotions. It also distracted her from the memories with prior partners, their mean laughter or-

Amber shoved the recollections from her head. No. She was focusing on this, focusing on Augustine. All other thoughts dissipated as her focus zeroed in on him.

Unaware of the emotional minutiae plaguing Amber’s thoughts, Augustine relished in the circumstance. The hot, soft feel of her paired with her steady pace agonized and thrilled him. He wanted more. His fingers flexed briefly, tempted to grab her by the head, but he dug his claws into the sheets. Keeping his hips from bucking into her warm mouth was harder, but he managed.

The last thing he wanted to do was risk startling her or scaring her off. He didn’t want to see her disappointed or affronted expression if he reciprocated. This was entirely about her getting comfortable with him.

Besides, Amber’s mouth and hands were plenty enough to focus on without him touching her.

But, gods, he wanted to touch her.

Augustine bit down on the desire, sinking back onto the bed to just feel Amber’s mouth work or her hands caress him. Warmth and wetness and the little, absentminded sounds she made while on his cock razed through him.

She hadn’t taken him fully into her mouth again. While her head bobbed, one of her hands stroked his neglected length as her other hand stroked his knot. As soon as her pace increased, as soon as she took a little more of him with every pass, heat tightened in his center. In small ways, Augustine tried to shift for fuller friction, more sensation, as he pressed his head back and panted, deep rumbles echoing in his chest.

It was only after a particular squeeze of her hand and a dip of her head that Augustine realized the pressure building in him was cresting. A sudden throb through his cock, drawing a grunt from him, made him all the more aware of his oncoming orgasm. “A-Amber, I’m gonna come if you don’t st– Fuck.”

Augustine jerked forward, off the bed, as she took him fully in her mouth again, both hands squeezing at his knot. He curled over Amber’s head with his hands crooked and twitching. He just barely kept from grabbing her, from pushing her further down as his hips finished her job. His chest heaved as she stared at her, lips pressed to his knot and expression one of calm.

“Mhm?” She hummed, staring up at Augustine innocently as her fingers alternated in squeezing touches.

Amber couldn’t hide the slight curl of her lips as Augustine stared down at her. He looked quite the sight. Fur mussed and golden eyes wide, ears pricked forward. The movement of his hands hadn’t been missed, either. He was close to just grabbing her, but was holding back. Part of her appreciated that.

“I’m gonna come in your mouth if you don’t stop,” he explained, tone tinged with desperation and concern. Augustine could feel Amber’s amusement as her smile twitched around him. He had to swallow down his nerves before he managed to press further, “Are you okay with that?”

She gave a positive hum, but when his concern didn’t soften, she gave him a nod. Well, as good of a nod as she could give with her mouth being full of him.

Still, Augustine didn’t jump on her consent. He wasn’t sure how well his restraint would hold out and, given the moment’s pause, he had to ask, “Can I thrust and touch you?”

Amber lazily bobbed her head up and down his cock, feeling how his member twitched against her tongue as she thought. On the second pass, she pulled off him, swiping the back of her palm against her mouth to wipe away any stray spittle. “Don’t choke me or force me down, alright?”

A bright expression lit up his face as he nodded excitedly. His reaction made something in Amber twist, delighted and a little uncertain. Augustine’s hand landing softly on her head dissipated any potential concerns. At his gentle guidance, Amber neared his dick again, taking him in her mouth in a languid fashion.

With one hand braced on the bed, the other holding the back of her head, Augustine half-stood from the bed. The return of her hot, moist mouth ignited heat down his spine. He thanked his stars for the foresight in asking for more control. If he hadn’t, he wasn’t sure how well he would have held out.

His pace began slowly, feeling Amber’s reactions out until he dared to pump his hips faster, a little harder. Augustine was still cognizant of her reactions, her body language. He adjusted his pace, the power of his thrusts, based on Amber’s sounds and the way she tensed or relaxed. Soon, he found a satisfactory pace, though with every whimper or gasp from her, he had to fight the urge to bare down harder.

Not in charge of the pace any longer, Amber closed her eyes and let her hands drift up and down his tense thighs, feeling the muscles strain beneath his fur. Despite not being in full charge, she still rocked on her knees to meet his thrusts, pushing him further down her throat that he would have otherwise gone.

He was being careful, she knew. Complicated feelings swirled inside her, though mostly carnal heat pounded at her center. She forced those complicated feelings further from thought by focusing on the situation. The way Augustine’s hips jerked, his fur dragging across her cheeks, his claws curving a little further against her scalp as his hips moved, his breaths escaping as panting half-groans.

As his pace increased, Amber rocked faster and harder against him. His pulse throbbed against her tongue, cock twitching with every thrust. Led by instinct, her hands drifted back to his knot and squeezed tight with his every thrust. By the third squeeze, his cock bounced wildly just before thick heat exploded in her mouth. Augustine snarled - the sound scraping deliciously down Amber’s spine - and jerked forward, curling over her.

His body wracked with trembles, Amber once again took over. Pulling back enough so she could milk his length, she swallowed down mouthfuls of his slight salty-sweetness while Augustine continued to groan and twitch.

Only when she was sure he was done did Amber lean back, again wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand as she stared up at him. He wasn’t entirely terrible to get naughty with, she decided. Of course, a blowjob didn’t say much, but at least she enjoyed his taste, his sounds, the way he tensed and moved.

Above all else, Augustine had been attentive and accommodating.

Her stare hadn’t been lost on Augustine. As much as he relished in her attention, he couldn’t help but feel there had to be more. Maybe she expected more. He waited for her to say something, sensing the pensive nature of her thoughts, before he decided to break the silence. “Do you want me to return the favor?”

“What do you mean?” Amber cocked her head to the side, his question interrupting her own thoughts on their encounter.

“I could eat you out.” His orgasm must have burned his own caution to a crisp, Augustine realized as Amber’s eyes widened. He couldn’t tear his intent gaze from Amber as his nose twitched. Sweet lust still stained the air, tugging at his instincts. “I know you’re wet and aroused. I can smell it on you.”

Amber’s eyes dropped to his maw. A thrill sliced down her spine as Augustine licked his chops, flashing one of those wolfish smiles at her. Unable to meet his gaze with the flush burning her cheeks, she focused on a patch of Augustine’s thigh.

Just when he thought she was going to reject his offer, Amber mumbled, “Yeah, sure.”

In no time, Augustine had her tossed to the bed, back to the mattress. He’d managed to haul her up farther on the bed so he could kneel between her legs. The sensation of his warm hands, rough pads grazing her thighs, made Amber yelp and half-raise up on her elbows.

His actions froze, gold eyes darting to her. Amber’s heart skipped in her chest, feeling equal parts shameful and disconcerted. “I-I don’t want to get fully naked.”

A gentle smile crossed Augustine’s lips as he tilted his head to the side a little. “I have to take your panties off at least.”

Under his soft look, Amber clamped her mouth shut as heat burned hotly across her cheeks. He was going to find out. She was commando under her dress and sopping wet with excitement. Amber couldn’t bring herself to tell him verbally, though.

Augustine soon found the reason for her sudden silence. As his hands edged further up, nudging the hem of her dress higher and higher, there was no further fabric separating him from Amber. He stared down at her bared pussy, eyes roving as his nose twitched. Between the sight and her unhindered heady scent, his mouth watered obscenely. She must have felt his hungry eyes on her naked form, since she fell back and covered her face with her arms. Her self-conscious little whine only stoked lurid feelings within Augustine.

He wanted her to know how wonderful, how beautiful she was to him.

Amber swallowed a whimper as she sensed his mouth close in on her, feeling his breaths puff along her naked flesh. Anticipation and arousal coiled through her nerves, refusing any self-conscious inclination to pull away. The sensation of his tongue - hot and broad and wet - tentatively tracing her slit made Amber’s whole body jerk. Delight blossomed out along her nerves, replacing uncertainty with need.

Her reaction stoked excitement in Augustine as her scent, fuller and heady between her thighs, dizzied him. Or maybe it was her taste on his tongue, so sweet it pulled a moan from him. Before he had even let his mouth touch her, she was wet and glistening and so, so beautiful. He needed to hear more, feel her tense and shudder, come undone under his mouth. Moving faster, more intent, his tongue swirled around Amber's clit, feeling her curve off the bed with a keening whimper.

It was embarrassing to Amber how quickly she devolved into a trembling mess under his eager licking. She wasn't even sure when she lifted her hips to meet his hot wet maw or when her hand had migrated to the back of his head, fingers buried in his fur. Her other hand fisted into the sheets, bunching fabric under crooked digits. A creeping sense of heat crawled over Amber's body as her open-mouthed gasps tangled with her moans.

Augustine's growl and the way he bore down harder, his tongue delving into her and curving to nudge against her little erogenous spot, made a thrill twang through Amber. Even the graze of his teeth made her nerves burn with excitement. She wanted more, wanted to really feel everything Augustine had to offer, take it all.

Again her body jerked, her knees rising to squeeze against Augustine's head.

She wasn’t sure how long his eager lapping went on, how long she was a writhing and moaning mess under his tongue. Pleasure seared through her body and rebounded to simmer through her as a fresh wave crashed over her. Maddening and delirious. The carnal joy almost hurt as her body tightly clenched and tensed, twisting under preparation.

When the pressure crested and slammed through her, Amber lurched forward. “Augustine!”

Her thighs clamped tight to the sides of his face, pressing him closer to her center. Not that he needed goading. Her cry coupled with her orgasm sent a possessive pulse through him and he continued to tongue her.

Amber’s head lolled back, breathy moans escaping her even as Augustine happily licked up her taste. A few languorous moments passed as he licked her clean, before he finally pulled away.

A delightful singe crept over her body even as he pulled away. The shift of his fur against her bare thighs tickled, making her arch and sigh. Then Augustine’s words crashed through her afterglow, “Made you scream my name.”

Amber’s eyes snapped open, renewed heat staining her cheeks as her head jerked to glare at him. “You–!”

She was about ready to push him away, thinking this had all gone according to some convoluted plan of his, before Augustine’s soft chuckle stopped her. “I prefer this to what I meant earlier.”

Unable to ignore her curiosity, Amber narrowed her eyes. “What did you mean earlier?”

His face fell, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling as a dour expression creased his features. Heaving a heavy sigh, he mimicked the put-out bemoan he’d heard many a-time before, “Augustine.”

Oh, that’s what he meant. Easing from her paranoia, she combed her fingers through his fur. There was a thread of pain beneath Augustine’s reenactment, something Amber didn’t quite know how to address.

“Well, you are exasperating,” she mused, teasing as gently as her touches felt.

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed as he closed his eyes, resigned to the thought. Between Amber’s touch and the cushion of her thigh, Augustine could have happily fallen asleep. Well, he could if his turgid erection wasn’t digging into the bed.

“I mean, you’ve asked me to marry you barely knowing me,” Amber went on, rolling her eyes. Part of her still needled for that more realistic outcome. Something where he’d laugh and pull away, say it was all a joke. On the other hand, part of her sympathized with the more sensible people in Augustine’s life. “I can’t imagine your manager or anyone else on your team is thrilled with that.”

Augustine’s head shifted as his eyes opened. “Speaking of that, do you think we’re compatible?”

“Stop that,” Amber hissed, fighting down the burst of adrenaline his glowing gold eyes and wolfish smile had on her heart. She also had to fight off a shameful delight as his arms slid under her thighs and his hands absentmindedly stroked her.

“I’m not doing anything,” he protested, his canine maw somehow curling into a pout as his eyes widened innocently.

Warmth clawed hotly over her cheeks as she glared down at him. “You were grinning at me.”

Her reaction only broke his pout apart into a broad grin. “So?”

“You’re embarrassing me.” Unable to get him to stop looking at her, Amber pressed her hands to her face to gain some reprieve. It only served to remind her how warm her blush burned.

"That's something you'll have to get used to,” Augustine laughed, pushing himself to his hands and knees before leaning over her. Instinct burned at his core to touch Amber more, to get closer, to get as close as he could. He knew he couldn’t exactly do what his instincts wanted, but that didn’t keep Augustine from wanting more contact. A hug, a cuddle, a touch. He’d take what he could get if Amber offered it.

He hadn’t realized just how close the move would place them or that his raging boner would brush against Amber’s still cocked leg until she jolted. Regardless of his momentary lapse in judgment, he poised his features into innocence as she stared up at him. She hadn’t jerked her leg away, so that had to be a good sign. Right?

Amber’s knee angled toward Augustine’s erection, the heat and firmness a beacon against her skin. Incredulity mingled with amusement as she laughed, “Are you hard again?”

“Yeah.” His head dipped and his ears drooped in a half-apologetic movement, before his eyes locked to hers. Even his ears rebounded, pricking forward with intent. “Want to do more?”

Amber knew he meant fucking, but a different kind of heat blossomed in the scant air between them. Her eyes flickered to his, trailed over his snout-esque features. How would it feel to kiss a lycan, she wondered? How could they match up a flat human mouth to that somewhat elongated maw?

Those curious thoughts crept through her head and, before she knew it, she was moving. One leg raised, hooking around his hip and drawing him closer.

Augustine held his breath, following Amber’s lead as he lowered himself slowly at her beckoning. Her other leg eased between his, knee propped up to rub her thigh against his hard-on. Involuntarily, his hips thrust into the friction, a deep moan vibrating through his chest.

It was her hands reaching up, softly grasping onto the sides of his head, that surprised Augustine. His eyes widened, ears pricking forward as Amber guided his face closer to hers. It was when her eyes fluttered shut, her lips puckered, his own heart stalled in his chest.

A flare of uncharacteristic self-consciousness made Augustine feel large and bumbling, even as he eagerly leaned in, his own eyes closing and lips parting for a sloppy - awkward - kiss.

Contact never game as a jarring sound blared through the air. Augustine’s eyes widened as he jerked from Amber’s grip, head swiveling to the source of the sound. It was a ringtone he had been taught to never ignore. “Shit, I need to take that."

He bounded from the bed, from Amber, before she registered the change in atmosphere. She blinked after him, watching as his tail disappeared through the bedroom door.

[aealzx]

The living room was fairly easy to locate, especially since Leon could hear his brothers’ hushed voices along the jangle of a small bell. The back of Raph’s head above the couch was the first part of his brothers that Leon saw, then he quickly caught sight of Lil Mikey swishing a feathered toy through the air between them. Leon was a little surprised to then see a mostly white cat scramble across the floor before leaping after the toy, reaching Lil Mikey’s shoulders easily and earning a series of muffled cheers and coos from the two boys.

“Hey Mikey- woh-,” Leon started as he reached the edge of the couch, breaking off when he noticed there was another figure with them, and said body was fast asleep on the couch next to Raph. “...How is he sleeping through this?” Leon asked, squinting in confusion down as Mikey just snored softly, seemingly oblivious to the playing around him.

“I dunno, but Raphael said we shouldn’t have to worry about waking him,” Raph responded before getting immediately distracted by Lil Mikey leading Pepperjack to jump onto Raph’s lap. Both of his legs were propped up on a square cushioned stool, so it was easy for the cat to perch on his thighs and swat at the feather Lil Mikey was swinging. Leon was pretty sure Raph would start crying with the way his eyes were shining over having the cat perched on him so readily.

“Are you here to play with Pepperjack too? Isn’t she cute? It’s the best name, isn’t it?” Lil Mikey asked in rapid succession, the arm that wasn’t caught in a sling swirling random patterns with the stick.

“Well I am curious why she’s named that, but I’m actually here for you,” Leon admitted with a chuckle, pleased to see Raph and Lil Mikey both doing a lot better than when he’d first found this lair. And Raph was even getting ridiculously spoiled with someone carrying him around and a pet not being afraid of him.

“Me? What’s up?” Lil Mikey asked, pausing in play for only a moment before realizing it probably wasn’t urgent and therefore he didn’t have to stop immediately. Leon was being rather relaxed, so it was probably just a casual request.

“Yeah, Donnie is awake, but he’s in his ‘I hate food’ phase,” Leon explained, wiggling his fingers in quotes and imitating his brother despite not having heard Donnie say that before. “But he also has to eat something considering it’s been like fourteen hours since he fell asleep and he has blood loss to deal with,” Leon rambled, rolling his eyes slightly as flopped his raised hands out into a shrug. “The stew from last night makes him wanna puke. Can you figure something out for him? Preferably with a lot of iron?”

“O’oh�� Yeah, let me see what I can do… Or what I can boss you around to do,” Lil Mikey stammered slightly, wiggling the fingers of his injured arm with a mild gesture to it. He wasn’t going to be cooking on his own anytime soon, and he could understand Donnie being in one of his selective moods. He could still remember the rage that had saturated Donnie’s ninpo as he’d mutilated Augustine’s machines. Even under the protective barrier he'd created, the energy had prickled Lil Mikey’s skin. And the way Donnie had spoken to them made it obvious to Lil Mikey that he had been borderline to breaking down screaming. Honestly Lil Mikey was surprised Donnie was even talking at the moment. “What’s got iron in it?” he asked, pushing the memories from his mind for now and passing the feathered toy to Raph before following Leon on the way back to the kitchen.

“Beef. Red meat, spinach…. Uhhhh, “ Leon was quick to answer at first, but then trailed off before fishing his phone out to search the internet for a reminder. “Eggs, shrimp, sweet potatoes, strawberries, beans….”

“Hmmm… that should be easy enough then- Hey Don,” Lil Mikey hummed, thinking over the options pretty quickly, then greeting Don when he saw him at the table.

“Hey Mikey,” Don returned with a slightly sleepy hum around the mug held close to his mouth. Just sitting there smelling the rich scent of coffee was so relaxing. “How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”

“I’m good! My arm isn’t numb anymore, but it also doesn’t hurt,” Lil Mikey chimed, swinging his arm slightly then wincing as the movement earned a twinge of pain in his upper arm. “Unless I move it too much, heheh,” he corrected sheepishly.

Don could only smile thankfully at the response, knowing that Lil Mikey would still be sore if he moved too much and just glad his arm didn’t hurt when it was still. He also knew he couldn’t expect a teenager to keep an injured limb still for long. “Let me know if anything feels unusual,” Don prompted automatically, then glanced at Leon in a sheepish flinch before apologetically adding. “Sorry, habit. You can still go to your brother if you’re more comfortable that way,” he assured, not wanting Leon to feel inferior or replaced in any way, and addressing him next. “Let me know if you can’t find anything you need in the infirmary.”

“...Sure,” Leon responded simply before focusing more on Lil Mikey.

It was a bit of a surprising response, but after a bit of consideration Don realized it was probably just because Leon was concerned about something. Either that or he wasn’t in need of help that only they could offer so was back to being wary of them. Or perhaps it was something else? Don ended up lost in thought about the sudden shift in behavior as Leon opened the fridge again to follow Lil Mikey’s directions. 

“I think he might eat some steak if we cut it thin enough and keep it plain. Looks like they have spinach too, so we can just make sure that’s washed well,” Lil Mikey mused, looking over what ingredients they had in the fridge and latching onto some of the foods Leon had listed.

“Really? Just bland boring steak and raw veggies?” Leon voiced his doubt despite still grabbing the containers Lil Mikey selected.

“Yeah. It’s still hard to predict what won’t bother him. Usually I just default to his flavorless juice, but since he needs more than that I think keeping it simple and something that’s completely within what he would expect would work,” Lil Mikey hummed, doing his best to help with one hand and snatching the bag of carrots before Leon closed the door.

“What if that doesn’t work?” Leon asked, following Lil Mikey’s direction to snap open the package of beef and start cutting it up. He’d never had to help with this issue before, so hadn’t really paid attention. Lil Mikey cooked for them a lot, but other than that they usually tended to feed themselves. And the last time Lil Mikey had been unable to cook for them both Leon and Donnie had been unable to help either.

“Lock him in the kitchen and he’ll eventually piece on enough things to feed himself,” Lil Mikey responded bluntly, earning a snort from Don that caused Leon to glance over at him after giving his own snort.

“Well that explains a lot,” Leon snickered, letting Lil Mikey locate the frying pan and click on the stove.

It was a simple enough meal that it didn’t take long at all to cook, even with Lil Mikey having only one hand available. Watching the two interact and make easy comments to each other earned a fond gaze from Don as it reminded him of several moments he’d had with his own brothers.

“Are you sure that’s cooked enough?” Leon ended up asking when Lil Mikey told him to take the beef strips off the frying pan.

“We’re making steak, not shoe leather,” Lil Mikey shot back, swatting Leon’s hand away and grabbing the tongs to pull the beef off himself. It really was a very plain meal, but Don wasn’t about to comment on it. They knew their brother way better than he did, so he’d just have to trust them to get Donnie fed.

___

After each taking a turn in the small bathroom, April and Donnie had shuffled back to the bed they had woken up on. Donnie’s wary eyes were constantly flicking around the unfamiliar room, and when he had even the slightest suspicion something might touch him he was all for flinching away from it. Especially anything that hinted it might touch his exposed back. It was obvious he wasn’t comfortable there, but it wasn’t like he could leave and go somewhere to decompress. Which meant he had both hands gripping April’s hand like a lifeline, his form keeping close to her as she tried to match his pace back to the only established safe spot. Sleeping on a bed for fourteen hours was enough to have it categorized as probably safe in his mind. Safe enough that he was quick to scuttle back onto it and shuffle the blanket up around his shoulders to give some sort of cover to his back. And only after a moment of April sitting on the bed in front of him did he register that she was unnecessarily exposed as well. Which prompted him to wordlessly extend one arm, offering her the option to share the minuscule ward that was the blanket.

April could only snicker slightly at the offer, but nevertheless scooted over to tuck in next to Donnie again. She’d honestly thought Donnie would have been ecstatic about being in another dimension. But something was obviously wrong, and he obviously didn’t want to talk about it. April didn’t know what exactly had happened, but the minimal information she had gathered from both Raphael and her own observations made it easy for her to jump to undesired conclusions. There was always a fear of what would happen if certain people got a hold of her brothers. And with Raphael saying they had a run in with a scientist, and Donnie was suffering from blood loss yet had no visibly major wounds, April was fairly confident in her thoughts. As much as she hated to think them.

Feeling a little sullen now, April wrapped her arms around Donnie’s upper arm while she leaned against him. They were quiet as they waited for Leon to return, listening to the quiet hum of the infirmary machines. She could be patient. Her brothers were all together in the same home now. There was nothing immediate to worry about.

Apparently Donnie wasn’t as patient though, for after at most ten minutes he shifted uncomfortably. “...Raph is in the living room,” he announced quietly, somewhat abruptly and without explanation for why it was important.

It caught April off guard for only half a second, but she was somewhat used to this kind of behavior from Donnie and hesitantly proposed an action in response to the comment. “Wanna go join him so he isn’t alone?” Donnie hadn’t mentioned anyone else with Raph, so she could only assume Raph was alone, and that might be bothering Donnie at the moment.

It seemed her assumption was correct enough, for Donnie nodded once and gave her a moment to respond, or at least register the response from him, before he started squirming off the bed again.

Snickering slightly once more, April complied and scooted off the bed as well. Donnie insisted on clinging to her and keeping the blanket over them both though, so they ended up shuffling out of the room in an awkward waddle.

The new lair was unexpectedly quiet as they made their way down the walkways, half remotely directed somewhat by Leon, and half just able to see the living room and Raph once they reached the railing. Donnie wordlessly nudged them along, falling a little more quiet as the room they were in was now more open and had more potential for other people to be there. He seemed determined to join Raph though, almost single mindedly pattering towards his big brother. The closer he got the more a small strain of comfort threaded into his tense form.

Until someone new abruptly threw their arm around his shoulders.

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Well that took freaking forever |D Major holidays are a pain =<= But I guess cutting off all caffeine to try and fix insomnia issues, and then stopping a mood med because I found out it reacts with the stomach meds probably didn't help either.

Anyway X'D I'm really glad you guys like Pepperjack and Onion Ring. It took me like 5 days to think of their names X'D Hopefully Pepper looks okay, drawing animals is always an effort for me, I'm so inexperienced |'D

I can't remember anything else I may have wanted to ramble, so enjoy =3=

[starberry-cupcake]

I have made up from last time that was about only one chapter, this time we have 5 in a row. We finished act one, fam!

previously, in harrowbean the ninth:

this happened

I want to also thank you for all your nice comments and replies, I read every single one, I promise ♥

ch. 7 to 11 summarized terribly, here we go:

it's time to cross the river

difficult task to perform

as someone who lives literally surrounded by rivers, in every direction, I can relate

my rivers don't carry ghouls though, as far as I know

I mean, there are ghost and cryptid legends, but not ghouls that stick to the windshield of a spaceship like bugs

like these ones do

so harrow and yandere twin aren't doing fantastic

yandere twin loses it in like the first 2 seconds

harrow sees the ghosts of all the ninth kids who died for her to be alive

there's water also, but that part sounds very relaxing, actually

getting covered by water but not needing to breath

I'd be there forever tbh

but we can't, because ghoulies

mercygirl is still doing sound effects like kronk

btw we're changing her name to mercygirl because it's what I've been calling her now

I have been told by a number of you that mercygirl is your camilla so I apologize for disrespecting your blorbina

I might do it again, if the situation arises, though

mercygirl is piloting the ship and emperor the fool is just chillin' until he realizes harrow is walking about and doing theorems, which they didn't think she'd be in a state to do, so they didn't tell her not to do it

these people half-assing plans, who would have thought

mercygirl calls the emperor john

emperor johnnyboy tries telling harrow to come back from her state because she's in too deep and it's becoming dangerous

mercygirl stars talking about the death of cassiopeia (another name that's easy to remember)

says cassiopeia had a ceramics collection, which makes her worthy of all my respect

harrow was thinking "five", idk what it's about

next thing we know, we're back to our gideonless retelling of gideon

in this version, teacher explains things

he says the house was inhabited previously by "ten normal human beings of the Resurrection, though half were blessed already with necromantic gifts"

I'm tired of MATH

he says they left blueprints, he tells them about the Sleeper, he tells them how not to awaken it, he tells them about the trap door, he tells them what's under the trap door, he asks them to work together...

you know what this is like

it's like reading gideon was entering a new game and skipping every tutorial they give you

and reading this is like clicking every NPC's info and reading all that they say

ANYWAY, here is where ortus 1...

wait, this is going to be confusing

I want to call ortus from the ninth "ortus 1" and the new guy "ortus 2"

because ninth ortus was the first to show up

but new ortus is actually older and also is ortus the first

we're gonna go with ortus and lyctor!ortus, for now

so, as I was saying, this is were ortus starts becoming much more insistent in these "flashbacks" about him not being the right choice

which, he's not wrong

we know he's not wrong

and harrow is saying stuff like "unless you can summon matthias nonius" (matthias nonius is becoming a recurrent thing, let's remember harrow compared gideon to him at one point)

and ortus goes "I don't understand why you chose me" to which harrow says "there was nobody else" and ortus exasperatedly says "you never did posses an imagination"

VERY IMPORTANT THING

a skeleton turns around when they're walking and says "is this how it happens?"

we'll come back to that shortly

REMEMBER IT

(I know you all remember it, you've read this already, just act like I'm dora the explorer and play along)

next chapter starts in not!dulcinea's funeral

I'm sad I used the oliver queen grave meme already, I can't use it again to express my feelings

I'm gonna use the steel magnolias scene where they laugh at the funeral instead

so, we are introduced to the famous augustine who's name I will remember

there's some conversation about first and second generations and about not!dulcinea being chosen, and Emperor Johnny Bravo says "we were all there to meet her, all sixteen of us"

MORE MATH

I guess she was the last one of these, but maybe we knew that already, I feel we knew that already

apparently, not!dulcinea was the most reluctant to slurp her cavalier, but that didn't stop any of them, not even her, so

Emperor Johnny Quest says "for god's sake" and harrow thinks "the god who became a man and yet still invoked himself, apparently"

when she's right, she's right

that's better commentary than I could make

I have to respect augustine a little bit because he asked "which one of the kiddies did her in?" and I thought that was hilarious

he is called the saint of patience, which makes my previous comment about them being named via sarcasm very correct

it's like captain planet or the power rangers but chosen as funnily as possible

they start summoning lyctor!ortus by saying that he's interested in "you-know-what", which is both suspicious and childish and the vibes of these lyctors are all over the place

augustine thinks something's wrong, which is an understatement at this point, but ok

lyctor!ortus comes in as if summoned by the gossip and harrow calls him "the next terrible part of your life" which is saying something

lyctor!ortus comes with news of the seventh beast or whatnot that's trailing them

harrow bleeds from her ears and smashes her head on the next available surface to pass out

the mood

who could blame her

this lyctor job is terrible

it's like the end of drop dead gorgeous and harrow is kristen dunst

I'm not explaining that, in case you haven't watched a classic

we are back to the "flashbacks" and we've got a special appearance from the fifth

*studio audience claps and cheers*

they say they prefer to look into books than going downstairs, which is something one would consider if one had known what the fuck was downstairs from the start

abigail also does sound effects like mercygirl, it's catching on

abigail finds a piece of a recipe note that mentions an M and a Nigella

still no G&P

we know nigella is the cav of cassiopeia, the ceramics collector

I remember nigella's name because of the cook, which makes it funnier that it's a recipe

M could be mercygirl

abigail also gives harrow a note

abigail says that she'd like to summon the ghost of a lyctor but she's not sure how that could work or where they go when they die

ortus, magnus and abigail, in this gideonless version, are a polycule

I am convinced of that

while they're talking, magnus says "is this really how it happens?"

REMEMBER I SAID WE'D BRING THAT BACK

IT'S BACK

abigail starts telling harrow that she's got the energy of a lot of dead kids in her and harrow storms out

harrow gets angry when ortus calmly agrees about things and she doesn't want to look into why

I WONDER WHY THAT IS

harrow looks at abby's note again and now there's text on it

it's a longer version of the note she found before

it's a rant

it mentions dead eggs, implantation, some guy being sent after the OP, said guy taking pity on OP

OP is mad about all of this and doesn't use punctuation

what ortus reads isn't what harrow reads, once again

NOW THIS BIT

"ortus, I need a cavalier with a backbone" "You always did and I am glad, I think, that I never became that cavalier"

the gideon points keep adding up

harrow then goes to sleep and is like this

final thing in act I, in chapter 11, is harrowbean stabbing not!dulcinea again, which

always make sure, it's like resident evil in here

just in case, let's stab her a bunch of times

so, are these "flashbacks" happening in real time whenever harrow isn't conscious?

is it her trying to remember what actually happened?

or is it her trying to hide it?

was there actually a longer period of time between the defeat of not!dulcinea and the emperor Jon Arbuckle coming to pick them up?

a period of time in which harrow learned things that made her write those letters?

and in which something happened regarding gideon?

is the note of the implantation also related?

why was gideon born in space?

of course I'm not asking you, please don't spoil anything, I'm just asking the void of desperation and chaos right now

we'll see if any of this gets answered soon or if I just get more questions

also, guess who wasn't mentioned

see you on the next one!! I'll try to get back to the awesome replies I've been getting soon ♥

[summer-serendipity]

No matter how many times he tries to avoid it, McCoy always ends up coming back to the beach.

It’s something about the ocean, especially on a windy day. How the wind makes the waves thrash about against the rocks, and how the water becomes completely freezing, harsh and unwelcoming. So much unlike what it was during a sunny day.

That’s how he felt too, sometimes. He considered himself a good person— or at least he was definitely trying to be. But on some days, he noticed himself becoming more violent; easy to anger. But that’s everything he goes against, right? He hates people like that. So why is he…?

He’s becoming exactly like how he used to be.

He sighs. He should really get going, but the ocean just keeps calling to him. He wants to stay there forever, with his legs half submerged in the cold ocean. But that’s really not possible, not when he has like four other things he needs to get to.

…Four other friends he needs to speak to. He sighs again.

Just as he turns around to leave, he sees a figure not too far away. A young adult with a camera, seemingly taking photos of the sea. Huh.

He remembers how Carmen liked to take photos of the group sometimes. How she suggested she would bring her camera on that trip they were planning awhile back.

…The same trip he bailed on.

❝ Oi, kid! Are you taking photos over there? Can I see? ❞

He decides to call out to him. No harm done, right? I mean, why else would you be wandering around a beach with a camera if not to take photos of people?

…That sounded weirder than he meant it to.

( @gone-with-the-sea-breeze )

"GAUH—!"

[ Somehow, consistently, he found himself snapped out of his constant daydreaming by someone new. All the time, he's stuck thinking of something new—anything to keep his more terrible thoughts from plaguing him. ]

[ He stumbled over himself, panicking, holding his camera, successfully nearly tripping on sand like a fool. ]

[ How embarrassing. He thought for a bit, wondering where the voice came from before he looked up from his camera to find a silver haired man. ]

[ The man sounded curious about his photos, but Augustine felt that maybe he was more curious about him as a person. He didn't dislike the thought but he pushed away the possibility. ]

"... u-uuh... y... yeah? I... I... I'm taking some photos...... the light is super good right now, and I don't plan on wasting it."

[ He sounded very cheesy somehow. ]

[torukmaktoskxawng]

can u make a enemies to lovers with neteyam or jake? x fem!reader? xx!!

(Gifs not mine)

Pairing: Jake Sully/fem!reader

Summary: Y/n doesn't like being outranked by Corporal Jake Sully, and Jake doesn't like Corporal Y/n's attitude. This rivalry eventually stretches past their human existence.

Warnings: Military attitude, one-way thinking, implied brutal death, enemies to tolerated allies to lovers, alien prejudice/racism? (that one's a little tough to word I guess), swearing, etc.

Word Count: 2k+

A/N: Thank you for your patience, and sorry it took so long!

Also, Jake and Neytiri don't end up getting together and having kids in this one. I couldn't bear to do my Mama dirty like that.

~~~~~~~~~

Corporal Y/n L/n was many things. Tough, capable, determined, and loyal. The RDA was lucky to have her... at least that's what she tells people. No task was impossible and no mission was too dangerous. Y/n followed her orders down to a tee, so you could imagine the anger she felt when her loyalty was shoved aside in exchange for wheelchair-bound Corporal Jake Sully.

There's no such thing as an ex-marine, and yet Y/n has never met the next closest thing until she met Jake. Honorably discharged after the loss of his legs in Venezuela, Jake was only in Pandora for the sake of the RDA not having to waste millions of dollars on an avatar whose rider, Jake's twin, is dead. Technically, Jake shouldn't have been mingling with the war dogs at Hell's Gate and should've stuck to the scientists. But Selfridge and Quaritch had other plans and had asked Jake to go undercover as their eyes and ears among the Na'vi.

Y/n didn't think Jake deserved all the credit he had been given after he managed to insert himself with the Omatikaya, and she voiced her opinion to him, "What'd you have to do? Bat your cat eyes at them?"

Jake knew when he was being mocked, clenching his jaw and narrowing his eyes back at her, "They accepted me after I told them I was a warrior from a neighboring clan."

"Seriously? What clan?"

He had the gall to look bashful in front of her, the tips of his ears turning pink while muttering under his breath, "The Jarhead Clan?"

She laughed in disbelief and likely disgust, "Are you kidding me? 'They fell for that? If it's that easy, maybe Quaritch doesn't need you after all. I bet we could just walk in there claiming we're all from the Jarhead Clan."

"They're smarter than they look, and I don't see you volunteering yourself to communicate with them." The marine sassed back, his attitude getting the better of him.

"They're not worth my time," Y/n shrugged, nonchalantly, "They're clearly not smart enough to handle me if they ate up your punk ass lies."

"You don't exactly have anything better to do. Other than complaining, I guess."

She snaps her attention back to the man in the wheelchair, eyes glaring into his soul. It wasn't every day someone had the guts to match Y/n's cold exterior, and she didn't appreciate being badmouthed by the rookie who just got a lucky shot of working the same rank as her, "Watch yourself, Sully."

He smiled, the bastard, turning his chair in the direction he wanted to go, wheeling away, "I gotta head out. Unlike some folk, I actually have a mission to accomplish."

~~~

The scientists were moving out. Apparently, Dr. Augustine was spooked at the idea of Parker breathing down the neck of her operation so she's bringing her avatar team up to Site 26 in the mountains, Sully included.

Y/n was strutting down the hall and happened to catch Jake after he left the control room to let Quaritch know what was going on. She noticed a suspicious-looking smile on the marine's face and something didn't sit right with her at the sight of it. Without much thought, she held her foot out and it abruptly stops the wheelchair in its tracks. Jake peered up at her, his smile quickly fading when he realized who it was, his jaw tightening.

"You're smiling." She stated her observation out loud, gracing him with a frown to match, "It's not a good look, much less a normal look for you. Just remember whose side you're on, Sully."

How could she have possibly known what he might be thinking? She couldn't have known he was smiling at the thought of getting away, wanting to forget all about this place in exchange for seeing this world through the eyes of Neytiri.

No. There's no way she could know that. As suspicious as Y/n was, she was blind to everything Jake has experienced out there. He leans close, staring up at her with those hard, daring eyes, "I do. My side."

~~~

It bothered Y/n to learn Jake had betrayed them. Did she expect it? Obviously. So it bothered her all the more that she expected it. She could have prevented this by stopping Jake from leaving or reporting him to Quaritch, so why did she let him go?

She decides that she can fix this mistake by helping blow up Hometree and further help in the battle waiting for them in the Hallelujah Mountains.

Did she feel regret watching the magnificent tree crash down, likely killing hundreds of Na'vi in the process? Only for a moment, her mindset now on her orders to return back to Hell's Gate. Best foot forward, she manned the gun as they flew to the Tree of Souls, only to be ambushed by the Na'vi, astride direhorses, and ikran. Y/n didn't feel regret gunning down as many as she could after watching the bastards kill her friends and acquaintances, people she worked with for years and formed bonds with living on a moon so far away from home.

She was thrown from her gunship, however, before she could fully enact her revenge. As she fell to her death, she watched the battle going on above her. She watched her gunship being tossed around by the devil itself, the Great Leonopteryx, larger than any ikran she had ever seen. The beast and its rider, Toruk Makto himself, smashed Y/n's gunship against the side of one of the floating mountains, and she's forced to watch it explode in debris and flame. Her heart drops, however, when the blades of the ship came spiraling through the air and toward her falling form.

That was the last thing she remembered before everything went black.

~~~

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER...

Instead of black, she's blinded by an overly bright hospital light. Only, Y/n wasn't in a hospital and she felt like she was lying on top of a stainless steel dissection table. Disorientated and sore, Y/n focused on the voice of the doctors (were they doctors?) surrounding her field of vision. They instruct her to take it easy and flex her fingers. When she lifts her hand to do so, she's suddenly wide awake and self-aware.

Her hand was blue.

~~~

Following her resurrection came the other Recoms of Project Phoenix. Z-Dog and Wainfleet were next, then Ja, Brown, Fike, Lopez, Prager, Walker, Warren, Mansk, and Zhang. Most of them she knew back at Hell's Gate, or at the very least was acquainted with them. Finally, Quaritch came to and Y/n couldn't lie how entertaining it was to watch the colonel wake up and immediately kick in his fight or flight mode. It didn't help that Lyle thought it would be a great idea to greet Quaritch with his new ugly avatar mug. Later on, Wainfleet admitted that he already forgot about his new body and didn't think how the colonel would react, and in response, Y/n laughed and called him an idiot.

~~~

Their temporary resurrection and reunion were cut short when they arrived back on Pandora. Quaritch gets them to work immediately after receiving his orders from Ardmore and the Recoms are sent out into the wild to test out and see if the moon would react to their presence. So far, they hadn't triggered any immune response. No animal attacked them and the plant life kept still. The new and improved avatars track down the old shack where Quaritch breathed his last breaths, locating his remains and extracting the old footage from the AMP suit.

What they didn't expect to find there was a human boy, running around, acting like one of the Na'vi, apart from his breathing mask and exo-pack. He was about sixteen and clearly someone who had been left behind in the initial evacuation when the humans were driven off Pandora. When they captured him, he introduced himself as Spider Socorro, none other than Paz and Quaritch's son. But Spider wasn't very adamant at the idea of the colonel standing over him being his sperm donor.

"You're not my father! My Dad is Toruk Makto! He's on his way to save me! He knows I'm here, and he's going to kill every single one of you!"

That bit of information only enraged Quaritch even further, and Y/n couldn't exactly blame him. First, Jake betrayed his own kind, killed many humans, forced them to go home with tails tucked between their legs, and now he's raised Quaritch's son up and brainwashed him to be an animal.

The Recoms take Spider's threat to heart and secure him, keeping him tied up in the center of their circle as they wait for Ardmore to come and pick them up. It was dark and it had started to rain. They kept their backs to each other and kept their eyes peeled on the jungle line. And yet, they never saw him coming.

It was all a blur. Due to the darkness and the rain, Y/n was one second too late to realize that she had been separated from the group as the Recoms were getting picked off, one by one. There was the familiar sound of a grenade launcher being triggered before Y/n had the time to dive down and cover herself to the best of her ability. The explosion goes off somewhere nearby and her ears begin to ring, debris of dirt sprinkling down on top of her. The shouts from her team slowly die away, following the sound of Ardmore's ship picking them up. She tries catching her breath, her mind not yet realizing what had happened just as hands began to grab at her shoulders, her instincts driving her to fight or flight mode.

She kicks them away and scrambles to put a distance between herself and the stranger, lifting her AR in her arms and pointing in their direction. In front of her stood a tall Na'vi man, only he had the traits of an avatar-- a very familiar avatar.

The snarl she let out wasn't as human as she was used to. It was more feral and she tried not to let it surprise her, "Shit. Sully."

Jake Sully's eyebrows furrow at the voice, eyes frantically scanning her form. Definitely an avatar but dressed in camo and currently pointing an AR at his face. The voice sounded strangely familiar, but it wasn't until he noticed the name patch on her bulletproof vest did his eyes widen in recognition. He peered back up at her eyes, tilting his head, "L/n?"

She cursed again, rage pooling through her eyes as she gnashed her sharp teeth at him, "Traitor!"

Y/n goes to pull the trigger, but something from behind had clubbed her in the crook of her leg, forcing the limb to give in and collapse against her will. She shouts and the trigger slips, the gunfire missing Jake by an inch as he barrels forward when the moment of opportunity strikes. He wrestles the rifle out of Y/n's hands and pushes her to the ground, using the orange slap-cuffs she possessed and using them against her, restraining her hands behind her back. Y/n snarls and hisses like a wild animal caught in a trap, her ears and tail lashing violently as she's forced face down into the mud, the whole front side of her wet and cold with the rainfall still pouring like nobody's business. With her head tilted off to the side, she realized her attacker was none other than Spider with a large branch still heavy in his hands. With his captive secure, Jake stood up and stepped toward the human boy, kneeling down to meet his height and checking him over for injuries or cracks in his mask.

"You alright, kiddo?"

"Yeah," Spider breathes, smiling faintly when Jake gently knocks his knuckles against the glass of his mask affectionately. 

"Good. Let's get you home. Your sister's probably worried sick."

That was news to Y/n. From what she understood, Quaritch and Paz only had Spider, unless the colonel was getting around. Looking back, Paz could have cozied up to others, but from the few encounters Y/n had with her, she didn't seem like the type. Socorro was high maintenance. 

Still left on the cold, wet ground, Y/n continued to struggle until Sully remembered that she was there, and the bastard had the gall to smile down at her while patting Spider's shoulder proudly, "Well, son... not bad for your first catch."

"Go to Hell!" She screeched back. This had gotta be the worst night of her life.

~~~~~~~~~

Part 2? Lemme know!

Have your own request? Click here for the rules! If you wanna see more of my works, click here for the masterlist. Thank you!

[anangelwhodidntfall]

A Whole New Word: Part I

A Whole New World Masterlist 

word count: 1.3k

description: Y/n a former teacher from earth arrive on pandora after receiving a phone call from her best friend Jake Sully inviting you to come take over Grace Augustine's school. After arriving to Pandora and working with her avatar for a few weeks and studying the environment and people. Jake invites her to camp but on the way there, she ends up twisting her ankle and meeting the famous warrior Tsu’tey.

taglist:  @inutheangel @moonchildxoxx​

if you liked this, please let me know. if you didn’t like this, let me know as well. and a big kiss and heartfelt thank you for those of you who always reblog, comment and like my writing. that keeps me going, my besties 💕

Next Part​

You were woken up out of a six-year sleep where they ran you through some tests, before briefing you on what would be happening now that you were here. More often than not, you found yourself admiring the beauty of the world around you.

"Welcome y/n, we are so happy to have you here with us." Norm and Max said shaking your hands.

"Hi guys, thank you so much for allowing me to come." You said to them.

"So this is where we link up for our avatars and this is your avatar." They said showing you your avatar.

"She's beautiful." You said looking at her.

"Just like you." Jake said making you turn and look at him with a smile.

"Giant!" You said with a smile as he picked up and hugged you.

"Short stack, oh how I've missed you." He said hugging you before placing you on the ground.

"I've missed you more, thank you for thinking of bringing me out here." You said to him.

"Of course! I wouldn't want anyone else here with me." He said to you.

For the next few weeks, you were constantly going through training with your body and getting used to it while also studying the planet, the people, and everything. It was all so fascinating to learn about. Currently, you were going through another test with Norm and Jake, who also felt like quizzing you about everything you had been studying.

"Y/n you are doing so good, I think that you should be able to go out on your own without supervision and being monitored." Norm said.

"Really?" You asked with a smile.

"Yeah, you've shown great progress with your body and your learning." He said.

"You know what that means kid, you can finally come to the village!" Jake said with a huge smile.

Today was the day you were finally able to come into the village, you had told Jake that you would meet him there feeling comfortable enough to walk there with the communication device he gave you. You were walking around admiring the beautiful scenery around you, with a smile not paying attention until went face-first into the ground making you groan.

Tsu'tey was doing his usual border patrols for unwanted guests when he heard the sound of a female voice, making him even more alert as he went to find the source of the sound.

"Ow!" You said sitting up and touching your ankle.

Tsu'tey stopped when he found the girl sitting on the ground, the more he analyzed her the more he saw that she wasn't true Na'vi but instead of Dreamwalker which made him even more alert.

"Easy kill." Tsu'tey thought lining his arrow up preparing to kill you.

You were looking to see where my communication device went, when I looked up and saw Na'vi with their arrow pointed at me.

"Demon! What are you doing here?" He asked harshly.

"Please don't kill me! I'm a friend of Jake's." You said to him with my hands held up to show that you meant no harm.

Tsu'tey looked at the woman before him and took notice of her unarmed self meaning she couldn't possibly pose a threat, but still, he wondered what kind of friend she was to Jake.

"What kind of friend?" He asked you.

"The good kind, he invited me here to possibly take over Dr. Augstine's old school and become a teacher." You said as he lowered his bow.

"I will take you camp where Jake will verify if what you say is true and if not I won't hesitate to kill, do you understand?"  He said harshly.

"Yes." You said to him as he offered you a hand.

You grabbed your stuff and took his hand and tried to stand up only when you put pressure on your foot, you were met with an intense amount of pain, making you hiss as he looked at you confused.

"Are you hurt?" He asked concerned.

"Yes, I think when I fell earlier I twisted my ankle, and it hurts to put any pressure on it." You said looking at him.

"Let me call my pa'li, and we can ride back to camp, that way you don't injure yourself more." He said to you as he called his pa'li over.

"Your pa'li is beautiful."You said to him as he helped up onto it.

He looked almost shocked that you knew that and how good your Na'vi sounded for a dream walker. They rode back to camp not really speaking, and you took notice of how everyone started gathering around them making your anxiety spike as he helped you down of his pa'li and carried me to the healer's tent to get looked at.

"No way, you got hurt on your first time here." Jake said with a laugh as he walked into the tent.

"Shut up I was distracted by the scenery and tripped." You said as the shaman worked on your ankle.

"I know it's beautiful, isn't it? But I'm glad you're here." He said hugging you.

"Jake Sully, you know this woman?" Tsu'tey said interrupting your moment with Jake.

"Yes I do, this is y/n. She is the one I've been talking about coming and taking over the school. Did something happen?" He asked looking between you and Tsu'tey.

"He tried to kill me and then threaten to kill me if he found out I was lying." You said to Jake.

"Yeah, he's kinda intense. Tsu'tey this is my fault, I should've gone and got her, but believe me she is an ally to us." He said as Tsu'tey nodded his head.

"Forgive me for my actions, I hope you can understand the worry and need of concern after what has happened to my people." He said to you.

"It's alright I understand. Thank you for your help today." You said to him.

"Alright, my dear, you have a sprained ankle. I believe you will heal up just fine, as long as you stay off of it for the next few days. I will come by your hut tonight with some medicine to help with the pain." She said.

"Thank you shaman." You said to her before she left.

"Hut? What did she mean by hut?" You asked them after she left.

"It means we had a hut prepared for you once I told the clan about you agreeing to come here and help them." Jake said.

"Come, we will show it to you." Tsu'tey said gently picking you up in his arms shocking both you and Jake.

You guys walked a little bit until you reached this beautiful hut that was clearly crafted with so much time and detail. You guys gently walked in where Tsu'tey gently placed you on your bed while propping your hurt ankle up.

"Thank you." You said as he nodded his head.

"So what do you think?" Jake asked placing your bag on the table.

"It looks amazing, whoever built this clearly has an eye for detail and the craftsmanship is so lovely." You said running your hand across the table.

Tsu'tey smiled at your praise, he was the one who had been tasked with building your home and wanted to make your stay here in the clan enjoyable so he made sure it was built to the most perfection.

"We should let her get some rest, we will be back in the morning to check on you." Jake said.

"Thank you both for all your help." You said to them.

You fell asleep thinking about what life was going to be like in the clan especially with Tsu'tey hanging around, you had to admit that he had scared you when you first laid eyes on him but now you had to admit that he was growing on you.

Tsu'tey made his way into his own home that night still trying to process the events of the day, especially running into you. He had to admit that you were beautiful and seemed very intelligent for a dream walker he couldn't wait to learn more about you.

[liesmyth]

Your last rb on the John Gaius post how much John is the OPPOSITE of what that reblogger implied. Because like - we rag on him for not using his magical girl powers for C--'s "Good Wizardry", but it's specifically because he *doesn't* want to rely on a new untested "technology". He tries to incorporate it into the old project, make it better, make people trust it and give him money. Slow down the people who are trying to actually do the "promising new technology" bit without proof of concept.

It's "We all came up with trials to figure out what I could do, what I couldn’t do" vs

"...they were taking one discovery and acting like it changed the whole ballgame when really we now needed ten years of funding to discover whether it was any use, i.e., academia functioning as normal."

And I think that's neat, actually.

[post for context]

Ok actually #discourse aside, I think a lot about how John WAS a scientist, and that was the approach he used in his cryo project, and that was ALSO the approach he used when he started displaying magic powers. He tried to do experiments. He tried to make up scientific terms. He tried to write papers.

And nobody would listen and then he had to cosplay a wizard on youtube.

I think about that SO MUCH. Like... I think John never had a high opinion of the "cultists." He's obviously annoyed that one of the first guys who gave them attention was a flat earther. He only started calling himself a necromancer so that people would listen. It was a last resort and personally, I think he wasn't keen on it.

Like... I think John, an educated scientist who has successfully pioneered a potentially revolutionary new technology (the cryo project, not the magic!) AND is also an indigenous man of colour, might have felt some kinda way about putting on a cape and eyeliner and recruiting a gullible cult of followers because he wasn't being taken seriously in ~intellectual circles. I know we make jokes aboout God being a twitch streamer - Taz put that in for a reason! I think it's funny, I think the cult aesthetic is fun, I think the pre-Res gang HAD fun with it, eventually. But I also think that there's a lot to unpack about John going from the lead research on a project that had serious corporate and government backing ("We cannot keep diverting three percent of the country’s electricity to your vats") to putting on a cape for the memes.

Also! You're absolutely right that the FTL fleet IS "the special technology that shows no promise." John, Mercy AND Augustine all it as hooky because it's SO new that it can scale up to what they need, if it even works as advertised. I'm very curious if / how / on which scale it was tested, and I think Augustine was right to suspect that the FTL propulsion was just an initial kick and the fleet was gonna generation-ship it and never come back.

Also speaking of people wanting an "immediate fix" - John also explicitly brings up that some of the cryo project backers nagged at him because they though an imperfect technology was good enough but the team thought the chance of damage was too high, and worked to reduce it.

Like, the whole point of the cryo project is that it worked, but it wasn't an easy fix, it required literally global cooperation, and there was no priority access for first-class passengers.

I am once again pointing a huge neon sign in John's direction that says HE ATE THE SUN!! That's plenty enough! We don't have to directly contradict canon to sue him for ethics breaches.

[star-girl69]

Keep Me Ablaze

Jake Sully x Neytiri x Fem!Reader

—-

a/n: i don’t think you guys are gonna like this but i hope you all enjoy anyways!!

Chapter Twenty- To Die For

—-

“Aunt Grace?”

Your voice is small, right at the end of her bed, but some instinctual part of Grace that has adapted and evolved to fit you will always hear you.

She rubs the sleep out of her mind, let’s her mind wander to the worst, but when she sits up there’s no blood to be found anywhere on you.

“Oh,” she breathes, feeling slightly better. She cannot handle losing you too. “What’s wrong, baby? Can you not sleep?”

She hopes it’s just something like that, so she can just wrap you in her arms and drift back off to sleep. But you look so small at the end of her bed, stuffed animal tucked to your chest, eyes downcast. She knows it is not just that, and her heart hurts, she has never wanted you to feel anything other than happy.

“C’mere,” she urges, holding her hands out, and it takes you a moment but you walk over. She picks you up, helps you sit on the bed. “What’s wrong, baby?”

You let out a soft sound that starts like a cry, and Grace has never wished more for her sister to be here.

“Aunt Grace, why don’t I have a Mom?”

She thought she had a few more years until you asked, more time to mourn, more time to figure out what to say. She doesn’t know what to say, not know. How is she supposed to tell you something like this?

It’s almost like the two of you have been living in a glass cage, and she is taking a mallet to it.

“Why don’t I have a Dad?” you continue, eyes wide and fixed on her face, shiny with tears in the light from the moon that slips through the window.

“Oh, baby…” she whispers. She feels nothing like the woman she knows she is. She feels nothing like a guardian to you, an aunt, someone to love you. “You do have a Mom and Dad.”

“I do?” you are just a child.

She puts her hand on the side of her face. “Yes.”

“Where are they?” you are just a child.

She hates this world for being so cruel, she hates the world for taking so much from before you even knew what they meant to you.

“They’re… not here,” is the best she can come up with. She almost can’t be the one to tell you they’re dead. “You’ll see them, one day.”

“A small time?” you ask hopefully, those bright and curious Augustine eyes staring right at Grace. “Or a big time?”

She rubs her thumb over your cheek.

She can’t break it to you, she can’t be the one to break you.

“You’ll see them, one day,” she says.

—-

“One three,” Grace says, wrapping her arms around Jake’s legs.

You tentatively place your hands under his back, feeling like you’re betraying The People as well, like you’re just as bad as him.

“One,” Norm starts, “two, three!” he grunts, and the three of you manage to get Jake into the helicopter.

You take a deep breath, reach for his wheelchair, but Grace grabs it before you can. The gunshots start. You flinch, but you’re used to the noise by now. They’re not quite near you, not at this position.

“Get on!” she shouts over the whirring of the helicopter blades, ready to take off and take you far away from here. It’s easy to leave Hell’s Gate, this place was never a home for you.

You look Grace up and down, but she is already picking the wheelchair up, so you turn. You crawl on, towards the bench in the middle, panting from the running and the thrill. Adrenaline pumps in your veins like a second supply of blood, making you feel so alive and on top of the world.

In this moment, with the gunshots ringing in your ears, the sound of the helicopter blades becoming everything, cool metal under your palms as you steady yourself against the bench, wind whipping around, a thousand colors bursting behind your eyelids- you have never felt more alive.

“Grab my hand!” Norm shouts, and you open your eyes to find him tugging her on. “Come on, we’re in. Let’s go!” he shouts to Trudy, and you start to lift off the ground.

The realization comes fast and quick, like a strike of lightening. The sides are open wide, and with the way the helicopter is turning, where you are, where the bullets are coming from- they’ll hit you unless you duck.

You mean to do it, you really do, the world is just all too much and too loud and your adrenaline is fading and you can barely think-

“Y/N!” someone shouts, before a body slams over top you. You groan as your head hits the metal bench, but something like the forest fills your nose, even though you’re still at the base.

The base smells of metal and humans, not like the forest. That smell has been burned out of the air, here.

But it’s the forest overtop you, covering you like a blanket.

The gunshots stop for a moment, and the helicopter finally finishes its turn, now moving straight away from the base.

“Are you okay?” a voice asks, a hand brushing back your hair, rough, a warrior’s touch. But the motion is still soft, it’s simply the pads of his fingers that are textured and wrinkled. “Are you hurt? Baby? You ok?”

When your open your eyes, Jake is on top of you, but he pulls back his hand, using it to help himself sit up straight.

You burn with and without his touch.

You tell yourself it’s just the memory, but you know a part of him is forever burning inside of you.

It’s like you can never escape him, and this is all so normal, and it all comes rushing back.

You push against his chest, and he lets you, eyes roaming over your body to see if you’re hurt.

“I can take care of myself,” you spit. He chuckles to himself, staring at your thigh and smiling, tongue touching his canine tooth. When he looks up, you can’t stop looking at him.

“Never hurts to have some extra help, sweetheart.”

You pull in your bottom lip and sneer at him. “I don’t need your help. I don’t,” you say, but your voice holds an undercurrent of something you wish wasn’t there. Doubt. Love.

“Well it sure looked like it.” Everyone else is shouting and laughing, celebrating the victory, but your entire world narrows down to him and you. To this moment.

“I don’t need you,” you hiss.

“Doesn’t matter,” he shrugs, staring at you hard for one more second, eyes like a fire on yours, until he turns away. “Would still die for you, even if you hate me.”

I do, you want to say. I hate you. You betrayed me, betrayed Neytiri.

But you don’t. Because he saved your life, and you love him even after all of this.

You swallow quick, slide your hand along the metal.

You watch as the tip of your middle finger touches his pinky, and then you watch as he places his pinky over the ends of your fingers. When you don’t move away, because in this moment you really don’t think you can, his hand slides into yours like it was made for him to be there.

“I hate you,” you whisper, as the both of your stare at your entwined hands.

He laughs. “I love you.”

Suddenly, Grace’s groan cuts through the air, taking your eyes away from your hands and towards her.

“This is gonna ruin my whole day,” she chuckles, and when your eyes meet hers, they’re wide, in fear, in love, you don’t know.

She looks down to her stomach, and you follow her gaze, see the blood spurting out from behind her hand.

It’s like a blooming flower, you think, before your throat forms a sob and tears stream down your face.

—-

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[augustinetwo]

🦇 Long Cold Front Analysis Incoming ᝰ.ᐟ 🦇

(Under the cut for convenience!!)

What I find so great about Cold Front is how easy it is to get attached to Augustine and Winnie. They feel so real, despite being relatively simple characters in a simple story. When you play it, you can mostly guess what's going to happen, but it didn't pull at my heartstrings any less. So, what about them makes them so relatable?

Both Augustine and Winnie are experiencing the bittersweet process of growing up and maturing. Coming of age is something that everyone goes through, no matter how they cope with it. The two of them both exhibit more juvenile traits and mindests, while still feeling more mature and not exactly childish. A lot of people in their late teens and early twenties, maybe even later on, might feel like they're in the body of an adult with the mind of a child.

The two of them want to move on from their childhood, to grow and overcome these things, but in a way, they are still clinging onto their past. They're eternally tied together, because they've been the center of each other's lives for years, and when you're close with someone at those ages for such a long span of time, they become a part of you. (Maybe even so much so that you share a dreamlike coma of sorts.)

Augustine was originally an outgoing, rambunctious kid who was rather extroverted and extremely blunt. His boisterous and upfront personality gained him many friends when younger, mostly since that's how most kids are. But, over time, his spark dulled, and he became bitter. Jealous.

He's a hypocrite. He knows that, and he hates it, but still, he can't seem to help it. Augustine spirals into a swirling mess of self hatred and dissatisfaction. He grows to destest himself and Winnie, because Winnie is everything he wants to be. Yet, at the same time, Winnie nearly embodies everything his past self was, and longed to be. It sickens him to see Winnie basically become what he sees as himself. And yet, he also sees himself as disgusting and is never content with what he's like.

Shadow Winnie, or whatever it's called, is just a manifestation of Augustine's insecurities. It just relays to him what he thinks of himself. Winnie doesn't even remotely hold any of those sentiments, but because Augustine thinks of himself like that, he assumes Winnie does, too. Because he assumes that everyone thinks he's worthless and pathetic, since compared to Winnie, he's "nothing."

His barrier to growing into an adult mindset is to stop assuming what others think of him, a mindest he introduced Winnie to as a child, ironically. I'm not saying that isn't difficult, because it definitely is. Humbling and dragging yourself out of a pit of self hatred is probably one of the most difficlt things you could do.

By the end, we can see that Augustine has grown and matured since he still admires Winnie but doesn't put himself down at all despite that. Not only that, but he's reopening himself to his old qualities, especially bluntness (as in being open about his feelings) and a more cheery attitude. He obviously has things he still needs to work on, but he's trying and getting his way out of that hole, slowly but surely.

Winnie, it seems, is kind of understood by a majority of the CF fandom ... He might seem to be the more outwardly "childish" one, or the one who's better off, but he and Augustine are in a relatively similar mental state. Winnie has trouble understanding boundaries and feelings in general, it seems. More as in, he can understand the feelings internally, but he can't exactly outwardly express it well. (Maybe because he's pretty blunt and direct.) This doesn't, however, mean he doesn't know what's going on. In fact, he seems to have a feeling that something is wrong, but since he doesn't know for sure that the incident was the root of the problem or exactly what Augustine is feeling/thinking, he doesn't bring it up.

What Winnie fears most is losing Augustine. Augustine was originally the one who drew him out of a spiral, so it saddens him to see Augustine putting himself down and being so negative. It reminds him of his younger self. He would hate for one of his longest, genuine friends to hate him for some obscure reason he doesn't know.

From his point of view, Augustine started growing distant from him when he began succeeding. That Augustine didn't intend on staying close friends, and Winnie clinging to him and trying so hard to keep him was pissing him off.

He prides himself on his skills, yeah, and he might just have a bit of trouble with social cues, (Racheldraws said he might be autistic, so that might be where the Winnie infantalization comes from) but still, Winnie is someone that cares so deeply. Augustine has been the one constant in his life, and he's just as scared as anyone else over growing up and moving on and leaving home. While Winnie is well liked, Augsutine has a biased perspective, and likely sees Winnie as more popular and loved than he actually is.

What Winnie needed to learn was to better respect people's boundaries, and let go of his past. Things can't stay the same forever. People change and grow, you change, and people can part amicably over time. And that's okay.

I also love how the miscommunication isn't one-sided and both people have done something wrong. A friendship, any relationship, really, is like a symbiotic relationship. You give, and they're supposed to give in return. Winnie and Augustine, over time, lost sight of what they were meant to give, and then were upset when the other stopped giving their part of the friendship.

That is because over time as they became older, their priorities and goals changed. And that's perfectly fine! The main problem was that they didn't adjust the friendship to fit their growth and age!

Sorry for yapping or if this was all stupid my cf and studio investigrave brainrot is really bad

[dragon-communion]

While on the one hand, Fia’s sessions of “taking lifely vigor” from the Tarnished are definitely implied to be sex, and I find it hilarious that this is a situation where the devs probably bapped GRRM on the nose and told him to calm down, what if I roll with the implication?

It’s implied in a previous version of the Turtle Neck Meat item that people in the Lands Between just don’t have sex anymore. It’s too feral. Bestial. Might even have something to do with the birth of Omen children, actually, considering how such an animal act might bring one closer to the Crucible.

So what if extended hugging sessions are that scandalous and vulgar? Spending a minute in the arms of another person being worse than a glimpse of Victorian ankle has some fascinating implications for society in the Lands Between. If physical contact itself is base and hedonistic, can you imagine how touch starved everyone is?

One of the major problems in modern day America is how distant everyone is. While the Lands Between might not have the same issues with a lack of third places or the consequences of car-focused city planning, our level of general societal paranoia compounded with the advent of COVID means we just don’t touch eachother at all ever. This is grossly simplified because I’m too lazy to go get sources, so feel free to fact check me, but part of the focus on getting yourself a romantic partner is so folks can finally have someone it’s acceptable to get positive physical touch from. Failing that, getting into a sport at least earns you a more violent facsimile of that.

In the Lands Between, where society is focused on being a civilized as possible, it would make sense (a la Brave New World by Huxley) for society to try to eliminate sex and its trappings. Given Elden Ring’s heavy Catholic themes, celibacy also takes on a religious twist- Augustine of Hippo “taught that original sin was transmitted by concupiscence”, or physical desire and longing. To quote briefly from Wikipedia, “The view of the Church is that celibacy is a reflection of life in Heaven, a source of detachment from the material world which aids in one's relationship with God.”

Looking at Queen Marika the Eternal makes it painfully obvious to the player that she’s not even a creature of flesh anymore, twisted into something like a glorified clay pot or even a reliquary for the Elden Ring. We don’t know much about what she was like beyond a few queenly speeches, but whether she was always literally a vessel like that or not, the no doubt popular image of her as a vessel of life could have easily changed over the years from something very physical to the more chaste implications of the female water-bearer statues or iconography of her pouring out a chalice. People do still swear by Marika’s tits, so obviously physical desire might still exist, but my recent theorizing on crystal tears and amber babies really puts me in mind of the sterilized process in Brave New World where disembodied ovaries are fertilized in a lab via cloning. There’s something there in the imagery of the baptismal fonts around the Erdtree collecting tears that become new births.

The whole arrangement might also put a new spin on the gladiatoral games in the Coliseums, and to some extent Marika’s warlike drive. People crave contact, and the high of violence can be close enough to sex to mimic it, though poorly. I think everyone has probably made jokes about how American football has some undertones, and pro wrestling is the same. The most obvious example is dog collar matches, which look so close to BDSM as to be nearly indistinguishable to me.

With all of that in mind, the unmistakable intimacy of Fia’s actions might actually be as degenerate and twisted to modern Lands Between sensibilities as pup masks and handcuffs to the modern day American. What she offers is a gentle hug, perhaps even extended cuddling, and pillow talk. It’s stated that Rogier says “all sorts of things” abed, and while it’s easy to take that to a more physical interpretation, it could actually literally be Fia playing with the man’s hair for an hour until every single thought falls out of his head. When she makes the offer to you, she has to couch it carefully, framed in the ideas of a foreign interpretation of the sacred as if the only way it can be legitimate is if it is a sacred act, as if that’s the only way you’ll be able to understand it. Like when we argue for gay marriage and couch it in the language of romantic equality, because surely everyone can empathize with romantic equality, when the real physical benefits involve insurance and hospital visitation rights.

Anyway, it’s just something I’ve been thinking about.

[direwombat]

Why not Syb dive into a zombie AU 😱 With Jacob or Eli... Or both 👀 They would make an excellent team of survivors 💪

Send me a potential AU and I’ll tell you five fun facts that would happen in a story

oooooh i'm not super into zombie stuff, so i'll do my best here but...

there's still the whole divide amongst the townspeople of hope county and the project at eden's gate. joseph claims that the zombie plague is a sign of the end times and only his followers will survive society's inevitable collapse. meanwhile the people of hope county are just trying to get by, but that ideological divide is enough to make it so they're competing for the same resources, all while trying to stave off zombies the entire time.

i think i'd set this up as syb being an enforcer/peacekeeper in her little community (ie, she's breaking up fights and helping resolve any disputes that arise) and her brother is a hunter/forager who knows the terrain and local flora/fauna enough to find food. but one day he doesn't return home and syb is determined to find him. with eli (another hunter/forager) as her guide, of course <3

shit goes down that leads to the two of them being captured by jacob and they're taken back to the project where they're hiding syb's brother. only, because augustine was sympathetic to the project, he's allowed to do the "easy" chores, cooking and cleaning, and generally being accepted into the cult, while syb and eli are handed over to jacob and conscripted into doing hard physical labor and other dangerous jobs (like clearing out zombie nests).

now. i can see things going two different ways from there. first is that something really bad happens that involves syb, eli, and jacob all ending up stranded together and they have to rely on each other to survive (ot3 good ending <3)

OR, jacob takes an interest in syb and wants to have her integrate into the cult, but he also sees that eli has feelings for her as well. only, instead of killing eli himself or sending him on a suicide mission (like a normal bad guy would do), he manages to gaslight syb into believing that eli was bitten but was hiding it and convinces her to put eli down like a rabid dog </3

[hyatoro]

😍 MTL manipulative??

It's going to be about how manipulative they are in general.

Most

Franklin Russell is the most manipulative when he needs to be. He's a two-faced bitch who hates most of the people around you, but he's good at masking it. It's not mastermind scheming where he orchestrates everything from the start, but he knows how to play his cards to get what he wants. He's good at playing pretend on the people around you, but he's nothing but honest with you.

Kayden Nguyen can psychically manipulate people so that's easy for him. The difference is that he's not entirely intentional with it all. Swaying people's opinions left and right so they don't eye you is literally a passive skill of his at this point. Like a spell that obscures you two as just part of the crowd.

Augustine Carver knows how to play the political game. He may not be the best at it, but he knows his place. His self awareness is his strong suit once he breaks out of the weak hold the Saintess had on him. Knowing his strengths and weaknesses he knows the right people to reach to make up for those weak spots. Doesn't really do any manipulation that affects you.

Hwang Minsu is so clumsy in his attempts to stalk you?? What makes you think he'd be any different in any other facet of his life? Best he can do is sob and maybe guilt you, which might be effective depending on the kind of person you are. But him as a person? Not manipulative for the most part.

Least

[eruden-writes]

Scent Match - Part 8 (Augustine + Amber)

Summary: When Amber Dyer decided to attend a Creator Con, she never expected to run into Of Wolf and Blood lycan heartthrob, Augustine Prime.

But, there he was, stooping over her table, asking to buy the unflattering drawing of his character. Valuing integrity over taking money from a celebrity and running (though she was sorely tempted,) Amber finishes the sketch and delivers it to Augustine.

However, he continues to doggedly pursue her and entwine their lives.

All because of her scent.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

First Part - Master List - Previous Part

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Quietly, the two headed to Augustine’s bedroom. Amber noted he hadn’t even bothered to turn off any lights, but that could have been excitement making him careless. If he even wanted her, she thought. Glancing sidelong at the man, he seemed rather calm. As if this occurrence wasn’t actually some long desired outcome.

In reality, elated prickles danced along his back and through his skin. It was only thanks to years of acting that Augustine didn’t grab Amber and drag her back into the bedroom. He actively fought his imagination as other images of tossing her directly onto his bed, climbing over her, letting his mouth taste her threatened to break his cool exterior.

As they made it into his room, Augustine barely kept from looking back at Amber to see how her watchful eyes took in the area as he turned on the light. The elegant navy blue and heather grey decor wasn’t really his own taste. It was meant to be pleasing and lush, while equally being easy to clean between guests.

The colorations were the last thing on Amber’s mind, however. No amount of preparation could have steeled her against a hotel bedroom. It was so surreal. Another full wall of windows that led to another balcony. Curtains open, overlooking the city skyline and the streets below as the night sky spilled overhead. As she walked further in, her shoes sunk into the soft carpet. Thicker than even what she had at home.

Her eyes gleaned over the bed, noting its size, but anxiety had her turning her attention elsewhere. A full-sized dresser with a large mirror sat near a plump cushy chair. With doors cracked open, Amber also noticed a walk-in closet and an en suite bathroom. There was evidence of Augustine’s stay, as well. Previously worn clothes, a pile of business cards on the bedside table, a book beneath the lamp, an empty soda bottle. Not exactly a mess, but certainly not pristine.

“Should I add a little zhuzh to the show?” Augustine winked as Amber turned a curious look to him. She realized she hadn't even noticed his clothing earlier. Augustine had already slid off his suit jacket, draping it atop the dresser, leaving his button-up and trousers on. for the moment. His hands were poised at the neck of his shirt, fingering the buttons teasingly.

Briefly, Amber Wondered exactly how he thought to zhuzh up his strip show. Probably with theatrics and gyration.

“Only if you want me laughing the entire time.” At Augustine’s curious sound, Amber elaborated with a helpless shrug, “I’ve had partners in the past try to sexily strip for me. It just makes me giggle. I don't know.”

“Well, thank you for telling me and saving my ego.” Augustine chuckled and gave a nod as he pulled his shirt up and over his head. Like the jacket, he laid it atop the dresser and kicked off his shoes and socks. All the while, he felt Amber’s eyes watching him, waiting for the last articles of clothing to drop. He could antagonize her a little, he knew. If he waited to divest himself of his trousers, he could force her to ask or initiate the last bit of stripping.

“Don’t make me regret being nice," she mumbled, shooting him a warning look while trying not to stare as he disrobed. But it was hard not to. The contours  and planes of his body drew the eye, making Amber think of all those masterfully chiseled statues in art museums. Her hand raised, but stopped short of touching him. “So, I should just touch you?”

“Yep, however and wherever you want. I’m pretty sturdy.” He thumped himself on his bare chest in demonstration. “Just, with you touching me, some things might, ah, rise to attention. Y’know?”

Amber raised a hand again, but it paused as she tilted her gaze back to his face. "Are you seriously okay with this?”

“Most definitely. I want you to want to marry me, so anything that’ll ease your worries is something I want to do.” Augustine gave a nod, exemplifying his own agreement to the circumstances. When his nodding paused, his expression turned curious. “Although, I’m kinda surprised you jumped to this instead of dates.”

Amber remained silent. She didn’t actually believe he’d want to go on any dates, if she was being honest. Amber was still fairly certain once the weekend was over, that was it. Sure, Augustine had given her his contact information and she’d even spoken to his manager, but once they were apart, that was it. It would be so easy for him to pretend it never happened.

“You can still back out of this at any time, Mr. Prime,” she answered softly as she reached out and brushed her palm gingerly down his chest.

His body heat bled from him, through Amber’s hand, and up her arm. From the edge of her vision, she watched Augustine tense and saw how his gaze intensely followed her hand as it skimmed down his torso. Absentminded, her fingers followed the edge of his chest hair, down over his abdomen. “And I know so many people would jump at the chance to marry you. Hell, so many would jump at getting you into bed.”

Before Augustine could ask her where she was going, Amber finished softly, “So I just… I don’t know why I have so much trouble with the thought.”

“What?” He still couldn’t follow her words or reasoning. Especially with her fingers touching him so lightly. Part of him wanted to grasp her by the wrist and press her palm flush to his chest, just to feel more of her.

“Other people can just jump into bed with strangers without thinking about it. It’s so easy for them. I guess I’m kinda using this as an opportunity to figure out what's-" Wrong with me. "-different about me."

Something in her scent turned sour, Sad. He didn't like that. He really didn’t like that if he was related to the cause.

Before he could even consider if it'd be a good move, Augustine carefully caught Amber by her wrist. When she turned a questioning look to him, his other hand gently cupped the side of her face. "I like the way you are, Amber. Don't push yourself if you don't want to."

The moment was getting too tender. This was supposed to be dirty and quick. Amber had been fully prepared to be rejected or even coolly let go after they did whatever she had the nerve to do. She wasn't prepared for this. The warm expression in his eyes, his palm softly on her cheek, her own heart traitorously thrumming.

“You’re surprisingly hairy." Amber dragged her attention from him, cheeks burning. She needed a distraction from the moment. “I thought Follywood types waxed everything.”

Augustine let his hand slip from her cheek as she turned her face subtly away. He shook off his disappointment with a shrug and a half-laugh, “Hard to wax when you’re prone to growing patches of hair or fur when excited.”

Amber hummed noncommittally, not ready to address his admission at being excited. “How was the charity date?”

“It was fine. A married couple won me.” He watched Amber as she fiddled with his trouser button and zipper. With her face turned away from his line of sight, she obviously cuy trying to gain some emotional distance. Or maybe she was embarrassed with how red her cheeks had grown.

Taking her time with fasteners, if only to disguise her trembling fingers, Amber continued, “What were they like?”

“Nice enough. One of them, Asher, owns a bookstore in Portland and their spouse, Trin, does IT for some big company. We chatted about the series, both books and the show, and they tried to get information about the new season from me.” Augustine let the words amble over his lips as he watched Amber. She succeeded in loosening his trousers, letting them fall.

Her refusal to look at him shifted away from shame and toward attentive curiosity. The outline of his dick beneath the fabric of his boxer briefs teased at her thoughts. With as tightly his excitement strained at the material, she didn’t need much imagination to figure out his girth and length. However, she still couldn’t bring herself to touch him there. No, her hands dawdled at his thighs, teasing the wisps of hair - slowly becoming thicker - that dotted his legs.

Frustrated with the lack of touch and the lack of Amber looking at him, Augustine narrowed his eyes, deciding to prod at her. “They were both pretty flirty too.”

Without thinking, Amber firmly palmed at his erection as she rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to get jealous.”

He couldn't stop the roguish grin that split his lips, hips rising to meet her palm. “Obviously. You’re the one here with your hand on my dick and not them.”

Both the heat and hardness in her hand brought a flush to Amber’s face. She couldn’t very well pull away, though. Especially not with his damned smug grin on his face.

Forcing her actions to be fluid and smooth, she kneaded at him through the fabric. “Why didn’t you end the night with them? Sounds like they’d have been down for it.”

Though firmer, her touch still wasn’t enough for him. The craving for more scraped along his insides. He barely stopped himself from grinding against her touch, silently begging for more. “They weren’t you, Amber.”

“You say that so easily, but I guess you’ve probably had tons of relationships and, like, bacchanal-level orgies, huh?” Amber found herself rolling her eyes, yet again, as her tone inched toward sarcastic. It was easier to grasp onto her image of him than admit his words had any effect on her.

Likewise, it was easier just to let her hands move than to think about what she was doing. Unthinking instincts guided her actions. Her thumbs hooked into the waistband of his boxer briefs, yanking them down. His cock bounced out eagerly, bobbing under her gaze. Veins strained under the skin, complexion dark and ruddy compared to the rest of him.

On a conscious-level, Amber absolutely ignored her curious thought of his taste or how her mouth watered in preparation. Even as she knelt before him, hands braced on his hips, her cognitive dissonance kept her mouth running. “Missing out on a potential threesome isn't such a bummer for you.”

“Mhmn…” Sharp excitement sliced through Augustine as Amber lowered to her knees, her breath ghosting over his member with the closer proximity. Involuntarily, his cock flexed, an ache burning for more attention.

“Oh my gods, you have.” Finally, she turned her gaze to his face again. She’d see how full his beard had grown, how thick the hair on his chest and arms had become in such a short amount of time.

Something in his stomach flipped, seeing surprise and a hint of curiosity swimming in her eyes. Excitement lurched further as she - seemingly absentmindedly - dragged her parted lips against the side of his shaft, her hand stroking the neglected side.

“There’s been some.” He shrugged, throat tightening as he silently choked down a groan. Despite his restraint, his body was too tempted by the heat of her mouth and leaned toward her. He wanted to do more. So. Much. More. “They’re not my favorite thing. They’re pretty smelly with all those sweaty bodies.”

She could imagine Augustine, an obnoxious enrobed Dionysus-Adonis hybrid with a crowd of people flocking to him as he lazily drank a decanter of wine with a smug grin. Heat flared down Amber imagining the sight. Suddenly, she also realized what exactly her mouth was doing as his dick throbbed against her lips.

Masking her shame, Amber pulled away from Augustine, sitting back on her heels. Craning her neck to look up at him, once more very aware of their size difference, she clamped down on her fluttering heart.

A flicker of disappointment passed his features at her sudden distance, but it quickly upended at her words. “Alright, I’m done with this form. It’s pretty basic. Shift.”

Giving an unimpressed wave of her hand, she waited for Augustine to comply or refuse.

The bright smile gave away his answer as he straightened from a slight slouch. “Yes, ma’am.”

Augustine didn’t even take a step back before focusing on the change. Amber watched as his hair thickened - creeping along his entire body in a ripple - into a pelt of fur the same color as Augustine’s regular hair color. The previously pointed ears grew larger, extending the curvature of his jaw until they angled near the crest of his head. His nose and jaw elongated, becoming something between a wolf’s snout and a human’s face. Similar growth happened to his feet and hands, she realized, as a toe claw nudged against her knee. She swallowed, dutifully trying to ignore the images that tickled her thoughts at the size of Augustine’s hands. He was certainly more canine than she’d seen of him in-person, so far.

She let herself glean over his entire body, though she did keep his dick in her peripheral. Already hard, his member appeared to grow larger, likely in proportion to his own everything getting bigger, and turned from ruddy to bright red. Even the head narrowed at the tip, flaring a little before the shaft to take a more arrowhead-esque appearance.

Again, stray thoughts bombarded Amber's head. How did he taste? How hot and solid would his cock feel on her tongue? Or better yet, inside her? Amber's insides clenched at the idea and she abruptly remembered she wore a dress thanks to imaginative 'easy access' scenarios blooming in her mind.

In this form, Amber’s scent became fuller-bodied in his nose, weighing down on his tongue. His very tastebuds buzzed. It made Augustine want to drag his tongue along every inch of Amber, taste her fully and completely.

"You're very large." She critically eyed Augustine, trying to determine just how much bigger he had grown. Though his fur made him appear larger than he was, she thought.

"Thank you."

It took Amber a beat to realize why Augustine sounded so delighted and smug. He thought she was talking about his cock! A blush seared over her face as she glared up at him. "That's not what I meant!"

Amber's glower only made Augustine's grin grow. "It's ok. I know I pack an … intimidating package."

She didn't know what prompted her retaliation. Maybe her curiosity just won out. Maybe she wanted to knock that smirk off Augustine's lips. Either way, Amber found her hand wrapping and the base of his cock, beneath the bulbous knot. With little preamble, she took him in her mouth. Under her tongue, Augustine tensed, surprised by the sudden tactic.

Closing her eyes, Amber focused on taking more and more of his dick with every bob of her head. She listened as his breathing hitched, heard how his clawed toes dug into the carpet, felt how his muscles twitched and tightened. She even thought she could feel a breeze from a wagging tail, but that may have been ham imagination.

Each reaction ignited a long forgotten feeling. Something she rarely felt herself. Smugness.

It wasn't until her lips met his pubus, thick fur tickling her nose, that Amber stilled and peered up at Augustine. Against her tongue, his member weighed heavy and hot. She held back a smile as his cock twitched excitedly when their eyes met.

"Fuck, Amber," Augustine gasped, gold eyes wide and wolf ears pricked forward. She had him entirely buried in her mouth, her throat. A challenging glint in her eyes as she stared up at him. Amber's expression and the very sight of her looking so confident made his heart pound. He had to focus to not let his tongue loll out of his maw in an obscene pant. "That's… You're impressive."

"Or maybe you're not as intimidating as you think," she returned after she eased off him, wearing a pointed expression. Amber forced herself to not stare at his now slickened, shiny red member still bobbling for her attention.

"Point made," he chuckled, now realizing how tight his hands balled into fists. It had been that or grabbing Amber by the head, threading clawed fingers through her hair as his hips worked against that talented mouth. Even just thinking it made his arousal jolt. He needed to find something else to grip onto lest he forget himself. "Can we move over to the bed?"

She shot a dubious look to the king-sized bed. He was about to assure her that it didn’t mean he had expectations, he just needed something to grab onto that wasn’t her head or hair or… well, her. Amber cut him off before he could even soothe her worries. "Alright, but there's no guarantee we'll fuck, got it? I'm getting comfortable with you. That's it."

Hypocrisy tilted through her mind, knowing full well her words clashed against the fact she had his dick in her mouth moments earlier. Whatever. Her boundaries could ebb and flow.

When Amber got to her feet, Augustine backed away to the bed, flopping back on his elbows once the back of his legs hit the mattress. As the bed creaked under his sudden weight, he offered up a grin to Amber. "I'm just happy with whatever you want to do."

Approaching him, Amber rolled her eyes at his words. A small part of her echoed how strange it was that she felt so comfortable around him, a veritable stranger. A different part of her - more curious to see how this all would end - focused more on exploring him again.

Ignoring Augustine’s splayed legs, Amber leaned over him with one hand going to the ruff of fur around his neck. As her hand sunk into the dense fur, she gave him an experimental scratch.

Unprepared for the new turn of events, a strangled sound left Augustine as Amber’s other hand drew to his ear. His eyes fluttered shut, leaning his ear into her touch. Heat churned inside him as his head nuzzled into her touch, an indecent whine leaving his throat.

The reaction tickled Amber’s senses. In that moment, her suspicions eased, seeing him openly tilting toward her attentions with a genuine need. It was still ridiculous, all the same. But it was genuine ridiculousness, she realized.

It was her amused snort that made Augustine’s eyes crack back open. His clawed fingers dug into the blanket beneath him as realization struck. In his efforts to get more touch on his ear, he had unwittingly bared his throat to her. A mark of extreme vulnerability among lycans. Though Augustine doubted that’s what held her attention.

No, Amber had her head tilted to the side and a considering smile on her lips. The warmth in her eyes nearly struck the air from Augustine’s lungs, having not been subjected to such a tender look from her before. He held his breath, too afraid to break whatever spell she had woven.

Something in Augustine’s expression shocked Amber out of her momentary affection. Painfully aware of the gentleness in the air, she tore her gaze from his face. She needed a distraction. As her attention fell, it caught onto his red arousal. That would be distraction enough.

Amber’s hands trailed down Augustine’s front, carding through the shorter fur that spread down his torso as she lowered herself to the floor between his legs. He was still under her touch, his eyes watching her hands travel further southward.

Then her caresses bypassed the one place he was most eager to feel her touch. Augustine only barely swallowed down a frustrated whine as her fingers worked through the thicker fur of his legs, down to his ankles before beginning to traverse back upward. The return trek, however, was remarkably slow. Slower than before.

“Amber, please, you’re torturing me,” Augustine groaned, head lolling backward. Heat throbbed between his legs, impatient and edging toward painful. All the while, her fingers continued to toy up his legs, fingers digging through the fur to scratch lightly against his skin.

“Am I?” Her tone was too amused to be completely innocent or unaware of what she was doing. Leaning closer to her dick, she puffed warm breaths over his shaft, but didn’t touch him yet.

Augustine gave an affirmative grunt, eyes glued to her.

Her lips quirked into a wry smile, tilting her eyes to Augustine, though she couldn’t see his face at the moment. “I did say this was about me getting comfortable, didn’t I?”

“I didn’t say I didn’t like it.” She’d probably shirk away with his next words, but he couldn’t help it. He watched her carefully, a lazy grin on his lips, as he said,  “I like you feeling comfortable enough to torment me.”

Amber only gave a momentary pause. Barely a hiccup in her actions as she gathered up her nonchalance. Nosing along his furry thigh, she sighed, “Ah, so you’re a masochist.”

“Only if you want to be a sadis–” A sharp exhale interrupted Augustine’s retort. He groaned, curving forward as Amber’s mouth once more enveloped his cock.

Well, that was one way to silence him, Amber supposed as she slowly inched down his shaft. He tasted heady and salty on her tongue, the throb of his pulse taunted her. Her tongue writhed curved around the underside of his member, flexing against him. With every movement of her lips, every flex of her tongue, Augustine twitched or groaned. Such small movements evoking such grand displays of pleasure.

After one pass downward and back up, she lifted her mouth from him. Though she lingered close enough so her lips would tease his tip as she spoke. “I don’t want a partner that does everything I want. I’ve been in that position and it’s not fun.”

The look in Amber’s eyes was earnest and sincere and serious. Augustine found curiosity rousing in his thoughts, along with a dose of faint anger. Had she meant the unspoken meaning? That someone had forced her to be someone she wasn’t? Or was it just a life experience?

Augustine shelved the thought for the moment. Tonight was about her comfort, her exploration. Not him getting personal answers. If he had his way, there’d be time for that later. He reached for her hair, threading his clawed fingers through her hair gently. Imperceptibly, she leaned into the touch, only the slight pressure of her against his fingers any indication of her movement.

“I’m fine with being a masochist to your sadist, but–” A wolfishness stole across Augustine’s maw as his fingers tightened in her hair and he leaned over her. He gave a tug, experimental and light, enough to get his point across and was rewarded with a surprised, sinful little squeak from Amber. “Turnabout is fair play, Amber. Wouldn’t you agree?”

For a beat, she stared up at Augustine. His mouth full of sharp teeth and eyes that nearly glowed in the dark and razor claws, of which one set was currently lightly grazing her scalp. His slouch over her just made the size difference between them all the more prominent. Shameful excitement thrummed through Amber, burning hotter as his grin broadened toothily.

It was that grin that kicked Amber’s thoughts back into action.

“I suppose that’s true,” she replied airily, her lips still hovering close to his dick. Moving slowly, her hand drew to his knot, fingers coiling around the bulbous bit of anatomy. Augustine’s gaze slid from Amber’s face to her hand, air caught in his lungs. A thrill pulsed through him, throbbing against her touch. He completely forgot about his hold on her hair, fingers falling lax, as she shook him off.

“But I’m pretty sure I still have the upper hand,” Amber added, the corner of her lips tilting in a grin of her own. A bit of wryness crept into her voice as she asked, “Can I keep going now? Or are you going to interrupt me again?”

This was not the Amber he had met in Artist Alley. Her half-lidded gaze and that smile that made it clear she knew she was in control made that clear. Though he thoroughly enjoyed the shy Amber, he was curious to see where this one led. Augustine had a feeling this wasn’t a part of her she showed to just anyone. Or, hell, maybe it was something long-buried.

Either way, excitement crept up his spine, his tail wagging against the bed, as he nodded. “By all means, please continue.”

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[artzychic27]

Uhh… AU based on @maddascanbe-blog’s A Vengeful Butterfly fic

Canon events are the same, only Camilo isn’t as influenced by Alma’s bullshit. He LOATHES how the rest of the family treats Mirabel and he will not hesitate to back her up

Whenever he tries standing up for Mirabel, he’s either rebuffed, or Mirabel is chastised for being a “bad influence”. And Mirabel’s just used to all of this and doesn’t care anymore. She mostly just spends her days in her room, sewing, and the rest of the family doesn’t bother to check on her. When Julieta or Augustin tries, it is just terrible. They lead with that, “You’re just as special as anyone else” bullshit

The only one safe from him is Antonio because he’s baby

As Chameleon, he’s the only member of the Encantos who doesn’t cause too much destruction or harm to villains. He kind of lost respect for his mother after she struck a thief with lightning. And they only stole a loaf of bread

After a lousy family dinner where Alma berates Mirabel for God-knows-what this time, Camilo sneaks out of his room late at night to blow off some steam. He doesn’t expect to be followed by a glowing white butterfly. It leads him into an old building where he finds two boxes, each with a brooch inside

When he gets back home, he tries on the purple brooch, and before his eyes, a purple butterfly-looking sprite named Nooroo appears. Then, he puts on the blue brooch, and a blue peacock-looking spire named Duusu appears. When they introduce themselves a bit more and their powers, Camilo isn't all too impressed since he comes from a family of superhumans, but then he gets an idea. He can give the Miraculous to Mirabel, and, hopefully, Alma will stop treating her like trash!

However, after what had to be one of the worst missions ever, with Matriarch barking orders instead of doing anything, Tempest causing all sorts of collateral damage, and Alchemist healing civilians to cover up any injuries, Chameleon realizes something... He's not putting Mirabel through this! He was almost crushed by debris, and Matriarch just told him to deal with it! And the press is once again putting the Encantos in a good light, and the civilians are eating it up

Tired of it all, Camilo dons the Butterfly Miraculous and becomes Emperador, the new villain of the city of Veil. Until the citizens see the corruptness of the Encantos, he's going to keep sending out Akumas for them to face. He doesn't expect a ladybug and a cat-themed hero to show up and defeat each of his Akumas, though. But, now Veil will see what true heroes look like

He renounces his hero status one day, Alma is furious, but he doesn't give a damn, and now he's the third black sheep

Anyway, more notes

He has a Phantom of The Opera mask because it's Camilo. And he is a theater nerd

Camilo and Lia get along. He's like the annoying brother she never had. They're the founding members of the, "We love Mirabel, but we hate the rest of her family, sans Camilo and Antonio" club. They got three more members, and all are more than determined to make this girl smile again

He's EXTREMELY protective in this au and will backtalk Alma and Isabela whenever they stop acting like adults and bully Mirabel for literally no reason

He discovers from Mirabel that Bruno left, but never actually left. He also finds out that Bruno is the mysterious Ladybug-themed hero! And he couldn't be more thrilled. His tío deserves some recognition for being a decent hero, and as his loving sobrino, he'll go easy on him... Maybe.

During Hero's Day, it's all the same, except Mirabel finds the Peacock Miraculous instead of Antonio. Duusu tells her what Camilo's been doing, and she's left shocked and unsure what to think until she looks at the live feed on her phone, and sees Emperador being cornered by Cochinelle and Lady Void. Mirabel transforms into Zafiro and sends out an Amok so Emperador can escape. They meet up back at Casita and hug each other while crying

[pandorafallz]

Vampire AU | First Trades

Timely wasn’t fond of under the radar detours but he knew the importance of a deal for the Westguard. What it meant for him and his companions and in all honesty, he was looking forwards to raw dogging his girl without fear of knocking her up. She didn’t want kids on Pandora and he was fine with that but that meant they had to be cautious. So he needed this deal to work.

Westguard had nominated him to run the scorpion out to the dead-drop for their first trades since the quads reached out with a deal. Two weeks earlier than anticipated so it meant the quads were settled sooner than later to get the ball rolling. If it went well, Timely knew that they’d roster him into exchanges to be the Westguard face for the Quads.

A small sacrifice.

He tilted his head as he followed the handwritten note stuck to his dash before he noticed the upturned rock formation that was a little out into the edge of a small clearing so he touched down with a heavy sigh and pulled on his mask. His buddy, Bruce nodded and followed him out and picked up the crate. His hand remained on his weapon, heading out wards the formation and unto the gap where he noticed the tall figure waiting with a basket by her feet and looked to be spinning some fibres but he didn’t pay too much attention on her hobby.

“I ain’t even gonna hazard a guess which one you are but here’s ya good.” He called, to the avatar.

The avatar smirked a little. “Upside of being four in one, right? Just call me Everdeen.”

Timely nervously chuckled, his head craning up. “I forgot how big ya were.”

The avatar chuckled. “Who are you two?”

“I’m Hector Timely, Bruce Crinkle.” Timely introduced. “You got the goods?”

Everdeen bent down, pocking her spindle and opened up the basket and pulled out two leaf wraps that looked to be quite bulky.

“Contraceptives and Lefty Viagra.”

Bruce sniggered at the latter but set down the box beside the basket.

“This is a lot.” More than expectation

“I know there’s a lot of horny humans. This stuff is a good quality, far better strain than the shit you got before from your scientists so you need a little less to go further. Here.” She handed over a piece of paper, “We tested how much of the herb per cup in advance. Too much and you’ll get constipated.”

Timely accepted the leaf wraps with a nod, tucking the paper into the contraceptives. “Thank you.”

“Here’s the Na’vi stuff you wanted. A few favours had to be pulled to get these since Augustine had them in Site 26. Four knives with cases, four without and that beaded cord.” Bruce said, opening up the box.

Everdeen reached out and pulled out the first knife, turning it over in her hands before she gave a satisfying nod and emptied it into the basket. Once the box was free, Timely set their goods into it.

“So, got anything on the list for next time?”

“The contraceptives should be a staple flow, so more of that. Some Hexapede meat, some shelter Fruit wouldn’t go amiss and crimson mushrooms.” Bruce listed.

“Right now, we want distilling tools.”

“Ouch.”

Everdeen nodded solemnly. “It’s a big ask, but we wanna make booze. Once we can make moonshine or something equivalent with Pandoran mash, which can be added onto our trade list. Your folks can’t even be allowed to create contraband like booze. It’ll be far easier to bring it in.”

“Big investment for a profitable turnout,” Bruce remarked, turning a gaze to him. “What’d you think, Timely?”

Timely sucked his teeth. “It’ll take time to get everything.”

“We kept science tools purposely. We can message you later on what we can make or repurpose and what we’ll need from you. We need the major stuff to at least start the process and add to it if it’s too much in one drop off.” Everdeen clarified. “I didn’t expect this to be easy. If need be, one tool at a time with other supplies. Tarps, a few solar panels and some hand tools for welding.”

Timely nodded carefully. “I’ll have to talk to the guys to get a game plan if they’re willing to invest.”

“Alright, keep us posted.” Everdeen picked up her basket with a nod and a salute.

“Likewise.”

-

Thea sighed happily as she returned to Refuge like a victor back from a hunt before she hopped happily into the airlock and grabbed herself a Co2 mask and slung that around her neck before the door opened.

It seemed she was anticipated as she saw the Sarentu group together in a circle doing some small crafts, even Nor who looked to be begrudgingly here and Ri’nela mostly was using his leg as a support to keep him there.

Priya waiting as well as her three other half’s, two of them invested in a game of Cat’s Cradle.

“Ah, you’re back!” Grace noticed her first, her eyes lighting before hastily pulling her hand from the string and ruining her and Lilith’s string design and scrambled to her feet to meet her, her eyes lingering on the basket. “[All go well?]” she asked in French.

“[Yes, very well.]” Thea said, “[I’m surprised they’re all here. I thought they’d be at Hometree]”

“[Priya told them to come and wait for your return for gifts.  We can tell them now of our trades and give them what they’ll need]” Amanda said

“[I’ve tried to get us distilling stuff but we’ll need to rain check that with what we can repurpose here to make it easier]” Thea explained, “[They’re gonna run a check with their guys on it as a possibility. No guarantees.]”

“[That’s expected. We can do that later. ] Come, let’s give them. They’ve waited long enough.” Amanda nodded them both in so Thea nodded and sat down with the Sarentu’s attention.

“What’s going on?” Kìoetey asked, quietly spinning some fibres but her eyes lingered on the basket curiously as she placed it down.

Thea took a breath from her mask loudly and crouched down beside her sisters. “Since we left the RDA, we’ve opened up a… trade agreement with a contraband group within the RDA. They don’t know we’re with you and we’re not changing that either but… using this group we were able to gather items of importance of your clan that the RDA. Sarentu artefacts that Mercer had kept at the base which was taken back to Hell’s Gate for study. The group was able to steal them and traded items for their efforts, like medicinal herbs for these.”

The narrowing of eyes wasn’t unmissed but Kìoetey lent forwards, allowing them to continue without argument.. “What was returned?”

Thea opened the basket and pulled out the collection of knives and set them down in front of the Sarentu group.

Ri’nela reached immediately for the one that was teal without a case and examined it in intense scrutiny. Nor picked up a beige, triangular blade and sat back but his entire demeanour lifted. Kìoetey took a pinkish-purple blade with a case with consideration and wonder.

Telisi and Yefti were less enthusiastic but both picked one each, giving them a once over before swapping their claim with each other.

Yuayt, Okni and Teylan were the only three to not pick them up but they looked at the blades curiously. Not a surprise to Thea really.

“I’m keeping this one,” Ri’nela said, “It looks very much like my mother’s…”

Kìoetey tilted her head. “What else does the RDA have?”

“General items; clothing, bows, an Ikran headset, arm guard. From what I know, Dr Grace Augustine took them to Site 26 which is in the floating mountains in the Omatikaya clan’s reign in the East. On paper she claims for further study but I suspect to secure them to avoid Selfridge selling them off on Earth.” Amanda said. Lilith hummed in agreement but made no comment.

“So… they’re just out in the open?” Ri’nela asked. “Really easy for Na’vi to steal.”

“Yes. That’s possibly her plan. She was put there to speak to the Omatikaya Tsahìk or any of the clan willing to meet her. I can’t know for sure but it made us getting them back harder given the distance the mountains are to Hell’s Gate.” Grace spoke.

Kìoetey’s head tilted but nodded softly. “Thank you. This means a lot. Items of our people… should be with us.”

 Thea nodded. “There is one more item I have that may be of interest.” From the basket, she pulled out the cord and set it into her palm and tilted it out to the eight teenagers.

Kìoetey gasped sharply, recognising it easily before she pulled it from her hands without a moments of hesitation. “That’s my mother’s song cord.”

Oh.

Thea spared a glance to her sisters and then back but Kìoetey’s eyes welled with tears, holding the cord to her chest with reverence, her thumb stroking over the collection of beads

Ri’nela moved and touched Kìoetey’s knee. “It’s safe.”

“Mercer stole it.” Okni spoke quietly, fidgeting a little. “After he killed Aha’ri.”

Kìoetey swallowed thickly. “Excuse me a moment.” She didn’t wait and no one stopped her as she jumped to her feet and scurried out to the airlock.

“Thank you.” Ri’nela nodded, also standing up.

The Quads nodded softly before Thea patted Amanda and Lilith to get them to move and let the group bond over their artefacts more privately.

Thea ducked into the mechanical bay with another sip of Co2 before she noticed Alex examining the headpiece. Things looked more put together and Thea enjoyed helping the group patch up the gaps in their project to get their pod working for their fellow avatar driver. The crown had been a work in progress for weeks to aid the link connection without the torus surprising the head section of the pod.

“How’s it looking?”

Alex’s head turned but he brightened up. “I think it’s done.” He swivelled in his seat to how her with clear pride. “Jax helped get a few things sorted but all the testing indicates it should work as intended; allowing Alma’s body to remain in cryo but her mind remains active to hold a link.”

“How active? What about sleep patterns?” Thea asked since it seemed very prudent to include that Alma couldn’t stay linked up 24/7 without either her mind suffering or her avatar exhausting with overuse.

“Already sorted,” Alex set the crown and picked up a small device; it looked like a strip of grey plastic, bendable and flexible but there was a sharp point underneath a little port. “This is the avatar’s side; with this Alma will be able to sleep within her avatar’s brain without breaking the link. Jax and Priya coded it and I’m still amazed.”

“Where does it go?”

Alex paused a little. “At the base of the kuru. The point needs to penetrate the skin to access the nerves directly for the set-up. Alma shouldn’t feel any pain or discomfort once it’s settled.”

“Since the crown’s done and the pod, does it mean we’ll be waking Alma up?”

“Yes, soon. But I want to get the pod tested first and since you and your sisters are an avatar driver, would you be willing to test it before we put Alma in it?”

Thea’s eyes narrowed. “You want us to… test it?”

Alex’s face softened a little. “Look, once we put Alma in the link-pod, there’s no taking her out afterwards if someone goes wrong. She won’t survive that.”

Thea’s tail swished discontent but he had a point there.  It was a one-way with the woman’s injuries but still, Thea didn’t like the idea of being a test case with technology of scrap. “I talk to them but make no promises”

Alex nodded. “We’ll get the avatar decanted in a few days to prep the implant before we start the tests with the pod. Its biosystems will be a little out of whack since it went back onto an umbilical system so that’ll need time to settle as well. If all goes well, Alma will be awake by the end of the week.”

-

“We’ve got the all clear. Hale’s left for the movie.” Gate spoke quietly to his group, their belongings being carefully balanced as they loaded up their folks onto the patrol car.

Personal belongings were shoved into bags, but they were without major equipment but they had end-point and Marvin had only been able to drop a large tent for them with a small air exchange for them and food rations. It would last a few days with the six of them but once they were in a proper and secure location, all they had to do was wait for the second group to find them with all the goods. They’d of course forage with the tablet to identify the good shit but they still had to leave first.

“I’m surprised Selfridge allowed it.”

“He didn’t but Hale convinced Quaritch if they could use the gym and invited any interested SecOps to the fun as well. He agreed and they didn’t tell Selfridge that little bit so that’s fun.” Jacobs answered.

Conner groaned a little as Phil Moore-Graves and Felicity Madrigal pushed his wheelchair across the uneven pathway.

“Sorry, kid.” Moore-Graves winced at the sound.

Gates helped the doctor lift Conner up onto his foot, guided him into the patrol’s spare seat and strapped the kid in. Jasmin hunter let the kid slouch into her shoulder and wrapped an arm around him to support him. The wheelchair was folded up and Felicity hopped in and secured it with his bags and added the elasticated netting along the side to hold them from flying out when they get going.

“I thought he was on meds?” Jasmin asked.

“We gave him pills before we snuck him out. They should be kicking in—“

Conner fully slumped.

“There we go.”

Jasmin tightened her arm around him.

Jacobs moved to the driver’s seat and Gates hastily pushed the step-up and secured it into as a ‘door’ after himself once the others were in and secure.

“Remember, this is a bumpy ride and we’re an open top here with zero protection. Hold onto each other and your stuff but keep an eye out for predators. Be ready to throw a tear canister at a moment’s notice and Gates, keep your gun out.”

Right, as if he was fully trained. Gates hated the weapon but he was no fool to not leave without something for his people here. They gotta survive this.

“What about our tracks in this thing?”

“Weather report is that Rain will hit tomorrow morning and should wash away any traces” Jacobs said, the engine revving into life before he hit the gas.

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