#Bd job news today

[multi-fan-dom-madness]

Laundry Day (Cal Kestis x reader)

Summary: Cal can’t always control when his psychometric powers grant him a glimpse of the past. And even less so when the object holds a powerful emotional echo.

Or: Cal picks up the shirt you masturbated in.

Warnings: NSFW 18+ MINORS DNI; afab!reader but no pronouns used; no use of y/n; porn with some plot; hints of voyeurism if you squint; sub!Cal if you squint; first kiss; first time; hand job; masturbation; if I missed anything please let me know!

A/N: This is shameless and self-indulgent and hastily written before the motivation left. I will not apologize.

Word Count: 2,205

Read it here on AO3!

NSFW below the cut!

You clench your jaw, the damp fabric of your shirt caught between your teeth as you struggle to keep quiet. But gods your fingers feel so good circling your clit and you’re absolutely soaked right now and you have to be quiet because Cal is sleeping in the room across the hall.

The thought of Cal overhearing your late-night activities makes your pussy clench around nothing. Eyes falling shut, you gather some more wetness and press more firmly on that bundle of nerves that has you on fire. Images of Cal’s toned forearms, freckled face, powerful thighs flash through your mind. You stifle a groan.

This is so bad, and you know it. You shouldn’t be getting off to the thought of your friend—never mind the fact that he’s a Jedi. But even when he’s only hidden behind a few thin durasteel walls, he occupies your mind. The way his eyes dance with fiery determination when a new opportunity to strike against the Empire arises. The way his plush lips curve up into sarcastic smiles at your jokes. His tenderness with BD. His softness with you.

And that’s what gets you all riled up in the first place: it’s just how genuinely good Cal Kestis is. There’s not a mean bone in his body. He takes care of you, and you of him, and the domesticity of it all drives you absolutely insane.

Which leads you here. You finally plunge two of your fingers into your tight, wet heat, imagining—wishing—it was Cal’s fingers instead. Exhaling a shaky breath, you crook your fingers up against the spongy wall of your cunt and press. Your hips rock involuntarily, and the added friction against your clit has your toes curling. You breathe deep through your nose, loosening your muscles as the wave of pleasure zinging through you crests.

And you cum, teeth unlatching from your shirt as you gasp out Cal’s name.

Once the aftershocks die down, you shuck the shirt off over your head, the neckline entirely damp with your now-cooling saliva. The temperature is uncomfy; you snatch a clean shirt from beneath your bunk to wear instead. Tossing the soiled shirt toward your growing laundry pile, you settle down under the covers at last, curling on your side as sleep finally, finally takes you.

The next morning when you wake, the comforting hum of the hyperdrive engine is silent. You must’ve arrived at your next destination while you slept. Good. Even though it’s only been you and Cal for about a year now, you still try to keep some extra supplies on board in case any of the old crew decide to rejoin you and Cal. And after your last run-in with the Empire, forcing you into hiding for a standard month, all of your supplies are low. You’ll use this opportunity to restock.

But first, you need to wash up. The lights on both Cal’s door and the ’fresher are green, meaning he’s probably up in the cockpit with BD. Slipping into the ’fresher, you lock the door behind you and turn the knob to heat the water up. Your sleep clothes crumple to the floor as you shuffle out of them, trying to focus on creating a mental list of the supplies you’ll need to pick up today. Yet, your traitorous mind keeps drifting back to your solo fun last night—heat throbbing between your legs at just the thought of how hard you came—and you shake your head angrily at yourself.

“Get a grip,” you grumble.

As if summoned by your thoughts, there’s a knock at the door. You jump. Your heart hammers in your throat.

“Kriff, Cal, you scared me,” you call through the door.

“Sorry,” he calls back, and you hear the genuine regret in his voice. “I just wanted to check to see if you had any laundry? It’ll be a bit before we’re able to get it done after today.”

“Good thinking,” you say. “There’s a pile on my floor. I can get it, though; don’t worry about my stuff.”

He doesn’t respond, and you visualize the sardonic, two-fingered salute he’s recently gotten in the habit of giving. A smile quirks your lips.

A smile that is quickly obliterated as a jolt of pure anxiety bursts through you. Gods, knowing Cal, he’s already gone to grab your dirty laundry, and the shirt—the fucking shirt—is right on top, and you know he can’t always control his psycho-Force-whateveritscalled powers.

The ’fresher door slams open and you dash across the narrow hall to your room.

To your horror, Cal is in fact there, gathering your clothes from the floor, and the warning to wait gets choked in your throat as he grabs the shirt on the top of the pile, the one that’s surely still damp with your spit and sweat.

His entire body stiffens, eyes widening, his grip on the other clothes going limp as he experiences the Force echo you’ve left behind. Feeling like you’ve been doused in gasoline and ice at the same time, it finally registers for you that you’re naked in front of Cal fucking Kestis and he’s feeling you cum to the thought of him.

“Cal, I—”

“Oh.” The strangled moan that tears from his throat has your mind reeling, never in a million years imagining that you’d ever hear him make such a lewd noise, let alone in reaction to you.

You reach for him, placing a shaking hand on his arm. “Are- Are you okay?”

He blinks and seems to physically re-enter this current moment. His cheeks are bright pink, his chest heaving. At his wide-eyed once over of your naked form, your knees nearly give out.

“I’m so sorry,” you continue. Panic seizes at your lungs, making it hard to breathe. “I shouldn’t have- I should have- I’m so so sorry, Cal, I can leave if you want—”

“Hey.” He rests both of his large, warm hands on your bare shoulders, forcing you to look him in the eye. “Deep breaths. I’m not- I’m not mad.”

“You’re not?” You try to catch your breath, but the darkening of his green eyes has your breath catching for an entirely different reason now.

He shakes his head. “How long?”

Chewing at the inside of your cheek nervously, you drop your gaze. “Months. Since we first met.”

Gently, he guides your chin up so that you meet his gaze again. His eyes are soft—darker than usual, yes—but there’s that familiar softness to them that unwinds some of the tension in your chest. He holds your gaze long enough for your heart to stop pounding, but you can’t will away the swirling pit of regret pulling at your insides. He’s not mad, which is great, but he’s still not said anything and you can’t figure out what he might say or what he’s feeling or—

“Can I kiss you?”

You blink dumbly. “What?”

A faint smile ghosts over his features. “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh gods yes,” you squeak out.

A true smile tugs at his lips, and then slowly, giving you ample time to change your mind and pull away, he leans down, one hand supporting the back of your head, the other cupping your cheek. Your eyes close and you stand on your toes, meeting him halfway.

His lips are as soft as you imagined, and you can’t help the needy whine that escapes you as he pulls you flush against him. Your bare, heated skin presses against the leather of his chest piece, tantalizing against the sensitive skin of your breasts. Snaking one hand up into his silken hair, your other grips at his muscled bicep, grounding yourself. His mouth moves slowly against your own.

This is really fucking happening.

He breaks the kiss, but doesn’t go far, resting his forehead against your own. You peer up through your eyelashes at him.

“I take it you feel the same?” you ask, breathless.

“Since we met,” he affirms in a low tone. His thumb brushes over your bottom lip, and you catch the digit between your teeth and suck. He groans. “Gods, if I’d known...”

You just hum, swirling your tongue around his thumb until he withdraws, only to kiss you again. Electricity feels like it dances along your skin where he touches you. Blindly, you tug him backwards with you until your legs hit the bunk. Lowering yourself, he follows, bracing himself over you with his forearms to either side of your head, caging you in. With a soft moan, you hook a leg over his hips and drag him down to you. The friction of his clothes against your aching core makes you hiss.

“Fuck, take these off, please,” you plead, tugging with weak fingers at his shirt.

He sits up just long enough to rip the offending garments off, and you practically drool at the sight of his toned chest as it is revealed to you. Scars litter the otherwise smooth alabaster, and you know you’ll take your time at a later date tracing them, committing them to memory. Right now, though, your attention is drawn farther down as he shimmies out of his pants. His hard cock, the tip a gorgeous shade of pink, bobs as it comes free of its confines.

“Oh gods,” you groan. “May I?”

“Please.”

You’ve never heard his voice so strained before, and you are nothing if not eager to continue drawing sounds from him. Wrapping your fingers tentatively around the hot shaft of his dick, you hum in delight at the way he twitches in your grip. You slowly work his cock, eyes trained on his face, catching every flutter of his eyelashes, every time he bites his lip, every miniscule reaction you can possibly gain from him.

“I want you inside me,” you say.

He groans. “I- I’ve never—”

“It’s alright,” you soothe. You release him for a moment to gather some of the slick from between your folds—and can’t resist rubbing your pussy for just a few seconds, letting a broken moan fall from your lips. Then you use the slick to lube his dick up.

“C’mere,” you say, your legs widening for him to slot in between. “I’ve got you. Say the word and it all stops.”

“I want this,” he says, eyes trained on yours as he settles himself between your thighs. “I want you.”

You hum in delight and, guiding him, line his cock up with your neglected entrance. Wrapping your legs around him, you press down with your heels to push him into you.

His head falls to your shoulder with a broken, gasping moan. You clench at the burning stretch of him filling you, nails digging into his smooth skin. He’s not even touched you, barely begun to fuck you, and you’re already ready to cum.

“Cal,” you murmur, caressing his back, “you okay?”

“S’alot,” he mumbles against your skin. “Can I—?”

“Yes, please.” You press a kiss to his shoulder. “Make love to me, Cal.”

With a whine, he slowly withdraws, every ridge and vein of his cock dragging deliciously on your walls, and then pushes back into you just as slowly. You moan with him at the sensation of filling and being filled, unsure where you begin and he ends, lost in the feeling of just him. He sets a languid pace, kissing your neck, murmuring sweet words in your ear: “You feel so good. Take me so well. Fuck, I needed this. Needed you.”

When he adjusts his grip on you, reaching beneath your body to support your hips, you laugh breathlessly.

“Gonna cum like this.”

He bites down on the sensitive juncture between your neck and shoulder as he snaps his hips against yours, making you cry out. The agonizingly slow pull out, the moment’s pause where only his tip remains in your dripping pussy, and then the overwhelming burst of pleasure as he slams back into you: it’s all you know. It’s all you’ve ever known, all you ever will know. You babble praises, begging, pleading with him, the coil in your belly growing tighter and hotter the harder he fucks into you.

“Can feel you’re close,” he slurs. “Cum for me. Please.”

That’s what does it, hearing him beg for you to cum on him. You go rigid, white flashing in your eyes as the tight coil snaps. Pleasure floods through you, and dimly you’re aware of Cal growling against your ear as he rocks you through it, his promises of cumming in you only serving to draw out the shockwaves of your orgasm. You think you scream. And then, when you feel his dick pulse as he goes absolutely still, you cum again.

He’s laughing when you come down from your high. He remains in you even as he begins to go soft, his giddy, breathless giggles pure music to your ears.

“What’s so funny?” you ask, twirling a strand of his hair between your fingers.

“I just— this is not how I expected today to go,” he says, still laughing.

You smile. “Maybe you should do the laundry more often, hm?”

He just kisses you, and you’re content with that answer.

[supercorpkid]

Ooooo okay

So inspired by your runaway dancers fic (so good) but BD didn't run away just kind off suffered in silence faded into the background

But like BD is just feeling left out cause Alex and Kara are like a team both work for the DEO and constantly have sister nights and are just really close

And like Lucy Lane and Lena Luthor both know what it's like to be the black sheep (so do Alex and Kara they just don't notice it) and like BD isn't invited to sister night so Lucy and Lena take BD to go have fun and take BDs mind off of it

And then the sisters realise (somehow maybe they overhear or they get confronted) they have left out BD and apologise and all make up

So like angst and fluff for BD (you can change any off the plot this is just something to help spark ideas)

You're On Your Own, Kid.

Supergirl. Baby Danvers. Kara Danvers x BabyDanvers!Reader, Alex Danvers x BabyDanvers!Reader, Lena Luthor, Lucy Lane.

Word count: 1900

They are everywhere. Everywhere you look, the heroes of National City catch your eye, and you're left swallowing the lump in your throat. They're your sisters. There shouldn’t be a lump in your throat at the sight of them. But recently, things have been taking a hard turn for you.

You love your job. Really, you do. Taking care of little animals and being a veterinarian brings you joy. But sometimes, you wish you had chosen something more impactful—not just for the world, but for your sisters.

Alex is an agent. A badass one, armed with alien tech, and she’s an incredible doctor, skilled in both human and Kryptonian anatomy. Kara has just become a prominent reporter at one of the biggest media empires in National City and, of course, she’s also one of the planet's greatest superheroes. 

And here you are, examining dog feces for worms.

You don’t mind. There’s no way to express this without sounding jealous, which you’re really not. Your heart swells with pride when Kara saves the world. When you see Alex doing something extremely dangerous yet incredibly badass, you want to shout from the rooftops that she’s your sister.

But lately, you’ve been feeling lonely and a bit left out. They have so much in common and spend so much time together that, little by little, you're left on the sidelines. It started with conversations about things you knew nothing about, then inside jokes you weren’t part of, then secrets. Now, spending time with them is emotionally draining, but not being around them feels even worse.

“Did you see this?” A technician shoves her phone in your face. You smile at Supergirl’s picture and the headline, though she can’t see it because you're wearing a mask.

“Chichi doesn’t have worms.” You remove your gloves, organize the space, and reach for her phone to read the entire news. “Whoa, Supergirl saved the world today!” You look up. “Isn’t it crazy to think we could’ve died analyzing feces if it wasn’t for her?”

“I know! I wish I knew her. I’d make sure she knew she saved us from the most embarrassing death ever.”

You think to yourself that you’ll let Kara know this as soon as you’re out of the clinic. It might have been a while since you two last talked, but you think your sister would appreciate hearing about her heroics. Everyone likes compliments, after all.

“We should go out to celebrate.”

“Not being dead?”

She nods enthusiastically. You almost take her up on it but think better of it. You want to celebrate, but you’d rather do it with Supergirl herself. Buy her potstickers and thank her in person.

You can’t buy Kara potstickers every time she saves the world—you’d go bankrupt in a few months. But not dying an embarrassing death calls for it, honestly.

You leave work and head to her favorite restaurant, and soon you're on your way to her apartment. As you’re about to knock, you hear Alex’s voice inside.

“Ayy!” she exclaims in an uncharacteristic manner. “Sisters’ night with cold beer after you saved the world and I saved your butt at CatCo was an awesome idea.”

Sisters’ night?

You check your phone to make sure you haven’t missed a text. No, you definitely weren’t invited to this impromptu sisters’ night. You try to muster the courage to knock anyway. They weren’t expecting you, but Kara wouldn’t—

“Golly, eating potstickers after saving the world with my family is the best feeling in the universe.”

You turn around without a second thought. It’s awfully sad how unsurprising this is to you. It doesn’t take you off guard, it doesn’t even make your stomach drop. It’s nothing new.

Sure, you’ve been almost out of their lives. Haven’t hung out in a month, Kara hasn’t visited you at work in months, and the last time someone said anything in the text chain was when you asked if they’d heard from Mom that day. Alex simply said no. And that was two weeks ago.

But still, not being invited to a sisters’ night? It literally has that name because it’s a celebration of sisters! You’re a sister. Even if you are the least favorite one.

Great, you’re back at it again. Feeling like you always did back in Midvale. Feeling jealous of Kara and her friendship with Alex. Wanting what they have so badly. The understanding, the support, the “I’ll die for you” love that you only ever got little tastes of.

Ugh. You roll in your bed, trying to go to sleep and praying you wake up invisible.

It's been a week since you realized your sisters want you out of their lives, so you've been keeping to yourself. They haven't come looking for you, not even when you didn't make it to games' night and said nothing on the group chat.

You hear the doorbell and go answer it. It's been a while since anyone visited and you have no idea who could be behind that door. "Lena?"

"So you are alive!" 

"I guess?" You're puzzled by her visit. She's friends with your sisters. Sure, you've talked before, but she's Kara's best friend, not yours.

"Well, I wouldn't know. I haven't seen you in weeks." Lena glances inside your apartment and you finally realize you haven't invited her in yet. So you make space and she takes the chance to walk in. "You haven't been to any game's night, and haven't added anything to the group chat."

"Has —" The question burns in your throat and it needs to be asked. "Anyone else noticed?"

Lena stops, understanding your implication, and turns around slowly.

"Should anyone in specific notice it?"

You don't answer, and her expression demands more. You want to confide in her, but you can't. Lena is Kara's best friend. It wouldn't be fair to share something about your sister with her. So you bite your tongue and shrug. You're on your own. You always have been.

"Oh, no. No. Just curious."

"Well, I came to drag you to game night with me today and you can't say no!"

"No." Lena's face falls and you smile apologetically. "Sorry, I'm going out with some friends from vet school."

"But we're your family!" Lena tries again. Some family! They don't even notice you haven't been around in weeks. "Just come with me today and I'll stop bugging you." Before you open your mouth she adds, "Don't say no."

"No."

"See, you did it again." She pretends to be annoyed and you laugh.

"Sorry Lena, next one, maybe. This one is not gonna happen."

You don't make it to the next one, no matter how many times Lena texts you or tries to bribe you with your favorite food. You can’t go. How many sisters’ nights have they had that you weren’t a part of? How many times was it just them, never realizing something was missing? And worst of all, what if there isn't something missing to them? What if you're someone that people can't even miss?

You think you finally get Lena off your back. She stops texting you, so you're sure you won't have to explain yourself anymore or come up with lazy excuses.

“Y/N.” Your technician calls, and you raise your head from your computer. There were no emergencies today, so you've been just going over some patients' charts while you wait for the next one. “Some women outside are asking for you.”

You look at her with puzzled eyes.

“They don't even own a pet.” You furrow your brows harder and make your way to the front of the clinic.

“Lena? Lucy? What are you guys doing here?”

“We're taking you out for a drink,” Lena says, then adds in a more severe tone, “and seriously, I won't accept no for an answer this time.”

“I'm working and I have a patient.” You look at your schedule. “A cat named…” You raise your head at her, with an eyebrow raised. “Lex.”

“One of those bald ones that looks like it's inside out. Oh, be careful 'cause he bites.” She adds with a smirk.

You look back at the schedule to see that the last patient of the day also seems to be a prank from them. “And next, there is a dog named Clark.”

“He's a golden retriever! The sweetest, but super strong!” Lucy jokes, and you roll your eyes at their shenanigans.

“Can't believe you weirdos paid to hang out with me.”

“Oh, it was all Lena.” You chuckle, of course, it was Lena. Who else would literally throw money at your face so she could talk to you?

There's nothing you can say; you have to join them. You really like them both, but you know they are mostly your sisters' friends, so you can't tell them the real reason why you've been so MIA.

You've been more of a listener throughout the entire hangout. It's weird getting information about your sisters from Lena and Lucy instead of directly from them, but hey, it was their choice. You're just giving them the space they seem to want.

“So, when are you going to tell us about what's going on with you and why you've completely disappeared from our lives lately?”

“Nothing's happening,” you slur, not because you're drunk but because you don't want to talk.

“My bet was that you're in a new relationship,” Lucy says, and you wish she was right. It would make the loneliness you're feeling less prominent.

“I guess you lost the bet.”

Lena looks straight into your eyes. “Well, I think it has something to do with family.”

You don't answer, but the fact that you don’t is what makes them understand right away. Lena reaches for your hand on the other side of the table, and you swallow the lump in your throat and the tears coming.

“It's okay, darling.” She almost whispers in this packed bar full of drunk people. You still hear her perfectly and can hear the sweetness of her tone as well. “We both have been there too.”

“You have?”

Lucy smiles at Lena before turning to you. “Dude, we're the black sheep of our families. Of course we know what it's like not to belong with your family.”

“Yeah.” The tears threaten to leave your eyes again, and you do your best to swallow them down. “It's been hard. They're hanging out together so much, and they have so much in common.”

“Yeah, but that doesn't mean they don't miss you.” Lena tries, and you give her a watery chuckle.

“Trust me, they don't. You've reached out to me a lot more than they have in the past month. I don't think they even noticed I haven't been around.”

“That's crazy! Of course they noticed it!” It's Lucy who tries again.

“They had a sisters' night without me. They haven't texted me in a month, and I haven't been to so many game nights that I'd expect them to at least realize the counting of people has been wrong.”

“Oh, we haven't been playing group games these days.”

You just stare at them, not much left to say. They know where you're coming from, and there's no more excuses they can give for your sisters' behavior. Though, they aren't the ones supposed to be making excuses anyway.

After you get this confession out of the way, you can enjoy the night without having to tiptoe around the subject. Both Lena and Lucy are very understanding of your situation, and though you can feel they pity you, the overall feeling is warmth.

Because sisters' night is basically out of your vocabulary already, Lena and Lucy have turned the usual Thursday night into girls' night. It's the second one, and Lucy wanted to karaoke so you all ended up at the alien bar everyone usually frequents. 

You weren't thinking about your sisters at all when you agreed to meet them there. And you also forgot they could waltz in at any moment after three beers and one shot. You're at the bar waiting for another beer, when Lena next to you whispers, "o-oh."

"Hm?" You turn to her and automatically you follow her line of sight and see Kara and Alex entering the bar. "Oh, shit." The bartender places your beer in front of you and you turn around gulping in. "I have to go."

"What?" Kara comes closer before you have the chance to run out. "I thought you said you'd be working."

"Yeah, I finished up and —" Lena gets interrupted by Lucy who fails to read the situation and comes in yelling, 

"YAY, girls night!"

"Girls' night?" She raises one eyebrow to Lena. "Why was I not invited?"

"It hurts, aye." You can't help the grumble that leaves your mouth. Alex furrows her brows at you, hands finally out of her pockets. They share a look, before turning to you again.

"Sorry?"

Lena and Lucy quickly make their way to the karaoke claiming they're going to pick a song and you're left face-to-face with your biggest problem. You can't face them. Don't want to. It all feels unnecessary and you know you're the one who's going to get hurt in the end.

"I'll go help the girls." You point out and Alex stands in the way for you to leave.

"How about you stay and talk to us, instead? We haven't seen you in a while."

"And whose fault is that?" You widen your eyes to the words that just left your mouth. You can't believe you just said this. 

Alex and Kara's surprised faces aren't far behind, and so you breathe deep before you say something else to turn this into an argument.

"I'm gonna go." You repeat.

"No, you're not. Not when it seems like you have a bunch of things stuck on your throat."

And they are right, you do have so many things you'd like to tell them. You take a deep breath, trying to gather your thoughts and the courage to speak up. The bar suddenly feels too loud, too crowded, but you know this conversation can't wait any longer.

"Fine," you say, finally feeling brave enough to meet their eyes. "Let's talk."

Kara and Alex exchange a glance, then nod. Kara motions to a quieter corner of the bar, and you all move there. Once seated, you take another deep breath and start.

"It's just… I've been feeling left out. You two have been spending so much time together, and I feel like I'm just on the sidelines. Like I don't belong."

Alex's eyes soften, and Kara looks stricken. "Y/N, we had no idea you felt this way," Alex says gently. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

"I didn't want to seem jealous or needy," you admit. "But it hurts when you have sisters' nights and don't invite me. Or when you have inside jokes that I'm not part of."

"Oh, baby. We never meant to exclude you," Kara says, her voice full of regret. "We thought you were busy with work or just needed space. We didn't realize you felt this way."

"Well, I do," you say, your voice trembling slightly while you try to hold back the tears. "And it sucks. I miss you both. I miss being part of your lives."

Kara reaches out and takes your hand. "We're so sorry. We love you and we want you to feel included. We'll do better, I promise."

Alex nods in agreement. "Absolutely. You're our sister, and we want you with us. Always."

Their words bring a rush of relief and you can't keep your tears in check anymore. "I just want to feel like I matter," you say, your voice breaking.

"You do matter," Kara insists. "More than you know. We're a team, and we need you."

Alex squeezes your other hand. "We'll make it right. No more sisters' nights without you. From now on, we do everything together."

You feel a weight lift off your shoulders. "Really?" You ask, heart daring to hope. They both agree so vividly with their heads, you can't not believe them fully. "That's all I wanted. I just want my sisters back."

Lena and Lucy return from the karaoke machine, eyeing the three of you with curiosity but giving you space. You share a small, relieved smile with your sisters. For the first time in a long while, you feel hopeful that things will get better.

Kara is the first to get up from her seat and pull you into a hug. Alex joins right after and soon you're sandwiched between your sisters and it's so nice you even forget you're in a bar.

But it's only for a brief second, until your friends come closer and join the hug. Soon after Kara runs to the karaoke machine to pick a song for you three to sing together, and Alex pays you another beer.

You can't believe you were away from your sisters for over a month, because nothing is good enough that it doesn’t get a hundred times better when they're around. You hope they are always around.

[geekywritings]

“Come back to bed.”

Today, I present to you my interpretation of the lovely anonymous ask I received:

“Reader was super touch starved before they started dating and Cal is super touchy, and she loves it but also has trouble getting used it. But her favorite thing is when he rubs her back (comfort or just to be close) and it just becomes a thing for them??"

Again, lots of fluff, so enjoy!

___________

Touch… Such a simple thing. A sign of trust, a proof of friendship and a language of love all at the same time.

You’ve always had a strange relationship with the concept. On one hand, you feared it, on the other, you desired nothing more than to experience its effects. Thinking about it, your paradox connection to touch probably stemmed from your upbringing. Your mother had worked in one of the adult entertainment establishments of Nar Shadaa, with you growing up in this strange world of opposites.

Poor workers, rich clients. Big expectations, and crushed dreams. Honest touch and paid-for love. It all mixed together in this place, and you had watched it all from the kitchens where you were being kept while your mother served drinks to the various males that frequented the “The Pearl” every night.

Hugs were rare, as your mother wasn’t the type for it. She showed her affection in different ways, first and foremost by sending you away when you were old enough, thus saving you from a future in the establishment.

You attended a pilot academy and graduated among the top of your class. By that time, the Republic had fallen and the Empire was recruiting capable pilots left and right. Needless to say, the strict regime didn’t exactly encourage comradery and touch either.

And so you grew more and more hungry for it, while never quite knowing why.

You also hated working for the Empire. Payment was bad, the treatment of people horrendous and everything about it simply felt wrong.

It was by pure accident that you crossed paths with the rebels when one of them tried to pay you good credits to smuggle someone off-planet along with your booked cargo. You had agreed, mostly for the credits, to be honest, but eventually, helping people became a mission. A true purpose. Something fulfilling.

You also came to love one rebel in particular: Cal Kestis. You had run several missions for and with him until he eventually asked you to join his crew permanently. They could always use a good pilot, he argued. A good friend of his, Greeze, used to be the Captain of the impressive ship he used to get around, but the Latero had retired or was at least taking an extensive break.

And so your story with Cal had begun, quickly growing from allies to friends and eventually romantic partners. It had all happened so fast and your head still reeled from how the redhead had managed to worm his way into your heart. Never had you met anyone displaying such kindness, gentleness, patience and respect. It was impossible not to fall in love with him.

He taught you how to fight as well, organizing a metal staff for you after you turned out to be a rather poor shot. You two sparred regularly, with the Jedi putting his combat training into good use to teach you new tricks.

The crew around you changed constantly. Some left, some died, some joined you only for a specific job. But Cal, BD-1 and you were a constant on the Mantis. They were your family and the ship your home.

Often, you would sit awake long into the night, staring out into the galaxy passing you by and thinking about what your life would have been like if your mother hadn’t saved up every credit to send you away.

“Didn’t you say you’d join me in 10 minutes?”

You turned and found Cal leaning against the doorway leading to the cockpit. His hair was tousled and his eyes sleepy, but a small smile was playing on his lips, as he crossed his arms in front of his bare chest.

“That was three hours ago, love.”, he added when you sent him a confused look.

“Oh…”, was all you could say, not having realized how much time had passed. Getting lost in memories did that to you.

Stifling a yawn, Cal moved to drop into the Co-pilot seat, green eyes searching yours.

“Can’t sleep again?” His voice was full of sympathy as he reached out a hand to rest on your knee.

There it was again: touch.

Cal always reached for you. Whether it was for a hug or a kiss, to hold your hand, to just feel you near or to make sweet love with you. Every touch from his was special and you did your best to reciprocate. You still remembered the look of pure joy the first time you initiated a hug or gave him a kiss or reached for his hand on your own. It helped you greatly to open yourself to the kind of love language you had yearned for, yet still needed to grasp fully.

You stared at his hand on your knee and slowly placed yours on top of his.

“I was thinking about my mother… and everything she did to give me a good life.”

Cal nodded in understanding, but didn’t say anything, allowing you to unload your thoughts. He knew your past and had even volunteered to help your mom, but she had disappeared from “The Pearl” after your graduation with no sign of her to be found.

“She saved you. That’s love.”, he eventually spoke and you smiled.

“I wish I could have shown her more that I loved her.”, you sighed. You regretted that you hadn’t hugged her more on your own accord.

“I am sure that she knew.”, Cal assured you, ever the supportive voice for your conscience.

You smiled at him and nodded, before slipping from the pilot’s chair into his lap, arms sneaking around him. “I love you, Cal… And I want to show you every day.”, you muttered into his neck, as his arms came to rest around you.

“You do show me every day, Starlight.”, he whispered back, holding you close. “And I am so very grateful for it, because I love you as well. To the end of the Galaxy and back.”

For a while you just sat in silence, enjoying the proximity, Cal's hand drawing small circles on your lower back. It was your favourite, really, the gesture always helping you relax.

“Now come back to bed, love.”, the Jedi whispered eventually and you nodded, allowing him to carry you back into your room, where you both gave into desire.

Touch… Such a simple thing. A sign of trust, a proof of friendship and a language of love all at the same time.

You’ve always had a strange relationship with the concept. But you were ready to open your heart to it fully, as long as Cal was with you.

[jewish-vents]

first - i just want to say thank you for making this blog. it’s so important to know that we aren’t alone in the many things we’re experiencing and feeling right now, especially when so many of us have become painfully isolated as of late.

i apologize for how long this one is going to be.

i’ve been feeling so, so alone recently. my tumblr dash has been cut down to just a handful of jewish blogs that i can trust to be kind and understanding and nuanced, but it means that the majority of the content i see is about antisemitism and the war. after a while, it becomes draining to scroll through what feels like endless sadness. i turned to looking at fandom tags instead of following fandom blogs, but it makes me feel equally as insane to click on a blog about race cars and immediately see a post with 60k notes calling what’s happening in gaza “the new holocaust”. i started going back on twitter, but fan accounts on there too are only safe for a day or so before the account owner shares some awful antisemitic tweet from an account known to be an anti-jewish extremist. i went back on instagram briefly, but i was soon afraid to look at people’s stories for fear i’d see something terrible and lose yet another trusted person from my life.

in person, i have to walk by signs saying “zionism = genocide” and hastily scribbled palestinian flags with the colors in the wrong spot on my way to class every day. a wall across from my apartment says “BDS” in giant letters. i haven’t opened my curtains in months because of it. a “protest” of about 25 people stood in the center of campus and yelled and waved their fists in passing students’ faces, so jewish students didn’t go to class on any of the days they gathered. i only have one non jewish friend left at school - the rest abandoned me because i either called them out on antisemitic rhetoric or refused to go along with the idea that anyone, palestinian or israeli, muslim or jewish, is less than human. i had taken several of them along to our hillel’s seder in the past. i don’t know who i can safely go with this year. i have a few jewish friends, of course, but i love bringing goyische friends with little connection to judaism along to experience how joyful and loving jewish holidays can be.

it feels like there is no escape from this fucking war. it sickens me that it’s the only thing people pretend to care about - where is the attention for sudan, ukraine, armenia, uyghurs in china, syria, guyana? how is putting an emoji in your twitter bio or putting a translucent overlay of the palestinian flag on your tumblr icon any sort of real activism? how have we gone from “antisemitism is wrong” to “(((zionists))) control the world media”? it seems like the war is a fandom to these people. it seems like nobody cares enough to fully read and think critically about what they share, let alone do real research beyond looking at an infographic somebody shared on their instagram story. they’ll add on “don’t forget your click today!” to an unrelated twitter thread that went viral, flip the bird at the local starbucks, and put “won’t you free my palestine” on their instagram stories. they’ll anonymously tell a jew online to commit suicide. they’ll feel secure in the knowledge that they’re the perfect leftist, that this is somehow “good trouble”. all this praxis, and nothing to show for it but massive surges in hate crimes against jews. good job, guys! you singlehandedly saved every innocent person in gaza!

it’s isolating. it’s scary. jews can’t mourn. jews can’t be angry. jews can’t disagree. jews can’t suffer. jews can’t be whole, complex people with diverse beliefs and experiences. suffering is a game, and the goal is to hurt the most, scream the most, die the most, all to appease western leftists whose closest connection to war and violence was reading the hunger games in middle school.

i’m tired of it all. i want a peaceful and just resolution to the war. i want the mindless hatred everywhere to stop. i want to be able to scroll through social media and see nothing but fandom. i want to walk through campus with my magen david showing and all the friends i lost by my side on the way to the hillel seder. i want to open my curtains again. i know the experience of one diaspora jew is nothing compared to what people living in israel and palestine are currently going through, yet i still need this all to end. i don’t think any of us can go on like this, but we must, because we have. for thousands of years, we’ve gone on. that still doesn’t mean it has to be this hard all the time.

all i can think is “now we are slaves. next year may we be free.” now we are slaves to hatred and violence and suffering. next year may we all be free. next year may we all be in jerusalem.

.

[breakfastteatime]

Today's Fallen Order request is "That looks broken" for @blueflowertea

The sun shines outside, flowers bloom, Greez has freshly baked bread cooling in the galley and all is calm and quiet aboard the ship. The others have ventured into a nearby market, leaving Greez with the whole ship to himself. He’s set the navicomp to run maintenance routines, the deck is sparking from his intense scrubbing, he baked the aforementioned bread (mostly to get rid of the odour of whatever the heck Cal tracked in from their last stop on an honest-to-great-grandma swamp planet), and the refresher hasn’t been that tidy since the day the ship left the production line.

All in all, Greez has had a very productive day while the others go gallivanting, with their ‘the Force is calling me’ and ‘I wish to see a new world’ and scanning, always scanning. It’s the first time in too long Greez has been able to play his own music on the sound system too. Apparently Latero lounge funk is nauseating for Humans. And Greez means that literally – both Cere and Cal get all woozy and pale if he tries playing it. It makes Merrin giggle uncontrollably in a genuinely dangerous to her health kind of way.

Greez makes himself a cup of caf and prepares to sit down, maybe catch a pod race, when he hears familiar voices approaching. He switches off his music and watches BD lead the way. That’s unusual. He rarely puts his own feet on the ground unless…

Greez looks up. Cal is on his feet, conscious and limping. Cere and Merrin follow, Merrin looking extremely pleased with herself while Cere looks like she’s ready to catch Cal at a moment’s notice.

“What happened?” Greez asks.

“Cal did not look where he was going,” Merrin says. “He tripped over a market stall.”

“And did such a great job putting it back together the stall owner wasn’t even mad at me!” Cal flops down onto the couch. Good thing Greez didn’t get around to cleaning that off today. He’s covered in soil. “And I was looking where I was going. I just got distracted. Totally different problem.”

“Yes, you see something shiny, and all other thoughts fall out of your head,” Merrin says.

“Nah, that’s BD, right, buddy?”

BD cackles and dashes off to scan the terrarium.

“Take your boot off,” Cere says.

“I twisted it, Cere, it’s nothing.”

“Take your boot off. Greez, grab me the medscanner.”

Greez never, ever, messes with Cere when she’s using this tone of voice. Cal, on the other hand, is not that wise.

“I twisted my ankle. Some ice, a few stretches, it’ll be fine.”

“And how are you going to apply the ice with the boot on? Take it off. Now.”

Merrin snorts. Cal levels a glare at her. She heads off into her and Cere’s cabin. Greez hands over the scanner to Cere. He gives Cal a nudge. “There’s no need to turn this into a fight,” he whispers.

It isn’t much of a flashpoint, but it’s one nonetheless and despite all this time together, no one has managed to iron out Cal’s ‘I’ll work through anything’ mentality. On top of that, he’s a young man who clearly wants to spread his wings. Greez gets it, he really does, but sometimes Cal needs a reminder he isn’t immortal. No, it’s simpler than that. Sometimes, he needs reminders that he doesn’t need to be in pain constantly.

With much eye-rolling and amateur dramatics, Cal reaches for his boot. He pulls, and Greez watches him literally go several shades paler. A funny gasp emerges from him, and he grabs the couch cushions, knuckles bleaching white. Greez hears Cere take a breath, ready to lecture, and reaches over to whack her on the arm. The woman really needs to know when to push and when to shut up.

It’s slow and painful (literally for Cal, based on how much he’s sweating), but the boot comes off.

Greez can’t help himself. “That looks broken.”

Cal is silent as Cere scans the obvious problem. Greez grabs an icepack, ready to put on the injury the moment they have confirmation.

“Yes,” Cere says. “Broken. It’s a hairline fracture, so a bone knitter and a few days of rest will fix it right up.” She reaches into the medkit once more and pulls out said knitter. Definitely an essential purchase, one they’d made not long after meeting Cal.

Head shaking, Cal tries to pull away. “I don’t need to rest it, I can manage.”

Certain he knows why Cal thinks he can ‘manage’, Greez slaps the icepack down just hard enough to catch Cal, who hisses and levels a glare at him. “You are resting it. Consider the rest of us at your beck and call.”

Cal pauses, turning the thought around. “Everyone?”

Greez nods. “Merrin!” Cal bellows at the top of his lungs. “You’re at my beck and call! Grab me a drink, please!”

[imagines-ahs]

Chapter Forty-Nine: Sangria.

Summary: Wilhemina Venable felt it was finally time to leave Kineros Robotics and get a job with people who weren’t such morons like Jeff and Mutt. What she didn’t expect, however, was for her new boss to be so damn insufferable. She didn’t expect to fall in love with her, either.

Tag List: @mayfair-fleur @mistysswampmud @paulsonsratched @msvenablx @notmeellaannyy @rwoolfe @golddustdykes​ @lovingsarah @slut-for-sarah @geinobinarie​ (message me to be added if interested!)

At night, Wilhemina caught herself missing the warmth of another body next to her. Floratta Blue lingered in the air only slightly, and Venable wished she could smell more of it. Fear clouded her senses before sleep could, trying to trick her, trying to scare her. Wilhemina closed her eyes and thought about Billie; about the kiss they shared just before she entered her car and drove home that evening. Nothing would change in the morning. Nothing would change in the week. Right?

And so Monday morning arrived, and with it came a very self conscious Wilhemina, whom took way more than usual to get ready for the day. Pants, sweaters, skirts…? Have I ever worn a skirt to work? Venable didn’t think so, but when choosing an outfit the purple, mid skirt was the only thing that made her comfortable enough. So the skirt it was, with a purple sweater up and tucked on the waist and purple boots to finish the look. After placing a small kiss on Purpura’s head, Wilhemina followed to Billie Dean Howard & Co., fingers drumming on the wheel and lower lip caught between pearl teeth. Would Emma already be there? Would Billie Dean already be there? Would anyone know? Well, Jenny knew. Would Jenny say something? Blushing was never an option to Venable.

When the doors of the elevador opened on the seventh floor, Wilhemina couldn’t help but gulp. She walked a little slower than usual, with her head up high as it always were and heels clacking on the marble. Everything felt different. As she entered the main office, there was no sign of anyone there yet, but Venable’s heart had picked up in speed anyways. She took a deep breath and set her things down, coat on the backrest and bag on top of the table. The air was chilly, and the Christmas decorations had already been turned on. Brown eyes watched as the lights on the small Christmas tree right in the middle of the room changed colors, contrasting with the white marble that bathed the rest of the room. I do like how these look. Perhaps Wilhemina would hang a light or two in her house… maybe Billie Dean could help? She has her own life. Venable didn’t expect them to spend every second of their lives together, after all. Hell, she didn’t even know how Billie would feel this morning. I miss her lips already. Shaking the thought off, Wilhemina walked to the kitchen in order to get herself some coffee.

Billie Dean was always hungry, that was no news, but this morning she made sure to stop at a bakery nearby and get both herself and Wilhemina a croissant. When she took the first step into the office, Billie couldn’t help but be somewhat glad she had woken up earlier than usual due to the excitement of seeing a certain someone today. When her alarm went off in the morning, Billie Dean had already been getting dressed with a warm sweater and jeans. Honey eyes lighted up softly when she saw the purple purse on top of Venable’s table. Billie looked around; there seemed to be no one else in the office but the two of them. She bit her lower lip, purse on her forearm and bag of croissants in hand. “Wilhie?” she called softly.

In the kitchen, Wilhemina had already poured two mugs of warm coffee. W and BD. She barely had time to take a first sip before the sweet voice invaded her ears. Suddenly, her heart that had only now started to calm down began to beat fast again. The corners of her lips already arched up, and her skin wanted to turn red. Venable cleared her throat. “In the kitchen,” she called back.

With a smile that nearly went from ear to ear, Billie Dean bit her lower lip and walked that way. She peeked into the kitchen and her heart skipped a beat; how was it possible that Wilhemina looked even prettier than the night before? “Hi,” she said softly. She’s wearing a skirt. Billie tried not staring.

“Hi.” Venable allowed her hips to rest against the counter before setting the mug down on it. Her cane now rested on her thigh, beside her. She looked at honey eyes. I’ve missed her.

Gosh, she’s fucking gorgeous. Billie slowly walked into the kitchen. She placed her purse and the bag of croissants on the table before making her way towards Wilhemina. As she got close to her, Billie Dean found herself nervous; should she kiss her? Would Venable be uncomfortable if she did? I prefer to be wrong for giving her affection than for making her think I don’t want to be around her. That had already happened once, and it was one too many times for Billie’s liking. With palms a little sweaty and giving time for Wilhemina to pull away if she wanted to, Billie Dean reached to caress Venable’s hips. Her thumbs traced the rough cloth of her skirt, eyes glued on dark brown ones. Wilhemina seemed to have forgotten how to breathe, for no air seemed to get in or out of her lungs. Billie licked her lips. “Can I kiss you?” she whispered. Venable nodded and closed the gap between them right away, eyes closing as she savored the cherry she had been craving since the day before. Their kiss was slow, tender, and when they pulled away, Billie Dean felt a hand caressing her own waist back, and another cupping her cheek. She leaned against the palm. Their eyes reconnected. Billie thought she was about to melt with how deep Wilhemina stared at her. “I’ve missed you,” she said without really thinking, for thinking was hard when she had Venable’s lips so close to her own.

The words sent a shiver down Wilhemina’s body. She felt her chest engulfing in something warm, something good. “I’ve missed you, too.” She bit her lower lip, trying to stop a smile from spreading too widely on her cheeks. “You look beautiful.” I can’t feel the tobacco anymore.

“Look who’s saying,” Billie Dean teased. “With that pretty skirt.”

“Oh,” Wilhemina chuckled. Her cheeks tinted as her eyes looked away from Billie’s. I should have chosen the trousers… Her insides wanted to grow with discomfort from being noticed, but how actually uncomfortably was it? To be noticed like that, with a compliment, with loving eyes? Venable wasn’t used to that. “How are you?” She asked, trying desperately to get the focus away from herself. The hand on Billie Dean’s cheek now pulled a strand of blonde hair away from honey eyes, and then it slipped down to rest on the small of Billie’s back, lacing there with her other one. Billie Dean slightly stepped closer in order to get more comfortable. We’re in the middle of the office.

She’s shy. Billie knew she had to take it easy with compliments, but that wasn’t necessarily a natural thing for her to do; Billie Dean valued honesty, and so she was honest, too. “I’m alright, thank you. What about you?”

“Me too.” Venable struggled to keep the blush of her cheeks contained, for it wanted to jump out and crawl all over the skin of her body. I would never allow Emma to kiss me in the kitchen like that. “I’ve poured you some coffee.” Wilhemina looked over to the mug with the ‘BD’ initials on top of the counter; she wanted to pull away and grab it, hand it to Billie, but her hands seemed to fit so well on Billie Dean’s body they refused to move. Billie didn’t seem to mind; not at all, for she stood there comfortably, her own hands resting on Venable’s shoulders and caressing them.

“Thank you, darling.” Billie looked over to the mug before looking back at Wilhemina. She’s always thinking of me. With her lip between her pearl teeth again, Billie Dean stared at dark brown eyes. It feels so good to be here, with her.Her thumbs began to trace soft patterns on Venable’s cheekbones, feeling the warmth that radiated from the skin there. After a second, she spoke again. “Thank you for keeping me in mind.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that, Billie.” Wilhemina’s voice was quieter as well. She gulped, lips tingling from being just inches away from Billie Dean’s. We’re in the middle of the office, the thought slipped in again. I don’t think I care much about it right now. They were alone, after all. “I keep you in mind because you matter to me.” Shut up. You’re talking too much.

You matter to me. Billie would tattoo these words in her heart. Opening a sweet smile, she leaned to peck Venable’s lips, lingering there a little. All of the degrading voices disappeared right there and then inside Wilhemina’s mind. “You matter to me a lot,” Billie whispered, soon kissing Venable again. It was even slower this time, even more tender. Their lips met again and again in a sweet symphony, enjoying each other, savoring the touch. Until heels began to be heard from the main office. Wilhemina was the one to pull away this time, instantly reaching for her cane and standing up straight. Billie Dean got the cue and took a step back. Quick change. She would respect Venable’s ways.

“Sorry,” Wilhemina blurted out, because Billie looked a little lost and because she was not dumb. “I just—I don’t want to embarrass you. We’re at the workplace, after all.”

Embarras me? Billie Dean shook her head. It was not the time nor place to discuss that, though. “You could never embarras me,” she said instead, only to make sure Venable wouldn’t dwell on that until they could actually talk about it. “Besides… I’m the boss. It’s my workplace.” With a teasing smirk, Billie winked at Wilhemina and reached for her mug of coffee. The blush that spread all over Venable’s chest and cheeks was priceless. She let out a chuckle, taking a sip of coffee as she eyed Wilhemina. She did hate me for it back then. What a funny contrast.

Oh. Venable gulped. Again. Her legs got weak for a second, and her lower stomach turned into a puddle of something. She bit her lower lip, failing to stop it from curling up at the corners. “Indeed.” After clearing her throat, Wilhemina reached for her mug as well. I feel… a thing. The coffee didn’t feel as hot anymore.

Just as Billie Dean was about to tease Wilhemina again, chatter and more chatter filled the atmosphere. People had arrived, and so she looked at Venable and quickly leaned to peck her on the cheek. “If you’re hungry, there’s two croissants in the bag,” she whispered and pulled away.

Holding back a giggle, Wilhemina nodded. Her cheeks had grown even redder with the kiss, and she bit her lip tightly so no one would catch her grinning like an idiot. “Thank you,” she whispered back. Billie Dean nodded and took another sip of coffee, lips tugged up. The chattering began to get louder, and so dark brown eyes moved to the door; in no time, Emma and Jenny stepped inside the kitchen as they chatted about nothing at all.

“… but it’s stupid how they made it out to be ab—“ Emma stopped right in her tracks. Emerald oceans stared at Wilhemina, and then at Billie.

“Hi—hi!” Jenny blurted out as her eyes grew to the size of the Moon.

Fuck. Billie Dean felt her hands tightening the grip on her mug. She gulped. Her body suddenly craved for nicotine. “Hi.” From the corner of her eye, she saw how Venable stood up straight, head up high and free hand on her cane, holding it firmly.

Wilhemina wanted to jump on Emma and slap that stupid face of hers, but she was a woman of decency. So she decided she’d just be as far away from her as she possibly could. I can’t leave Billie Dean alone to deal with that. God only knew what Emma would say to Billie, and Venable would not forgive herself for allowing that to happen. Again. So she cleared her throat and took another sip of coffee. Silence had made itself room. Her eyes nearly pierced through Emma as she now focused on her. “Good morning,” her words were firm and collected, as cold as ice. They sent a message. Billie Dean’s body filled with goosebumps: how was it possible that Wilhemina managed to change her posture and mask her aura so swiftly?

“Good morning, Ms. Venable.” Jenny shifted her weight from one foot to another, clearly uncomfortable. Wilhemina hummed back at her.

“Good morning, Wilhemina.” Emma smiled cynically, voice raising in tone as she noticeably meant to mock her. “How is your cat?” Green eyes never once left dark brown ones.

With her knuckles turning white from squeezing the cane so much, Venable felt her molars hurting. Her jaw felt as rigid as a rock from tensing it so much. Who did Emma think she was? To mock her like that, to ask her about Purpura like that? It’s your fault. She’s mocking you and you deserve it for letting her in your life when you know you’re meant to be alone. Her heart picked up in speed. Breathing was becoming hard. “That is none of your business.” Even though her body wanted to start trembling, Wilhemina’s voice was as steady as it always were.

Uh-oh. Billie gulped. From all the things she had expected Emma to do, rub the intimacy she had had with Venable was definitely not something she had seen coming. And for her to use that tone with Wilhemina was expected even less. She eyed Venable. Her muscles are nearly exploding underneath the skin of her neck. Billie Dean feared she’d break a tooth or two. I want to hold her hand. It was not the place nor the time to do so. “Jenny, do you have the pictures you told me about?” She quickly said before Emma could try and answer to Wilhemina.

“Y-yes. It’s in your e-mail.”

“Perfect.” Billie now turned to Emma, whom kept that stupid smirk on her face. “Emma, how is the report I asked you for going? If I remember correctly, the deadline was today.”

“Correct. And it will be on your desk by the end of the day.” Emma nodded, arms crossed and chest puffed out.

“I should go to my desk,” Venable held her mug tightly and began to make her way out of the kitchen. She needed a Valium, and she needed it now. Her mind was starting to grow hazy, and she kept forgetting to breathe.

Something’s off. Billie Dean looked at Venable, watching how she walked as stiff as a wall, nails white on the cane. She wanted to go after her, but would that be the right thing to do right now? In the workplace? With how reserved Wilhemina was? Billie felt herself a little lost. “Jenny, we should—we should get going.”

“Right.” The girl nearly jumped up, leaving the room as fast as she could. Billie Dean followed behind, leaving Emma alone in the kitchen. When the door of Billie’s office closed, Jenny instantly took a deep breath. “She’s pissed.”

“Well, yeah,” Billie chuckled weirdly. “So am I.” Granted, right now she was more worried about Wilhemina than pissed at Emma. With her lip caught between pearl teeth, she reached for her phone in her purse and took a seat. Her thumbs worked swiftly as she wrote a text to Venable: ’Are you alright? Do you need anything? Text me or come to my office if you do.’ When she looked back up, Jenny had already taken a seat as well. “The nerve of that woman…” she murmured after a second.

The girl licked her lips, nodding slowly. “Yeah… I bumped on her at the elevator, so we ended up getting to the office together.” Is she… explaining herself? “She didn’t mention anything regarding you. Or Ms. Venable.”

Setting her phone aside, Billie Dean shook her head. “There’s no need to explain why you were talking to her, Jenny,” she said softly. “The problem I have with her is between the two of us and Wilhemina.” Noticeably, Jenny relaxed a little on her chair.

“I’m your friend, though. Not Emma’s.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be cordial to her.” The last thing Billie wanted right now was for the office to become a war. “Truly, don’t worry about it. Do what feels right to you.” She reached for one of the girl’s hand, squeezing it softly.

With a small smile, Jenny gave her a nod. She squeezed Billie Dean’s hand back. “How are things with Ms. Venable?”

“They’re alright,” Billie chuckled. “Why do you call her like that?”

“That’s how she introduced herself to me, and I definitely don’t want to get scolded by her.”

Laughing a little louder, Billie Dean shook her head. “She won’t scold you.”

“You don’t know that… plus, she might be sweet to you, but she won’t open up to me like that.”

Billie hummed. She crossed her arms and smirked a little. “Are you scared of her?” Jenny’s cheeks blushed. She gasped. “You are!”

“It’s not my fault! She won’t really talk to me or show any emotions, how can I know what she’s thinking?!”

Laughing yet again, Billie Dean shook her head. “She’s harmless.” The girl hummed. “She really is… and very caring.”

“Go on…”

“Hm?”

“Go on, you owe me some details.” It was Jenny’s turn to let out a smirk.

“Don’t we have work to do?” Billie tried ignoring her own hot cheeks, but the corners of her lips kept on tugging up.

“Don’t even try.”

“Fair.” Billie Dean playfully rolled her eyes. “What do you want to know?” Her voice was a little quieter, now.

“Everything! Is she a good kisser? How’s her house? Have you two survived the weekend without sex?”

“Jenny!” Billie covered her face with her palms. The girl chuckled. “Yes, beautiful, yes.”

“What?”

“Your answers.”

“You can do better than that for the person who practically forced you to tell her how you felt.”

Groaning, Billie Dean peeked through her fingers before setting her hands back down. She bit her lower lip as she thought. “Her touches are… very gentle,” she began slowly. “Her kisses taste like wine, her house smells like lavender and so does her skin… she has a cat who’s the sweetest animal I’ve ever met, and she changes completely when she’s comfortable. She’s always making sure I’m not hungry, nor cold, nor uncomfortable… she hates my cold feet,” she chuckled, eyes far away. “And she is… well, she’s everything I thought she was. We’re both not worried about sex… we talked, got to know more of each other… watched Ratatouille,” she chuckled again. “Ordered food, slept in, spent the day in pajamas… cuddled, stared at each other… kissed a few times… and then Monday came, and we met at the kitchen before, you know...” She blinked twice, honey eyes focusing on Jenny again. The girl had a bright smile as she watched her. “Satisfied?” Billie arched an eyebrow.

“Very much so.” With her smirk growing more and more, Jenny kept on staring at Billie Dean.

“What?” Billie’s cheeks kept on getting hotter.

“Nothing,” Jenny shook her head. She let out a chuckle as she looked down and to her phone, starting to type on it. Billie Dean frowned. “I just think you’re in love,” she said after a minute.

Billie Dean hummed. I am. She reached for her own phone as well. There were no texts from Wilhemina, nor had she seen the one Billie had just sent her. I hope she’s okay. Taking a deep breath, she looked back at the girl. “Should we look at the pictures?”

“Sure.”

In the main office, Venable stared at the computer in front of her. Her hands had only now stopped shaking, and her heart was finally going back to normal. She had taken a Valium about ten minutes ago, in the bathroom. From the corner of her eye, she could see Emma on her desk, working as if everything was normal, with her hair perfectly done and makeup in place. I should have never let her in. Was it a mistake to let Billie Dean in, too? Wilhemina nibbled on the inside of her cheeks, trying desperately to focus on the excel sheet in front of her. Will Billie hurt me, too? Venable took a deep breath, eyes refusing to leave the monitor. Stop. Stop it. Billie Dean wasn’t like Emma. She hesitantly began to work on the report, using all of her inner strength to not allow her mind to slip at any dark places. It still did, from time to time, but the thoughts eventually calmed down. And then they became normal again, when the report was nearly done. She kept on working, only stopping when everything was ready to print. Reaching for her cane, Wilhemina got up. She waited for the papers to be done printing and reached for an envelope, slipping them inside before making her way to the hallway. As she had just walked past the kitchen, a voice invaded her ears.

“Wilhemina?” Emma called from behind. With a frown, Venable turned around. Oh, fuck off. “Can we talk?”

Holding back a chuckle at how utterly delirious that question was, Venable shook her head. “No, we can not.” She promptly turned back around and kept on walking towards Billie Dean’s office. A hand reached for her arm, and she instantly pulled away. “What the fuck are you doing?!” she whisper-yelled.

“I just want to talk!” Emma took a step back. “You owe me that!”

“I don’t owe you anything.”

“Oh, please.” Emma had that smug look on her face again. Venable could feel her blood starting to boil already. “You were screwing me not a week ago!”

“Shut up!”

“It’s true! But now that you’re fucking the Billie Dean Howard, you can’t even talk to me?” Emma chuckled bitterly. “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Wilhemina’s words barely managed to find their way through her teeth.

“Don’t play stupid, Wilhemina. Why did you leave me for her? Couldn’t you have the decency to tell me before doing anything?” Venable’s molars were back at hurting. Emma took a step closer, causing Wilhemina to back away. “She’s not good for you,” Emma whispered, eyes nearly piercing through Venable’s. “She’s going to use you, and then she’ll discard you. That’s what she does. She can have any thing, any time.”

“Shut up,” Wilhemina hissed out yet again.

“Do you know what she did to Terry?” Emma waited for an answer, but Venable only stared at her. “You don’t know, do you?” Green eyes kept glued on brown ones. “It started just like that… and then she was fired when Billie Dean was done playing with her. That’s what is going to happen to you, too.” Slowly, Emma reached to play with a fiery lock.

Wilhemina moved her head away. “Do not touch me.” She fought not to allow her eyes to fill with tears.

“Meet me for lunch… I’ll tell you everything.”

With her body as tense as an elastic being pulled too hard, Venable shook her head. “Leave us alone,” she growled and turned around, stopping to walk only when she reached Billie Dean’s office. Taking a deep breath, Wilhemina closed her eyes for a second; matching tears slipped down, and she quickly wiped them away. Once she opened her eyes again, Venable cleared her throat and knocked at the door, posture as neat as always. In no time, Jenny peeked out.

“Oh,” the girl quickly stepped aside. “Come on in.”

“Thank you.” With her breath a little labored again, Wilhemina stepped inside. Her eyes instantly fell on Billie; on how gorgeous she looked, sitting behind the wooden table with her eyes focused on a stack of papers on top of it. As her heels clacked on the floor, honey eyes looked up to meet her. Billie Dean opened a smile, and Venable felt her insides melting a little.

“I’ll go get some coffee.” With a wink to Billie, Jenny was quick to close the door and leave them alone.

Billie Dean couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle as she sat up straight. She doesn’t even like coffee. Her eyes went back to Wilhemina again. She looks nervous. “Hi, darling.”

Darling. Venable bit her inner cheek. “Hello.” She stepped closer, setting the envelope on the table. “The report you asked me for.”

“Perfect.” Billie Dean backed the chair away. “Come here.”With a gulp, Venable walked around the table, standing right in front of Billie. With a smile, Billie Dean got up. They stared at each other, and only now, up close, Billie realized the tiny, almost unnoticeable smears of tears on Wilhemina’s beautiful cheeks. She frowned. “You were crying…” What did that woman say to her? Instantly, she reached for Venable’s free hand and tangled their fingers together. “What happened?”

Wilhemina took a deep breath. She kept her eyes glued on honey ones, afraid to look away. “Nothing happened.” Don’t you dare.

Oh no. Billie didn’t like when Venable lifted her walls like that, for it nearly always meant something bad. “Wilhie…” Her fingers caressed the digits between them, and she could see, behind those dark brown eyes, the inner struggle going on inside Wilhemina. “Was it Emma?” It was hesitant, but Venable nodded before looking down. Billie Dean’s frown grew. “What did she do?” She’s not caressing my hand back. Billie had a feeling she already knew what Emma had done.

Good. Explain yourself, now. Wilhemina squeezed the cane a little harsher. “She just… she asked me out for lunch.” She looked at Billie Dean again. Should I trust her like that? Was it safe to let her in? Would she be another Terry? What had even happened between Billie and Terry?

“What—what did you say?” Does she regret me?

“I said no, of course.” Venable watched how Billie’s chest had begun to move a little faster. She’s nervous. Wilhemina could feel herself starting to grow overwhelmed, and Billie Dean’s fingers no longer felt right tangled in her own. As gentle as she could, Venable pulled her hand away. Billie blinked once, glancing down at their hands. The look that settled on Billie Dean’s face caused Wilhemina to feel even more disappointed in herself. I’m hurting her. But her whole body refused to allow itself to be touched, to be felt, to be noticed as something that existed in physical form. Billie only nodded, waiting for Venable to say something else, anything else. Wilhemina’s jaw was tense again. “B-Billie, what happened between you and Terry?”

[nightcityvngel]

🪃 for Vngel 🖤

"Have you ever done something you thought would be fine, but it came back at you with awful consequences?" Hah! Lemme guess, not that old huh? Imma let ya in on a lil secret, everyone has, specially in NC. So yea I have, plenty of times, most of those from my early days as a merc. Feelin kinda generous today so lemme tell ya bout one of those instances. Fuck may even be educational for those of you new to the city of dreams or considering the merc life. (quick note: cw for death and murder, putting it under a cut for that reason. also this is long but i had fun writing it.)

Second gig the crew is hired for gotta find who killed this nomad kid and took out some of his organs and kill those responsible. We were set on the wrong trail from the start but eventually found out a ripper was involved who did this for a famous athlete. Now this athlete was one of those organic types, no cyberware or drugs or shit. Also had some sort of weird condition or whatever. I don't remember the full details and its unimportant. Anyhoo athlete shows no remorse and we knew this would have some blowback since he had corpo sponsorships but we had to kill him since a job is a job. Blue (the best fixer in NC by the way, yes better then Rogue. Fuck that overrated bitch.) took the shot. Our dumbasses however forgot to turn off his biomonitor so Trauma Team was alerted that wasn't fun. Remember kids, when taking out rich pricks turn off the biomonitor or get out faster then TT can arrive. Fast forward a few months and we got another gig to take out a prison warden and a snitch in said prison. My amazing dad and brother happened to be locked up there as well so we had arranged they would be able to get out faster if we did this job. We had it all perfectly planned out. Now one thing you need to know about this prison. It had a "Revenge package" you could buy. Basically you would be buyin an inmate, have them surgically altered to look like whoever you want and decide on their method of death, includin you being able to kill them. All of it scrolled so you could relive it whenever you want. I think you get where this is goin... We get to the bd wing where this shit is scrolled and it so happens one is being scrolled at that very moment. This woman bought the package. She was the athlete's wife and had bought paid for two inmates. One was made to look like her late husband and the other was made to look like Blue. It was the exact same situation as months earlier except it was the athlete with a gun to Blue's head instead of the other way around. And yes she had arranged for it to be my father and brother. It was my dad with a gun to my brothers head. They were paying for my actions. I knew when we found out who had killed the nomad kid that there would be consequences but it would eventually be fine. I had not considered this. We got lucky-ish though. Blue being the smooth talker he is managed to stop it and we broke them out and the bitch did not walk out of that prison alive along with a bunch of dead guards... So yeah that was fuckin awful and the lesson here? In Night City you don't matter, everything is personal and everything is connected one way or another. A father wanted revenge and got it. A wife then wanted revenge and she did not get it. Would there be family that would want to get revenge for her and her husband? Absolutely. Did they get it? No. Why? Because of the darkest lesson I can teach you, show no mercy. There can be no consequences if no one is there to hold you accountable.

[davidmariottecomics]

New Job, Boom!

Hey friends, 

Going to be a short one this week, but I definitely didn't want to let it pass without saying a little something. If you haven't heard otherwise yet, I'm now working at BOOM! Studios! Once I can say more, I'm sure I will, but it's early, things aren't really announced beyond that, and there are other matters to turn your attention to. 

Announcements: It's the Global General Strike for Palestine! For the next week, people all over the world are striking from all sorts of regular activity to disrupt the economic systems supporting the destruction of Palestine and to put that time and energy into active protest movement. This is a pretty basic explainer of what you can do and know that doing anything is better than doing nothing, right? If you have to go to work, be visible. If you have to shop, be visible and thoughtful. If you have to rest, enjoy the things you already have. If you want to post, make it about what is happening. Current reports are estimating over 25,000 people have been murdered, with the death toll just going to keep rising between continued bombardments and the lack of resources. Over 60,000 people are wounded, 85% of the population has been displaced, and roughly 1 in 4 people is facing extreme hunger. No hospital is fully functional, for the ones that are still left standing. The IOF (Israeli Occupying Force) has admitted to exhuming graves, and have claimed it's to "find the hostages", but in the face of the other war crimes they've committed, it's hard to believe it wasn't vengeful malicious behavior to psychologically wound Palestinians as much as anything else. While we wait--possibly years--to find out if the International Court of Justice rules that Israel is in fact committing a genocide, people are going to continue dying from this. And so, hopefully, with a bit of concentrated disruption and pressure, this destruction that's already lasted 100+ days may finally find an end. 

In terms of using your power and time, I've mentioned it before, but you could call your representatives. Fax their offices. Email them. Contact the White House. Join actions from organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, the Democratic Socialists of America, and be sure to focus your boycotts (during the strike and generally) on the businesses called out by BDS. You can take some time to read through Verso's Solidarity with Palestine reading list. Make signs for if you're going out protesting, to put in your windows, or coordinate outfits in Palestinian flag colors that show your solidarity. Make sure you're keeping an eye out for local events. If you see art installations, share them, and, yeah, that includes graffiti that bears the message. Let Palestinians take the lead in the global conversation on social media and if you see, say, your reps talking about other things, flood them with calls for a ceasefire in the replies. 

If spending money brings you any comfort and you feel a need to put something into good practice, the Cartoonist Cooperative's page still lists a ton of resources for E-Sim cards.Bisan mentioned today that E-Sims are helpful, but their use is becoming more limited as the overall infrastructure has been so damaged that you need to be in a high place to use them. 

Again, do what you can.  

What I enjoyed this week: Nancy (Comic), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Baldur's Gate III (Video Game), Blank Check (Podcast), Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), How to Read Nancy (Book), Ted Lasso (TV show), my new big Taschen Ads of the 80s book, Movie Flick Chick Vol. 1 by BonerBob (Adult Comic), The Traitors Season 2 (TV show), The Floor (TV show), having a new phone and slowly getting back up to speed with it, seeing some stuff I had been working on at the old job get announced.

Pic of the Week: As I've been wont to do recently, I've made a little promo image with my announcement, so that's here, but my real pic of the week is this amazing photo of Nadja. She was in the chair sleeping and I went to move the Hello Kitty and I put it on top of her and she didn't move at all! It was very cute. 

[lukas-clost]

BD&H chapter 4

Masterpost Wattpad Quotev Ao3 ch. 3 | x | ch. 5

Summary: The monsters have been on the surface for a few years now, and even after being legally given citizenship, humans are still wary of them.

When monsters start disappearing, their dust is swept under the carpet even as the Ebott City Police Department try their best to get to the bottom of it. Then humans start disappearing and citizens revolt against what looks like retaliation. Kate, an independent, newly recruited detective, decides to take matters into her own hands when her superiors fail to make sufficient progress. 

With the help of the other recruits and her new monster friends, she’ll have to find the culprit lest she lose both her job and the rights of monsterkind.

Chapter warnings: mild swearing, (and it's a bit longer than the other ones)

4. Succour Stunts

Escapes, escapades, and tiers of frustration. Also, kids say the darndest things!

I found myself standing at the back of the line in Muffet’s, my feet having led me there after brunch with my dad. As much as it was nearing lunch time, I needed some comfort food and I had quickly equated that to Muffet’s over the past week. Despite my best efforts not to, my mind wandered back to our meeting earlier and I grimaced at the disappointed look he gave me when I finally entered the bistro he had suggested.

“Hello dearie!” I started at the sound of Muffet’s cheery voice. Shaking my head, I offered her a smile and returned her greeting. “What would you like today?”

My mind drifted back to the lavender puffs I got on Friday. She had brought them to the station before her shift that morning and had left them with Felix. They were the perfect treat that eased my nerves and my muscles after another surprise training session with Alphys in the afternoon.

“Do you still have those lavender puffs?”

“Secret menu item,” she winked, two of her eyes closing briefly before ringing it up on the register and looking back at me expectantly.

“An everything bagel and the peppermint cider too, please. For here.”

She rang up my total and I paid her before looking for somewhere to sit. Being the weekend, it was a lot more crowded and I found myself sitting by the counter as I waited for my order. I placed my head on the smooth surface for a moment, my eyes drifting toward my shoes and their mismatched laces. I hadn’t even realised there was a problem until my dad frowned at the sight of them when we met.

“Did you like them?” I shot up at the sound of Muffet’s voice breaking my thoughts. She was looking at me expectantly, a non-existent line waiting for her attention.

Thinking back to the sensation of me biting into the fluffy pastry on Friday, I nodded my head with a smile on my face. “They were just what I needed, thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. Thank Papyrus.”

“Where is he anyway?” She shrugged, rolling over to attend to a customer before coming back.

“Why? Miss him already?” her eyes gained a mischievous glint to them as her lips curled upwards. I scoffed.

“No. Just seemed like a regular.”

“A regular waste of my time, maybe.” She rolled her eyes as she went to the backroom. I chuckled at her comment as I waited for her to return. In her absence, my eyes wandered back to my shoes and I tucked them onto the footrest of my seat so they would be out of sight. Taking a shaky breath in, I let the scents and the buzz of the magic atmosphere fill my lungs before swinging on the stool and surveying the café. The hum of talking customers and gentle music lulled me into serenity such that I jolted again when Muffet returned with my order.

“Thank you,” I smiled, cupping the warm mug.

Seeing as it was nearing lunch, the flow of customers slowed down enough for us to hold an actual conversation. She talked about how Flynn didn’t come by on Friday and I admitted that it may have been my fault. She only laughed in response, saying that he was just a scaredy cat before talking about another customer who she had accidentally spooked.

I finished up my order. By the time she was wrapping up her third story, a new customer came in and grabbed her attention before she could start another one. I hesitantly thanked the spiders that collected my dishes before swivelling in my chair to see who it was. She lit up as she recognised them while I struggled to recall their name.

“Hello Miss Muffet!”

“Sans! What brings you here?” I recited the name in my mind so that I wouldn’t forget what was probably Papyrus’ brother. He wasn’t in uniform this time, instead donning a grey-blue fitted shirt, cotton shorts and white sneakers.

“I’m looking for Papyrus. Have you seen him?”

Muffet shook her head. “He hasn’t stopped by yet, but I’m sure he’ll show up soon. You can wait if you want.”

He considered the offer for a moment, staring at the floor, before finally sighing and nodding his head decisively. He took the empty seat beside me before ordering a blueberry muffin.

“Oh- Pardon me,” he said, after paying and noticing me.

“No worries, Advocate.”

A light blue dusted his cheeks as he wrinkled his nose ridge. Seeing the passive magic and the bone move so easily was mesmerising at the very least, and boggling at the most. I shook myself from my thoughts so as not to be caught staring.

“Please. Just Sans is fine when I’m not on duty. Although-” He eyed me warily, his demeanour becoming more defensive. “I’m not sure we’ve met.”

“Oh! I’m Kate from the academy recruit programme. Kate the human,” I offered my hand and he eyed it warily before taking it. Guess he didn’t like jokes like Papyrus, then.

“It appears you’ve met my brother, then.”

I nodded my head in answer. “Quite the punny guy.”

“On the contrary.” He puffed out his chest and I was surprised by how much form there was to bone. “I am the magnificent punmaster .”

“Is that so?” I asked. His eye sockets narrowed as his grin became more challenging and before I knew it, we started telling puns back and forth.

We ribbed off each other, switching topics as quickly as they came until I couldn’t anymore and he easily continued without me. I was pleasantly surprised that he enjoyed puns which made me wonder why his brother didn’t seem to like them. When his food arrived, the conversation mellowed out into asking about my first week of being a recruit.

“It was okay, but I can see it getting old fast.”

“Of course! There’s only so much that you are permitted to do as a citizen, but as long as you complete the hours required of you, that should change!” He gave me an exaggerated wink and I chuckled, asking him how his training had gone.

He wrinkled his nose, but didn’t answer as his attention was directed elsewhere. I turned to see what he was looking at and waved in greeting when I noticed Papyrus. He was wearing army green cargo shorts, a black crewneck and white socks peeking out from a pair of orange crocs. He winked at me in return before removing a lollipop from his mouth when he was close enough to talk without disrupting the other patrons.

“Sup bro.”

“Papyrus, please pick up your phone.”

“Okay.” He did just that, a shit eating grin on his face as Sans just looked on with patience. When he looked at the screen of his phone, his smile fell.

“Oh. Oh shit. Sorry bro.”

Sans hummed beside me, swinging his legs on the stool. “It’s okay now. Just pick up your phone, please? Will you be making dinner tonight?”

Papyrus considered it, sticking the lollipop back into his mouth before finally nodding in answer. By this point, I was completely lost and slightly disoriented as the conversation switched to the mundane so quickly. And then Sans turned to me with a gasp, stars illuminating his sockets briefly as he spoke with sudden excitement.

“Oh, Kate! You should come over for dinner sometime!”

“O-kay?” I was still kind of reeling, not that I could say no to an invitation like that. Free food was always nice, and the prospect of making monster friends was exciting, if not a bit nerve wracking. I considered the outfits I had in my closet. Dinner at someone’s house wasn’t that formal, right?

“Excellent! We shall commemorate the beginning of a magnificent friendship through an equally magnificent meal, mweh heh!” He had a similar excited look as when he first introduced himself on Monday with the same infectious excitement. I found myself giggling as he buzzed with excitement over the dinner plans.

“Alright. Thank you, Miss Muffet.” He placed a tip inside her overflowing tip jar. Did she just not clear it out or was it a daily occurrence to fill up like that?

“Brother.” He gave him a nod, Papyrus giving him a mock salute in response before turning to me and taking my hand in another handshake.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Kate!”

I replied in kind and he left the establishment, Papyrus taking his now vacant seat. He asked for an everything bagel with his honey. When she asked whether he would pay, he just winked and said eventually. I considered leaving, having already stayed in the little café for more than what I had originally planned—although, coming here was never actually part of the plan—but then Papyrus turned to me and grinned, and I figured I could stay for a little longer.

“You guys are quite the punny duo,” I commented, swinging on my seat with my own smile on my face.

“What can I say? Humerus in our blood,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. I still couldn’t tell whether he actually didn’t like puns or was messing with me, but I chuckled all the same.

“Thanks for the recommendation on Wednesday.”

“Oh yeah. How were they?” He spoke with the lolly in his mouth, moving it around every few seconds.

“They were puff-ect,” I grinned. He snorted, but still gave me a disappointed shake of his head. A couple of spiders brought his food, wrapped in pastry paper to go, and I figured it was about time I should be leaving too.

Collecting my purse, I bid him and Muffet a nice day as a notification buzzed on his phone. They both returned the gesture, Papyrus responding to whoever it was. I briefly wondered how it worked before shaking my head and leaving the place. It was another warm day and I basked in the sunshine outside the café for a moment, pleased that I had decided to come here. Just as I was about to start for the bus stop, Papyrus came out and called for me. I turned in answer and waited as he typed quickly on his phone before shoving it in one of the pockets of his shorts.

“You said you like pranks, right?”

“In good taste, sure,” I replied, an amused smile on my face. A smirk grew on his skeletal features.

“Enough to join a prank war?” A surprised laugh escaped me at the notion, but when my laughter subsided and he was still looking at me expectantly, I realised he wasn’t joking.

“A prank war?” I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to one side, still looking amused.

He bobbed his head in answer, his smile only growing. “You free this afternoon?”

I shook my head; he was completely serious about this, huh? “Yeah. Who would we be fighting?”

“My protégé.”

“You have one?” That caught me off guard. I wondered what he would even be teaching before realising that I barely knew this guy past his name and his penchant for jokes. I frowned at the thought, thinking back to the decision I had made earlier on in the week.

“Yep,” he said, bringing me out of my musings. “And they think they can beat the legendary prank master.”

“A bold claim,” I responded, shifting my weight again. “And an even bolder protégé if it’s true.”

He bobbed his head again, taking out his phone and typing something quickly again. “So, you coming?”

I considered the offer. It could be fun, and it wasn’t like I had much planned after all. The wind ruffled my hair that I had removed from their cornrows for the occasion. I was reminded that I needed to make a hair appointment, reminded that I wanted to be home and in pyjamas, binge some anime or other, but his easy grin and casual attire also reminded me that I didn’t know him all that well and I wanted to change that.

I mentally backtracked, realising that that was plenty of reason not to go pranking someone I barely knew with someone I barely knew. But I couldn’t deny how enticing being in a prank war was, and if he asked, then there couldn’t actually be anything odd about this whole situation. Right?

I shook my head again, as if to dispel any doubt in the decision I was making. “Okay. Guess I’m joining a prank war, then.”

He looked up from his phone with a lazy grin on his face. He removed the lolly from his mouth as he spoke. “Nice. Our ride’s just about here.” He pointed to a boxy, light blue car with white details and no roof slowing to a stop in front of the café. Inside was a robot of similar colours on the passenger side and an exhausted looking anthropomorphic blue rabbit monster at the steering wheel. The robot rose from their seat, white hair shifting in the breeze underneath a blue cap.

“Get in, losers, we’re going pranking!”

I laughed. There was no way this was actually happening. Even as I sat at the backseat in a state of blissful delirium, radio blasting unfamiliar music and the wind tangling my hair as we sped down the roads of Ebott City, I could not believe this was actually happening.

“Who’s the chick?” The robot asked, having resurfaced from a soft conversation with the rabbit monster. He was twisted around his seat to look back at us, his gloved hand gripping the back of the seat as his eyes whizzed over my form suspiciously. I became more aware of the green bodycon dress I was wearing and started wondering whether it was prank war efficient.

“Kate. She’s our wildcard.” Is that why I was invited?

The robot considered me through their white bangs for a moment before giving his full attention to Papyrus. “Well, we might actually need one. Happi’s telling me Alphys is babysitting.”

“Shit.” While it seemed like information that was supposed to worry them, neither of them looked perturbed in the slightest. They both held smirks on their faces and playful glints in their eyes, while I started panicking internally. There was no way I was about to prank someone who could easily avenge herself the next time we trained. My Friday sores started throbbing at the thought of her being more merciless.

“Right?” The robot continued, breaking me out of my thoughts. “Whatever happened to good ol’ Knighty?”

“Kid’s been saying Tori’s busier,” Papyrus replied, getting another lollipop from his shorts’ pocket. He offered me one, but I shook my head politely.

“What’s that got to do with anything?” He shrugged and the conversation died, the robot still facing us but not looking at us.

In the silence, I asked for the details of who we were pranking. The robot started out of their stupor, scowling at me before facing the front. I frowned before Papyrus’ chuckles drew my attention to him, looking for an answer.

“Chara.”

The name rang a bell and I realised that I had seen it multiple times in the paper; it was the name of the monster-human ambassador, the saviour of monsterkind. I also realised that that must be his protégé and my eyes widened in shock. Papyrus snickered at my reaction.

“Yup.”

At the sudden slowing down of the car, I looked around myself to see we were in a residential area. I leaned out of my seat in wonder when my eyes caught sight of some of the houses. In contrast to the uniform, modern look the inner city had, these houses were all unique and held a certain whimsy to them that reminded me of Muffet’s. I gazed in awe at the twin houses leaning towards each other, neither touching nor falling, and the yellow two storey with blue details that seemed to imitate a face. They all had bright green front lawns decorated with what I assumed to be the owner’s personal touches, and a scattering of various types of flowers either by the windowsills or growing wild on the grass. It was a nice break from the monotony of the city and as we had driven closer to the mountain, the view was breathtaking and the air crisp. The whole place felt alive with magic and I felt myself getting excited at the prospect of dinner with Papyrus and Sans if they lived around here.

We neared what looked like an estate and I had to consciously refrain from dropping my jaw in awe. Past a gilded gate guarded by a pair of monsters, was a long driveway that led to a large cream coloured house. It didn’t reach for the skies as I would assume a building in this type of space would do, but instead sat modestly on top of a slight incline where it could still clearly be seen. The rest of the compound was decorated with an abundance of plants all meticulously taken care of, with a few bushes shaped as various monsters or the insignia of monsterkind. I realised with mild horror, as I studied a particularly regal looking goat topiary, that the owner, ‘Tori,’ was the former Queen Toriel Dreemurr of the Underground, and we were about to prank her ward.

At her house.

Maybe it had been a bad idea to come here after all.

The car stopped at the closest house to the estate, still a fair way away from it before the robot turned in his seat again. He started talking to Papyrus as I started the tedious process of making my hair look more presentable.

“Okay, so what’s the new plan? Cause we can’t put Alphy to sleep like Knight Knight.”

“Easy,” he replied, removing the lollipop from his mouth. “We use a distraction.”

The robot turned to me with a smirk that had me preferring their annoyed dismissal, and I started seriously regretting my decision to join them. Papyrus chuckled beside me and I shot him an exasperated look. He explained the plan vaguely, saying how everything would be pretty much the same, except instead of putting the babysitter to bed, we would have to distract her and include her in the final play. I tried asking what that would entail, but the robot—who I learned to be called Entity—brushed me off and had us driven to the gate.

I glared at the back of his head as we were immediately stopped by the guards, an anthropomorphic cat and alligator duo dressed in similar—and stylish—guard uniforms. They stood in front of the car, one on either side, before they addressed the driver.

“State your business,” the alligator started.

“Or like, we won’t let you in,” the cat continued.

“Wait- Catty? Is that who I think it is?”

The cat monster—Catty—squinted toward the front seats before gasping dramatically. “OMG! Bratty! I think it is!”

The rabbit monster in the driver’s seat bristled uncomfortably, their ears drooping further down their face, while Papyrus and Entity chuckled.

“Burgerpants! You should have told us you would stop by!”

“Seriously! We would have like, totally cancelled on Alphys if we knew you were coming.”

The rabbit—Burgerpants—sighed before smiling softly. “Ladies, hey. Nice weather we’re having, right?.”

“Um, I guess?”

“If you like, like the sun,” Catty giggled.

“Ha! Yeah…” He fidgeted in his seat, Entity shaking with laughter. I narrowed my eyes at the back of his head, deciding then that I didn’t like the douchebag and hoping he would short circuit.

“Did you like, wanna hang out or something?” Catty asked, leaning on the car.

“Or like, actually get inside?” The alligator monster—Bratty—followed suit, cocking her head to the side in question.

“Girls, girls. You’re making my friend here uncomfortable.” Entity took charge of the conversation, a charming smile on his face as the monster duo turned their attention to him.

“State your business,” Bratty said, her face shifting to boredom as she pushed away from the car.

“And like, be quick about it?” Catty followed suit, moving her attention to her claws. He deflated slightly, making Papyrus snort loudly which made the duo turn their attention to him.

“Are you here to tutor Asriel, Papyrus?” Catty cocked her head to the side in question. My brows furrowed at the unfamiliar name. I thought we were here for Chara?

“Heh, yeah,” he replied, stifling the rest of his laughter.

“Well, you should have said so earlier!”

“Like, way earlier.” Bratty exaggerated the ‘way,’ making it way longer than it needed to be.

“Yeah. Before we had to talk to the tin can.” Catty made a gesture toward Entity who bristled in outrage but didn’t say anything. Papyrus shrugged and, getting no other response, the monster duo went to open the gate.

We drove through, Papyrus shaking with laughter the entire ride up to the house while I tried to wrap my head around what just happened. The car was parked at the top of the circular driveway and I barely had any time to admire the house from up front before Entity was moving.

“Okay, babe,” he started, swinging himself over the door of the car. I would have been impressed had he not been referring to me that way. “Just follow my lead, and we’ll be fine.”

I stepped out of the car warily after an encouraging nod from Papyrus, leaving my purse behind. Falling in step behind his quickly moving frame, I tried calling for his attention. He whipped his head back at me, white locks of hair shifting in the wind while an amused expression fell on his face.

“What’s the plan?”

“Just follow my lead.”

“No way. If Alphys is in there, I am not going in unprepared.”

“You know Alphys,” he said instead, his face lighting in what looked like the formation of an idea. I hesitated in my response, not trusting what was going through his head. He finally grinned at me before ringing the doorbell, and I wondered if I could get away with ‘accidentally’ pouring water on him.

He considered me for a second before the door swung open to reveal an annoyed looking Alphys. She donned blue jeans and a black tank, her muscles bulging as she crossed her arms, surveying us with disapproval.

“Entity? What are you doing here?” He beamed at her in response, but she didn’t return the greeting and instead shifted her focus to me, where she glared at me.

“You? What are you doing here?”

“I was, I mean, we were um… uh…” He struggled to find an excuse, his speech becoming awfully robotic as I gazed at him in horror, wondering whether he was actually malfunctioning. It took Alphys watching him in boredom to realise that he was just bad at improv and distracting her would have to be my job.

“We were in the neighbourhood!” I started, gaining her attention and stopping Entity from blowing the whole plan before it even began. “And he said he wanted to visit Chara.”

“We? Both of you?” She looked between the both of us, doubt evident on her face. Entity nodded enthusiastically as I tried not to scream at how easily this was going wrong.

“Right. Well, I have strict instructions not to—”

She was interrupted by someone in the house asking who was at the door. An annoyed expression flashed across her face before she shouted back a response, saying no one was here. She turned back to us, mouth agape to finish what she had been saying, before a figure squeezed past her, another annoyed expression settling on her face as she shut her mouth.

“Entity!” I watched as the face I had seen multiple times in the news brightened before my very eyes, their rosy cheeks and warm, brown eyes glowing in the summer light.

“Hey, little dude.” He lowered his right arm for a high five that Chara still had to jump for, but they were laughing the entire time.

“Well, come in,” they said, opening the door wider. Alphys sighed heavily before grumbling some choice words under her breath and moving aside for us.

Despite the house appearing modest on the outside, it was massive on the inside; an illusion that may have been the works of magic. I stumbled back in surprise, right into Entity who caught me like the love interest would in a romcom. He flashed me another grin as he helped me stand upright and I reluctantly followed after him, a scowl forming on my face. Alphys led us past what felt like a maze of carpeted corridors and wooden doors and another figure joined our party as we trekked.

“Entity!” They barrelled into the robot who swung them around. A soft smile formed on my face at the sight before they turned to me and immediately started apologising for their rudeness.

“It’s okay,” I cried, trying to stop the cute goat monster from upsetting themselves.

He stuck out his paw, a bashful expression blooming on his face. “I’m Asriel.”

“Kate,” I smiled, shaking his hand firmly and noting that this was Papyrus’ tutee.

“Are you done being boring, Azzy?”

“Chara…”

“Just saying,” they shrugged as Asriel moved to walk beside them. Their bickering and banter reminded me of my brother, and my smile fell as I thought back to when we were younger.

It wasn’t long before we reached the living room, another spacious area with a plush couch, and three chairs, one of which looked well used and comfortable. A small TV hung above a fireplace where framed pictures sat on the stone mantel. On either side, a bookcase stood, holding a mixture of books, DVDs and more pictures. Alphys took a heavy seat on one of the chairs, shooting us a glare as Entity sat on the only available couch, the kids moving to sit on either side of him. I took the other chair that wasn’t as well used, moving the cushion onto my lap as I surveyed the room.

Chara and Asriel were vying for Entity’s attention, the robot stretching out his arms so they could coddle the both of them. I raised my eyebrows in surprise before shifting to Alphys. She was watching their interaction like a hawk, a heavy glower on her face. If this was who we were supposed to distract, and Entity was going to keep fumbling about, I’d have to figure out how to distract her myself.

“I like your shoelaces,” Asriel said, breaking me from my thoughts. I glanced down at the mismatched laces that made my dad frown earlier in the day and forced back the memory in favour of grinning back at him.

“Thanks. I stole them from the president.”

All sets of eyes whipped towards me in various stages of disbelief. Alphys looked like she was wondering whether she should arrest me, Entity had a curious look on his face, while the kids looked more awed than anything else.

“It was a joke,” I explained, when no one seemed to get it.

“What are you again?” Chara asked. I raised my brows, unsure if they were being rude or not.

“They mean what your job is,” Asriel explained, catching the offense on my face.

“Oh. I’m a detective in training at Ebott Central,” I shrugged. They shared a look that had Alphys watching them suspiciously.

“That’s so cool!” Asriel exclaimed, moving to sit on the carpeted floor in front of me. I laughed awkwardly as he bombarded me with questions that I tried to answer. Chara moved beside him, leaving a disgruntled Entity to watch our interaction petulantly.

“That means you read the news, right?” they asked, and Asriel reiterated, saying that I must.

“Sure?” They cocked their head at me curiously, their rosy cheeks swelling as they smiled.

“You should read conspiracy blogs. They’re interesting.” Asriel nodded his head beside them before Alphys picked them up by the collars of their sweaters and placed them back beside Entity.

“Alright, nerds. No conspiracy talk while I’m around.” Chara stuck their tongue out in response while Asriel apologised, but they went back to gushing over Entity as if nothing happened. I shrugged; kids can be weird sometimes so I paid the encounter no mind as I listened to Asriel try to convince Entity to have him on his podcast. The comfort that befell the room as they chatted amongst each other had a question coming out of me before I could really think about it.

“How do you guys all know each other?”

It wasn’t directed to anyone and I thought it had come out far too quiet for anyone to actually hear over the ridiculous radio show host voice Entity was speaking in, but Alphys surprised me by glancing in my direction.

“Tight knit community,” she eventually grunted. I gazed at her as she watched the siblings dangle from Mettaton’s arms, waiting for a longer explanation. Her eyes softened before turning to me.

“We only had each other back in the Underground. It was important that we knew and cared for each other. Even more so now.” Her gaze drifted to the ceiling in thought as I considered her words. The monsters were free now, but I supposed for them, it didn’t always feel like it. I frowned at the thought before she jumped from her seat, gaining everyone’s attention.

“I’m gonna grab a drink. Does Tori have any sodas?” Asriel answered in the affirmative before giving his attention back to Entity. “Want anything?” She asked as she turned to leave. I shook my head politely before Entity cried out.

“Kate can get it!”

“I don’t even—”

“Kate! I mean, Alphys! You should um…” I mentally facepalmed at how obvious he was being with his robotic voice and stuttering, but all Alphys seemed to be doing was watching him expectantly while the kids continued to swing on his arms. I spoke up before he could dig a grave for us.

“I’ll go get it,” I said, getting up from my seat and gaining Alphys’ attention. I was quick to find some excuse that should convince her to let me go. “You and I both know I could do with the workout.”

She reluctantly fell back into her seat with a snort before I left the room in search of the kitchen, wandering the halls in the general direction of where I thought it might be.

“I love your dress.”

I jumped at the voice, whipping around in search of the source. I shivered when I didn’t see anything, changing course and walking carefully to avoid it. My eyes whizzed around the walls and doors that I passed, hoping I’d catch the owner of the voice before they could jump out at me.

“You’re going the wrong way.” I flinched when the voice returned, searching the hall but still not finding the body attached to it.

“Who’s there?” I eventually asked, taking on an awkward fighting stance in case I was dealing with a weirdly helpful intruder. I stepped back in shock as a ghost, faintly pink in colour, materialised in front of me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” they said, fading from view with an upset look on their face.

“Right,” I said, relaxing my stance. “Do you know where the kitchen is?”

I barely made out a nod from their almost transparent form. When they didn’t do anything further I asked if they could show me and they started floating in a direction that I followed.

“I’ve never seen a pink ghost before,” I commented when we had walked in silence for a bit. Although, when I thought about it, I’d technically never seen a real ghost period. I didn’t even notice they had disappeared until I reached a crossroads in the hall. I swore under my breath, both at the disappearance of the ghost and the weird layout of the house.

“Uh… friendly ghost?” I started, looking down both sides of the hall and not recognising any of the decorations. “I meant it as a compliment; I love pink.”

They materialised immediately with an excited expression on their face and I smiled softly at the sight. “Really? P-pink is my favourite colour.”

“Literally same!” I grinned and they followed suit, swaying side to side in excitement. They led me the rest of the short distance to the kitchen, telling me how they finally met someone who understood the important role that pink played in the colour spectrum.

“Thank you,” I said by the kitchen door.

“Happi,” they said. “My name is Happstablook,” they explained when I cocked my head to the side in confusion.

“Nice to meet you, Happi.”

“I’m glad I met you, Kate,” they said before disappearing.

I smiled as I walked into the kitchen before halting, wondering how they knew my name. Shrugging it off, I moved toward the fridge before pausing again at the sight of Papyrus leaning over the island. So the prank did have something to do with the kitchen after all.

“Hey Papyrus,” I said, resuming my trek to the fridge. He glanced up at me before returning to whatever he was working on. Resurfacing with a lemon soda in hand, I walked over to see what he was doing, my head cocking to the side in curiosity when I took note of the pie he was hunched over.

“You’re gonna pie them?” I asked, almost incredulously.

“You can’t beat the classics,” he replied, a smirk on his face as he continued fiddling with the pie. “How’s Alph doing?”

“Sufficiently distracted,” I replied. “Entity sent me to grab her a soda.”

He nodded in understanding and I turned to leave, figuring I’d probably taken a lot longer to get the soda than I should have. Convincing myself that giving someone a face full of pie was more complicated than first assumed, I returned to the living room with the soda in hand.

“Took you long enough,” she said when I gave it to her. I shrugged in response, flopping back onto the seat I had been on as a cartoon played on the TV. I had started dosing off when Entity exclaimed loudly how he would love some pie right now, waking me up enough to roll my eyes at how obvious he was being again.

It seemed to work as Asriel suggested they get some pie that his mom had made earlier. They filed out of the room, Alphys trailing behind the kids reluctantly as Entity and I hung back. He shot me a weak grin as I watched them enter the kitchen. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, before he spoke up.

“Not bad.”

“Thanks?” I furrowed my brows in confusion, my uncertainty growing as I watched him turn in the general direction of where I thought the front door was.

“Where are you going?”

“Out. Not really up to seeing the results.” My brows furrowed further before panic settled in my mind.

“Where am I supposed to go, then?” I asked, the panic seeping into my voice at the realisation that Alphys could quite potentially kill me if she knew I was involved.

“Rus’ll be around for pictures,” he shrugged. “He probably knows a shortcut out of here.” He saluted before leaving me—and the house—to face the consequences of joining a prank war.

“Where’d the tin can go?” I whirled around at the voice of Alphys, schooling my face so she wouldn’t pick up on my panic.

“Bathroom,” I blurted. She raised her brow, but didn’t question it before leaning against the wall in front of me.

“Shouldn’t you be making sure they don’t make a mess, or something?” I asked, trying to create an opening for me to look for Papyrus.

“In a second. I wanted to tell you that I’m glad I get to train someone like you. You kinda remind me of Sans.”

She was looking at me softly, well, as softly as her scaled skin would allow, and I couldn’t help but return the expression. I didn’t know how similar I was to Sans aside from the love of puns, but it was heart-warming to hear that from someone who so easily kicked my ass every other day.

“Don’t let it get to your head,” she said, patting my shoulder before going back into the kitchen. I cringed at the reminder of the pie waiting for them before turning around and looking for the exit.

“Wrong way.”

I sighed in relief as I realised who it was, spinning on the spot until the ghost appeared. “Happi! Thank goodness! Have you seen Papyrus?”

“I think I saw him by the kitchen window. You should hurry before—”

A loud splat was heard in the direction of the kitchen and I winced at the sudden silence that pervaded the house.

“Oh no.” They disappeared immediately and I had the sudden wish to become a ghost too as I took off in search of the front door. After remembering I had been going in the wrong direction, I found it as a roar sounded in the house.

Sprinting—as much as I could wearing the long dress, at least—outside, I started searching for Papyrus, taking note that the blue car was no longer in the driveway and I genuinely may have been left behind. In a state of panic, I ran in the general direction of where the kitchen window might be. Turning a corner, I bumped into Papyrus who caught my arm before I fell.

“You’re still here?” he asked, a surprised look on his face.

I nodded my head frantically, grabbing his arm and leading him to the gate. “Entity left, Happi’s probably fine? And we need to get out of here before Alphys finds us,” I explained in a rush, pulling his frame that was a lot heavier than it looked. He was slowly walking after me, letting gravity pull him forward more than anything and I wanted to scream in frustration.

“Come on! We don’t—”

“Papyrus!”

My blood ran cold at the sound of Alphys’ bellow. She stood at the front door, upper body covered in pie guts as a deathly scowl rested on her face. Papyrus snickered beside me, taking a picture with his phone, and I almost started crying in exasperation. I tugged on his arm harder, forcing him to keep moving toward the gate no matter how futile it felt.

He stopped in his tracks, jolting me from my forward momentum and I turned to him impatiently. He tugged his arm from my grip, a lazy smile on his face and I wondered how he could be so damn calm in a situation like this.

“I know a shortcut,” he said, gesturing vaguely with his now free hand. He outstretched his right arm, an invitation to take his hand, but I hesitated. The gate was so close that I was sure that if we just kept going, Alphys couldn’t chase after us, not with good conscious, anyway.

“Trust me,” he said, his hand still outstretched and his smile growing.

By all means, I didn’t. Not when there was no obvious shortcut in sight, not when he hadn’t told me what the plan was earlier, not when this could be another elaborate way to get another prank in before the day was out, but the steady pounding of Alphys’ approach reminded me that I didn’t have much of a choice. I took his hand and he grinned before everything went black.

I felt like I was being stretched and squashed simultaneously. Taking in breath was inconceivable as an overwhelming presence pressed in on me from all sides. I couldn’t see anything, I couldn’t move, I could barely even wrap my head around what was happening.

And then there was light and sound and I gulped in air greedily, as if I had just been submerged in water. After a few gasps, the familiar sensations of Muffet’s surrounded me, and said owner was looking at me with a concerned expression. The room tipped as I stood up straight and I grasped at the counter to steady myself. Papyrus had a smirk on his face and I would have strangled him had he not spirited us away from a furious Alphys.

A breathless laugh escaped me as I realised that we were in Muffet’s. Muffet’s. Oh-so-far away from the former Queen of the Underground’s house and Alphys’ rage. At the thought, my stomach flipped and I rushed to the bathroom to get rid of everything I had eaten before the excursion.

I flopped onto the seat beside Papyrus when I came back, his form shaking in what I suspected to be laughter. A glass of water slid in front of me and I thanked Muffet before taking a ginger sip.

“Some shortcut,” I croaked out after a few sips. I heard his snickers and despite everything, I found myself laughing with him.

“Oh man, if I had known you had a trick up your sleeve,” I managed to say in between laughs. “You’ve gotta at least show me the pics you took after that stunt.”

He obliged, whipping out his phone with snickers as he opened his gallery. I was shown an increasingly funny series of pictures of Alphys, Chara and Asriel in varying stages of getting pied. I snickered at a particularly good shot of the moment just before the pie splattered over them, their faces all slack in surprise.

“Dearies, do you mind leaving so I can close up shop?” My head snapped up at Muffet’s exasperated voice. She was wiping a mug and I vaguely noticed how empty the place had become since we arrived. Reaching for my purse to check the time on my phone, my eyes widened as I realised I didn’t have it.

“Looking for something?” Papyrus asked as I patted myself down in some false hope that it had somehow attached itself to my body. I glanced at him and was immediately relieved to find my purse in his hand.

“Thank you!” I said, as he handed it to me. He shrugged in response as I made sure everything was inside. Grimacing at the time on my phone, I stood up to leave, prompted by the glare Muffet was sending in our direction.

I waved goodbye to the pair of them before stepping out into the warm sunlight, sore body revelling in its rays. Walking to the closest bus stop, I found myself really looking forward to the friendship dinner, ignoring the dread that came with the realisation that I would see Alphys pretty soon.

Masterpost Wattpad Quotev Ao3 ch. 3 | x | ch. 5

[muchalucha-art]

i rewatched the “los fabulosos” episode today and when i got to the part where mama and lonestar met in 1976 when they both where searching mama’s ll4e necklace (it is a very cute & lovely scene to think about😊) and then i reminded myself that months ago i wrote the backstories (headcanons for now) of when buena mom and buena dad met while bm was fixing bd’s car in ‘74 and when mr. & mrs. flea met in a bar or somethin’ in ‘78. sorry for the long text xP, but onto the main question, were there any planned episodes of the planned fourth season (example, the backstories) when the show was still production?

That is all for now, Have a lucha day!🌟✨🌟✨

I love these meet scenarios with the Buenas (I guess they wouldn't be Buena Mom and Dad then) and The Fleas (I think a bar is perfect for them).

Regarding season four stories: Yes, we had been convinced by the executives at WB Animation that we were going ahead.  All of the crew had gone onto other jobs, so it was going to be myself as story editor with Lili of course, and Joel Kuwahara was staying on as producer.  (Joel of course went on to co-establish Bento Box as a major animation studio powerhouse).

I actually put together a bunch of story outlines which were sent 'upstairs'.  To be honest, they were quite random without a real series arc, as the point was just to show we still had ideas and that we could sustain another 13 episodes.  I hadn't thought too much about backstories, but we were starting to become aware of fan reaction via forums, so we were looking to explore the relationships (not necessarily romantic) between different characters. Knowing the process, we would have definitely thought more about story direction once the season became 'real'.

(I will revisit these outlines, and if they are not too embarrassing after 17 years, post them :)

But it was all a fanciful dream...someone VERY high up was able to override WB Animation and Kids' WB, and - as you know - that was that.  It came as a real shock, as everyone connected was convinced we were going ahead.

So instead, WB put their faith in 3 new shows: Loonaticks Unleashed, Johnny Test and Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island.  I think they all only lasted for one season, as pretty soon after that, Kids' WB bit the dust and WBA had no TV network.  Johnny Test did resurface on another network later.

[owlchimedes]

happy monday! work's been crunchy with eight new students to teach and the end of term barreling down on us. still waiting to hear back from the usfs job application I put in, as well as from one last rec letter, so I will be proactively making some dreaded phone calls today. here's the task dump!!

DC notes

tidy living room & dining table

unload dishwasher

reload dishwasher

clear kitchen counters

handwash what must be handwashed

scrub dining table

fold laundry

water plants (xmas tree!)

sanitize & deep clean counters

clean stove/oven

remake bed

vacuum apt

phone call Aa

schedule cardiology appointment

move coats back to respective owners

message loverboy!

message C & M

email JAM, BW, S&L about R

tidy bathroom

take out trash - br, bd, k

sort out the floordrobe & rerun laundry

take out cardboard & trash

cut & paint nails (green? nude? many options)

message pcp

schedule catsitter

grocery shopping (necessities)

banking reshuffle

check on applications

fix up & photograph work station

write 10 page research paper

write misc. short essays

edit & upload law perstate

xmas gift hunting

progress report submittal

work shift 3-7

[russilton]

Hi Mark! Absolutely fine if you don't wanna answer because I know you're a big fan - so am I, technically - but you're the first person I felt like going to with this. Again, no need to turn this into discourse, though, if you're not comfortable with the topic. It's about this anon information about Carmen and brands she promotes:

https://www.tumblr.com/wejustvibing/735261797962203136/i-think-tommy-attempting-to-do-something-with

And I was wondering if you know which ones are meant/if you think she is (should) be aware of that? Again, only if you want to comment. This stuff is important to me, so I'll guess I'll look into it too, but I like your straightforward opinions. I don't know how articulate better. Don't feel pressured to answer, however!

Hi anon, first of all I just want to say I’m genuinely thankful as to how you phrased this ask, it’s incredibly polite and i really appreciate that. Sometimes I get asks that feel a bit like a demand and those end up being the ones I avoid. You’ve been super respectful here and that means a lot. I’m not looking to start a discourse here either and I wont engage with it, but I figured I’d answer to say what I thought and leave it at that. Everyone is entitled to draw their own lines on this kind of thing, and they may be different to mine.

I think I have to split this answer into a couple small clusters and add a starting disclaimer

I don’t say this to defend her or whatever, but the original anon in that post is already coming in with a set feeling, and their language reflects that. Carmen isn’t a full time influencer, she very much has a job of her own and literally just finished a charity ride from London to Paris with them. Say what you want about the nature of her job in finance, or her position in the paddock, (plus jobs should not be used as a reflection of worth and respect), but she has one. I’m guessing the anon may not mean that and might be referencing past posts, but I don’t follow op so I don’t know.

Additionally, the op of that post, as far as I’m aware, is no longer a George fan, if they ever considered themselves one. So if you’re taking info from their posts and anons about George, it’s unlikely to be framed in the best light. Op is very much allowed to do that, you wouldn’t come to me for unbiased info on Max Verstappen and Kelly piquet would you? Of course not, I’m set in my feelings and I’m not gonna answer asks praising him, but I might share stuff pointing out crummy things he does because it reinforces my feelings. That’s just how tumblr works, I’m not saying it as any kind of insult or accusation, it is LITERALLY how we all blog post.

What I’m trying to say is while there and elements of truth in that post it’s… the way it’s conveyed is a bit twisted by the anon, and even op is pointing that out. If she has pull, they’ll keep sponsoring her.

Yes, Carmen does a lot of sponsor work… as does George, every time he steps into the paddock. As does LEWIS when he chooses what he dresses in. We often write off drivers sponsor work because we see it as a side obligation of their jobs, like how just today we had new Petronas photos of George and Lewis at their campuses/worksites. Much as we all, really want to ignore it bc it’s not fun to think about, Petronas is an oil and natural gas company, that wants you to think it’s green so bad. Every single person in the paddock has moments they choose money over ethics, even if it’s for a greater good eventually, it is what they do.

I don’t know specifically which brands the original anon is referencing when they mention homophobia and autism eugenics, but the note about Israel is probably linked to DIOR. While I firmly believe in following the BDS boycott, we just aren’t going to see these people do that. And comparably it’s a non starter when Lewis and George are walking around in puma Brand race suits and sport clothing, and Lewis wears Dior himself. What I’m saying is while I think they shouldn’t be wearing it, they’re on a level ground. I tried to do a little research on the recent stuff she’s been promoting, and came up without much result, BUT I’m so painfully not aware of the fashion scene. As my friends are deeply aware, and laugh at me for.

Could she stop wearing these things? Absolutely, and she should. She should also educate herself on these topics. But what I think should happen, and what I expect are two different things in the world of sport and influence. She’s not a driver, but she is almost certainly looking to expand into some level of fashion and model work alongside her job, because it’s something she enjoys. In the same way Lewis worked hard to build his brand and reputation with fashion houses who fight to clothe him now, she’s making connections for herself while working remotely as she travels with George. What she’s doing is no different than what the drivers do for themselves, the change is that we are not privy watch her do her job (can you imagine if there was an entertainment market for watching accountants lmao)

I think sometimes there’s a tendency in fandom to needle the partner people of the paddock for things we shake off their partners doing without blinking. It’s fine for Lewis and George to wear puma it’s their sponsor they probably aren’t thinking about that - but if George’s partner wears a famous brand like Dior, she should know better. Lewis and george promoted ftx, a now notoriously bankrupt crypto investment scene, and we just all went “well that sucks but they’re in a bubble of a different world, so we’ll ignore it”. While, it’s unlikely that Carmen is actively choosing to ignore these problems, she exists in that bubble with George, where they’re comfortable to only toe into charity and betterment when they feel like It isn’t interrupting their day. Lewis said it himself recently, he’s on the road so much he ends up unable to catch up with it all, if even someone as equality conscious as Lewis struggles to stay up to date, someone who isn’t minded like that probably doesn’t even notice (again, im not saying thats a good thing, it isnt, but it is the reality of it)

I’m also not surprised Tommy is clothing her, nor should any of us be. If Lewis had a committed partner who visited the track, Tommy would likely be reaching out to her too- Carmen gives them a chance to showcase their feminine clothing lines that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do in the way they use Lewis and George. As much as we all want George and Lewis to rock up in a dress and blouse, it ain’t happening. By paying Carmen to show up in their clothes alongside George, they get to show another half of the market what they might be interested in, if they aren’t going to buy the masc clothes George and Lewis wear. If they could get Susie Wolff to do it too they probably would, the difference is that Carmen is only there for George, Susie has an independent job to do and showing up in sponsored clothing would undercut that message. Tommy aren’t favouring George by clothing Carmen, they’re just trying to buy more influence. YOU are allowed to not be comfortable with that, but there’s not an ulterior motive to it either.

I spose the summary of this post is that accepting the reality of something doesn’t mean you’re okay with it, it just means you don’t lose energy over a likely outcome. In essence this what I do with Carmen. I treat her much like the drivers, held accountable but with a certain realism to it, and I don’t judge her more harshly than them, cause thats a brand of sexism I see a lot online- the drivers are babies just trying to go vroom but their partners should know better- grow the hell up.

I don’t like when Lewis and George represent crypto, or AI, or oil based companies- but in a sport like F1 they are going to do that. A lot. And instead of letting those instances demoralise me, I ignore them and try to refuse to give them the marketing they are paying for, while instead promoting and encouraging when they support the things I do. In an advertising marketplace you are the product, by speaking up and creating positive attention around something you want them to keep doing, it becomes profitable for them to do so. Is that fucked and capitalist as hell? Fuck yeah! It sucks! But its not going ANYWHERE any time soon, and if you use it to your advantage you can do good- I grew up watching as brands lurched away from any mention of gay people- to pride icons and pink washing. Change happens in strange ways. I hate pink washing but FUCK am I glad that it’s profitable to be sold to. I’d rather be sold to than silenced and othered.

Well that was a bit of a heavy one wasn’t it, welcome back to the cash is king sport.

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[jeromefart]

HELLO. I PLAYED JEDI SURVIVOR TODAY

i just left coruscant and im chilling in the mantis. its late and i have a busy day tomorrow so i dont wanna stay up all night. heres my first thoughts

it is visually STUNNING!! i was genuinely so shocked at how beautiful the home page is. all of the uis are stylized similarly to jfo, but its polished and new in a way that i really appreciate. a standout addition in the options menu was an arachnophobia safe mode. i think its awesome how they’re making this game accessible to people with phobias like that. i don’t know what this spider monster will be like, but it must be kinda intense to warrant an option like that. but it also made me think, “why just arachnophobia?” because including something like this opens the door to other pressing phobias that can prevent people from playing. i have thalassophobia, and the venator crash section in jfo was very dimly lit and it was so much i almost wasnt able to get the 5 or so chests hidden away in there. underwater sections in games can be a nightmare for me if they aren’t lit well and it freaks me the hell out. i wonder if they considered other phobias like mine, or what exactly drove them to this decision. i guess i need to just wait and see.

the graphics and worldbuilding are incredible. its so beautiful and the level design is noticeably upgraded. i have only been through a short linear area, but it’s great so far. everything is very very seamless (the gameplay to cutscene transitions.. fuck its perfect). there were some portions where the interactable surfaces blended in a bit too well, and i was also not used to the way they looked, and i found myself a little stuck in some parts. not to where its an issue, this happened in the jfo tutorial as well, but it was all just very seamless. coruscant is fucking beautiful and the vast cities, neon lights, and other little design details made me so happy. half my gameplay was just me gawking at the scenery around me.

let’s talk plot. i noticed that a lot of these first cutscenes closely follow what we saw in the first teaser trailer. that man (forogt his name..), cals lightsaber in the case, him losing a battle to an inquisitor, beautiful beautiful coruscant. the only thing missing is the character that cody fern plays, who is clearly very important to this game. but despite his importance, they’re keeping every detail they can hidden from us. i havent seen him yet as i’m not even in koboh, but i can’t wait. i love cody fern and i know he will do a great job in this game. that aside, from what i’ve seen so far, i’m really happy. i absolutely love bode and was not prepared for how much i would enjoy his and cal’s banter. and knowing me, of COURSE i couldnt help but make jokes over and over again about romance between them. my worst one was probably, after the reveal that bode’s baby mama died, i gasped and said “YAY!!!” ..anyway. i FORGET HER NAME but the girl that was apart of cal’s crew stole my heart. i thought she was so cute and i loved her personality and dialogue. and then they killed her off 😭 i knew i shouldnt have gotten attached but i couldnt help myself!!! rest in peace girl whose name ive already forgotten.

the customization is such an upgrade. and it also leaves for some hilarious results. you know i went all out with the blindingly pink lightsaber and blade. i did it to bd too and he looked crazy and i felt bad so i gave him a pink and purple look. i got the deluxe version so i have the luke and han outfits along with some blue and green color choices, bd parts, and lukes lightsaber. im gonna hold off on customizing my lightsaber too much until i get some more parts. the joy of this game is being able to mix and match! and for cal, the no beard option is genuinely scary and he looks naked😭

gameplay is so smooth and SEXY. loving the two bladed sabers so far. i am a double lightsaber girl because of darth mauls influence but i know its better suited for crowds of enemies rather than one on one (in jfo at least). i might upgrade it a bit though because wow the animations are just beautiful for that stance.

i think thats about all i have to say. oh cal is absolutely GORGEOUS. excited to play more of this tomorrow and i am just really happy depression cured 10/10 game

[tristinleighhh]

I'm going to use text to talk for this post because it really hurts to type with my wrists, and I really want to do morning pages instead of scrolling on Facebook as soon as I wake up.

my wrists got messed up in the fall and my left wrist has been really hurting me my right one isn't as bad but it does hurt when I'm on my phone.

anyway, not having a job is really starting to get to me. I feel like a useless piece of shit I'm not understanding why I can't get a job. I get that most places aren't hiring right now but damn I've applied at a lot of places and I've gotten no call backs. I want to go out and apply to more places but there is snow everywhere and the weather has been against me. applying online is stupid, all the posts are like 30 plus days old and there's nowhere that I want to work on there but at this point it seems like I'm going to have to go somewhere I don't want to be and that really sucks. I hope that this week I get a call back from this place called Acova. They said that they were hiring after the first of the year and it's now the third. The host guy was really nice and it's a small indoor place with a big patio and a good menu and I think that it seems like I could fit in there and he liked my resume and the fact that I came in person and I'm going to call them back and see if they want to set up an interview.

I've been saving a change jar forever. Pretty sure the last time that I emptied it was in 2018 when I went hulaween with Matt. I could be wrong but I've been collecting changing there for a while and it was supposed to be for envision. I already took out all my singles and now I'm going to exchange all the change today because my bank account is negative and I need to do a a credit card payment, I've never missed a payment. I feel like I'm already messing up my credit because I have a huge balance. I spent way too much money at the Fillmore but I did have a really good time.

I'm getting really stressed about envision. I'm supposed to be getting $633 a week for unemployment and I haven't gotten anything yet I really hope that I get it soon. I feel like Dan does so much and I've been doing like nothing. I haven't working on some art I finished one piece and I'm working on something else. I'm not going to get distracted today and I'm going to finish this piece. I'm going to clean up the pretty lights hats today and put them up for sale online. I'm going to put my maroon of the trees hat up for sale online. I have no idea what to price the pretty lights hats at but I feel like I could sell them for a good amount of money.

I know I'm just rambling but isn't that the point of morning pages?

Today I'm going to apply for Medicaid also since I lost my health insurance because bitch ass bds...and can't afford another plan. 🤞 It all works out.

I'm honestly so sick of this snow it's really just messing everything up for me. I truly don't even know where else to apply I really don't want to work in some random bigger corporation restaurant.

whatever I'm going to seize the day today, finish straightening up my room so I have a clear space, and I'm going to make sure I hydrate more 💧

open on Facebook yet which is good because that shit rots your fucking brain. I try to follow pages that are cool and informational but I just get random shit and I don't want it. Facebook isn't as fun as it used to be and I'm really going to try to use Tumblr more. I'm going to try to curate my page to just be in nature loving mushroom fairy wonderland.

I'm going to go wash my face brush my teeth and start my day. Today is going to be a good day. I'm going to manifest this job at acova. I'm going to get this job, the job is already mine 🥰 m a n i f e s t.

oh also Lotus New Year's Eve was dope I should post some pictures on here cuz it really was awesome and I want to start sharing my life more on here.

okay well this was refreshing to do and I'm all out of words so see ya.

Signing off 🖖

Triz

[breakfastteatime]

Today's request is for @serena-darrin!

Rare is the day Cal is up before Greez, but today’s that day and Greez finds the kid in the galley, staring into the cupboards like he has no idea what food is…

…or he’s sleepwalking.

“You sleepwalking?” Greez asks.

“No,” Cal sighs.

Greez looks, but BD’s not with him. “Something wrong?”

Closing the cupboard, Cal turns to Greez without meeting his eyes. He’s squirming. The kid is definitely squirming. What’s he done? Has he damaged the Mantis? No, wait, is he sick? Is this a Cere problem? It’s probably a Cere –

“I’m hungry.”

That’s it? That’s his big –

“And I don’t… I don’t know… I can’t…”

“Sometime today, Cal.”

He blushes a bright red. “I don’t know how to cook any of this stuff.”

“Oh!” Greez gasps. He sees Cal flush a brighter shade of shameful red. Crap. Not the right reaction. “Oh. Oh, kid. Sorry, I didn’t even think.”

And now that he is thinking about it, he realizes unless its super basic (making tea, making toast, spreading stuff on toast), pre-cooked, or straight out a packet, Greez has never seen Cal prepare food for himself.

“It’s okay,” Cal says. “Why would you when I never said anything ‘til now?”

Greez can’t stand it. He can’t stand the way Cal deflects apologies. And he can’t stand that this kid, who can use the Force for all kinds of insane antics, can’t cook. It’s a basic life skill, one he intends to hammer into Cal, starting right now. “Alright. Sit. I’m gonna make you something nice and easy, and you’re gonna watch and follow along. Or are you a note taker? How’s the best way for you to learn?”

Cal stares at him for a second before shaking himself. “I guess I learn best by being shown what to do. That’s how Pr – that’s how I learned on Bracca. And with the Jedi.”

“Great, I teach best by demonstrating,” Greez says. “Wash up. We’re gonna start with the basics and build up from there. Nice and easy. What could go wrong?”

“Uh – ”

“Cal, forget I asked. Now go on, wash your hands.”

The basics is scrambling and seasoning eggs. Gentle seasoning because Cal has a delicate palate after years of what he calls ‘Bracca Stodge’. He’ll get better with time and exposure, according to Cere. Not today though. Today is small. Today is a baby step, and Greez is relieved to have an eager and willing student in Cal. For someone so familiar with breaking things and fighting, he can be surprisingly gentle and deft of touch when he needs to be. For a moment Greez pictures him as one of those little Jedi Padawans Cere’s told him about, all bright eyed and idealistic. The idea of baby Jedi kind of terrifies Greez because who in their right minds puts tiny children in danger, no matter how superpowered, but he has never and will never say that aloud. Anyway, Cal’s a bit too weather-beaten to call idealistic, although the will to learn hasn’t diminished at all. And Greez can’t help but melt just the teeniest tiniest little bit when he sees how proud Cal is of himself when he succeeds in making his own breakfast.

“Thanks, Greez,” Cal says after he finishes inhaling his food. “You’re a great teacher.”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. Just don’t put me out of a job, alright? I enjoy cooking. It’s very cathartic for me.”

Laughing, Cal leans back in his chair. “Don’t worry, I won’t be a threat to you any time soon.”

Before Greez can respond, BD-1 trumpets his arrival. He leaps onto Cal’s back, asking what he missed. When Cal explains how Greez taught him to cook an egg, BD lets out a sorrowful beep.

“What’s wrong with the droid?” Greez asks.

Cal smiles fondly at his friend. “He’s sad he didn’t get to scan it before I ate it.”

“Oh.” Freaky little thing, scanning people’s meals. “Good news: he’s gonna have plenty more chances.”

Cal perks up at this, and so does BD-1.

Greez turns away before they can see his smile. What a ridiculous pair they are.