#But I wanted to be sure people actually understood the question so the Very Scientific Results come in clean

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! First off I'd like to say I've learned a lot from this blog and I appreciate what you all do.

I was wondering what your opinion/opinions are on non-human characters who are intellectual disabled. I've been reading through your intellectual disability posts that you already have as well as doing research on some specific causes. Since they often seem to have a genetic component I imagine it would work differently for a species that doesn't reproduce in the same way humans do? What I'm specifically wondering about is if you would prefer a parallel to actual real life causes of intellectual disability or name a condition that already exists? Or something else?

Hi, I'm glad you enjoy the blog !

In my opinion, both would be fine. If you have (example) an anthro cat who's intellectually disabled, I don't think it there would be much difference between “strongly implying that they have feline Down syndrome via them being ID and having some DS-coded facial features” and “openly stating they have Down syndrome”, even though cats can't have it by definition.

You can also make the cause up if you're talking about fantasy/alien/non-existent species - maybe your character's disability could be caused by partial monosomy 98 because they happen to have way more chromosomes than humans do. In this case, you could pull some inspiration from the human counterparts - Angelman syndrome, Distal 18q-, etc.

Other genetic conditions like Rett syndrome, or Tuberous sclerosis, or all the X-linked causes could also probably be either named or just strongly alluded to. Unless the species has some very different anatomy, they would probably present the same/very similarly to how they do in humans. But if they reproduce in vaguely the same way as humans (not asexually, and involving genes and chromosomes and all that) then I don't think they would be “impossible” to exist. If they do reproduce that differently, then;

There's of course a lot of non-genetic causes as well - brain damage, being born premature, micro- and macrocephaly (unusually small and big head respectively), holoprosencephaly, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, TORCH infections, and a lot more that you could make them have if you want to be more scientifically accurate.

It's also important to remember that a lot of cases of ID don't have an explanation behind them, i.e., no one knows why the person has it. Genetic causes are actually a large minority (like 25%, with majority of that being Down syndrome). Most people who's ID cause is unknown will be on the milder end (kinda by default because most ID people have it mild but still) and usually not have other disabilities, but there's no hard rules. So if you want to not worry about researching causes that would make sense for a bug or a fish, you can say that they were just born like that with no deeper explanation and it would make sense.

What I'd worry about more is to not have the only intellectually disabled character be of an animal/fantasy race that's associated with being mindless and/or child-like. But if all the characters are the same species anyway then it doesn't really apply.

Regardless of what cause (or lack of it) you choose, try to make sure you know what severity their ID is, what symptoms specifically they experience, what can or can't they do, even if the specific diagnosis doesn't ever name-drop in the story. Just be aware that a lot of these conditions have very significant overlap and readers will come up with different conclusions based on their knowledge - someone will assume the character has Down syndrome or autism because these are the only conditions comorbid with ID that they know, someone else will presume 1p36 Deletion syndrome because they have a family member with it - even if you're quite specific about the symptoms. So if you want to represent a specific condition it would be good to drop the actual name, but it's up to you.

I hope I understood the question properly, feel free to send any additional asks/clarifications if I missed the point

mod Sasza

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Look! Up in your ask box ! Is it a bird? Is it a plane ? No! It's an artificially removed piece of the sun using Whit Young as a mask ! Can you tell I am running out of unique ways to start these Anywho, next up on my list that I totally have issss Shidou! I myself don't actually have a lot of thoughts on him other than that his first MV makes my flower symbolism brain go insane, but he's still on the list !

The Sun… the blinding light… speaks to me… I listen for the song of the stars… and I hear a voice… urging me to talk about Mr funny doctor man!

Shidou is cool, though he might be the most… “Just Kinda There” Milgram character in my eyes. I have to admit I’ve probably thought the least about him compared to other characters, and I can’t really tell you why. He’s got a pretty interesting story all things considered, so I’m not sure what about him makes me so indifferent to him. At least he heals the other prisoners which is very swag of him.

CW: Murder, organ harvesting, human experimentation.

I have to admit I’m not really sure what the theorizing landscape looks like around him, which is part of why I haven’t thought of him much. Like we know he probably harvested organs to save either his children, his wife or all of the above, as well as for “scientific purposes” that he mentioned inhis 2nd VD (I am really intrigued by what the hell that means, but I’m not sure where to even start theorizing about that). But I think it was pretty much confirmed in Aesculapius he took the organs from countless braindead patients. Not great, obviously, it’s a pretty fucked up thing to do, but considering the other shit we’ve forgiven…

The big thing about him is how much he regrets what he's done, what with him wanting not to be forgiven and all that. But then finding new purpose in helping the other patients, etc. It's a cool character arc, and it's nice and wholesome, but it's a bit too straightforward for my tastes, you know? I think the most interesting thing about it is how it brings out Es' thoughts about life etc to light, but that's more on Es being one of my faves than Shidou in my view.

I guess the interesting dilemma about him is how much worse does the number of people killed make it, since he probably has the highest kill count by far. Like most people here have killed one or a few, Yuno likely hasn't killed anyone, and then this fucker may have a kill count in the dozens judging by the graves at the start of Triage. But even then, his regret really makes him quite sympathetic in comparison to the other prisoners.

That said, I do think Trial 3 might be able to make him a lot more interesting, because his Voice Reveal glitchy line is very very intriguing.

Shidou: [Cackling] Not dead... Yeah, she's definitely not dead... I finally understand the value of what I've been robbing people of...

Does that imply his wife ended up braindead after he took a bunch of people's organs? And that's when he understood why some families where so reluctant to give up their own family members? Is that when he stopped experimenting on people or something like that? It's all very odd.

Anyways, yeah, I feel you in the flower symbolism. One day I'm going to go down that rabbit hole and I will perish. For now I am not willing to go that insane (I say, as if I have any amount of sanity left).

One thing I do love is his dynamic with Amane. My guy consistently gets threatened by a twelve year old half his height, and he just doesn't know how to deal with it. I think it will be very funny if he gets stabbed by her, though I very much doubt he or anyone else will die due to it. I think it was implied in some timelines posts that Yuno could potentially take over if Amane... I don't know, cuts his hands off or something? Ah, we'll be fine. Inno Amane, cuz it's not like we know for sure that she won't be able to harm him even while guiltied.

Anyways interrogation questions.

(T1) Q1: Why did you choose your current workplace?

S: Because I thought it'd let me contribute to society.

(T2) Q15: Have you contributed to society?

S: I had thought my work was a contribution to society.

Is that related to whatever "scientific purposes" he originally had? Interesting. I'm really curious what that was.

(T1) Q14: If you could bring someone back to life, who would you choose?

S: I can't choose anyone.

Ouchie.

(T1) Q16: What is the definition of happiness?

S: To be promised an unchanging tomorrow.

That's honestly a pretty interesting answer. Better than Mahiru's at least! (I'm still slightly mad at that I can't lie to you)

(T1) Q17: What animal are you like?

S: Perhaps a ray. There is no particular reason, I just like them.

... sir what the fuck are you talking about.

(I looked up the symbolism, apparently they represent balance. I guess that could be about the balance of guilty/innocent since he talks about "the scale tilting to and fro" between the two in Triage? Like he wants to atone for his sins but he needs to stay alive for the others? I feel like I'm reaching but "ray" is just a very weird answer)

(T1) Q20: What do you think about smoking?

S: People tell me to stop because it's bad for my health. But I smoke because I want to be unhealthy.

It's a good thing he's familiar with sharp tools with how much he needs to watch that edge.

(T2) Q7: Are there any fellow prisoners you are on good terms with?

S: Kayano-kun has ended up like that, and I became unable to smoke as well too. I feel lonely that the smoking group as disbanded.

Sad news for the smoking group enjoyers. I hope they make up in Trial 3 or even post Milgram depending on what happens at the end, I like their dynamic.

(T2) Q12: Can you drive a car?

S: Yes I can. But I don't really want to do it anymore.

In case anyone was wondering why everyone thinks his family was involved in a car accident of some kind.

(T2) Q13: What are your thoughts on Amane's changes?

S: The adults need to do something about it. It's frustrating because I can't move due to treating people's injuries, so I have no choice but to leave it to someone else.

So true bestie please help her even if she stabs you. If we inno her can you help out? Please please please?

(T2) Q17: Tell us about your dating history.

S: I don't remember much but, I had one girlfriend in kindergarten, and in elementary school I had two relationships. I started going out with my wife in the 2nd year of middle school, and we've been together ever since.

Yo my guy had mad rizz the hell. Fellow childhood friend AO3 tag enjoyer too.

All in all, I would have probably voted him inno in both trials. Wonder what's gonna happen in Trial 3.

Wow these are getting longer. Anyways hope you liked it! Take care!

[worldsentwined]

I set aside the Edgy OC ask meme you reblogged a bit ago knowing I'd definitely want to ask you about your Dual Citizenship OCs :3 Can I get 1 and 14 for Hel? (I'm *so* curious about this asshole (affectionate)'s backstory). Alternatively, tell us about 7. with Zephyr!

Oooooh yes amazing please always ask me about these characters! (Also hi I set this ask aside because I couldn't make my brain think about the answers but I just finished reading a book that had a diabetic character with a number of inaccuracies and it lit the spark of "annoyed by every piece of diabetes media" that got me writing this story in the first place).

What memory would your OC rather just forget? Hel probably has a LOT of these from its time as a HelperBot, honestly. I've shied away from thinking about specifics because like. The kind of things that happen to someone to leave it so bitter about everyone and everything? Probably not great. And the whole idea of HelperBots - beings created for the specific purpose of serving people rich enough to afford them - also points to a strong possibility of Very Bad Things Happened Here. I think some of those bad things happened to Hel specifically, but others happened to other bots it spent time around, and Hel wasn't able to help them. (Which leads to all kinds of interesting questions about how the robot revolution may have happened in the first place because the bots, designed to help but powerless to help each other, had to dismantle the whole system instead).

That said, as much as Hel's past is littered with memories that should come with a nuclear waste site warning, I don't think it would allow itself to forget the worst things. Hel emerged from its traumatic past with a strong sense of justice, and it wants to make sure its fellow bots won't be exploited again. Allowing itself to forget would make it complicit if history were to repeat itself.

How does your OC want to be seen by other characters? I think this varies a LOT depending on who is doing the perceiving. We see Hel through Tevin's eyes, and Tevin has more or less a human perspective despite being (technically speaking) a cyborg. Hel presents itself to Tevin and the other human roommates the way it wants humans to perceive it: enigmatic, angry, anything but helpful. It doesn't want anything to do with them, but since it has to, its goal is to make them uncomfortable. I think this bit from its introduction scene is a good example:

“Oh yes. That’s why we all exist, isn’t it? So we can be nice and helpful. Thank you for your feedback, Tevin!” Hel’s normal voice is a low, mechanical growl that it adopted specifically to make people uncomfortable, but the last sentence comes out in a perfect customer service cadence.

In the same way that Hel won't allow itself to forget the harsh history of humans and bots, it won't allow anyone around it to forget, either.

Other bots are a whole different story, and this is part of what I'm still trying to resolve with Hel's character arc. I don't think it's any less abrasive with them (assuming they even converse through means where tone is relevant) but it goes to greater lengths to make itself understood, because it actually cares about their opinions. It takes care to only do this in ways that the humans around it can't perceive, though - I imagine there have been many conversations between it and Lexie on private channels, even when they're also talking to each other out loud.

And because I love them, I'll also answer the Zephyr question:

What's one way your OC has changed since you first came up with them?

What a perfect question for Zephyr! They've probably changed the most since I first started spitballing characters onto the page for this. Originally they were meant to be like, a tech bro who was all about the scientific advances, someone who had never known actual hardship and is living their best life. But as the story developed it became clear that a person like that wouldn't still be on earth in this story - they'd have sided with the rest of the humans and gone to space. So they gradually turned into someone more nuanced - idealistic to the point of naivete, more hopeful than Tevin but not without their own baggage. I started thinking about what it would mean for someone privileged enough that they could have gone to space to just...decide to stay behind. What (or who) they might have given up, what they might feel about their personal losses even as the societal changes they supported are coming to pass. What happens if the dream they've worked so hard for isn't all they thought it would be? What if it takes more work than they expected? I also wanted to tap into the "just graduated college and gradually realized it's harder to find companionship than it used to be" thing. Zephyr's desire for connection stands in contrast to Tevin's reluctance to let anyone get close, which is part of what makes the two of them so fun to write together.

Anyway, thank you for asking and continuing to care about my blorbos even though I haven't worked on their story in a while!

[mitchfynde]

You have made claims about what liberalism is. Unless you've just made those claims up without evidence, you should be able to source me information about it. Do you just assume I'll believe anything you say without question?

"Repeat experiments, logically consistent proofs, and evidence of work" are what scientific consensus is. This is a good example of why I find you so incoherent. You dislike the idea of scientific consensus without any real understanding of what it is. When I ask you what it should be replaced by, you reinvent scientific consensus. We already use the system you're advocating for.

What the fuck do you think peer review is? They just... read the papers and say "yup, that's science" ??? The worst thing is I already explained this in my previous response and you just ignored it, as if I never said it, and moved on. You're batshit insane.

Unbreached rationality? You'll have to explain further. I've read up on what it is, but I must be misunderstanding, because that seems like the state of the world we're already currently in.

Again, ideas are important. If you are trying to troll me by putting words in my mouth, you're succeeding.

You don't understand shit about consensus, so do yourself a favor and don't speak on its failures. I'll give you a hot tip. Consensus fails due to human failure. It's not a flaw with consensus, it's a flaw with us. As much as you want to prevent that humans are gods, we are apes. NOT LOWER THAN REGULAR APES, but we are a highly specialized form of ape. What I mean is, of course we fail.

I'm not religious, but you most likely are, so just read the goddamn bible. What's one of the first things you learn about mankind? We were given paradise and we traded it for 2 apples. Now I'll apologize if you're not actually religious, but surely you get my point. It is not in our nature to be good or evil. It's in our nature to be human. And humans are apes, for better or for worse.

Consensus can be bad if the scientists are corrupt. Duh. There is never going to be a reality where there is no possibility of corruption in ANY system. Just as priests rape children, scientists rape science itself. But there's not an alternative! We cannot cease to be human and science must continue to be tested or else we have no confirmation that the results are true.

I don't worship consensus. If you understood anything about me, you'd know I only worship musicians and maybe a few video game developers. Consensus is merely a powerful tool. You've already agreed with me, by the way. You'll call it a trick, but that itself is a trick at this point, and I won't humor you.

You need to talk to a very specific kind of academic. A psychiatrist. Because you need your fucking meds, bro.

Your fellow man is almost never consistent. You're not expecting it, you're outright stating that they always are. It's barely even possible for that to be true. Human error is always going to be a factor in every single thing we do. Perfection and purity are impossible.

I'm desperate to be good. I'm frothing at the fucking mouth to be good. But speaking to people like you makes me feel like I'm alone. Cowardice is the killer of virtue. You cannot be good, not really, because you still fear the dark.

[megistusdiary]

I’m not sure if you’ve written for Xiao yet… but I’m always curious of how people interpret his.. libido to say the least, considering he’s an adeptus and doesn’t feel emotion the same way humans do.

Maybe a shy Xiao were he’s not really sure HOW to ask reader to sleep with him so he tries to give “subtle” hint but they really aren’t as subtle as he thinks.

BTW I love your writing ahhhh

(Can I claim an emoji.. idk how that works tbh I never leave asks so if I can… could I be like, 🥀 anon?? Thanks!!! 💜)

hi there! of course you can be 🥀 anon, welcome to my page :D i'm also very happy you like my writing ♡♡♡ tysm for reading

also i have actually only written two pieces for xiao which are as follows:

1) jealous dom xiao

2) consensual somno with dom xiao

i like to think that xiao doesn't know much about sex except that when done between a male and female, you can create another human sometimes

he doesn't really understand the love-making part of intercourse, so i have an idea of who he would try to ask lol

honestly this has a lot of plot. i have been writing so much these past few days, phew! when i have the time, i am a writing machine haha

warnings: switch!xiao and switch!fem anatomy/pronouns reader

nervous xiao, handjob (xiao receiving), lots of touching/making out lol, first-time sex for both of you :) , lube, fingering/penetration (reader receiving), soft ♡, kissing, baizhu is here but just as a side character because i ♡ him

the leather-bound book sat heavy on your desk in xiao's memory, unable to remove itself from his thoughts.

slightly worn around the edges and held closely to your face while you read it, lips thoroughly bitten. you seemed to think you were so sly when you hid that book behind you whenever he mentioned it.

so it was unusual that he had found it on your desk, for once unguarded by your form. xiao innocently opened the unlabeled cover to see what you had been reading so intently this week.

barely a few sentences in to the page, he immediately realized this was some type of erotic book. he was unfamiliar with some of these terms, purely from a lack of knowledge of human intimacies.

when he finally reached the end of the page, he snapped out of his trance, slamming the book shut with so much force it scattered the pages of your report to the floor.

never had the yaksha been more thoroughly embarrassed, cheeks stained red as he clutched his head.

he knew humans were odd, but he had never seen such a crude book. he never pegged you for the type to be interested in such things. how could one want to read about the act of producing a child?

odd.

perhaps that's how xiao ended up seeking out a personal consultation with the popular pharmacist from bubu pharmacy.

as uncomfortable as it was, the doctor was happy to make his acquaintance, keeping an even-toned expression when he welcomed the yaksha in after hours.

"i understand these concepts might be unfamiliar to you, though i mean no disrespect. these types of things are different from public displays of affection, and they aren't so easily written in literature."

xiao begged to differ based upon that book you left out so haphazardly on your desk for anyone to see.

he allowed the doctor to explain things in the most scientific way possible, trying to remain calm and collected until the yaksha suddenly held up a hand to stop him.

"i...appreciate your effort, but i already understand the act of procreation. i just don't..comprehend why humans seem to enjoy it so much."

baizhu paused, determining the best way to answer the question before he finally understood why xiao really wanted to see him. "i see. you're asking about why lovers like it so much." baizhu barely stifled a chuckle. "to be honest, it's been a while since i have done that myself, but it isn't so much about the act itself."

"how so?"

"it's about being vulnerable with someone. allowing them to see all of you while you see all of them. it's hard to let ourselves be open with everyone, especially if we have a particularly traumatic past. it can lead to becoming guarded." xiao frowned at this. "but, when you're with someone special, a normally uncomfortable situation becomes tender. intercourse becomes love-making." baizhu scratched the back of his neck, wondering if any of this was even sticking. "ah, i'm sorry if-"

xiao abruptly stood, silencing the doctor. "no need to apologize. i understand now. thank you for your time, doctor."

"oh, before you go-" baizhu stood up slower than xiao, reaching behind the counter to collect a small brown bag. "it might not be my place, but i always see mr. zhongli from the wangsheng funeral parlor here collecting peculiarly strong medicine for someone in liyue. it might be presumptuous of me, but, here." he held the bag out towards xiao. "it'll save mr. zhongli a trip here."

xiao gingerly took the bag, holding it in one palm before practically vanishing before baizhu's eyes. the pharmacist smiled to himself, shaking his head before locking up the pharmacy doors and heading home.

it had been a few days since then, and after continuous thinking, he finally decided it was the right time to ask you to do this with him.

you seemed to thoroughly enjoy that book, so surely, it would be even better to experience the real thing, no?

although, xiao had no idea how to bring this to your attention without sounding crude. why was he so nervous about something so simple? he was a yaksha. why were trivial human matters frightening to him?

when you finally came home that evening, you were surprised to see xiao waiting for you, standing in the doorway at attention, watching you almost drop your bag.

"oh, xiao-" you held a hand over your heart, laughing to yourself. "you scared me a little there."

you walked past him, opting to unpack your bag as xiao focused his steel gaze upon your form. "i don't know if you're hungry or not, but i brought your favorite." you turned, holding the container of almond tofu with a big grin.

you expected to see the usual hint of a smile on his own lips, though he seemed to remain neutral as you frowned slightly. "hey, is something wrong?" you started to feel concerned, worried you had upset the yaksha.

xiao clenched his fists as he huffed. "it's nothing. i appreciate the gesture."

you deflated a bit, causing xiao to feel that slight burn in his chest. guilt, he assumed. "alright, sure. i'll leave it here for you." you set the container back on the counter, rubbing your eyes as you put the rest of your things away.

xiao could take it no longer, wishing desperately to get this idea out of his head. "i read your book." he softly blurted out as you slowly turned towards him on your heels.

"what book-"

"the book."

"oh..." you fell silent, face feeling hot as you coughed. "well, i am, uh, sorry for traumatizing you with that, so...yeah." you averted your eyes, screaming at yourself inside your head. how could you forget to put that book back under your pillow? xiao was definitely going to disappear forever now. well done.

"do you want to try...that."

your eyes practically popped out from your skull, covering your mouth. "try what now?"

"intercourse. with- me."

xiao's face was as red as a tomato as you stared at him shocked. "i knew this was a foolish idea, i apologize for offending you. this is an insult to-"

"no!" you yelled out, moving your hands to his shoulders. "no, no, no you're misunderstanding!" you shook your head. "xiao, do you really mean it? you'd try it? with me?"

xiao nodded once, surprised by your overdramatic reaction. was it really as good as baizhu explained it to be?

he also wondered if his karmic debt would weigh too heavily on you for a moment before you gasped, shaking his shoulders with your excited gestures.

"oh, xiao, i...i wanted to ask you for a really long time. i just- i thought you'd never want to. and i never wanted to make you feel uncomfortable." you explained as xiao finally understood.

so you did want to create a child with him? to be honest, he wasn't quite sure if it was even possible, though he had heard stories of half adeptus children in liyue, namely that very popular lawyer woman.

"i'm willing to try." xiao nodded. he allowed you to excitedly lead him to the bedroom, stumbling over your own feet as you pulled him to the bed.

"there's really no need to be nervous." you told him sweetly, cradling his face between your palms as he willed himself to relax.

you were correct, and he hated to admit that a human was more wise than him.

you slowly leaned forward. "is this okay?" you questioned, noses nearly touching as he nodded, staying still and allowing you to approach him. you carefully pressed your lips to his, rubbing your thumbs across his cheekbones as you smiled into his mouth.

xiao's eyes fluttered shut as he allowed you to guide him, keeping his hands at his sides, awkwardly clutching at the blankets. you gently pulled away, feeling him lean forward to chase your lips before catching himself and opening his eyes.

you reached towards his hands now, holding them gently and placing them on your waist as you climbed into his lap. "there, that's better." you commented, kissing him deeper, swiping your tongue across the seam of his lips.

shockingly, xiao seemed to understand this gesture, parting his lips and allowing you to slide your tongue into his mouth. he seemed to find this sensation odd, gripping your hips a little tighter when you shifted against him.

he felt warm when you moved over his hips, pressing your weight down onto him as he groaned, feeling the strange sensations.

you smirked, grinding down against him as he leaned away, panting with spit-slicked lips as you held onto his shoulders tighter. "does that feel good?" you asked as his eyes closed once more, eyebrows furrowing. you giggled a little before stopping, hips growing tired before you suddenly let out a soft moan when xiao started moving your hips for you.

it was easy to forget his inhuman strength when he looked so soft. his grip was tight as he moved you at his leisure, inexperienced yet curious.

"have you- done this before?" you asked him, feeling warmth building in your core as xiao shook his head.

"never." he answered before pulling you against him once more, trembling a bit. "have you?" from the way you spoke and read it so freely, he was shocked to see you shyly shake your head.

"no...i was waiting for the right person." you admitted sheepishly. "i wanted it to be special." you smiled up at him, kissing his cheek.

xiao realized you were talking about him, making it feel like he had crystalflies in his stomach.

"here, i want to try something." you moved off his lap, opting to tug at the waistband of his pants. "we both take off some clothes so it isn't as awkward, okay?"

xiao was perplexed when he watched you shyly pull of your jacket. "i assumed it was normal to strip during this act. is it not natural?"

"huh?"

"being nude. why would you be uncomfortable with the idea?"

you paused, mouth opening and closing as you tried to think of an excuse. in that time, xiao took it upon himself to fully strip. "i have no shame in this form. i took it many years ago in honor of my savior. it is something of pride and loyalty. your form is to be respected." xiao reminded you as your eyes widened.

"well...okay." you took a deep breath, removing the rest of your clothing to match xiao as he carefully folded the fabric, placing it on the chair near the bed. "come here." you gestured as he moved towards you. "lean against the headboard."

xiao did as you commanded, feeling your gaze burn against his skin when you trailed your eyes down his body. you stopped just above his groin, feeling embarrassed as you leaned forward.

"oh! i almost forgot, i actually had something, well uh...just in case." you laughed nervously, reaching over to your nightstand, pulling out a small bottle of liquid.

"what is that?"

"it's supposed to make it easier by making your skin more slippery." you explained, uncapping the bottle to pour some on your fingers. "it'll feel much better with this. or so i've heard."

"from who?"

"...sources."

you ignored xiao's huff, carefully tracing a finger along his shaft as his hips jumped. "sensitive." you smiled, feeling his thighs go tense as you swirled your finger around the tip, playing with the slit as his cock slowly grew harder, leaning up against his stomach.

you moved your hand around him, carefully stroking in a gentle motion as he let out a groan from the slick sounds of your hand on his skin. "it...feels good, but strange-" xiao's hands clenched on the sheets as you moved your hand up and down, using the other hand to play with his heavy balls as he gasped.

as expected, he didn't last long, reaching his first orgasm quickly, coming all over your hand and his stomach, feeling sticky on your fingers as you gently eased him through his orgasm. he relaxed against the headboard, watching as you smiled to yourself.

the expression slowly faded when you realized he was still hard...?

"what- xiao, that's...weird? that's not supposed to happen."

xiao looked perplexed. "i thought humans are capable of enduring multiple orgasms."

"i mean, yeah, with breaks- they don't just keep going-" xiao cut you off by pulling you towards him, pressing your body to his.

"what do i do to return this favor?"

"well, i guess the equivalent would be fingering me? i'm not really sure about that though because-!" xiao reached his hand down to press against your wet cunt, feeling your hips jump against his touch. "xiao, hold on, i'm sensitive-"

he pressed his free hand against your fingers, collecting the leftover lube to press against your cunt, rolling his fingers over the skin messily. "xiao, there's a specific way to do it." your cheeks burned. "i'll show you." with one hand, you gripped his shoulder, the other reaching down to wrap around his wrist, feeling around for your clit until you positioned his finger pads just right.

"oh- there." you sighed, moving his fingers in circles as you moved your hips to match the motion.

"is this...adequate?"

"very," you laughed breathlessly. "but, i need you to do something else for me too."

"anything."

"before we try to put your...you know in me, i need to be, how should i say this, stretched out? they say it really hurts the first time...and i guess i'm just a little nervous because-"

"i promise i won't let anything hurt you." you were taken aback by xiao's sudden oath, looking deep into your eyes as your lips parted. "tell me what i need to do."

you carefully moved his hand down towards your hole, allowing him to feel for himself. "here?" he asked.

"yeah, just press in but be gentle, please." you whimpered as he dipped the tip of his index finger in, gently pushing as you shifted uncomfortably. "feels weird."

xiao stayed silent, eyebrows furrowed by the strange texture around his finger. it was tight, yet soft, wet, and warm as you sucked the digit in. he stuck another next to it, feeling you grip his shoulder tightly, hand falling from his wrist as you dug your nails into his bicep. "archons-"

he continued to push the digits in and out, sometimes moving his fingers a bit. he recalled baizhu explaining some of this. he called it 'fingering' or something along the lines. a fitting name indeed.

eventually you stopped him, gesturing for him to remove his fingers as he frowned. "is something wrong?"

"no, no, i just- i think i'm ready." you took a deep breath as he nodded.

he positioned his tip at your entrance, watching you worry your lip between your teeth as you felt it slowly enter you, tensing your body as he hissed.

"don't do that-" he groaned, grabbing your hips. "relax your muscles, it's too...tight."

you tried to relax, eyes tearing up slightly. it was not as excruciating as you expected, though the stretch did burn, and once you finally got through the hard part, xiao paused.

he allowed you to lean on him, taking shallow breaths as he smoothed a hand down your back. baizhu told him to be patient. he explained you would need time to adjust, that it could be painful taking something in your body this way.

xiao was glad he listened, finally feeling your heartbeat slow as he gently soothed you, albeit stiffly.

"are you okay?" he asked, feeling you nod against his shoulder. he carefully moved his hips experimentally, feeling you clutch your arms around his neck for stability, still pressed to his chest as he hummed, picking up the pace gradually.

you allowed him to buck into you at different angles, feeling him shiver as you kissed at his neck, humming into his skin.

"ah-" you suddenly arched when he hit your g-spot unexpectedly, eyes closing as xiao looked concerned. "that was- good, that was a good spot and-"

he pressed into it again, maintaining the angle of his hips as you trembled. "no, no, i'm gonna come if you keep doing that, xiao." you panicked, though he paid no mind, hearing going static as he continued to fuck up into you. "xiao-" you whined as he held you close to him.

he felt your soft breaths on his skin, hair tickling his neck as you suddenly jolted. "oh- i'm close, i'm really close, xiao, xiao-" you moaned lowly, desperately holding back.

"why are you afraid to experience orgasm?" xiao asked, breaking you from your stupor.

"huh?"

"why?"

"you...i need to keep up with you, xiao. if i- fuck, if i come now...you won't get to and i-"

"i don't mind." xiao admitted, focusing on the feeling of you squeezing around him. "i wanted to know what this was like. i didn't understand why humans were so fond of such things."

he reached down with a hand, sliding it down your stomach to press into your clit as you gasped. how did he remember where-

right. yaksha.

he had you trembling against him, orgasm washing over you as you went slack, leaning onto him and crying out his name as he shuddered, leaning back as you continued to squeeze him oh so tightly.

you felt blissed out as you slowly regained your senses, vision coming back to you as you smiled up at him.

your body still felt tingly, limbs numb as he slowly slid out of you. xiao could tell you were out of it, eyes hazy as he leaned down to kiss your head tenderly.

perhaps human intimacies weren't all completely useless.

[doorbloggr]

Monday 10/5/21 - Your Dinosaurs Are Wrong; A Brief Guide

In a previous post, I had a small rant about how mainstream media is really bad at accurately representing dinosaurs. Today I've decided that I'll help educate the uninformed of what exactly I mean by that.

Many issues with representing dinosaurs come from using outdated scientific knowledge. Sure, scientists believed dinosaurs really looked like this at some point, but some of these ideas are hundred of years out of date. Other inaccuracies come from one outlet presenting an idea as fact, and then many other media forms running with the idea without fact-checking.

Here's a brief guide of some of the most common mistakes/inaccuracies made when representing dinosaurs in the mainstream.

Dragging Tail/Kangaroo Posture

Thankfully this is an issue that is seen less often these days, but the movie The Good Dinosaur recently brought up that pain again.

Left: Charles R. Knight, Brontosaurus (now inaccurate), Right: Mark Witton, Apatosaurus (accurate)

Long Necked Dinosaurs in particular often suffer this inaccuracy. Dinosaurs in life would've had a very horizontal body plan, and their tails were mostly stiff rods held almost parallel to the ground, only the end was flexible.

The other way posture was done wrong, also much less common these days, is when bipedal therapods were reconstructed upright, almost in a kangaroo pose. It is more accurate to pose them horizontal too. Picture a cassowary or ostrich with arms.

Left: William D. Matthews, first restoration of T.Rex, Right: Durbed (Durbed, Deviantart), Tyrannosaurus rex, Source: DigitalAtlasofAncientLife.org

Hand Pronation

One of the most common issues that even otherwise perfectly accurate dinosaur reconstructions get is hand pronation. To clarify terminology here, pronation is the position of your hands when your rotate your wrist to have your palm facing the ground. Why is this relevant? Because dinosaurs could not do this.

It is a problem deeply ingrained in everyday culture now. Ask someone to do a T-Rex impression and they'll bend their wrist inwards and face their palms toward the ground, like a bunny rabbit.

What could dinosaurs do then? On the above image, a bipedal dinosaur's natural hand position would be in the neutral pose, as if they were preparing to clap them together.

Jurassic Park Velociraptor figurine with corrected forelimbs, Source: JurrasicParkTerror.net

Many predatory bipedal dinosaurs used their forelimbs as grasping appendages, so having them in a position where they could actually meet is important. To rotate the wrist, they would need to rotate the whole arm at the shoulder, and this is how modern dinosaurs (birds) flap their wings.

Columnar "Elephant" Feet

An issue with trying to represent extinct animals with few extant lineages is people will use totally unrelated analogues to reconstruct body plans. An inaccuracy not often thought of is the legs and feet of larger quadruped dinosaurs. Artists will often fall into the trap of depicting larger sauropods, ceratopsians, and nodosaurs with thick column legs and tiny toes, like you'd see in an elephant or rhinoceros. But dinosaurs were reptiles and even the thicker heavy-set ones still had very reptilian feet.

Left: Jurassic Park Triceratops (inaccurate feet), Right: Scott Hartman Triceratops (accurate feet)

Integument/Feathers

One of the most hotly debated questions of the past few decades is the amount of feather covering dinosaurs had. It is now well understood that the presence of even simple feathers is ancestral to nearly all dinosaur groups, but the degree to which integument covered an animal varied between groups. Many dinosaurs in media are reconstructed with naked scales and this is mostly wrong.

In my opinion, the bigger sin is blotching a dinosaur's pelt with small quills here and there, and proper feathering on just the head and tail, maybe arms. Its a very ugly look.

The Good Dinosaur, "Velociraptor"

In most cases, paleoart will tell you that the meat-eating dinosaurs most closely related to birds were definitely covered in a full coat of feathers. And trust me, they look just as cool as the classic scaly Velociraptor.

Gabriel N.U. (@SerpenIllus on Twitter), March of Raptors

But feather-haters will often ridicule this take, and push feathering to the extreme, in an attempt to make the idea of feathered dinosaurs a joke. The truth of the matter however, is that the feathering of dinosaurs is much like fur of mammals.

Feathers are foremost, a thermoregulation tool, and much like how elephants are too large to need a thick fur coat, larger dinosaurs like Sauropods, and even Tyrannosaurus, would likely have been mostly naked. Cold adapted relatives of larger species may have had thicker coats, like T-Rex's tundra cousin, Yutyrannus, but for the most part, larger species, or species not as closely related to birds, would've had minimal feathering, but still fuzz of some sort.

I hate the stupid budgerigar T.Rex and it makes me angry every time I see it on my feed.

What we know about dinosaurs changes every time we discover a new specimen, but the rules I've presented in this article are relatively static. If you want to reconstruct Spinosaurus, just know what we currently know as fact will likely change in the next two years or less.

And so this is end of my (relatively) short guide on inaccuracies of dinosaur reconstructions. To end this blogpost, I will reccomend the Youtube Channel that inspired the name for this blog, Your Dinosaurs Are Wrong, where Steven Belletini, a palaeontologist and digital artist, uses toys of dinosaurs sent to him by fans as a starting point to drive conversation about what even is an accurate dinosaur reconstruction.

[more-than-a-princess]

She had to laugh at that: for as unpredictable as the day had become, Zack was still concerned with something as inconsequential as swear words. For someone who could, and did, do that in several dozen languages, Sonia was far more amused than offended. "Oh no, it's quite all right," She replied in-between giggles. "Rather refreshing, actually! To meet someone who isn't afraid to swear in front of me, and be honest with me. I say 'fuck this shit' at least once a week, myself." Usually over rules and policies she didn't agree with but didn't hold enough power yet to change.

Her questions hadn't been easy ones to answer, and she wasn't surprised that he couldn't. It was science that the world, her world, hadn't invented yet so asking someone from an entirely different planet to explain it in ways he understood, and as such she would too, was a tall order. But she wasn't one to shy away from an intriguing mystery: it was just that her usual brand of mysteries involved murder, or cults, or both. Far too gruesome for the dinner table, as her 'unsavory' hobbies usually were.

"I cannot imagine how disorienting being sent to another world must be," Sonia mused aloud. It was a knee-jerk reaction, to try and solve every problem that presented itself to her. It was to be the purpose of her life after all, to lead and problem solve for millions of people. But Zack wasn't her subject, he was her friend: albeit a very new one but a friend all the same. That had a different, more personal, sense of urgency to assist where and if she could. "But I do not think you are a mess. Lost, perhaps: but not a mess. But I am intrigued about how you were supposed to become a hero that has turned into a felon: that sounds like quite the tale, but if the story is personal I will not press you for more."

She was smart to have taken the burger and fries she did: Zack clearly had no difficulty putting away the rest of it. Just as well, she thought as she munched on her last fry, smiling: he seemed far more in need of a large meal than she did. "Would you be interested in dessert? Nothing fancy," She asked, hopefully putting his worries at ease. If he had any at this point: from the shower to the clothes to the meal, it was truly not an inconvenience for her to help him for a little while. Sonia got to her feet, giving him a conspirator's smile before sauntering over to the freezer. "Do you like ice cream? If not, I think there is some cake in the refrigerator from yesterday. And I can be trusted to serve these, at least."

She'd have the ice cream, in any case, and Sonia began to take out various pints from the freezer and set them on the counter: homemade, of course, in various flavors loved by both Japanese and Novosonian people: chocolate, stracciatella, nocciola, pistachio, green tea, black sesame, strawberry, peach. Half the freezer seemed to be stocked with frozen sweets alone, just how Sonia liked it. She opened the stracciatella, pistachio, and nocciola for herself, wanting a taste of home: it would help her think, or so she believed, about how she could assist him further.

"So you are on the run but must return to the people you care about, that is very brave and warmhearted of you," She said as she scooped out the first scoop into a bowl. "The thing is, I am not sure what sort of technology you would need in order to get home. Here, it would be difficult to acquire scientific help, but at home...well. I have a bit more authority there to commandeer some of the national science departments. Unless your journey is more akin to a fantasy novel and you must go on a quest! To assemble various precious items that, when combined, it opens a portal between worlds. Was your experience similar to that? It would be so very exciting if it was!"

"Gaia." He nodded. "Though the way you describe it sounds like a place that it could have been. You know, before humans decided to fuck it over. Oops." He brought a hand up to his lips. "Sorry." LANGUAGE, Zack!

"I wish I could explain to you what happened. How I ended up here. Truth is, I'm not smart enough to even try it. And to be honest, I don't even think I have the energy to make the attempt. Right now, I feel like I'm in a race against time. Or like... I'm in an eternal struggle for answers that I'll never find." And it wasn't the sort that, say, a scholar might seek on their own. Answers to those questions that would enrich the mind or something.

The answers he sought were of a life and death situation. Or to regain the life that had been stolen from him.

"I'll just say that I had some help to get here. What I'm supposed to do---" He shrugged a shoulder. ".... so as you can see, I'm a mess. Listen, my hopes and dreams saw me bound for hero-hood by this point. Instead, I'm all but an official felon, and if I go back home, I'm dead. At the same time, I have to go back home eventually because there's people I care about there and I'm not about to let them fend for themselves."

He sighed heavily, angrily wielding a french fry which he happily indulged in. ".... so, you see? Your hamburgers and fries have given me the strength to continue my adventure. Partially back to my human state with a shower too!" If he didn't find humor in the situation, he truly would be dead. It was about the only thing he had to prevent him from drowning in despair.

[masterjedilenawrites]

I’m not good at making requests, so forgive me if anything come out wrong.

But, could you do something were reader and Tech are fixing some eletronics and listening to cientific things, and start talking about a wrong thing people said there, so they get distracted and when realize, they’re in to a awkward position (like him btween her legs or sth like that)

I love your writing and thanks (: <3

Omg I've been so soft for Tech lately and this prompt is perfect 💚 I hope this is what you were looking for, I really enjoyed writing it!

Tech x reader | 2k words

...making bacta the most important scientific achievement in history...

"Dank farrik," Tech huffed beside you.

You came out of your daze at the sudden exclamation and looked at your friend with concern, trying to quickly figure out what had gone wrong. You were helping him with a project, though what it was exactly you weren't completely certain of. All you knew was it involved digging into the walls of the ship and untangling a lot of wires. You'd been instructed to hold onto several of them, keeping them pulled taught out of the wall so Tech could fiddle with the other ends, and the dullness of the task had caused your mind to wander.

"What's wrong?" you asked, doubtful you'd understand any explanation, but wanting to be sure you hadn't done anything to mess up his progress.

He waved a hand at you dismissively, not pulling his attention away from the work in front of him. "Just the radio," he mumbled.

You hadn't been paying attention; it had only been turned on as background noise to keep you from going insane with boredom. And since it was tuned into some kind of scientific news frequency, you didn't really understand much of what was being said anyway.

...with the most influential application simply being in the field of medicine, providing us higher life forms with a versatile tool in maintaining our quality of life, and potentially even prolonging it...

Tech huffed again. Scoffed. Your mouth quirked at how upset he was getting. It was kind of cute.

But, you had to debate whether engaging with his frustration would be worth it. He had only recently calmed down from his outburst earlier that day, the only time you had ever seen him genuinely upset. Wrecker had accidentally knocked over a piece of machinery that was... well, something very important, apparently. No one was too sure. But Tech had spent most of the week carefully arranging its parts just-so, so that when all his hard work went crashing onto the floor, his breathing had suddenly resembled that of a charging Nexu. He'd drawn himself up, trying to match his brother's height, and ordered the poor guy to never step foot in this part of the ship again. The other Batchers had tried to defend him and were subsequently banned as well.

That left you as the only option for help.

Maybe that meant he wouldn't kick you out for debating him....

"Sounds like they're saying some pretty reasonable things. Am I missing something?"

Tech's fingers, which had been deftly working through the wires before him, clipping some and splicing others, finally froze. The clone's face tilted over to you, his eyes looking a little too judgmental through those glasses for your liking.

"You think bacta is the most important scientific achievement?" he asked. You didn't like his tone, either.

You scrunched your mouth in thought, actually giving the question serious consideration. While you mulled it over, Tech stood up from his hunched position in the wall and started pulling on some of the wires, unraveling them from their tangled mess.

"Yeah," you finally decided. "I think medicine in general is pretty important. And bacta specifically is the strongest known substance to deliver fast and effective healing."

Tech was mostly focused on the wires, but he spared you a glance.

"And treating symptoms is the most important thing for humanity? Here, hold this." He added another wire for you to hold in your hands.

You knew it was a loaded question so you chose to answer it with one of your own. "Well if it's not bacta or medicine, then what would it be?"

"Electricity," he said quickly and assertively, as if it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy. He continued to focus more on his work and you were annoyed he didn't seem to want to offer up an explanation to his opinion, despite having made you give one. He'd finally untangled the wires and was back to leaning into the cavern in the wall and setting them into their proper places.

"Why electricity?" You hated how dumb your question sounded; obviously you understood the concept and understood its importance. You just really wanted to challenge him to give you some explanations.

"For one, most medicines would not be able to be mass-produced were it not for the electrically-run vats in which they are made." He held his hand out behind him and made a grabbing motion. "Blue, please."

You sorted out the blue wire and passed it over.

"For another," he continued, his voice sounding distant as he leaned further away into the wall, "we must ask what constitutes a quote-unquote important achievement. For example, is an achievement worthy of the title simply because it improves our quality of life? Green, please."

You handed over the corresponding wire. "I'd say it's more about preserving life. Even outside of war, there's enough injury and illness that would end life were it not for medicine to heal them."

"Ah, but in that same reasoning, electricity also sustains life. It powers sources of light and warmth, which can also provide a means of boiling water and cooking food. All keys to survival. Yellow, please."

"So does fire," you shot back. "People survived long before electricity, and there's still plenty of civilizations living fine without it."

Tech finally emerged from the wall and took the last few wires from you, the red and black ones. He met your eyes with an earnestness that let you know how much he was enjoying this conversation. "And people have survived without medicine. At least the manufactured forms that you're arguing for, like bacta. Traditional medicine is as sufficient as fire."

Before you could respond, Tech moved to the side, motioning toward the wall with his head and holding up the remaining wires.

"Now, unfortunately these last ones need to be clipped in down below. I'm not able to fit through the lattice of the floor, but someone of your stature easily could."

You stepped forward and peered down. It was a mess of machinery and pipes and beams, but you could clearly see the port where the wires had been yanked out earlier. You knelt down, resting your stomach on the edge of the wall, but paused before bending over.

"If it wasn't for bacta, you wouldn't have been born." You were confident in your comeback and thus didn't linger for his reaction, turning to bend down into the ship with your wires instead.

You were disappointed to hear his soft chuckle from above you.

"And what do you think powers the bacta tanks that hold the clone embryos?"

You were glad he couldn't see the frustrated frown on your face. While you tried to think of a new point in your debate, you snapped the red wire into the proper port. But then you realized you couldn't quite reach the black one, and started carefully shimmying forward, deeper into the wall.

"It seems we have circled back to the initial question," Tech offered in your silence. You felt his hands hold on to your hips, steadying you as your legs lifted from the floor, most of your body now inside the ship. You didn't think anything of it, though, your focus split between your task and his words. "What makes an achievement the most important? Both medicine and electricity are capable of preserving life, but neither are essential to survival. So, what criteria are we left with?"

You were finally within reach of the last port and pushed the wire into it. "Sounds like you already have the right answer, so why don't you stop teasing me and just say it?" you called up to him.

"I...I didn't mean to sound like I was teasing."

You could hear the apology in his voice, how truly caught off guard he was to hear that you had perceived his attempts at a friendly debate, a conversation, as mocking or disrespectful. Your stomach knotted up in guilt, making your journey to wiggle back out of the wall a little more difficult.

"I'm sorry, Tech," you said through a grunt as you tried to push yourself back. "I didn't mean to sound rude. I just don't know the answer."

You felt his arms snake around your middle, pulling you the last of the way out. You came to rest on your knees, breathing heavily at the sudden increase in air supply. Tech was crouched alongside you, his chest against part of your back, his arms still holding you.

"I honestly don't know the answer, either," he blinked down at you, speaking quietly. "I don't know what criteria would constitute the most important scientific achievement. I thought maybe we could figure it out if we kept discussing it."

You craned your neck around to look at him, unconcerned about the discomfort it took to do so. You needed to face him fully. "Or... maybe we don't need to figure it out? I mean, does there need to be one achievement labeled more important than any other? Can they not all be valued equally?"

"I suppose..." he relented. But only a little. "It is a fun thought exercise, though."

You smiled at that, and it made your heart flutter a little to see him return the expression. There were a few seconds between you where you sat pleasantly in each other's arms... before the realization hit that you were in each other's arms.

"Uh," Tech stuttered first. His eyes looked about frantically as if the more he saw of you practically sitting in his lap, the more he would know what to do about it.

Your face was hot and your heart thumped forcefully in your chest. But you weren't panicking. Even though you'd been around the Bad Batch for a while now, this was the first time you'd gotten physically close to any of them, especially this dorky genius, who made you feel just a little better about life than the others did. You hadn't been sure why, not until this moment, your face being mere inches away from his own. Now it clicked.

His arms had removed themselves from your frame and he was starting to crawl backward on the floor. You quickly grasped his shoulder to stop him.

"Tech, wait."

He froze, looking at you with wide, apprehensive eyes. His shoulder was tense so you relaxed your grasp and simply let your hand rest on it gently. You gave him a small smile. Thankfully these little gestures were enough encouragement for him to lean back to you. He still looked at you timidly, but he wasn't pulling away anymore. It seemed like maybe he had been feeling the same things about you.

"Yes?"

He was waiting for you to make the next move.

"So, this project," you stalled, needing just a little more time to work up the courage. "What is it again? Why did I just crawl into the bowels of the ship?"

Your face was creeping closer to his, breath gently fanning across each other, warm but refreshing.

"I... I..." Tech seemed to be short-circuiting. "I was just, uh, re... redecorating."

Your nose had just brushed his when you suddenly frowned and moved back to look at him questioningly. "Redecorating... wires?"

You were very amused at how flustered he seemed to be in this situation. But then the tables turned as Tech rolled with it.

"Yeah, I didn't like the way they looked in there. Wanted to change things up. You know me."

The smile on our face spread as he talked and you couldn't hold back your laughter any longer. You bent forward, resting your forehead in the crook of his neck while your body convulsed with giggles. Tech laughed along, bringing his arms back around you to hold you in place. When you finally looked up at him and the shit-eating grin he had plastered on his face, you knew you'd finally found your courage.

"Oh, Tech..." you chided, pressing your smiling lips against his own.

[acefaun]

A Crabby Wish

Every night you dream that you talk to a genie, when you wake up you can't remember what you wished for. One morning you wake up with a giant crab pincer replacing your right arm. What do you do?

A/N: Why did Tumblr have to give such a perfect writing prompt? I'm gonna lose my mind over this crack idea. But I just wrote general head canons so I could keep it as short and sweet as possible. This also isn't edited in any way, furtherly adding to the crack! 😝

^^ This was in my notifications with the prompt prepared for posting and I love how funny it actually was. I hope they give more fun surprises. 🎉

(I also couldn't hook my SCM Masterlist to this for whatever reason... But we know where it goes. ✨)

First off, Genies were real? What the hell? These thoughts were stirred the previous days before the existence of your magical claw. The gods never told you that! Questioning them about the existence of genies only seemed to set them off as they thought genies were nothing but trouble. Even Ichthys who loves to prank people seemed to have a problem with the wish-granting spirits. "They don't have any boundaries," Ichthys said as if he had boundaries when it came to pranking. 

Despite their warnings, you seemed to have taken none of them as you accepted making a wish to the mischievous dream genie. Of course, as expected, you didn't remember your wish even as you woke up the next morning to a big surprise. 

You held your breath as you stared at yourself in the mirror . First of all… there was no way you were getting out of your pajamas for the day. Second of all… there was no way you were going to work. Third of all… the gods were not going to be very happy with you. Considering you ignored their warnings about genies… you were sure you'd be lucky if they even considered helping you get your arm back. 

By all means, it wasn't your fault! Yes, they were mad at you, but how could they blame you when the genie was the one to blame? Yes, if that wicked spirit hadn't tempted you! They challenged you by saying, "Your gods think I'm so evil… You don't think I'm an evil trickster, do you? After all, I'm a creation of the King of the Heavens! How evil can I be? Make a wish and you'll see for yourself that genies are worth befriending!" You thought it was fine. Why would the King of the Heavens do anything malicious, after all?

It wasn't all that bad when you had supportive zodiac boyfriends, however. They really pampered you during your time of only having one hand, so you should consider yourself lucky. 

Still, even the gods had their own personal thoughts on your giant crab pincer.

Leon wondered what in your right mind could you have been wishing for to end up looking like that? Did you want your arm to be stronger or something? Why would you have wanted something like that? Humans were so fickle. Besides, even if you wanted to be stronger, Leo could've easily made that happen. Stupid goldfish, going to some minion of the King for help. You deserved to live with a crab pincer, in his opinion. It was only a matter of time before you went crying to him for help.

Karno's first thought was that your wish might have had something to do with him. He wasn't as egocentric or as narcissistic as Leo, but he still had his suspicions. He was the crab zodiac, after all. But what could you have wished that ended up with you having a crab arm?! He couldn't phantom it. This is why it's so hard for them to figure out what you wished for. This was always the case with those tricky genies. 

Huedhaut was the one to think about this from a scientific stand point… He went through all the possibilities that could have gotten you to your current predicament. Still, nothing was set in stone until they understood your wish. He was mostly upset with you for trying to read books in your state. You clearly couldn't hold the book with your crab pincer, but you were wrinkling the pages trying to turn them with your pincer! And were those tears on the corners? That was worse than dog-ear bookmarks!

Teorus straight up hated the pincer. Of course, he tried his best to support you, but how could he be okay with you looking like that? You couldn't even go on a date with him because Zyglavis told you to stay in the mansion. It was so unfair! Why couldn't you have wished for a cooler animal? He would have loved it even more if you had wished for cow horns or a fluffy tail! Then you'd represent his cute zodiac, not Karno's crabby, ugly shell-creature of a zodiac.

Aigonorus mourned the fact that you were no longer a soft goldfish, perfectly made for cuddling and napping to his hearts content. Why would you even think that this was okay? Well, maybe… if you slept with your crab pincer as far away from him as possible… then he could wrap around the other side of your body… But then you still couldn't wrap your arms around him and cuddle him! Unacceptable! Get your arm fixed now!

Tauxolouve thought it was an… interesting piece of anatomy. He tried his best to come up with unique compliments so you wouldn't feel like you were an ugly human-crab combination. He even had the nerve to call you a demi-crab, as if that would make things better somehow! He also offered to paint your demi-crab beauty, but why the hell would you want this immortalized in a painting??? You were probably never going to hear the end of it from them without Lou engraving it into their heads with art!

Zyglavis was one of the gods who took over explaining the history of genies and why they were such vile creatures of the King. But you didn't listen to a single word he said, so why should he sit there and prattle over you? If anything, this was your punishment for not listening to him. Oh, your excuse was that it was just a dream? Dreams were real too and it's about time you learned that. Did he feel bad that you couldn't fix yourself food and such? Maybe… So maybe offering you a little bit of support wouldn't hurt. But it was just for your survival, he assured himself.

Scorpio wondered if your crab pincer wasn't actually a crab pincer for a while… Could it be a scorpion claw? That would mean your wish had something to do with him. Would he have been jealous if it was a crab claw and not a scorpion? …no. Don't be ridiculous. He didn't care if your wish was about that stupid wishes vice-minister. Stupid crab. Regardless of what your wish was though, you couldn't make him any of those things! Those… the apple things… the rabbit shaped ones… You needed to get your arm back to normal or you were going to have a problem with the Punishments vice-minister!

Ichthys was bold enough to think that he might be able to use you in some of his pranks, but that idea soon dropped without any second thoughts. He was more than content with just playing with the claw and seeing how strong this new arm of yours was. He wasted no time in summoning various objects for you to snap or crush with the claw. Did it make a mess when he got you to snap a watermelon in the middle of the living room? Yes. Did you get kicked out of the mansion and into the courtyard? Also yes.

Dui was among the gods who didn't like the claw all that much. It wasn't like he didn't like it! That would imply that he didn't like you, and he absolutely loved you! He didn't want to make you feel like he hated you because of the claw so he did his hardest to act like the claw wasn't even there despite how blatantly obvious it was when you were doing normal human stuff. His biggest regret was watching you falter when he asked to bake a cherry pie. It was something so completely normal that he mentally kicked himself when he saw your face fall. Instead, he got a jar of cherries and dedicated himself to feeding you himself. Though, he got scolded a few times when he accidentally ate the cherries instead of directing them to your waiting mouth.

Krioff wasn't opposed to you having a stronger more durable arm. In fact, if you were more crab like then maybe you wouldn't be so fragile. Maybe then he wouldn't pose a danger to you with his flames. Though, it took some explaining that his flames would boil you alive into an edible snack… but he didn't want to imagine cracking your crab pincer open and eating your arm! Durable or not, he was starting to not like how you thought of your arm as food! If the other gods didn't act soon then he was going to take things into his own hands and fix this!

Partheno detested the pincer with a passion. By all means, he refused to accept it as part of you. Yes, he loved you without condition, but this claw… he needed it fixed. The color of it completely clashed with anything he helped you wear. Sure, you were getting tired of him snapping his fingers for the next outfit, but, darling, you looked so out of sorts and he was just trying to make it better. To make matters worse, you couldn't even fix your own hair. Of course, Partheno was often the one to fix your hair when the mood struck him, so this wasn't unusual for him. He just had to remind himself that this wasn't permanent. But he still couldn't help but think that this was worse than anything he would have ever done to you as a demon...

Needless to say, they were upset. You, on the other hand? You were handling this like a champ. Sure, you couldn't grab things anymore… or move your hair out of your face without bonking yourself in the head… or hold hands with more than one god at a time… or make food for your favorite god… or play video games with your gods… or anything that required two hands, really.

But it was fine….

…really….

….who needed two fully functional hands anyway...

...Nope.

...

...

That's it. You need your hand back.

Unfortunately, the only way they could do that was if they knew specifically what you said to the genie. w o r d f o r w o r d. Of course, how could you remember something you said in a dream?! That was like asking you to repeat something you said on this day five years ago. 

The only viable option left was for Huedhaut to go into your dreams himself while you were sleeping and decipher what was said. Either that, or if he was fortunate enough he might find the genie itself. Then he'd be able to fix the problem at its source. It wouldn't be a very fortunate situation for the wishing spirit, on the other hand, but no one ever said a wishes god couldn't have a bit of punishments spirit in them.

You'd never been more grateful to have such wonderful boyfriends. Though, once you had both of your hands back to usual, they didn't hesitate to make sure you understood that it was time for you to return the favor. They took care of you all this time, didn't they? Couldn't you spare them with some home cooked food of yours or some personal attention? A thanks would be nice. They made sure you'd have your work cut out for you.

[dirk-has-rabies]

Gender variance and it's link with neurodivergency

Okay so this is it going to be another long one

All quotes will be sourced with a link to the scientific journal I took it from

Okay Tumblr, let's talk gender (I know, your favorite topic) my preface on why this topic matters to me is: I'm autistic ( diagnosed moderate to severe autism) I'm nonbinary trans ( in a way that most non-autistic people don't understand and actually look down on)  and I went to college for gender study ( Mostly for intersex studies but a lot of my research was around non-binary and trans identities) I will be using the term autism as pants when I have experience with however when ADHD is part of the study I will use ND which stands for neurodivergent and yes this is going to be about xenogenders and neopronouns.

autism can affect gender the same way autism can affect literally every part of an identity. a big thing about having autism is the fact that it completely can change how you view personhood and time and object permanence and gender and literally all types of socially constructed ideas. let me also say hear that just because Society creates and enforces an idea does it mean that it doesn't exist to all people it just me that there is no nature law saying that it's real and the “rules” for these ideas can change and delete and create as time and Society evolves and changes.  gender is one of those constructs.

Now I'll take it by you reading this you know what transgender people are  (if you don't understand what a trans person is send me an ask and I'll type you up a pretty little essay lmao,  or Google it but that's a scary thought sense literally any Source or website can come up on Google including biased websites so be careful I guess LOL) anyway to be super basic trans people are anyone who doesn't identify as the gender they were assigned at Birth (yes that includes non-binary people I could do a whole nother essay about that shit how y'all keep spreading trying to separate non-binary people from the trans umbrella)  some people don't like to use the label and that is totally fine by the way.

now autistic people to view the world in a way differently than allistic (neurotypical) ppl do.  we don't take everything people teach us at 100% fact and we tend to question everything and demand proof and evidence for things before we can set it as a fact in our brains. This leads to why a lot of autistic people are atheist (although a lot of religions and this is not bashing on religious people at all I am actually a Jewish convert)  this questioning leads to a lot of social constructs being ignored or not understood At All by a lot of autistic people and personally I think that's a good thing.  allistics take everything their parents and teachers and schools teach them as fact until someone else says something and then they pick which ones to believe. autistic people study and research and learn about a topic before forming an opinion and while this may lead to them studying and believing very biased material and spitting it out as fact it can also lead them to try and Discover it is real by themselves.

because of this autistic people are more question their gender or not fall in a binary way at all as the concept of gender makes no sense to a lot of us. “ if gender is a construct then autistic people who are less aware of social norms are less likely to develop a typical gender identity”

no really look: “ children and teens with autism spectrum disorder ASD or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder ADHD  are much more likely to express a wish to be the opposite sex compared with their typical developing peers” That was posted in 2014. we have been saying this stuff forever but no one wants to listen. the thing is gender variance (being not cisgender or at least questioning it)  has always been closely hand-in-hand with autistic and ADHD people I'm even the doctor who did that study understood right away that it all made sense the whole time: “ Dr. Strang said they were initially surprised to find an overrepresentation of gender variance among children with ADHD. However, they later realized that prior studies have shown increased levels of disruptive behavior and other behavioral problems among young people with gender variance”  SEE YOURE NOT WEIRD YOURE JUST YOU AND YOURE NOT ALONE IN THIS!!

5% autistic people who did the study were trans or questioning. it was also equal between the Sexes fun fact. that may not seem like a lot till you realize that the national average is only .7% that's literally over 700% higher than the national average. That's so many! and that's just in America.

 in Holland there was a study in 2010 “ nearly 8% of the more than 200 Children and adolescents referred to a clinic for gender dysphoria also came up positive on a assessment for ASD” they weren't even testing for ADHD so the numbers could be even higher!

now I want to talk about a  certain section of the trans umbrella that a lot of autistic people fall under called the non-binary umbrella. non-binary means anything that isn't just male or just female. it is not one third gender and non-binary doesn't mean that you don't have a gender. just clearing that up since cis people keep spreading that. non-binary is an umbrella term for any of the infinite genders you could use or create. now this is where I'm going to lose a bunch of you and that's okay because you don't have to understand our brains or emotions To respect us as real people. not many allistics can understand how we see and think and relate to things and that's okay you don't have to understand everything but just reading about this could be so much closer to respecting us for Who We Are from you've ever been and that's better than being against us just for existing.

now you might have heard of my Mutual Lars who was harassed  by transmeds for using the term Autigender (I was going to link them but if it gets traction I don't want them to get any hate)  since a lot of people roll their eyes at that  and treated them disgustingly for using a term that 100% applied correctly.  Autigender  is described as " a neurogender which can only be understood in the context of being autistic or when one's autism greatly affects one's gender or how one experiences gender. Autigender is not autism as a gender, but rather is a gender that is so heavily influenced by autism that one's autism and one's experience of gender cannot be unlinked.” Now tell me that doesn't sound a lot like this entire essay I've been working on with full sources…..

xenogenders and neopronouns are a big argument point on whether or not people “believe” in non binary genders but a big part of those genders is that they originated from ND communities and are ways that we can try to describe what gender means us in a way that cis or even allistic trans people just can't comprehend or ever understand. Same with MOGAI genders or sexualities. A lot of these are created as a way to somehow describe an indescribable relationship with gender that is so personal you really cant explain it to anyone who isnt literally the same as you.

Even in studies done with trans autistic people a large amount of them dont even fall on a yes or no of having a gender at all and fall in some weird inbetween where you KINDA have a gender but its not a gender in the sense that others say it is but its also too much of a gender so say youre agender. And this is the kind of stuff that confuses allistic trans people and makes them think nonbinary genders are making stuff up for attention, which isnt true at all we just cant explain what it feels like to BE a trans autistic person to anyone who doesnt ALREADY know how it feels.

In this study out of the ppl questioned almost HALF of the autistic trans individuals had a “Sense of identity revolving around interests” meaning their gender and identity was more based off what they liked rather than boy or girl. That makes ppl with stuff like vampgender or pupgender make a lot more sense now doesnt it? We see that even in the study: “My sense of identity is fluid, just as my sense of gender is fluid […] The only constant identity that runs through my life as a thread is ‘dancer.’ This is more important to me than gender, name or any other identifying features… even more important than mother. I wouldn't admit that in the NT world as when I have, I have been corrected (after all Mother is supposed to be my primary identification, right?!) but I feel that I can admit that here. (Taylor)” and an agreement from another saying “Mine is Artist. Thank you, Taylor. (Jessie)” now dont you think if they grew up with terms like artistgender or dancergender they would just YOINK those up right away????

In fact “An absence of a sense of gender or being unsure of how their gender should “feel” was another common report” because as ive said before in this post AUTISTIC PEOPLE DONT SEE GENDER THE WAY ALLISTIC PEOPLE SEE IT. therefore we wont use the same terms or have the same identities nor could we explain it to anyone who doesnt already understand or question the same way! Participants even offered up quotes such as “As a child and even now, I don't ‘feel’ like a gender, I feel like myself and for the most part I am constantly trying to figure out what that means for me (Betty)” and also “I don't feel like a particular gender I'm not even sure what a gender should feel like (Helen)”

Now i know this isnt going to change everyones minds on this stuff but i can only hope that it at least helped people feel like theyre not broken and not alone in their feelings about this. You dont have to follow allistic rules. You dont have to stop searching inside for who you really wanna be. And you dont have to pick or choose terms forever because just as you grow and evolve so may your terms. Its okay to not know what or who you are and its okay to identify as nonhuman things or as your interests because what you love and what you do is a big part of who you are and shapes you everyday. Its not a bad thing! Just please everyone, treat ppl with respect and if you dont understand something that doesnt make it bad or wrong it just means its not for you. And thats okay.

[b0rista]

— 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐓 𝐀𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄'𝐒 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓! ˚ ༘♡ ·˚ ₊

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒: only slightly suggestive, but mostly reader friendly. language!

��𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒: literally, moblit needs more attention 🥺 i wish he had more of a character arc in the series, he really was interesting and likable like pls my CHILD

moblit berner x fem! reader.

❝︎ for all that you're yet to become, i love you. ❞︎

of course, moblit is still hange's main assistant. he's her second in command/her messenger, as always. you're her assistant in a more scientific sense. you provide aide during experiments, providing useful input while also putting your intellect to the test.

hange adores you with every fiber of her being. not only does she have a science buddy, but somebody who genuinely understands her field and all of the seven hour long stories that come with it! certainly, you aren't as overzealous as her, but you're able to actually converse with her over your shared projects. there aren't a lot of scientists— they need you, you were handed your position fairly quickly.

moblit's crush on you began,, immediately. quietly, he was relieved that he no longer had to suffer hange's hopeless antics alone. sure, he felt baD for you, but yay, a friend! and a pretty one, too.

there was a single moment where it was your very first day underneath her command, and right as you walked in, hange was literally braiding strands of titan hair she'd pulled from an experiment. from across the room, moblit locked eyes with you, and just mouthed,, "run away."

the two of you didn't start dating until a long while; work was miserable, and it took up far too much brain power for either of you to even think about romance.

then again, there were those moments,, you were extra concentrated, and moblit was staring at you. even when you didn't try, you were absolutely stunning.

^ cue hange asking him what the hell he's staring at, causing him to fLincH and start sweating profusely.

now, two people are screaming at their relentless commander whenever she does something heinously moronic. the iconic "HANGE-SAN" is now doubled, and it's just as great, tysm.

sometimes, when hange is getting a little too rambunctious, you literally have to bury your face in moblit's shoulder to spare yourself from having to waTch that bullshit. it's funny, he has one arm shielding your face while the other one swings around in hand gestures of pure distress.

"haNGE-SAN, YOU'RE SCARING Y/N-"

he claims that he stays late at the office because hange left him with extra work, but really, he just wants to be able to walk you home.

you arrived post sawney & bean, so he's the one that has to fill you in on that whole arc. it's,, funny.

"wait, wait. she cried whenever she had to preform physical experiments on them?"

"yeah."

thank you, y/n, for being sane. ❤️

as always, i'll leave the how you got together part up to you, because this post is meant to be centering more towards the relationship itself, but i imagine that it was both simple & really cute! moblit's a cutie, it was probably along the lines of an accidental confession.

the two of you tried keeping your relationship secret, for obvious reasons. it was a joint decision, settled for the sake of your safety. your boss is scary, mmk.

that being said, sneaking around is inevitable. i don't see moblit flat out enjoying having to sneak around, but it's definitely a little exciting, and it makes working at the office a bit more fun than he'd ever imagine.

when you're alone, and working, he likes to wrap his arms around you from behind, burying his face into the crook of your neck while you concentrate on whatever it is you're working on.

"as important as i'm sure this work is, maybe we should-"

"sorry, love. i can't leave until i'm finished."

cue a small nuzzle into your neck, "understood."

one night, you had to pull an all nighter at the workplace. despite you giving him the okay to head on home, moblit stayed with you, and the two of you crashed on the sofa. the following morning, hange practically fAinted at the sight of you, passed out on moblit's chest while his hand lay comfortably beneath your shirt, resting on the bare small of your back.

she screamed, which led to you screaming, which led to moblit bursting up, which led to the two of you bonking heads.

yeah, she hounded y'all for days.

"how long has this been a thing?"

"why didn't you TELL me?"

"do you not trust me?"

"if anything happened on that couch, i suggest you clean it up before levi arrives-"

"h A Ng E - sA N"

one time, the two of you had gotten a tad bit distracted and started making out on your desk. hange walked in, said something stuPid, and you literally biT your poor boyfriend's bottom lip. you felt awfuL, and promised to make it up to him later 😉

because you're only a scientist, it isn't often that you're out in the field. however, because there are times where you're needed outside of the walls, you're an occasional guest during missions/expeditions.

the first time you were requested somewhere while moblit and hange were sent elsewhere, he didn't like it at all.

had you held combative experience, he wouldn't be so worried. but, in all honesty, there aren't many people in the world that he genuinely trusts to keep you safe.

when you came back in one piece, he bombarded you with questions. did you get hurt? were you scared, did they keep you safe? were you ever, ever placed in harm's way?

mans was worried 🥺

whenever you join hange during live titan experiments, it's literally funny.

"be caRefuL-"

"y/n,,"

"Y/N-"

one time, you shot him a glare so devilishly stern, he fucking guLped. srry babe, do ur thing. you look sexy standing ontop of that titan's abdomen!

whenever you're angry, even when it isn't at him, he's literally so fucking terrified. like, he's scared.

however!! it became a thing where whenever you're frustrated, he knows to sit you down and tend to your joints. if your hair is up, he'll take it down, letting your scalp breathe. he'll rub your shoulders, all while quietly reassuring you. it's simple, but effective, and incredibly intimate.

he's already decided on the names of your future children. do you know this? fuck no, and you never will.

you move in together fairly quickly! because you want time together away from work, it was decided that you would move into moblit's place. not only do the two of you get ready together in the mornings, but you unwind together after hours. the two of you sleep on the sofa more than you do the bed— you're exhausted, and just fucking flop onto one another the moment you get home.

he's an amazing boyfriend, and your relationship is fun. 🥺

[delimeful]

the end of being alone (3)

Ch 1 | Ch 2 |

warning: mentions of fear, crocodiles, discussion of teeth

-

Logan found himself grateful that he’d made arrangements to postpone their other jobs for a bit, because it looked as though they’d be staying firmly on this planet’s surface for a while.

There had been all of one attempt to bring Virgil aboard the Mindscape, and it had resulted in a significant amount of crying from both the child and Patton. Whatever circumstances had led the Human to this planet, it had left them deeply fearful of any sort of spacefaring vessel.

… This did not annul Logan’s suspicions about smuggling, though he was careful not to say as much in front of Virgil. The child was keen, and any time the fact that they were a Human was mentioned, they withdrew and began displaying body language that Logan believed indicated a desire to flee. Checking that exits were still there, putting space between themself and any of the Mindscape’s crew, anxious tics, and so forth.

Needless to say, they avoided the topic.

However, to Logan’s surprise, the child didn’t seem at all adverse to basic questions about themself. Understanding their responses was rare, of course, but the kid was picking up on Common with a shocking quickness, and Roman had turned out to be rather talented at interpreting their gestures when they didn’t have the right words.

The data that Logan had collected from these inquiries was both strange and intriguing. He’d carefully woven a mental list of it all.

1. Virgil seemed to identify by he/him, though whether that was an actual gender preference or simply a child wanting to be called the same pronouns as the three of them was up for debate. Either way, Logan seriously doubted that there was any way to convey the nebulous concept of gender through a language barrier, so he let the matter lie.

2. After eating too fast, Virgil would convulse slightly in a semi-rhythmic pattern for a short period. He didn’t seem alarmed or pained by this, only slightly irritated when it would interrupt him mid-sentence. The condition of ‘hiccups’ was thankfully temporary, since it made Roman quite jumpy. For their tiny, squeaking nature, Patton had called them ‘hicchirps’, which was ridiculous, but Virgil seemed to enjoy any and all wordplay that made it through his grasp of the language, so Logan stowed his complaints.

3. Virgil was terrified of the locals. Despite being plainly evident, this observation didn’t make sense at first, seeing as the nearby town consisted primarily of native Hiiynal and a few offplanet transfers, none of which could be described as particularly dangerous or violent. After a few days of gentle questioning and no reprimands for not answering, Virgil finally told them that the locals would ‘chase monsters far away’ and so he couldn’t risk getting near. Questioning was temporarily halted in favor of showing the Human the art of shadow symmetry, for purely scientific reasons, of course. 

(Supposition: Human children enjoyed movement games.)

4. While the synthetic meat from the ration kits was accepted by Virgil, he showed a surprising preference for sweeter food items, such as fruit and sugar crystals. Seeing as Humans were rumored to be obligate carnivores or even raw flesh-eaters, this was a strange discrepancy. Virgil had even eaten some of the leafy vegetables Logan had brought, face pinched up in disgust but insisting that eating ‘greens’ would make one tall. It was unclear to Logan what color had to do with nutrients or growth. He was also slightly alarmed at the implication of Virgil being short for his age.

5. Virgil seemed, for all intents and purposes, fixated on Roman.

The latest data point was a work in progress. Logan hadn’t mentioned it to Roman himself, because the Cravon was already fairly worked up over everything the Human did as it was. Nobody seemed sure if this jumpiness was because of the Human child, or on behalf of it.

Still, it was present in little ways. For example, even as he answered Logan’s latest series of questions, his gaze would occasionally flicker up from his hands to Roman, who sat at the mouth of the little cave, carefully peeling more fruit. It wasn’t about the food; Patton had taken it upon himself to make sure the child knew he only had to ask to get something to eat. No, this  ‘almost-staring’ was a frequent occurrence, no matter what Roman preoccupied himself with.

“You were saying you met… Susan… when another predator was attacking it?”

Virgil nodded, hurriedly looking back to his hands. “It was a big bite monster, and Susan was loud crying, so I did, uh,” he lifted his arms up, hands spread wide, “this, and I was loud at it until it ran away. Like raccoons back on Dirt.”

Dirt was apparently Virgil’s name for his home. Logan hadn’t heard of ‘raccoons’ before. He decided not to get sidetracked. “I’d estimate the creature you saw was a Lifel. They are the natural predators of Humlilts.”

“Natural?” Virgil mimicked.

“It means ‘of nature’,” Logan attempted to clarify, gesturing around them. “In the wild.”

Virgil only grew more confused with the wide, encompassing gesture. “Sky? Was not flying.”

Logan glanced at Roman, checking that he was still preoccupied. Patton was back at the ship, contacting a friend for advice. There seemed no better opportunity if he wanted to avoid overwhelming Virgil.

“Virgil, would you like to try something new?” he asked, carefully neutral. It wouldn’t do to put any pressure on the child.

The Human squinted at him slightly, quick to use his most common phrase. “Will it hurt?”

“It will not hurt,” Logan replied, ignoring the tightening in his core with careful practice. It always felt so wrong, that a mere pupa would be so familiar with hurt. “I will always tell you if something might hurt.”

“Mmm.” The Human hummed, the way he always did when they told him such things. Like he wasn’t sure if he could believe it. “What’s it?”

“What is it,” Logan corrected automatically. “It is something I can do, to show you new words. Want to try a little bit, first?” That was the phrase they used for new foods, but it applied well enough to mindsharing.

Virgil clenched and unclenched his hands for a moment longer before nodding, going a little tense like he expected something unpleasant. Logan held a hand out to him, waiting until he’d reached out in return to start sharing.

Small, simple flashes of images and sensations. Quiet forests, shallow oceans, clean air. Plants, bugs, animals, humanoids, living and dying and living again. Nature.

Virgil had pinched his eyes closed immediately at the start of the low-level telepathy, and Logan only had a moment to worry that maybe it had hurt him in some manner.

Then, there was a feeling of recognition. Without a moment to spare, Virgil had grasped the nature of the Vidi and was projecting his own thoughts. Walking on a crunchy leaf-covered trail with other Human young, a winged insect emerging from a cocoon, the crack of thunder and heavy rain on a windowsill. Nature.

“Wow!” Virgil whispered, imprint thoughts flickering like flames, too quick for Logan to really see. “You see into heads!”

Logan pulled back slightly, offering a bit of content-smug in return to the Human’s awe. “That is one way of framing it, yes. So, you understand what I mean, about the Lifel being a natural predator?”

“Carnivore,” Virgil mumbled, and then offered image-thoughts of several creatures that Logan could only assume were from the deathworlder’s home planet. He watched with morbid curiosity as Virgil remembered a clip from a screen, displaying large ungulates with twisting horns crossing a river, and then being dragged underwater by a dark, writhing shape.

“That’s a crocodile,” Virgil told him, his eyes still closed tight in concentration. “They’ve got big teeth and they do death rolls. They look like alligators, but I know they aren’t because gators live in Florida.”

“Florida?” Logan asked. He wondered if perhaps ‘gators’ were kept in captivity for species preservation. Or perhaps they were too dangerous left in the wild?

Virgil showed him a memory of a long, reptilian form with a narrow, tooth-filled jaw. It was wading steadily through a swimming pool, not paying any mind to Virgil, who was sitting with his legs dipped in the pool, watching in fascination. “I lived there!”

“Oh,” Logan managed, his ears going numb with fear at the idea of a child being so near a creature like that. “So it would seem.”

The Human patted him carefully, a gesture of comfort. “It’s okay. The bad guys didn’t take any gators or crocodiles from Dirt. Just people.”

Virgil’s words trailed off, a sense of melancholy overwhelming him. Rather than find out more about the Human’s past, Logan felt an unreasonably strong urge to stop that sadness. “Could you perhaps tell me more about these… ‘crocodiles’? You seem to be quite informed on them.”

“I had a book about them,” Virgil managed, slowly dragging his thoughts away from his abduction. “Did you know some crocodiles have a… a ‘biting force’ of five thousand pounds?”

He had lapsed into English, the sentence sounding well-recited, but Logan still got the general idea of what he meant, and a strong image of a picture book, covered in writing he couldn’t read but still understood. If Logan was right about the measurement conversions, the fact was terrifying.

“That’s very interesting,” he mused, because terrifying and interesting often went hand in hand. “Are there any other predators that can bite like that?”

Virgil scrunched his face up in thought. “Maybe sharks. Oh, but for sure a T. Rex!”

Logan saw a very concerning glimpse of a large fish with too many teeth before Virgil’s mind switched to a cartoon depiction of a larger creature with also too many teeth. He was beginning to see a trend in deathworlder species. “I… see.”

“They’re all dead, though,” Virgil told him sadly, projecting a memory of a huge display of bones. He then seemed to perk up, glancing over at Roman again. “Except for in space!”

Logan narrowly avoided laughing out loud, covering his throat before the vibrating chirps could get far. So, this was the truth behind the Human’s interest!

“Roman is not a ‘dinosaur’,” he clarified, once he felt composed enough to do so. “In fact, I believe he rarely even eats meat.”

Virgil squinted at him. “Are you sure? Maybe he’s a secret dinosaur.”

Logan wiggled his fingers thoughtfully. “I suppose we’ll just have to check.”

---

“Roman, would you come here for a moment?”  

Roman looked up from his task, immediately suspicious. Logan sounded strangely amused, like he was on the brink of laughing at him. That was never a good sign.

Still, the Human was looking over at him with those wide, strange eyes, and he wasn’t about to run away. He got to his feet, leaving his pile of dana peels behind as he crossed the cave floor. “What is it, dear esteemed companion who would never take advantage of me?”

“I need you to show us your teeth,” Logan said, very much not being a dear esteemed companion who would never take advantage of him. Roman resisted the urge to hang his head in resignation. He should have expected this. The Ulgorii was shameless when it came to exploiting his friends for science.

“How about absolutely not?” he replied, because there were actually limits to his tolerance for shenanigans, and one of those limits was threat-displaying at a baby Human.

“Hold on, look,” Logan said, and then bared his own ridged teeth with a click.

The Human did his small grimace-smile back, entirely unphased. They both looked to him expectantly. Roman felt as though he was being ganged up on.

“Um,” Virgil said, painfully tentative, “please?”  

Roman felt extremely ganged up on.

He squatted, tail keeping him perfectly balanced, and pulled at the corner of his mouth to show some of his teeth.

“Woah,” Virgil breathed.

“See how the back teeth are narrow but dull? They’re designed to crack bones and get to the marrow at the center,” Logan narrated, like the nerd he was. “Roman doesn’t have the small incisors or sharp molars required for proper full-time carnivores.”

Roman almost reminded his crewmate to use small words, but Virgil seemed to get the idea, leaning uncomfortably close to stare. He then opened his own mouth, like he was planning to take a bite out of something, displaying a shocking number of tiny little bone-teeth crammed inside. Some of them were uncomfortably sharp.

Rather than attack anyone, though, Virgil touched his own teeth, carefully inspecting the shape of them. Roman resisted the urge to get him to sanitize his hands. Kits would be kits, he supposed.

Logan was patiently watching as Virgil pointed to each tooth in turn, and he obligingly recited the name of each type of tooth for the kit. His two lower arms took frantic notes on Human jaw structure, probably to prepare more elaborate meal plans better suited to a deathworlder diet. The kid soaked every bit of information in like a sponge.

Finally, after a long moment of thought, he announced, “My ‘lower canine’ is going to fall out in close time!”

“Soon,” Logan offered, always quick to interpret the Human’s occasional nonsense Common. “'My lower canine is going to fall out soon.'” And then, after a moment’s pause. “Wait, it’s going to what?”

And then, because Roman’s day needed more nightmare fuel, the kit bared his tiny fangs at them and poked one with his tongue, revealing that it did indeed seem to be sickeningly loose. In fact, Roman could see a few other gaps in the curved row of teeth, some with little bits of bone peeking out.

“Stars above,” Roman said, feeling a little faint. Logan was already interrogating a very confused Virgil on whether or not losing teeth was indicative of an illness or not.

“They’re just my little teeth,” Virgil told them, seemingly unconcerned with holes in his mouth. “I get big ones later.”

“There are plenty of species that have milk teeth, but to have their adult set not fully-formed by the time the milk teeth are ready to fall out…,” Logan quickly devolved into muttering, hands flicking.

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Roman asked despite himself, eyeing the kit just in case he was going to burst into tears all of the sudden. Roman himself had lost one or two front teeth before his next set had fully formed, and each time it had felt like biting on hot metal.

“Nuh-uh.” Virgil seemed to have moved from confused to amused, still not entirely sure what the fuss was all about. “Not unless I,” he mimed pulling on the tooth, and Roman made a click-click-click of parental don’t-do-that chiding before he’d even fully registered the alarm he’d felt at the motion.

Virgil clicked back at him curiously, sounding exactly like a tiny version of an exasperated parent. Roman tucked his face against his shoulder, unsure if he should laugh or despair.

This Human was really going to be the death of him.

[spencesglasses]

sweet creature (spencer reid x f! reader) pt 2

a/n: ah yes, a case chapter. this was gonna be longer but i didn’t want it to just drag on and i just ended up cutting out some parts soooo enjoy this 3k word chapter of y/n using her big galaxy brain to solve a case with just a pinch of fluff w spence :)

part one | part three

It was only the beginning of the movie when the weight of the day hit her. She snuggled further into the couch, trying to gain some extra warmth. Spencer had his apartment so cold, she could nearly feel the chill creeping up her body. Her eyelids began to close shut slowly, and the sound of the television lulls her to sleep. She was far too tired to keep herself awake, so she hoped that Spencer didn’t mind if she rests, at least for a few minutes.

Spencer keeps his eyes glued to the television screen, having been making commentary throughout, he didn’t even notice Y/N fast asleep. “You know, it’s actually scientifically impossible for someone to-“ He turns his head to look at her, and she lets out a quiet snore. The TV’s sound was barely audible now, Spencer turning it down so it wouldn’t wake her. He stood up to his full height and the freshly cleaned floor squeaks as his feet carried him to the cupboard that held spare linens and duvets.

He laid a blanket over her figure gently, careful not to disturb her. Taking the extra blankets, he spread them out, making a makeshift bed on the floor below her. He flickered off the TV and all that could be heard was the pitter-patter of the rain against the windows. Spencer let the layers of blankets engulf him in warmth, letting his eyes fall heavy and drifts off to sleep.

The next morning, Y/N woke up to the vibrations of her phone ringing. It was Anna. Wait. I’m still on Spencer’s couch. Shit! I was asleep longer than I should have! She sits up, checking the time, “I’m late to work!”

She tossed the blanket off her and tried to push herself off the couch. But then she sees him. Spencer curled up with a blanket that was much too small for him. She stifled a snicker and covered him with the blanket she was once using.

Before Y/N could leave, she noticed a pen and notepad sitting atop his desk. Maybe I should leave a note, she thought. She grabbed the pen and the black ink slid smoothly across the page.

Sorry to leave so soon… and for falling asleep during the movie. Lets reschedule? Keep in touch, 187! xx

-Your favorite barista

She heard Spencer stir in his sleep, and just before he could wake up, she was gone.

-

“Surprise?” Garcia questioned. “What surprise? What’s going on-” and then she realizes. “Oh, Coffee shop girl! You’re the girl from the coffee shop!”

Y/N hid a giggle behind her hand as she stood. “You told them about me?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see JJ’s head shoot up. “Yeah, Spence,” she says, tilting her head at him. “You told us about her?”

“I told Garcia,” he grumbles.

Spencer can feel the five pairs of eyes on him. He didn’t think that not telling the team about her was such a big deal. Why was it such a problem he kept something to himself for once? They practically live together. Spencer just wanted to keep someone who makes him feel like a person. He wanted to keep her so close to him because he finally had the chance to think about something other than work and the cases, and the people he couldn’t save. He wanted to be someone; to feel normal. In the time that it’s silent, he understood why Y/N didn’t tell him, but he sure as hell wishes that she did.

Spencer’s eyes flicker back and forth between her and the team.  “We should focus on the case.”

-

The first case Y/N works on with a team is fairly close, which she appreciated. She wasn’t particularly fond of plane rides but that was something she had to get used to. Joy, who she found out is Rossi’s daughter, had been writing a piece about violence against women on campus, and noticed a series of mishap in the area. After finding what she believed was more of a case than a possible story, she brought attention to a series of disappearances to the team’s attention once a young woman by the name of Bahni Desai had gone missing.

“4 cases in 9 years.” Derek speaks into the cell, sitting in the driver’s seat. “How come this hasn’t been on our radar?”

“Because the disappearances were in different states with different M.O’s.” Rossi explained over the speaker.

Y/N claimed her spot on the middle seat in the back, reviewing a case file. “The first missing woman was Kathy Miller in 2006,”

Morgan questioned. “So what’s the plan once we land on campus?’

“Track Bahni’s movements. Campus police checked her room, she’s not there. They taped it off for you.” Hotch instructed.

“What about her cell phone?” asked Spencer.

Y/N shifted in her seat, passing the file to Spencer and whispered to him. “It’s kind of cold in here, don’t you think?”

He turned ever so slightly to look at her. “I have my jacket in my bag if you need it,”

She dug to find the much-needed jacket and threw it over her shoulders. It was his FBI issued jacket, tapered at the sleeves and a bit oversized. It smelt like him, she noted. Cinnamon and coffee. She offered him a gentle smile. “Thanks, Spence.”

Spencer returned the smile, handing her back the file.

“It just pinged in her room overnight,” Garcia informed. “No credit card activity. I’ve confirmed with all the ticket agencies she didn’t take a boat, bus, blimp, or plane last night. Oh! The Dean's office just sent us her file from Judy Temple College. It looks like- Oh dear…” She trails off.

“Looks like what, Garcia?” Y/N urged, tugging the jacket closer to her.

“She voluntarily withdrew!”

-

“She definitely didn’t plan on leaving town,” Spencer surveyed Bahni’s abandoned closet. “Her clothes, shoes, and luggage are all still here.”

“Well, it looks like she was trying on different outfits,” said Morgan.

Y/N shuffled past Spencer, standing next to Morgan, and observed the clothes laid out. “Miniskirts, heels. Seems like she was going out.” Y/N added.

“But why not take her phone?” Reid asked, picking up Bahni’s cell. “She’d need it to meet up with her friends.”

She spun on her heel and inspected her desk, noticing two chemistry textbooks. “Unless her friends were already here,” she suggests, her finger brushes against the lettering on the cover, then beckons Morgan to look at the books.

She turned the cover of the textbook, Morgan doing the same to the one to their left. Y/N pushes out a sharp exhale out of her pursed lips. Paddy Morris, she read.

Morgan is the first to speak. “Same textbooks, different names. “She wasn’t studying alone.”

Spencer moves closer to the pair and peers over Y/N’s shoulder. “That could be the last person who saw her.”

-

Y/N trailed behind Morgan and Reid with her hands tucked into the pockets of Spencer’s jacket, and her eyes wandered around the halls of the building. This is going to be her first interview. She wasn’t nervous, per se, but her mind couldn’t help but fill with possible scenarios. Don’t mess this up, Y/N. Only ask questions relevant to the case and remember, don’t say the wrong thing.

“Nice jacket,” Morgan commented, slowing down to reach Y/N’s pace.

“Nice face,” she joked, reaching up to tap his cheek.

Y/N quickened her pace, walking past Spencer, and she could practically feel his stare burning into the back of her head. She found the correct door, and it was Reid and Morgan’s turn to trail behind her. Finding Paddy’s correct door number, she taps her knuckles against the hard wood. “Paddy Morris, this is the FBI,”

“Very funny, Josh,” They heard through the door.

Y/N turned to the men behind her and they shrugged their shoulders in unison. She scrunched up her nose, knocking once more.

The trio held up their badges as the door flung open, exposing the girl. “You’re not Josh.”

“Great observation,” Y/N nodded.

Paddy opened the door wider for them, and they took their spot on the three chairs to the side of her bed. “We have a few questions about Bahni Desai,” Morgan told her. “Is there any information you have that might help us?”

She let out a sharp exhale. “I was with her last night. She was fine,”

“Any idea why she left her cell phone in her room?”

“We didn’t take purses, and we didn’t have pockets in our skirts.” Paddy draws out.

Y/N saw Spencer shift in his seat. “Ok, walk us through the night, you guys were studying before you went out?”

“Yeah, um,” her voice is shaky. “I knew about this party. She didn't want to go.”

It was Y/N’s turn to ask a question. “Did you two come back to the dorm?”

Not too bad, not too bad, she reassures herself.

“No. I made her stay.”

“Why?”

She gulped, looking over their shoulders and out the window. “There was this tennis guy that I’d been trading tweets with. He said he’d show up, but he was late, and then the later it got, the more I drank.”

“How much did you have?” asked Reid.

“Her, I don’t know. Me, a lot. Until Peter arrived…” she trails off. “She told me she was going right after that.”

“Did anyone walk out after her, maybe try to escort her?”

“Not that I saw,” she frowns, face streaked with tears and day old mascara wiped beneath her eyes. “God, it’s my fault, isn’t it?”

Morgan reassured her. “No, it’s not. But there’s still a way you can help us.”

She perked up, wiping the stray tears away. “Anything. Name it.”

Y/N straightens up and asks, “Where was the party?”

-

“This was the last spot she was seen. The next camera is 100 feet down,” Spencer pointed forward. “Which makes this the abduction zone,”

Y/N walks with him, investigating what the team has found, all thanks to Garcia, Bahni’s last location before she went missing. “Alexandria police searched the buildings, nothing was there.”

“Well, if she got in the car with him, they would have shown up on the camera down the street.”

Her eyebrows knit together, suddenly coming to a stop. “Right, so it would be too risky,” she looked to the camera, and observed the shops behind them. “Just shoving her in the trunk of a car. And out in the open like this? Someone would have been bound to see them,”

“Well, that leaves this.” Spencer gestures to the near alleyway. It’s empty. Secluded. Low chance of anyone seeing the attack.

Spencer and Y/N shared a look, walking further into the alley. His phone went off, signifying that he’s gotten a new message, and she watches him as he fetches his phone out of his coat pocket. She could see the wrinkle between his brows that he would when he was worried about something,

She stops in her tracks and gently places her hand on his bicep. “Is everything okay?”

“Actually, no. My mom’s not doing so well,” Spencer says, biting the inside of his cheek. “The doctors have had to change her medicine 3 times to try to stabilize the schizophrenia,”

Y/N knew about his mom and her conditions. He had mentioned it a few times to her when he would go into her shop during her break. She let out a soft exhale and rubbed languid circles in his arm as a comfort. “Spencer, why didn’t you tell me… or the team?”

“I- I didn’t want to bother you,” he averts his eyes

“You could never bother me,” Y/N’s voice is hushed. “You can never bother any of us, got it? How long has this been going on?”

Spencer’s frown deepens, looking down to the asphalt beneath their feet. “It’s gotten really bad the past few weeks.”

“As soon as we’re done here, you need to go help her. She needs you,”

Y/N watches as his eyes narrow, looking at her this time. “I know. Right now so does Bahni.” he said firmly.

She watches him as he moves to leave the alley, and a frown etched on her face. Y/N knew he would rather keep something to himself than bother anyone about his problems, but this was different. She just wanted to be there for him, to help him, to make sure he doesn't feel alone. He was her friend, after all. Spencer turned to her, looking at her expectantly, and she followed him.

“Alright, let's think this through,” Spencer said.

Y/N added. “Okay, so, if he took her this way, it is a busier street,” they both observed the cars passing. “The traffic was much lighter last night, but it would be a risk to abduct someone in plain sight.”

“So he was able to control a drunk woman and it didn’t look suspicious.”

“He probably just put his arm around her and walked off, and was too drunk to realize she was in danger.” she replied.

“You know, if this was just about the assault, he could have done that back in the alley. I think this gotta be some sort of long-term play,”

“Then he’s been watching Bahni,” she makes eye contact with Spencer. “Looking for the perfect opportunity.”

“Well, he certainly found it last night. She’s a straight-A student who never drinks and rarely goes out.”

Y/N nods, walking back to the alley to inspect it once more. She eyes the spot where the suspect was last documented, trying to think of anything that could possibly help them, and then it hits her. “Spence, tell Garcia to look for offenders with precursor crimes.”

“On it,”

-

The rest of the investigation went by smoothly and the team rescued Bahni successfully, arresting Tom Larson for abduction of Bahni Desai and Sam Burnett for the murder of Kathy Miller in the process. By the end of the night, Y/N stayed behind as the majority of the team left, having to finish paperwork for Hotch. She heard shuffling, and it brought her attention to Spencer sitting on the edge of his desk. Following his gaze, she noticed a framed photo of JJ’s newborn perched on her desk. Then she examined him closely, noticing visible bags under his eyes, and his hair slightly disheveled. She gathers the loose paper into a folder, then places them into the drawer of her desk.

“You were that little once,” Y/N says, catching Spencer’s attention.

“It seems impossible, doesn’t it,” he smiles fondly at the photo. “That we all start out so helpless.”

Y/N got up from her chair, joining Spencer at his desk. “Yeah, well, we all end the same way.”

A moment of looming silence passes between them and Spencer stiffens, suddenly becoming hyper aware of the proximity. It’s not that he didn’t like it. It made him more aware of the flutter and flit of the butterflies in his stomach. That he didn’t like.

Y/N is the first one to break the silence. “You’re gonna call your mom?”

Spencer is brought back to reality by the sound of her voice, and he’s back at ease. Y/N did a good job at doing that; easing him. He furrowed his brows, checking his watch. “It’s not too late there, is it?”

She gently grabs a hold of his wrist to check for herself. “Shouldn’t be,” she whispers.

Y/N let her arm fall to her side. “I wanted to tell you, by the way.”

“Hmm?”

“That I was joining the team,” she crosses her arms over her chest. “I wanted to tell you.”

“Why didn’t you?” he counters.

“I didn’t want to intrude. I thought it would’ve been weird if some girl from the coffee shop you go to just suddenly started working with you, but I guess that happened anyway,”

Spencer’s eyes flick down to her. “You’re not just some girl from the coffee shop,” he says slowly. “And if it makes you feel any better, I really enjoyed working with you today.”

Y/N’s lips curled upward, bumping his shoulder with hers. “Hmm, I guess we just make a good team,”

“Guess so,” Spencer says with a soft laugh that makes her heart swell. “You know, I actually didn’t mean to tell Garcia,”

“You didn’t?” She raised her brows.

He shook his head. “She saw your number written on my coffee cup.”

“I see,” she hummed.

There’s a moment of comfortable silence. Y/N scoots away from him slightly, barely realizing the closeness. Her stomach twists and tumbles within her, nerves spiking, trying to find words to add to the conversation. She finally looks at him and she feels heat creeping up her neck when she saw that he was already looking at her. And she finally says, “I guess I should be getting home,”

Spencer followed her movements, trailing behind her as she retreated to her desk. “Would you like a ride home?” she asks.

For a second, it is silent again. It’s clear to her he’s thinking way too into the question. “It’s no bother,” she adds, giving him a kind smile. “I promise.”

She held out her arm just like she did that morning and waited for him to link his arm with hers. He visibly relaxed, hooping his arm beneath hers. This is what he liked about Y/N, what drew him to her. She allowed him to break down his walls when he was with her, and he guesses that that was why he let himself be so comfortable with her because if he was being completely honest, he wouldn’t do this with anyone that wasn’t her. Yeah, he was close with JJ and Penelope, but the connection was just different. He just couldn’t put his finger on it, and for the first time, Spencer Reid didn’t know why.

-

taglist: @eevee0722 @ceeellewrites

[safertokiss]

Concentrated Interests

A/N: Hola my friends! This fic was my entry for the Secret Fic Swap I participated in with a couple of close friends on here and it was written and dedicated to @nerdgirljen​. It was so much fun to write and thank you guys so much for all the support and love!

Pairing: SPENCER x READER

Category: Fluff and SMUT

Word Count: 3.3k

ENJOY:)

~~~

MASTERLIST

~~~

Spencer had never really understood the concept of soulmates or love at first sight.

In his mind, it defied pretty much every scientific law about human interaction out there and was simply a coping mechanism for those who were romantically unlucky. At least that was what he had thought until a certain tech analyst walked through the BAU’s doors and into his life. 

He was frozen. Totally and utterly enamored by the woman his eyes were currently attached to. He watched her stumble into the bullpen, a large box situated in her arms, seemingly impairing the entirety of her vision and coordination, evident by the way she kept bumping into things in her path. It wasn’t until she hit a particular desk corner and spilled the contents of the box, her belongings scattering across the floor, that Spencer broke out of his stupor and took action. 

“Woah there, let me help you with that!”, he exclaimed, immediately rushing to her side and starting to collect some of the fallen items to put back into the box.

“Oh, thank you so much. Gah, this is so embarrassing. I promise you I’m not always this uncoordinated and clumsy”, she explained with a nervous chuckle. After everything was picked up and they both had stood up from their crouched positions, she hurriedly straightened out her skirt before outstretching her hand. “Hi, I’m Y/n.” She immediately noticed the slight panic that crossed his features at her gesture and was momentarily confused.

“I-uh-I kind of don’t, um, do the whole hand shaking thing. Yeah, uh, the number of pathogens spread through a handshake is staggering. It’s actually safer to...oh god I’m sorry you didn’t ask for a full-out science lesson. It’s, um, really nice to meet you, I’m Reid. Doctor. Spencer”, he sputtered out nervously.

Chuckling softly, Y/n retracted her hand, opting to instead lightly nudge his shoulder. “Well Reid Doctor Spencer, it’s nice to meet you too”, a teasing smile adorning her face as she spoke. Spencer quickly felt a warm blush spread across his features at the absurdity of his introduction.

“S-sorry about that. What I meant to say is that my name is-”

“Pretty boy!”

Both of their heads swiveled towards the sound, searching for the source, before landing on a man across the room.

“Hotch needs us in the briefing room. Stop flirting with the new girl and get your ass in here!” They watched him walk away chuckling before turning back to each other.

“Pretty boy huh? Well I guess it’s fitting, I mean you do have really nice cheekbones and dimples. And your eyes are kind of beautiful. Not that I ummmm-not that I think you’re beautiful or anything, it’s just uhhh...um...I’m gonna stop talking now.” Spencer could feel the blush returning to his features, watching the same happen to her, from the frenzied rambling that had just poured from her lips, but he found it endearing on her and quite honestly, really adorable. 

“I-uh I gotta go, you know, um deal with that, but it was very nice meeting you”, he sputtered out, sending a small wave in her direction. She shyly giggled at his nervousness which was surely reflected on her end as well. “See ya around Reid Doctor Spencer.”

“Spencer. It’s um-it’s Spencer.”

“Spencer”, she repeated back softly, nodding him off with a gentle smile on her face.

~~~

Spencer Reid was in love. The longer she was around him the more he realized he was completely and utterly in love with her, all of her. She was perfect in his eyes, intelligent, funny, a bit nerdy and just so adorable. The problem was just that he had absolutely no idea how to tell her how he felt. He had never really been the type to express his feelings to someone, especially to a girl as beautiful as Y/n. 

The female species wasn’t exactly his strong suit and he was very aware of that fact, painfully aware. However, he stayed hopeful that someday soon he’d muster up the courage to express his affinity for her. Realizing that today was definitely not that day, Spencer tried to push his conflict to the back of his brain so he could try to get some work done. Not before noticing that Y/n was slightly late, though.

Less than a minute after he noticed her absence, she came bursting into the bullpen with the largest grin adorning her features, an obvious pep in her step. Spencer watched as she skipped over to the rest of the team who were gathered around Emily’s desk, close enough where he could pretty much hear the majority of the words exchanged and profile their reactions.

He heard JJ ask what was making her so chipper this morning, and he chuckled softly to himself as he heard her immediately start rambling about whatever had her so elated. 

“Oh my god guys, you’ll never believe it! So a couple of weeks ago a good friend of mine asked me to help her with her website, because well...tech geek and all, so I got to mess around with all the software and went crazy! I was able to fiddle with the source code a bit and authorize a super high CRO and SEO to get her website out there. Not to mention all the growth hacking I was able to curate! Cool right?”

Y/n stopped to take a breath and noticed that the entirety of the team was staring at her with vacant expressions on their faces. She looked on with widened eyes as she asked, “What?”

“CRO?”, JJ questioned. Morgan awkwardly chuckled out a similar questioning tone, “SEO?” Of course that left Emily to bring up the rear. “Did I hear growth hacking in there?”

Her face scrunched up in confusion at all the questions that had just been hurled her way so suddenly. “Huh?”

“Baby girl we have absolutely no idea what any of the things you just mentioned are or what they do”, Morgan explained with a sympathetic smile on his face, as the other members nodded in agreement.

Spencer watched as Y/n’s face quickly morphed into one of utter disappointment at the knowledge that her colleagues had no clue what she was going on about. She had seemed so excited when she entered the bullpen earlier so he assumed she was probably very much looking forward to getting to talk all about it with her friends.

“Oh...that’s ok. Sorry for bothering you guys, sometimes I just get a little too excited and tend to ramble. I’ll um-I’ll talk to you guys later.” Y/n flashed them a small smile before making her way over to her desk, situated across the room near Spencer. 

“Hey Spence”, she shyly waved as she passed, a deflated look on her face. Trying to lift her spirits at least a little, he returned her gesture with a huge grin and wave, happy to see her smile brighten a bit at his enthusiasm. 

Once she was seated and facing away from him, he immediately found himself feeling overwhelmingly upset over her predicament. He hated seeing her look so defeated and down, she didn’t deserve to ever feel like that. She was simply too angelic for those kinds of feelings to permeate her mind. 

Spencer wished more than anything that he knew what she was talking about so she could go to him. He’d let her ramble to him for hours on end if it meant he could listen to her melodic voice and see her beautiful face up close. 

All of sudden Spencer slapped his hand against his head and groaned, “Of course you dipshit”, before pulling up a couple tabs on his computer.

For the next few hours his work was forgotten as he studied and learned pretty much everything there was to know about technical analysis and the programming that Y/n seemed so ecstatic about, anxious to give her, at last, a companion to discuss her passion with. 

~~~

“See you later Reid!”

Spencer’s head snapped up as he heard the people around him saying their goodbyes and goodnights, realizing that he had been distracted by his screen the entire day and that it was already time to go home. He watched as his friends walked out together, all laughing about something that Morgan had said, before noticing movement in the corner of his eye. 

As he turned his head he noticed that the only person who was still there in the bullpen with him was Y/n, and she was staring at the posse that had just exited the room, a longing look plastered across her features that broke his heart. Taking a deep breath and deciding it was now or never, he rose up from his seated position and made his way over to her, hoping that he had learned enough to lighten her mood.

“Hey there!”, he exclaimed when he had found himself right behind her. As soon as the words started escaping his lips, she jumped in her seat, her hand flying to her heart.

“Jesus Christ Spence! You scared the complete shit out of me!”

Chuckling softly at her overreactive response, he moved to sit on her desk, facing her heavily breathing sitting figure. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just saw you that you were still here and was wondering why you hadn’t left with everyone else?” She quickly looked down and blushed at his questioning, embarrassed of her answer.

“Oh I-um they just looked like they were having a lot of fun and I didn’t really want to interrupt so I thought I’d stay back for a little bit to-uh finish up some stuff.” Once she finished her unconvincing explanation, Spencer leaned back a bit and studied her. While this was something he found himself doing often, always getting distracted by her spectacular figure, he focused on her body language more than anything, noticing the dark circles underneath her eyes.

“Y/n, you look absolutely exhausted. Have you even been sleeping lately?”, he asked, genuine concern laced within his words.

“Y-yeah I haven’t really. I’ve kind of been pretty preoccupied in the last few days helping out a friend. It’s really fun, but it’s also very time consuming”, she stuttered out, a small smile gracing her lips.

“Oh right! I had heard you mention that earlier today! That must be awesome getting to basically build your own website!”

“I swear I feel like a kid in a candy store doing that kind of stuff. I just find it so relaxing and exciting at the same time!”

“I totally get it. I was really impressed with how well you were able to manipulate the site’s conversion rate optimization-did you know that a site’s CRO and SEO are considered as two of the most essential tools required to run a thriving website or online business. It’s actually astounding how much the results differ between competition depending on their efficiency.”

All Y/n could do, while Spencer rambled on and on about her most passionate subjects, was sit there in complete awe. The sound of the tech-geeky words that spilled from his beautiful lips was simply orgasmic. Never had she met someone who seemed as enthused as her when it came to all her technical endeavors, and she didn’t know exactly how to react. Her biggest crush on the entire planet was sitting in front of her spouting off facts like they were going out of style.

However, amidst all the wonder that circulated through her being, confusion washed over her.

“Wait hold up! What’s going on Spence?”

“Uhhh, what do you mean?”, he questioned shyly, a blush coating his face.

Narrowing her eyes at him she expanded her questioning. “I’ve known you for months now and I can guarantee I have never once heard you mention anything even remotely technical. In fact I’ve heard you explain time and time again how confused you are by the complexities of the simplest of technology. Spill, pretty boy”, she demanded, maintaining eye contact with him.

Figuring out that he had been caught, he shyly lowered his head as the blush on his face deepened, embarrassment coursing through his veins. “I-I noticed how excited you were this morning when you came parading into the office, the wide grin that adorned your face, the skip in your step. And I heard you ramble on and on about your friend’s website and you just seemed so damn happy and then they basically just shut you down right away because they didn’t understand and I-uh I hated seeing you like that and wanted you to have someone to talk to. So I spent all day today researching and learning so you could have someone to talk to, so you wouldn’t feel alone. I-I’m sorry if that’s creepy or if it’s too-”

Spencer was suddenly cut off mid-sentence as lips smashed against his own, effectively shutting him up. His eyes immediately widened at the bold action, before he melted into the kiss, desperately responding to her fervent advances with an equal passion. 

Y/n moaned into his mouth as his tongue probed at her wet lips, begging for entry. The feeling of their tongues entangling was euphoric and they both wanted, needed more. Spencer gently grabbed her and, turning so they were both facing it, lifted her onto the desk and stood between her legs. As the kiss deepened, their hands began to tear at each other’s clothing, Y/n hastily undoing his tie and dress shirt as he all but ripped off her blouse, groaning at the sight. 

“God Y/n you’re so fucking beautiful.” He watched her eyes roll back into her head at his words as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him even closer. “Please Spence, I need you. I need you so much baby.” His eyes sparkled at her desperate plea, mirroring her need wholeheartedly.

Backing away slightly he unzipped her skirt and dragged it down her legs along with her panties, quickly reaching up to also unclasp her bra. “You’ve got me baby, you’ve got me.”

She surged forward and reconnected their lips, her hands weaving their way into his hair and tugging hard. The groan that escaped his throat lit her body on fire and further ignited her need for the man in front of her. His hands, that had been cupping her face, drifted downward stooping to briefly toy with her breasts before reaching his intended destination.

She moaned loud and deep as his hands cupped her sex, gently rubbing his fingers against her. He could feel her buck her hips slightly, searching for more. Receiving the message loud and clear, he inserted his pointer finger into her, reveling in the throaty groans that poured from her lips. As he added more digits into her and gently rubbed her clit, their lips moved rapidly against each other.

Y/n needed more, letting her hands lower to the obvious bulge that was straining against his slacks, palming him incessantly. Moaning hoarsely, he pulled away and quickly undid his pants, desperate for some sort of relief. As he stepped out of his slacks and boxers, he watched her eyes widen as they took in the sight in front of her.

“Woah.” He nervously chuckled at her response.

“Uh t-thanks?”

Giggling at his uncertainty she reached out and dragged him in once again, feeling his swollen tip bump against her, both of them moaning at the euphoric feeling. Realizing how fast things had moved, he pulled back slightly to search her eyes. “Are you sure baby?”

Falling even more in love with him, her smile widened as she nodded. “I am so very sure Spence. I-I love you.” She watched the grin that spread across his face at her confession.

“God Y/n, I love you so fucking much.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he lined himself up at her entrance and swiftly thrusted into her dripping heat. The overwhelming feeling caused both of them to let out matching groans of pleasure, Y/n latching onto Spencer and wrapping her arms around his shoulders to get a grip. Once he was sure she was ok, he started slowly thrusting in and out of her, soon setting a steady pace.

“Oh Spencer! You feel so perfect inside of me! So, so good!”, you exclaimed, cries of pleasure leaving your mouth.

“Baby you’re so warm and tight around me, I love you so much!” 

“I love you t-too!”

He gradually increased his already brutal thrusts, Y/n feeling herself fastly approaching the brink of ecstasy at the hands of the resident genius. Leaning back on her elbows, Spencer used the opportunity to pound even harder into her wanting body, his own release just around the corner. 

“Are you going to cum for me pretty girl?” She couldn’t control herself after hearing his dirty words, unaware that he was capable of such a thing, feeling her eyes roll back once again. She nodded fervently, about to crash over the edge. All rational thought was out the window once his fingers found her throbbing clit, rubbing incessantly, catapulting her into her climax, her pussy clenching around his rigid cock as she came.

“Oh my god Spencer!”

Her reactions were simply too much for him, groaning and moaning uncontrollably, finding his thrusts sputtering out of control as his cock twitched deep inside of her, quickly reaching his highly anticipated orgasm. She felt his seed fill her up completely as he panted out her name over and over again, both of them coming down from their highs, breathing deeply.

“Wow. Fucking wow,” she blissfully sung, a wide grin coating her lips.

“Y/n, baby, that was insane. You’re insane.”

He helped her off the desk so they could redress and finally leave the office, noticing how late it had gotten. They couldn’t help themselves from sending each other giddy smiles as they put on their clothes and eventually made their way down to their respective cars. 

Neither one of them seemed ready to leave each other just yet, some unspoken feeling crackling in the air between them. Taking the initiative, Y/n leaned forward, gently connecting their lips in a kiss that held the same passion from earlier, but was much more relaxed and romantic. Pulling back after a few moments, Y/n’s eyes sparkled up at Spencer’s as she spoke.

“Spence, what you did earlier...no one’s ever done something like that for me. You have no idea how much it means to me that you would go out of your way just to make me feel comfortable and happy.”

“Y/n, I promise you I wanted to wholeheartedly. Nothing matters more to me than your happiness. I just-I just love you so damn much. I think I have since you walked in and dropped all your shit on the floor”, he said chuckling. 

“Heyyyy, that was one time jerk”, she defended, a matching chuckle evident in her voice. “But I know what you mean. I think I’ve loved you since you introduced yourself as Reid Doctor Spencer, that memory will forever be embedded in my mind.” She couldn’t stop the light giggle that fell from her lips at the thought of their first meeting.

Meeting her eyes, suddenly a bit shy, he gently cupped her face, “What if, from now on, I introduced myself as your boyfriend?”, he asked cautiously, anxiously waiting to see how she reacted to his proposition. Instead of answering right away she jumped forward, throwing her arms around his neck and connecting their lips once more.

“I would love nothing more, my gorgeously intelligent boyfriend.”

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[random-imagines-blog]

Hysteria {Henry Wu x Reader}

Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 2793 Summary: You’re an up and coming scientist hand chosen by Henry Wu to be a part of his team at Jurassic World. But you feel for him in ways more than a boss and a team member should. Warnings: Contains spoilers of Jurassic World; and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

You had the feeling that something bad was going to happen the whole time that you were working on the top secret project with Dr. Henry Wu. But you wanted to trust it because you trusted him whole-heartedly. The Indominus Rex was really a huge innovation in genetics, and you were honored to be a part of it. Being one of the younger scientists working inside of Jurassic World meant that you were often skipped over, considered to be too youthful to have the experience needed. But Dr. Henry Wu took a chance on you, and you had proved yourself, becoming one of the head scientists on the project. And you were very grateful to him for doing that. Maybe grateful wasn’t the right word. You weren’t an English major, but perhaps the word you were looking for was smitten. That seemed to fit the ticket.

Who wouldn’t be attracted to an older, very intelligent and handsome mentor? You admired his brain as well as that crooked smile that he rarely had in the lab but seemed to give to you a couple of times a month. With his serious demeanor, you couldn’t ask for much more than that. The only thing that you didn’t fully admire was his constant need to put the work in front of lives. Not only those of the other scientists, working you day and night on little sleep to get a project done and not alerting others to what sort of DNA he was extracting. But those of the patrons of the park. He wasn’t in it for the people, the fame, the money. He was in it for the creativity. The mad genius, some of your colleagues would call him behind his back.

But as long as things continued on smoothly, things should be fine. As long as the Indominus Rex remained in it’s area, things would be okay. As long as nothing in the slightest went wrong... things should be okay.

But chaos started to happen. Voices came over the loud speaker that the project you had been working on with Henry, the very dangerous dinosaur that you had created - it was loose.

Henry didn’t want to go. After he had been told that there was a helicopter ready to take you and him off to safety, he stayed standing around, watching the chaos. “Dr. Henry, we really should go,” You said, putting your bag with your few personal belongings and some scientific equipment over your shoulder. It seemed unlikely that you would ever be returning here. All of your work - and it was just going to get killed. You couldn’t bear to watch, though you understood how much of a danger the Indominus Rex could be if out of its confines. Safety first, science second.

“All of this ... exists because of me,” He said, looking at the monitors which would probably be shut down very soon. “And now, it will be gone.”

“But think of what else that you could create out there,” You said, watching as the last of the other scientists left. You would be missing the flight if you stayed much longer. And this was not a place you wanted to be if your creation was still wandering around. “But you’re not going to have a chance to if you don’t get your butt on that chopper!”

He sighed, but he did eventually give you a smile. “Go and save me a seat,” He asked and you nodded, taking his permission to leave. But as you walked through the white halls, then ascended the staircases, you wondered if he was going to pull some sort of stunt. Try to stay behind and save all of his work. The chopper was almost filled, and you jogged towards it, a man extending his hand to help you aboard. You took it and took your seat, noticing that there was only one left. You put your bag on your lap, secured your seatbelt and waited, just hoping, just hoping...

Eventually the door to the roof opened, and Wu came jogging, only a single bag with him. He seemed a little out of breath as he approached the chopper, and this time you were the one that got up and offered your hand, pulling him aboard. He collapsed next to you, wiping a bit of sweat off of his forehead. “Thanks,” He said, and you nodded in response.

-

You continued to work with Dr Wu on many different projects, but most of them concerned dinosaurs. You had different agendas, him wanting to see how far that he could take science, and you having an actual love of the dinosaurs. You grew very invested in each and every one, so the events that happened at Jurassic World had broken your heart. But at least you still had your specimens, your DNA, all of it, in the lab. You practically lived there now, as did Henry. Living off of take out and taking turns sleeping on a small couch took a bit of a toll but you wouldn’t change where you were for the world.

“Did you finish the chinese food?” Henry asked. You looked over to see that he was deep in the only fridge that was for personal use, his rear sticking out beyond the door. You gave a grin at that, took out your cellphone and snapped a picture because the image was just a little too adorable for the otherwise-grumpy scientist. “Y/N?”

“Yeah, I did, sorry,” You said, putting your camera into the pocket of your ever-present white coat before he caught a glimpse of it. “Maybe we should go out for dinner tonight. How long has it been since you’ve set foot outside?”

The fact that Henry was silent, and actually had to think about it, made up your mind. “There’s an Italian place just down the street, we could walk? I know I need the exercise.”

“I guess I could use a break,” Henry said, and his stomach gurgled in response making you laugh. “I’ll be ready in .. twenty minutes?”

“Sounds good to me,” You said with a nod, and went to your own personal little cubby where you kept your belongings. Your heart was beating fast as you looked through your clothes to find something a little more special than what you usually threw on to be around the lab. Pushing past all of the white clothing, you spotted a bit of color. The blue dress that you wore to the opening of Jurassic Park years ago, still in it’s dry-cleaning bag. You unzipped it and took a look at the fabric, feeling it between your fingers, wondering if it still fit. Would it even be appropriate for something like this? Would Henry even notice that you were wearing something that wasn’t your usual lab attire?

So many questions went through your mind, and cut through a big chunk of time. Henry would be ready soon. So, as they say in science - fuck it. You pulled your coat off, and put on the dress, only to find that it fit absolutely perfectly, just like it had all of those years ago. You weren’t even sure why you had kept it for so long. You never had reason to dress up anymore - but then along came Henry, and though he wasn’t concerned much about what humans looked like, you wanted to have something just in case there was a chance. This was that chance.

You didn’t have the right footwear to go with it though, so you went with your walking shoes. They were better than your bulky lab boots anyway. A quick brush of the hair, a touch of chapstick, and you met up with him in the hallway. And to your surprise, he had dressed up somewhat as well. And if you didn’t know any better, you might think that he was blushing, just a little. “Are you ready?” He asked, in his usual upfront and business like manner, making you snap out of any hopes that you had. You gave a nod, and together, went out to the restaurant, staying close for warmth against the wind that had picked up in the last few minutes.

The dinner had gone well, and for the first time, he seemed to open up about things other than work. You’ve never heard about his childhood before, but he was giving you little glimpses into it. He had always had an affinity for science, and had originally thought about becoming an actual MD. But a trip to a museum and seeing the pictures of dinosaurs had opened up something in his brain, had started him on that course. You opened up a little about yourself as well, but you had never been as guarded about your life before work as he had been. Your own love of dinosaurs had come when you had heard about Jurassic Park. And you had made it your mission since then to work under the highly esteemed Dr. Henry Wu, and you completed that mission.

“It’s been an honor working with you,” He said, lifting his glass of wine to you.

“The honor is all mine,” You said, lifting your glass.

--

Things didn’t change with your new job. You followed Henry, as you would have to the ends of the Earth since you were completely crazy about him against your better judgment, to work for a private company. Creating dinosaurs for auction. God, it felt so wrong. You thought that every time that you ran tests, or experimented with the DNA. You were creating things that could destroy the world as you know it. Not just an island. Not just a park. But the entire world since you were on the mainland.

And things went wrong. The prototype was apparently sold, but then the dinosaurs began to escape because of a couple of former co-workers, and people around you were dying. Again.

“I think we need to stop, Henry,” You said from the driver’s side of the car that you stole, speeding away from the mansion, probably breaking about fifty laws while peeling out of there. And your heart broke at all of the lives that had been lost because of you and Henry. Because of what you had created. “All that we’re doing is killing people. We’re creating life, and then it’s getting destroyed so it’s barely even life at all.”

Henry remained silent for a couple of minutes, his head against the window, looking out in front of you. You knew you were lucky to have even gotten him out of there. All he wanted to do was run to the basement, where the dinosaurs were, and get the samples. But when you heard the bidding for the prototype, your brain had just completely given up on all of the work. You just couldn’t put yourself, or other people, in that position anymore.

“Pull over,” Henry requested, pulling you out of your thoughts. You still figured you were too close to the mansion to be anywhere near safe, but you moved the car to the shoulder of the road  nonetheless. You kept the key in the ignition but you turned the engine off to save gas. Or electricity, you didn’t even know - you didn’t check what kind of car it was.

“What is it?” You asked, looking over at him. His face was awash with orange light from the streetlight above him. He looked stressed, he looked a bit angry even.

“Without my work, I am nothing. That is something that you could never understand-”

“No, you’re right,” You interrupted. “That is something that I just - can’t understand. And I don’t even want to try. You put work above everything else, including the lives of other people. Including your own life. Like, Henry, do you not understand how lucky we are that we just got out of there? So many people didn’t make it.”

“I realize that-” Henry said, then it was like the enormity of the situation hit him. “They’ll be loose.”

“And it’s going to be a whole different world because of that,” You said with a frown. “And as the creator of these things... we’re probably going to be hunted down and put before the grumpiest jury to ever exist.”

“Fuck,” He said, rubbing his lips, running his hands through his hair. He was jittery, and it wasn’t from coffee. It was from the realization of what he, and you, had done.

“So we really need to get out of here and find somewhere to bunker down for a while,” You sighed. You wished you knew of a place where you could go, but nowhere would be welcoming to you right now. Your only intention was to drive and drive and drive and hope that the police were too busy with dinosaurs to realize that you were in a stolen car. As far away from here as possible.

“Shouldn’t we separate?” Henry asked. “It’s me they’re going to be coming for. You can still get out of this...”

“I’m just as responsible as you are - and I don’t have anyone else, Henry. And - I don’t want to be with anyone else. I’ve gotten quite adjusted to your company,” You admitted.

He looked at you for a long while. You could feel the weight and the intensity of that gaze, and it made you feel uncomfortable. Your fingers tapped against the steering wheel, waiting for him to say something.

“Let’s drive,” He said, and you nodded. It wasn’t what you had wanted to hear, but it was better than nothing. You started the car back up and continued along the road, watching as the sun started to come up on the horizon. People would be waking up and turning on the news soon. And their lives would be changed forever.

“I don’t know where we’re going,” You said, as you came to a stop at a red light. You looked over at Henry again only to find that he was still looking at you. He looked like he wanted to say something, which was an odd expression because he rarely ever took the time to stop and think about what was going to come out of his mouth. “What are you thinking?”

“That it doesn’t matter where we go,” He said, slowly. “I want you there.”

Your heart started to beat again, quickly, though it had just started to slow down to a normal pace. I want you there - those words would be echoing through your mind forever. “I love you.”

You hadn’t even meant to say it but it slipped out. Everything was coming out tonight. Dinosaurs, the disgusting and greedy nature of men to own everything - and the truth.

“You’re young,” Henry said after a moment’s silence. “I am nearly twice your age.”

“Exactly. I’m young, and you still took a chance on taking me on as a part of your team. That means that you saw something in me that a lot of people just refused to look at. But it’s okay if you don’t love me back, Henry, I can live with that. But I guess I couldn’t live without not telling you.”

Henry was not an emotional person. In fact, he was either very concentrated on his work, or he was frustrated from not being consumed by his work. It was one or the other, so you weren’t expecting much to come from him. He had even tried to give you a logical reason not to care about him. But love wasn’t the most logical thing in the world. He knew that from experience. You were in diapers while he was getting his PhD. He had no reason to be feeling things things for you. But yet...

“I love you too.” He said. And he reached out and put his hand on top of yours on the center console, his rough hands - cut up from broken beakers over the years - felt warm against yours. You took a glance over at him, feeling touched that he made even that little move.

The light turned green. You kept looking at Henry, up until there was an angry honk from a car behind you. You laughed and pressed down on the gas pedal, running away from your problems, and going towards the brand new world.