#Completely chemically synthetic

[bonefall]

Hey everyone, before I move ahead with some more fun conlang and rewrite stuff, I am making an herb guide just like the HRT one for epilepsy!

I’m relying on a lot of veterinary guides for how it’s treated in cats, but since the warriors aren’t really “just cats” and epilepsy is one of those things that’s super poorly understood, I’m going to include a section on “What your medicine cats would NOT do” to get relevant education out there. Wrapped up in the funny warrior cat medicine guide like a doggy pill hidden in a slice of cheese lmao

So, beings I am not epileptic, what other “DONT do this“ type physical treatments should I mention besides;

Do not attempt to ‘restrict‘ or hold down a warrior having a seizure

Don’t put things in their mouth

Don’t overwhelm them as soon as the seizure is over

Basically, what other things should I include here that don’t include herbs? What have I missed that should absolutely NOT be done?

[dailydegurechaff]

I wanted to know how do you interpret Tanya's gender. After reading chapter 58 of the manga i got the impression that she is definitely trans coded, but maybe thats just me

Very good question.

To be honest, when I think too hard about Tanya’s gender (and sexuality, for that matter) it gives me brain worms. Fun brain worms, but brain worms nonetheless. I can’t explain it. Everything she’s got going on is complicated as shit there’s way too much to think about.

Like, she was a man, but now she's a girl. But at some points she says she still sees herself as a man internally so is this MtFtM? How does that work. And if she accepts she's a woman now, is that just MtF or do we add more letters. More importantly: Was Being X being Transphobic or being the Greatest Trans Ally of All Time with the free divinely issued sex change.

Ok ok, jokes aside. Confession: I actually do not keep up with the manga, so I had to go find the chapter and read it first. Having read it now though, I see what you mean.

The conversation she has with the Salaryman/herself in that chapter really does read as essentially saying “I’ve accepted who I am now.” It’s a far cry from a much earlier part of the manga I remember where she has a breakdown about being a man/people seeing her as a girl.

A friend of mine was actually showing me stuff from more recent chapters of the manga (don’t know which chapter tragically, but I know it’s not currently translated to English) and from what I gathered of it, Being X was showing Tanya a dream of being back in her past life and in response she basically demanded to go back to being Tanya immediately. It is definitely not just you, I 100% see the trans-coding you’re talking about.

As for my personal interpretation of her gender, I touched very briefly on it once before, but I honestly think she wouldn’t want to label herself as anything. At first, this is out of hesitance and not wanting to acknowledge that anything might be ““wrong”” or ““different”” about her. Later on it turns into character growth, more along the lines of, “I don’t need the label to define me, I just am what I am/like what I like. I don’t care about it any more than that.” Yes this is 100% projection on my part. No, I won’t apologize for it lmao.

Of course, that's entirely my own headcanon. I definitely am not saying it’s the only way to interpret her, it’s just my personal thoughts. Especially since my opinion is subject to change on a dime depending on what I’m reading/working on myself. The Tanya gender is, in fact, transient, shifting like water.

Like. A transfem Tanya fic that focuses on her adapting to life in her new world and coming to discover she doesn’t actually hate her new body? I’d totally read that. I’ve seen a few fics that include that as a part of the narrative and those scenes of acceptance were among my favorite parts.

I get the feeling this is the route that the manga is going as well. It’s a bit of a shame that we don't have those aforementioned scenes in the light novel (or at least, I don't remember them), but I don’t think that Carlo Zen really intended that to be the focus/narrative in the first place. And honestly, I also think that’s a good thing because it allows for so much more room for interpretation and headcanon around Tanya’s character.

Anyway, the other direction is also compelling to me. A transmasc Tanya fic where, after feeling uncomfortable and hating how feminine he looks for years and years, he finally goes ‘Fuck this, I’m gonna go back to being a man’? I would read the fuck out of that too.

Could also be paired with him finally choosing to defect, where they think about it like, ‘Well there’s nothing to hold me back now, right? I don’t have to maintain appearances anymore. Also, since I’m defecting this would be a great way to hide myself. They’d all be looking for the wrong person. Two birds with one stone, how efficient.’ …Now we’re getting to fic ideas I won’t ever get to so it’s time to move on I think.

Semi-related to the Trans Tanya Concept, this actually brings me to a bit of a lore/headcanon/idea/question I want to present to the public for opinions. In Norden, during the inciting battle of the war, Tanya uses magic to “dope up” so she could enhance her strength and reaction time and kill pain. I took this to mean she used a formula to synthesize the narcotics/adrenaline hormone/whatever else directly into herself, right?

Can you see where I’m going with this? As long as you know which hormones to make, how they’re made up, and what quantities you need… Well, don’t you think magic HRT is completely possible? Of course, as I'm not sure it makes sense for Salaryman to have known the detailed specifics about it from the modern world, it would require a lot of in-universe research/science advancement for someone to actually do that, but theoretically...

The magic system in this universe has so much potential to be explored, I’m fascinated by what you can theoretically do with it. Although, this is long and off-topic already I think this should be the end, lol.

I think I talked too much? I’m sorry, you were probably not expecting such an answer. I told you, Tanya gives me brain worms (mental illness).

I guess the TL;DR is this: that kid definitely ain’t cishet.

[probablyasocialecologist]

Living machines are essentially intensive, indoor artificial wetlands. Technical names for living machines include "advanced ecologically engineered systems" and "fixed-film ecology wastewater treatment systems." What they entail is mimicking natural processes of biological decomposition in a constructed aquatic environment. Simply put: dirty water goes in, passes through a series of self-contained aquatic ecosystems, and clean water comes out. The water is, in fact, so clean that it can be safely discharged into sensitive aquatic environments, like natural wetlands. And it does all of this without any of the usual chemical treatments or high-energy inputs of conventional wastewater treatment. Living machines produce such safe effluent because they achieve what is known as "tertiary treatment," meaning they successfully abate pollutants. How does a biological system do this? Simple: it uses them as inputs. Let me explain. The most common such pollutants are nitrogen and phosphorous. These happen to be the two nutrients whose out-of-whack flows have pushed us past a key planetary boundary. The biggest reason for this is industrial agriculture: it relies on synthetic nitrogen and mined phosphorous to exceed the carrying capacity of the ecosystems in which it operates. One of the big problems with industrial agriculture is that a great deal of the nitrogen and phosphorous applied isn't actually utilized by the food being produced: most of it runs off into waterways. This leads to far-reaching, ecologically catastrophic events ("eutrophication"). By constructing a complete food chain within the living machine, each step creates the food for the next step. Excess nutrients, like nitrogen and phosphorous, feed microorganisms which are then consumed by larger creatures and so on up the food chain, until we are left with harmless components and a great deal of life. The living machine converts pollution into biodiversity and clean water, instead of run-off and eutrophication. It's a prime example of true "regeneration."

[ilisteria]

I am sorry for what I'm inflicting upon the world

Behold, the Crayon Eaters Primarch, a totally (not) serious lost Primarch OC

Legion Motto proposals:

"Every Colour Imaginable, Every Planet Imaginable, Everything Imaginable - All Under His Light" or "THOU SHALT TASTE THE RAINBOW"

He came from a civilised world known for synthetic dyes and lacquer, but past that literally nothing was notable about his childhood. He grew up in a nice lower middle class family and just really liked crayons and once was stranded in a forest while on a camping trip so he ate his pack of crayons to survive. Turns out they taste good(to him). He found out about the name Crayola from a box of decrepit crayons he discovered in a time capsule, and he thinks crayola was the old word for colours in some lost language.

The paint splatter on the white chestpiece, knee joint, left palduron, and cloth strips were from a legion tradition of visiting orphaned children after a campaign and letting them paint on plain white armour. The armour pieces would then get clear lacquer poured over them for use to mix and match with ceremonial garb.

Tipirius was executed and his world exterminatus'd after the world's government declared Dandelion Yellow - which was was Big E's second favourite flavour of crayon - discontinued because of a shortage of the chemicals needed to produce it.

-

I don't know what else to write, he's literally a shitpost character and completely normal and well adjusted like 30k Guilliman.

I'd imagine he would be considered a defective Primarch, maybe the contemplative II legion Primarch who was far too human to agree to commit mindless slaughter in the name of the Emperor's distant dream.

[sheepwavehdg]

(art and exerpt originally from The Captain's Toy)

Rienne sighed. “800 years and you’re still a fucking brat.”

I stuck my tongue out at her. “764 years of marriage, and you're still fucking a brat.”

Marriage was the Terran way of describing our relationship. It wasn’t wrong, but it wasn’t the whole picture either. To the bureaucrats of the Affini Compact, I was her floret, but that stopped meaning much as centuries rolled into each other. It was hot that she literally owned me, though. I grinned at Rienne like the little troublemaker that I was, goading her to remind me just how unequal our relationship could be when she wanted it to be.

“True, but you are by far the worst. Your second iteration would be mortified to know her successor engaged in this behavior.”

“Aw, has my wife gone soft? It’s okay, old lady, I can probably find an affini who can keep up with me.”

My sass earned me the exact tightening of my wife’s grip I expected. Her vines squeezed hard enough to restrict my movement completely, and her left hand cupped the back of my head, pulling me in against her. Her eyes glinted possessively.

A particular vine teased against the seam between synthetic skin on the back of my head, just a little above where my neck had once borne an implantation scar. If she slid down that opening, into the space that contained the folded chemical circuitry of my cognition, she could directly interface with my thoughts, and simply make me obey.

It would wear off, of course. When she wanted it to. The vine swirled in a teasing loop around the edge, and I could feel a viscous lubricating sap swell just under the surface. It was, technically speaking, an interface port, but it got wet just like any other hole on my body she might want to stick her grafted girl dick in. She didn't design her wife not to be her perfect toy , after all.

My lip trembled as I met her gaze, staring directly into the orbs she could so easily entrance me with. Daring her to play with what belonged to her. Prey baring its neck to a predator.

She let out a frustrated purr. “You fucking sexy little thing. You tempt me, and on any other day I would be reminding every atom in your body who owns you, but today’s plans are more important.”

[alt-wannabe]

MCSR As Chemical Compounds

idk either man. expect very little actual explanation and a lot of chemical yapping from a very big nerd

Silverr as Silver Nitrate:

AgNO3

the above is the crystal structure

appearance is just a white crystal kinda like sugar

it took everything in me to not just make silverr plain Ag

silver nitrate is the most common precursor for all other important silver salts

also an extremely important compound in the development of photography! (and iirc silverr is a film major)

Feinberg as Ozone:

O3

produced during lightning strikes

pale blue at high ppm

only leaves gas state at cryogenic temperatures

naturally occurring in the stratosphere and absorbs UV rays from the sun

Fruit as Nickel(II) Chloride Hexahydrate:

NiCl2•6H2O

green

the non-hydrate form is a sort of olive-y yellow color

used to absorb ammonia in gas masks

Raddles as Potassium Permanganate:

KMnO4

Sometimes referred to as Purple Potion Powder

goes CRAZY purple when dissolved and is lowkey my favorite chemical

very strong oxidizing agent

one time i stained my hand purple through my glove with this shit idk how it happened

if made in specific solvents can look extremely similar to dragon's breath in minecraft imo

K4 as Octathio[8]circulene:

C16S8

also referred to as Sulflower (like sulfur and sunflower haha get it)

planar which is fairly uncommon for molecules of this size

can be stacked together to make sheets of sulflowers

Cube as Cubane:

C8H8

yeah this is self-explanatory

what is interesting though is that ring strain in 4 membered rings/squares is really high, so cubane existing is a bit of a chemical anomaly

i havent read into it enough to know for sure but i suspect that ring strain is why cubane is a precursor to a HELLA STRONG explosive compound

Reignex as PPTA:

Poly-p-paraphenylene terephthalamide

[-CO-C6H4-CO-NH-C6H4-NH-]n

the name is complicated as shit but this is just kevlar!

aka bulletproof vest material

looks fluffy when not woven completely together

aligning of polymer chains w hydrogen bonds creates EXTREMELY high tensile strength

Mime as Phenylmagnesium Bromide:

C6H5MgBr

a common grignard reagent aka a compound that can be used in a grignard reaction, an extremely important reaction in organic synthesis as it creates new C-C bonds

another fun fact about grignard reagents is that if water is added to them- or even if they're handled in particularly moist air- they fucking explode

extremely strong nucleophile and base

Poundcake as Xenon Hexafluoride:

XeF6

Noble gases don't react unless you REALLY make them

so a compound containing xenon is really interesting

colorless as a solid but sublimes (aka skips straight from solid to gas) into a bright yellow gas

fun fact a lot of instances where typical chemistry rules are broken (noble gases not reacting, octet rule in general, etc) involve fluorine to the point ive heard it referred to as a "batshit electron thief"

Fulham as Iron Hexacyanidoferrate:

C18Fe7N18

also known as prussian blue

extremely common pigment in paints and the first modern synthetic pigment

used extensively in The Great Wave

another one of my favorite molecules bc im biased and like inorganic chem aka things that contain metals

used as an antidote for heavy metal poisoning which is interesting bc it contains cyanide ligands!

Couriway as Bullvalene:

C10H10

in a state of constant resonance

aka the double bonds are CONSTANTLY shifting and reforming bullvalene into... itself but moved around a little

the bonds fluctuate so rapidly that in nmr analysis each carbon and hydrogen in the entire molecule is read as equivalent (for my non-chem people that's very uncommon and very cool)

formed through photolysis (aka using light/photons to fuel a reaction)

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

TG: sometimes when im bored i go through the list of recent bad faith wikipedia edits that have since been reverted

TG: a lot of them are politically contentious or. like. offensive topics that attract dipshits and trolls in general but SOMETIMES. there are completely innocent inoffensive articles that people attack for no reason

TG: somebody yesterday vandalized the article on the chemical element francium

GG: francium IS a stupid element!!! it has a half life of 22 minutes and barely exists at all, only naturally occurring as a product of the EXTREMELY rare alpha decay series ²³⁵U ➝ ²³¹Th ➝ ²³¹Pa (𝜷 decay) ➝ ²²⁷Ac ➝ ²²³Fr (which is only a 1.38% chance)!!! theres less than a GRAM of it on earth at any given moment. it has NO uses to ANYBODY and it isnt even the most reactive group 1a element due to its relativistic effects fucking up its electron binding energies. stupid substance!!!!

GG: if you somehow asked a genie to get you a gram of francium in a sealed vial so you could do an experiment with it, the genie would just give it to you because the enormous amount of radioactivity it produces would INSTANTLY vaporize the sample and cook you alive!!!! UGGHH absolute dogshit isotope. and its synthetic siblings are just the same but WORSE!!!

TG: found the culprit

[balkanradfem]

I keep thinking everyone knows the exact same information as me, but since I'm about to make more posts about textiles and clothing, as I'm reading the book on them, I'm going to write down some basic information, just in case it's not very common, because a lot of this I only gathered recently. If I get something wrong please correct me in a kind way!

So where does the clothing come from, and how do we make it? During most of the history, textiles were made by women, from natural materials; flax, wool, cotton, silk, jute. Recently we started using more synthetic materials, like acrylic, polyester, nylon, spandex. If you want to make clothing from the natural materials, like wool or cotton, they first need to be processed, cleaned and combed, then spun into yarn, or thread. Spinning is the process where women manage to pull a thin part of the material and spin the fibres into one consistent, firm thread. It's super impressive to watch them do it and I have no idea how they manage to make it consistent, I've not yet tried to do it myself.

Once the thread is done, it can be made into a textile by knitting, crochet, or weaving. There are also other more complex, decorative methods, like tatting or lacing.

For knitting, you need two needles, or a special circular needle, or, there are also knitting machines, which you can use to make woolen fabric. For weaving, you need a loom. For crochet, you need a crochet hook. While knitting and weaving can be done by a machine, crochet can only be done by hand. Woven fabrics are firm, sturdy, durable, and not stretchy, while knit fabric is the most stretchy and soft. I'm not sure about crochet since I only have one crochet garment, but mine is very sturdy!

All of these methods were historically done by women; families were able to grow flax plants close to their homes, and women would then create linens, woven textiles made from processed flax, which was used to make sheets and clothing. Linen was specifically useful in keeping people clean, since it's very good at absorbing moisture. Used as an under-garment, it was capable of absorbing sweat, and protecting the outer layers, which were not washed. Experiments have shown that frequently changing into clean linen was more effective at keeping clean than showering and then putting on the same clothing back on.

Women's ability to create clothing was sadly exploited, and women were even banned to sell it commercially, or from competing at the commercial market, but their husbands were allowed to profit off of their craft.

In the USA, cotton was the most produced material, however for this too people were enslaved and exploited; cotton took human labour to grow, harvest and process, it also required a lot of water, and caused destruction of environment, because of the chemicals used in it's growth, and the unsustainability of monocrops.

Creating a piece of clothing out of textiles, or sewing, is a process that still cannot be completely automated; while you can use a sewing machine, you cannot make a machine that would produce a whole garment out of textiles. No mass-produced piece of clothing was sewn by a machine, it always has to be made by a human being. This is why a lot of the sewing labour is currently outsourced to third-world countries and companies use modern slavery in order to create fast fashion; there is no machine that can do it, so by the rules of capitalism, the companies are trying to get that labour as cheap as possible, often at the cost of human lives.

We didn't use to have as many garments as we do today, in the 18th century people would have two outfits, one for normal days of the week, and one for Sunday. The clothing they owned was usually made to fit them exactly, either by a female member of the family, or a seamstress, and these garments were made to last them for decades. As clothing became cheaper to buy than to make at home, and more of it became mass-produced, people started acquiring more of it, but also using it for lesser period of time. This would eventually grow into a bigger problem, due to the amount of chemicals and labour used to grow, process, dye and sew the garments, and the amount of waste we were starting to accumulate.

Introduction of synthetic materials, like acrylic, made the yarn and the textiles much cheaper, however it lacks the important properties natural materials have. Do you ever notice how synthetic garments sometimes continue smelling bad even after you wash them? That is because they'll absorb sweat, but become hydrophobic when wet, meaning they will take in your sweat, but refuse to let it go once they're in the water. This means that the longer you have them, the worst their stink becomes. This, of course, can be hidden by the generous use of scented fabric softener, but it won't exactly make the garment clean. This information I've learned recently, but it helped me identify what were the most synthetic pieces of clothing I had. Acrylic clothing had also proven to shed 1.5 more microplastics than any other polyester when put into the washing machine.

Having our clothing grown, processed, spun, woven/knit, and then sewn far out of sight, it's possible to lose the sight of where it came from, or how it's made. Only by trying to do it yourself, or learning closely about the process can one learn to appreciate what a monumental task it is, to create fabric, or a garment. Other than the synthetic textiles, of which I still know very little of, all of the natural clothing is a product of plants and animals, it takes land, farming, agriculture and water to grow the plants, raise the animals, and then labour to process and spin the fibres. It's also something people used to do in their gardens, inside of their homes, something that was normal for women to do, and to trade for anything else they needed, saving them from having to work for wages. Women making fabric was always to the benefit of everyone around them, while m*n taking over the industry and doing it commercially, ultimately brought slave labour to a lot of people, cheap and low quality garments to the select few, and money to the hands of the exploiters.

Being curious about clothing and what becomes of it, is a big benefit to the environment and the future of the earth! Knowing what the textile industry is doing, and how does it affect the planet, can be a great motivator to try and sew, or upcycle and mend clothing, or create garments. It's presented to us as something women were forced to do in the past, and it's connected to 'feminine hobbies', but in actuality, it is power to create something humans cannot do without. Women in the past used it's power too, whenever they could. And we are the only ones who ever used this power for good.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

Living plastics: A new solution for plastic degradation through synthetic biology

A study published in Nature Chemical Biology leverages the natural resilience of spores, which can endure extreme environmental conditions, by programming them to secrete plastic-degrading enzymes under specific circumstances. These spores are embedded into plastic matrices through standard plastic processing methods, such as high temperature, high pressure, or the use of organic solvents. In normal conditions, the spores remain dormant, ensuring the plastic's stable performance. However, when exposed to specific triggers like surface erosion or composting, the spores activate and initiate the degradation process, leading to the plastic's complete breakdown. The invention of plastics has improved our daily lives, but the massive production and improper disposal of plastic waste have made plastic pollution a major environmental issue. In 2016, Yoshida and team discovered a bacterium, Ideonella sakaiensis, in poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET)-contaminated soil near a recycling facility in Japan. This bacterium can grow using PET as its main carbon source by producing two key enzymes: PETase and MHETase.

Read more.

[shiny-gem-ocs]

Gem worldbuilding notes

Wanna make a Houseki no Kuni oc? Lucky you. I've been compiling notes on the manga's worldbuilding and this might help you if you wanna stay canon-compliant, disregard canon entirely, or even make your own lore!

Creating an OC is all about creativity, so I tried to include my ideas on how to meet canon in the middle too.

Notes are under the cut!

On the world:

After the Earth was destroyed by six comets, it was flooded, and the island where the story takes place is the only place where Gems - one of the three remaining sentient lifeforms on Earth - are born, on a place called Shore of Nascency.

There's very little animals, all which are invertebrate, such as bugs, jellyfish, and snails, the kind the Admirabilis mimic.

Lunarians always come out in the sun, so much that their ships were named Sunspots. Later it's revealed they can come out at night as well.

While on Earth, Lunarians cannot speak.

During all the time the Gems have been alive, maybe there were minor lifeform explosions or extinction events, if you want different animals or plants in your world. Maybe even the gems themselves cultivated or bred them.

Who knows if there are other islands, and what kind of post-apocalypse life is flourishing in them. Admirabilis live on the ocean, they might've been around other islands as well, and could tell stories. Gems might've travelled to other islands. You could ignore canon completely and say new Gems are being born on another island, completely cut off from the society Adamant raised, or that new sentient lifeforms are being born somewhere else in the world. Thought that would be the kinda canon-break that disregards the whole story.

On the Gems' formation:

Gems are born from a combination of microorganisms originating from the sea, that make their way through the cliffside on the Shore of Nascency in the island, in unspecified - but geological - ammounts of time. What makes them alive are those microorganisms, called inclusions. The cliffside is often producing bits and pieces of rocks, and sometimes, it produces "stillborn" gems that fully have humanoid shapes but no inclusions.

Gems don't necessarily have to all be see-through gemmy crystals like Phos, the cliffside spits out any type of naturally-formed rock, geography be damned, as seen by the existence of Lapis Lazuli and Obsidian. Rareness of the mineral doesn't seem to matter either. But given they are formed naturally, the existence of synthetic or organic gemstones are not canon. Think pearls, coral or amber, or think glass, aura quartz and goldstone. On that note, Gem society might lack the technology to make synthetic gems altogether.

I admit I don't really know how to circumvent it without fully ignoring canon, but I do have some thoughts. Maybe for organic gems, the animals or plants that produce said gems died near the cliffside on the Shore of Nascency, and were overcome with inclusions. For sythetic gems, maybe they're an experiment from the people on the Moons - though in canon they say they didn't have that technology. Maybe naturally formed gems were altered by chemical reactions. I don't know, I admit. But a creative fanbase as this one might find an answer.

On the Gems' biology:

The gems are immortal. They can't die of old age, and if they crack, they can be put back together. They're entirely homogenous, their body doesn't have organs, instead functioning as one. Their inclusions hold their memories, which means if they get a body part removed from the whole, they lose the memories in that body part.

Also, fun fact, the Gems don't have teeth! I supoose if you want your Gem to have teeth you can just ask Adamant to sculpt it on them. Maybe they get the idea from him having them.

If a Gem loses a body part, it can be replaced with new material. On that note, Gems can sometimes be born with imperfections such as missing body parts, as shown by Padparadscha.

Due to being able to break, gems with lower hardness must be more careful than gems with higher hardness.

They get their energy to move from the sun, so they lose their energy and sleep when it's dark. And come winter, when there's less sun, they prefer to hybernate.

Honestly, you can still give your gems different body types, it's not gonna hurt anyone. It doesn't stray from canon other than about their physical shape, so you can justify they can be formed with more body mass and still be the bones of humanity.

They all have the same height and same body type - those spindly things, all leg and arms and skinny torso with no boobs. This is explained in canon due to the fact they descend from humanity, specifically their bones, and so were reborn in that skeletal shape.

Sensei smooths them out in a mold, and gives them eyes made of simple rock with part of their gem as the iris, so they can see better.

Gems have feelings and emotions, which can manifest in their bodies if they are too stressed, as cracking and breaking.

Padparadscha shows us that some gems have weaker inclusions that don't take to new materials, therefore you can still make a canon-compliant disabled Gem. In fact, my own OC is one. On that note, Gems do have a concept of mental illness, as they can become mentally ill, so they can probably be born mentally disabled as well.

Gems sometimes have superpowers, which in canon always have to do with the properties and uses of their real life rocks.

On Gem society:

The gems are immortal, but they all have kind of a childlike personality. It's not like they are children, or teenagers, they're just somewhat innocent due to the world they live in - plus the constant state of war. But they can be mature and wise as well, especially older gems like Padparadscha or Yellow Diamond.

Usually only one gem stays in winter patrol duty as the other gems hybernate (usually). When the winter is warmer and has more sun, the gems, even though they are weaker, stay awake and patrol the island as normal.

Everything they have is in what the island produces. They use the plants found in there to make glue that restores cracked gems, to make the powder they wear on themselves to mimic skin, to make paper, clothes, furniture, everything. This means they have crops, agriculture, and animal breeding and handling.

On that note, due to the lack of resources, they have very little material to make anything. For exemple, fabric for clothes, which explains why they all wear the same uniforms, and only change into high fashion during hybernation once a year.

You could say there's eras when they have more material for clothes, if you want your Gems to have different fashion.

They wear a special powder on their bodies to mimic skin and to protect themselves from the elements. It became cultural in their society, with gems considering themselves ugly if they don't wear it. In canon they mimic specifically light skin because they want to look like Adamant.

Cairngorm is a Gem that couldn't care less about powder, so it's not wrong to want to have powderless gems - and even make it the new fashion in different eras of Gem society. On that note, if you want different "skin colors" for your Gems, just say the powder seeds come in variety of colors and shades, and let your Gems experiment with them.

Combining the lack of animals in the world and the fact all Gems are genderless and sexless, they don't really understand sex. They know how animals breed, but have no concept of sexuality. Culturally they have some sense of shame, since they wear clothes and don't like being seen without them, but that's about it.

Gems don't have the cultural act of kissing, but they have the concept of romance, in their own ways.

Okay fellas, as the resident asexual, I admit I have NO IDEA what the smut scene in this fandom is even like. I do like to ship gems, but if you want your gems to have gem sex, I leave that one to you. As for gender, who knows, maybe they can learn what it is from the Admirabilis or the Lunarians, decide they like it, and pick a gender for themselves. Maybe they can add boobs on their chest as a sort of transition. Adamant has never imposed gender on the gems, he will surely be supportive of his transgemder children. I'm not gonna get into Cairngorm or else we'll be here all day. (I don't consider either Cairngorn's gender nor sex scene to be consensual, that's all I'm gonna say on the matter.)

Lastly...

It's frowned upon to not have a designated job in Gem society. Due to the constant state of war, you must be useful. It can get ableist.

Phos was the only gem in canon to have so many parts of them replaced, to the point they became a new type of human and could pray away everyone.

Given that the first point motivated the entire story, and the second was the result of the entire story, I think ignoring canon in this instance indeed means, well, disregarding the whole story. But sometimes we just make OCs to play in the sandbox and that's okay.

[boreal-sea]

So I'm looking at a website trying to read more about sustainable fashion and deciding what fabrics I should look for when thrifting and which to avoid, when I got to the site's list of sustainable fabric types.

They sorted them into 4 categories:

Natural Sustainable Clothing Fabrics

Recycled Synthetic Sustainable Clothing Fabrics

Sustainable Semi-Synthetic Clothing Fabrics

Potentially Sustainable Natural Clothing Fabrics

At first glance, these seem like perfectly reasonable categories.

A normal person looking at "natural sustainable fabrics" is going to go "ah, things like cotton, silk, hemp, linen, and wool". You're going to think of both animal and plant fabrics, which all have different levels of sustainability. Wool, for example, is extremely sustainable, biodegradable, and useful. There are definitely other natural fabrics that are less sustainable that might fit into that 4th category, like bamboo, which involves a lot of processing, water, and chemicals.

And if those were the full category names, things would be fine. The thing is, there's an additional detail added to each of those category names that completely destroys the credibility of the website.

Now let me show you the REAL category names, and you'll instantly see the problem.

Natural Sustainable Clothing Fabrics (Vegan)

Recycled Synthetic Sustainable Clothing Fabrics (Vegan)

Sustainable Semi-Synthetic Clothing Fabrics (Mostly Vegan)

Potentially Sustainable Natural Clothing Fabrics (Non-vegan)

Guess where wool is. It's in category 4. Any site that claims wool is only "potentially sustainable" and separates it from fabrics like cotton and hemp simply because it's an animal product has zero credibility. This site literally says PLASTIC is more sustainable than wool. It's ridiculous.

And by the way, I looked up another site while writing this post trying to figure out which uses more water: wool or cotton. What I found instead was a site claiming cotton is "more ethical" and wool is "less ethical".

G-d save us from know-nothing vegans.

[pyrrhiccomedy]

I have a physics question off of the "what is energy" post.

So is hot is small fast, that means cold has to be big slow right? (Possibly wrong idk)

What is the....fastness...and hotness....of...objects? Like pillows and books. A pillow would technically be room temperature. But it's made of particles. And I know that it's temperature doesn't dictate it's state of matter, but if you heated it up, it could catch fire and make smoke. So DOES temperature determine if it's a regular old object or not? Is there a fastness for pillows?

I may be thinking of this wrong.

[Anon sent a follow-up:

I asked the fastness of a pillow question and I think I got it.

It isn't hotness and fastness that makes the pillow. The hot and fast makes the molecules that make the oil that the (plastic synthetic fibers=oil so yeah) pillow is made from. But if you apply the small fastness to the pillow you may make it into a different state. I think.]

You're asking a lot of different questions here but I think you're fundamentally falsely conflating matter and energy. Things are matter. Matter has energy.

Let me try to break this out.

What do you mean when you say that hot is "fast but small?"

Heat is just a measurement of the motion of all of the atoms and molecules in a medium. Atoms are constantly vibrating. The faster they vibrate, the more friction they give off as they bump into each other. That friction converts the movement of the atom into heat energy.

2. If that's what hot is, then what is cold?

Nothing. Cold doesn't exist. Cold is just an absence of heat. If all of the atoms in a medium completely stopped vibrating, they would reach "absolute zero" temperature.

3. Does temperature dictate an object's state of matter?

Yes, of course. Every element can exist as a gas, liquid, or solid, and the easiest way of moving them from one state to the other is by changing their temperature. If you heat up a molecule, its atoms start vibrating faster, and the bonds between them start to break apart. Think of it like a room full of kindergartners all holding hands and jumping up and down. The harder they jump, the harder it is for them to keep holding hands.

4. Why does high temperature cause some things to burn?

Oxygen, for reasons which I think are probably too complex to get into here, is not particularly stable. It wants two more electrons than it has, and it will rip other molecules apart in order to get them. Low key it's doing that all the time. And the more energy you give oxygen (say, by raising the air temperature in a room, causing its atoms to vibrate faster), the more strength it has to do the ripping.

Mostly it rips apart hydrogen and carbon, with which it can form very stable molecules of carbon dioxide and water. (Molecules like to be stable.) Things are actually considered flammable if they have hydrogen and carbon atoms to give to oxygen. All organic matter has both: including cotton, linen, feathers, all petroleum-based products, and whatever else most pillows are made of. Ever heard life on earth described as "carbon-based?" Yeah. You're full of carbon, so you're flammable.

The fire you experience is just the heat and light given off by the electrons in the oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon atoms in the system jumping and dropping to higher and lower energy states, as molecular bonds are broken and new molecular bonds are formed.

All of which is to say: I think you're confusing yourself by bringing combustion into this. That's in the 102 course.

5. What energy does a pillow have?

Plenty. It has the chemical energy binding its molecules together (which can be unleashed in a combustion reaction); it has the nuclear energy binding its atoms' nuclei together; it has the heat energy from the standard amount of atomic vibration you'd get in an ordinary room; and it has potential energy from its position in the universe (if you removed all of the obstructions in its way, the pillow would start falling towards the black hole at the center of our galaxy. That motion energy is being 'stored' as potential energy).

All of that energy originated in the Big Bang.

[mosneakers]

Amidst pouring rain and booming thunder, Brick chugs an energy drink in a single gulp. With all the synthetic ingredients of mysterious origins coursing through his veins, the only authentic chemical was the rage of a failing father that fueled him for yet another battle with Greg.

Greg isn't at his trailer today, but that's not a problem for Brick. Due to some recent revelations, he has the ability to track down anyone pretty easily and quickly pinpoints Greg at the local river beneath the bridge.

Brick has reached a pivotal realization—he must be his own alpha. While he intends to fulfill his obligation to talk to Montgomery, he's not approaching it with passivity. There's no intention of taking it lying down.

Beneath the bridge, Brick and Greg clash once more. But this time, a game-changing shift occurs. With primal intensity, Brick seizes the upper hand. Perhaps selecting the river as their stage gives Brick an advantage, drawing from his past brush with water-related death, or perhaps it's just a glitch in the system and Brick simply got lucky.

Either way, it's a close battle but it ends with Brick panting animalistically over Greg's limp body. He has finally conquered Greg.

Brick: GET... FUCKING...WREEEECKED!!!

Completing his 'Lone Wolf' aspiration, Brick belts out a victorious howl. Not only in celebration, but to let Montgomery know he's finally ready for that talk, but it's not going to go the way he thinks.

[fromgoy2joy]

My absolute favorite part about keeping kosher for Passover is scanning the list of ingredients for yeast extract or nuts if you keep kitniyot, and then being horrified by all the chemicals you're putting into your body.

"what the hell is carcinogens-are-us doing in my slushee!? What is toxic-radiation-fun-time in this cheese for??"

Then completely forgetting about that the second you figure out it doesn't have anything you're avoiding.

"I guess I can have I-am-poison-incarnate- no nuts, corn syrup, yeast extract or all that other problematic stuff. This concoction of synthetic chemical compounds might start the next pandemic, but a girl's gotta eat!"

PS- ofc get the kosher for passover certification if you can, but this is about a bunch of college students at 7/11 at 1 AM, STRUGGLING.

[yanban-san]

if it's not a bother,

could you show some more artwork of yours?

-a person who loves others art🩵

Sure! I've been doing a few sketches of some Android-mas (Yandroids, courtesy of Stardust on Ro's Discord <3) over on Discord- I'll share em here though. ^^

Here's the first one, I got bored when I got the legs lol:

Here's the second attempt- I once again got bored when I got to the legs but not too much

I saw some art of Android Ingo and Emmet with screen display faces and tbh that's my absolute favorite kind of "face" for any robot character- LED screens are really fun and cute looking, imo.

Some Headcanons about the Android boys: ◮ These two are bio-electric androids, rather than straight up machines. They're half synthetic cellular construct, half AI-powered battle machine- And beloved by the public as unofficial heroes and mascots of Android tech. ◮ They are completely autonomous, and can function for years without maintenance- They are self repairing, self fueling, and they were also some of the first androids ever released before someone realized it was a bad idea to give your lethal autonomous AI bots the ability to self-sustain. ◮ They have two "cores" that power their bodies- A biological core, much like a "heart", that supplies their biological functions with fuel, and a power core that provides them with all the power they need for their mechanical functions- They can also use their power core to power other machinery, or give themselves a super-boost in combat if needed. The bio-core is a biological hazard and contains chemicals known to the town of Undella to cause not just regular cancer, but probably Super Android Cancer- Luckily no one's trying to eat them or rub their eyeballs on their hearts. Their power cores, on the other hand, are radiation hazards when exposed- And protected by thick metal and polymer plating to prevent leaks.

◮ They are battle Androids, designed to protect interstellar transit routes or regular passenger transit- Protecting passengers is how they ended up becoming heroes as people recorded their battles against rogue drones and other threats.

◮ They have nanobots- Innumerable armies of miniscule robots inside of them that repair any broken pieces, heal/repair/grow any synthetic cells, or even specialized attack bots that dissolve any foreign materials in their bodies- Or outside. They also come equipped with the ability to synthesize human/pokemon medic bots to stabilize any injured passengers- And they can control their nanobots, as well.

◮ Androids have an extremely long list of precepts and codes they have to follow- If they attempt to disobey their precepts, their bodies literally stop working. Most precepts were things along the lines of the Three Laws of Robotics, but more and more kept being added with various legal cases and lawsuits and eventually P.R cases and public safety. ◮ They have regulators that prevent their synthetic neurons and other biological functions from acting on any... organic urges they might have, despite their genetically engineered origins. Sure would be bad if those broke, wouldn't it?

◮ Their LCD screen displays can make various emoticons for them to convey their meanings- Ingo and Emmet also use their signature triangle smiles to help differentiate the two for maintenance crews and the public.

◮ Also! Forgot to add, their limbs aren't attached to their body normally- They can launch them like drones at targets or grapple things from afar, and they can pull themselves to their limbs if needed.

And finally, some emoticon displays:

[abitohoney]

A Shimmer in the Night

Chapter 5 of 5 - Stay With Me AO3 link

CH1 || CH2 || CH3 || CH4 || CH5

Sevika x female reader

Rating: Explicit, MDNI, 18+, NSFW

Tags: Sevika/Reader, Enforcer!Reader, Werewolf!Sevika, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood, Smut, Light Dom/sub, Dom!Sevika Sub!Reader, Begging, Praise Kink, Cunnilingus, Overstimulation, Strap-Ons, Rough Sex, Multiple Orgasms, Aftercare, Soft Sevika, Face-Fucking, Hair-pulling, Vaginal Fingering, Choking, A/B/O Dynamics, Marking, Rutting, Heat, Werewolf Sex, Knotting, Breeding, Minor Character Death

Word Count: 10.4k

Summary: A series of mysterious, violent murders has taken both Piltover and the Undercity by storm. As a relatively new enforcer, you're bound and determined to solve this before any more innocent lives can be taken. Nothing prepares you, though, for the discovery you make when you take matters into your own hands. Nor are you prepared for the involvement of Silco's enigmatic right hand woman.

AN: This is already complete on AO3. Just bringing it to Tumblr now. Tags are for the entire fic, not necessarily the individual chapters.

Later that evening, just before dusk, Sevika leads you to the same forest where you'd run into her Topside nearly a month ago. Turns out it wasn't just coincidence, or even her following you, that led to her finding you there. Sevika had explained that a vast majority of the werewolves congregate back there early in the night before fanning out to hunt, kill and expand their pack. So every full moon, she went there too. To take out as many as she could before they could wreak havoc. And last time, she just so happened to stumble upon you.

This time around, though, the sky is perfectly clear. Not a cloud in sight, nor any wind. Yet it's noticeably colder. So much so that you find yourself wrapping your arms around yourself to try to keep warm. Glancing over at Sevika, you're not surprised that even with her exposed midriff, she's not showing any signs of being cold.

Catching you eyeing her, Sevika glances down at your trembling form. She pulls her cloak off over her head. “Here.” When you pause, she slips it over your head, adjusting it such that it lies more like a cape, leaving only a small portion of your front exposed.

Your upper body immediately floods with heat. But it’s not just from the warmth of her cloak. Your heart thuds in your chest and your cheeks flush at the thoughtful gesture. “Thank you,” you say softly and smile up at her.

Her sullen expression softens as a small smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth. Lifting her hand, she drags her thumb across where your lips meet. Gaze focusing on that point of contact, her stoic expression appears again as she speaks quietly, “You should know- if you are infected- the first transformation is very slow- and painful.”

You press a kiss to the pad of her thumb before she pulls it away and lets her arm fall back to her side. “I expected that much,” you reply. Though that knowledge should probably cause you more fear than it does, your concerns lie elsewhere.

“So, if you are able to mark me with a bite, what happens if one of the other werewolves bite me?” you ask shortly after the two of you start walking again.

“Only an alpha can mark an omega. The other variant is strictly beta. I'm the only alpha. I needed to be larger, more powerful, to take them out easier.” she replies, glowing eyes watching your reaction from her periphery.

Peering up at her, you ask, ”Why wouldn’t I become an alpha if you bit me?”

“The beta version was created based on synthetic, fake chemicals. They can only create more betas. Mine was created using natural chemicals from-” she pauses, brows furrowing as if thinking hard about something. “-I don't even want to know where the fuck Singed got it from. But it allows nature to decide. I’m a natural alpha. You’re a natural omega.”

Feeling almost insulted by her assumption that you would be the weaker, smaller version, you're about to argue that claim when you realize the two of you have reached the edge of the forest. The moment you step past the tree line, you can feel the wave of unease rush over your body. Your skin crawls with goosebumps, but not just from the crisp bite of the considerably colder air. It’s as if you can sense the inevitable danger lurking deep within the expanse of the trees. It's enough to make the tiny hairs covering your body stand on end.

Sevika must feel something too. Her shoulders tense. Determination paints her face, brows pinched and lips pulled into a straight line.

Glancing skyward, past the soaring trees, you see the full moon shining bright white, just as the sun begins to set somewhere in the distance beyond the thick forest. Sevika will be transforming any minute now. And the moment of truth will be revealed for your own fate.

Once you're deep enough into the dark woods to no longer see the clearing behind you, Sevika stops.

"It's about to happen. Do you feel anything?" She asks, brows set even deeper as she glares down at you. She's concerned for you.

Standing beside her, you take a moment to concentrate on your body. Besides that feeling of dread, that nausea and skin crawling feeling that hit you earlier, you feel no different. "No. Just a bit anxious. Should I feel something?"

"You'd know it if it hit you," she replies solemnly, but then her tone becomes stern and demanding as she continues. "Now listen to me, you stay near me up until the point we come across any of them. Then, you stay the fuck out of my way and don't go near them. I can't protect -" she trails off, those last few words coming out like a strangled growl.

Shit. It's starting.

You expected Sevika’s transformation to be painful, obviously, but you still aren’t prepared for just how gut wrenching it would be for you to bear witness to it. It happens quickly, too quickly for you to catch all the changes. You stand frozen, both in awe and shock as you watch it unfold before you.

Sevika collapses to her knees, palms pressing against the hard earth to steady herself. Long, sharp nails extend from the curled fingers of her human hand as she claws at the dirt. Growls of frustration turn to howls of pain as her bones shift and grow. She struggles to put distance between the two of you, stumbling as her entire body continues to reshape. Quickly outgrowing her clothing, the fabric rips and tears until it’s nothing but tattered shreds on the ground. But her skin isn’t bare for long, as thick black fur sprouts, covering her body almost entirely. Her augmented arm miraculously remains intact, just whirs and clicks as it shifts and adjusts to better imitate the structure of her other front leg. The cylinder at her shoulder rises momentarily, then quickly falls, injecting her with Shimmer to help her manage the pain with the shock of adrenaline it provides.

The alarmingly loud growl she releases as the Shimmer courses through her transformed body is enough to knock you from your tranced state. Rushing to her side, you drop to your knees beside her heaving form. And Janna, you thought she was massive before. She’s damn near twice your size now.

The moment you place a reassuring hand on her back, her head snaps towards you. Her glowing purple eyes are narrowed and directed at you. Lips curl back to reveal sharp canines as she releases a threatening snarl.

You freeze, heart pounding against your chest, but your hand remains gently pressed against her. She won’t harm you. You know this. There’s no reason to fear her, but you fear for her. For the pain you know she's experiencing.

“Sevika,” you whisper softly as her wild eyes bore into your tender ones.

She’s so much larger than in her human form, and despite being on all fours, her head is perfectly aligned with yours. Her upper lip twitches. Another quieter snarl pulls from her throat. 

Slowly, cautiously, you lift your other hand, pausing when her gaze darts to it. When she makes no further motion, you bring your hand to the top of her head. “It’s okay,” you say quietly, running your hand soothingly through her thick fur.

Her face gradually starts to relax, eyes softening and lips no longer pulled back into a snarl. She slowly turns toward you and rubs her snout softly along your cheek before resting it on your shoulder.

Wrapping both your arms around her thick, furry neck, you hold her for a moment and just listen to her heavy breathing as it gradually evens out along with your own heart rate. It amazes you- touches you- the way such a wild woman, now a wild beast, can be so sweet and gentle with you.

When Sevika finally pulls back, you place a soft kiss to the top of her snout before rising to your feet. “Well, I’m feeling nothing. Guess that means I wasn’t infected,” you say quietly. Feeling a bit silly talking to her in werewolf form, you smile down at her and pat her head. “Lead the way?”

She leads you further into the forest. And even though you two are putting yourselves into a rather dangerous situation, you’re feeling considerably better now that you have her by your side. Not to mention knowing you have those silver bullets loaded in your trusty guns. You’re confident the two of you can handle whatever comes tonight. Together.

When you come to a small clearing, she stops just at the edge.

Assuming this is where the two of you will stake out, you crouch beside a tree. You sit on your heels so you can easily rise to your feet when needed. She remains standing on all fours, nose in the air as she smells for any signs of other werewolves. Without really thinking, you lift your hand to the top of Sevika’s head, absentmindedly petting her. After several moments in silence you feel her settle onto her haunches beside you and you start to scratch behind her ears.

Eventually, something lightly tapping your hip catches your attention. Turning your head, you glance down to find Sevika’s large, fluffy tail gently wagging. The tip smacks against you with each swing. Smiling, you look at her face, curious if she even realizes what’s happening.

It seems she doesn’t. Those purple glowing eyes scan the surroundings, nostrils flaring as she continues to sniff out threats, ever vigilant even as she unknowingly enjoys your attention.

Your smile grows and you continue to pet her as you return your attention to the surrounding trees.

Feeling Sevika bristle beneath your hand and rise to stand on all fours again, you jump to your feet and ready yourself for whatever she’s sensed. “Is that them?” you whisper when you see her glowing eyes focused on something just past a thick line of trees in the distance. Her ears perk up and though you know she can’t answer, at least not with words, you can judge by the way her body tenses and her lips curl back into a snarl that there is a definitive threat approaching. You scan the tree line for any signs of life and focus on listening. There’s no wind tonight to cover any sounds or movement, and yet you sense nothing. Only the soft whirring sound of the fan in Sevika’s mechanical arm.

Then, something catches your eye. Something large and dark stepping out from the shadows just as you hear Sevika’s low, rumbling growl. Needing the ability to grab your rifle from your back if necessary, you swiftly remove Sevika’s cloak and drop it beside the tree.

Sevika stalks on all fours until she’s positioned protectively before you. Her shoulders are drawn high, poised to attack.

You steady your hand over the pistol at your side as the figure slowly moves into the moonlight, revealing itself. One of the werewolves, but it seems to be alone. Your heart skips a beat when its glowing eyes suddenly lock on you.

Shit.

Sevika senses this as well. Her growl rises in volume and she takes several steps to the side, blocking you from its view.

Though you can’t see the enemy, you know they must be starting to circle you two as Sevika shifts her position to keep you out of sight. More threatening sounds pull from her chest and then she’s suddenly sprinting forward.

You withdraw your gun, ready to fire if she needs help. Despite the fear that overtakes your heart and mind, you manage to hold the pistol steady, aiming towards the werewolf as it lurches at Sevika. Her werewolf form is larger, but only just. It’s unfortunately enough to prevent you from lining up a good shot. So you’re left waiting, watching as the two take wild swings at one another with terrifying claws and bite with deadly sharp teeth.

Sevika is the first to land a blow, her silver-tipped metal claws slicing across the other werewolf’s snout. It releases a terrifying howl of pain, and through the faint glow of the moonlight, you can see drops of crimson leak from several lacerations. If Sevika would just switch sides with it, you could take the bastard out no problem. As if hearing your thoughts, the injured werewolf darts around Sevika, giving you an opening.

Taking aim, your eyes widen as you realize it wasn’t trying to attack Sevika from a different angle. No, it was moving to take on its original target. You. Sevika seems to have sensed this as well, and is hot on its tail, but it’s barrelling towards you inhumanly fast. You take a shot, nailing it in the shoulder just as Sevika pounces on it, sinking her teeth into the same shoulder and yanking, tearing flesh and fur. The beast collapses, skidding to a stop just several feet from where you stand, Sevika still clamping down from above it.

The animalistic screams that echo through the woods are the epitome of nightmares. Sevika releases the beast from her jaw only to take another bite at the back of its neck as it writhes and howls in pain beneath her. She’s crowding over it now, leaving you without a shot again, but it’s clear that she has bested this one.

Too focussed on the current attacker, neither you nor Sevika notice the pack emerging from the same tree line this one crept out from. Your eyes are glued to the snarling face of the werewolf beneath Sevika, which is thrashing wildly as she rips fur, flesh and tendon from its neck. The werewolf’s glowing eyes start to slowly fade. Its pointless writhing slows until finally all movement ceases.

Your wide eyes slowly raise to meet Sevika’s fierce gaze. She’s panting, her whole body heaving with her heavy breaths. Blood, drool and bits of flesh and fur drips from her mouth. It’s a sight you’re certain you’ll never forget. Stepping towards her you open your mouth to ask if she’s hurt anywhere, but freeze when you finally spot the four werewolves stalking towards the two of you. “Sevika!” you cry out, and then they're sprinting full speed.

Sevika turns her head, but she’s too late. They're on her before she can fully face them, and before you can aim your gun. Sevika releases a howl of pain as one sinks its teeth into her neck, another clamping down on her back right leg and a third pinning her to the ground with their giant paws against her back.

Heart hammering in your chest, you aim for the one on top of her. You’re only able to fire several rounds before the fourth beast is running at you. “Shit,” you curse under your breath as you stumble backwards and focus your attention on this one. Sevika’s growls and yelps of pain fill you with terror as you unload your gun, firing round after round in rapid succession. You have to take this one down before the others take Sevika out. Given the proximity, each and every of your shots land, but the werewolf is too large and too fast, and is at your feet within a single breath. It rises to its hind legs, a large paw with sharp claws raised and ready to strike. One last shot, the only one remaining in your pistol, rings through the air as you fire a silver bullet straight between its glowing eyes.

The beast howls, saliva and blood spraying your face as it falls forward. You attempt to side step its limp body, but it collapses against you. It’s nearly as large as Seivka, and easily twice your weight, knocking you down to the ground and pinning you beneath it.

With the air knocked from your lungs, it takes you a moment to regain your senses. The sound of the fight several feet in front of you, one that sounds to be very much in the enemies’ favor, finally snaps you back into action. Dropping your now empty gun, you press both palms against the shoulders of the beast currently crushing you and push with all your strength.

You manage to push the limp body off to the side and scramble to your feet. With no time to reload your pistol, you reach for the rifle at your back. Eyes darting to the fight, if you can even call it that given how outnumbered Sevika currently is, you find her still pinned beneath one of the larger beasts, the others ravaging her as she thrashes wildly beneath them. Only now, her movements have calmed down considerably. She’s hurt. She’s hurt real bad.

Eyes blurring with tears driven by panic over the possibility of losing her, you raise your gun and take aim for the one pinning her. Thankfully, since you’d already shot the damn thing multiple times, It only takes two more shots to the skull to take it out completely. Unfortunately, it collapses on top of Sevika, still preventing her from moving. You go for the one at her neck next, knowing it’s doing the most damage. Holding your breath, you fire, nailing the side of its skull. Miraculously, it’s enough to take it out immediately, no whine or howl of pain. It simply falls limp. The last one, however, now has its sights on you, seeing you as the bigger threat than Sevika. This time, you’re the quicker one to react, sheer adrenaline taking control of your body. You’ve already got the barrel of your gun lined up before it can move, and fire once, then twice. Both bullets sink into the beast’s head. Another one down without a sound.

Releasing the breath you’d been holding, you sling your rifle back over your shoulder. Your still watery eyes drop to Sevika’s form. She’s no longer fighting to stand. Her breaths are ragged, and soft whines fill the now otherwise eerily silent woods. The thick dark fur covering her body is wet and matted. And as much as you’d like to think it’s drool or blood from the other werewolves, you know it’s mostly her own. Tears finally spill over and down your burning cheeks as you realize how dire the situation is.

“Sevika!” you sob, but before you can take a step towards her, searing pain rips through your body, emanating from your shoulder. You’re thrown forward, face first down into the dirt as another werewolf sinks its teeth into your flesh and pins you beneath it, sharp claws piercing your clothing and digging into your back. White light flashes behind your eyes and you cry out in pain. Sharp canines sink impossibly deeper and you realize if they sink in any further you’re going to lose more than just blood. Clawing blindly at the dirt in front of you, you find purchase and try to push up to knock your attacker off. To no avail, though. It’s far too heavy.

You’re about to try again when you feel the sharp release of your attacker’s teeth as it howls in pain. It’s deafening, the beast’s mouth right beside your ear. You don’t realize what’s going on until you hear a familiar snarl as the weight is finally lifted from your body. Rolling onto your back you find Sevika, metal arm freshly lit with shimmer, absolutely ripping the other werewolf to shreds. Sitting back on your elbows, you watch in shock as she savagely bites and claws at her victim, even after its body falls lifeless to the ground.

When she’s finally satisfied with the scattered remains of your attacker, Sevika slowly turns her head towards you. Those wild glowing eyes of hers look almost empty, lost, like she can’t even see you through her rage. Her chest is heaving even heavier than earlier. There’s so much blood, saliva, fur and flesh surrounding her, you can’t tell anymore what’s hers and what's the fallen enemies'.

“Sevika,” you call to her with a shaky breath. You’re relieved she’s alive, but you’re terrified that she’s been too seriously injured. The call of her name in your voice seems to bring her down from her almost deranged state.

She slowly limps towards you, her right front and hind leg clearly very damaged. Carefully stepping over your legs, she brings her snout to your face, tongue carefully licking at the tears still streaming down your cheeks.

You don’t even care that she’s technically making more of a mess than cleaning. That she's spreading blood and whatever else coats her tongue across your cheek. She’s fucking kissing you, soothing you, and you can hear her labored breaths. She’s the one who needs the care. Your heart lurches, and you sit up to wrap your arms around her neck, pulling her closer until she sits on her haunches and rests her head on your shoulder.

“Do you think there are any more?” you whisper. Your eyes dart around your surroundings, fearing another ambush. You feel her raise her head from your shoulder to sniff several times, ears perking up and swiveling to listen, before resting back on your shoulder again. Taking that as a no, you release a deep sigh and tilt your head back to gaze up at the clear night sky. Just when you feel your heart rate start to return to normal, your eyes wander to the moon and something hits you. Hard.

This time it’s internal. Something unexplainable. Your body jerks, violent enough that you fall back onto the palms of your hands. Squeezing your eyes shut seems to deafen the throbbing pain that you swear emanates from your very bones. You feel Sevika rise to crawl over you, and then you’re hit just as hard with realization.

You were bit.

“Shit,” you curse. Peeling your eyes open you squint up at Sevika from where she stares down her snout at your pained expression. “Sevika, I- I was bitten!” you choke out and you can see the moment realization strikes her as well, her eyes flashing before dropping to your injured shoulder.

“You’ve got to stop it!” you exclaim. “You said you could, right? You can bite me, override it with your version, right?” you speak quickly, panic pulling bile from the pit of your stomach and burning your throat. You can't turn into one of those mindless killers.

Sevika meets your gaze, bobbing her head slowly. A nod. She crawls further up your body, running her wet snout up along the side of your neck, nuzzling into your hair. She’s trying to calm you, prepare you for what she’s about to do, but she hesitates.

“It- it’s okay. I’m okay.” you say softly, though you're not sure who you're really trying to convince considering how your heart races and your mind scrambles. You place a hand on the top of Sevika's head to guide her down to your uninjured shoulder. You feel her drag her tongue slowly across the soft point where your neck and shoulder meet before pressing just her top canines against the flesh. You give her one final reassurance, pleading with her. “Save me. Mark me.”

Her sharp teeth sink into your flesh with almost no resistance. It’s painful, terribly so, but nothing compared to what you’d felt earlier when you were being attacked. Biting your bottom lip, you try to hold back the soft cry that pulls from your throat. She doesn’t keep them in long before carefully pulling back out and lapping at the puncture wounds. Still gripping her fur, you struggle to keep yourself upright on only one hand as your body trembles. You release her, letting your other arm provide extra support as she continues to lick your wound.

The effects are almost immediate. You can feel it course through your veins from the wound to the outer reaches of your body. Letting your head fall back limply, you stare blankly up at the moon, watching almost spellbound as it turns from a bright white to an eerie purple when the transformation starts to take over your vision.

Sevika’s scent reaches your nose, but it’s almost jarringly stronger than usual and you’re suddenly hyper aware of her proximity. And she’s no longer tending to your shoulder. Slowly, cautiously, you raise your head to find Sevika’s snout close enough for the heavy, warm breaths from her nose to fan across your face. Her purple eyes are focused on yours. They’re wide and wild, but not like they were when she was tearing your attacker to pieces just moments earlier. No, this is more like the other night, when she was in her human form and overcome with desire to fuck you like an animal. A wave of warmth and desire rushes over your body, and you’re moaning softly before you even know it’s coming. As much as you’d like to blame it entirely on the recollection of that blissful night, it’s definitely much more than that.

You’re in heat.

And she knows.

Something presses against your left shoulder, breaking you from Sevika’s intense gaze momentarily. Gazing down, you find Sevika’s large paw there, urging you to lie back. You do, leaning back on your forearms, but when she continues to press against you, you lie back completely.

She moves further up your body on all fours, caging you beneath her large frame as she looms over you. Watching you intently from down her snout, she brings that large paw down to rest high on your chest, claws on your neck. This time she applies no pressure, simply rests it there and stares down at you expectantly.

Your lips part, about to ask her if something’s wrong, when you feel sharp nails bite, just barely, into the bare skin just above the collar of your shirt. You suck in a breath, delighting in the way your skin prickles and heats as she slowly drags down your neck and chest until they reach your collar. With your next breath comes another wave of her scent. It's incredibly strong, musky and unique to her. It's… intoxicating. When you realize how her claws are curled beneath your shirt, just resting there, her intentions become clear. And she’s waiting for your approval.

“Please,” you whisper, and apparently that’s all the encouragement she needs.

Faster than you can comprehend, she swipes those sharp claws down through your shirt, tearing it as if it’s made of paper. The little yelp you release goes unnoticed as she’s quick to tear through your bra in the same manner. How she manages to so quickly and easily shred your clothing without leaving so much as a mark on your skin is baffling. However, your mind quickly diverts elsewhere as you watch her take several deliberate steps back down your body.

Her intense gaze leaves your face, now focusing on your exposed breasts. She lowers her snout to gently nuzzle against the swell of one, her cold, wet nose causing you to suck in another quick breath. You squirm beneath her and dig your nails into the dirt at your sides, trying to fight the urge to grab her by the fur. However, when she moves to the other breast, lips curling back and mouth parting to reveal a mouth full of terrifying teeth, you immediately freeze.

You trust her not to harm you. Not to cause any sort of pain or damage beyond what you can handle, yet there’s no denying how frightening she is right now. Hovering over you with teeth bared and wild eyes. She could so easily tear you apart if she wanted. But the type of fear- if you can call it that– it induces is not the same kind of fear you felt when faced with the other werewolves. This is so very different. This is thrilling.

Her long, wide, dark tongue slips out from between her rows of teeth and drags languidly from one side of your breast to the other. You release a shaky breath, as your back arches toward that sickly pleasurable muscle. It should be so wrong, how your body aches for more, but it feels so damn good. When she lifts her head to move back to the first breast, the trail of saliva she left behind feels terribly cold in the night air and your body trembles as shivers run down your spine. She doesn’t seem to take notice, as she drags her tongue across the other breast with just the right amount of pressure to have you mewling. And this time, you’re unable to control yourself.

Your hands fly to her head, latching onto matted tufts of fur and pulling her snout closer. The snarl that pulls from deep in her chest should have been enough of a warning to stop you, but you’re so lost in your own lust it only drives your need for her higher.

It isn’t until you feel her nip at your breast that you come to your senses enough to lighten up your grip, but your fingers remain threaded in her thick fur.

“Sorry,” you try to whisper, but it comes out broken as your chest heaves. You’re fucking panting, you realize. “I- I think I’m in heat. I need- I need you to-” Words fail you as you feel her head start to move further down your body. Her destination is clear, and she can’t get there fast enough to ease the ever increasing ache you feel there. Your fingers curl, gripping her fur again, though with less force, as you help to guide her down there quicker. There’s no threatening growl this time, but the moment she presses her nose between the apex of your thighs, you hear a deep, low rumble pull from her chest.

“Sevika, please,” you cry out. You’re not even sure what you’re begging her to do. All you know is you’re overwhelmingly needy. Desperately needing her to fill you. To fuck you. It leaves your head spinning, every muscle in your body aching, heart racing and breathing ragged. Your transformation has barely even started and you're already losing your damn mind. And yet, despite those fears and warnings Sevika expressed earlier, somehow she’s still completely in control, or so you thought.

Without warning, teeth and claws, both metal and organic, are slicing and tearing through your pants and underwear. And again, she somehow manages to do so without causing you any harm. Immediately pulling your hands away from Sevika's head, you lift your head to gaze down at her as she drops a large section of fabric from her mouth before moving her snout between your now spread, and mostly naked legs save for several scraps of loose fabric. Her movements are much less unhurried now, and her hungry eyes are hyper focused between your thighs.

You hadn’t realized, with your clothes on, just how wet you were. However, now with them removed, you can feel the slick literally dripping down your ass cheeks. Another product of being in heat. And Sevika seems hell bent on tasting it before giving you what you truly need. You watch, transfixed, as that thick tongue slips out between her sharp teeth again and drags up the inside of one thigh, stopping just before reaching where you need her most. The whimper that falls past your parted lips goes unnoticed as she repeats the same path on the opposite thigh.

“Sev-” your attempt to beg her for some relief is cut short when you finally feel her lick a long, wide stripe clear up the length of your aching cunt. Your vision flashes a brighter purple and you let your head fall back against the dirt. The moan that leaves your throat is deep, and notably more animalistic than usual. Staring up at the purple-tinged moon in a blissful daze, your hips thrust on their own accord as she runs her tongue over you again. She laps several more times. Each toe-curling pass leaves you desperately trying to chase after that delightful pressure, moaning with abandon.

Finally satisfied with her meal, Sevika nudges your thigh with her cold nose, pulling you from your daze. Blinking several times, you tilt your head to gaze down past your heaving chest. You’re met with greedy eyes watching you expectantly, impatiently. When you don’t immediately respond, unsure what she wants, she bares her teeth and snarls lowly, saliva dripping from the far edges of her mouth. Noticing her back end seems to be moving, your gaze falls between her hind legs, and despite her warnings of what tonight may entail, you’re still not prepared for what you see.

Between her legs, where her clit would have been in her human form, is a long, thick cock. It twitches, a warm drop of precum falling onto your ankle.

Oh sweet Janna.

There’s another stronger, brighter flash of purple behind your eyes, and then instincts take the reigns. You immediately roll over, propping yourself on your hands and knees, spread wide and presenting yourself to her. Pulse rising, it takes every ounce of self control to remain steady as you watch her shadow, cast by the full moon above, slowly crawl over your body. Warm saliva continues to drip from her mouth, leaving a trail clear up your spine.

Metal hand and fur covered paw appear in your periphery as they both lower to rest against the earth on either side of your own hands. You already knew her prosthetic hand was considerably larger than yours, but seeing it directly beside yours really drives that fact home. Even so, it pales in comparison to her paw, which is easily twice as large as yours. Both could easily crush your neck or rip you to shreds.

Your body shudders with a chill despite the substantial amount of heat radiating from her large form surrounding you, caging you in place. No part of her body is currently touching you, her massive size leaving a small gap between the two of you. Another testament to just how tiny and weak you are. How powerful and deadly she is.

Janna, what have you gotten yourself into?

Sevika lowers her head, muzzle coming into your view and more drool dripping down your shoulder. You remain frozen, stock still as you feel something long, stiff and incredibly hot slide between your legs, over your entrance, and press along your abdomen. Squeezing your eyes shut, you moan at the sinful thoughts and sensations that evokes. For a moment you feel as if your arms may give out, too overcome with the ache of your ever rising libido.

She must sense your distress, as she licks languidly at the mark she left between your neck and shoulder, trying to calm you, but it only sends tiny waves of pleasure through your body. Slowly, teasingly, she drags the entirety of her length back and forth through the outer edges of your wet folds, gathering as much of your slick as she can. With one final knee weakening drag, she pulls back to line up the head with your entrance.

Anticipation, nerves and desire through the damn roof, you dig your nails into the dirt, waiting for the inevitable. Her name spills from your lips in a breathless shudder as you feel the head start to press inside you, almost agonizingly slow. It’s so ungodly thick and hot as it slides further, deeper, spreading you wider.

Her tongue is replaced with a drag of sharp teeth along your neck, but you almost don’t even notice it with how lost you are in the feeling between your legs. That is until she catches on one of the bite marks.

Bright purple takes over your vision again as your eyes fly open. The gasp that leaves your slack mouth becomes a scream of pain and ecstasy as you push backwards, causing her to bottom out inside you. Teeth sink into the flesh of your neck again, but you don’t hear the deep growl that leaves her mouth. All you can hear is the blood roaring in your ears and your muffled cries as your entire body sings with so many sensations.

As the color behind your eyes softens, your vision remains blurry. It isn’t until you blink several times that you realize they’d been full of unshed tears. As it clears, you gape down at the ground in shock, watching the tiny droplets fall onto the backs of your hands. Hands that are suddenly tingling, burning and aching. All you can do is watch in horror as the bones in your fingers grow and move. Nails, thick and sharp like talons, protrude and curl deeper into the earth beneath them. Fur sprouts across the backs of each hand. Janna, you can feel every bone move, every stretch of skin, every hair follicle. It’s as if every nerve in your body had been affected, heightened.

Somewhere in the back of your mind you realize Sevika is lapping at the new marks she left. Each press of that wide tongue sends waves of pleasure over your body. But every second in-between is replaced with pain as your arms start reshaping, bones shifting and growing, thick dark fur bursting through your skin as it stretches to accommodate your new form. Then, just as the transformation starts to shift to the rest of your body, you feel her start to work her cock in and out of you.

“Sevika!” you cry out, but you don’t know what you’re asking her for. The pain of your transformation is indescribably excruciating. Yet her deep, rhythmic thrusts- her thick, hot cock rubbing along your walls- is euphoric. Your eyes brim with tears again, clouding your vision.

It’s a never ending game of tug-of-war between pain and pleasure. Each thrust is sweet ecstasy. But each time she pulls out it allows the agony of your transformation to take over. It’s maddening. Overwhelming. It leaves you delirious. You’re babbling, crying, sobbing her name, and she only fucks into you harder, faster. You barely register that she’s snarling, growling and grunting wildly. Drool drips from the corners of her mouth, swinging with her erratic thrusting. It splashes onto your face, neck and shoulder.

As the last of your transformation starts to take over- your face contorting and stretching into a muzzle- your moans, whimpers, and choked sobs fluctuate between human and animal in nature. Until finally it’s complete and you’re left releasing a long, chilling howl towards the night sky.

Your every sense is heightened in your new form. You can hear the crude wet sounds of Sevika’s cock pistoning inside your slick hole. The ravenous sounds she makes from above you. You can smell her musky scent, so damn strong, but it’s also the only thing keeping you grounded. You can feel… the knot forming at the base of her cock, locking her inside you.

Oh Janna, she’s… she’s trying to breed…

You whimper, but no longer in your own voice. It’s pathetic, like a small dog. No longer able to hold yourself up, you collapse onto your front legs as she ruts into you from behind with wild abandon.

Her scent. Just focus on her scent.

Closing your eyes, you inhale deeply, letting that earthy essence of hers take over. It’s calming, and it’s the only thing keeping you numb to the pain. Numb to how she’s fucking you so hard your body shakes and jostles, threatens to collapse.

And then you hear her howl. It’s deafening. So much so that you almost miss the feeling of her release. Almost.

Her cum is hot, thick, and fills you beyond capacity. And as she continues to slam inside you, rivulets of her seed seep past her knot and spill down your back legs, catching in the thick fur.

When she finally stills, buried inside you, she lets her head drop beside yours. She’s panting, almost violently, struggling to recover. Saliva drips from the edges of her mouth and onto the side of your snout. Despite her bedraggled state, she presses her warm underbelly against your back and licks at your face between heavy, heated breaths.

You want desperately to say her name, hold her, be held by her. But all you can manage in your current form are soft whines. You can’t even lift your head from where it rests on the hard earth.

She licks at the mark she’s left between your shoulder and neck and your back legs threaten to give out as pleasure wracks your body.

After what seems like an eternity, the two of you finally start to regain enough of your composure and strength. Slowly, you lift your head and she rises with you, still gently licking at your face and neck.

She starts to carefully pull out of you, her cock having started to shrink and retract now that the breeding is complete. She pauses when you whimper, but you turn your head to lick the tip of her nose, letting her know it’s okay to continue. Once she’s completely out, she wraps her metal arm across your chest and helps you rise to stand on your back legs.

Ducking her head under one of your arms, she holds most of your weight as the two of you start moving. You’re not sure how long you’re walking for, or where exactly she’s taking you. You only catch little glimpses of the trees between your states of consciousness, of her face as she occasionally licks at the side of your muzzle or neck.

Eventually you realize she’s leading you into a cave within the forest. The floor beneath your paw-like feet feels hard, cold and damp. She guides you further inside to a pile of blankets along a wall. The moment she sneaks her head out from under your arm, you collapse against the soft bedding.

Lying on your side, you watch through the purple haze of your eyes as Sevika slowly lies down beside you, wrapping her augmented arm over your body and scooting closer until her hind legs intertwine with yours. Her glowing eyes meet yours for a moment, silently telling you she’s not going anywhere. Finally able to reach her with minimal effort, you gently lick at her snout several times. Your own silent reassurance. You lift your head to lick clean any of her wounds within reach as she does the same to you.

Everything aches. And then exhaustion finally takes over your body. You let your head fall back down against the blankets and close your eyes.

Sevika continues to lap at you, but her movements grow more and more languid until finally she lets her own head collapse beside yours. She rests her muzzle against yours, her warm breath fanning over the short fur that lines your snout. The two of you breathe in tandem, and her scent fills your senses again, lulling you to sleep. Within seconds, you’re out completely.

Slowly drifting back into consciousness, you try to open your eyes, only to shut them immediately as your head throbs. You try to shift from your side-lying position, sucking in a sharp breath as pain shoots through every bone, muscle and nerve in your body.

Damn.

Something shifts in front of you. Something warm. Very warm. And solid. It groans softly and you feel its breath fan over your breasts. Something heavy and metal twitches where it rests on your hip.

The prior night’s events rush to the surface of your memory, and you realize you’re lying with Sevika. Her face is pressed against your bare chest, prosthetic arm wrapped protectively around your waist. Your arm is draped over hers, hand resting against the top of her back. Her legs are intertwined with yours, and you're certain her proximity, her warm body, is the only reason your naked body remains warm in the cold, damp cave. Blinking slowly several times, your eyes finally adjust.

Glancing down you find Sevika's head rests just below your chin. Her dark hair is a tangled mess, sprawled across your other arm resting just above her head and the mass of blankets beneath both of you. 

Her hair. Your arm.

You're both back to your human forms. It must be morning. Carefully lifting your head and biting your lip as your muscles and bones scream in protest, you look down towards the exit of the cave. Light filters in through the gaps in the trees and into the small opening. Feeling her stir again, you lie back down and place a kiss to the top of her head.

Sevika releases another low groan, rubbing her face against the swell of your breasts. Tilting her head back, she blinks several times before peering up at you bleary-eyed.

Her eyes have returned to that beautiful stormy gray, and you think you might just melt at how soft and vulnerable she looks right now. Just barely awake, her features relaxed, unguarded but safe in your embrace. Lifting your hand from her back, you gently brush several strands of her hair away from her face, revealing the neon scars that decorate her cheek. She simply watches your face in silence as you trace the warm tracks with the tip of a finger.

"How are you feeling?" You finally ask, voice hoarse with how dry and sore your throat is.

"Like shit," she murmurs, and even her voice is deeper and raspier than usual.

"Same," you reply with a small smile, but even that hurts. "Is the next day always this painful?"

"First transformation is the worst. It gets better, but still hurts like hell."

Taking in the rest of her face, you notice several deep cuts and bite marks. Even though the two of you had licked each other's wounds clean last night, you both need to properly tend to all your injuries. 

"We should get cleaned up," you say softly before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Do we have anything to wear or cover up with?"

"I've got clothes," she replies, groaning as she rolls away from you to sit up. "There's a stream not far from here we can use to clean up."

Your body shivers, goosebumps breaking out across your flesh at the loss of her body heat. You can't even begin to imagine how cold that water is going to feel. And as unfortunate as it is, it's probably best that the two of you clean up there before heading back out in the public eye. Both of you likely look terribly suspicious in your current state. Don't need to draw unnecessary attention.

Rolling onto your back you jump when something lands on your stomach. Propping up on your elbows, you find a pair of loose drawstring pants, a t-shirt and a pair of slip-on shoes sitting there. The shoes are clearly not Sevika’s, entirely too small. However, the shirt and pants look like they could definitely be hers.

“Let’s go," she says gruffly.

When she stands, wincing in pain, you find yourself wincing just as badly at the sight of her. Her body is covered in deep gashes and bites, from head to toe. Her right leg is by far the worst. Brows furrowed in concern, you peer up at her face. She's schooled her expression back into that stoic, cool and composed one she seems to favor.

"I'm fine, but are you able to stand?" Her eyes roam over your naked body, taking in the cuts, bites, scrapes and bruises covering your skin. 

Though you're not in nearly as bad a shape as her injury-wise, everything internal feels like it's been rearranged several times. Which is exactly what happened. Your skin feels as if it's on fire. Like you developed a nasty rash from all the fur, but visibly it looks fine besides the few scratches, bruises, dirt and dried blood.

Before you attempt to stand, you catch her gaze pausing at the apex of your thighs. And you realize you can still feel the sticky remnants of…

Memories of the night prior flood your head. Specifically the absolutely filthy things you two did at the end of the night. Despite the chill of the air, heat rises to your cheeks and pools between your legs.

Sevika offers you her right hand, her other holding her own clothing. Hesitantly, you place your free hand in hers. She had asked a very legitimate question, and you’re not entirely sure you can stand. Especially now with how weak your knees feel.

She pulls you up to your feet effortlessly, with a bit too much of that brute strength she seems to enjoy using. She releases your hand, and you topple forward.

You barely catch yourself with your palm pressed against her chest. Her human arm wraps around your waist, pulling you against her sturdy body and keeping you upright. And it’s a damn good thing she does, because your legs threaten to give way with the immense ache- a mix of pain and arousal.

Peering up at her, you smile shyly, feeling foolish for how absolutely enamored you are with her. “Thanks,” you say softly, and you can’t seem to pull your gaze away from her gray eyes. Those beautiful eyes. You could get lost in them. You are lost in them, staring.

You’re only broken out of your trance when Sevika suddenly bends down to scoop you up into her arms. And all while somehow managing to keep hold of her clothing.

“Sevika!” you gasp and throw your free arm around her neck to hold on. “You don’t need to carry me! I’m not that helpless,” you chide, but you can’t hide the way she makes you blush. "Besides, you shouldn't be doing this. Your leg is badly injured."

“I know you’re not. You proved that last night. And I'm fine,” she replies as she turns to limp toward the opening of the cave. Watching your expression from the corner of her eye, her lips curl into a smirk as she adds, “I know you enjoy this. You think I don’t see the pretty pink that colors your cheeks, or that little smile you try to hide?”

That pink most certainly has to be red now. Resting your head into the crook of her neck, you neither admit nor deny that accusation. She knows she’s right anyway, as evident by her short chuckle.

Though the stream is not far, just as Sevika had claimed, you still find yourself regretting not just putting your clothes on your dirty body anyway. The morning air has such a chilling bite to it when paired with the high humidity, you can’t help but shiver even in the warmth from Sevika’s body partially pressed against yours.

The two of you drop your clothes at the water’s edge. You cling desperately to Sevika’s neck, burying your face into it, as she slowly steps in. You’re absolutely dreading how ice cold this is going to be.

“Fuck,” she curses lowly as she sinks in up to her waist. Apparently she’s not so tough as to be unaffected by the temperature.

The cold water laps at your exposed bottom, causing you to squeal and pull yourself closer to Sevika. She chuckles at your distress, but you’re too caught up in the anticipation of the descent into the liquid, icy hell to notice.

“I’ll keep you warm, sweetheart,” she whispers into your hair.

You hope she can keep her word, because as she dips even lower, your body finally sinking beneath the water, it’s excruciating. With her assistance, you shift in her hold so that you’re turned to face her, straddling her lap as she sits herself on a large rock beneath the water. Your arms never leave her neck and shoulders, holding on as if your life depends on it.

Every bit of skin pressed against hers feels wonderfully warm, but it’s just barely enough to keep you from leaping out. “Sevika,” you whimper, and you hate how pathetic you’re being, but damn does your body hurt, and the ice cold water is not helping.

“Shh,” she shushes against your ear and Janna, her breath is so delightfully warm. She runs her warm human hand up and down your back soothingly, resting her augmented arm on the grass behind her.

The two of you sit like that, in silence for some time. Her warm breath fanning over your ear and down your neck, fingers gently tracing the scars along your back. Your face nestled against her neck, breathing in her calming scent and reveling in the heat of her body pressed to yours.

“I’m sorry.”

She speaks the words so quietly, you’re not entirely sure you heard her correctly. You can feel her hand stop moving at your back. Pulling away just far enough to look at her, not only do you find her avoiding your gaze, she also appears terribly distraught. “For what?” you ask, genuinely confused. She has nothing to be sorry for, so what’s eating at her?

She meets your gaze now, and her voice is laced with frustration as she answers, “Letting you get involved. Not protecting you. Marking you. Hurting you. Claiming you the way I did.”

You scoff at the ridiculousness of those statements, though immediately regret it when she turns away from you again, brows furrowed in anger. Pressing the palm of your hand to her scarred cheek, you gently guide her to look at you again. You speak to her softly, apologetically, “Listen, everything I’ve done since the night you found me has been entirely of my own volition. You did protect me. I mean, I’m only still alive because of you. You saved me. Twice! And you haven’t hurt me. Even once.” You laugh softly before continuing, “I mean- I’m pretty damn sore right now in various places you've… left your mark , but not to the point of it truly bothering me. The biting, the-” you pause, struggling to describe last night’s final incident properly. Janna, what do you even call that? Breeding? Ultimately that’s what it was, but it feels surreal and odd to say that out loud. “-the wild sex… yes, those both led to some pain, but I was entirely willing and it was well worth it for the pleasure.” You offer her a reassuring smile, but it doesn’t seem to convince her.

“You were infected because I couldn’t protect you,” she growls, but she lets you keep her gaze.

You try to keep your expression schooled, not wanting her to see your own frustration over how she doesn’t seem to believe you. “That’s not your fault. I came into this well aware of the risks, and with no expectation from you to prevent them. And in all honesty, it really doesn’t bother me that I’ll have to go through a transformation every full moon. If anything, this is good. I’ll probably be of more help in my werewolf form. Maybe the two of us can take the rest of the bad batch out quicker.”

Her expression morphs into confusion. “The two of us?”

"Yes. The two of us," you sigh. "I'm not going to just leave you alone to deal with what's left. I wouldn't do that to you, nor would I do that to our people."

Arching a brow she asks, "And if I refuse your help ?"

That should irk you. Her stubbornness in accepting help. And it would have not that long ago, before you got to know her. However, after spending nearly a month with her, you've learned that this trait of hers runs deeper than just arrogance and pride. It's also driven heavily by her inexperience with having someone who genuinely cares about her, and someone she equally cares for. She wants to protect you.

Grinning impishly, you reply, "I don't need your permission."

Sevika's gaze falls to your smile, then drifts back up to your eyes. Her brow raises higher, but so does the corner of her mouth.

"What? I can't be sweet all the time," you tease and you can feel her hand start to slide up your exposed back, dragging that damn cold water with it. On purpose no doubt.

She huffs out a short laugh. "You made that clear the moment you had the gall to set foot in Silco's domain demanding answers to something you had no business being involved in."

“You’re not going to drop that are you?”

“I’m not complaining.”

Now you’re the one to arch a brow. Before you can reply, the hand at your back is pulling you closer until your lips are pressed to hers. Though the kiss is short and sweet, it still leaves your cheeks flush and the cold water suddenly less noticeable.

“Let’s get cleaned up and head back,” she says, smug smirk in place when she sees your coy smile.

With considerably less injuries than her, you end up helping her finish tending to all the gashes and bite marks that litter her back side. She takes it all like a champ though, not that you’re surprised. She barely even flinches as you run your cold wet hands over some of the alarmingly deep cuts.

She helps you out of the water, pulling you up and out with ease. A little too much ease. You lose your balance, falling against her naked body just as you had this morning when she’d helped you up. Tilting your head back, you peer up at her to find her smirking down at you. She’s definitely doing that shit on purpose. Not that you’re exactly complaining. What’s not to like about being pressed against her warm, rigid, yet soft body?

When you manage to break away from the comfort of her, you both dress quickly; you in your baggy shirt and pants that smell delightfully just like her, and her in the usual attire, minus her cloak.

Her cloak.

“Hey, I bet your cloak is still by the tree,” you say as you slip into your shoes. “I need to get my guns too.”

"Need me to carry you?" She asks, and she makes no effort to hide the teasing smirk that pulls at her lips.

"I think I'm fine now," you laugh softly and make your way to her side.

Thankfully Sevika seems to have a fantastic memory, she's able to find that small clearing without any issue. You wonder just how many times she's had to make this same trek all by herself. As you get closer though, you have the startling realization that the bodies of the werewolves that had attacked you are still lying there. Only now they're in human form.

It really shouldn't have been a surprise, but you're still not quite mentally prepared to find lifeless bodies of people. To say it's a disturbing sight would be an understatement.

As Sevika steps past them unaffected to grab her cloak, you nervously crouch down to grab your rifle which just so happens to be lying next to the body of the one that had infected you. A man. Despite your best efforts not to look, you catch sight of his face before you can stand back up. You gasp, bringing your other hand to your mouth.

Marcus.

"Oh dear Janna," you whisper against your palm. You stand to your full height and turn away, unable to look at the lifeless man lying at your feet, your former superior.

"What?" Sevika asks gruffly as she strides over, cloak back on and covering her prosthetic. Standing at your side, she uses the steel toe of her boot to tip his head up so she can see his face. "Guess we don't have to worry about him getting to you now," she says without emotion.

Your wide eyes shoot up to hers. She meets your gaze and her stoic expression breaks into concern. "You alright?" she asks, slipping her human arm around your back and resting her hand reassuringly on your hip.

"Yeah… Just- just shocked," you reply quietly.

"Let's get you out of here." She guides you towards your abandoned pistol and the remnants of the harnesses and pouches that had torn during your transformation.

You're able to salvage enough to attach your harness to your body again. Sevika helps secure your pouch of spare ammo to your waist, but as she rises again, her gaze meeting yours, the gravity of your situation starts to hit. Hard. And she can tell.

"Hey," she says quietly, brushing her knuckles down the side of your jaw. "What's wrong?"

You bite your bottom lip. You don't want to burden her with your thoughts. She has enough to deal with on her own. But you can tell she's not going to let this go considering how her gray eyes bore into yours.

"Well, if I wasn't without a job after missing for a month I guess I sure am now," you say with a breathless laugh, trying to keep the conversation light despite how worried you are. "I was already struggling to make ends meet. Piltover isn't exactly affordable living." You turn away from her, worried about how she'll react to what you say next. "Maybe I should stay with you. I mean I am yours now, right?" You say it with a small smile and a soft laugh. Like you're joking, because you're fearful of the possible rejection if she knew just how badly you do want to stay.

Sevika slips her hand behind your back again and pulls your front against hers. 

Before you can react, her head dips down to press a kiss against your mark. Shivers run down your spine followed by a wave of warmth through your entire body. You place your hands on her hips where that warm skin is exposed. Her name falls breathlessly from your mouth and you tilt your head as her lips ghost over the skin of your neck until she reaches your ear.

"You are mine. Stay with me."

Her words are spoken with a possessiveness that makes your knees tremble. However, much to your surprise, when she pulls back to stare down into your eyes, you find hers are soft, pleading. It was a request, not a demand.

Your heart skips a beat, chest filling with the warmth of your adoration for her. Stretching up on your toes, you press a chaste kiss to her bottom lip.

"Gladly."