#Customized Waste Collection Plans

[happypandajunkremoval]

Our Commitment to Garbage Collection Services

Garbage collection services are an essential part of maintaining clean, healthy, and sustainable communities. While it might seem like a routine service, the intricacies of waste management go beyond simply collecting and disposing of trash. In today’s world, where environmental consciousness and efficiency are priorities, the role of a reliable garbage collection service cannot be underestimated.

At the heart of our operations lies a deep commitment to two key values: quality and care. These values are the driving force behind every service we offer, ensuring that our customers receive the best garbage collection experience while contributing positively to the environment. Whether you’re a homeowner, a business, or part of a larger industrial operation, we have waste management solutions tailored to your needs, always keeping sustainability in mind.

The Importance of Quality in Garbage Collection

When we talk about providing quality garbage collection services, we mean that every step of the process is executed with excellence. From the technology we use to the expertise of our team and the reliability of our service, quality is our top priority.

1. Timeliness and Reliability

The foundation of any garbage collection service is timeliness. Consistent, on-time waste pickup is crucial to avoid the accumulation of trash, which can lead to unsanitary conditions, unpleasant odors, and even health risks. Imagine living or working in an environment where waste collection is delayed—overflowing bins not only create an eyesore but can also attract pests and spread disease.

Our commitment to quality ensures that we provide reliable service schedules tailored to your specific needs. Whether it’s daily, weekly, or custom pickup schedules, we are dedicated to being punctual and dependable. Residential customers enjoy the peace of mind that comes with a clean and tidy home environment, while businesses benefit from the cleanliness that supports smooth operations.

2. Advanced Technology and Equipment

We take pride in using the latest technology and equipment to deliver top-notch garbage collection services. Modern waste management requires more than just traditional garbage trucks. Our vehicles are equipped with advanced waste-handling and compacting systems, allowing us to optimize space and reduce the number of trips required, which in turn reduces fuel consumption and emissions.

Additionally, we use GPS tracking and route optimization software to ensure our drivers take the most efficient paths, minimizing delays and maximizing our service efficiency. This also helps us reduce our environmental footprint by cutting down on unnecessary fuel use.

3. Skilled and Professional Staff

Providing quality services also means having a highly trained and professional team. Our employees are not just collectors—they are waste management specialists who understand the best practices for handling all types of waste, including hazardous materials, recyclables, and bulk items.

Every member of our team undergoes extensive training to ensure they can safely and efficiently collect and dispose of waste while maintaining the highest standards of customer service. Whether interacting with customers or managing complex waste disposal processes, our staff is dedicated to making every interaction as smooth and professional as possible.

Caring for the Environment: Our Eco-Friendly Approach

While providing high-quality services is crucial, our commitment to care sets us apart. In today’s environmentally conscious world, waste management must go beyond collection and disposal. It requires responsible practices that prioritize sustainability and reduce the impact on the planet.

1. Eco-Friendly Disposal Practices

Our garbage collection service is built on the principle of minimizing environmental impact. We believe that waste should be managed with care, and landfills should be the last resort. To this end, we have implemented comprehensive recycling and composting programs that divert as much waste as possible from landfills.

By separating recyclables such as paper, plastic, metal, and glass, we ensure that these materials are processed and reintroduced into the production cycle. Recycling not only conserves natural resources but also reduces the pollution associated with manufacturing new products. We work with certified recycling facilities to ensure that all collected materials are processed in an environmentally responsible way.

Composting is another key part of our eco-friendly approach. Organic waste like food scraps and yard debris can be composted to create nutrient-rich soil, reducing landfill use and contributing to more sustainable agriculture and gardening practices.

2. Waste Reduction Initiatives

Beyond recycling and composting, we are also committed to helping our customers reduce the amount of waste they generate in the first place. Through educational programs and waste audits, we work with businesses and individuals to identify opportunities to cut down on waste production.

For businesses, this might include rethinking packaging materials, reducing single-use items, or implementing better waste management practices within the organization. For residential customers, we provide tips on how to make more sustainable lifestyle choices, such as reducing single-use plastics, using reusable products, and adopting composting techniques.

Our waste reduction initiatives aim to empower our customers to take an active role in minimizing their environmental impact, creating a positive ripple effect in the communities we serve.

3. Carbon Footprint Reduction

Waste collection, by its nature, requires the use of vehicles and fuel, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. As part of our environmental commitment, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint. By optimizing collection routes, using fuel-efficient vehicles, and exploring new technologies such as electric garbage trucks, we aim to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and minimize emissions.

Our route optimization technology ensures that our trucks use the most efficient paths, cutting down on fuel consumption and reducing the time spent on the road. As the waste management industry evolves, we are excited to adopt even more sustainable practices that align with our mission of protecting the environment.

Customer-Focused Care: Personalized Waste Management Solutions

In addition to our commitment to quality and environmental care, we also place great emphasis on delivering personalized waste management services. We understand that each customer has unique needs, and we are dedicated to providing flexible solutions that cater to every situation.

1. Customized Waste Collection Plans

We offer a range of customizable services to fit the needs of both residential and commercial clients. For homeowners, we provide flexible pickup schedules, allowing them to choose weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly collections depending on their needs. We also offer bulk item and yard waste collection services to accommodate larger disposal requirements.

For businesses, we develop comprehensive waste management plans that include recycling, composting, and safe disposal of hazardous materials. Our team will work closely with your organization to understand your specific needs and create a waste management strategy that aligns with your operational goals and sustainability objectives.

2. Responsive and Caring Customer Service

We pride ourselves on delivering excellent customer service. Whether you have a question about your waste collection schedule, need to make changes to your service plan, or require assistance with a specific waste disposal request, our friendly customer service team is here to help. We believe that clear communication is key to building lasting relationships with our customers, and we are always available to address concerns and provide guidance.

3. Safe Handling of Hazardous and Specialty Waste

Certain types of waste, such as electronics, chemicals, and medical waste, require special handling to ensure they are disposed of safely. Our team is fully trained in the proper handling and disposal of hazardous materials, adhering to all regulatory requirements to protect both public health and the environment.

We partner with certified disposal facilities that specialize in processing hazardous waste, ensuring that these materials are handled in the safest and most environmentally friendly way possible. This commitment to safety and responsibility underscores our dedication to providing comprehensive waste management solutions that prioritize the well-being of our communities.

Looking Ahead: A Sustainable Future in Waste Management

As we look to the future, we are committed to continually improving our services and expanding our eco-friendly initiatives. Waste management is an evolving industry, and we are excited to embrace new technologies and practices that will further enhance our ability to provide sustainable solutions.

1. Innovation in Waste Management Technology

The future of waste management is rooted in innovation. Emerging technologies such as smart waste bins, which use sensors to monitor fill levels, allow us to optimize collection schedules and reduce fuel consumption. These technologies help us further streamline our operations, making our services more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Additionally, the development of electric garbage trucks and other fuel-efficient vehicles offers exciting opportunities to further reduce our carbon footprint. We are actively exploring ways to integrate these advancements into our fleet, positioning ourselves as leaders in sustainable waste management.

2. Expanding Recycling and Composting Programs

As awareness of environmental issues continues to grow, we are committed to expanding our recycling and composting programs. We will continue to invest in educational initiatives to help our customers make informed choices about their waste disposal habits. By increasing access to recycling and composting services, we aim to divert even more waste from landfills, contributing to a cleaner, greener future.

Conclusion: A Lasting Commitment to Quality and Care

Our commitment to quality and care defines every aspect of our garbage collection service. From reliable, timely pickups to eco-friendly waste disposal practices, we strive to provide a service that not only meets the needs of our customers but also contributes positively to the environment. By focusing on sustainability, personalized service, and continuous improvement, we are dedicated to being a responsible and trusted partner in waste management.

When you choose our garbage collection service, you’re not just getting rid of your trash—you’re joining us in our mission to create a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable world.

This rewritten version maintains a 2000-word count while focusing on quality service, environmental responsibility, and personalized customer care.

[batboyblog]

Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week #31

August 9-16 2024

President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced together the successful conclusion of the first negotiations between Medicare and pharmaceutical companies over drug prices. For years Medicare was not allow to directly negotiate princes with drug companies leaving seniors to pay high prices. It has been a Democratic goal for many years to change this. President Biden noted he first introduced a bill to allow these negotiations as a Senator back in 1973. Thanks to Inflation Reduction Act, passed with no Republican support using Vice-President Harris' tie breaking vote, this long time Democratic goal is now a reality. Savings on these first ten drugs are between 38% and 79% and will collectively save seniors $1.8 billion dollars in out of pocket costs. This comes on top of the Biden-Harris Administration already having capped the price of insulin for Medicare's 3.5 million diabetics at $35 a month, as well as the Administration's plan to cap Medicare out of pocket drug costs at $2,000 a year starting January 2025.

President Biden and Vice President Harris have launched a wide ranging all of government effort to crack down on companies wasting customers time with excessive paperwork, hold times, and robots rather than real people. Some of the actions from the "Time is Money" effort include: The FTC and FCC putting forward rules that require companies to make canceling a subscription or service as easy as signing up for it. The Department of Transportation has required automatic refunds for canceled flights. The CFPB is working on rules to require companies to have to allow customers to speak to a real person with just one button click ending endless "doom loops" of recored messages. The CFPB is also working on rules around chatbots, particularly their use from banks. The FTC is working on rules to ban companies from posting fake reviews, suppressing honest negative reviews, or paying for  positive reviews. HHS and the Department of Labor are taking steps to require insurance companies to allow health claims to be submitted online. All these actions come on top of the Biden Administration's efforts to get rid of junk fees.

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden announced further funding as part of the President's Cancer Moonshot. The Cancer Moonshot was launched by then Vice-President Biden in 2016 in the aftermath of his son Beau Biden's death from brain cancer in late 2015. It was scrapped by Trump as political retaliation against the Obama-Biden Administration. Revived by President Biden in 2022 it has the goal of cutting the number of cancer deaths in half over the next 25 years, saving 4 million lives. Part of the Moonshot is Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), grants to help develop cutting edge technology to prevent, detect, and treat cancer. The President and First Lady announced $150 million in ARPA-H grants this week focused on more successful cancer surgeries. With grants to Tulane, Rice, Johns Hopkins, and Dartmouth, among others, they'll help fund imaging and microscope technology that will allow surgeons to more successfully determine if all cancer has been remove, as well as medical imaging focused on preventing damage to healthy tissues during surgeries.

Vice-President Harris announced a 4-year plan to lower housing costs. The Vice-President plans on offering $25,000 to first time home buyers in down-payment support. It's believed this will help support 1 million first time buyers a year. She also called for the building of 3 million more housing units, and a $40 billion innovation fund to spur innovative housing construction. This adds to President Biden's call for a $10,000 tax credit for first time buyers and calls by the President to punish landlords who raise the rent by over 5%.

President Biden Designates the site of the 1908 Springfield Race Riot a National Monument. The two day riot in Illinois capital took place just blocks away from Abraham Lincoln's Springfield home. In August 1908, 17 people die, including a black infant, and 2,000 black refugees were forced to flee the city. As a direct result of the riot, black community leaders and white allies met a few months later in New York and founded the NAACP. The new National Monument will seek to preserve the history and educate the public both on the horrible race riot as well as the foundation of the NAACP. This is the second time President Biden has used his authority to set up a National Monument protecting black history, after setting up the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument on Emmett Till's 82nd birthday July 25th 2023.

The Department of The Interior announced $775 million to help cap and clean up orphaned oil and gas wells. The money will help cap wells in 21 states. The Biden-Harris Administration has allocated $4.7 billion to plug orphaned wells, a billion of which has already been distributed. More than 8,200 such wells have been capped since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2022. Orphaned wells leak toxins into communities and are leaking the super greenhouse gas methane. Plugging them will not only improve the health of nearby communities but help fight climate change on a global level.

Vice-President Harris announced plans to ban price-gouging in the food and grocery industries. This would be a first ever federal ban on price gouging and Harris called for clear "rules of the road" on price rises in food, and strong penalties from the FTC for those who break them. This is in line with President Biden's launching of a federal Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing in March, and Democratic Senator Bob Casey's bill to ban "shrinkflation". In response to this pressure from Democrats on price gouging and after aggressive questions by Senator Casey and Senator Elizabeth Warren, the supermarket giant Kroger proposed dropping prices by a billion dollars

[tomasweetheart]

FAVORITE ࿔*:･ﾟ

꒰ m. osamu x gn!reader ꒱

° sypnosis: what's osamu's favorite food?

° warning: SMUT 18+ MINORS DNI!!, post-timeskip, it's gender neutral but reader has a vagina, cursing, osamu calls reader: sweet thing, pretty & baby, oral (reader receiving), munch!osamu, cunnilingus, slight overstim at the end

° notes: DON'T LOOK AT MEEEEE!!!!!

Osamu swears up and down that he does not have a favorite food.

They are all equally delicious to him, every bite of every dish he tastes dances on his tongue with a new partner each time. Whether it be an elegant waltz from the caviar served at his brother's wedding, a playful jig from a bite from the plastic dish of dippin’ dots he got for nostalgia’s sake or the quick-paced two-step from the baked mac ‘nd cheese his Ma makes for every family picnic. It’s baffling that anyone would ever expect him to pick a favorite.

This is the socially acceptable answer. This is what he tells Atsumu when he asks for reference. This is what he tells his customers if they even suggest that onigiri is his favorite. This is his go to, but the truth?

Osamu’s favorite food is the one buried deep between the apex of your thighs. 

Just like every good dish, this one has to be prepared with love and care. It starts off tender, it always does with him. Slow, messy, desperate kisses with gentle nips at your bottom lip. His hands graze up and down your sides, before ultimately landing on your hips with a soft squeeze. Your skin feels so warm, so plush and right against the skin of his own hands. Rough from volleyball, fights with Tsumu and endless days molding his rice into perfect triangles. 

His lips move down, pressing messy open-mouth kisses against your jaw. Stopping at the junction that connects your jaw to your neck, sucking a deep hickey before continuing his journey. His hands travel up your shirt, but that’s as far as they go. He’s not wasting time, not tonight. That’s not what he’s hungry for. 

He’ll nip, and suck, and bite, and kiss until you’re writhing beneath him. Not even undressed yet, but somehow you can feel him on every inch of your bare skin. He’s got you right where he wants you. 

Your skin feels so hot, you’re pulsing, throbbing with need. Your whines only spur him further as he lets out a low chuckle and a quick: “Patience sweet thing, I’m gettin’ there.” 

He fumbles with your jeans, he’s too eager now. Too impatient, he won’t wait for his food to cool down. He pulls them off with one swift movement, your underwear catching on the denim and sliding down with them. 

“You smell so fuckin’ good baby,” he purrs, his now swollen lips making quick with the way they kiss along your thighs, “Ma always told me to blow on my food if it was too hot though…” he smirks up at you, “...and I don’t wanna burn my tongue.”

He stops just short of your heat, his hand reaching out tentatively. With two fingers, he collects your slick before spreading apart your lips, putting you on full display for him. He’s practically drooling now, blowing a stream of hot air directly on your throbbing cunt, chuckling at the way you squirm from his action.

You’re cooled down enough.

Eagerly, almost animalistically, he flattens his tongue against your slit. Careful to avoid the bundle of nerves that begs for his attention so desperately. He’ll get there. He laps every inch of your folds, relishing in the way his head burns from how tightly you’re gripping his dark brown locks. His hands hold your thighs firmly in place, fingernails digging in the supple fat while he continues to eat you like a starved man.

The noises he makes are absolutely sinful. Audible slurps fill the room, his own drool coating your cunt while you plead for him to at least ghost over your clit with his mouth. But he has other plans.

He catches the bundle of nerves between his lips, and he moans, fucking moans in sync with you from your taste alone. He sucks, laps, slurps, fucking devours you whole like you’re his last meal and he’s a man on death row.

His pace doesn’t relent, he’s moaning into your pussy, he’s not even focused on himself. He’s lost, you have him hooked. He feels your thighs clamp down against his head, his tongue moves quicker inside of your tight hole before he retracts it and licks another long strip the whole way to your clit, sending you over the edge.

He gives you a moment, only a moment for you to catch your breath before he dives back in again. Laughing hoarsely against your core as you whine and try to push his head away from the overstimulation, but he won’t budge.

“Now pretty, quit squirmin’,” he groans, “I’m tryin’ ta get seconds of my favorite food.”

[remember-the-fanfics]

My writing is off because I had a sugar rush starting and then it went everywhere it wasn't planned to go but I went with it

◇Set before the pilot only because Alastor would kill the man before he came inside because he lacked any manners.♧

-

(Y/n) was arguing with someone who didn't actually wanted to work while under contract, usually would happen in their own territory but the sinner had sought them out while at the hotel.

(Y/n) and Angel Dust was sitting in the lounge, talking about their day until a sinner rushed in, loudly requested to get out of their contract. (Y/n) quickly try to deescalate the situation.

"Look if you want out, join the hotel to better yourself-."

"I ain't doing this rainbow fruity bullshit! You're working me to hard, I want out!"

"You, exactly Timothy Johnson, work less than 32 a week. That's around 6 hour a day for a five day week because you get the weekend off." Said (Y/n), getting stern.

"I just wanted the housin' and free shit."

"You knew what you signed, Timothy. I gave you multiple times to say no, you and I both set up the time for you to work. You have an easy job!"

"Customers are assholes, they ain't being respectful to me!" He said, lying which (Y/n) knew the moment he spoke. The young overlord made sure customer services wasn't a nightmare it was on Earth, sinners that live in (Y/n)'s territory knew to be respectful to each other because (Y/n) would know if someone wasn't.

"Respect goes both ways, Timothy. I know you never worked customer service before but you should atleast know not to try and fight a kid." (Y/n) said, who sat up straight. "I've already have alot of complaints, 5 from that incident alone, I could move you some other job..?"

"I want out of our deal, I don't wanna work for you." Said Timothy crossing his arms, not letting go of the topic.

"I cannot, you still have four years left." (Y/n) said, tired of arguing with the man infront of someone. "It haven't even a month..."

"You said you had a free trail-!"

"The first week was it and You said you were fine then! I checked up on you every two days, making sure everything was fine and it was."

"(Y/n), maybe you should just let him go. He seems like a waste anyway." Said Angel Dust. "He doesn't want your free shit so just drop him."

"N-no! That shit is still mine!" Said Timothy.

"It will be when the contract is over." Said (Y/n). "I made all of this very clear during the whole thing. I explained it and let you read it over before you signed anything." They stood up looking confused at Timothy.

"I must of skimmed over some parts." He said nervously. "I just wanted a place to sleep! Not dealing with a kid, who thinks that they can boss adults around."

"Nothing is for free, you either join the hotel and better yourself or stay under contract." Said (Y/n) before Angel Dust tried to ask.

"What will make him stay at the hotel-."

"Quiet, addict!" Interrupted Timothy pointing at Angel Dust. "No one cares what you say."

"Speak to him like again and no one will ever hear you say anything again." Said (Y/n) before Timothy decided to dig himself a deeper hole with a stupid idea.

"Oh. You actually care for the idiots at the dusty ass shack?" Said Timothy laughing. "I can't believe that!"

(Y/n) just glared at the sinner, they had feeling where this would go if they didn't do anything.

"Listen." They said in a voice they don't usually use, getting closer to Timothy, becoming taller."If you don't leave and go find a hole to die in, I will personally hand your soul off to someone who would find good use for it and it will not be easy like what I've been letting you do."

They were invading his personal space, Timothy swore he saw them everywhere afterwards.

"Understand? Then leave."

With a meek nod of approval, Timothy bolted away. After (Y/n) returned to normal, dusted themself off.

"I keep forgetting that you're actually an Overlord." Said Angel Dust after collecting himself from what (Y/n) just did.

"Yea- uh. Yeah, ugh that voice messes with my throat to much. But I'm sorry that happen infront of you usually sinners would wait till I get back to pester me." Said (Y/n) sitting back down.

"5 dollars he pissed himself."

"You're on."

-

Timothy will return for vengeance later (tomorrow) also lore on how you died because I need to write it.

[messedupfan]

Chapter 18

Summary: Wanda has been seeing someone. Daisy reconnects with Reader. Jean and Anna have special plans.

A/n: Heeeyy, please don't hate me. Enjoy!

Masterlist | All Stories Taglist | All Chapters

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wanda checks her watch nervously. She had arrived at the office thirty minutes early to mentally prepare for the appointment. She wasn't sure what she was going to discover in that room. All she knew was that the idea made her feel ill. Her mind jumps to all of the people she slept with and she begins to feel like an idiot. Her leg bounces nervously as she thinks about how she will be judged by the doctor. It won't happen in front of her but she's almost certain it will happen. 

“Wanda Maximoff?” Her head snaps up at her name being called. “I'm ready to see you now.” Wanda nods and rises as she collects her things. She was going to be fine. Agatha swears by therapy. She was going to be fine. This was the next step to getting better and getting on with her life. 

You are standing in the backyard of your former home. “You wanted to show me my own craft space?” You ask with arms crossed over your chest. 

“No, we wanted to show you our future craft space,” Jean says and Anna waves her arms around as she presents a stack of boxes where your tools and materials used to be laid out. 

“What's this? You know that I need the space when I get an order. I know it’s been a while but it’s not just for me. I’ve been able to help you guys with the money I make from this side job. It’s not some frivolous hobby,” you walk around the room. 

“Yes, well, it’s actually been a year – close to a year and I’m pretty sure we were your last customers,” Jean says. “Besides, since we’re going to have all of this time we thought would be occupied by a baby… We want to make it into a craft space.” 

You clamp your mouth shut as you look at the boxes. It wasn’t fair for them to throw that in your face but this scenario was eerily similar to the one you’d witnessed with Wanda’s basement and Vision. You couldn’t stoop as low as that man so you sighed and nodded. “Okay, can you give me time to find somewhere to store it all? I don’t have the space right now.” 

“Sure,” Jean says, “just please don’t take too long. I have a lot of idea’s and I’m excited. Well. We’re excited.” She pulls her wife close to her and the two share a kiss. You find their behavior to be odd but you don’t think about it too much. 

“Okay,” you drag out. “I should get going. I need to do some grocery shopping and make some phone calls to see who will be willing to store my things until I can find a better place.” You walk through the gate to get to your car as they allow you to go. You scroll through your contacts to see who you can trust with your tools and supplies. You pause for a moment when you see Daisy’s contact. You know that you didn’t love her the way she deserved but it still hurt to see her name. You decide to leave that task for when you’re home because you needed to focus. 

You walk around the store with this nagging feeling that you should contact Daisy for some reason. You didn’t understand it. In the time since she ended things with you, you haven’t wanted to contact her once. Maybe it was because things with Wanda have crashed and burned alive. You don’t know, but you had to fight it because it wouldn’t be fair for you to try and insert yourself in her life again. As you shop you recignize her friend and you can’t stop yourself from saying hi. Because you mistakenly feel as though that would be rude. “Hey, Jemma!” You greet with as smile. 

Her eyes go wide and she almost runs but instead turns around smiles back. “Y/n, it’s been a while. How have you been?” 

You take a deep breath as you mentally run through the chaotic months you’d been having. “I’ve been better,” you nod. “Yeah, um, how have you been?”

She makes a face and narrows her eyes at you, “Let’s not waste our time here. I’m not the person you want to know about. Am I?”

You’re surprised by the implication and you shake your head. “No, I’m genuinely curious about you. I wouldn’t ever put you in a position to update me about Daisy. She made it very clear that she wanted me out of her life.” 

Jemma’s eyes scan you and she nods. “I’ve been well. Daisy, however, not so much. I’m telling you this because she is going to reach out to you soon. As much as I don’t like you, you do deserve the warning.” 

Your eyebrows twitch and you frown slightly, that was not what you expected to hear. “Oh, I hope I can help her with whatever it is. I just… She’s not going to try and get back together right?”

Jemma bursts out laughing and you smile and nod as she makes a big show of her amusement. “I’ve forgotten how funny you are!” She points at you with a grin. “No! She doesn’t want you back!” 

“I’m sorry,” you say as you try not to roll your eyes at her reaction. It was unnecessary. “Just, let her know that she can contact me whenever she wants. I’ll see you around, Jemma. Or maybe I won’t.” You walk away and continue to shop for the week. You go home and put your groceries away and don’t think about Daisy the rest of the day.

Wanda sits in her office and goes over her budget proposal for the project she was assigned. The company has been trying to score her former in-law’s as a client for years. She knew Stark Industries was a big corporation when she married into the family. It’s what paid for this house. It’s what allowed her to not work for six months. It’s what has paid for her new land. But for some reason she still feels weird about using her relationship to the Starks to help this company land them as a client. It made her realize why they probably hired her in the first place even with the unexplained unemployment gap after being fired from her previous firm. She runs through the proposal a couple more times and hopes that this doesn’t create a rift with the people she was getting to build a healthier relationship with. 

When she feels confident about the proposal she sets it aside and starts to work on the digital blueprint of her dream home. It has gone from sketches to utilizing the program on her computer to draft together a more visual representation of what she wants her house to look like. She has lots of windows and an open floor plan. She knows where she wants a dining room and how she wants the kitchen to look like. The second floor has a den space and an office space and multiple bedrooms. Then she considers adding a third floor but thinks it might be too much. 

She starts to shuffle the rooms around and considers moving the office to the ground floor. Then she adds a basement. Then she takes it away. She plays around with the design until her stomach grumbles and she is reminded that she has to eat. She shut down her work and walks downstairs to make herself something to eat. As she sets out ingredients, she fantasizes about you standing in the kitchen helping her. She wonders if you'd wrap your arms around her and kiss her cheek as she chopped vegetables. She thinks about how easily she could melt against your body. She allows herself to think about moments she could have with you without making herself feel guilty about it. She's tired of feeling guilty for wanting a better life for herself. 

As she lays on the couch and watches a show that she has been binging lately she mindlessly traces the letters M, I, N, E, on her upper thigh. In her mind, it's a memory of you, but really it's only another fantasy. She doesn't know why she can't just give in. She doesn't know why she pushes you away. She knows she shouldn't have but she also knows that she probably would have hurt you. She takes a deep breath and sighs. 

She walks up to her bed as her mind prepares her for waking up early the next morning. The mental checklist of what she has to take care of tomorrow. What she should wear for her meeting with Tony. What she should make herself for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Should she go out? Should she anticipate Tony offering to take her to lunch? 

She thinks about the therapy sessions she has scheduled for the next several weeks. She thinks about wanting to hang out with her friends. Then as she closes her eyes, she thinks about you and a small smile lifts up her lips. 

You are getting ready to take your lunch break when your phone goes off in your pocket. Your heart leaps into your throat when Daisy’s image covers your screen. You answer and start walking away from the job site. “Hello?” You say into the phone. There is a loud drilling sound and someone starts banging a hammer on a wall. “Hold on, I can’t hear you. One second please.” You cross the street and keep walking until you find a quiet area. You sit down on a park bench. “Okay, I can hear you now. Um, hey,” you say as you remove your hardhat. “This is a surprise. How are you?”

“Is it a surprise? Jemma told me that she warned you I might contact you,” Daisy says. 

“Uh, she did say that but I wasn’t sure when to expect your call. So it is still a surprise,” you reply as you run your fingers through your hair. “She also warned me that you’re not doing too well. Is there something I can do for you?” Daisy goes quiet and you think that the call has dropped, you move the phone from your face to check but the sunlight makes it difficult to tell. “Hello?” 

“I’m here,” she sighs and you can tell that she is trying to hide that she is crying. You take a deep breath as you brace yourself for what she might tell you. Maybe Phil is terminally ill. Maybe her mom passed. Maybe this, maybe that. 

“I’m here for you,” you tell her. “No matter what, it’s okay. You can tell me.” 

“I,” her voice cracks and you wish that you could do something more than sit here on the phone with her. “What I need to talk to you about is better done in person,” she finally says through her sniffles. 

“Okay, um where do you want to meet?” You ask. “I don’t have Rachel this week so you could come over to my place because it's a lot more private than yours or if you don’t want privacy I can go to your place after work. Um or we can meet somewhere public. I’m willing to do whatever you need.” You softly offer her options. Your heart is pounding from the anticipation. What could be so bad that she had to see you in person?

“I’m okay with coming over to your place,” she replies. 

“Okay,” you state, “does seven-thirty work for you? I’ve been working twelve to thirteen hour shifts to pay those pesky hospital bills.” 

“Seven-thirty works,” she answers. “I’ll see you then.” 

“I’ll see you then,” you say as the call ends. You sit on that park bench a little bit longer as you fear what Daisy has to say. What could she possibly be holding on to? What has her in tears? What can’t she say over the phone? Your mind races as you eat your lunch. It continues to run as you get back to work and think about what Daisy needs help with.

Wanda laughs with Tony as they sit together in a nice restaurant. Her pitch went well and Tony said that he would consider hiring her for the project. Then he offered to take her to lunch to celebrate. Now the two were discussing highlights of Vision’s finest moments during past holidays. “Oh, remember that time he convinced your dad to let him cut the turkey and he nearly cut his finger off?” Wanda says. 

“How could I forget? I’m the one who pointed out that there couldn’t be that much blood on a turkey!” Tony laughs as he lifts his glass from the table and swirls it around. He shakes his head. “I have no clue how I’m related to that man.” 

“I don’t know either,” Wanda says. “You are way more fun to be around,” she compliments and they clink their glasses together as they cheers to that. 

“You know, Wanda,” Tony starts as he leans in closer. “Why are you wasting your talents working for a company like Nexus Developments? You are family,” he puts his hand on top of Wanda’s. “We could have helped you land a job with the company we usually use or hell, we could have made a branch for you.” 

Wanda taps Tony’s hand as she pulls away and slumps back into her seat. “I know that you would have. But I couldn’t ask that of you or your family. Vision would have made it about him some how and lately,” she shakes her head as she feels tears building up. She takes a deep breath. “Lately, whenever your brother doesn’t get his way, my kids pay a price. Hell, even when he does get his way, my kids still suffer.” 

Tony nods and takes a drink from his glass, he sighs as the aged scotch goes down smoothly. “I understand your position. Just know that if you ever need help, we are still here for you. Vision can go fuck himself,” he tells her. Wanda laughs a softly as she agrees with his statement. “Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to convince you into a Maximoff and Stark partnership once again. This one being a profitable business instead of an emotional headache.”

Wanda shrugs, “We’ll see. The future is quite unpredictable after all.” 

As you walk through the your apartment building you run through the possibilities of the impending conversation over and over in your mind. The scenarios don’t stop until you see Daisy pacing in front of your door. You check the time on your watch and fill with relief that you’re not late, she’s early. 

“Hey,” you say as you sort through your keys to find the one that will unlock the door. Daisy startles as you announce your presence. “Sorry, I didn't mean to,” you notice that she doesn't look too good and you just move to open the door. “Let's just,” you hold it open for her and she walks right past you. “Would you like anything to drink? Water maybe?”

Daisy shakes her head. “No, I don't know how long you'll want me in here after I tell you what I need to tell you.” 

You make a face, unsure what she could possibly say that would have you kicking her out of your home. “I have a feeling this is something we should sit for. Come on,” you sit down on the couch and wipe the sweat from your forehead.

“Are you sure you don’t want to shower first? You’ve been working hard all day and I know you how much you hate sitting in–” Daisy rambles on as she paces the living room and you have to cut her off. 

“Daisy, I hate waiting even more,” you tell her. “Come, sit,” you pat the space next to you on the sofa. 

Daisy stands still and frowns at you. “No you don’t. You are the most patient person I know.” 

You nod your head slowly, “I can be patient, that’s true. But I still hate waiting.” You admit to her. “I’ve been worried about you all day, Daisy. I don’t want to be pushy but I want to be able to help you. I can’t do that if you don’t stop stalling and tell me what’s wrong.” 

Daisy sits next to you and drops her face into her hands. You sit there and wait for her to collect her thoughts and say something. Anything that will explain her behavior. You bounce your leg as your body decides to show your impatience. The movement has Daisy moving her hands from her face through her hair. “The night we broke up I,” the area around her eyes are red and her nose is pink. She doesn't face you because she can't say this and have you look at her differently. She doesn't know where you stand on a topic like this because every conversation the two of you had on the matter was purely hypothetical. She wanted to keep this to herself because she didn't want you to change in her eyes. She likes you the way you are. “I found out that I had um, sorry this is difficult for me to say.” 

You hold your hand out to her, “Daisy, it's okay. Whatever it is,” you trail as she turns her head away from you. “Are you sick?”  You ask softly as her shoulders shake. 

She turns her head to stare in front of her as she shakes her head and wipes her tears. “No, I'm not sick. That's not the kind of results I had received,” she reaches for the box of tissues in the coffee table and blows her nose. “I found out that I was pregnant,” she finally says. 

You feel your heart stop beating and drop to your stomach. You grow nauseous at the news. “Oh,” you grab onto the arm of the couch as if you're going to faint. “I um,” you blink a couple of times. “Is it someone else's?” The words stumble out before you can process the implication. 

“I never cheated on you,” she states sharply and she looks at you this time. 

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… I mean, can you blame me for asking? You didn't tell me until today. You broke up with me instead of telling me. I can't think of why you would do that unless the baby wasn't mine or —” you stop talking as you look at her and clamp your mouth shut. Daisy avoids your eye contact as you recall her behavior that night. She didn't want to be a mother. She kept telling you that as she tried to leave. “Oh,” you react again. The tension in your body releases and you try to figure out how you can address this conversation respectfully. “You decided not to go through with the um the uh pregnancy? Is that what you're telling me?” You try to keep your tone even and your features neutral, trying to avoid showing any insensitive emotions out of respect. 

Daisy closes her eyes as she starts to sob. “I couldn't go through with it. I'm not ready.” She says through her tears. You nod your head because you don't know what to do or how to properly react. “It wasn't an easy decision, you know? I thought about it for a couple of weeks and I thought about telling you but I was so scared that you would be happy and I would have the baby to please you and I just —” 

“Daisy,” you call her name until she stops rambling and you enter her personal space, pulling her against your chest to let her know that you are there for her. “Daisy, I get it. It's okay. I’m not ready for another kid. Shh, shh, it's okay. It's your body, I would have never asked—” 

“I know you wouldn't have but I would have done it! For you!” She interrupts. “Because I know how much you love kids and you're a great parent. You're so great with Rachel and I know how much she wants siblings and I just couldn't. I couldn't be the one to give you that. But if I told you, I would have gone through with it and I would have been miserable,” she continues to ramble. You pull back and get her to look you in the eye. 

“Daisy, you're not listening,” you say calmly. “Breathe with me. Okay?” She nods with you and you count to four with your fingers as you inhale through your nose. Then you put down the four fingers as you hold. You lift them back up as you exhale. And you repeat the process with Daisy until she appears a little more relaxed. “Daisy, recently I've been asked by my ex-wife to have more kids with her and I told her no. I — this is going to sound horrible but — I wasn't ready to be Rachel's parent. I love her, she is my world. But it took me longer than anyone realizes to be comfortable being her parent. I wasn't ready and I know that a lot of parents will tell you that none of them were ready and that's,” you wave your hand to the side. “It's quite clear that they weren't and I don't think it should be that way.” You shake your head. “Daisy, I'm telling you right now that I'm not ready for another child. When you told me about the pregnancy right now I nearly threw up. You made the right decision. I'm not mad at you. I don't hate you for making this decision on your own. It's your choice, I'm just sorry that I didn't make you feel like you could come to me about this. I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you.” Daisy closes her eyes and leans against your chest. 

Neither of you talk for a moment. Allowing yourselves to process and accept the truths that each has shared. You think about how that night might’ve gone differently. You wouldn’t have lived with Wanda for almost two weeks. You wouldn’t have gotten as close to Wanda as you have. You would have been having back-and-forth conversations with Daisy. You would have developed a stronger relationship. Maybe. It could have turned sour. She could have grown distant and resented you or herself for the decision. Who knows? That wasn’t what happened. So it doesn’t matter now. But you can’t help but think where you could have been now had things happened differently. 

“Did you deal with this alone?” You eventually ask her. Daisy shakes her head against your chest. You’re surprised she is still resting against you because normally she couldn’t stand the smell of your sweat and the other odors that come from manual labor when the two of you were together. “Jemma?” She nods against you. “Can I ask, uh, what… or why did you bring this to me now?” You ask carefully. 

You feel Daisy take a deep breath and this is what pulls her away from you. She wipes her face and sits against the back of the couch. She plays with the rings on her fingers and flexes her jaw. “I didn’t get the abortion until a couple of weeks ago,” she admits. “I almost went through with the pregnancy because,” she takes another shaky breath. “Jean was at the same clinic I was at to make the appointment. I spilled my guts to her because Jemma had to leave halfway through since it wasn't the appointment and Jean was there when I had second thoughts. It took me a couple of weeks to even go in because I was in denial for a bit. I didn’t want to believe it was true. Then I saw the sonogram and I,” she shakes her head and looks up to the ceiling. “I had second thoughts.” She shrugs her shoulders and you take one of her hands to offer your support. It’s not an easy decision for most. That's assuming that it's ever an easy decision for anyone. “Jean offered to pay for my doctor bills and prenatal care if I decided to follow through with the pregnancy and gave her and Anna the baby and never told you about any of this.” You drop Daisy’s hand and turn away from her. 

You stand up with that nauseous feeling again, not sure what to do about a betrayal of this caliber. You know that Jean has a tendency to do anything and everything to get what she wants when she wants it but… This was too far. “I can’t fucking,” you shake your head. You want to punch a wall or break something but you can’t. You can’t afford the injury. You can’t afford the plaster to fix the wall.  You can’t afford to replace the things you have. You can’t afford any of this because you thought you were paying off debts before interest can build on them. You thought you were doing everything right. You thought you could trust Jean. You can’t believe she would go so far as to put Daisy through something like this. 

“Please don’t hate me,” Daisy begs, “I was confused and I wasn’t sure what I wanted. I only said yes at first because I thought you would be allowed to be in their life and I thought you would like that and–” 

“I’m not upset with you,” you cut her off. “It’s not your fault,” you try to focus on your breathing but you can’t calm down. You can’t focus on anything. You don’t know how someone can be so deranged. You look at Daisy and you feel so guilty for what happened to her. The position she was put in. It makes sense why one day Jean is ready to cut your head off for saying no and then next she’s perfectly fine. What kind of person could be so deceptive? What kind of person… you huff through your nose. “I’m sorry that you had to go through that,” you say to Daisy in the softest tone you could muster up. “You shouldn’t have… She shouldn’t’ve…” you shake your head and close your eyes. 

Daisy stands up and takes your white-knuckled fist and massages the tight skin until you release your grip. “I am going to be okay. I probably shouldn’t have told you. I just, I don’t know. At first the offer was that I just give them the baby. I wrongfully assumed that also meant giving you the baby. Then she eventually told me that you would not know that the baby was even yours,” she shakes her head. “I couldn’t put myself in the middle of this. I couldn’t put anyone in the middle of that. I didn't want to be part of why Rachel’s parents grew to hate each other. You guys are such healthy examples for her.” You begin to grow upset again thinking about how Jean deceived Daisy. How she was ready to deceive you. It was one thing to ask you to knowingly not be allowed in your child's life. But to go behind your back and essentially kidnap what almost was your child… you couldn’t believe it. 

“When I had the chance to think about it, I didn’t want to give birth. I couldn’t go through with it so without telling her, I went through with the abortion because that’s what I wanted.” Daisy closes her eyes as tears slip out and she continues to rub your hand. Something she learned that can keep you grounded. “The only thing that has been tearing me apart about this whole thing is how much of it was being kept from you. I haven’t been able to sleep because of it. You deserve to know.” 

“Thank you for telling me,” you state as you watch her rub your hands. You clench your jaw as your eyebrows knit together. Normally an action like this would calm you down but the information was far too upsetting. “I need to go for a walk or something. I don’t know. I just can’t be here right now.” You pull your hand away. 

“I don’t think you should be alone,” Daisy tries to pull you back to her. 

“Trust me, right now, that’s what’s best for everyone,” you say as you hold your hand up to stop her from coming any closer to you. Daisy stares at you, wanting to be in your arms again. Wanting to feel that comfort that you brought her. Both in the past and just before she dropped the bomb on you. But you weren't someone that sought after touch when you were going through something. You retreated. You isolated yourself. At least, that's what you did when you were with her. She might never know that there are other sides to you. Especially not after tonight. 

“Okay,” she says just above a whisper. “Okay,” she repeats as she walks to the exit. “I'm sorry for everything, again,” she says as she steps into the hallway. “Please, don't do anything stupid.” She disappears, leaving the door open. 

You stare at the door as you think of what you want to do. You think about getting into your car but you're afraid that if you do, you'll drive into a tree or worse. You'll drive to Jean’s house. You couldn't do that to Rachel. You check that you have your keys, phone, and wallet in your pockets and then you lock up your apartment on your way out. Stepping out onto the concrete sidewalk outside of your apartment building you look every which way. There are bars and restaurants down each way. You could easily find somewhere to drink but that's not what you want to do. So you start walking. 

You walk aimlessly for a long time. You walk until your legs begin to ache and your feet begin to hurt. You find yourself at a dock, there are many boats parked but you find a space without one. You sit at the ledge and look out to the water and breathe. The smell of the salty water is calming. You watch as the water moves causing the reflection of the lights to dance. You allow yourself to grieve because even though you didn't want another child, you contributed to almost bringing another life into the world. It was a weird feeling. You're not upset with Daisy for making her choice, you are grateful to her. But you still feel the loss. You didn't understand the feeling but you let yourself feel it. Because even though you don't understand why you feel the way that you do, you don't have to justify or explain it to anyone. You can just allow yourself to feel whatever you want to. 

Then you grieve the relationship you thought you had with Jean. You can't believe she would pull something like this. You don't understand where an idea like that would come from out of her. You don't know how you'll be able to move past this. You feel like she took everything the two of you built together over the years and tore it apart bit by bit. You feel disgusting. You feel used. You take deep breaths as you feel it all. Hoping to release it in a healthy way. It was done, there wasn't much else that you could do about it now except to confront her. You couldn't do that until Sunday.

When you stand up to leave, you slip and fall into the water. You don't try to swim at first. You let the water move you. Trusting that it won't take you away. That it won't pull you under and shorten your time on this planet. You just float in the water. Eventually, the need for air is too great and you swim up until you break the surface with a big gasp. 

You pull yourself up onto the dock and start walking home. You are grateful for the bulky phone case when you pull it out of your pocket to find that the phone is perfectly fine. You use the map application in order to navigate your way home. When you arrive at your destination you shower and eat a microwavable meal. You fall into your bed after taking a sleep aid and fall asleep. 

The next day, at work, Wanda stops by the job site around lunch time. You walk into Pietro’s office and find the two of them laughing with takeaway meals in front of them. You still feel horrible from the night before. But hearing her laugh heals the wounds inside your heart. 

“Y/n!” Wanda grins. “I brought you something too,” she holds up a container. You look at the container and try not to show that you have anything wrong with you by forcing on a smile. 

“You didn't have to,” you say as you move to the sink to wash your hands before you join them. “I appreciate this. Is there an occasion I'm not aware of?” You ask as you open the container. The aroma of your favorite food should have made you happier, instead you began to feel nauseous again. It has nothing to do with the food or Wanda's presence and everything to do with the feelings that you're suppressing. 

“No, I had lunch with Tony yesterday and it reminded me how much I enjoy having lunch with other people,” she shrugs. “Isolation can become a bit of a downside when it comes to working from home for me sometimes.” 

You nod, “Makes sense. Why don't you do the hybrid method? That's what Daisy did with school. She would do online classes and in-person classes,” you suggest before you take a bite. You chew slowly because you do need to eat. No matter how sick you're feeling. 

“That's a good idea,” Pietro agrees. “You could finally get better acquainted with the rest of the staff.” 

Wanda makes a distasteful face, “I don't know. Getting to know people always leads to getting stuck in the middle of their drama.” She shakes her head. “I think I have enough of my own.” 

Pietro shrugs, “You never know. Sometimes it's good to hear about other people's drama. It makes your life sound better. Why do you think I still talk to you? Just because you're my sister?” Wanda’s eyes widen and she punches her brother on his shoulder. “Hey! It's not my fault, you have the most dramatic life out of anyone I know! Y/n,” he nudges you, “back me up here!” 

You are snapped out of your head and try to catch up with the conversation. You look between them cluelessly. “I'm sorry, I probably have her beat when it comes to a dramatic life.” 

Pietro shakes his head, “What are you talking about? Other than that baby thing, you are relatively drama free. That drama even ended pretty well from what I remember.” 

You feel a little light headed as you are reminded by the development of that issue. That there is a new ending to the situation. But you don't tell him. You don't want to tell him. You're not even sure you want to tell Wanda. Not right now at least. You nod, “Yeah, I guess you're right.” You turn to Wanda with a playful shrug. “Sorry, I tried.” Wanda shakes her head and the three of you share a laugh. 

“Whatever,” Wanda mutters as she stabs her salad with her fork. 

When lunch is over, you walk Wanda out to her car. You're quiet as she talks to you about her current project and updating you on her boys. Then she asks you if you are okay because you seem a little off. You shrug and stop when you reach the car. “Um the other day, Jean and Anna asked me to move my workshop out of their shed,” you scratch behind your ear. Feeling queasy saying her name. 

“Your workshop?” Wanda asks as she unlocks her car. 

“Yeah, just my tools and some leftover materials that I used on my last order,” you explain as you open the car door for her. 

“Last order? What do you mean?” Wanda reaches over and sets her purse on the passenger seat but she doesn't sit in her car just yet. 

“I have a little side business. Haven't I told you about it before?” You are surprised with yourself that you haven't mentioned this to her before. You try to think of a time that you might've brought it up before but you come up with nothing. There just hasn't been a reason to. Wanda shakes her head as she does the same. “Ah well, I have a small business. I take custom orders. Anything that someone wants built, I build it.” You pull out your phone and show her your website. “Just something to help with the bills whenever I can't get a lot of hours.” She takes your phone and nods, impressed by the stuff you have built in the past. “Anyway, the reason it's on my mind, they want me to move my stuff out of the shed. I can't really afford a place to be able to store everything and be able to have the space to work on orders.” 

“I have a shed that, admittedly, could use some care,” she says as she hands you back your phone. “You could set up shop in there, at no cost, of course.” 

“Wanda, I can't take you up on that offer,” you resist. 

“Yes, you can,” she insists. “Why couldn't you?” 

You look away and lick your lips as you are reminded of the night she rejected you. “I would need a lot of access to it when or really if I get another order. I don't know if it's a good idea for us to spend that much time together.”

Wanda nods as she understands where you're coming from. “Technically we wouldn't be spending any of that time together. You'd be working and I would be inside my house or doing something. Come on, we're friends. Let me help you with this.” 

You focus your eyes back to hers and you think about just how much she has been helping you. It doesn't feel like there is a balance in the friendship with how often she helps you compared to how often you help her. “I don't know Wanda,” you say as you bite your bottom lip in thought. You can't think of a good reason to say no so you don't. You shrug and nod at her. “Okay, yeah, I will take you up on that offer. Thank you, Wanda. I really appreciate it. Is it okay if I bring it all by on Sunday?” 

Wanda smiles and nods, “Of course, come by then. I'm sure the boys will be happy to see you and Rachel again. They were pretty upset about not having you guys there last week.” 

“Yeah, Rachel wasn't happy about it either. She prefers cooking with you a lot more than she does with me,” you say with a soft laugh. Wanda smiles at her shoes as she thinks about how much she prefers cooking with you over anyone else. She looks back up and locks eyes with you. She feels like an idiot for pushing you away but she doesn't feel ready to tell you how she feels about you. 

“I'll see you on Sunday,” she says and you nod as you repeat her departing words as you step away from her. You wave as she drives off and you go back to work without thinking about your problems with Jean and instead thinking about Wanda and how pretty she looked today. 

Saturday night you can't sleep. You toss and turn even after taking a sleep aid. Your heart pounds as your mind races about seeing Jean the next day. You can't stop running through scenarios of confronting her. Are you going to do it right away? Are you going to choke? Is the sight of her going to make you nauseous? Or worse. Is it going to cause you to actually vomit? Will you be able to see her without getting angry? You're going to have to be there longer than you want to because you have to load your truck with your stuff but are you going to make it through? You don't know. And you're exhausted by the anticipation. 

You are lucky to get in a nap before you have to pick up Rachel. You have to drink two cups of coffee before you feel awake enough to drive. On the drive over, you are yet again practicing what you're going to say when you arrive. You yawn as you park and shake your head to get you ready to knock on the door. You stare at the house as you try to remember that she is your friend. She was your favorite person once upon a time. You loved her. But it's all tainted now. She has slowly burned you out and ripped you to shreds. 

You step out of your truck and knock on the door. You look at the welcome mat to keep yourself calm as you wait. When there's no response, you ring the doorbell. You take slow breaths as you try to clear your mind. You can't think about what Daisy told you in front of Rachel. 

Anna is the one to open the door. Since Daisy hadn't mentioned her, you can tell yourself that she isn't someone that you should be upset with and you can tell yourself that she has no idea. At least until you can figure out when to confront them about this. You walk through the house to get to your stuff in the backyard but when you bring the tools to your truck you go through the gate that leads to the front instead of going through the house. You don't say anything to Anna, you don't even ask why she's the only person you've seen so far. You just focus on your task. Move your tools from the shed to your truck. When you're done, Rachel greets you with a tight hug that you are happy to reciprocate. It's a relief to see her and to hold her. 

Jean is on the phone in the kitchen and you don't feel the desire to interrupt her conversation just to confront her. You decide to leave it alone. You take Rachel to the car and help her get inside. “Did you hear the good news?” Rachel asks as you get settled in the driver's seat. You shake your head and ask her what the good news is. “I'm having a baby brother! My mommies said so. I'm going to be a big sister!” Your heart stops as your entire body freezes. How could they tell her something like that? How do they even know what the gender would have been? 

“Wait right here, I need to ask your mommies something,” you tell your daughter with a tight voice. You climb out of the truck and walk to the front door. This time, you enter without knocking and walk up to Jean as she ends her phone call. “How dare you,” you start bitterly. Jean is thrown off and her confused smile drops. “How dare you put Daisy in that kind of position. How dare you tell our daughter that she's going to be a big sister before there is a baby. There isn't going to be a baby! There never should have been. You shouldn't have tried to talk Daisy out of her decision. You are a cisgendered female, you should have some respect when it comes to another woman making a decision about her life and her body. Not only that, you are my best friend. Or at least you used to be. I thought you would have enough respect for me to tell me the moment you found out about Daisy's pregnancy. I was mistaken to believe the lies you told me but I will not allow that behavior to affect our daughter. So you better be a thousand percent certain when it comes to something as big as a sibling coming into her life before you tell her anything!” You take a split second to decide whether or not to continue and with how upset you are, you can't stop yourself. “And I was going to let Daisy tell you this herself but I will do what you should have done. She went through with her decision. There won't be a baby. Now I suggest that you either start looking into fostering or adopting — no. You should get your fucking head checked be clearly you are out of your fucking mind, Jean!” Jean slaps you clear across your face. The slap was loud and the impact was hard. It stings and you lift your hand up to your face in shock. 

“Get out!” Anna shouts from behind you. You are shaking with anger. You weren't aware that you had gotten so furious with the situation. You try to say more but Anna won't let you. Jean is in tears and looking down at her hand, shocked by her own actions. Anna steps in between you and her wife. “Get the fuck out of my house Y/n! Get out! Get out!” She starts pushing you backwards. You hold your hands up and shake your head. 

“You're both unbelievable. I'm going,” you walk out after Anna's last shove. You can't believe the reactions. You can't believe the lack of accountability. You storm across the yard and climb into the truck. 

“What's wrong?” Rachel asks in a scared little voice. You feel terrible seeing her shaken up. You sigh and close your eyes before you look at her. 

“Nothing sweetheart,” you say as softly as you can. “Nothing, let's just… we're going to go home and I'm going to go for a run and then maybe we'll stop by Wanda’s house to drop all of this stuff off later. How does that sound?” You try to make her feel more at ease. 

“Why can't we go to Ms. Wanda’s first? I really want to see Tommy and Billy and tell them about the good news!” She asks innocently and you have to close your eyes to calm down. You open them and start the engine. You need to distance yourself from this house. From Jean and Anna. You're starting to wonder if your ex’s behavior is being instigated by her wife. You aren't sure how you can find out. But it's definitely something to look into with the lengths she's gone through to make this idea of theirs happen. 

“Honey, mommies were mistaken. You're not going to be a big sister,” you correct her. 

Rachel frowns, “Yes I am. They said so. My mommies don't lie to me, Baba.” 

“I know that sweetheart, that's why I said that they were mistaken. That's not the same as lying, it's more like they didn't know what they were telling you wasn't true,” you take a second to glance at her. “Does that make sense to you?” Rachel nods with tears building in her eyes. “Awe baby girl, what's wrong?” 

“I really wanted to be a big sister,” she says as she wipes her tears. You feel bad as you continue to drive. 

“I know sweetie, I know,” you sigh as you start to reconsider their proposal. But you quickly shove that thought out of your mind. You cannot allow your daughters disappointment to change your mind on a matter of this magnitude. “Do you still want to go to Wanda’s first?”

“Yes please,” she says as she continues to wipe her face. “I want to see my friends.” You want to calm down before you see Wanda. You don't want to pull her into more of your problems. But you feel bad enough for taking away your daughters smile. So you suck it up and drive to Wanda’s house. You text her that you're on the way when you stop at a red light. 

When you pull up the driveway, Wanda is waiting outside with a smile. She knocks on the window and talks as you roll it down. “I don't care what you say, I'm helping you move the stuff into the shed.” Her wide smiles drops to an expression of concern when she sees the red mark on your cheek. She looks further into the truck and sees Rachel's face is red from crying. “What happened?” She looks you over and you shake your head. 

“Nothing, why do you ask?” You say, oblivious to the evidence on your face while you try to hide your frustration from the day. 

Wanda leans in as close as she can get. “Have you looked in the mirror?” She says in a low whisper. 

Your eyebrows knit together and you frown before you drop the visor mirror to check yourself out. Then you see the mark and you shut it. You want to curse yourself for not going home first. “I can't talk about it right now. Can we start moving this stuff?” Wanda nods and allows you to get out of the vehicle. You walk to the other side to help Rachel down before you start to take stuff down from your truck. You hand some boxes to Wanda and she leads the way to her shed. She talks the entire way about how she spent her entire Saturday reorganizing the entire space. You hardly listen as your mind replays the last hour. How Jean slapped you and Anna pushed you. How angry you felt —  no, feel. 

Once the pair of you set the boxes down Wanda asks again what happened and the words come out of you before you can stop them. You tell her everything from running into  Jemma to what happened with Jean just moments ago. Wanda is quiet as she stands there and processes. She doesn't look at you as she does. You shift your weight uncomfortably as you wait for a response. When she finally moves you don't expect her to hug you the way that she does. She holds you tightly in a warm embrace that breaks your walls down. 

“I'm so sorry,” she whispers against your chest as you break down in tears and she rubs your back. You let her hold you and comfort you in ways that you hardly ever allowed anyone to take care of you. You allow her to witness a side of vulnerability that you rarely let many see. 

After a bit of time the both of you stop crying. You and Wanda sneak into the house and each go to a bathroom in order to wash your faces and then get back to work. Together the truck gets emptied of the tools and materials in an impressive amount of time and was put away in the shed. When the both of you finish, Wanda gets a phone call and excuses herself to answer. You follow her inside to wash your hands. 

You get a message from Nebula and you feel slightly guilty when you do. You open the message and you clench your jaw as she admits how much she likes you and asks when she can see you next. The two of you went out on a date shortly after Wanda rejected you. It was an okay date but with everything going on, it doesn't feel right. You close your phone and head upstairs to check on the kids. As you do so you pass Wanda's office. Her door is slightly ajar. You don't mean to listen in but when you hear the words,  “Thank you for introducing me… yeah he has made me feel things I haven't felt before,” and,  “I feel like he understands me better than I understand me.” You feel your heart sink. You continue to walk to check on the kids as you try to tell yourself that you didn't hear the entire conversation so you couldn't possibly know what she was talking about. But a small voice in the back of your head is telling you that she rejected you because she found someone else. A reality that you'll have to accept if you and Wanda are going to continue to be friends. 

After you check on the kids you schedule another date with Nebula for the next Sunday after you drop Rachel off. Then you continue on with your night with Wanda and the kids. Doing your best to keep your mind off of everything else.

Chapter 19

Taglist: @princessprudy @sayah13 @agaymilflover @awkwardmandalorian @bentleywolf29 @thatshyboy1998 @artisannat @thisischaismagic @wqndanat @madamevirgo @likefirenrain @tearsofglitter @feltlikethat @the-writer-arcane @natashasilverfox @karsonromanoff @aloneodi @lovelyy-moonlight @red1culous @jovialsublimecomputer @natasha-maximoff @iliketozoneout @doudouneverte @druggedduck @notbornbutforged @when-wolves-howl @lifespectator @justyourwritter69 @wandaromamoff69 @awesomelygayasf @nekoannie-chan @diaryoflife @wuwu96 @wandanats-goodgirl @sincerely-indi @blueredg52 @sisiofthemultifandom @fuzzyuniversityeclipsefriend @arcturusseer @scarlettwidow34 @chasethemoon @raven-ss @canyonyodeler @sokovianbaby @alexawynters @bittysworld @hopeless-romantic17177 @spongebobtentacles @the-ox-fan20 @shaniiwm

[femoso-seben]

Task Force 141 X gn Reader

Working with a Legend

Pt. 1

TW: Violence and Death

You stare out the truck window your a random sniper rifle in your hands. You had no particular type of sniper gun you specialized in. You're a jack of all trades master of none, for being a master of one is a fool's job. You picked up your gun and looked it over. It was one of the latest models. New scope and everything. You smirk and set it down.

They’re always someone looking at you. One of them was always looking at you. They could not stop watching you waiting to see your skills up close. Soap, that one watched you like a hawk as another sniper he was giddy, on the other hand, Ghost simply existed behind you.

He kept you in his gaze everywhere you go he followed. It was cute, like a puppy he was an obedient thing. You kinda of wanted to see how far he’ll go.

The truck came to a stop and you all filed out. You take a deep breath and wait for Ghost. He demanded you to be on his team so he could keep an eye on you. It’s been a few months, and this was the second mission. The first one you and Gaz sat taking out the individuals and snipers.

You turn to Ghost and nod, you're not here to win their trust, you're paid to be here. You didn’t need to like them and they didn’t need to like you. As long as they keep paying you and the price is proportional to the mission you’ll stick around. You’re a person who only does things not for honor, or the right thing, but for the money.

Money rules the world and you like to dominate things.

Your mission collect a Nazi terrorist group leader alive. A former customer, but you never sign deals where you can’t kill them. Soap walked in front while Ghost brought up the rear. The walk was silent as you three creep up on the compound these Nazis live in. You turn to Ghost.

“What’s your plan?” You asked. You’re not being paid enough to create a plan or to care if a plan is good or not. You’re paid to be a simple grunt there is no need to be anything more.

“Soap take the lead we’ll back you up.” Ghost instructs, “You stay back and cover us.” You nod.

Now you remember why you left the military. All these procedures were time-consuming and very boring. You could have simply killed the man without this hassle, but they want this fool alive. How annoying, how tedious. You stare at the racist and look away what a sad little man following another sad little man.

You sat back, back turned to the interrogation. You’re not paid to enough to care, if under investigation— you saw nothing. You put on your headphones— you hear nothing. It’s not your business. You look down at the gun, it is nice but a little pompous. they were clearly trying to win her over.

You smirk and look out of the building seeing the dead body littering the ground. Kate’s playing a deadly game. She didn’t want to lose you, but she also didn’t want you to slip from their fingers again. The door opens and you see the task force walking out of the room. The man was nowhere in sight, probably dead.

You stand and follow after the group Ghost of course behind you staring holes in the back of your head. You look over your cold eyes catching his. His gaze was a little hard to read, it was certainly an untrusting gaze.

“I don’t even know why you're even here.” Ghost finally spoke up in the quiet truck. Everyone turns to you waiting for a response.

“Tell that to Kate, It’s America’s money.” You turn to him with a slight smirk.

“Did his words bug you?” Soap asked looking at you up and down.

“Hardly, he’s not my employer. Even if he was I wouldn’t care.” You hum with a yawn. “I won’t lie this is a waste of my time and talent.” You push her hair back and look at them.

“Of course, you would think that.” Gaz sneers.

“Sweetheart, money talks and I like money.” You say honestly.

“So you’re a mercenary for money?”

“You can say that.” You won’t lie you technically are a mercenary but you also had private militia contact. You are part of a group. But they don’t need to know that.

A few days passed and Ghost spent of course his days staring at you. Watching you, hunting you. You learn to ignore it, it did get under your skin but he could not let him know it did.

Laswell walked in.

“Laswell, how have you been?” She turns to you with a scowl. No one liked you— it didn’t matter.

“You have a mission by the US Government.” She states.

“What is it?” Price stands up walking over to see the case files.

“It’s only for L.” A sly smirk crosses your face and you take the file.

It was a hit on a Middle eastern Terrorist leader. You look over the details and memorize everything. “Done,” You hand back the file and begin to walk away considering your plan.

“Wait.” You look over.

“They’re part of this team, this is our mission.” Ghost spoke up. He didn’t want you out of his grip.

“fives a crowd.” Ghost shot you a glare.

“I agree.” Price spoke up.

“Fine, I’ll take Gaz and Soap.” Price and Ghost frown but they cannot argue with her.

“All right.”

“Let me back my things.” You stand up and walk out.

“Keep an eye on them.”

You three left the next day on a cargo plane. It is a few hours and you’ll stop by a base pick up the gun and stalk your prey. The two men stared at you most of the time. You told them very little of the mission. The cargo plane lands and the tree walks over to the next plane.

As they walk you catch them up to date on the mission. The person’s name, their role in the terrorist group, the impact of them, and how you plan on finding them. “Do you got that?” They nod and look at each other it was a thorough plan.

Weeks pass as the three of them gather information on the target silently. They took out footmen and slowly hunted the man down. You three tracked the person down to a few buildings, he traveled too.

“What’s that?”

“Poison.”

“Why do you have that?” Soap asks.

“Watch.” You walked up to a little girl and spoke to her in her native tongue. The little girl took the vile.

“What the hell was that?”

“I’m making this easier on us, they want this to look like an accident.” You state as both men follow after you. “Go to that alleyway and shoot it up.”

“What?”

“We’re going to simulate a small skirmish and he dies from a stray bullet. I’ll signal you to begin shooting he’ll walk onto his balcony and I’ll get him”

“What’s the poison for?”

“It’ll force him to go upstairs.” Soap’s eyes lit up and he nodded both men finally understood. They nod and walk into the alleyway making sure no one else is there.

You take your spot and wait. You see him walking up into his room, “Now,” You say in the comms. They lit up the alleyway. As you thought the man stumbles out. You took the shot. before pulling out a second gun just like the ones used by Gaz and Soap.

You shot the balcony up and to the alleyway. “Let’s go!” You shout and they run after you.

“Is this how most of your mission goes?” Gaz asks a little out of breath.

“No, but since I got two helpers I used it.” You state as you guys head back to your makeshift home base.

“I see why Laswell doesn’t want you out of her grips.” Soap states as you three pack up.

“What can I say, I am highly wanted.”

[tarrynightss]

What they’d get you for Valentine’s Day

Characters: Jake Sully, Miles Quaritch, Tonowari, Tsu’tey, Ronal, & Neytiri (gender neutral reader)

Warnings: fluff

A/N: I couldn’t get what I wanted for today finished so have this little thingy for now 💓 happy Valentine’s Day cuties 💓

Jake Sully

Your favorite food

Jake would to try gather and prepare whatever food he knows you like best. Foraging is easy enough, but when it comes to cooking? Great mother preserve him he will struggle. He will have to retry it like four times till he finally feels confident enough presenting it to you.

He’ll cover your eyes and walk you over to the little spot where he set up the food, having thrown some woven mats down in the clearing for you to sit on. He’ll have picked the perfect spot near a twinkling creek or a lush part of the forest. It’s perfect, and though the food isn’t necessarily the best, his gesture is more than grand enough by itself.

Miles Quaritch

Dick A card

Miles had to be reminded by one of his squad mates that it was Valentine’s Day. He knew he was fucked if you saw all the humans at base chat about it while he turned up to you with empty hands. He could imagine your displeased face and the cold shoulder you would give him afterwards, and so he got to work. Pandora didn’t exactly have some store he could quickly run to buy a card or some oversized stuffed animal, not that he even knew if you’d like that in the first place. In the end he had attempted to make a card himself, folding a paper in half and writing some standard happy Valentine’s Day shit on it. He drew a heart on the front, which was very crooked but he was pleased enough to call it a day and slap it into your hands.

Tonowari

Self made bouquet

After Tonowari found out about the little human holiday, it turned into one of his favorite things. He was all for showing appreciation for his mate and had planned out what he would give you well before the day rolled around. People often forgot that the ocean too held stunning plants and flowers, but he was well aware of it. He swam far and wide to collect everything he had in mind, eventually having putting together a stunning and rare bouquet. He would take you out onto the ocean before presenting it to you, happily showing you all the spots where the flora originated from if you wanted to see it.

Tsu’tey

Customized weapon

Tsu’tey didn’t really get the use of the holiday. Why would he give you something that you would never look at again after the day? That would be a waste. No, instead he chose to indulge your human holiday in a different way, customizing a weapon for you. A dagger, bow, spear, whatever held your fancy. He carved intricate patterns into the wood and painted it, letting himself be inspired by whatever Pandoran animal you liked most.

His chest would be puffed out in pride when he gives it to you, explaining exactly why he did what as soon as it’s in your hands.

Ronal

Jewelry

Ronal would take the opportunity to design and make some jewelry for you. She’d use shells, beads, clear stones, whatever she could gather on the beach and in the ocean. She’d make a matching necklace and headband for you, putting the jewelry onto you with a sweet smile when the day finally comes. She’ll compliment you, noting how it accentuates your features, which of course she had thoroughly planned.

Neytiri

Night out

Neytiri is less for material gifts and more into the experience. She’ll want to take you for a night out in which the two of you fly on top of her Ikran as she recounts many of the moments you shared together. She will tell you of all the times she had stared up at these same stars you now flew under, thinking of you and counting the hours till she would see you again.

[yuurei20]

Riddle Info Compilation part 1: Upbringing

Riddle has a voice line of, “I read that the Queen of Hearts had a very amicable marriage. If there’s a secret to that, I wish I could share it with my parents.”

We do not hear much about his father, though he do know that both of his parents were (past tense?) famous magical healers.

Trey says that “Everyone where we’re from knew their names. His mom was especially talented, and she really wanted Riddle to live up to her legacy.”

We learn from Trey that every aspect of Riddle’s life growing up was planned down to the minute, including what he ate, wore, what soap he used and who his friends were.

Trey says that Riddle obediently completed every task he was assigned in order to please his parents, mastering his unique magic by the age of 10, and turning the enforcement of strict rules into a major part of his own personality.

When asked what job he would like to have in the future Riddle responds, “A…medical mage, I suppose”, saying that he was raised to take up the same mantle as his parents, but after serving as Heartslabyul’s housewarden he has taken an interest in the legal profession.

Riddle has a similar conversation with Azul, saying that becoming a medical mage was his original plan but he has developed an interest in the law. Azul recommends that he gets licensed in every field that interests him, saying, “Wth your talent, you could excel in any field you wanted. It would be a waste to settle for just one!”

Azul says, “It’s frustrating to see so clearly the difference between me and someone who’s worked hard their whole life,” and Riddle responds that he doubt that Azul would have the same ambition and drive that he does to day if he had focused solely on his studies that way that Riddle himself did as a child. 

Azul warns, “One moment of inattention and you might find me giving the valedictorian speech at graduation,” but Riddle responds, I’ll continue to stand at the fore as long as I’m in school—and after it as well. I won’t lose to anyone, ever. Not even you.”

Azul makes a comment on how “one has to make sacrifices to make their dreams a reality” which seems to resonate with Riddle.

Riddle is good at crossword puzzles because they were the only form of entertainment that he was allowed growing up. Riddle says that, as a child, he started creating his own crossword puzzles so that he could give them to Trey and Chenya one day. (He was never allowed to see Trey and Chenya again, however, prior to NRC, which would explain why he now has a collection of over 3,000 handmade crosswords.)

There are occasional references to how Riddle is still learning things about normal, everyday life for a student his age due to his harsh upbringing: he apologizes to Deuce for failing to “learn the appropriate customer etiquette” while purchasing mystery bags during News Year’s, which he heard from Cater is “a popular youth activity.”

Riddle says that he never participated in the Halloween events for children in his hometown so he is not well-informed on what goes on, but he does say that he only ends up drenched when bobbing for apples, so he may have some experience from somewhere.

Riddle says his household “wasn’t overly concerned with holidays” so they didn’t do anything in particular for Halloween.

“In fact, I wasn’t even allowed to walk around outside on days like this. I was a little jealous of kids who could dress up and go trick-or-treating.”

Epel responds, “Your parents sound really strict. But you don’t have to follow their rules now that you’re here at school, right? This is your chance to let loose and have fun!”

Riddle says he will consider it, and Epel invites him to celebrate in his hometown.

[duhragonball]

Daima 2: Glorio

About a third of this episode is dedicated to having the main characters react to the whole "turned into babies" thing. This is probably a good call, since the show was promoted on this gimmick, and it's worth showing off. Everyone looks super cute, and anyone who had facial hair becomes almost unrecognizable.

It feels like a bit of waste of time, but only because the "turned into babies" thing was all we knew about the show for the year or so before it premiered, so for me this feels like we're belaboring the obvious. Yeah, yeah, we know they're babies, we've been talking about it for months. But the show has to have the moment. This is why I don't get too invested into trailers and teaser trailers and analyses of trailers, and leaks and "Everything you NEED to know about..." videos. If you spend too much time dwelling on a future release, you'll lose out on the spontaneity when it finally comes out.

It's probably worth talking about who hasn't gotten turned into babies. Well, I should clarify that. I like calling them all babies because I think it's cute and funny, but most of the affected characters are more like seven-year-olds. Anyone who was already a child is turned into a literal baby, like Goten and Trunks. Also Dende, even though he's at least thirteen by now.

Specifically, Gomah's wish applied to the ones who defeated Buu and "all of their friends." So Master Roshi got turned into a kid, but not the waitstaff at Trunks' 9th birthday party. Ox King got turned into a kid, even though he never actually fought Majin Buu. Basically, if you can be considered part of Dragon Team, you got turned into a kid.

But Korin and the Turtle seem to be unaffected. Maybe they did get turned into children, and they just don't look any different. Or maybe the rest of Dragon Team secretly hates those guys, and so they don't fall into the "friends" category of the wish. Man, that's the sort of thing that would keep me up at night. Imagine your whole friends circle gets turned into babies, except you. There's really only one explanation for that, but you can't exactly say anything, because that'd just make it worse.

Oh, what am I worried about? Everyone likes me! I mean, everyone likes Korin and the Turtle. Yes, that is what I meant to say. Heh-heh...

Anyway, as for King Gomah, he had planned on making two more wishes, but Shenron clocks out early. Gomah's like "What the hell, man?" and Shenron tells him that the second and third wishes are for regular customers. First timers only get one wish and they just have to like it. Wait, so when he offered more wishes for Sorbet in Resurrection F, was that because Pilaf was with him? Fascinating.

Gomah's pissed because this means he can't get the Evil Third Eye, but Degesu is satisfied that they accomplished what they came here to do. Remember, Degesu didn't see the Earth as a threat in the first place. Dr. Arinsu planted the idea in Gomah's head, and Degesu was willing to go along with it, but he's probably just relieved they pulled this off without anything going wrong.

But why not just have Neva do the same trick he used to summon Shenron in the first place? Normally, you have to wait a year to use the Dragon Balls again, but Neva's ancient Namek power allowed him to collect and reactivate the Dragon Balls immediately. So in theory he could just do that over and over again and Gomah can have unlimited wishes? Well, no, Neva says "Even I can't do that twice in a row," so I'm glad we got a limit on that ability. That's the lesson there. You can invent a bullshit rule-breaking power, but it needs to have it's own limits and rules in order to keep it from being abused. Kryptonite will neutralize Superman, but it's not like you can just run to the drugstore and buy a bunch of kryptonite.

The Supreme Kai, Kibito, Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo all go to the Lookout to find out what happened, and Mr. Popo fills them in. The Supreme Kai realizes that it must have been his brother Degesu, and Piccolo recognizes the name "Neva" from Namekian history. He was the "Legendary Namek" who stayed behind in the Demon Realm after all the others left for the outside universe. He stayed to guard the Demon Realm's Dragon Balls, but it's not clear what he's protecting them from. If he didn't want the Demons making wishes, then why did he help Gomah use the Earth's Dragon Balls today? Curious.

Also, before Gomah's group left, he decided to take baby Dende along as a hostage. Also, as the keeper of the Earth's Dragon Balls, they believe holding Dende will make the Earth's Dragon Balls useless. I get why they'd want to do that, but I'm not sure I understand how physically removing Dende affects the Dragon Balls. When Guru was teleported from Namek to Earth, the Namekian Dragon Balls followed him there. So maybe it's like that? Or does the barrier between the Demon Realm and Earth make it so it seems like Dende is dead? The Dragon Balls become inert just like they would if Dende had died. Anyway, Neva seems to think this would go as Gomah expects, so they kidnapped baby Dende.

And Goku wants to go to Demon Realm and get him back. There you go, that's the good guys' motivation, right there. This was the problem GT had when it turned Goku into a child. It was basically an accident, so there was no enemy to fight in that situation, and Goku basically didn't care. It doesn't seem like Daima Goku is too worried about being a child either, and that's fine. Goku's a pretty laid back guy with this sort of thing. But if turning him into a child doesn't provoke some sort of response, then why do it at all?

Here the conflict is much more focused. Gomah went out of his way to turn Goku into a child because he saw him as a potential threat. And it seems that he kidnapped Dende to ensure that Goku couldn't simply undo the wish next year. So even if Goku doesn't mind being a child, he'd still want to go after Gomah, if only to rescue Dende and get to the bottom of this. It also helps that we have characters like Vegeta included in the whole babies wish, so even if Goku doesn't mind being a child, Vegeta is still highly motivated to undo the wish.

But more importantly, by doing all of this, Gomah seems to have provoked the very response that he was trying to avoid. Degesu thought there was no reason for the Earthlings to come to the Demon Realm, and now Gomah has given them a reason. He probably doesn't think that Goku's group is capable of putting up much of a fight in this state, but they already beat Majin Buu, so underestimating them seems like a bad idea.

Rememer, Dr. Arinsu was the one who planted the seeds for this whole conflict. If she hadn't said anything, Gomah never would have gone to Earth. So was this what she wanted to happen? Maybe she was trying to set off a conflict, and then Gomah would have to keep funding her research to improve his defenses. Or maybe Arinsu was counting on Goku to eliminate Gomah, so that another king would take over and give Arinsu the funding that Gomah would not.

And I don't want to spend a lot of time bashing GT with this (I already did that last year). You can kick off a story with an accident like Pilaf's thoughtless wish, and then establish a plot device that will destroy the world like the Black Star Dragon Balls. That's valid, but it's so much better when there's an antagonist in back of the problem, someone you can chase or fight or argue with over tea.

All right, so how do they get to the Demon Realm? According to Kibito, travel to and from has been heavily restricted for a long, long time. It's not clear who imposed the restrictions, or who Gomah had to make arrangements with for his own trip, but it's not as simple as teleporting or taking a spaceship. The Supreme Kai has an idea, and he sends Kibito to fetch the spaceship he used when he first came to this universe. He doesn't say where he came from, though. I'm guessing he and the other Kais all live in some other realm and he had to come here when he got the Kaioshin position in Universe 7. But maybe he was born in the Demon Realm, and he used this ship to leave? In any case, he believes this vessel will take them to the Demon Realm, except it's old and busted.

But that's okay, because we have Bulma to fix it. She takes a look under the hood and estimates it'll be a ten day job. So the principal cast is starting to take shape here. Goku is obvious, and the Supreme Kai has family on the bad guy side, so he has a clear stake in this. Piccolo is in because of the Namekian connection, and Vegeta wants revenge for getting turned into a baby. And we gotta have Bulma because she's the tech gal. I'm not clear on whether Kibito will tag along, but we don't see much of him in the closing credits, so I'm guessing he rides the pine for most of this story.

And this is great. One thing that always bugged me about Dragon Ball Super was how they kept loading way too many characters into every episode. They'd be fighting Frieza and Master Roshi has to be there. They're fighting Universe 6's team and we gotta check in with Jaco to see what he thinks about it all. They're getting ready to help save Future Trunks' world, but let's check in on Emperor Pilaf and see what he has to say about all this. Every time someone threw a punch in the Tournament of Power, the show would suddenly cut to the bleachers so Whis could explain why punches hurt.

I've been trying to find a way to describe the pacing in Daima, and it feels kind of relaxed and leisurely, but at the same time, it's not padded out the way the previous anime series were. Before, Toei would often set up B-plots and side conversations to fill time, and that's not really happening here. The cast is pretty small, and we're filling the time with exposition and just sort of letting the moments breathe. Goku goes on a little side-quest to get his Nyoi'bo, and they probably could have tightened it up, or skipped it altogether, but it's just this quiet little errand, and the show lets you drink in the ambiance.

Look at these li'l guys eating their li'l guy dinner with their mini-sized soda cans. It's great.

However, their dinner is interrupted by the sudden arrival of another Demon Realm ship like the one King Gomah used. This time, however, it's a whole other guy named Glorio, whom we saw spying on Gomah in Episode 1. He says he was tasked with recruiting Goku to defeat King Gomah in the Demon Realm. Goku's always ready to rock, but the Supreme Kai wants to know how Glorio has even heard of Goku. Glorio claims he learned about Goku from the King of the Third Demon Realm, who watched video of the Buu Saga just like Gomah. That... seems a bit curious. Later it'll become clear that the Demon Realm is divided into three worlds, so I guess it makes sense that each one has a king, and Gomah rules over them all. So the Third King might not be too happy about Gomah's reign.

But Glorio was also there when Gomah watched his own video of the Buu Saga. So it's almost like he's telling a half-truth. Glorio also says he was ordered by the Third King to come here, but when the Supreme Kai asks if he works for the Third King, Glorio says that he doesn't. The request was sent to him in secret. Well, what does that mean?

I'm guessing that Glorio's not telling the gang the whole story, or he may not be fully aware of it himself. For all we know, someone like Dr. Arinsu might have sent him the request and made it look like it was the Third King who submitted it. Whatever the case, the Supreme Kai decides to go with them, partly because his brother is involved with Gomah, and partly because he's suspicious of Glorio. He shouldn't have known about them being turned into children, but he wasn't surprised to see them in this state. To be fair to Glorio, nothing seems to really get much of a reaction out of him. He's a very low-key kind of guy.

Bulma asks to study his spaceship before they go, so she can use it as a reference for her work on the Kai's ship. Glorio insists that his vessel is a "plane", so I don't know if that's the correct term for it or if he's just a contrarian. I mean, it does more than fly in space, but it does fly in space so come on. Vegeta wants to go along, but the plane only has room for three. So Vegeta will have to wait for Bulma to finish repairing the other ship and then they can follow Glorio's group into the Demon Realm later.

I like this set up a lot. I think GT had a promising set up with a trio of main characters. Again, there's a lot to be said for focusing on a small cast instead of dumping in dozens of side characters who have to compete for screen time. But GT ran into issues pretty early on, and maybe it would have been helpful to have a second trio operating independently of the first. That way if the writers got stuck, they could switch to the second group, or have them link up later on.

I don't know if this would have done GT a lot of good, but it definitely seems like a smart strategy for Daima. This way we can focus on three characters, but there's still the promise that we'll get to see more of Vegeta, Piccolo, and Bulma later. If all six of them had gone together, it would have gotten dull, because at least two of them wouldn't have had much to do. This way we have something to look forward to.

[dailyreverie]

12 with Steve would be SO CUTE

He is a Dork. A cute one, but a dork still (affectionate). Also I got a bit carried away.

12. Post-it notes

Pairing: Steve Harrington x reader

word count: 711

Working during Valentine’s Day was not how you thought you would spend the day, especially not when both you and Steve were starting to make plans to spend it together. “I’ll find a way,” he had said, promising to make the day special for both of you.

It was impossible. The store was swamped with people looking for movies last minute before their dates up until late, forcing you to stay at the counter while Steve took care of the rest of the store, barely letting you spend the day together at work. You swapped places only when the rush calmed down, carrying on with your task of putting the boxes of returned movies back in their place.

Walking down the hall with the pile of boxes, your eyes immediately caught a bright pink post-it note pasted on the cover of one of the boxes on the shelf, the word “Be” written on it. You don’t give it much thought, maybe the customer put it there for whatever reason. But then, as you turn to the next hall, there’s another pink note on a box: “You”, it read, and when you recognize the handwriting it finally clicks.

It goes on like that for the next two halls of shelves, finding notes as you sort the movies and “My” and “Would” joining the previous two post-its giving you a small collection of notes: Be, You, My, Would.

Every word made you more excited than the last, and when you find the last note you were sure your cheeks were about to tear open from how much you were smiling. The post-it, with a “Valentine?” written on it, finished the phrase with a heart instead of a dot. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Harrington.” You accused him, placing the 5 boxes on the counter that forming the full phrase with them. “You are ridiculous.” You were smiling way too much for someone framing him for being a cheesy boyfriend.

Would you be my Valentine?, written with pink post-it notes, was displayed in front of him. Steve leaned against the counter, meeting you eye to eye from the other side of it. “Did it work?” He smirked with too much confidence even for him, as if he had risked something by asking you that.

“Do I even have a choice?” Your eyebrows raise, and he almost chuckles. “Are there any benefits that come with it that I don’t already have?”

After taking a second to think about it, Steve shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. “You could say no and completely break my heart but yeah you have a choice.” He replies with evident sarcasm as if it weren’t a big deal, as if he hadn’t planned and forced you to stay at the front desk so he could have time to scatter the notes around the store.

“Ridiculous.” Almost even exasperated, you grab him by his uniform vest to pull him towards you, meeting him halfway to kiss him, slowly and tenderly, letting his lips play around for a bit with yours as if you weren’t in the middle of a store - let alone in the middle of your workplace; you kiss him fully ignoring the place you are, as it is the only way Steve Harrington knows how to shut up.

“I told you I was going to find a way,” He reminded you, looking right into your eyes to make sure you knew that Steve never breaks a promise.

“You sure did, and I loved it.” You let your heart stabilize for a second before carrying on. “And I love you.” You kissed him again with the same tenderness as before, not wasting one more minute to celebrate your love.

“Hmm, and I didn’t even tell you about the benefits that come with being my Valentine.” Your lips barely part when he speaks, eyes still closed and feeling a bit light-headed.

“I want to find out along the way,” you answer with a peck, letting him go of your grip. “But they better be good.”

“Oh trust me, they are.” He leans in for another kiss over the counter, with his eager lips trying to part yours, just to give you a taste of the day that awaited you.

Thanks for reading! Please reblog and comment if you enjoyed it!

[garmgeyr]

A package finds itself in Dreamflux Reef. It is rather large, just about as wide as the space between someone's shoulders, and wrapped humbly with brown paper and twine, with nothing but an 'R' and a 'to Mr. Gallagher' written on it. One might question how or why it got here, but to ask would be a waste. There is no sublime realization or philosophical soliloquy to be had, the package is just there for a very simple reason—someone had wanted to give something to Gallagher, and so they did.

Within this simple package—delivered thanks to a simple wish—one would find a note and a box. The note, scented lightly with lavender, reads:

Dear Mr. Gallagher, I hope this package reaches you. I have been traveling a lot lately and didn't have the time to deliver it to you myself, like I had intended. I wanted to thank you for everything and so thought to send this present. You have been a reliable ally and—if you don't mind me saying—a trustworthy friend. In the near future, I would love to meet with you again! I truly cherish the times we spend together and, beyond that, have missed being in Dreamflux Reef with the children. As I am currently away, though, this will have to suffice. Speaking of which: while this present is addressed to you, please do share it with the good people of Dreamflux Reef—though you have always been generous with your talents, so I am certain you would have done so even without me saying. And let me know if you want more of anything particular—I would be more than happy to keep you stocked up. :) I wish you all the best! Harmoniously, Robin

As for the box: Should its tape be removed and lid be lifted, one would find an array of different ingredients within it, all foreign to Penacony—and some even foreign to this realm (Romaritime Flower syrup? How did that make it through customs…) There are bags of dried leaves and spices, each labeled with a name and a place of origin. There are also small glass bottles of syrups and liquids, similarly labeled and cushioned by shreds of paper. The variety in this collection is very carefully chosen, all in the hopes that it will be appreciated by a veteran drinksmith.

Happy "Birthday," Gallagher!

Deliveries around here usually made a stir, because very few of the quiet city’s residents had anyone left to send them anything. Occasionally letters trickled down from the golden dream, but a package turned heads.

“Who’s that from?”

Everyone in the bar stopped what they were doing to look at the Reef’s disheveled old hound and the wrapped box he braced under one arm as he came through the door.

“Take a guess,” he challenged the breadmaker with a smirk, and went over to the counter to set it down. She twisted her head to read the writing on the front of the letter tucked underneath the twine.

“R…” She gasped suddenly. “This isn’t from… Miss Robin?”

Whispers surged through the room, but the man merely smiled as he began to unwrap the rest of the box. It looked like it’d been opened already, then tied back up again in the same haphazard way the culprit dressed himself. The breadmaker with her hands on her hips peered over the lid to get the first glimpse of the treasure packed carefully inside, just like the pair playing pool in the corner had stopped their game entirely to crane their necks to see.

Her eyes widened. “What a collection…”

“Mhm. Quite the thank-you, eh? And it comes with the night off for you.” He looked up at her and then laughed. “What’s that face for?”

“It really should be us thanking her.”

“Don’t worry about that.” He’d take care of it, in other words. “Just take a seat and let me handle the drink-making tonight.”

“…” The breadmaker’s face softened into a smile, then sharpened up again with a hearty laugh. “Alright, but you’re going to need a few dozen more people in here if you’re planning on making us your taste-testers again. You two.”

She snapped at a pair of teenagers rocking back in their chairs by the door. Both slapped the legs down to the cement floor and sat up, startled straight.

“Drag the extra tables around from the back and set ‘em up outside. And the rest of you— tell everyone you know that drinks are on the house tonight,” a sly smile tossed sidelong at her replacement, “Gallagher’s treat.”

It didn’t take long for the little ramshackle bar and its patio to fill up after that. It wasn’t any sort of grand party or occasion like what one might find in a sweet dream, of course, but there was familial camaraderie and comfortable conversation, a warm hum of talk and laughter under the strings of blinking bulb lights, and the clink of glasses with toasts for nothing but the joy of a special evening shared with a handful of friends. Some of the drinks told stories of distant lands, of a planet in a bubble, of flowers that only bloomed under the sea. Others held the scent of bonfires, the orchestras of crickets, the cool grass of a sunlit morning, and the weighted comfort of a loved one bundled in your arms. For but a moment, life bloomed in the city of the sea.

When the drinks were through, everyone said their goodbyes and went home again. The streets quieted just as they had been, just as they always were. The old drinksmith looked on as he cleaned the last of the glasses and put them away, wearing an expression that was as serene as it was sad.

As all endings are. Once experienced, never again.

And because there is another version of the story.

One that takes place in a lonely old graveyard at the heart of a quiet city where a box has been left at the foot of a canine guardian carved from stone. An offering for a family long gone, whose names have been all but forgotten.

[justareallyverychillperson]

Rocket Raccoon-Autism and Immaturity

One way that autism can present in a person, is behaviour and speech patterns commonly associated with those younger than the autistic individual themselves. Here are a few examples of this appearing in GotG, related to Rocket.

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SPOILERS FOR VOLUME THREE!!!

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Vol.3 (Counter-Earth flashbacks)

Rocket as 89P13 plays with his friends much like a child would all the way until he becomes an adolescent. This is partially justified by their collective enhancements and their ignorance of social norms pertaining to the outside world. Regardless, the way he does not influence any of the admittedly adorable aspects of their childish games points to a mindset that rather chooses to embrace it fully.

He has learned to speak and enough equations to fly a spaceship, but forgets a phrase that has two many consonants (the enzyme thing that gets suppressed to make "angry turtles") Here the maturity of his vocabulary varies greatly. He also says thems and cants instead of them and cant. Of course he is still just a child but is nonetheless a gifted one with the theoretical potential of sounding much older than he indeed does in the scene.

vol.1

While we do not know how old Rocket is supposed to be, his criminal record implies he's very much an adult. And yet, here are some things he says before his arrest.

(to Groot) Learn genders man!

(gets bitten by Gamora) Biting? That's not fair [we later learn of his alleged history of this]

I live for the simple things. Like how much this is gonna hurt--- yeah, writhe, little man!

The schadenfreude mixed with slur "humie" which no one else says but him, makes him seem like the youth he was when he ran. Naturally, since no one was around to tell him to grow up in one way or another. Likely, his brain misremembered the word human and no one ever bothered to correct him, as it was after he escaped the High Evolutionary.

Vocabulistics is a rare example of advanced language similar to technobabble- half the words stored in his cybernetics are engineering related.

In the prison he is unarmed and does not hesitate to seek out security in his new humie pal, pawing at him several times to beg him away from the danger. His hunched-over stance adds to the meek display.

Another bonus is when he misses Gamora's sarcasm, before barking at Quill and whining about the plan going awry. Every parent has seen their child pull at their face like he does.

On Knowhere, his main objection to the way the rest of the team treats him is when Gamora, a woman, calls him a rodent. That's the last straw for the poor guy...not a pest, not a thing, just a smaller animal ^^

He mocks the Collector's mannerisms and goes straight to raising his voice when their dawdling customer stalls further by asking about type of currency. Yes, he is scared. Also, he is having a bit of a tantrum as opposed to speaking up about his anxiety. Not just trust issues...

"you got issues Quill"- sounds like someone skipped out on giving a raccoon sex education

Furthermore, his jokes about prostethics. That's it. His issues translate to innocent mischief. Why? Bc psychology.

Honorable mention goes to a touch-starved fella letting a complete stranger pet him due to Tree Death.

Lastly, his inability to grasp right and wrong. You apparently can't fit moral code and piloting next to each other.

Vol 2.

The winking. In the words of James Gunn "Cybernetics glitch sometimes" Tic disorder, anyone?

Again, the sarcasm. He even goes so far as to request Peter spell it out for him.

The desire to threaten with bodily wastes. Someone else's to boot.

He thinks objects getting larger as they get closer is a groundbreaking observation.

He doesn't know what suspicious behaviour looks like but is very tuned in to his general feelings towards people.

His blunt warning to Quill about his dad gets misconstrued as an insult. Not his fault his own 'dad' made him a bit cynical towards parents.

He chooses to use his captivity to laugh at the name Taserface and gets hung up on the reason Groot doesn't like hats. Confusion about other people's behaviour? Busted. (sidenote: he doesn't mind being called a rat as opposed to a rodent. Interesting standards)

His cybernetics glitch again when attempting to show scepticism towards Yondu's excuse for keeping Quill around. Can't express what you don't know.

He dubs the button not to press the Death Button. Dramatic much?

The irony of a guy who says frickin' at every opportunity teaching his plant baby brother not to swear xD

vol 3. Present day

He jumps into the arms of both Quill and Groot upon waking up. Reflex.

He listens to music even when Quill isn't there to hear it. It's only ever been a stim to him. Peter gets credit for reminding him, though.

[gorbalsvampire]

𝖃𝕴𝕴𝕴 𝕿𝖆𝖑𝖊𝖘 𝖋𝖗𝖔𝖒 𝕱𝖊𝖚𝖉𝖆𝖑 𝕭𝖔𝖍𝖊𝖒𝖎𝖆

𝔄𝔠𝔱 ℑℑℑ, 𝔰𝔠𝔢𝔫𝔢 𝔦𝔳

Our story reaches its first peak, with Theodericus awakening to overhear hushed words between Libussa and... is that Prince Brandl? Surely not. Most unlike him to be concerned with a lowly mortal. Putting his new Heightened Senses to the test, Theodericus overhears an an overture being made - or perhaps a reassurance given.

In haste, the young Ventrue hies him to the Inn of the Four Stags, there to meet with Marsillius and put the Brujah to the question. Surely Ecatarina or Cosmas know where the Prophet of Kupala might be found, and what his designs on the Basilica might be. Theodericus was very hung up on the idea that a church might be deconsecrated, and wanted to be damned sure that wasn't the plan. Cosmas reassured him that, as a former deacon who'd arranged a deconsecration for his first parish, there was a little more to it than Theodericus might think, and also that the Church does not casually discard a whole-ass Basilica.

Marsillius was intrigued and asked about said parish: it was, said Cosmas, the parish of St. Stephen's in what is now the Jewish ghetto, in the old cemetery that's now the new cemetery. Theodericus and Marsillius blinked: there was no church in the Josefov cemetery. Cosmas assured them that yes, there was. And this was a sign, the first sign, that something was up.

It was decided that they needed a Malkavian to catch a Malkavian. They needed Octavio's childe. Off to the convent to collect Alzbeta. A very hungry Alzbeta, who had once again been trying to induce Premonition...

But before we get into that, let's talk about Mariam. Mariam who had seen fit to venture into the cemetery alone, having picked up a trail from that circuit of BREAD CRIMINALS who constitute her modest Herd. Ruth told her there was a reason they made their drops by the stream that flows under the cemetery: there was a customer who wanted a lot of bread and, according to Simon who'd followed him into the cemetery one night, was living in the old Christian church...

Yes. Of course there was an old Christian church. Hadn't there always been?

Mariam decided there was no time to waste. She rang the lich gate bell, left a scrawled message in the wood of the gate, and ran like hell up through the trees and the gravestones and the winding hummocky paths to a dark, drab, modest chapel - a stolid, decaying cruciform of a building, a roost of owls screened from the world's vulgar gaze by overgrown and tangled yews.

With the Silence of Death woven about her, Mariam pushed open the door; deep, dark, that even her Eyes of the Beast could barely penetrate. Pews... pulpit of stone... the faint lightness of leaded windows...

She stepped inside, and plunged into an Escherian nightmare of stairs, arches, walkways, pillars; wooden doors that had the vague shape of pews about them. Tapping ahead of her with her staff, and cursing her importune folly, she tried to find her way forward, but the Mental Maze of the prophet was taking its toll on her will.

His voice drifted through the deeps, telling her what he had seen - red star, thin blood, world would be as Gehenna, if the Fiends are strong this can be prevented. Mariam was having none of it, gritting her teeth and accusing him of the murder of the rabbi Zachary - almost forgetting the name as her willpower was sapped still further. The penalty for death, she told Octavio, was death -

And the world shifted about her, and she was clinging to a pillar in the dark as all the pathways turned turtle and twisted. In that moment, by some strange outward compulsion, her Convictions were no longer as they were - to hell with being greater than the beast. Eric's lesson was to indulge it. To live with harmony. To exist in accordance with its needs.

Alzbeta, meanwhile, was troubled. Her vision of Octavio had come again - this time, a prophet in a pulpit before a congregation that could not see him for what he was - and she came to understand that this was not quite how it happened. Nothing was quite how it had happened. Her memories were not as they should be.

Still convinced that Octavio was not a villain of his own volition, as it were, she asked God or the Cobweb or both: how do we stop him without killing him?

And the answer was: Theodericus. He had not expected four Cainites. The others he had plans for, but not the Ventrue knight. There was a lovely conversation between the three who remained at large, a refrain of "with all the love in my heart" passing between them, as it was impressed on each by each that this was urgent. Kupala's Night was tomorrow night. If he wasn't stopped now... he might never be.

They went at once to the Josefov's gates, to the lychway, where they were met by Othelio - Mariam's broodmate, who had answered the ringing of the bell and was most perturbed. So perturbed, in fact, that he led them into the warren beneath the cemetery - showing them a passage that led up into the apse of St. Stephen's as was, if you but broke through one flagstone.

Alzbeta was the first to climb, her Beast howling - Hunger 4, at this point - and Six accepted a devil's bargain to gamble Alzbeta's Humanity on not letting a hunger frenzy drag her further down. Climbing into the dark, Alzbeta had to dare the Mental Maze, and even Rousing - Hunger 5! - could not save her. She climbed and climbed and climbed while Octavio asked her: is this how it ends?

It was the first time any of us at the table had heard Alzbeta genuinely angry. Genuinely shouting at her sire, full throated, that what he was doing was not God's work nor Humanity's, that she had to stop him to save him...

Marsillius was next, and as he braved the Maze he broke the charm and saw the interior of St. Stephen's for what it truly was. There was Mariam, frozen in the doorway, clutching at the jamb as if her unlife depended on it. There was Alzbeta, scrabbling like one of her spiders, trying to climb the wall as if to touch the windows above. And there, in the pulpit, white-knuckled and red-eyed, a figure that looked like him. Older. Haggard. Wretched. Mad. And clearly on the verge of frenzy himself, because ol' Relleytrots here cannot use Mental Maze with any SPC and not fail all three Rouse checks to get it going. Thank goodness for Octavio's deep, deep Willpower pool.

What to do? Marsillius could see what was afoot, but he was no warrior born - just a little monk! He ran out into the church proper, determined at least to attract Octavio's attention, and stopped short: there they were, row upon row of them. A congregation, half-starved, half-bled, and all blind: not a one in possession of their eyes. The stench of humanity at its lowest, in thrall to Humanity now forsaken.

Theodericus clambered into the chapel. To his eyes, Octavio stood at the head of this congregation; Marsillius in the pulpit, mad with fear. Mask of Isolation. You've gotta love it. Theodericus did what he had to do and gave chase to the "prophet" and Marsillius did what he had to do and ran like hell. Straight into Mariam. Desperately gabbling that they were all going mad, that it was him, that her eyes were not to be trusted, that whatever she was seeing was not real.

Mariam came out of the maze. For this moment only, her soul was torn, one quarter of her heart given over to the Via Bestiae, and so she called upon the Beast Within and the beasts of the air. Down swooped a flight of owls, shrieking and shrilling, hooting and hollering, and that was the moment Octavio finally snapped and entered a frenzy.

Flailing and cursing to the sane, but to Alzbeta in her visionary state? Crucified. Crucified with his arms outstretched, crying to Heaven, and she was so hungry...

Was it truly him? Was it one of her friends? Some poor dupe like Marsillius who just looked the part?

The Beast cares not, and she drank. She drank deep and deep, and she drank until the body in her arms went rigid -

And there was Theodericus, with the Prophet's heart impaled on his Mithraen sword.

Enter Josef Zvi, as the coterie found what comfort they could. Arrangements were made. The wretches in the Prophet's care would be taken to such hospitals and surgeons as their circumstances allowed. Many would not survive; none would truly have lives worth living; but they would not simply be killed outright. Neither, said Josef, would Octavio. Moved by Alzbeta's pleas, he agreed to advocate for one adversary with another; to approach the Prince of Prague and plead for Octavio to be spared the Final Death or further suffering.

Tomorrow night would be Kupala's Night. Prince Brandl would hold court. Libussa would be present, and at his behest she would before the assembled Cainites drink of him, and be free of her ancient mistress. Orsi and Katya would be present, and as a cousin Ventrue Orsi would be shown mercy for his violation of multiple Traditions in Embracing her. Katya would become a ward of Prince Brandl's court, her education the responsibility of Ardan the Warlock; Orsi would be banished thus from Prague, with five nights to get him hence. And Octavio would be given into the care of Garinol the Cappadocian, whose arts were best suited - in the absence of any Salubri - to trawling the Malkavian's sleeping madness in search of answers. Provided Octavio was not wakened from torpor - provided he remained staked - he would not be killed.

One more piece of business. Theodericus von Ingolstadt. His services were needed. If the Prophet had been at work in the east, in Carpathia, then further devilment may be afoot. Prince Brandl - as prince, as nymphus of the cult, as cousin Ventrue - asked Theodericus to ride for Buda-Pesth, to the court of Nova Arpad, and deliver warning to her of what's afoot. Perhaps, when work schedules permit again, Theodericus will return - but for now, Real Life Writes The Plot.

And here, for now, our story ends.

I'll see you in October.

[naminethewriter]

Birthday Roses

@loceitweek is back and so am I! This first one is a bit rushed since I was busy this week and was too exhausted to work on this earlier but it still turned out pretty cute I think 🤭 Starting this off with Intruloceit because of Remus' birthday, though it is focused on Loceit, don't worry 💛💙

Masterpost | Loceit Week 2023 Masterpost | Ao3

Summary: Janus goes to Logan's shop to pick him up for their dinner for their husband's birthday.

No content warnings

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“I apologize but we are closed for the day,” Logan called as the bell attached to the shop entrance door rang.

“Punctual as always, dear,” a smooth voice responded and Logan rounded the corner to find one of his husbands standing there, smiling.

“Ah, Janus. Have you finished for the day as well then?”

“Indeed. But Remus is still finishing up his last customer.”

“I see. If you would flip the sign on the door for me, I can finish up his bouquet and we can pick him up together.” Without waiting for an answer, Logan disappeared back into the back of his shop. Janus huffed but followed his husband’s instructions before going towards the back himself. Finding Logan in the process of pushing some sticks between a bunch of roses was not what he expected, especially the color of the flowers.

“Did you dye those roses using ink?” he chuckled. Logan, who apparently hadn’t heard him enter, quickly turned around, his cheeks tinted red.

“Well… Yes. Yellow roses I had already and while blue roses do exist, they are genetically modified and not easy to acquire and there are no green ones, but Remus expressed that he liked our colors together and he expressed interest in receiving a bunch of roses after we watched those romantic comedies together and I figured he would like the science behind it, so…” Janus stopped Logan’s embarrassed rambling by putting a finger to his lips.

“Darling, I wasn’t making fun of you. I think it’s a very sweet idea and Remus will appreciate them. Especially if you left the thorns.”

“I did. He told me before that he thinks it’s a waste to cut them off,” Logan mumbled, face turned away from his husband to hide his blush. This side of Logan was one Janus rarely got to see, flustered and shy. He enjoyed the sight immensely, but they should get back to Remus’ store next door before he finished the last tattoo of the day.

“If you are done arranging them, we should leave before Remus goes home without us.” Logan snorted, shaking his head.

“You know as well as I do that he would never. He would sooner break in here to find us than go home alone.”

“I do not know what you are talking about, he would use the first opportunity he got to get away from us,” Janus smirked. Logan rolled his eyes fondly and got back to putting the last touches on his arrangement. Janus kissed his head before moving to start cleaning up the place a bit so they could leave sooner. He helped out with both of his husbands’ stores regularly, while also taking art commissions for his own income, so he knew his way around.

Two minutes later, all tools were in their places, the plants who needed it were watered and the bouquet was finished, which meant that Logan could lock up in peace and they could go to collect their other husband for his birthday dinner.

“Thank you for helping, Janus. I would have run much later on my own,” Logan commented while locking the last door.

“I would have never anticipated that exact scenario and planned accordingly,” Janus quipped, earning a huff from Logan.

“You can be insufferable.”

“Oh, I am aware.”

Laughing, they went to pick up Remus, who loved the flowers so much he wouldn’t stop hugging them until they were almost late for their reservation. A successful birthday celebration indeed.

[chimerickat]

For the trope question, interrupted kisses are always fun if a little frustrating !

Five times Seto Kaiba seems like he wants to kiss you, and the one time he kisses you.

Either keep reading below the cut, or on AO3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43853316

One.

When you hear a knock on the front door of the store, you're ready to disappear into the backroom. The store is closed, and you’re just cleaning up for the night.

But then you glance at the door and see Seto Kaiba standing on the other side of the glass. He isn't just any customer so you hurry over to unlock the front door and let him in.

"Hi Kaiba. Yugi isn't here at the moment." You know he and Yugi are friendly, but Yugi is on a date. It's why he asked you to close up the shop for him.

"I'm aware." Kaiba stares down at you. "Yugi said I could still come by to pick up some new booster packs."

“Oh cool.” It would have been nice if Yugi had mentioned that plan to you. “Let me check if he has anything set aside for you.”

Kaiba follows you to the register. Underneath sit the special orders, but you don’t see anything with Kaiba’s name on it.

“Sorry,” you apologize. “I can try to text him if you want?”

He grunts and stares at you. After a moment, you assume that, yes, you should text Yugi.

“Kaiba is here after close expecting booster packs? Please help! I didn’t agree to this!!!”

After you hit send, you realize that you need to stand around waiting for Yugi to respond. “Are there any cards you’re looking for with the new boosters?”

Kaiba raises his eyebrow. “Why else would I bother buying them?”

“Right.” You sigh. “Well if you don’t want to participate in polite conversation, I’ve got a register to deal with.” You wave at the rest of the store. “Feel free to wait wherever.”

You ignore him, not wanting to see his reaction, as you open the cash drawer and begin to close for the night. The task requires your focus as normally Yugi or his Grandpa do the job, and you don’t want to screw it up. By the time you’re done, Kaiba is working at a table and Yugi has responded to your text.

"sorry!"

"told him i wouldnt be there"

"thought he wasnt going"

"just let him get w/e from back room"

Right. Well you can't be too mad at Yugi. His date tonight had been his focus. "Hey, Kaiba?" He looks up. "Yugi says you can collect your packs from the back room."

"Fine." His focus turns back to his laptop. He keeps typing. You wait for him to put his laptop away. He doesn't.

"You can pick out the booster packs now."

"I'll do it once I've finished this," he says without looking up.

You look at the time. Yugi absolutely owes you overtime, but you won't ever close the shop for him again. "Kaiba, I'm leaving. You can either let me unlock the storage room for you now, or you can hang out here and wait for Yugi."

He looks up and narrows his eyes. "I waited on you, and my time is worth significantly more than yours."

"Are you trying for insulting or a guilt trip? You can't do both."

He rolls his eyes. "I'm pointing out that you're being unreasonable."

You stare at him. The sheer audacity of Seto Kaiba calling you unreasonable has you shocked into silence. He wouldn't know reasonable behavior if it showed up in a Blue Eyes White Dragon car.

You are about to say as much to him, but he shuts his laptop and puts it back in his briefcase. Then he stands up and waves his hand forward, inviting you to lead the way.

You bite your lip and lead him to the back storage room. The new booster packs technically aren't supposed to launch until later in the week, but of course, Kame Game already has their shipment.

You look through boxes for the new boosters. Most of the boxes sitting out are already half-empty. Yugi restocked the floor this morning, and you intended to restock after close before Kaiba crashed the party.

"He must have put the boosters out of the way," you say. "Let me get the step ladder."

"I could still be working, but again, you're wasting my time."

"Next time, make sure you come when Yugi is here then." You pull the step ladder out from the closet and over to the main shelves. Then you start pulling the boxes out just enough to check their contents until you find one full of booster packs. "Got it!"

You hold the box with one hand and the shelf with the other as you ease yourself back to the ground. Then you hand the box out to him. "Okay, Yugi says take whatever you want."

He grabs a bunch of packs. "Add them to my tab." Then he lifts the box and places it back on the shelf.

"Show off," you mutter.

He smirks and looks down on you. He's already standing close, but he takes a step closer. "Next time, I'll be sure to come when Yugi isn't around."

You have to think twice about what he's saying before it clicks. Even then, it doesn't quite make sense. He leans toward you, still smirking.

Then one of the disturbed boxes tilts, and you watch as a bunch of action figures fall onto Kaiba's head. Some of them hit you as well, but he gets the majority of the damage.

He curses and storms out without looking your way.

Two.

When Kaiba walks into your favorite coffee shop as you're waiting for your drink, you wonder if you should pretend that you don't see him. You've replayed the moment in the storage room over and over, and you think he had been about to kiss you.

You're also sure that you're making it all up. Seto Kaiba would have no reason to kiss you. Especially not after you'd spent the whole time being rude to him.

He notices you before you can make up your mind. The moment his eyes meet yours, you know that you can't ignore him. You smile and wave. Then you turn back to the bar, hoping your drink will be ready soon.

Kaiba walks over to the bar, briefly speaks with the barista, and is presented his drink. Of course he orders ahead. You're not even surprised.

Then he approaches you instead of leaving.

"So you'll wait for a drink but not for me to finish my work."

"Waiting for your coffee is pretty standard practice for most people, Kaiba. We're not all important men who run the city like you are."

He raises an eyebrow. "The app to order ahead is available to everyone."

Right. Of course he used an app. You don't know why you thought his assistant called ahead to ensure his drink would be ready.

He smirks. "This isn't the way I imagined shutting you up, but it'll work for now."

Oh. He couldn't possibly mean...? You can feel the surprise showing on your face, but you can't help it.

Then you hear the barista calling out your name. You dart around Kaiba, grab your drink, and dash to the door. He doesn't move from his spot, and you don't look back as you leave the shop.

Three.

When Mai throws a party, she goes all out. It seems like everyone she knows is present, whether she likes them or not.

But still, you're surprised when Kaiba walks up behind you and puts one hand down on the bar. He's sideways so his body is facing you, and you worry that if you turn toward him, your shoulder will hit his chest. So you turn just your head. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Kujaku blackmailed me into coming." He gets the attention of the bartender and asks for a brand of beer that you've never heard of before. Then his attention shifts back to you. "She even had the audacity to demand an expensive birthday present."

You're intrigued. "What blackmail does Mai have on you?"

"Emotional." Then he changes the subject. "This party sucks. We should leave."

"Emotional blackmail?" You consider the words as you say them out loud. "Like she made you feel guilty about not wanting to come?" It was the trick she pulled on you. You frown. That just doesn't seem like Kaiba, but maybe he likes Mai more than you thought.

"No." He doesn't say anything further.

You turn on your barstool, ready to hop off in search of the birthday girl. Maybe she'll let you in on her secret blackmail.

Then Kaiba blocks you. "Where are you going?" he demands to know.

His hands lean on the bar on either side of you. You would have to duck underneath his arms to get away. Instead you put a hand on his chest, ready to push. "I was going to look for Mai?"

"So she can introduce you to someone?"

"What...?"

He's leaning forward on the bar. His face is close to yours. His blue eyes seem to be studying you. "Leave the party with me."

"Are you asking me to go home with you?" you blurt out before you can think about the words.

He's looking at your lips. You can tell he's looking at your lips. Then one of his hands comes up to cup your chin. "Yes."

"KAIBA! Give 'er some space."

Kaiba stands upright and spins around to face Jonouchi. "Mind your own business, mutt."

You slip off the barstool and disappear into the crowd, intent on avoiding their fight and finding Mai.

Four. 

You look up from your book to see Kaiba standing in front of you. He startles you. "Hey, Kaiba. Yugi is upstairs." 

"Hn." He steps closer to you and looks at your book. 

You pull the book closer to your body, keeping the cover out of sight. "It's just something Anzu loaned to me." That's true. She did loan it to you, insisting it was amazing. However, you don't want to defend your reading choices to Kaiba. You hope throwing Anzu's name into the mix will keep him quiet. 

"A treaty on friendship?" 

You stare at him for a moment, trying to understand... then you realize he's making a joke. You smile. "I think she saves all of her friendship pamphlets for you."

He raises an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware she wanted my friendship."

"She probably doesn't." You shrug. It's no secret that Anzu is one snarky comment away from trying to deck Kaiba. "But you and Yugi are friends so I'm sure she'd like to get along." 

"What about you?" He's suddenly in your space, leaning on the chair you're sitting in. His eyes lock onto yours.

You look for an escape, but short of sliding down between his legs, you have nowhere to go. "What about me?" 

"What kind of relationship do you want with me?" 

It's a bold question. You can hear Mai in the back of your head, saying he likes you. She said the only reason he came to her party was to be sure she didn't set you up with someone. Yugi even mentioned that Kaiba talked about you more than anyone else. 

And now he's leaning down like he's going to kiss you. 

"Hey, Kaiba--WHOOPS!" 

Kaiba steps back at Yugi's shout. You take that opportunity to stand up from the chair and back away. 

Yugi's face reddens as he looks between the two of you. "Did I interrupt?" 

"No," you say before Yugi can finish, before Kaiba can say anything himself. Then you hurry away for the backroom. You can pretend to be busy there. 

Five.

As you push open the front door for Kame Game, you feel the chilly night air rush past you. Yugi keeps the shop warm and comforting so it's an unpleasant surprise. You step out of the shop, wishing you had warmer clothing. You keep forgetting to bring a jacket for your evening walk home, and you know you'll be freezing by the time your bus arrives.

Still, you carry on to the bus stop. If you wait inside the shop, you run the risk of missing the bus if it shows up early. As much as you like Yugi, you don't want to hang around waiting for another bus if you miss your usual line.

At the stop, you try to curl into yourself as much as possible to keep warm. It doesn't work.

Then a car pulls up to the stop. The windows are tinted so you can't see who is inside, and thoughts of kidnapping rush through your brain. Do you have a weapon on you? Can you just run back to the game shop?

The window rolls down. Kaiba is alone in the car. "Get in," he says.

It's late and cold. Kaiba isn't a stranger. You don't waste time pretending to protest. You pull open the passenger door and get into his car. "Thanks for the ride home."

"We're having dinner first," he says as the car pulls away from the curb.

"Generally you ask people to go on dates with you. I think abducting them off the street is frowned on."

He frowns. "You willingly got into my car."

"I think it made sense to assume you were driving me home."

"Well I'm driving you to my home."

Your eyes narrow. "I thought you said we were going to have dinner?"

"Yes, in the privacy of my home, with the best chef in the city."

The car stays silent. You study Kaiba while he drives. He glances over and catches you staring. You try not to look away even as you feel your face warm up. He doesn't comment on it and focuses back on the road ahead.

When he pulls up to his mansion, he stops his car in front of the entrance. After he turns the engine off, he reaches for his seatbelt. You put your hand on his, getting his attention. "How long have you wanted to ask me out?" You're teasing him. He deserves it for not properly asking you on a date. "Please tell me you haven't been stalking me, waiting for a chance to lure me into your car."

"Of course not!" He pulls away from you and gets out of the car. You push open your door and get out.

"What if I'm already seeing someone?"

He glares as he approaches you. "Are you?"

"No." You shrug. "I'm just pointing out that you haven't asked me out yet so you're making a lot of assumptions here."

He cups your face with his hands. "No. I don't think I am." Then he leans down to kiss you.

"Seto!" He pulls away with a groan. Then he turns to face the building. Mokuba bounces down the stairs toward the two of you. His long hair is tied up in a ponytail and he's wearing an oversized sweatshirt.

He stops with a grin. "I see you've finally brought your girlfriend over."

"I'm not his girlfriend."

"You are," Kaiba corrects.

"That's news to me. Since when?"

Kaiba glares at the ground for a moment while Mokuba tries to hide his grin behind his hand. "Since right now."

"We'll see." You smile at Mokuba. "Do I get a tour?"

So Mokuba leads you on a tour of the mansion. He shows off the movie theater and game rooms, clearly his favorite rooms, but also the massive kitchen and library. Then he insists on sitting next to you at the dining room table.

Dinner turns into more of a hang out with Mokuba rather than a date with Kaiba. Kaiba doesn't say much and allows Mokuba to interrogate you.

"Mokuba, isn't it your bedtime?" Kaiba says once the table is cleared.

"I don't have a bedtime!"

Kaiba glares at his brother. "Tonight you do."

Mokuba rolls his eyes. "You can just tell me you want to be alone with your girlfriend."

"Just go to bed."

You interrupt their argument. "Actually, I need to get home." Kaiba never said he would drive you home, but you hope he intends to help you get there. His mansion is too removed from the city for public transport to be an easy option this time of night.

"I'll take you." Kaiba stands and offers you his hand. You take it as you stand as well. 

As you say goodbye to Mokuba, he smirks, looking just like his brother. "Don't let my brother sleep over. He's a bed hog." 

"MOKUBA!" Kaiba grabs your hand and tugs you out of the dining room. He mutters something about his brother being grounded, but you're too shocked to catch his exact words. 

Once the two of you make it back to his car, he opens the door for you and waits for you to get in before closing it and walking around to the other side. He gets in the car and starts the engine. As he speeds out of the mansion grounds, you wonder if his staff has ever failed to open the gates in time. 

Then you wonder exactly what he's said about you to his brother. "You know, you still haven't asked me to go out with you or date you or anything." 

He frowns. "Fine. You're free to object to dating at any point." 

Your eyes narrow. What is his objection to asking questions? "Fine. I object." 

The look he shoots you is offended and shocked. As if he can't fathom anyone objecting. 

"We've never even kissed," you point out. "Tonight really doesn't even count as a date." If he's going to be difficult, then you can be difficult too. 

He grits his teeth. Then he pulls over and the car jerks to a stop. For a moment, you think it's because of what you've said. Then you realize he's just pulling up to your place. 

When did you give him your address? You must have at some point. 

He opens the door for you and helps you out of the car. He holds your hand as he slams the car door shut. 

Then he pins you against his car. Your back is against the car door. His body presses against yours. One hand holds your head while the other slides down your side until it reaches your hip. 

He kisses you. His lips press against yours, and he controls the angle by adjusting your head with his hand. 

He pulls away with a smirk. "Now we've kissed, and tomorrow night, I'll take you out." 

He walks you to your door. You have your key in the lock before you realize he still hasn't asked you anything. You turn to see him walking back to his car. "I never agreed to anything!" 

"I'll still be back tomorrow." 

Then he gets in his car. He starts the engine, and you expect him to drive off, but he just sits there and waits. 

You realize he's waiting for you to get inside before he leaves. Just like a boyfriend. 

[chaitantei-ao3]

11.

Dennis scrolls through the page on his phone, looking at the male model wearing a white coat and stethoscope. There’s a chocolate lab by the table standing next to him and he’s holding its paw.

Mac sighs, “Okay. New plan! We have to do something about this, Dennis. We need customers. It’s an hour to closing and we hardly had any.”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding with me.

“I wonder why.” Dennis says, his throat feeling like the Sahara and glances at Mac. Ridiculous . All of this was beyond fucking ridiculous. The bigoted fool was turning away perfectly good customers and then crying over the fact that no one was here. Dennis slams his phone down. Why… why did he ever decide to run a business with this thick headed, pea brained, goddamn delusional, self-lying-

“Charlie, Hey.” Mac says, picking the frays of his sleeve.

Charlie ignores him and sets down a box marked with a large T over the other boxes. “Dennis, I cleaned up.”

“At least someone is doing their job.” Dennis says, glaring daggers at Mac. Why... this fool was going to sink their boat while he sailed on his fucking wooden plank thinking it’s the fucking Ark. This, this is another one of things he can’t stand. The day they started the bar, Mac would tell him things. Things yet to come. Look Dennis, we’re gonna rock all day, serve some drinks, hook up and yeah. It’s going to be amazing! So amazing!

Mac looks between them, “Den nis , what do you mean?!”

“What you heard.” Dennis takes the crate filled with empty bottles, seeing cracks at its edges. Slamming it down, he kicks it for good measure.

Charlie puts another box over the T. “Hey, Dennis. You’re done with that one?”

“Yeah, throw it.” Dennis says, picking up his car keys. Know what? He’s not going to waste his time here anymore.

“Hey-” Mac stops him, “Where are you going? We have to figure this out, if you and me put our minds together Den, we’re gonna come out of this in no time.” Dennis ignores him. Minds together , Dennis internally scoffs. Have to have a mind for that.

“I feel like you’re mad at me, Den.” Mac puts his fingers together as Dennis rounds the bar counter.

“Woah, you figured it out. You’re a fucking genius.” Dennis says rounding the counter. He’s done, seriously. Frank’s disgusting face flashes in his mind, followed with Mac biting his lip and looking at him, completely clueless.

Every time that he’s tried to get this bar running, he’s stymied by the couple of idiots he began this with.

“Now you’ve done that. I’m sure you’ll be able to get out of this mess too.” Dennis taps his head. “ Doh! Why are the customers leaving when I’m the moron who’s kicking them out. Who will solve that mystery?!” Dennis keeps the crate down and flings his hands out.

“Hey! Watch out!” Charlie shouts as he piles another crate on top of it, “Do you how much time it’s taken me to collect all the-”

“Just shut up and do your work. Dennis and me-” Mac says, taking a step toward Dennis who’s turned toward the door, he grabs his shoulder. “Can you stop leaving?!” Mac cries, biting his lip hard, his eyes rimmed red.

Dennis feels Mac’s eyes on him and pointedly looks down, shrugging Mac’s hand off his shoulders.

Frank looks at him and scoffs, “I’m done! It’s time to cut loose.”

“What do you mean you’re done?” Mac says, looking at Frank then at Dennis.

Frank shakes his head, pressing the rim of his glasses on his cheeks. “They’ve got their hands on the paper trail. It’s over. I knew the IRS was watergating me.”

“The paper trail?” Mac scrunches his nose.

“The accounts, you fool.”

“Goddamn it, Frank. You lost Paddy’s accounts?!”

“Not this shit house.” Frank waves a hand, “The actual money making shit. I’ve lost track of all the fakes. Weren’t you listening to thing I was talkin’ about yesterday.”

“I honestly just heard you rambling a bunch of random words.” Mac says.

“Maybe it was you huh.” Frank whips out his gun, “You’ve been insider trading with the Feds?”

“What?!”

“Frank, put that down. You’re acting paranoid.”

Frank tilts his gun at Dennis, “So it’s you. Run out of toilet paper and used-”

“It’s not me, Frank. But I think I might… know who is responsible.” Dennis says, looking at Charlie dumping paper in a crate and sealing it.

“Bullshit.” Frank says, “You want to get rid of me. You want me to sell my share so you both-”

“Where’s your evidence?” Mac asks.

“You must've digested it already.” Frank looks at him.

Charlie places the final crate and Dennis looks at a grin spread on his face as he whips out his lighter. “Guys, stop shouting. We’ll have the smoky smell in here and everything’s gonna be al-”

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