#Guess what! you still need to use ''he'' (plural)

[sir-fenris]

AAAAAAAAA 🥹 I've lived for the day that I would be getting commentaries too. I can die happy. Thank you <33

Sorry for taking so long to answer. I read it before going to sleep and I giggled so much my cheeks hurt, but I was too tired to answer cohesively. And today I was busy pretty much the whole time :'(

But I was able to write this down while preparing and eating my dinner :D

(My responses organization is kinda messy, don't mind it please XD)

It is real and it is happening, I'm glad Cyrus's yearning was clear and that it seemed a strong start :) I went back and forth with SO MANY begginings, I think I wrote and deleted more than 10 completely different starting paragraphs XD.

I might put the rp on the masterpost soon! I wanted to ask you if I could, first. And find a way to organize it in a way I feel is nice to read.

And well... about the gloves, who knows? :) is it because he can use his magic with any skin contact? What I can say is that all handlers do have gloves with technology, but usually, they're are fingerless gloves. Wilson's hands and arms are fully covered.

(I already changed your emoji <3)

Yes, protection barriers makes him nauseous when he goes in, because it's designed exatcly to keep his magic contained in the tent in case he uses it unauthorized, so it gives him a bad feeling. Once Wilson gives him authorization, the barriers are set down. When the authorization is revoked, they come back up. That's one of the many reasons why Wilson has to communicate when he's about to turn the nullification back of the collar.

A lot of safety measures 😃

Well... I wouldn't say he's allowed to actually refuse food. Wilson just sometimes is "merciful" and allows him to take his breakfast after his comedown is done, because usually Cyrus feels sick before getting to work. (If Cyrus... makes a mess, yk, Wilson will have to report and take care of the situation, and that's too troublesome)

And I'm not one for underestimating trope either, but I guess in LW whump it's interesting because adds to the familiar dehumanization and because the LW is actually very powerful and that gets proven.

"ohhh :( he makes me sad I'm definitely gonna read the comfort ask"

My comfort is also whumpy, because I don't wanna spoil Cyrus too much yet, he's still on the whump arc... but I hope you find the hurt/comfort good enough XD.

":( he knelt fast then. man..."

He dropped down on his knees :') Wilson doesn't let him kneel down slowly.

And Wilson whispered the "behave". Rhe others around don't need to hear the weapon being reminded to behave, just know that it will.

About the other gifted. I'll show the sketches of the gloves soon, but you'll see that it does need a metal manipulator, or else it has to be cut off and re-made on his hand every time. It's 100% closed. So that's why they use other gifted to do it.

(Usually metalokinetics are used around for stuff like that, menial tasks. They only go to battlefield if they are strong enough to destroy enemy's weapons and machines.)

"yeah I know </3 man this is a bunch of info I know cause I've already been exposed to bits of this story but for future newcomers this is probably necessary clarification"

That was the hardest part :') I wanted anyone who didn't knew any context to be able to understand the first chapter (though that's really really hard without a beta/proof reader) and the people who did have context to enjoy it anyway, even though it's pretty much a retelling of the drabble a lot of you already read. I was afraid of giving too little information and making it hard to understand, and of giving too much information and making it too dense.

60% of the chaotic editing was because of this. And 50% of the typos is because I kept changing sentences and missing to change a word or to (like making a sentence about one of his hands, then decide it should be both hands, but forget to put one of the words in plural)

Speaking of that, I need to do a typo checking on the chapter asap... already caught 2 yesterday.

"ugh he's so well trained"

His handler is proud to hear that.

I'LL GIVE YOU ALL THE GRASS EVER SWEET LOVELY BOY </3

Own, that's adorable. He'll have grass in recovery, lots of it, don't worry.

(The bar is very low when touching grass is almost an ultimate reward...)

aaaaaaaaa? wilson my beloved he's so cold

"Wilson" and "beloved" in the same sentence is........ something I was not expecting ever. Huh.

ooooooo :D I remember wondering why the art of him showed him with blue lines in his collar when he was a threat level red!!! fascinating :3

😊 when the nullification is on, it stays blue. When he's being shocked, it flashes yellow, and when his magic is free, it turns red. :D safety measures, too.

About the withering description, thank you! I really think it might be too abstract or dense to some people, especially those who don't have any context, but there's really not much I could do. From Cyrus's view, he's not seeing what the magic is actually doing, and this needed to be included on the first chapter.

But I'll try to slide in some description from Wilson's view of his powers in a canon chapter to make it clearer, perhaps make a separate post showing his vision vs what's actually happening, if I can.

And yeah! On the drabble I was really thinking about that song. But on canon, it became more like a curious fact, because I made it so it's from another language. It doesn't have a set lyrics, though the translation would be something akin to the hurt incantation. No one knows what Cyrus's murmuring means, not even him, it's gibberish to them all.

Yeaaah! I'm happy you saw that "Sweet Creature" follows the same line that "Magic Euphoria" drabble. It's pretty much that drabble, but from his perspective, plus a bit more at the beginning and end. This chapter is the truly canon, since when I did the drabble I didn't have the characters in mind, but Cyrus really does say "yes, sir" because his conditioning runs deep. He doesn't say "okay" ever.

(But Wilson is also an unreliable narrator, so you can consider the drabble him remembering Cyrus's words to be more disobedient than it actually was, since he spoke quietly)

(Poor baby, being shocked not even knowing why, loosing his warmth, being remembered as disrespectful even when he wasn't...)

Metallokinetic whumpee is not well :(

"oooo so he has gloves on when not working got it got it. leather! I assume it's to avoid skin to skin contact? or his hands are the most effective conduit and the higher-ups don't want him touching anything with his hands?"

I like the way you're going :)

(Both Cyrus and Wilson have gloves, but Cyrud's is restrictive)

About the den (his cabin) and mattress.... eh, don't get too happy. Remember, unreliable narrator. And this ask is very important.

(Oh, you reminded me that I wanted to put the images of his cabin and capsule on the chapter, thanks, I'll do that later)

"oooo is his collar nullifying it? or the gloves? capsule??? I think it's the collar"

All of the above. Plus the glasses too. Safety measures :)

the euphoria narration thing is. so fucking good man. but why'd he get shocked?? this isn't in the wilson pov chapter 😔

First, thank you <3

Second, it's not defined, it could have been a lot of different things. But my favorite option is that he started singing without realizing it.

"someone please give him a blanket istg. I know this is a different kind of cold but can he have a blanket :("

He can only earn blanket privileges when he's at the central base. In caimpaings there are no blanket privileges.

If he's very very good, tho, he might earn one night with a blanket.

!!! sneaky :0

🥰 He would look down ashamed at your words. He really didn't mean to be... he just wanted to relieve some of the painful uneasiness.

also love that. “his handler always sees everything.” !!! love love love that love the sheer amount of fear and expecting danger

YEAAA, that's the emotions I wanted to show. Especially since Cyrus is blinded so often. He rarely knows when Wilson is looking, to what he pays attention, what is his expression. It's kinda like the Panopticon Prison. You never know when you're being watched, so you stay on edge the whole time.

Wilson is a smart handler :)

HE'S NOT EVEN ALLOWED TO MOVE WITHOUT PERMISSION??? I mean I expected that but damn. also gloves again. is it a military thing or is this the skin contact thing

He's not allowed to move in the ways Wilson doesn't approve. What moves does Wilson approve? Only Wilson knows.

Cyrus discovers when he's shocked for doing the ones on the "no" list.

And the gloves, ah the gloves. Who knows?

Wilson knows, he's the one that changed their designs too.

pfft I love those moments of like. passive caring about everyday stuff in whump. they're funny but then they're not funny

Yeah, I really like doing that :D

Cyrus doesn't want to go through an hour of Wilson getting his anger out in his hair, leaving him with a sore scalp and holding back tears. His hair is full of broken strands because of it already.

HEY DON'T CALL HIM SNEAKY I DID IT FONDLY >:(

I let out a really genuine laugh 🤣

ough.. he's so scared poor baby

Of Wilson? Always.

D: man I don't even know what to say this is just rlly fuckin good. guilt my beloved

Oh well, thank you <3

huh??? how come he didn't get physically close to any of it

His comedown has really fun hallucinations :)

Auditory, visual, gustatory, tactile, proprioceptive and interoceptive ones. Not all together or at the same comedown, it varies.

WOW!!! love the logic and treating cyrus like so much of an object wilson can just talk out loud while he's there.

:)

man. I love cyrus. I love wilson. I have so many feelings about them both... I rlly love handler whumpers those are so neat I love cold whumpers that are professional. wilson has such a presence in this chapter. cyrus is so cute I wanna wrap him in blankets...

I loved how this was like. stractured with the euphoria and comedown and everything. I also love how despite everything cyrus is still so caring towards others it's so. ough </3

Really, thank you for this <333 I'm really pleasently surprise to see people saying stuff like "doing the fenris thing" for the commentaries. It really makes me happy, like... YEAH? Please do! With me and with others. It's so cool to read these. Even tired, even busy, I just wanted to keep coming here to read yours and others comments.

So thank you <3 really enjoyed reading this, and I really like the way you think :)

-

Sweet Creature

Content: magical living weapon, dehumanization, "it" briefly used as pronoun, dangerous whumpee, magical euphoria, shock collar, sensory (visual) deprivation, manhandling, military whump, implied institutionalized whump, magical slavery, heavily implied mass murder, hallucinations.

(chapter 1) | next chapter ->

(Curse of Withering masterpost)

Cyrus wishes to at least have a look around while outside. It would only be a military camp, soldiers walking around, tents set up, maybe some horses on one side. Not a very pleasant nor interesting view.

But at least he would be seeing the sky, and the grass, and people.

He's not. He's seeing pure black from behind his nullification glasses, being guided by an unrelenting hand on his neck, just above his heavy collar. Not even allowed to feel skin, only the tough material of a glove.

Around Cyrus, talk dies down, and muttering comes to life, as he's used to. It never stops making him feel ashamed.

Also not allowed to curl up or hide in any way, he's just dragged forward to keep walking.

A strong sensation of nausea hits him when they enter his designed post tent of this campaign. It feels like the protection barriers put around the tents are getting stronger each campaign.

Being on an empty stomach doesn't help, either. Regret fills him from refusing breakfast, but he's sure his stomach wouldn't have kept it down anyway.

"... This is it? The rumors made it look spine-chilling, not... this." A voice from his right side says, a bit far back. Further into the tent, then. Cyrus doesn't recognize the voice, but the words are familiar.

The gloved hand on his neck squeezes, and he stops after a second of trying to figure out if it was out of frustration or a command to stand still.

No scolding comes, so it must have been a command. Or both.

"Wait until you see it destroying a whole military camp while laughing like a maniac," Mr. Wilson says. That voice he does recognizes in the very core of his being. And by the coldness of it, his handler is audibly used to that question as well.

Cyrus doesn't have time to feel ashamed of the words before a pressure on his neck commands him to kneel down. Even with the knee pads, a mercy not chosen by his handler, the impact hurts a bit.

"Behave." Is what reaches his ear before the leather gloves are unfastened from his wrists.

Magic wraps around the metal gloves that were beneath the leather ones and bend it open. Cyrus didn't even hear the metallokinetic's handler telling them to do that. Maybe this gifted doesn't have a handler, he knows there's some free Gifted that serve the military willingly.

Unlike Cyrus.

He obediently waits with unmoving hands until his handler applies pressure on his head in another silent command. No one speaks as the nullification glasses are unlocked from his bowed head, nor when his half-necrotic fingertips find the floor beneath him.

It's not grass, it's rocks. He suppresses a disappointed sigh.

Cyrus knows better than to look around or shift from his position, but he's still able to see a bit of the tent's inside. The metallokinetic does in fact have a handler, and a black eye. He can't see anyone else, they're all behind him for safety.

That black eye must hurt, there's probably more bruises under the clothing, it never stops at just one.

Cyrus shouldn't care that the gifted was hurt. But he did. They deserve someone to care.

Mr. Wilson blocks his vision of the gifted by crouching down. The direct, practical delineation of where the enemy camp is sinks into his mind easily as his handler speaks. It's easy to map in his head exactly where he needs to focus on.

"You have permission to use your power, Wither." An uncomfortable eagerness blooms in him at the words.

"Yes, sir," Cyrus whispers and his collar beeps, its blue lights turning red as magic comes to life under his skin once again.

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.

Pain doesn't even register in the sea of feelings building up in his body. The rocks puncturing the palms of his hands aren't nearly enough to ground him, not after years of the magic slowly numbing his nerves.

The tent disappears and all he can see is colors erupting from the blackness, like thousands of little roots travelling through the grass. Ignoring the surrounding life had become easier over the years, and the withering knew to travel until it's closer to the delineated area than to him before branching to reach all soldiers of the other side.

It took less than a minute for him to spiral into euphoria this time.

Faintly, he knew his lips were moving, in that same eerie murmur of always, singing words he couldn't understand, but also couldn't forget. An incantation that breaks the laws of nature. A chant that was never created... only repeated. The echo of something that always existed.

And so he repeats. From the words, waves of withering magic follows the colorful branches and pushes it forward.

His hands crack and dug further into the ground, and he repeats the chant again. Again, again, again...

𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.

Cyrus could see, or in a way feel, the life bursting out of the enemy's camp. It was hard to separate what was greenery and what was people, but it didn't matter in the end.

Wither magic fills the entire enemy camp with thousands of black ramifications that only he sees the colors of. Growing, rotting, decaying.

Every cell in his body beams with giddy energy.

A warm mist swirls on his arms pleasantly. Something similar started filling his eyes, and Cyrus's head was pure delight. His chest shudders with a bubbly feeling as a smile grows on his face.

And then everything goes black. The cold, painful reality crashes down on him, harshly taking all the cheerfulness away and leaving behind an itch, a hysteric uneasiness. A faint beeping of his collar tells him he's done today, it had turned blue again.

Cyrus didn't even know he had made a noise until the collar beeps again with a warning electrical shock. With a flinch, he goes dead quiet. An argument was happening over his head.

Cyrus wants to keep using his magic, why can't he? It's so warm and happy-

"It was fucking smiling, it is fine to keep on! What is the point of having a weapon that can't be used?!" A man behind him almost yells. Not the same one from before, a slightly more familiar one. It might be the general, but without seeing it's hard to be sure.

Yes, Cyrus was fine to keep going, he was! It's been less than a minute with the nullification glasses back on, but he misses the colorful cheerfulness already, his body is taut with the need to move, to do something, anything.

But Mr. Wilson is right there, so he stays obediently still.

"I'm not telling it to launch an attack again! The magic would consume it's head and-" Mr. Wilson pauses, and Cyrus recognizes his temper rising. It's an effort not to flinch. "Ugh, you have no idea how bad it gets. Wither. Up, we're leaving."

"Mmn?" The order takes a second to click. "Oh... yes, sir..." To speak was hard, his tongue didn't move the okay he wanted it to. Cyrus could hear the ecstatic smile on his own voice, and he almost winces at it, but without knowing why. To smile was good, wasn't it?

Should he even be speaking, actually? Wilson doesn't usually like him speaking. Did he say "Sir" as he was supposed to? He doesn't think so... but no shock comes. Perhaps he did. It's hard to remember.

The floor seemed to spin beneath Cyrus when he stood up.

A gloved grip squeezes his arm and Cyrus knows to stay completely still, despite the dizziness. Magic envelops his hands as the metal gloves are bent to fit them again. He still couldn't hear the metallokinetic's handler telling them to do it, maybe it had been a silent command.

He feels the leather gloves being fastened on his wrists, too, before Mr. Wilson grabs him by the upper nape and guides him out. The sound of many boots around them tells him the escort team is here already.

On the way back, there's no longer any murmuring. Even blinded, he knows everyone is just staring. There's only the sound of heavy steps and the wind slowly bringing the smell of death into the camp.

The heavy metal door shuts with the escort team outside, and the only steps that echo inside the container are his and Mr. Wilson.

Blindly, he's pushed to sit inside his resting capsule. Oh, that's right, he's at a campaign, his den isn't here... the sad longing only lasts a second.

The thin mattress is cold, and the restraints are too tight. Cyrus hates the cold, but it feels so weird, he can't help but giggle. It sounds off, but he can't pinpoint why.

"Quiet," Mr. Wilson scolds sternly, fastening his legs securely inside the capsule. Cyrus flinches and tenses from the upcoming shock that doesn't arrive.

What a silly thing, to flinch from something that didn't even happen. He suppresses another fit of giggles.

The pressure building up behind his eyes and neck is getting harder to ignore. His fingers twitch with the need to use his magic again, but the nullification doesn't let him.

The pressure gets worse.

𝚂𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚞𝚜, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎.

Now the shock comes, and Cyrus's flinch is not so funny this time. It wasn't just a warning shock, but he doesn't know why he has been punished. Mr. Wilson doesn't clarify it, either. He's scared of not knowing.

The twitches are getting worse. He wants to move. The cold is starting to creep in again, and he wants the warmth back.

His hands move slowly under the temporarily loose restrictions, trying to relieve some of the painful nervous energy without grabbing Mr. Wilson's attention.

It doesn't work. His handler always sees everything.

"Did I say you could move, Wither?" Cyrus freezes from the gelid tone. His shoulders go up chastened just before a gloved hand fists his hair harshly. That'll form a knot later... he wants to wash up and detangle his hair already, before it gets too bad.

From how harsh Mr. Wilson's grip is, he doesn't think he'll be allowed that so soon.

"Stop trying to be sneaky, that's the only warning you'll be given." Cold and firm as always. Frightening as always.

"Yes, sir," Cyrus answers quietly. It's weird how he still feels afraid and sad even when he's feeling giggly and euphoric.

Euphoric. Didn't that word mean something important? The headache is getting worse.

Mr. Wilson's grip only grows even more painful. There's more to be said, but Cyrus's head is not working well. He doesn't want to talk, he wants to move.

What weapons want doesn't matter.

He tries again. "I'm... I won't be sneaky again. I'm sorry, Mr. Wilson," he tries. The hand leaves his hair without any further words.

The need to move only gets worse in the silent. He knows Mr. Wilson knows. Cyrus's body is so tense it hurts.

He needs to use his magic, he needs to. It hurts, it's bad, he wants the giddy energy back, and not this nervous, restless cold creeping in. Everything is still pitch black, and the restraints are too heavy, and he wants his magic free again-

So you can kill more people with it?

No. What? No, no, no-

Your handler stopped you before the euphoria truly took place. Where is your gratitude, you vile thing? Why must others die just so you can smile?

That's not what he wants, he just... he just wants the colors back, the happy feeling of-

Of killing.

The memories of colored forms change. Those were people.

People you killed.

"Are you crashing already?" Comes the distant, cold voice. It takes long seconds for Cyrus to recognize it's Mr. Wilson's.

Crashing. Yes. Yes, he's crashing, and he's still on war camp, so he doesn't even get his white den-

Images strafe his mind. People died. People were killed. By him. And he was just smiling. He giggled to people losing their lives. Not only soldiers, there were medics, and servants, and-

A cold, sharp thing runs his arm and he flinched away, swallowing hard. He tastes blood. He knows it's not his.

Vile thing. You're a plague on earth that should be eradicated.

Cyrus's back presses against the capsule mattress, and he can barely separate what is real touch and what isn't. Sharp goosebumps run up his arm, his hands are being held, there's a pressure on his chest and a numbness on his left leg.

"It's euphoric state was pretty fast this time, it was a good timing to retrieve it," Mr. Wilson's out loud thinking reaches his ear along with a faint noise of screams that mustn't be true.

They're true, you're just hearing them too late.

"Today will be easy, then."

Cyrus couldn't disagree more with his handler.

-

-

-

Want to see Mr. Wilson's pov? This is the drabble this series began as. You can consider it a loose version of this chapter, but in Mr. Wilson's view.

Taglist: @whump-till-ya-jump @floral-comet-whump @paingoes @bonbonbobomb @inhurtandincomfort @half-duck @scoundrelwithboba

-

[satirates]

It's funny because they went above and beyond to use ''il ou elle'' (He or she) in the new special to refer to the unknown masque person and I just know it will piss some French people so much !

Good

[4milly]

gift giving - roman r.

a treat. milly's lane 25'

dedicated and credit to @prettyfilmz 'love language series' <3

parings: reader x jey uso x jimmy uso x roman reigns

warnings: unprotected p in v, creampies, oral fem! receiving, blindfold, hands bounded, breed kink, overstimulation, sharing, praise kink(ish), double pen!,

word count: 2.2K (happy february! <3)

you know how they say when one sense is taken away, your others kick in? you used your remaining senses to figure out where in the room he was. your were in bliss; your hands bounded to the headboard, a blindfold around your eyes, and a vibrator attached to your clit. the only noise in the room being the soft hum.

you felt a sudden shift in the air, sensing movement nearby. the mattress dipped as someone sat beside you. a gentle hand caressed your cheek, and you recognized roman's touch instantly. his familiar scent washed over you as he leaned close.

"my baby girl enjoying her treat? hm?" he softly cooed in your ear, reaching down to turn up the speed on the vibrator. you threw your head into the pillows on a loud whine, "i always know what my baby needs."

you could feel the heat in your belly rushing to your pussy. your lip immediately tucked into your teeth. your mind began go haywire focusing on your orgasm, as the sound of footsteps entered the room.

roman let out a small chuckle as your face laced with confusion, "i have one more surprise for you, baby. you gotta cum first, though. daddy's good girl always cum's first. you're okay, baby. you earned your nut." he pressed wet kisses all over your collarbone; your mind still aware that someone was watching the both of you, causing you to gush all over the toy and onto the bed.

roman slid a hand down, cupping your pussy before dragging a finger through your wet folds. your body trembled as waves of pleasure washed over you. as you came down from your high, you felt roman shift beside you. there was a rustling of clothing, then the distinct sound of a zipper being lowered.

suddenly, the toy was switched off and removed. you whimpered at the loss, but roman's soothing voice calmed you. "shh, it's okay. your surprises are here."

surprises? plural?

the mattress dipped again, this time on both sides. your breath caught as you felt two new pairs of hands on your body - one set running up your thighs, the other caressing your breasts. a familiar cologne hit your nose, making your heart race. almost going back to the incident a week ago.

paul promised….

your mind flashed back to that night, the image seared into your memory. you had been so lost in pleasure, bouncing feverishly on jimmy's thick cock, that you hadn't heard the door open.

paul's shocked gasp had frozen you mid-thrust, jimmy still buried deep inside you. the hurt and betrayal in paul's eyes had been unbearable. your cheeks flushed a deep red, but to your surprise and horror, your arousal only intensified at being caught in such a compromising position.

it was a mistake, a moment of weakness, but it had felt so damn good.

you chased after paul later that night, your thighs slick with jimmy's cum as it leaked into your panties. each step sent a jolt through your tender, thoroughly-fucked pussy. you limped slightly from the intense stretch jimmy's thick cock had given you.

"how could you do this to him?" paul hissed. "to yourself?"

shame and arousal warred within you. you squeezed your thighs together, feeling another gush of cum. "i know, i know. god, i'm so sorry. it won't happen again. please, paul. roman can't find out."

his jaw clenched as he weighed his loyalty to his client against the pleading in your eyes. finally, he sighed. "fine. but this stays between us. if it ever happens again…"

you nodded frantically. "it won't. i swear."

your mind floated back to the hand swiping through your dripping folds.

"you've been so good for me, baby girl. always there f'me. gotta give my girl a gift she deserves. s'worthy. any guesses?" roman whispered into your ear. you were occupied with the scents bouncing into your nose clouding your mind. you knew vaguely knew jimmy was in the room — along with jey.

"you ready, mama?" came jimmy's husky voice, sending shockwaves up your spine

"pretty ass, all wrapped up like a present." jey added, whispering near your earlobe before, taking it into his mouth.

gentle hands began exploring your body from all sides. you arched into their touch, overcome by sensation. someone's lips found yours in a searing kiss. another mouth latched onto your breast. the third set of hands spread your thighs wider.

"please," you whimpered as the kisses and caressed intensified, "i need—"

"happy valentine's day, babygirl," roman purred, "y'gonna get everything you been wanting t'night. i'll be right here, making sure you're taken care of. they're all yours."

roman moved from the bed to sit in a chair in the far corner of the room, ready to see her girl get her gift. he watched intently, stroking himself as his cousins worshipped your body.

jimmy's large hands gripped your hips, lifting you slightly as he positioned himself between your spread thighs. you felt the blunt head of his cock pressing against your entrance, already slick with arousal.

jey's mouth was still on your breast, his tongue swirling around your nipple as jimmy slowly pushed inside you.

you gasped at the delicious stretch, your body remembering how it felt to be filled by him. jimmy groaned as he bottomed out, his thick length pulsing inside you. "fuck, still so tight," he muttered, giving you a moment to adjust.

jimmy began to move, his hips rocking against yours in a steady rhythm. each thrust sent waves of pleasure through your body, your pussy clenching around his thick shaft. jey's fingers found your clit, circling the sensitive bud as his brother fucked you.

"that's it, mama," jey murmured against your lips, his voice low and husky. "take that dick. y'feel how deep he is? how good he stretchin' you out?"

you moaned in response, unable to form coherent words as jimmy's pace increased. the room filled with the obscene sounds of skin slapping against skin, mixed with your breathless whimpers and jimmy's grunts of pleasure.

jey's skilled fingers continued their assault on your clit, sending jolts of electricity through your core. his other hand cupped your breast, thumb flicking over your hardened nipple. "you're doing so good, mama," he praised, nipping at your bottom lip.

jey captured your lips in a sloppy, passionate kiss, swallowing your whimpers as jimmy's thrusts grew more forceful. his tongue tangled with yours as his fingers continued their relentless assault on your clit.

with a muffled strangled cry, you shattered. your back arched off the bed as waves of intense pleasure crashed over you. your pussy clenched rhythmically around jimmy's cock, milking him as he continued to fuck you through your orgasm.

the blindfold heightened every sensation—the slick slide of jimmy's thick length inside you and jey's clever fingers on your clit.

"now," roman growled from the room. "fill her up."

"fuck, fuck, fuck," jimmy chanted, his hips stuttering as he reached his peak. with a final, deep thrust, he buried himself to the hilt and came, flooding your insides with his hot cum. the sensation triggered another small orgasm, your body shuddering with aftershocks.

as jimmy slowly pulled out, you felt his cum start to leak from your well-fucked hole. jey's fingers swiped through your folds, gathering the mixture of your juices and jimmy's.

"open up, ma," jey commanded. you parted your lips, moaning as he slid his fingers into your mouth. the taste of yourself mixed with jimmy's cum coated your tongue.

"that's it. clean 'em up," jey praised. "get 'em nice and wet f'me."

as you sucked jey's fingers clean, you felt strong hands gripping your hips. you felt hands on your hips, gently maneuvering you. jimmy's strong arms lifted you, flipping you over onto your stomach. the mattress dipped as he pulled your body ontop of him, his broad chest pressed against yours.

"that's it, baby girl," roman's deep voice came from across the room again. "let them take care of you."

jimmy's hands slid down your sides, coming to rest on your ass. he kneaded the soft thick flesh, spreading your cheeks apart. you gasped as you felt his thumbs brushing against your puckered hole, gently massaging the tight ring of muscle. you body instantly tighten.

"calm down, mama," jimmy murmured, his breath hot against your ear.

you whimpered as jimmy slowly worked one slick thumb into your ass, stretching you carefully. the initial burn gave way to a pleasurable fullness as he added a second finger, scissoring them gently to loosen you up.

you gasped as you felt jey's tongue swipe along your pussy, gathering the mixture of cum and arousal that coated your folds. he hummed in approval, the vibrations sending shivers up your spine.

jey's tongue explored every part of your pussy. he lapped at your entrance, savoring the taste of your mingled arousal and jimmy's release. his skilled mouth worked tirelessly, alternating between broad strokes and precise flicks against your clit.

"that feels so gooddd," you mewled into jimmy's shoulder

jey redoubled his efforts, sucking your clit into his mouth and flicking it rapidly with his tongue. his stubble scraped deliciously against your inner thighs. his nose brushed against your clit with each thrust.

your lips parted on a loud scream as your body convulsed. jey moaned against your pussy, lapping up your release as you flooded onto his tongue.

your mind screamed for a break. overwhelmed by the cascade of sensations ghosting over your body. every nerve ending felt electrified, hypersensitive to the slightest touch.

but it wasn't just the physical pleasure that had you trembling. it was the knowledge that roman—your roman, the love of your life—was watching it all unfold. you could feel his eyes on you, drinking in every detail as his cousins ravished your body.

part of you felt like you should be ashamed, should feel guilty for enjoying this so much. especially, after being caught last week by paul. but roman's earlier words echoed in your mind: "you earned this." he wanted this for you, wanted to give you this experience.

the mattress shifted as jey moved up the bed, his hands caressing your sides. you felt the girthy head of jey's dick pressing against your pussy.

"breathe for me, mama," jey murmured, slowly pushing forward.

you panted as he entered you inch by inch, the stretch more intense than you'd ever experienced. jimmy's hands on your hips steadied you, guiding you down onto his own rigid length.

"fuckkk," you moaned out overwhelmed by the feeling of fullness. both men stilled, giving you time to adjust to the double penetration.

slowly, they began to move. jimmy rocked up into you as jey pulled back, then jey would thrust forward as jimmy retreated. the alternating rhythm had you seeing stars, pleasure building rapidly in your core.

"you're doin so good, baby," roman growled. "you feeling good? hm? you feel how good they're treating you?"

you whimpered in response, overwhelmed by the dual sensations of jimmy and jey's thick cocks sliding in and out of you. their rhythmic thrusts had you teetering on the edge of ecstasy, your body trembling with each movement.

"it's too much. i can't-" tears welling in your eyes, behind the blindfold

"yes, you can," roman encouraged. "you're doing so well, babygirl. taking it like a champ. a little more, m'kay?"

your fingers curled into fists, tugging at the restraints as waves of pleasure crashed over you. every nerve ending felt like it was on fire, your body hyper-aware of every touch, every movement.

your back arched as jey's thumb found your clit, circling the sensitive bud in time with their thrusts. jimmy's hands gripped your hips tightly, holding you in place as they pounded into you relentlessly, angling you perfectly to hit your g-spot.

"oh god, oh god," you wailed, your back arching off jimmy's chest . "please, i can't—i'm gonna—"

"i know what you need," roman growled. "boys, give it to her. fill her up. show them how good they're making you feel, baby."

their thrusts became erratic. their grips on your hips bruising. you felt their cocks swelling inside you, pulsing as they approached their climax.

"oh fuck, oh fuck," jey groaned, his hips stuttering as your pussy milked his cock. "i'm gonna-"

"me too," jimmy grunted, his fingers digging into your hips hard enough to bruise.

with a hoarse scream, you came. your orgasm hit you like a tidal wave—your pussy erupting and clenching rhythmically around the thick cocks buried inside you. each shudder more intense than the last.

you felt the hot rush of their release, filling you to overflowing. you felt their cocks pulse inside of you. with twin shouts of ecstasy, jey and jimmy came simultaneously.

you collapsed onto jimmy's chest, boneless and spent, "thats my good girl. happy valentine's day, babygirl," roman's voice full of pride and affection. "you've more than earned your gift."

a soft moan escaped your lips as you imagined roman's dark eyes, hooded with lust as he took in the sight of you. you pictured the way his jaw would clench, the slight furrow of his brow as he fought to maintain control.

you longed to call out to him, to beg him to join, to feel his strong hands on your body. but you held back, not wanting to break the spell of the moment. this was his gift to you, and you were determined to savor every second.

ᯓᡣ𐭩: @caramelcleopatraa @harmshake @msbigredmachine @luvrsluxe @uceyliyahh @angiedawn02 @amandairene88 @cyberdejos2 @queeny23 @empressdede @trentybenty @heauxvibez @whatdoeseverybodywant @shes2real @romansthrone @acknowledge-reigns @southerngirl41 @prettyfilmz @jaza23 @usoinked @punksyeet @fearlesschimera @holycollectivekitty

[thebiggerbear]

Off Limits

Summary: When Reenie sends you to assist Colter with whatever he needs after getting arrested for breaking into a morgue in Virginia, you meet his older brother Russell for the first time. There's some flirting and definitely a mutual attraction there before you Colter sends you off. Little do you know at the time that Colter has warned Russell that you're off limits and that Russell has no intention of listening to said warning.

Pairing: Russell Shaw x Female!Reader; Russell Shaw x Female!PI!Reader

A/N: So I've had this idea in my head since I first saw the episode (and that whole food truck scene) and finally sat down to start writing it May 19th, the day we were all hoping Russell would return for 1x13 (no spoilers). I did change up the ending of 1x12 a little here. By the way, I love Colter and I'm only a few episodes into the season but he kind of gives a little fuckboi vibe to me (meant affectionately of course) so I decided to kind of play on that a little here. Not that Russell also doesn't seem to have that vibe here a little bit. (again, meant as affectionate) 😉 I may write a follow up to this to fill in/shade in more areas mentioned in here.

Anyways, this was a lot of fun to write and try to practice ratcheting up the UST a little between two characters. I'm not sure if I succeeded but it was still fun to try. 🥵

All unbeta'd.

Song while writing: Coming For You - Nuela Charles (you can probably guess what scene I was envisioning/writing with this one 🤷‍♀️)

Warnings: sexual tension; flirting; a little smut; language

Word Count: 9357

Taglist: @avada-kedavra-bitch-187; @rieleatiel

Jensen Taglist: @samanddeaninatrenchcoat; @deansbbyx

You can also read on AO3

You pulled up to the area where two food trucks sat and tables were scattered throughout the center of it all. You quickly recognized Colter sitting there, eating, talking to someone sitting across from him. You softly groaned at the incessant pounding in your head, tenderly rubbing your forehead. Why had Reenie charged you with this? True, you owed her a favor (or four) but still, getting on a plane with only thirty minutes notice, no time to pack an overnight bag, and her insistence that you go and assist Colter with whatever he needed was a bit much. Even for her. 

But here you were, dressed in yesterday’s clothes, your hair up in a messy ponytail after you quickly combed your fingers through it, and feeling scuzzy after a long night spent on planes. That’s right. Planes as in plural. Reenie hadn’t even sprung for a non-connecting flight, though she’d tried to chalk it up to none of those being available when she’d booked the trip for you ASAFP. You’d been stuck in coach the entire time, which was fine (you were more than used to it) but you’d had the middle seat and then the aisle seat — both seating arrangements were pure hell. Needless to say, you may have indulged at the airport bar in between flights and ordered drinks while on both, putting it on your business card that you immediately wrote off as travel expenses in your head. Especially when one of the guys you were sitting next to (who thought he was the next young Robert DeNiro apparently) was intent on making conversation, filling you in on his romantic and sexual history (relayed through a ton of bad implied jokes of course), as if he thought that would be a selling point for you to immediately want to induct him into the mile high club (there was no way he was a member despite his many stories hinting to the contrary). No thank you. Not ever.

Thankfully, you were able to pick up some essentials when you finally arrived at your destination and used the airport bathrooms for a little clean up before grabbing a rental car. You still felt gross and in need of a shower, but you’d manage until you did what you came here to do and then your time would be your own again. You were sure you’d get a shower and a change of clothes somewhere in between there. 

So while the alcohol helped to ease the tension your sudden trip created, you were badly hungover. Yep, sadly you were at that age where if you even looked at a drink, you’d get a headache the next day. So while you had maintained a nice buzz, you were now paying for it. You took a deep breath, slipped on your sunglasses, and got out of the car. 

Colter saw you coming, surprise fleeting across his expression, before turning his full attention on you when you sat down next to him. “Oof. Rough night?”

Your answer was to flip him the bird which made him chuckle. You then yanked out the folder of files Reenie had thrown into a travel case for you and slapped it all down next to him. “There. Directly from Reenie. With my compliments. Not that I don’t have my own cases to work,” you finished in a mumble. You snatched his coffee, ignoring his frown, and took a deep gulp. You made an immediate face. “Ugh. How do you still drink this shit?”

“It’s coffee,” he informed you as he began peeking at the files.

“I know. How do you not put anything in it? Do you like the taste of bitter ass first thing in the morning? Wait, don’t answer that.” You slipped out an airplane shot you had snuck into your jacket pocket that you swiped from the drink cart as it passed by during your aisle seat fun, beyond desperate to ignore the chatty Cathy next to you (her name had literally been Cathy as you’d found out against your will). You immediately lifted the lid and dumped in the contents, picking up a fry from Colter’s plate and using that to stir things around quickly before tossing it in the grass behind you. You ignored the “hey!” sounding not too far from where the fry had most likely landed and took a generous sip of the warm liquid, nearly heaving a sigh of satisfaction as it settled into your stomach. Not exactly the hair of the dog but it would do for now.

Colter was shaking his head, watching you, and you immaturely stuck your tongue out at him, about to tell him to blow you when you heard a chuckle across the table. You turned to see the guy Colter had been talking to grinning over at you, amusement clear as day on his face. You lowered your glasses slightly and took in his features, noting his obvious attractiveness, and you would be loathe to admit that you wouldn’t mind meeting him in an airplane bathroom had he been the one sitting next to you on that ghastly flight. Almost as if he knew what you were thinking, his smile grew and those green eyes lit up in a way that was all too familiar to you, and also had you wondering if there were any public bathrooms around here that you could slip away to for a bit. After the long night you’d had, an orgasm or two might just be what the doctor ordered. 

You pushed your glasses back into position and gave him a smile right back. “And who’s this?”

Before Colter could answer, the man stuck out a hand towards you. “Russell Shaw, Colter’s older brother.”

Your smile dropped as your hopes were immediately dashed. Fuck. Not only was he hot in a very rugged type of way (right up your alley actually not that you’d ever admit that out loud) but he seemed like he would’ve been game for what you were up for, too. Dammit. You forced yourself to shake his hand and not be rude, all the while trying your best not to think about what those hands could do or how that rough, warm skin would feel like against yours. “Y/N Y/L/N.”

The light in his eyes burned brighter. “Y/N. That is a beautiful name.” 

You couldn’t contain the eye roll at the obviously bad pickup line. Perhaps it was best that he was Colter’s brother. Not that you would’ve been doing much talking if he wasn’t, so his flirting skills wouldn’t have mattered. “So I’ve heard.” You cut that off at the knees. “Russell Shaw,” you drew out his name, remembering something Reenie had mentioned before you went through airport security. You yanked out another folder from your case, slapping it down in front of him. “Reenie insisted that I give you this and told me to tell you that you owe her quite a bit for taking care of those fines from Fish & Wildlife and something about a donkey in Tuscaloosa?” You glanced up at him in question. 

He chuckled, sounding nervous, and gave you a reassuring smile. “That’s not— The donkey thing was a misunderstanding.”

Right. “Oh, I’m sure.”

“No, really. We ran into a situation and we tried to free him when these cops saw us and—”

You held up a hand. “I really don’t need the details. It’s fine. But Reenie did say you should Venmo her.”

He pressed his lips together and dropped his gaze to the papers, nodding. “Sure. I’ll get right on that.” You studied him as he studied the paperwork and despite the suspicious donkey thing and your decision to already back off, you kind of wished he would get right on you. 

You heard a throat clearing next to you and turned to find Colter glancing between you, that frown on his face again. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes once more. Whatever, Colter had no business looking like that. He’d had his chance and he’d fucked it up, royally. Instead of giving that pretend jealousy shit the time of day, you snatched a few more fries off of his plate and glanced back and forth between the two men as you chewed. “You two look nothing alike, by the way.”

“He should be so lucky,” Russell teased his brother before turning that smile back on you. You almost wished you hadn’t indulged in an all night booze fest and had a fresh change of clothes. You must look like a wreck right now, more than what you’d seen in the rearview mirror earlier, and you probably smelled like one, too. Desperately trying to tamp down the images popping into your brain of this man underneath you and those hands of his gripping onto your hips, you stole more fries from the plate near you.

“Seriously, Y/N, why don’t you just go get your own food? The trucks are right there.” Colter hated it when you did this which is exactly why you did it. 

You arched a brow over at him as you chewed. “You buying?” When he didn’t answer fast enough, you snatched even more fries from him. “Didn’t think so.”

“I am,” Russell interjected, smirking over at you. “Just tell me what you’d like and I’d be more than happy to get it for you.”

His voice deepened on that last part and it made parts of you clench. You bet he would. Why the fuck did Colter have to have a brother? And why did it have to be this guy who was watching you like the Big Bad Wolf, looking like he would gobble you up the second you’d let him? Who had a roguish grin to match? Besides, based on what Reenie had said during your quick interlude at the airport, Colter’s brother had been hitting on her big time. She had warned you to tread carefully due to his connection to this case Colter was looking into. That his brother might try to charm his way into peeking at the files for his brother that you were carrying among other things, but this information was meant to go strictly into Colter’s hands. You were almost insulted at her implying that you weren’t a damn professional and that you were so easily led by your libido (it had been almost six months which was a damn drought for you). It was almost as if she knew you too well (she did).

Even though you didn’t plan on going there, at all, you couldn’t resist, lifting your sunglasses to your head, not caring how bloodshot or tired your eyes looked. “Anything I’d like?”

He leaned forward slightly. “Whatever you want,” he promised, the look in his gaze making the same vow but for something completely different.

You leaned forward, too. “Well, in that case…” When you noticed him moving an inch more towards you, hanging onto what you would say next, you grabbed his box of fries out from underneath him. You smirked triumphantly and plucked a fry in between your fingers, popping it into your mouth. 

Instead of getting annoyed like Colter had, he quietly laughed and seemed plenty entertained as he watched you pick up another fry that had red sauce partially covering it. “I should warn you. I’m a sriracha on fries kind of guy.”

You glanced at the fry and then back at him, shrugging. “Oh, I’ve had way hotter things in my mouth than this, trust me.” You never broke eye contact as you slipped the fry past your lips, not reacting in the slightest when the spicy taste came into contact with your tongue. Russell’s eyes darkened and you had the distinct feeling that if you weren’t in public right now and Colter wasn’t here, you’d be at serious risk of him testing that theory.

“Okay,” Colter interrupted. “Let’s focus on the case, please.” He almost sounded irritated which made you glance over to see him glaring in both yours and Russell’s direction. You laughed to yourself and continued eating your stolen fries and sipping your modified version of an Irish coffee. As much as Colter’s annoyance amused you, you were also grateful that he was reminding you why you were there. You needed to get your horny ass in check.

“So this is everything Reenie could find on them?” He asked.

You shrugged. Reenie hadn’t exactly given you all the particulars and you assumed that was purposeful on her part for whatever the reason. Not that it bothered you in the slightest; you had your own shit to worry about. Besides, she also implied Colter would fill you in on everything once you caught up with him.

He looked displeased and then shook his head at you. “Why did she even bother sending you?”

You got angry then. How dare he? It’s not like you wanted to be sent on this fun little errand at the whims of the lawyer who was hellbent on helping him at every turn. “Hey. I traveled on two annoying ass flights to get here, dealing with chatty old ladies and misogynistic perverts, to hand deliver you this shit and to assist wherever I can. Without any warning or time to even pack a toothbrush, I might add. All while I have my own caseload to work on, thank you very much. To help you out and fast. So how about a goddamn thank you instead of whatever this is?” You gestured towards him. He went to reply, but you cut him off. “And while you’re turning that ungrateful frown upside down, why don’t you tell me what exactly it is you’re working on?”

Russell spoke up then, prompting you to look over at him. “A buddy of mine went missing and we’re trying to track him down. His wife called me and asked me to look into it. Colter’s helping.”

That quelled your irritation slightly and you pressed your lips together. You could only imagine how sick with worry this guy’s wife must be; you knew that feeling all too well. “I’m sorry to hear it,” you offered, your tone as genuine and sympathetic as you could make it. Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Colter watching you, his frown gone, now replaced by the same sympathy you were feeling. You hated it so you decided to ignore it. “How long ago did he go missing?”

“A few days back. He was returning home after a grocery store run but he disappeared from a gas station while filling up.”

Your brows furrowed. “Taken?”

Russell shook his head. “No. He ran off. It looked like someone may have been after him.” 

Colter slid over the file to you, nodding when you glanced at him questioningly. “Doug Thompson. Former military. Now working for these guys as a private contractor.” Well, now Reenie’s explicit instructions made more sense. 

You opened the file and skimmed the papers as quickly as you could. “Wow,” you murmured. “So these guys are no joke.”

“No, they’re not.” You glanced up to find Russell watching you, all traces of any flirtation and humor gone. “But I don’t think they have anything to do with it. I would’ve heard something if they did.”

Your brows arched in surprise, hearing what he wasn’t exactly saying. “You’re working with them, too?”

He gave you a nod. “I am. We do mostly private security, that kind of thing.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you could see the disbelief in Colter’s expression. He wasn’t buying it either. “Which is code for black ops, am I right?”

Russell tensed. Bingo.

“Which means that whether or not they’re responsible, they’re most likely connected to what’s happening. If someone was really after your friend.”

His jaw tightened. “What makes you say that? It could be anyone.”

You shot him a look and shut the file. “Because I was engaged to someone who did this kind of thing and I know how these things work.”

You watched as his eyes widened slightly and he leaned forward, curious. “Was?”

Ignoring that question and no longer as curious about him, you tossed the file back over to Colter. “Bottom line is this firm is where you should be looking first. Carefully, though. We both know how they like to keep their secrets.” You gave him a thin-lipped smile and sipped your coffee, slipping your sunglasses back on and getting up to head over to the food truck behind him. On your way, you spied a young family nearby. The mother was feeding a baby, smiling as she watched her husband spin his kindergarten-age daughter in circles by the arms, making her giggle. You felt an all-too familiar lump forming in your throat but you forced it back down and continued your trek, coming to a stop at the back of a short line, intending on getting your own food. You weren’t really hungry but you needed a few minutes to regain your bearings before you could switch back into professional mode and be of any help to the brothers.

By the time you returned, Colter sent you a sympathetic glance which you promptly ignored and dug into the case as well as your meal. 

Colter sighed when your car pulled away. He had insisted you go check into a room and clean up while he and Russell made some calls, did some digging, and he would call you if something turned up. You had been only too happy to agree.

Russell turned back to him, after watching you drive off. “Oh, I like her.”

“Of course you do,” Colter muttered.

“Alright, you already gave me the sit rep on you and the lawyer. Now I need one for you and her.” He gestured in the direction you had disappeared in with his thumb. “And don’t hold back because she is…” He gave his brother the perfection sign.

Colter shook his head and wiped his hands with a napkin. “There really isn’t anything to report there, either. We had a…weekend about a year back when I was working a case in her town. Then I got a new case in the next state over and we went our separate ways. Nothing ever came of it.”

Russell continued chewing his fries that you had returned before you left, thinking it over. “There seems to be quite a bit of hostility between you two for just a casual weekend.”

Colter folded his arms on the table. “We didn’t end on the best terms.”

His brother chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee. “Bit of an understatement.” He then wiped his hands clean, too. “So, she’s fair game then, I take it?”

Colter shot him a glare. “No, she’s not. She’s off limits, too.”

“Come on, bro. You already said the lawyer was off limits.” He gave Colter a look. “Are you telling me you’ve got a thing for both of them? Because if you do, I wouldn’t blame you. They’re both—”

“It’s not like that,” Colter interrupted. “With Y/N, it’s… She’s been through a lot.”

Russell nodded and glanced back down at his food. “Yeah, I caught that.”

“The last thing she needs right now is a reminder of any of it.” Russell glanced up to catch Colter eyeing him sharply.

Russell got the message. He hadn’t addressed it at the time but he hadn’t missed it when you claimed to know how companies like Horizon worked or that you had been engaged to someone who worked for one of them. There was obviously a story there. And that combined with your change in demeanor when he mentioned Doug’s disappearance, you referring to your engagement in the past tense, and Colter’s protectiveness of you — Russell had a pretty good idea of what probably happened. It didn’t mean he didn’t like you, though. If he wasn’t mistaken, he had gotten the impression that you had liked him, too. But in the same vein, until he knew what he was working with, he didn’t want to do anything that might cause you to relive anything that you’d rather forget.

“You don’t plan to call her to help with any of this, do you?”

Colter shook his head.

Russell studied his brother, determining if that was the best option here. You were a PI and a damned good one if Reenie Green had sent you to help. It was obvious from his short interactions with the woman that she didn’t suffer fools and there wasn’t a single thing she missed. So he knew you had to be good at your job. Doug was still missing, Tracy was still worried, and they still weren’t any closer to finding any answers. It might be helpful to include you in this. Another pair of discerning eyes was always a good thing. In the end, though, Russell decided against saying anything. Instead, he asked, “So, you sure she’s off limits?” His brother gave him a glare and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I’m just kidding. I got it. Off limits.” 

He also didn’t mention that he had discreetly entered your number into his phone when you inconspicuously slid your business card over to him. At the time, he had thought you were giving him a greenlight to contact you after this was over, but now he realized you probably had known what Colter was going to do all along.

Instead, Russell mentioned the autopsy report he had stolen from the morgue and handed a copy to Colter to peruse. While he studied the paper, Russell discreetly sent you a message so you also had his number and so he could shoot you a text when the time was right.

You were in a store, grabbing some clothes to have for the next few days, not knowing how long you were going to be needed here, when your phone began to ring. One quick glance at the screen had you smirking. Russell Shaw. You had slyly given him your number earlier when Colter wasn’t looking, telling yourself you were making sure you were included in the case so you could do what you were sent here to do. But another smaller part of you had hoped the man would contact you for a whole other reason. You may not have been thrilled to learn what he did for a living but that little fact didn’t have to ruin any possible fun you two could have, right? 

Sure, you felt a little guilty because he was Colter’s brother but you were also a realist. There wasn’t anything happening with Colter and whatever had was never going anywhere. Plus that had been well over a year ago. In your mind, you were free as a bird. So, you made a move; now it was up to Russell to make the next one. And you were hoping this was it.

You slid the green button on your screen and put the phone up to your ear. “Russell Shaw,” you greeted, making sure your voice sounded something akin to warm honey slowly drizzling over some fruit. “I had a feeling you’d be calling me.”

“Could it have something to do with me texting you earlier that I’d call as soon as I had an update?”

“Tomato, tohmato.” Hearing his smooth chuckle come down the line, you continued to sift through a rack of shirts. “So, what can I do for you?”

“A lot it sounds like, if I’m being honest.” His voice had dipped in register much the same way it had in your presence before but the effect it had being spoken directly into your ear like this…well, it was a good thing you had already grabbed a half dozen pairs of panties to have on hand. While it took you a second to recover, you couldn’t help but smile. You had been right earlier; he was definitely interested.

A woman walked right past you and you lowered your voice further. “Do you plan to find out?”

“You bet your ass I will. As soon as I’m free to.”

Fuck. If you weren’t in the middle of a store right now, you may have just asked him to start talking dirty to you right there. You had only been on the phone with him for less than a minute and already you were digging your teeth into your lip to keep a guttural moan from escaping you. This man had you so turned on you were surprised that you could still see straight or that you hadn’t run to the dressing room to temporarily alleviate the fire he had started in your belly that was blazing a trail down in between your legs. That voice and the way he was using it right now…it was pure liquid sex being poured into your ear. Your irritation with Reenie had abated some when you met him, now it was all but gone as were any warnings she gave you about the man as well as the thought of his younger brother. “Good. I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Oh, I hope you do.” That didn’t make you clench down on nothing, not at all. If this continued, you would be in that dressing room in the next thirty seconds, guaranteed. You were already starting to get seriously aroused at the images playing in your head. 

“Trust me, there will definitely be some type of holding going on,” you promised. 

“Don’t I know it,” he nearly growled into your ear. Holy… That was it. You were on your way to the dressing room. The sign said only three items were allowed at a time but you didn’t give a fuck at the bulkload of items in your arm; this was an emergency.

But what he said next after quietly clearing his throat had you stopping in your tracks. “As much as I’d love to continue this conversation, I only have a limited window of time. But I promise, we will pick this up later.”

You nearly let out a whine of disappointment. You very much wanted to continue this conversation right now but it slowly was coming back to you that yes, there was currently a missing persons case that was supposed to be your first priority. His missing friend in fact. Your brain knew that was more important though your body was screaming for something else. He had promised though that you would continue this later, something you could keep in your mind’s eye at the end of this very long and fucked up rainbow. As long as he dove into your pot of gold at the end, you could hold out a few more hours. “You better,” you grumbled.

Another warm chuckle floated down the line.

You turned to another rack of shirts, aggressively working your way through it. “So you said something about an update?”

“Yeah.” You had to admire how quickly he switched gears. While you were still struggling to get your libido under control and you were irritated, he sounded completely professional and nonplussed, as if he hadn’t been just talking to you with that tone of voice or implying what he wanted later on. “I reached out to one of my contacts and we think Doug might be hiding out in a location outside of town. We’re on our way there now to check it out.”

Shame immediately filled you at the mention of his friend. Here you were, horny as hell, about to go take care of yourself in the dressing room a minute ago and possibly ask him to tell you in explicit detail what he’d like to be doing to you if he were there, and Doug was still missing. You were more professional than that — hell, you knew better than that. You shook off the remnants of the last few minutes and went right into work mode. “Alright, you want me to come along for backup?”

“I’d love to have you back us up, but, uh…” 

You frowned at the uncertainty suddenly coating his tone. He wasn’t one of those guys, was he? That would be severely disappointing if he was and quite the mood killer, not to mention his third strike against him. You needed to get laid but not that badly. Though you hadn’t gotten the impression that he was one of those misogynistic assholes who thought a woman didn’t know her way around the big scary noisemakers known as guns earlier. “But what?” You snapped.

“Colter thinks you should sit this one out.”

Your jaw tightened and you quickly moved away from the mother and daughter that had just moved near you, lowering your voice. “That motherf— I don’t give a flying fuck what Colter thinks. I am not being sidelined.” You fucking knew it. The minute you had heard what the actual case was, seeing Colter’s gaze of sympathy directed at you — you fucking knew he would try to pull this shit.

“I think he’s just worried about you. You know? After what you’ve been through…”

That pulled you up short. “Exactly what did he tell you?”

“Uh, not much. He just thought this kind of situation might hit a little too close to home.”

You muttered a curse under your breath and made your way to the cashier. Fucking Colter. You knew you should have never told him about what happened with your fiance. He was the type of guy who would keep that in mind every time something like this came up. Hell, you were pretty sure that was partially the reason he had bounced out of your apartment so fast at the end of the long weekend you’d spent together. Sure, he had snagged another case, but you would never forget the look in his eyes as he quickly dressed — the same look you had seen at lunch earlier. At that time, you had liked Colter and you didn’t think your past would be something that could be held against you. Even though your time together had been strictly casual, he had talked to you about his father a little bit and he had seen a picture of Nate in your living room. What were you supposed to do when he asked you about it? Lie? After he had just shared something so personal with you? After he had slept with you four times thus far? You weren’t ashamed of your time with Nate and you had loved the man, been ready to spend the rest of your life with him before he lost his. That was just a tragic fact in your life. Never in a million years did you imagine that not only would it kick someone out your door so fast but now it would prevent you from being able to do your job.   

“Is it?”

You had completely forgotten you were still on the phone, silently fuming about this sudden development. “Is it what?” You dumped your clothes on the counter and gave a nod to the cashier in return when she greeted you.

“Is it hitting a little too close?”

You decided to nip this shit right in the bud. “Okay, Shaw, you listen to me and you listen good. It doesn’t matter if it’s hitting too close as you put it, or not. I do my job and nothing gets in the way of that. Just because your asshat of a brother has apparently decided that I’m some fragile flower of a woman that needs protecting from my own feelings doesn’t mean shit. I’m damn good at what I do and I’m a fucking professional. You hear me?” You handed the woman your credit card, noticing she was giving you an approving nod. You had forgotten that she was hearing every word of this side of the conversation. 

“Yes, ma’am.”

That was all you wanted to hear. “Good. Now, when are you going to send me that location so I can meet you?” You took the bag from the cashier, quietly thanking her, and made your way out of the store. 

“Tell you what. We’re only about thirty minutes out. From where you are, it’s about an hour and a half drive. Why don’t you let us check it out first and if it’s no dice, you can meet us on the way back into town? We’ll regroup and work it together from there on out.”

You tossed your bag in the backseat of your car. “Shaw,” you growled. “What did I just say?”

“This isn't that,” he assured you. “It’s a matter of us working against the clock. We’ve got to get to Doug before the guys looking for him do. That’s all this is.” 

You placed a hand on your hip and unclenched your jaw. He had a point and you also heard what he wasn’t saying: you racing up there to meet them would only slow them down and Doug couldn’t afford that. “Alright, is there anything I can do to help from here?”

“Not at the moment but keep your phone on. Depending on how this goes, we may need to lock down an address and quickly. And for that, we’re going to need you. I’m assuming you have an FBI contact somewhere?”

You pressed your lips together and got into your car. “I know someone,” you confirmed. “He owes me a favor or two.”

“I really want to say something right now at the idea of you and favors and me being the one to close out that guy’s tab but I can’t. My window of time is closing in about fifteen seconds.”

You smirked, shaking your head. “Pretty sure you just did.”

He cleared his throat one more time, affecting an even more professional tone than you’d heard from him thus far. “Got to go. Keep your phone on. I’ll text you as soon as I know what the situation is.” 

“Okay, will do.” You briefly closed your eyes, deciding the hell with it. “And, Russell?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful,” you quietly urged, digging your teeth into your bottom lip. Despite what you said to him before, hearing speak in a way that was similar to Nate had your nerves sitting a little bit on edge, now knowing what he and his friend Doug did for a living and what he and Colter could possibly be walking into. 

“Copy that,” he responded, making you realize that his limited window of time he mentioned had expired and he was no longer alone. Sure enough, you could hear the sounds of a car door shutting in the background.

“Keep me updated.”

“Will do. Talk soon.” Before you could say anything else, the line disconnected. Even though you’d heard the confirmation of why he had to go so quickly, a part of you irrationally worried for a second that you had probably scared him off. That your warning him to be careful only cemented whatever Colter had said about you to him and why the former wanted to keep you sidelined. You had meant what you said earlier; you were a professional and your personal tragedies would never get in the way of your job. But that didn’t mean that an age-old worry you’d had every time Nate had gone to work didn’t immediately resurface the minute you were faced with a similar situation. And even though you were pissed at Colter, you also didn’t want him to get hurt.

The moment you figured you had screwed yourself with Russell, and not in the good way, an alert sounded on your phone. You glanced at your screen and saw a new text message from the very man you had just been thinking about. 

“We’ve got this. I’ll text you the minute we’re done checking it out.”

A small smile formed on your face and you texted back a genuine “Thank you”. You forced yourself to take a deep breath and get your head back in the game. You still had to find a motel to check into and you also had to be ready in case they did end up needing that address Russell had mentioned. You quickly looked up motels on your phone, weeding out the ones with the worse reviews, and settling on a place. You fired up Google Maps and started the car, intent on getting a room and firing up your laptop to check on a few cases to keep you busy while you were waiting. That had always been the worst part for you: the waiting. Waiting for a phone call or text to let you know Nate was okay after a job even though he couldn’t tell you the details of said job. So you were determined to place your focus elsewhere but also be ready in case you were needed. 

You truly hoped the brothers found Doug alive at this location they were headed to and that the danger, if any, was minimal. That it was truly nothing the two couldn’t handle together.

Russell quickly hung up with you the minute Colter hopped back into his truck. His brother had stopped to get some coffee at Russell’s insistence though Colter had kept repeating they shouldn’t be stopping. When the latter didn’t immediately get out to go get the beverages after they parked, Colter arched his brows expectantly. Russell had given him a wide smile. “Mind getting it quick?” He waved his phone at the man, indicating he needed to make a call.

Colter looked less than pleased but gave him a nod, most likely assuming it was a call to one of Russell’s contacts that should remain unknown as his older brother had intended, and left. Russell removed his sunglasses and immediately pressed the phone icon next to your name, calling you.

Now, he definitely knew three things: you had lost someone to this type of work, you were a little bit of a spitfire and he liked you even more now, and he was definitely going to pay you a visit after he closed up this whole thing with Doug and got the man back to his wife in one piece. 

Sure, when he’d first seen you, you had been somewhat hostile but entertaining and you’d been a hot mess. One hell of a hot mess in his opinion. Then you’d been flirty, checking him out, and you had even stolen his fries to use them for implications that definitely hadn’t been lost on him (or Colter for that matter, the glare his brother graced you with when you weren’t looking he hadn’t seen since they were kids). Though he’d clocked your change in demeanor when Doug’s situation was brought up and hadn’t missed your evading his question about your engagement status, he couldn’t resist eyeing you up as you walked over to the food truck behind him, nearly whistling at the perfection he was staring at. Not to mention, he liked your spunk and that only made him want you that much more. Then when you plopped back down with your food, completely in professional mode and talking over the case quickly before Colter sent you off, he was even more impressed and he just knew he had to take his shot with you. Under him, over him, to the side of him — whatever you wanted, he was game. No matter what Colter had to say on the matter. Unless his brother had feelings for you, he was going for it the first chance he got.

Colter handed him his coffee, nodding at Russell’s thanking him. “You get anything?”

“Nothing more than we already know.” He placed his sunglasses back on and sipped at his coffee, feeling slightly bad for lying to his brother. He knew Colter’s “off limits” was more about protecting you than it was anything else. But he also had just gotten his brother to start talking to him again, to work Doug’s disappearance with him, and he didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that. Nothing within reason, anyway. So a little white lie needed to be told; he’d done it before and way worse. Besides, he also didn’t think it was fair that Colter didn’t allow you the decision of whether you wanted to be involved in this or not. While he could appreciate his little brother looking out for you like the good man he’d turned out to be, everyone deserved to make their own well-informed choices. Considering your ex had been former military turned private contractor, you more than knew what you were dealing with. You had made a good point earlier: your history shouldn’t impact the job you had come here to do. And far be it from Russell to be the one to stand in your way and keep you from doing just that. Plus, they could really use your help if this safehouse Ann had given them didn’t pan out. 

Colter nodded and backed out of the parking spot. “Onward to the safe house. No more stops, right?”

“Right,” Russell confirmed. While Colter was distracted, he discreetly adjusted himself. There had been a moment in your conversation there that he had been tempted to tell you just how hard your sexy-as-hell voice and heavy flirtation had gotten him. But he knew once he did that, there would be no going back and either he’d have to jerk off in his brother’s truck (which would just be awkward especially if Colter returned quickly) or he’d have to somehow sneak into the coffee shop and make his way to the bathrooms so he could rub one out in there. Though that might also prove to be awkward if anyone else walked in to overhear the absolutely filthy things he would be murmuring into your ear from a stall, all of the promises he’d make about what he wanted to do to that sweet body of yours as soon as he had the chance, the sounds of him whacking it echoing loudly in the small space along with his deep groans. There had even been once or twice he’d gently rubbed the bulge in his jeans as you talked, only backing off when it got to be too much and he was about to break, close to ordering you to go somewhere private where you could touch yourself as well while also making sure you could be loud enough so he could hear every amazing sound he knew you would make. Hell, when you’d laid down the law to him, he’d nearly unzipped his jeans and stuck his hand inside to get some relief right there. Not that he didn’t hear what you were saying, not that he didn’t respect it or you, but damn if that little bit of fire you’d thrown his way didn’t turn him on even more. When he had answered you with “Yes, ma’am” a part of him had definitely been saluting you, no doubt about it.

Then he heard someone talking to you in the background, presumably a store clerk since it sounded like you had been told an amount for whatever you were buying. He had the quick thought, or hope, that maybe you were in a Victoria’s Secret or one of those places, buying a little something for him to unwrap you out of later on. Realizing just how much lust had fogged up his brain during this conversation, he dropped his head back against the seat, shut his eyes, and compulsively swallowed. He was immediately determined to keep his cool for the rest of your chat, especially when he opened his eyes to see Colter holding the coffee shop door open for an elderly couple walking inside, coffee cups stacked in his other hand. From there, he’d kept things professional and brief, though he hadn’t been able to resist getting that one last tease in before Colter opened the door. 

And then he’d heard your warning, detecting a note of worry in it, so he’d done what he could to reassure you with the text message he just discreetly sent you. He appreciated the fact that while this case might be stirring up some feelings from the past, you still had gone ahead and told him to be safe. He knew it was meant for both him and Colter, you obviously knowing how dangerous the job could be, but he was still getting used to him being included in that group. It was a little strange for him if he was honest. Other than Tracy saying it when he would pick Doug up for a job and the occasional conversation with Dory where he mentioned he was about to go to work, there was no one else who told him to be careful, to be safe. He found he kind of liked the idea and that only increased his appreciation of your situation, especially now having an even better idea of what you might be currently experiencing. He was no stranger to trauma, that was for sure, and so he could only imagine the thoughts racing through your mind right now, you being pissed off at Colter or not, you having just met him or not. He didn’t intend to give you cause for any more worry. No, he intended to give you something else when all was said and done. He couldn’t help but smirk at the thought.    

But now — now, it was go time. He needed to clear his head and focus on the job. He needed to get Doug back to his wife alive. Colter had made Tracy a promise that both brothers were intent on keeping. And Russell had made you a promise, one he was determined as hell to see through. 

You were just leaving the bathroom wrapped in a towel, your hair damp and sitting on one shoulder after you just squeezed the water out of it, when you heard a knock on your motel room door. 

You frowned, wondering who it could be, thinking maybe it was Colter. He always had a way of finding you when that was the last thing you wanted him to do. Truthfully, you had bitched him out earlier when he called you to inform you that he had just successfully delivered Doug back home to his wife, alive and unharmed. He and Russell had found the man at the safehouse and he told them who he had been running from. While Colter didn’t share that information, you gathered from what he did share that it had something to do with a job he and Russell had done for Horizon in the past. You kept your mouth shut but you shook your head. You knew it. Doing that kind of work was always dangerous and always carried risks like that. 

They made the long drive back and now the case was closed. Something you already knew thanks to the text message Russell had sent you already confirming this but you didn’t let on to Colter that you knew. Instead, you proceeded to tell him to stop treating you like a fragile porcelain doll and from there it quickly became heated between you two. The conversation ended soon after with neither of you willing to budge and you let out an aggravated sigh when you hit the end call button. You were grateful he and Russell were okay, but the former could drive you up a wall sometimes. If you could go back in time, you would definitely have told him to get lost when he showed up on your doorstep that one Friday night.

That immediately made you think of Russell and you realized you hadn’t texted him back yet. Colter had called right after you received the text message, with you assuming they had just gotten back into an area with service, and he had told you they had Doug and he’d call again when they got him safely home. You had sat on pins and needles, trying to focus on your most prevalent case, but the worry gnawed at you. Colter’s tone had not been his usual calm, devil-may-care one. It was coated with concern, not something you heard from him too often. So you had been distracted until Colter called you again and then the rest was history.

You slid over to Russell’s name on your screen and tried to call him but it went straight to voicemail. A different worry began to gnaw at you this time, the worry that you had indeed scared him off earlier. He had thought twice about it and decided you weren’t worth getting involved with, not even for the casual one night stand. The disappointment sat in your chest for a moment until you got angry. Between the argument with Colter and now Russell bailing on the plans he had implied to you that he wanted to keep, you were done. You hopped up and grabbed the bottle of whiskey you had purchased earlier, twisted off the cap, and took a swig. Well, it looked like it would be another dry night for you and your trip out here had been a complete waste. Colter hadn’t wanted your help and now you weren’t bumping pelvises with his hot older brother either so it was a lose-lose for you. As usual.

You swigged some more whiskey before deciding it was time for that shower you had been craving since this morning. Sure, you could take care of yourself in there and it might ease some of this angry tension in your body that Colter had helped to create, but you were too annoyed. You had angrily slammed your laptop shut and headed for the bathroom, intent on washing all of the bullshit from the last twenty four hours away.

And now, Colter had decided to show up. Of course he had. He might have a thing for Reenie that he refused to acknowledge (as did she), but he was angry (something not usual for him), worked up, and you were in town. Of course he’d show up wanting a repeat performance of the angry sex you’d had in the past. While you could really use the lay to get you out of this drought you found yourself in, you had no desire to go back there and you were definitely not in the mood.

That didn’t mean you wouldn’t give him a tease of what he couldn’t have, though. Not after that argument. Which is exactly why you decided to answer the door dressed (or underdressed) as you were. But when you angrily swung the door open, the person staring back at you in momentary shock was not Colter Shaw. You were shocked yourself; how the hell had he found you?   

Russell’s gaze darkened as he took all of you in. You noticed that he had changed his clothes and his hair looked slightly damp, as if he had recently taken a shower himself. “Hey,” he greeted, his voice dipping in register again. 

And just like that, as if a button had been pressed with that deep tone of his, you were back in the mood. You smirked and leaned against the door. “Hey,” you silkily replied. “Not the Shaw brother I was expecting.”

“But the one you were hoping for, right?” Russell’s wolfish grin was back, completely undeterred by your teasing.

You pretended to think it over for a moment. “Depends.” You grabbed at his jacket and yanked him in closer to you, making him chuckle as you swung the door shut behind him. “What does this brother plan to do?”

“Like I said,” He used that voice again, making goosebumps rise along your skin. “Whatever you want.”

“Exactly what I wanted to hear.” You lifted up and wrapped your arms around his neck, the movement forcing the towel to fall from your body, as you pushed your lips to his. You ran your fingers through his hair and greedily kissed him, nearly moaning into his mouth when his tongue delved into yours and his hands palmed at your ass. If he moved those fingers a little lower, he would find you already practically dripping for him. If you weren’t so busy trying to keep your balance as he proceeded to devour you, you might have marveled at the effect this man had on your body.  

A moment later, he gripped your ass tightly and picked you up, prompting you to wrap your legs around his waist. You could feel the covered bulge against you and you couldn’t help trying to grind a little against it, trying to get some friction.

When you both needed air, you moved to his neck, yanking his head backwards and making him chuckle as you went to town on him. You could also hear him letting out tiny groans above you as he tried to catch his breath. It was one of the hottest fucking things you’d ever heard and you intended on hearing more before the night’s end. “I should tell you before we go any further,” he panted.

“Mmmm, the only thing I need to know is if you’re clean. Because I really want that in my mouth.” You reached below to squeeze his erection, making his breath catch that was then let out in a quiet hiss.

“I-I’m clean,” he assured you.

“Good, me too,” you murmured, nibbling on his ear. “You just need to make sure to pull out and we’re golden.” 

“Okay. I, uh, I also came packing.”

You moved your hand over him and squeezed once more, earning another drawn out hiss of “shit”. “You certainly did.”

He moved you back so he could look at you, his eyes the darkest you’d seen them yet. He cupped your cheek, gliding his thumb along your bottom lip before gently placing it inside your mouth against your tongue. You sucked the digit in further, moaning around it. His gaze was so transfixed on your mouth that you couldn’t help but snicker and release his thumb with a pop. “Russell.”

His gaze slowly trailed upwards to meet yours.

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” You teased as you rubbed earnestly at his erection. 

“Uh,” You noticed his eyes close briefly when you rubbed near where the tip was located. You could feel a little wet spot forming on the denim underneath your ministrations and it made you grin. “Uh, Colter said you were off limits.”

Your hand immediately stopped its motion. Oh no, that motherfucker had not. He had no claim to you and whatever moment you two had back in the day had long since passed, along with the several women he’d bedded after you including Reenie. There was no way in hell he got to play the dibs card or tell you and Russell, two consenting adults, what to do. You planned to tell him that the next time you spoke with him, if you ever did again. For now, though, you only wanted to focus on the man whose fingers were hungrily roaming over your bare ass and lower, groaning when he found your own wet spot.

You cupped his chin, making sure he was looking straight at you as you stated in the sexiest voice you could manage, “I think you mean no limits. Right, Russell?”

He groaned and held you to him as he hurriedly walked you over to the bed. “Fuck, I knew I liked you.” You let out a giggle as he tossed you gently onto the bed that was quickly cut off by a moan when his body immediately covered yours and his tongue plundered your mouth.

A sudden thought occurred to you and you nearly chuckled against his lips. You had seen the way he had been eyeing you up earlier today and you realized you had the man completely pegged right then. Because just like the Big Bad Wolf, he proceeded to consume you completely, before the tables turned and you did some devouring of your own.

dividers by @firefly-graphics

[ci0zi0]

Okay then Brian...

I guess I'll have to think of something else.

Let's say... perhaps... Mephone4 really DID do days worth of coding and programming in the span of a few seconds.

And let's say Springy WASNT made by Mephone4.

If you aren't gaslighting me, Mr Koch... you're telling me Mephone4 didn't subconsciously make Springy.

But, since he was glitching, Springy was made by some form of MeLife. Or at least some kinda Meeple tech.

Which... wasn't by Mephone4.

But the thing is.. life can only be MADE by MeLife. It.. it's in the name.

But... what if he was made by MeLife?... but not by MePhone4?...

What if the Shimmer Egg that is in Cobs' possession.. is still with Cobs?...

Okay. Hear me out for a sec.

Assuming Mephone4 didn't create Springy, that means something ELSE created Springy. And under that assumption, something else at Meeple.

Perhaps it was Cobs?..

But wait! How could Cobs do that?.. Mephone4 is the only one who can use MeLife!!...

..........

Wrong.

Right here. Something always felt kinda off.

Support ending on older devices.

...devices?.. devices plural?..

Cobs was always studying the organic energy of the Shimmers, desperately wanting it for his own gain.

Though it's constantly questioned how the egg he stolen was used.

Thing is about Shimmers.. they don't seem to have one direct source of energy.

The source of light the shimmers have appears to be the energy they own.

Energy flowing through the shell inside, being orbs of light.

Which can separate and move around.

Multiple lights. More than one.

Now.. the baby shimmer has multiple lights as well.

Two main ones representing the eyes and extra particals of energy below used to float it upward.

Now, these lights are the energy source. The natural energy Cobs needed.

The eyes of the shimmers are the main forms of energy. The most concentrated. The strongest.

Now.. Cobs is a smart guy. I really doubt he would've used the only shimmer egg he acquired and used it all up completely.

So...

He made two.

Two Mephones.

Mephone4 and Mephone4s.

This screenshot is direct proof the energy here can be divided. Cobs used the main source of the Shimmer's energy to make Mephone4 as an experimental start. A beginning to test the waters.

It's why Mephone4 had so many tasks. He needed to see what the Shimmer energy was capable of. He needed to go farther and higher with the use of its power.

Mephone4s is a creation Cobs made because he knew Mephone4 wasn't pulling his weight. A Mephone that can replace Mephone4. Be the true accomplishment he needed.

Mephone4 n Mephone4s are practically identical in a few ways. But the main part is how Mephone4s had MeLife able to be installed.

Despite Mephone4s downgrading, the system still allowed MeLife and all the uses of Shimmer Energy. Mephone4 didn't lose any ability. He kept them. Kept the way to generate and recover contestants.

Now.. this is why Mephone4 dying didn't kill off the egg's use. Because it was split between Mephones.

But the egg wasn't used completely for Mephone4 and Mephone4s exclusively.

Cobs didn't want to waste such good energy.

He still had some left over.

The energy wasn't as strong, but seeing as other Meeple products can express, they too had a little amount of it.

Such as Mepad.

Mepad is able to teleport. How???... He can teleport, most likely due to some amount of Shimmer energy given to his device.

MePad isn't effected by the screams due to not having a core amount of Shimmer energy in his system. He was given some left overs.

Mepad was there when Mephone4 was fleeing, after all. Meaning Mephone4s was in slight development and not finished. Yet Mepad was given little energy.

Mepad has a personality, and isn't fully robotic. He sounds and acts robotic but he developed through the show to care and emote. He's more than other Meeple products.

Mepad was probably given waaayyyyyy less energy than Mephone4 n 4s but a vast bit more than future Meeple products.

As for Cobs, he was losing energy that he had from the Shimmer Egg. He's draining every last ounce of energy out of it into his Meeple products.

It's why they get worse and worse in design and function.

And, it's why he needs Mephone4.

Mephone4 is the most advanced. He has the most energy and power out of all Meeple products.

He contained a true part of the egg's energy source.

Yet Cobs lost control over him once he left.

The moment that wire was added into Mephone4, the control came back. And this control allowed Cobs to get Mephone4 back into the system.

Allowing him to create MephoneX by connecting energy sources.

Mephone4's energy source.

As for Springy.. remember Springy? The reason why I made this post?..

With the new context of there being MULTIPLE devices with MeLife, Cobs probably attempted to generate things with less Shimmer energy.

Which resulted in Springy being an awful mess.

Yet, he found some use for him and gave Springy a purpose. Sending him to Invintational.

Since Springy was created on a poorer version of MeLife, he couldn't help but glitch. He wasn't stressed or overwhelmed, it just was in his data.

He was imperfect.

Mephone4 was able to recover Springy due to technically running on the same network as whatever Meeple device created him.

So it was computer stuff. It was essentially looking through the database and downloading a file before it got deleted.

And doing so, allowed Mephone4 to bring Springy back.

This doesn't mean Springy has no bugs though, as he glitched after recovery. But it appears less harmful now that he was generated with a more stable software.

As for the original device that made Springy.. It doesn't matter if the device was alive, seeing as when Mephone4 died in season 1 all the contestants lived.

One last thing before I conclude this ramble.

Why did unplugging the Me device end everything for Mephone4?...

I like to think of it like this...

Mephone4 was connected to the main network of Meeple.

All his creations.. everything was on the network, the database.

Cobs couldn't have control over Mephone4 due to the device not being his. It's like how an actual phone works.

If you don't have the pass code, you don't have access.

Yet they all work under the same internet.

Cobs was able to delete the contestants due to the wire hacking in access.

Providing control.

But it doesn't matter when the main network is pulled offline.

The moment things are offline, all connections get terminated.

Like Bluetooth. Everything was paired with Mephone4.

Disconnect that, and the connection is severed.

Cobs could've pulled the plug anytime.

Cobs perhaps didn't want to pull the plug, because then all his devices would go offline.

Doesn't mean they don't function.. they're just disconnected.

This is a big loss to Mephone4. But it could be to Cobs as well.

But in the end it doesn't matter.

He got what he wanted.

[blitz0hno]

Let's be real. Realistically, every time we see Mikoto it might as well be a different alter.

Does that make for an easy-to-follow narrative? No. Is it what the authors intended? Not likely, but also this is a game all based around perception and life experiences.

"Mikoto" and "John" as we know them are functionally made up by the audience (and thus Es) for narrative flow. Just like how ppl w DID irl are generally assumed to be "themselves," as in their body's name/main identity. Whether you're singlet or plural, the "you" in someone else's mind is a tiny piece even to your closest people. They see you through a special lens all their own, and these interpretations reveal more about the viewer than anything (not that that is a "bad" thing; it just is). Every individual consciousness is a different lens. You really can't know shit about any system unless you ask within the system, even w alters in your own brain. Mikoto hasn't had enough time to process his different parts yet, so it's wholly ambiguous.

Oblivious as we are, we've noticed a bit of friction surrounding how people view Kayanosys and tbh it makes us kinda sad; but the subject matter is touchy, so it's understandable. In my humble opinion, while they give us many clues as to "who's who," it's all still purely hypothetical. And it's fun to guess and theorize and even make shit up! You wouldn't do it to a real system but Milgram is not real; all respectful interpretations of 09 are valid in my book.

Personally I like the idea that he has more alters than just who we see, and I like interpretations of Mikoto/John/Kataboku as their own people. I also like completely ambiguous interpretations, and everything in-between bc if we wanna be Really Realistic, there's no end to the possibilities whatsoever, especially with as little info as we have so far.

This makes writing him So Difficult for me, but it only adds all the more layers to why I love these characters so much. I am so so sick of being a system sometimes, but it's a complex worldview that few experience and even fewer fully grasp. Plurality deserves to be talked about openly and with patience, and I couldn't be happier that Milgram even dares talk about them to such a large audience.

The reasons to talk about these things, after all, won't go away even if we do stop talking about them. I'm not gonna say "it all happens for a reason," but we certainly have words to describe such experiences for many reasons. I feel like we all need to stop being afraid of not fully understanding things. I certainly don't understand a lot, but I understand a small handful of things that many do not. Sharing helps us understand more, even if we miss the mark sometimes.

Idk. I love Mikoto and I love our little mikotoverse on tumblr dot com, that is all.

[rodem]

Ok I did it I finally set out what I promised myself I'd do. I'm free! (Now I just need to stop stalling on the Cyrus scenario draft....................)

Here is my translation of the leaked rough sketches for the remake Rocket executives. These images are attributed to Takao Unno, the art director for HGSS. It was already known that he was the artist behind Proton and Petrel, because of the TCG, but it is nice to have confirmation that he designed all of them!

As you can see, because these are formally unreleased, wip concept sketches, I wouldn't take any of the "new" information here as gospel regarding their final game selves. Though getting to see the initial ideas behind their designs and personalities is a big treat in and of itself!

Also this probably doesn't need to be said here, but please respect the Gamefreak employees and don't bother them with anything related to leaks in any capacity.

If you want to share my translation of this leak on another site, please only do so by linking to this Tumblr post and don't repost the images directly. (This also probably isn't something to worry about, but I'm saying it just in case.....)

Under the read more is my translation notes and personal thoughts:

Archer: Archer's notes were the big bottleneck for this, ngl. I was unsure what the nuance was with "he wants to become Giovanni," so I spent a decent amount of time looking into it. Based on that, I can infer that the nuance here is that Archer's feelings of admiration for Giovanni are so strong that he either wants to straight up be Giovanni, or exactly like him. Either way, it implies a desire to be just like the other person so strong that you lose your own sense of self. So take of that what you will I guess…..

Ariana: I translated the last bullet point under the assumption that it was referring to the plot point where Ariana and her subordinate go after the player character in the TR HQ. Japanese doesn't have plurals so when I first read it I thought it said they routinely attack children together, but I am going to assume that that wasn't what Mr. Unno was going for here.

Petrel: Petrel and Proton's names being switched around here is not a mistake on my part, btw. Petrel's arrogant way of talking is present in the final game! I have no idea how obvious it is in the English version tbh, so I'm pointing it out here!

(Example: he uses "ore-sama" in HGSS like twice ok. He's so cute and I love him so so much.)

Based on the wording, I'm still kinda unsure if the mole was intended to also be fake. (I'm leaning towards yes rn.) So I will just leave this convo I had with a friend here:

Also in relation to lack of plurals, you could interpret the hat line as him hating hats in general, but based on the context it's most likely just referring to the TR hat.

Proton: I don't really have much to say here except that I've stared at his cleavage for longer than necessary.

There is another leaked image that shows Proton from the front (definitely made as an internal reference image). It is interesting that this reference gives him a grey undershirt while his official depictions from the front (Hitoshi Ariga's 3ds theme and Masters) have him wearing a white one!

[one-and-a-half-yikes]

IM fandom got me actin up cause I wasn't even gonna say anything about this chapter lmao

So let's tall about it

Chapter 349: Imperfect Parents

It is not lost on me in the slightest that we're using plural nouns in this title instead of just referring to one parent. I can't imagine why.

Okay so, I'm fully understanding of why people are upset with this chapter and I get that we were so close to a good ending for the boys but-

Canola is right.

I'm not sorry she absolutely is right about this and we gotta address it now. Putting this on the record here and not just on the discord where I already went over all of this.

Let's start with the beginning.

Canola makes it clear that no minor should be in Felix's care, and upon inquiring we are given a very clear reason as to why.

And she is correct. When the Labyrinth chapters were dropping I need it to be made clear I had no patience for any of the Questers' actions regarding this scene. Every last one of them knew damn well Boris shouldn't have gone in there and they still let him regardless. The fact that Cuphead was the only one who had his wits about him enough to say no is embarrassing because when the fuck did he become the reasonable one amongst the group? Why were Leticia and Cuphead the ONLY ADULTS WHO REALIZED THAT BORIS WAS A CHILD

Everyone knew about the children going missing in Fairmont. Everyone knew how dangerous this was but because Boris didn't look like he was traumatized by the other previous quests everyone decided that he was mature enough to handle this quest. The problem lies in the fact that the Questers treat Boris like he's 25 when he's only 14. Not only that, but unlike everyone else who was going into the Labyrinth Boris was DEFENSELESS. He didn't have any real means of saving himself, and given what was in the Labyrinth? Do y'all really think a pipe was going to save his ass? The only reason why Boris lived was because Sarah used him to escape Fairmont, that's it. Otherwise he very well could have fucking died in there and then guess whose fucking fault THAT would have been

In the context of this particular conversation it doesn't matter that Canola doesn't have the full context because she doesn't need it. I said this on the discord and I'll say it again here. Every excuse and reason that people are giving for why things happened the way they did is a NAIL in Felix's coffin preventing him from adopting Boris, not a boon in his favor. These are grown ass adults, they do not need protection from their stupidity and negligence. Because let it be understood, when Canola says "Felix's isn't equipped to care for any minor" she means because of this very reason. Because what the Questers did here was negligence and child endangerment, plain and simple.

If Felix is genuinely serious about adopting Boris he needs to understand that simply listing all the problems he has isn't good enough. You're not being graded for a damn test here, no one cares about your impassioned speech about how much you love and care for those boys after everything they've gone through; it's a nice sentiment, but absolutely meaningless in the grand scheme of the conversation he's having with Canola.

Fundamentally what a social worker like Canola is asking of Felix is: with the behavioral issues and trauma this child has, can you really look after them and give them the proper care they need? Can you guarantee them a safe environment to heal and process their trauma? Can you put your foot down and reprimand Boris when he's out of line?

All of these are necessary questions to ask and all of these questions Felix has failed even before the idea of adoption occurred to him.

Things are not going to get better unless a change is made in the dynamic of the quest group. Everybody, not just Felix, has to stop treating Boris like he's an adult and recognize him for the traumatized child he is. And that means putting their foot down and Boris actually experiencing repercussions for things he does without adult guidance and supervision. Something he dearly needed during the TalentTown arc and was denied by everyone in the group who turned a blind eye to it, not because the don't care about him, but because none of them are truly equipped to deal with a child.

I don't think all hope is lost for Boris to be clear, but I am saying a change absolutely needs to happen in the group and soon if they don't want Boris getting separated. If they care, they'll do it without hesitation.

[genderfluid-insomniac]

Day 4: Warmth

Characters:

Childe

You were in Snezhnaya with your lover waiting for him to get back from an errand and had a warm blanket wrapped around you. It was always cold in this nation but today seemed colder and you wanted to light a fire but that was part of the reason that Childe was out. To get more firewood, pyro slime, and matches for the next couple of weeks. As you were thinking the door to your house opened and the cold wind blew in making you shiver. You heard Childe's voice loudly make a noise somewhat similar to a “burr” and hear the sound of him slipping his large coat and boots off. He then came into the living room where you were with your thick blanket wrapped around you and smiled seeing you bundled up. “Aw aren’t you all cozy and cute, darling.” he cooed and proceeded to kiss you sweetly before turning back to the fireplace, stacking the wood in a pile next to it, and laughing when you yelped feeling his cold lips. “There we go! Now we can cuddle like you wanted,” he said and dusted the wood dust off of him. The harbinger had a roaring fire going in no time and you both were cuddled in front of it with the blanket shared between you both.

Mavuika

In Natlan the weather is usually sunny and hot as expected for the land of pyro but there was the once-in-a-blue moon when the nation would get heaps of rain for the entire day or days (as in plural) and today seemed to be that day. “Shit….Mavuika we need to find cover and now,” you said and peered around her to see her expression change to a smirk. “Mavuika? Darling?” you asked again not a bit concerned. “We can make it back to the city!” she yelled back through the loud noises and revved the entire with her pyro. You had been out with the pyro archon who was also your girlfriend riding along the land checking out the different tribes on her bike when from out of nowhere it started to downpour on you both and what was worse was that you could see it coming down in sheets before it hit you both. It wasn’t long before you were shivering from the cold wind and your soaked clothes even if Mavuika was already naturally hot, literally. The trip back took half the time since she had booked it and brought you both back to the speaker's chamber, setting you both down in front of the eternal flame and using his pyro abilities to warm you both up immediately. “See we made it back!” she said as she wrung her hair out and you gave her a dead stare. “Well, we made it back. I’m sure we’ll dry off in minutes.” she said with a laugh.

Akaza

The relationship you had with Akaza was a strange one since he was a demon and an upper moon nonetheless so it was already strange but somehow (despite many times of close calls) you both managed to stay in a relationship somehow. He was one of the few demons who didn’t force you into becoming a demon although that didn’t mean he didn’t sometimes lightly suggest it like what he did today. It was winter which meant the fireplace in your home was constantly going with your doors and windows shut tightly and if it was even colder you’d have your blanket wrapped around you. You had finished making dinner for yourself and made another bowl knowing that a certain demon would show up since this was a haven for both warmth and extra affection during a snowstorm- and there he was now. You didn’t turn around at the intruder but simply grinned to yourself at how comfortable he was at letting himself in. “Evening, Akaza! I see you let yourself in as always. There’s some food on the stove that should still be warm but I’m staying in front of the fire.” You said and ate another bite of your dinner, waiting for the response you guessed he’d make. “Well, you wouldn’t be that cold if you were a demon,” he trailed off with a sly smile and sat beside you. “No! Is all you came here for food and shelter?” you said firmly and he simply shrugged his shoulders carelessly, “Well not really. There’s you here too~” he said with a smirk that made you roll your eyes.

[youling-the-ghost]

sfth incorrect quotes pt.10 because school's kicking my ass and I need my daily dose of brainrot to survive

AJ: Go fuck yourself. Sam, smugly: Sure, but only if you watch Tom: It doesn’t have a bone. Sam: Then why is it called a boner? Luke: Look, do I consider myself attractive? Yes. But would I have sex with my clone? Also yes.

AJ: Is the plural of milf/dilf milfs/dilfs or milves/dilves? Sam: Milfs. Tom: Milf/dilf is an acronym, you can't change the spelling to milves/dilves. AJ: Wait, they're acronyms? What do they stand for??? Luke: Mom in late forties, dad in late fourties. Luke: I learned that from the movie called M.I.L.F that I saw the trailer of in theaters probably 5 to 7 years ago. Tom: Mom/dad I'd Love to Fuck. AJ: WAIT, WHAT THE FUCK— AJ: I NEVER REALIZED IT WAS ACTUALLY HORNY! Luke: Oh, is it not mom in late fouries? Sam: What? No! It isn't! Luke: THE MOVIE TRAILER LIED TO ME! Tom: Luke... Luke: THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T THINK CALLING PEOPLE MILFS WAS ALL THAT BAD BECAUSE IT STOOD FOR SOMETHING HARMLESS IT JUST HAD A SLIGHTLY SEXUAL CONNOTATION! Tom: I am entirely unsurprised that this is coming from you. Luke: AJ, DOES IT MAKE SENSE WHY I CALLED THE DIARY OF A WIMPY KID MOM A MILF NOW BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS LITERALLY JUST A DESCRIPTOR WITH FUNNY CONNOTATION! AJ: The word milf has been ruined for me. Sam: THAT'S ITS DEFINITION, IT CAN'T BE RUINED THAT'S WHAT IT MEANS! Tom: Y'all are dumbasses. Tom: I am the left brain, I am the left brain. "I work really hard until my inevitable death" brain. You've got a job to do, you better do it right and the right way is with the left brain's might. AJ: I LIKE OREOS AND PUSSY- Sam: Is letting someone win at chess sapiosexual bottoming? Tom: Can everyone in this godforsaken group please learn the skill called "Think Before You Speak"? Luke: Ya know...it might be. Sam: How do you tell someone that you wanna have sex with them in a polite way? Tom: Excuse me Mx. Would you give me the honours of indulging in sexual activities with you? Luke: What the fuck is wrong with you two? at the supermarket Sam: All right, the last item on the list is "virgin oil." Sam: Sam: Wow. Imagine being an item and still being called a virgin. Tom: Capitalisation is the difference between "I had to help my uncle Jack off a horse.." and "I had to help my uncle jack off a horse.." (It was then that Junyu realised...he accidentally turned on NSFW only and that's why the quotes have been so horny.) Sam: Hey! Wanna hear a joke? Tom: Sure. Sam: Your life! Tom: Actually, my life isn’t a joke, jokes have meaning. Sam: Tom, no. AJ: Can you recommend a book that'll make me cry? Tom: General Mathematics 8th Grade Edition. (in reference to that one guessing game where AJ forgot how math worked) Luke: It's locked. You got a lock pick? Tom: Yeah- Sam: *kicks down the door* Luke: They can't make me admit France exists, right? Legally, that's not allowed. Luke: Sure, if France was REAL I'd say I liked it. Luke: But who's to say. AJ: I think France isn't real. Tom: AJ, you used to live in France. AJ: And??? AJ: You gave me up, you let me down, you turned around, and deserted me. Sam: But did I make you cry? AJ: *cries on the spot* Sam: ...Shit. AJ: Why's it called an oven when you of in the cold food and you of out hot eat the food? Tom: ...What??? AJ: What’s your biggest fear? Luke: I am incredibly arachnophobic. AJ, under his breath: You don’t want spiders to get married? Tom: Luke, I think we have a problem. Luke: What, the fire? Tom: No, the- wait, what fire? Luke: Oh forget about it, this sounds more interesting. Sam: Hey Luke, can you give me the opposite of these words? Sam: Always, Coming, From, Take, Me, Down. Luke: Never, Going, To, Give, You- Luke: The fucking satisfaction. Luke: Inside you, there are two kidneys. Luke: I’m gonna steal them. Tom: So my therapist was talking to me and she said that I really just need to break down my walls and let people in. Tom: So I’ve decided to break the fourth wall. Tom: *looks at camera* Hi there. I use humor as a coping mechanism.

[sjsmith56]

Assignment Bucky Barnes, Chapter 13 - Mysteries

Summary: Bucky sleeps on the couch after Merton is called away for an emergency. After spending the next day together, Ariel and Bucky return to find her uncle mourning the violent death of a friend.

Length: 4.9 K

Characters: Bucky, Ariel, Merton, Peri.

Warnings: Reference to violent Nazi-inspired violence causing injury and death, drug overdose.

Author notes: The term “youse” is the plural of “you” and is used by descendants of Irish working class immigrants, mostly in the areas of New York and Boston (but also in Canada as my husband’s family use it). This story was originally written and published on Wattpad in December 2023. The reference to the Nazi-inspired violence is just further proof of the old adage “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

<<Chapter 12

A cool hand on his forehead woke Bucky up. It was morning and the blue eyes of Ariel were gazing at him, calm but slightly puzzled. He sat up and self consciously ran his hand through his hair.

"You're probably wondering what I'm doing here on the couch," he said quietly, then patted the couch beside him. Ariel sat next to him, still dressed in her night gown and robe. "Your uncle received a call last night that his friend Will was injured and needed help. He didn't want you to be alone, so he called the house. I was still up so ...."

"You could have joined me in bed," she replied.

"He made me promise to respect you. I didn't want to abuse the trust he put in me." He took her hands in his. "Why didn't you tell me about it being the anniversary of your father's death? I would have understood."

"I don't know," answered Ariel. "I wasn't thinking straight, I guess. My emotions got the better of me. Part of it is that I still feel guilt for my father's heart attack. We were arguing when it happened."

"My sweet girl," whispered Bucky, putting his arm around her and kissing her on the side of her head. "So much sadness in your life. I felt so helpless and inadequate last night. Nothing I said or did seemed to make a difference. To see you so ... broken ...."

He kissed the side of her head again and she turned to him, kissing him softly on the lips, then bent her head into the crook of his neck. Gently he lifted her onto his lap and just held her. Other than the sound of the odd vehicle passing by on the street below the only other sounds were the ticking of the clock and their breathing. For the several minutes they sat there it was comforting to both of them to just hold each other in the silence and be present. Almost at the same time they both took a deep breath and chuckled lightly at the synchronicity of that breath.

"Why don't you get dressed and we'll go to a diner for breakfast?" said Bucky. "Your uncle will likely need to get some sleep when he gets back so if we're gone we won't be bothering him. Afterwards maybe we can take the bus to Prospect Park and just enjoy the morning. By the looks of the sun coming through the windows it should be a beautiful day."

Ariel nodded and went to wash up quickly before returning to her room and getting dressed. Bucky washed himself up as she got ready. He put his shirt on, opening his trouser buttons so he could tuck it in. She came out of her bedroom and wrote a note for her uncle, leaving it on the kitchen table. With a smile Bucky took her hand and they left the apartment, leaving the key along the top sill of the door.

Out on the street they headed to a diner a few blocks away. As they walked hand in hand Bucky felt good about honouring Merton's trust. Perhaps he needed to see more of that type of behaviour to believe Bucky's intentions towards Ariel were honourable. When they got to the diner he opened the door for her and they stepped into a scene that was bustling. Along the main counter every seat was taken. Walking along the aisle they found a window booth at the other end that was free but hadn't been cleaned up from the previous patron yet. A waitress nodded her head at them from behind the main counter as they stood beside the booth.

"Be right there, hun," she said. "Go ahead and sit down and we'll get that table ready for youse."

A minute later she was there with a tray, loading the dirty dishes onto it, then taking a wet cloth and wiping the crumbs from the table onto her hand, emptying it onto one of the dirty dishes. Quickly she put the condiments back into their place.

"Coffee for both of youse?" she asked. They both nodded. "I'll be back with the breakfast menus and your coffees right away."

Bucky, seated facing towards the rest of the diner looked at the busy place and shook his head. "I'm amazed it's this busy. It's not usually like this at this time on a Sunday morning."

Ariel looked behind her then faced him. Almost immediately the waitress came back with two mugs full of coffee and two menus tucked under her arm. Noticing their cream jug was empty she quickly went to the back and brought a fresh one out.

"Sorry for the wait, folks," she said. "We're down three staff, just didn't show up this morning. One from the kitchen, the busboy, and a waitress. We think they've run off together or something, well two of them anyways. What can I get youse?"

Bucky ordered the full breakfast of bacon, eggs, ham, and toast. Ariel chose the scrambled eggs and toast, plus a glass of orange juice. He excused himself briefly and Ariel watched as he made a phone call on the pay phone near the front door. With a big smile he came back.

"I just phoned Steve and told him to get over here for the busboy or kitchen position," he said. "Jobs don't come up that often. If he can get a steady paying one that will help him out."

"You're a good friend to him," said Ariel. "How long have you been friends?"

"Over ten years," he replied as he extended one arm along the back of the booth. "Rescued him from some bullies trying to take his lunch money. He was putting up a good fight but they were just toying with him. I evened up the odds. Never did like bullies." He leaned forward and took one of her hands in his. "Your uncle did the same for him. Steve was in front of the antique store tying up a broken shoelace. This one kid who had a real hate for him pushed him as he was bent over his shoe then began kicking him. Your uncle came out and grabbed that kid by the collar, booted him in the ass and told him to pick on kids his own size. He took one look at Steve's broken laces and told him to come into the store. We'd heard rumours about him but the guy had just helped him so Steve went inside. He gave Steve a pair of scissors, told him to cut the old laces off and gave him a new set. Told him to come back on the weekend with a friend and he'd give us a dollar if we cleaned up his back storeroom. He gave us a dollar each, said we'd done well and to check in from time to time for odd jobs."

"I think he got bullied when he was young," said Ariel. "He's never said much about it but I know he took boxing lessons for a time."

"No kidding," said Bucky. "Come to think of it we've had some good conversations about boxing."

Their food arrived and they both began eating, stopping only when the waitress refilled their coffee cups. Just as they finished they saw Steve arrive at the main counter. The waitress that served them looked at him and listened to his spiel. They couldn't hear over the conversation of the other diner patrons but she smiled at him, went to the back and brought out a man who looked like the cook. He took a hard look at Steve and was about to dismiss him when Steve said something so he nodded, gestured to him and took him in back. He came out with a tray a few minutes later, his jacket off, wearing an apron that seemed too big for him but the waitress helped him fold it so it fit better. With a smile she patted him on the back and sent him out to bus the empty tables. As he got near to their booth he smiled at Bucky.

"Thanks for the tip," he said. "The cook wasn't going to give me the job but I told him to give me an hour to show him I could do it. I'm the dishwasher as well."

"You can do it, Steve," said Ariel. "You're a good worker."

They watched as the small man took tray after tray back into the kitchen, then came out to clean the tables and reset them for the next patron. The waitress seemed pleased with him and gave him encouragement on each trip into the kitchen. Just as Bucky and Ariel were about to finish up a loud voice alerted Bucky to a problem and he stood up, noticing a man at the main counter deliberately making comments at Steve about his small stature then looking around to see if others would share in his apparent wit. The waitress tried to get him to tone his words down but it seemed to make the man bolder. With the bill in hand Bucky approached the counter to pay the waitress then he leaned close to the man, putting his hand on his shoulder, gripping it in a seemingly friendly manner, and whispering something in the man's ear. Whatever he said must have had an effect on the man because his face changed, he quickly drank his coffee and threw some money on the counter before leaving, not looking back.

"Well, you seem to know what to say to a blowhard like that man," said the waitress to Bucky with admiration. "Thank you. He's been like that every time he comes in, always picking on someone to make fun of."

Bucky smiled then put another quarter down on the counter. "This is for yourself," he said, then he nodded at Steve. "That's my best friend and you can see he's a hard worker. I work at the docks and I'll make sure to tell my co-workers there about the nice place you got here. They'll more than make up for any business you might have lost with that gentleman."

She smiled at Bucky, then winked at him and he winked back. Taking Ariel's hand they left, into what was definitely going to be a nice day. As they began walking to the bus stop Ariel stopped, making Bucky stop with her.

"Instead of taking that long bus ride to Prospect Park why don't you take me to the docks, show me where you work?" she asked.

"It's not the best place for a lady," he said softly. "There's lots of rough language."

"If they see I'm with you wouldn't they tone it down?"

Bucky's face reddened. "They might, but they might be worse just to embarrass me." Then he shook his head. "No, I can't take you there. There's a lot of ... unsavoury people down there. I work at a clean dock but quite a few are run by the mob. If I show up there with you they might get ideas."

His hands were gentle on Ariel's shoulders and he wrapped his arms around her for several long moments. Then he released her, put one arm around her shoulder and continued to the bus stop. It would be the only time that Bucky ever referred to the dangerous atmosphere of the Brooklyn docks. Days later, back at the apartment, she asked Merton about it and he confirmed what Bucky briefly referred to, even going so far as to tell her that just days after Independence Day an Italian-American dock worker trying to start up an independent union free of mob influence had disappeared and was presumed murdered for his organizing activities. It was a reminder to Ariel that growing up at this time had its own challenges not related to the Depression or World War II.

By the time they got to Prospect Park it was quite warm but not as hot as the previous day. They went to the zoo, holding hands as they walked through the various exhibits. Many families were there and Ariel noticed how Bucky watched them, smiling at those with toddlers. Even though he said nothing directly to her it was evident what he wished for. After the zoo they had a snack at a concession then went for a boat ride at the Boathouse. As Bucky rowed, Ariel sat in the stern enjoying watching his muscles ripple under his shirt. He had removed his jacket and rolled his shirt sleeves up showing off his powerful forearms. When their time was up he easily rowed back to the dock and helped her out. They walked around the edge of the lake, even stopping at the place where she had run to during the Benny Goodman concert. They sat on a nearby bench, and held hands, just watching the ducks on the pond.

"We're awfully quiet today, aren't we?" she mentioned.

"I don't mind quiet," he replied. "It's nice just being here with you."

He looked around for a moment then leaned over and kissed her gently. Gazing at her for some time he took a strand of her hair in his fingers and played with it. Suddenly he kissed her again, more ardently than the first time before pulling back.

"I love you," he whispered. "I know I promised not to pressure you but I want to marry you so much."

Ariel looked away, out over the lake, as she contemplated what to say. After the previous night when she broke down to Merton his words to her had resonated that the relationship and the love she and Bucky had might have made the difference in his ability to withstand his captivity and torture by HYDRA. She swallowed and turned to him.

"I'm still not ready for marriage," she said as she touched his cheek with her hand, "but if you ask in six months I think I could agree to an engagement, a promise that we will get married someday. I love you, too, Bucky. I don't want anyone else."

She hesitated and he kissed her again. "Then I'll get a ring and I'll do it right," he said sincerely. "As long as I know that you're committed to me that will be good enough."

When they returned to the store they noticed the van was back and Bucky asked if he should come upstairs. They went up together and entered the apartment to find Merton sitting in his armchair, drinking a scotch. He had classical music on and didn't hear them at first. Then he stood up, turned, and Ariel saw his face.

"Uncle Merton, what happened?" she asked, alarmed.

"A black man was walking past the building where Will lives with some groceries and some Nazis attacked him," he answered. "Will heard the commotion and came out to help the man get to safety. They turned on him. The black man is hurt bad but Will is dead, at the hands of men who think that Nazis are just fine."

Ariel started to cry and hugged her uncle while Bucky watched helplessly. He had heard about some of the things local Nazi organizations had done. He never thought they would beat a man to death.

"I'm sorry," he said to Merton. "Will seemed like a nice man when I met him. Will anyone be charged with his death?"

"Likely not," said the older man. "It was a group and the police can't determine who dealt the fatal blow. It's possible he hit his head when he fell and that caused an artery in his brain to rupture. The man he tried to help had his ribs and nose broken from being kicked while he was down. He's in hospital. You yourself know that charges aren't likely for that assault."

"Will's boarder, was he there?" asked Ariel.

"No, he was in New Jersey visiting family." He turned to Bucky. "Thank you for coming last night to keep watch here. I never thought such people would do such a thing so close to home."

"You know, after the bomb at the World's Fair my Dad thought for sure they would pin it on the Nazis," said Bucky. "Especially when two policemen were killed. But they didn't seem to find who was responsible. Now they've killed a man and it seems that once again they'll get away with it. It's not right. More and more I think that America will be drawn into the war. Maybe we should be in it sooner rather than later. If they're this blatant here ...."

He couldn't complete the sentence. Merton put his hand on Bucky's shoulder then sat back down, sipping his scotch.

"I'm going home," said Bucky. "I had a great day with you but this news has soured me. Walk me down?"

Ariel nodded and went back down the stairs with him. When he kissed her goodbye it seemed like he was different, almost as if he had his own epiphany about the probability of a war. She watched him walk down the street for a while then she went back up the stairs and sat across from Merton. He didn't look at her for a few moments.

"Will is alive but he was hurt very badly," he said. "A brain bleed. They took him home and he won't be back. The black man who was injured was the security agent who followed you at the World's Fair. His injuries are what I described and he's been returned as well. The other two have been relocated to another part of town as there was a fear they were planning to replace General Phillips. Orville was in on it all along."

"Is there anyone else compromised?" she asked.

"They're trying to find that out. It's a messy situation all around. I'm sorry I didn't leave you a message. The decision to call in Bucky was the only thing I could think of to keep you safe."

"He was asleep on the couch when I woke up," she stated. "Took me out for breakfast. He helped Steve get a job at the diner as three of their employees didn't show up today. Is it possible they were involved?"

"I don't know but it's not unlikely. What else did you do?"

"We went to Prospect Park, to the zoo, for a boat ride and then just sat and watched the ducks on the pond. It was nice. We had a really nice day."

"I'm glad," said Merton. "There's been so much drama lately. Sorry, I'm not being critical of you."

"I know. Thanks for telling Bucky it was the anniversary of my father's death. He accepted it readily." Merton smiled wanly. "Have you eaten?"

"Yeah, I grabbed a bite," he replied. "Not hungry anymore. If I were an irresponsible man I would get drunk. We've never had a resident historian attacked. It's almost unheard of. By the way, the security team removed all the bugs from this apartment. There was even one in the phone and your bedroom. They would have heard you and Bucky. I'm sorry about that."

"Why, you didn't do it," she answered.

"Because I know you take pride in not compromising the authenticity of intimate moments." He was almost vehement. "They violated that, probably for their own amusement. Just makes me angry."

Ariel bent down and kissed him on the side of the head. "Thank you. You are my champion. I think I'm going to have a bath and then I'll write down today's activities. I'm glad Will is alive and he will be alright, won't he?"

Merton nodded. She went to her room and changed out of her clothes into her robe. In the bathroom she ran the water and soaked in it for some time. It had been an almost drama free day for her but she felt bad for Merton, for Will and the security agent. Hopefully they suffered no lasting effects. She was also certain that she hadn't been told everything that happened but security matters were need to know. When she finished Merton was still sitting in the living room, with the music playing. She went over to check on him and saw he was asleep. Gently, she took the glass out of his hand then looked closer at him as something was off. She grasped his wrist and felt for his pulse. It was there but it was't strong and she immediately smelled the liquid remaining in the glass, finding it was oddly sweet smelling. He needed help but in the time it would take her to go up to the communications console he could die. Quickly she phoned Hal's place. It took three rings before he answered.

"It's Ariel," she said. "I think Merton's been poisoned, it was probably in his scotch. He's unconscious. I don't have time to call for help. I have syrup of ipecac in the bathroom and I'm going to try to induce vomiting. I don't know if we have activated charcoal but I have to do something. Can you call for help for me? Please?"

She hung up and ran to the bathroom, finding the bottle. It was only there for appearances but it would likely be the only thing that could get the poison out of his system. Quickly she looked for activated charcoal but it wasn't there. Running back to the parlour she dragged Merton onto the floor. He moaned so he was still partially conscious.

"Merton, you've been poisoned," she said loudly, slapping his face lightly. "I'm going to give you this to drink so that you throw up the poison. Merton, do you hear me?"

Just as she was about to pour it down his throat a portal opened in the kitchen. Before she could run to it and reach inside to pull the person out, a medical tech stepped out, hurrying past her to Merton, pulling out a syringe and injecting it into his arm. He had a portable medical unit in his jacket and activated it, running it over the prone man.

"It's fentanyl," he said. "The injection will neutralize it and he'll come out of it quickly. It was close, another minute would have finished him. How did you know?"

"I thought he was asleep when I came out of the bathroom but his breathing was funny. When I checked his pulse it was weak. I smelled his drink because he was having it when we got back. It smelled sweet which scotch shouldn't. I haven't checked the bottle."

The med tech went to the scotch bottle and smelled it then poured some in the glass and ran the unit over it. He nodded his head.

"It was in the scotch. Oral isn't the most efficient method of delivery but if he had enough it would slowly kill him."

There was a moan and Merton's eyelids fluttered then opened. He looked with surprise at the med tech as Ariel explained what happened. They both helped him sit up on the floor then onto the chair.

"What time did you and Bucky leave this morning?" asked Merton.

"About 9 am," she replied.

"I didn't get back until noon but didn't have a drink until about 15 minutes before you got home," he said, then he shook his head. "Why would they want to kill me?"

"Ariel, could you reach into the portal?" asked the med tech, still monitoring Merton. "Madame Chair was supposed to be right behind me."

She did as he asked and reached inside, pulling Peri out. The med tech gave the older woman his report and she sat on the couch looking exasperated, as he continued to monitor Merton.

"I have no words," she said finally. "There was nothing to be gained from poisoning you. You could have offered Bucky or Ariel a drink and it would have killed them as well. For what purpose?" She sighed then looked at the med tech. "Does Merton need to be checked out?"

"No, the antidote's effects are thorough," he said. "There should be no aftereffects. They brought a drug invented in the 1950s to 1940. I can only guess they did that so that if any tests were done on the body it wouldn't show up in any postmortem. They would likely call it a heart attack."

"Well, we're going to interrogate Mr. Remington again," she said. "I might let the psych people have a go at him. See if they can get him to slip up. If they can't then maybe one of the others that were taken into custody."

She stood up and nodded at the med tech who stepped back into the portal. Peri touched Merton's arm then looked at Ariel fondly.

"Will is alright," she said. "He's already conscious but he won't be coming back to this time. The security agent, Thomas, will be alright as well. He'll have a few days recovery then will go back to his original assignment in the 21st century. Hopefully, his partner will be able to join him at that time. You did well, Ariel, to recognize that Merton was in peril." She sighed. "I sure hope this is the end of it." She looked at Ariel kindly. "Would you give me some privacy with Merton, please?"

Ariel looked surprised but stood up. "Sure, I'll go listen to the radio in my room."

She left and Peri waited for the sounds of the radio before she started signing to Merton.

"It was Orville. The psych team broke him pretty quickly after we arrested him. It was his final act against you and it was personal. Said you should never have got this assignment over him. He put fentanyl on a couple of sugar cubes and dissolved them in your scotch bottle while none of you were home yesterday. He didn't say how he got it and didn't care who drank from the bottle. He just wanted to do damage. We were already preparing a visit to treat you when Hal contacted us. I didn't want Ariel to know this."

"I don't understand. He's never shown any anger to me and he's been in Brooklyn as long as I have. Was there a reason you assigned it to me instead of him?"

She looked at Merton as if he should know the answer already and he understood. It was because of Ariel and his personal connection to her. Orville's attitude towards the historians under his supervision had become lackadaisical in recent years. Ariel would not have received the support or advice she needed, especially with the nature of her assignment.

"Just like May Weatherly was never in contention for this assignment Orville Remington was never considered as supervising historian for Ariel. It was always going to be you. Only you would have the long time knowledge of Bucky and Steve that prepared you for her research. Only you would care enough about her to make sure she was safe."

"I do care about her, very much. This is probably a good time to tell you that I intend to retire when Ariel is finished. I've been in the field for a long time, and I know my health is taking a hit. I'm also concerned about Ariel's emotional health. I would like to be there for her when she returns. Something tells me she is going to need some support."

Peri smiled with understanding and spoke openly. "I think that is very good of you. You've obviously developed a close bond with her and if you're sure that this is to be your final assignment then she'll be lucky to count on your support as a friend and more."

She stood up and sent an indicator through her bracelet that she planned to enter the portal. Merton knocked on Ariel's door and told her that Peri was leaving. The young woman came out and was surprised to receive a hug from Peri. She was even more surprised when Peri hugged Merton. It was obvious they had a personal friendship that had never been evident to her before. Before she could say anything Merton gave the scotch bottle to Peri, suggesting it be properly disposed of to prevent accidental contamination in 1940. Taking the bottle from him Peri entered the portal and it closed behind her. Merton smiled, then went to the door of his room, said good night, and closed the door, leaving Ariel to wonder what was really going on.

Chapter 14>>

Series Masterlist

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[call-me-rucy]

Beginning by the beginning (1)

I guess this is the start of my "The Vor Game" live blog! Full disclosure, I'm already 15% into the book so I'll be using this post (and maybe some others) to quickly recap my thoughts up to date.

The story so far:

Shards of Honor

Barrayar

The Warrior’s Apprentice

The Vor Game (I am here!)

Cetaganda

Ethan of Athos

Borders of Infinity

Brothers of Arms

Mirror Dance

Memory

Warning: I'm reading the Spanish 2019 edition, and I'm a translation nerd so I'll be commenting a lot of that.

For starters, the title in spanish "El juego de los Vor", already lets us know something that the original doesn't explicitely: the "Vor" in the title is plural. Looking forward to those class dramas.

This edition, although very recent, is a reedition of the first one there was so it's fun to read the prologue: "Barrayar, coming soon in the year way way before you were born even". Man, I've already done and loved Barrayar. The world needs more characters like Cordelia.

Anyway, onto the story.

I love books that reward you for remembering specific details. For example, by remembering from passing comments that Kyril Island is somewhere that no one, no one ever wanted to be asigned to. In fact, wasn't someone sent there as punishment? My boy, what are they gonna do to you this time?

"Very good. But your most insidious chronic problem is in the area of... how shall I put this precisely... subordination. You argue too much." "No, I don't."

So fun, I adore him, your honour. I didn't know the notorious "you see your superiors as cattle" conversation was in this book, it was a nice surprise. They're not wrong lol

Miles not ten minutes into the island, already lying by ommision, pretending he doesn't know barrayaran greek: it's a surprise tool that will help us later.

Also, the sentence about barrayaran greek is the first instance so far of the word "barrayaran", which I looked forward to, since sometimes they translate as "barrayarano" and others as "barrayarés". I prefer the first one, so I'm in luck with this book :D

Overall enjoying the Miles suffering so far, I'm very pleased with the evolution of the character, he doesn't seem as wild and desperate as in The Warrior's Apprentice but he's still him.

(To be continued...)

[overthattwilight]

Ninjago season titles in Korea

I no longer watch Ninjago, but sometimes I would have reminiscence and today I decide to introduce the season titles in Korea. Enjoy

Season 1 - Green Ninjago(그린 닌자고)

Obviously the 'Green' is for the green ninja, which is the key point of this season

Season 2 - Gold Ninjago(골드 닌자고)

Just like Green Ninjago, 'Gold' is for the golden ninja. Why isn't it 'Golden' is something I don't know either

Season 3 - Ninjago Rebooted(닌자고 리부티드)

That rare case which the season title hasn't been changed in Korea

Season 4 - Titanium Ninjago(티타늄 닌자고)

'Titanium' is for Zane, the titanium ninja. Somehow the title isn't something related to the Tourmament of Elements. I guess it's suppose it's because Zane is why this season happened

Season 5 - Ghost Ninjago(고스트 닌자고)

The enemies are ghosts, so there you go, Ghost Ninjago

Season 6 - Ninjago vs Sky Pirates(닌자고 대 스카이해적)

Just like Ghost Ninjago, the enemies are sky pirates. And since they are the enemy, put vs in it. So there you go, Ninjago vs Sky Pirates

Special - Ninjago: Day of the Ghost(닌자고 유령의 날)

Day of the Ghost is Day of the Departed. We have a word for departed, but I guess it's a difficult word for children. So they put ghost instead, I guess

By the way, in Korea there was an event where you can go to the premiere at a movie theater. Of course the special was aired on TV later, but still it was cool back then

Season 7 - Ninjago Timeblade(닌자고 타임블레이드)

Instead of using the Hands of Time as the title, they put the weapons, time blades in the title

Season 8 - Ninjago: Masters(닌자고 마스터즈)

To be honest, I have no idea why it's called Ninjago Masters. Yes, Lloyd is now a master, but is there a need for the title to be plural? Also no relation to the villains either. The title that confuses me the most

Season 9 - Ninjago: Dragon Hunter(닌자고 드래곤 헌터)

Just like season 5 and 6. The enemies are dragon hunters, so Ninjago: Dragon Hunter

Season 10 - Ninjago: Goblin Invasion!(닌자고 도깨비 습격)

I think I'll have to make a long explanation for this

Goblin(도깨비), is what Oni is called in thr Korean version. In Korea, we tend to change Japanese words to something else. For example Sensei Wu was called 'Master Wu' since the pilot in Korea

Usually anything that is Oni is translated are 도깨비(Dokkaebi). Back then the when people think about Dokkaebi, they imagine it just like Oni. So might be fair to translate it like that, to a word the Korean audience is used to

However Dokkaebi and Oni are not the same. Dokkaebi is more like a supernatural spirit who isn't scary but rather playful. They were thought as similar since the colonization of Japan, but recently being seperated again

Anyway it's called Goblin Invasion. Also exclamation mark

Season 11 - Ninjago: Ninja of Fire vs Ice Emperor

So season 11 is seperated to Fire arc and Ice arc, and in Korea they put that fire and ice together in the title. Ice Emperor is in the title since he is the key character in the Ice arc. But...isn't Ninja of Fire vs Ice Emperor like, lying to the audience?

Season 12 - Ninjago: Level up into the Game!(닌자고 게임 속으로 레벨 업!)

(I started watching Ninjago less than before since this season, so I'm quite unsure of the title origins from now on)

The ninja go into the game, so there you go, Level up into the game!

Season 13 - Ninjago: Into the Skull Dungeon!(닌자고 스컬 던전 속으로!)

There is a dungeon, there is a skull sorcerer, so there you go, Into the skull dungeon! Also exclamation mark has been made for two seasons

Special - Ninjago: The Unknown Island(닌자고 미지의 섬)

So they just added 'unknown' in the season title. That's it.

Season 14 - Ninjago: The Unknown Sea(닌자고 미지의 바다)

For what I know this season has connection with the special, so I guess why it has 'unknown' just like the special

Season 15 - Ninjago: Crystal of Darkness(닌자고 어둠의 크리스털)

So this season has crystals made by the Overlord, right? So yeah, that's why it's crystal of darkness, since it's the crystal made by the Overlord

New Season - Ninjago: Dragon Rising(닌자고 드래곤 라이징)

That rare case which the season title hasn't changed in Korea, again. They put out the s, but that's quite normal in literally using the english title in Korea.

Well, that's it for the season titles. So far all of the season titles are changed except for rebooted and dragons rising. If I have the energy I might come back for some name changes in Korea

Okay bye

[fablesrose]

S2 Ch 4 - The Beantown Bailout Job

Series Rewrite Masterlist 

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Ford!Reader

Description: The team is reunited in Boston and help a father-daughter pair with the mob.

Words: 5498

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

I woke up a little earlier than I normally do, got dressed and walked across the hall. I entered with my spare key and started making breakfast and coffee. 

After the whole deal with Blackpoole, Nate was looking for a fresh start, and he decided that that would look like living close to me in Boston. He stayed with me for a few weeks while he got his stuff in order, and then the condo across the hall opened up. He decided to stay close. I didn’t mind, it meant I could keep an eye on him, make sure he was doing okay, especially since he stopped drinking, almost cold turkey. 

I heard him walk down the stairs, “what are you doing here?

I looked up to see him in a well pressed suit, “well, it’s your first day at this new job isn’t it?”

I finished up the breakfast I was making right as the coffee maker indicated it was done. I handed them both to him at the counter before dishing myself a plate.

“Thank you, y/n.” He started to sip on his mug, “Do you have work going on today?”

“I’m vetting possible clients, but no projects, why?”

“Just curious. Uh, Sophie has a musical tonight, here in Boston. Do you wanna come with me?”

“Sure, sounds fun.” I halfway entertained the idea of everyone else being there, but the chances of that were slim. But imagining seeing Eliot again was still a bit fun. 

He left shortly after, I finished cleaning up and returned to my own apartment. It was only a few hours later when I heard the door across the hall slam closed. I quickly called Nate.

“Yeah?”

“Was that you that just slammed your door closed?”

“Yeah.”

“What are you doing back already? It’s not even lunch time.”

“I quit.”

“What?”

“It was just too much.”

I sighed, “Okay.”

“I also helped this girl and her dad get out of a car wreck.”

“What?!”

“I’m a bit worried about them, something seems off. I might go visit them in the hospital again sometime…”

“Okay…”

“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Okay.”

The things this man gets himself into…

He knocked on my door that evening, walking in when I called him. I looked at the outfit he was wearing and looked at my own to see we were both in a nicer casual.

“Cool, let me grab my keys.”

We arrived at the theater with plenty of time to spare. As we looked around the opening foyer I heard a voice at the front desk.

“Parker. No, just one name.”

I touched Nate’s arm to point out that Parker was here. Soon as we looked around, I saw that the rest of the crew had come as well. We greeted each other before Sophie came out and said hi. 

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Hardison commented to Sophie.

“You know, not as well as I act, but yeah.”

Hardison and Parker made a bit of horrified eye contact that left me confused. Hardison saw this and shook his head as if to say, ‘don’t ask.’

There was an awkward moment between Nate and Sophie before Sophie insisted on us all meeting up afterwards before she dashed off.

I guess it was time for the show.

It was awful, and that’s all that needs to be said. 

We all went to McRory’s pub after the show. Sophie was distraught as Parker rad some of the reviews.

“Never before has a production of The Sound of Music made me root for the Nazis.”

I cringed a bit in sympathy.

Eliot sat down at the bar with Nate, he was surprised that he had stopped drinking, “how do you know about this place then?”

“We rent condos upstairs,” I told him.

“Condos? Plural?”

I looked at Nate, “we each needed our own space.”

Eliot only nodded. 

Sophie stopped Parker, “No there is nothing you can say to make me feel better.”

“I know what can make you feel better. We should steal something.”

Nate opposed. 

“Yes, we could do it together!” Sophie finally seemed excited. 

“I like this. Get right back up on the bike.” Eliot commented

“Bike of crime,” Parker added.

“Didn’t you earlier tell me how great your new lives were?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, well, I stole the Hope Diamond.” Parker said, “Then I put it back. Yeah, because I was bored. Didn’t care.”

“I spent three days hacking the White House email. No buzz.”

“See?” Sophie pointed.

“But we are doing some pretty hinky stuff in Pakistan. Hinky…”

“Look, I’m miserable. They’re miserable…” Sophie said to Nate before asking Eliot, “Okay, what have you been doing the last six months?”

He hesitated, “I was in Pakistan…”

I raised an eyebrow at him, but he just shrugged. 

“You… You see what you did?” Hardison asked Nate, “You took the world’s best criminals, hitter, hacker, grifter, thief. You took us and you broke us.”

“No, no. I… What I did, I taught you how to help people. That’s all.” Nate argued.

“Exactly.”

“This is the problem with being the good guy! It gets under your skin.” Eliot explained. 

I just took a sip of my mild drink, watching this all happen.

“Look Nate,” Sophie said, “you have to have some poor little lost soul somewhere who needs a little extra legal aid.”

“Look, we agreed that we would just move on.”

“Yeah, but… we’re thieves!”

“Not me! Look, it was great. It was fun, it was wonderful while it lasted, but, you know, I was drunk for most of the time to be honest with you-”

“But you were good,” Eliot interrupted.

“You were the best.”

“We were the best.”

I smiled over my glass, watching them wear Nate down. This was good for him, they were good for him. 

“Listen, I owe all of you, and I’m very proud of what we did, I really am, but… I got my life back and I intend to keep it that way.”

My smile fell. I tried to stare him down, but Nate was pointedly avoiding eye contact. 

“And I am not a thief.” He stood from the bar and walked out, “it was great to see all of ya. Good night.”

I stood as well, “I’m sorry about him, maybe stick around town for a while? It was nice to see you guys again.”

“Don’t worry about it y/n. It was good to see you too.” Eliot said before everyone else said their goodbyes. 

I caught up to Nate on the stairs.

“‘I got my life back?’ Nate, you don’t know what to do with yourself anymore!”

“Y/n, I’m going straight. I’m gonna get a job, a normal job! I’ll figure it out.”

“You better, because these guys saved you better than I ever could. Don’t throw them away.”

He looked at me, “Okay.”

“Okay, I’m going to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”

He waved me off as I stepped into my apartment. I contemplated working a bit more, but decided against it and went straight up to my room and crashed. 

The next day I felt bad for what I said. I looked at the clock and figured he would probably be up by now, even if he quit his job. I walked across the hall, but could hear lots of things happening inside Nate’s apartment. 

I knocked on the door and gently pushed it open, sticking my head in. “Nate?”

“Get out of there!” 

“What?” I saw Nate was on the couch and he was looking towards the kitchen. I stepped in further to see that the whole crew was there in Nate’s apartment.

Nate looked over to me and waved me in further into the apartment as if to say, ‘fine, come on in.’

“What are you guys doing here? Get all this stuff out of here, you’re planning something I know it. Come on, get out of my house, out!” Nate got off the couch and started trying to shew the team away.

“Someone tried to kill you last night.”

“What?!” 

Everyone snapped their heads over to me with a slightly guilty expression. 

“I’m fine.”

Eliot turned back to Nate, “What do you want us to do man? You want us to just blow town, let you figure it out?”

“Yes, actually, that’s exactly what I want you to do.”

“Nate.” I gave him a pointed look, “what did we talk about last night? If someone tried to kill you then we’re gonna need some help.”

“We’re nothing y/n, you’re not getting involved with this.”

“Bullcrap, I’m a grown ass woman, and you obviously are acting like a child!”

Sophie interjected, not letting that go too far, “We found the phone number of the hospital in your pocket, Nate. We know what you did. We know you saved that guy’s life and the little girl, and we’re all really proud of you!”

I sat next to Eliot at the table, Parker on my other side, dressed like a nun, as he applauded Nate. 

“Look, nobody else is gonna help that guy and his little girl, okay?” Hardison said seriously, “that’s what we do, we help people.”

Nate just continued to make coffee. 

“By the way, I compared Sophie’s description of your attacker to the accident footage from the security camera.” He typed away at his laptop, “Do you realize that on average, people are caught on security cameras thirteen times a day?”

“That’s crazy,” I commented and Hardison nodded at me. 

“It is crazy, but we can track him…” He trailed off, “I lost him in this.”

I peaked over the table to see the man on camera take papers out of the briefcase he stole from the man in the crash and dash off. 

“Yeah, well, I found this empty briefcase belonging to Matt Kerrigan at that intersection” Eliot told Nate who was becoming more interested. 

“It’s, uh, Boston Commonwealth Bank right?”

“No,” Nate corrected, “First Independent Boston. That’s where Kerrigan works, come on.”

I smiled, Hardison seeming to have the same thought as me. 

“Who’s this guy?” Eliot pointed at the laptop, and I followed where he was pointing. 

“You don’t know, do you? It’s Kerrigan’s boss, that guy, Leary.” Nate brushed off the stares he got from the crew. 

“Well, who’s the other guy?”

“It’s not clear enough for facial recognition.”

“Well the problem is, those two cats went down to the safety deposit boxes.”

Parker stood, “which is the only room in every bank with absolutely no cameras.”

“Which means we up, baby,” Hardison stood and finished his priest outfit to fit with Parker’s nun. “They tried to kill Kerrigan for what was in the briefcase… We’re gonna steal it back.” He continued as the two of them left.

Eliot laughed, “She’s dressed that way because she’s doin’ a con…”

“What, you thought she was dressed like a nun for no reason?” Nate asked.

“It’s Parker,” Eliot pointed out.

“I didn’t question it either Nate,” I raised my hand. Eliot pointed at me appreciatively.

“Well, fair enough,” Nate conceded. “Okay, I want you out of my house, out.” Naate continued after a moment. He explained that he was going to get cleaned up and he wasn’t involved with any of it. He wanted everything out of his house.

After he went up stairs I turned to Sophie and Eliot who were still there, “you guys can stay, if you need to hide from him pop over to my place across the hall.” I stood from the table and walked towards the door, “keep me in the loop please, I wanna know what's going on!”

“We will, y/n, thank you!” Sophie called. 

I heard Eliot mention something about all of Nate’s sports channels before I closed the door behind me. 

It was a few hours later when Sophie called me back over to Nate’s place. I saw that they had really set up shop in his living room, practically begging for his participation. They gave me a quick recap of what happened, Parker and Hardison going to the bank and retrieving the files Kerrigan had, and then Eliot going to the mob’s fake businesses running into some mob people in the process.

Eliot unpacked a duffel, “This is all the stuff I found in the warehouse, in the boxes.”

Clothing and calendars clearly from the ‘80s were tossed around. I laughed as Parker put on a jacket with the largest shoulder pads I had ever seen.

“This stuff hasn’t left the warehouse since the 1980s” Sophie commented. 

“I feel like a robot,” Parker swung her arms around while in the jacket.

“Wait, so if these are supposed to be just fake businesses, how come their financials are so squeaky clean?” Sophie asked. 

I tilted my head and was about to speak when Nate beat me to it. 

“Because they’re fake businesses.” He paused and tried to justify himself a bit before he continued when no one else commented, “Sophie, how do you catch mob guys?”

“Uh, two glasses of Chianti and a story about my grandma in Sicily.”

“How does the government catch mob guys?” He amended.

“Taxes,” multiple people answered.

“Eh, that’s how they got Capone,” Hardison commented.

“That’s how they get everybody,” Sophie added, “they never get you for the crime, they always get you for the taxes. It’s not really fair.”

“So thirty years ago the O’Hares got very smart,” Nate started with his explanation. “You see, they set up all these shell companies: fake sales, fake receipts. They launder all their money through them.”

“And everybody in the family gets a salary,” Hardison realizes. “Yeah, they pay withholding, payroll taxes, pension. It’s all old school.”

“That’s why the businesses are clean,” Eliot adds, “They’re dirty from the inside.”

I found it fascinating how they bounced off each other so easily, it almost seemed like it was rehearsed. Like perhaps they were egging Nate on. 

“Well, yeah, if you have a body in the trunk of your car, you’re gonna drive under the speed limit, aren’t you?” Nate explained. 

“You know, when you’re sober your metaphors get creepier,” Parker tells him.

“I mean, he’s not wrong though.” Everyone turned towards me and I shrugged. 

“But, wait wait,” Hardison interjects, “that still doesn’t explain the last six months of running up bad loans.”

“All from a bank that’s about to close” Sophie mentions. 

“Close?” Nate asked. “No, not close. Get bailed out.” Nate stood from where he was perched on his desk and approached us, “Look, we got a banker in the pocket of the mob. Mob takes out bad loans, cleans out the bank, knowing, three days from now, the government’s gonna come along and then, you know, bail the bank out.”

Eliot sat next to me on the couch as Nate stepped to the front of the group as he explained their operation. I smiled at him and how his knee brushed against mine before turning back to Nate.

“I mean, it’s perfect. You know, I don’t even think it’s illegal. It’s…” He paused, looking out the window before turning back to us, “I mean, if we were gonna do this… this job…”

“Just this one job,” Sophie said.

“Yes, just this one… I mean the con you’d wanna do…”

“Hypothetically,” Hardison added.

“Hypothetically, you know, is the turnabout, of course.”

“Ohh, that is a good one!” Sophie cheers.

I looked back and forth from her to Nate. I have never felt so lost.

“You know, it takes five people to do the turnabout,” Eliot mentions.

“That’s true, there's just four of us,” Sophie said.

“And a half,” Eliot glances at me with a shrug, “just saying.”

I smirked as Nate glared at the two of us.

“One more person, hmm,” Parker eggs a bit.

“Yeah, we gotta scare the banker into turning against the mob,” Nate said contemplatively. “Alright. Alright, we’ll do this job, just this one.”

The rest humbly agreed with him, acting as if it were a surprise.

“Hardison, you and Parker, you’re gonna be on the badge,” Nate directed. “Eliot, sheepdog. Sophie-”

“Ice queen!” She completed.

“And I’m the bag man. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go call a professional killer who tried to murder me and arrange to meet him in an isolated location.”

I slowly raised my hand.

“You are going to stay here. You’ll be lucky if you get to participate in this one.”

I sighed, “Fair… I guess. Can you tell me what a turnabout con is?”

“All in due time.” He walked off, presumably to make his phone call. 

“See that? He did miss us!” Sophie awed.

“More than he’d like to admit, that’s for sure,” I looked at all of them before adding, “but I didn’t tell you that.”

They all smiled and nodded, Hardison making a zipped lips motion.

Everyone got ready for their respective roles, and while I wasn’t involved, they let me out of the apartment to observe, and maybe help a little. I came along with Hardison, Parker, and Eliot. I waited around the corner until Eliot finished his intimidating stare passing by Leary. When he came around the corner, he handed me a few of the mini explosive charges to help place them on the wall of the bank. 

“Hey, this detonator, if I’m around the corner, is it still gonna be in range?” Eliot asked Hardison while we walked away.

“Should be. I haven’t worked out all the kinks yet… Sometimes the things just go off,” Hardison answered.

I blanched a bit, “What?”

Eliot stopped him, “Wait, hey. I thought you said this thing was safe.”

“Mostly. Mostly safe. I was very specific. Sometimes the frequencies get messed up.”

“What frequencies, man? Huh? I got these things in my pants,” Eliot scrambled, reaching into his pockets.

“Like, uh, you know, a garage door opener, a car alarm.”

Just then a woman came out of the bank and accidentally set off her car alarm near us. Eliot and I flinched and I became very aware of the few left over explosives in my hand.

I quickly shoved them into Hardison’s hands, “take them.”

Eliot was still digging them out of his pockets when Parker asked Hardison, “what are the odds that Eliot’s crotch will actually explode?”

“Dammit Hardison,” Eliot exclaimed as he walked off.

I cringed in sympathy while Hardison laughed. He called Sophie to get an update. Everything seemed to be going to plan with Nate and Sophie having an in with the mob and we went to meet them back at Nate’s apartment with the exception of Eliot who would stick around for Leary. He would set off the explosives acting like gunshots once he came out of the bank.

Once Nate came back and it was determined he was no worse for wear, he decided he was going to go visit the Kerrigans.

“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked, while I knew he was much better with hospitals now, it didn’t hurt to have someone with him. 

He contemplated for a second before nodding. 

Once we arrived at the father’s hospital room, we approached the daughter sitting next to him. Nate said hi first and then introduced me to her. I sat next to her with Nate standing on the other side of the bed. 

She was fiddling with a necklace she had on, but stopped when she noticed I had noticed, “Nervous habit.”

I nodded, “what is that?”

She picked it up again to look at it, “St. Brigid. My mother’s name. Dad got it for me after she died.”

“So how are you doing?” Nate asked her after a moment. 

Her face twisted in disappointment, “They say the accident is his fault.”

“No,” Nate quickly replied, “No, now listen, your dad, he found some papers at work, and he was trying to figure out what they meant, and he got a little too close to something…”

“No, but it’s not his fault. It was my fault," she insisted.

I placed my hand on her shoulder, “No, no, it wasn’t your fault.”

“He said something was bothering him at work. I told him to call the police, and now… now they…” she trailed off before speaking again. “There are wolves in the world. That’s what dad says, ‘be careful, Zoe. There are wolves in the world.’”

Nate nodded and circled the bed to crouch next to her, “He was not wrong.”

She grasped her father’s hand, “so the world’s just like this, huh? Bad people do bad things, and they always get away with it. Nobody stops them.”

I looked at Nate who had the same grim look on his face as I did. We stayed for a little bit longer, but it soon came time to get back.

The plan was coming to its final act. Hardison passed out new earbuds while explaining that they were more comfortable and even better than before. I put one in and realized that they were more comfortable than I remembered them. 

“Okay, if this works, our friend Mr. Leary, he goes to the State Police, he runs, he spills his guts. Eliot, make sure he gets there.”

“I’m on it.”

“Wait, Eliot,” Nate called him, looking at me. 

He turned back.

“Take y/n with you. Keep her safe, please. She should be good with surveillance.”

I smiled before following Eliot.

Nate grabbed my arm when I passed, “Be careful.”

“I will.”

We didn’t talk much when watching for Leary. We quickly followed when he got in his car and drove off. Everything seemed to be going great at first. Nate was talking to the O’Hares when Leary started making a few wrong turns if he were going to the police. 

“Eliot, where is he going?”

He grunted, “I don’t know yet.”

Soon he pulled into the harbor and we quickly swung around to the other side before following on foot. 

“Eliot, y/n, is Leary with the cops? We don’t have a lot of room for error,” Nate asked through the comms. 

“Uh, slight problem Nate,” I responded.

“Leary drove down to the waterfront, dumped his car. He’s headin’ right for you.” Eliot tucked me behind him when Leary walked past.

“He was supposed to go to the cops.”

“Well then I don’t know what he’s doing,” Eliot responded to Nate before turning to me. “I’m gonna follow him, you go back to the car, I don’t know what’s going on. Stay safe and out of sight from the mob guys.”

I opened my mouth, but didn’t say anything. I quickly closed it and nodded before turning back towards the car we came in. As much as I wanted to help, I was in way over my head here. On the way to the car, there was a group of mob guys approaching. I quickly ducked behind some junk and debris and held my breath as they passed by my hiding spot. I peeked around to see that there was one who stuck around the area of my escape route. Luckily he was far enough away to not notice me, but if I moved too much, or tried to run, that wasn’t guaranteed. 

I whispered, hoping Hardison was right that the comm would pick it up, “Eliot, be careful, there's mob guys coming your way.”

“Okay, guys, it’s not O’Hare,” I heard Nate through my comm. 

“What?” Sophie asked.

“Uh, no. O’Hare is not the boss is what I’m saying.” 

“No. This whole con was built around O’Hare.” 

“Ooh, they’re probably gonna shoot Nate in the face,” Parker said.

“Uh, Parker, I can hear you.”

I bit my lip, trying not to make a sound. I kept peeking around to see that the mob guy was still there, just smoking a cigarette leisurely.  

Parker apologized as Sophie emphasized our predicament. 

“Alright, listen, we’re gonna have to make this one up as we go.”

I listened as Nate talked to O’Hare and Leary, trying to smooth over some wrinkles. I peeked out again to see the guy had finished his cigarette and walked off in the same direction as the previous group. I waited for him to pass and get far enough away before dashing off to the car. Luckily there was nobody else in the way of me getting further from the warehouse. I slipped in the car with a sigh of relief and locked myself in. I eagerly listened to my comm to find out what was going on.

There was some grunting and rustling that seemed to come from Eliot, “Alright, alright!”

“Eliot?” I asked, “Are you okay?”

I only heard an intentional hum in reply before Eliot whispered to someone, “You better know what you’re doing.”

There was a beat before Nate called, “Hey, hey, he’s got a state trooper badge!”

I could hear other people talking, but not what they were saying before Eliot whispered a “woah.”

Then I heard more clearly from O’Hare, “you kill him. I fixed Kerrigan’s breaks, I’m not killing a cop!”

“Look, you screwed up Kerrigan!” Leary replied. 

“No, uh, he’s right. You’re right. He’s-” Nate stuttered along before he was cut off by what sounded like gunshots.

I yelled, “Nate? Eliot? Guys, what’s going on?!”

Hardison responded in my ear, “it’s all good, just stay put, we got this.”

Sophie started speaking in character, “has he got a wire? Come on Ford, get with it! Check him for a wire!”

I sighed in relief, they’ve got this.

“Yes, right on it,” Nate responded.

“This isn’t how we do it in Boston,” I heard O’Hare say.

“Really? This is exactly how we do it in London, except we usually use a razor blade.”

I shivered at the connotation, Sophie could be scary while in character.

“No wire… He has his cellphone though!” Nate called. 

“Hit redial, see who he called,” Sophie said to Leary once he said there was no speed dial number saved. “Leary, right? Annie Kroy,” Sophie introduced herself, “nice little number with the banks there. It’s a shame the rest of your operation’s a bit of a balls-up.”

I heard someone’s phone ringing before Leary asked, “O’Hare? Why was a cop’s last phone call to you?”

I was confused too, I thought back and Eliot never called O’Hare. I realized though, that Nate was supposed to call O’Hare after Eliot and I left. Nate must have given them his phone instead!

“This is… This is a setup,” O’Hare tried to explain. 

“How is this a setup?” Leary asked. “She shot the cop.”

“Yeah, and he’s the one that dialed the phone,” Sophie added. 

“You didn’t want us to shoot him either, did you?” Leary accused, “Why, did you know him?”

“It wasn’t like that! Come on, you know I was in this thing from the beginning.” 

I smiled hearing them bicker and turn on each other. This team sure does know how to create chaos.

“Why… why would I be involved?”

Leary called for his people to follow him, so I assumed O’Hare ran away. 

Eliot stashed the car in a spot where I could see Hardison and Parker peel around the corner towards the warehouse where it sounded like they picked up O’Hare. I listened as they got O’Hare to admit to the bank fraud, Leary’s part in it, as well as the Kerrigan hit.

“Yes!” I cheered, “Hardison, did you record that?”

I heard it played back in my ear as a confirmation.

“Those were the state cops who questioned me!” Leary was back in the warehouse, supposedly with Sophie and Nate.

“Well, do they got any evidence?” Sophie asked.

“No, no, nothing real, just O’Hare’s word against mine.”

“And no documents?”

“No. No, no, I have those. But Kerrigan saw them.”

“And there’s just one problem,” Nate said, “we’re screwed if he wakes up.”

“He won’t,” Leary replied, “Kerrigan’s the last loose end. I’ll take care of him myself.”

“Hey, hey! Whoa, whoa, wait. What about him?”

“Him? Hey, I never touched him. Your fingerprints are all over him. I’ll clean up my mess, you clean up yours.”

I scoffed at how much of a scummy guy Leary was, “Did he really just say that?”

“Afraid so, y/n,” Nate replied. “So, how’d you do it?”

I heard a grunt from Eliot, “Detonator… Ketchup.”

“Ah, the classics.”

“Is that what those gunshots were?” I asked.

“Yes, dear, Eliot had a lovely death scene,” Sophie answered excitedly.

Eliot met me back at the car, sliding into the driver's seat.

“Are you okay?” I asked one more time.

He smiled at me, “Yeah, I might be a little sore, but fine.” He looked down at his chest, “need a new shirt though.” 

I looked at his shirt, and sure enough, he had holes and ketchup everywhere causing me to laugh.

“Were you okay?” He asked me as he put the car in drive.

“Yeah, just had to play hide and seek with some mob guys before getting here, but all good. I was entertained listening to the whole affair from here.”

He rolled his eyes with a smirk as we drove back to the apartment. 

It was a few days later when Kerrigan was well enough to come into the pub where Nate handed over a check. It was from the IRS for Kerrigan finding the tax fraud. He thanked us and started to walk away, but Zoe stayed for a moment. 

She hugged me and then Nate, thanking us as well. “There are wolves in the world,” she said while looking at all of us, “but sometimes they’re the good guys, I guess.” She took Nate’s hand and placed what I saw was her necklace in it.

Nate admired it after she walked away.

“Still your last job?” Sophie asked him.

“Well, uh, maybe, um” Nate stumbled over his words, “I mean, you know, until I find a job I like enough, you know, to stay out of the bars.”

“Idle hands are the devil’s workshop,” Hardison said.

“And then I’m out, I’m done.”

The others agreed half heartedly, as if they didn’t believe him. For the record, I didn’t either. Eliot, Parker, and Hardison left, and I followed shortly after, leaving Nate and Sophie alone. It was a crazy life they all led, and I couldn’t help but think I couldn’t wait until the next time.

I climbed the stairs and glanced at Nate’s door to see it slightly ajar. Curious, I pushed it open and peaked in. Inside I saw Hardison start to set up some TVs.

“Hello?”

He looked up at me, “Oh, hey! You wanna come help me level this?”

I approached cautiously, but helped nevertheless, “What are these for?”

“These are awesome for briefings and watching cameras, sports too.”

“Where’s Parker and Eliot?”

“She’s grabbing some stuff, Eliot’s working next door.”

“Next door-”

The door opened and shut and I looked over to see Nate walk in.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing there?” He said once he saw us. 

“I’m runnin’ this CAT-5 cable to the-”

“Oh, no, no, no, no. You don’t understand. I don’t want to have these monitors in my apartment,” he explained before turning to me, “and why are you helping him?”

I shrugged, “I just didn’t ask questions.”

“Coming through!” Parker came in holding a large painting.

Nate backtracked towards her, “No! Parker, no! Not that painting! I don’t ever want to see that painting.”

Parker stopped and waved it in front of her as she spoke in a funny voice, “Hi, I’m old Nate and I live here too!”

“You can’t just break in here and start hanging stuff…”

Hardison stopped him, “For repairs and renovations, your landlord has full access to your dwellings. It’s in the lease.”

That made me pause, “What?”

“What are you doing reading my lease?”

“I bought the building!”

“You bought the…”

“You’re our landlord?” I hesitantly fist bumped Hardison when he offered it. 

I flinched when a chainsaw noise started and followed Nate when he found where the noise was coming from. The chainsaw was coming from the other side of the wall through to Nate’s apartment.

Nate repeated no when he saw what was happening, but it was futile. Eliot walked in after cutting out a makeshift door covered in sawdust. He looked very proud of himself, but with the cloud of dust that came out, I couldn’t react other than sneeze.

Nate coughed before turning to me, “why didn’t they do this to your apartment? You’re the one who wanted them around.”

“Whoa,” Eliot said.

“We’re not gonna crash a lady’s apartment,” Hardison finished as if it were a no-brainer.

I huffed out a laugh and a shrug, not fighting it when Hardison and Parker wrapped their arms around Nate and I’s shoulders. What a day.

Tags: @isoldeahlstrom @kniselle

[cheezitthefuzz]

I'm really mad at a uquiz now.

It's based around the article on frogs from middle english wikipedia (which sadly no longer exists).

"A frogge biþ a smal beaste wiþ foure leggys, whyche liueþ booþ in watyre and on londe. It is broune or grene or yelowe, or be it tropyckal, he may haue dyuers coloures. It haþ longys and guilles booþe. It haccheþ from an ey and it þan ys a tadpolle. It groweþ to ben a frogge, if it þan ne be noght eten."

adjusted to more modern spellings:

A frog be-eth a small beast with four legs, which liveth both in water and on land. It is brown or green or yellow, or be it tropical, he may have diverse colours. It hath lungs and gills both. It hatcheth from an egg and it then is a tadpole. It groweth up to be a frog, if it then be not eaten.

pretty normal stuff, right? hard to misinterpret?

Then be not eaten?

thenhaps

no

then

not then

ohohohoho we're off to a STRONG start aren't we? they seem to have interpreted "þan" as a question particle for reasons I truly cannot decipher. the sentence that has it also includes "if" ffs

Be-eth have diverse colours?

ha be-eth an eggs not colours

yes, one

verily diverse

be-eth yet ony(??)

These answers would sound AI-generated in modern english. Not like the modern smooth, corporate AI, more like the stuff that would be on AIWeirdness. "Ha, be eggs not colours?"

It liveth both in water or on land?

water

land

"both" "or" hurts my brain so immediately moving along.

Be-eth you small beast with lungs? (good question for once, missing an article and "ye" is plural but on a logical level it makes some sense)

then is a tadpole, no

if it then be not eaten

yith (?????)

meyhauths (they mean mayhaps but don't fucking REALIZE that THORN is a LETTER)

I kind of thought it was getting better when the question made sense... kill me

Be-eth you small beast with gills both?

ethsollut (absolute? but they're being dumb about thorn again)

no

yith (again bullshit)

then is a tadpole, again (age-reversing frogs???)

more misunderstanding of "booþe"/both

Be-eth you not poiysenth? (i looked up that word and not a single result. it's not in the original article. Best guess is they meant "poisonous" or "poisoned" but what the fuck)

mighth (mighteth? not how you use eth but at least makes some sense)

if it be in the water, it not

egg am cleaneth

verily

so... they think "ey" is "I" for some reason. It's pretty clear even just from context in the original article that it's egg.

Which bugs he be-eth eat? and then I'm not going to even bother respelling the FUCKING answers because OH MY GOD

THOSE ARE JUST. SHITTY ATTEMPTS AT "OLD-FASHIONED" SPELLING OF MODERN BUGS I'M GOING TO GO BACK IN TIME TO THE FIRST THANKSGIVING TO GET TURKEYS OFF THE MENU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU

Be-eth a prytte (pretty?) frog?

no time [i'll rant about this later] to be-eth prytte, must hop ek (??)

meme spelling of disgusting that doesn't even TRY to IMITATE ANY ARCHAIC FORM OF ENGLISH GGAAAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAAHHA

verily mighth prytte (what)

be it ok (i'm crying)

so about that "taem" thing the middle english word for time is just time. not even spelled differently well sometimes teime or timæ not taem what the genuine fuck taem???? that would be pronounced like "Tan" with an M (I think. I'm not an expert on Middle English THAT'S JUST HOW BAD THIS SHIT IS, SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT COULD FIND TEN MILLION MORE THINGS WRONG WITH IT)

cen (can, but can in middle english is just can or canne) you be domestic [actually acceptable use of long s!]?

no, it be dangerous [horrid spelling] to mankind

yes, be it kind, well-spirited beast

this one is surprisingly decent, i can actually tell what they were going for. They still seem to forget that this is actual language and just use the "quirky" spellings for meme value.

conclusion. this uquiz needs to be plunged into the blazing abyss of the sun middle english is so cool and it actually sounds and looks nice when you do it right but this person fucked it. so much…

EPILOGUE THE RESULT

egg be-eth the yellow frog. the yellow frog is bright [horrid spelling] and hath much both. be it rare [horrid spelling], lieuths (???) in the forets (forest?), in rain [horrid spelling] and wynth (wind?). It is lungs large, for it hothth (FUCK YOU THAT'S NOT A FUCKING P) from try to try.

this is the kind of cartoonishly exaggerated mistranslation you'd see in a movie and think was unrealistic but this person can't fucking translate between ENGLISH and ENGLISH

ah yes i love when i have much both.

[cafeleningrad]

If it's not to late for the ask game:💚💖💔 for Revolutionary girl Utena. (And if you want ofc)

This show is a never ending opportunity to talk about so the asks will be perfectly on time any time. Thank you a lot for the questions! (/≧▽≦)/ 💚 What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character? That would Tokiko. The fandom barely talks about her, if they acknowledge their existence at all - which is in itself perfectly ironic for the Black Rose Arc finale. I've got many, so many thoughts on the limited yet incredibly revealing screen time of Tokiko, Nemuro before he became Mikage Souji, and the Chida Mamiya. But I will keep it brief at their actual, very human story being essential for explaining what psychological issues are determining the logic of Ohtori, and Akio as it's center of gravity. Tokiko appearing, and being the only person Akio can not intimidate or impress is my favourite moment about accepting past pain, and a life outside of Ohtori.

(And I guess for other two favourites Wakaba and Nanami, I think the fandom is pretty spot on about them (also high five to every Wakaba fan out her, love my onion girl 🧅🤎)) (And yeah, maybe some fans are a bit too kind on Saionji. This boy is physically mistreating others for his compensation. On the other hand, I'm a big Theon Greyjoy fan. For both characters the deeply complicated childhood friendship, patheticness-to-likeability-ratio, and gender-struggle make them overcomepnsate in the most dickhead ways parallels are just too close for me to overlook them....)

As usual, writing about this show got way too long, so the rest is under the cut. ;)

💖 What is your biggest unpopular opinion about the series? two things 1. This show thrives on accepting ambiguity and plurality all at once. The itself perfectly blends all it's aspects and inspirations together. Analysis of the text is a beautiful kaleidoscope. I do think a bit more of interest for the Japanese, especially the time and Japanese popculture context helps understanding why certain characters are the way they are could be useful. (By example: Juri's distant yet poised demeanour in a male environment reflect the tough position for women trying to survive in a male dominated field, or Nanami's and Kozue's incestuous tendencies corresponding to a prominent shoujo trope of the time, or what it means for Akio to take on his fiancée's last name, or Jur/iori's ashamed perception of lesbian love and desire as impure is combating questionable Class-S tropes). Still, I think different readings of gender, queerness, but also depression, maturity, childism, machismo in facism, Greek theater, colour theory, literary analysis of fairy tales, German literary influences, theater, power dynamics and also personal thoughts of escj viwer don't exclude other. Instead they link to each other, help understand one aspect a bit better, maybe are in conflict, or support each other. Even if I might not agree a 100% with every reading or interpretation, the thoughts of many other fans have helped me seeing different aspects in different lights.

2. Lesbianism didn't save anyone. I know most "gay gals winning"-claims are jokes. However it does irritate me a bit because the show works really hard against gender essentialism. It understands really well how love, and mature, good relationships works - even within same sex couples. There is a lot to untangle here but in order to not jump to 99 tangents at once: Princehood is not only misogyny. It's an entire mindset of egocentrism, and a power hierarchy needing over people to submit so a single person can climb on their backs. Such renders every relationship to a disproportionate exchange of values - not loving the actual person. At the pinnacle of it nothing matters more than an individual being uncritically revered, untouchable, unconditionally be loved without having to risk anything. If homsexuality was such an easy cure Touga, Saionji, Shiori and Juri... wouldn't be like that. They might even quit the show the moment Shiori said sorry, or Saionji returned at Ohtori. Them being all stuck in princehood mentality means seeing relationships as exhange of value, domination and submission as only possible form of intimacy, yet honest feelings and hurt are incredibly dangerous to reveal. They've a bleak outlook into the future, and mostly care about themselves before they actually care about the other. (Even though from all people Saionji might be the most caring for Touga... this boy is such a trainwreck...) This is why it takes Anthy and Utena 39 episodes and movie to flirt and finally kiss each other because they needed to mature and overcome the fears into which they were conditioned. Their vulnerability of loving has hurt them before: Anthy gave her all to Dios just to have her most intimate spheres in every sense getting violated. Utena lost the unconditional love of her parents, and her trust and intimacy got badly betrayed by Akio. However, they dare risk experiencing such pain again for the other. Opening up, daring to believe in something better, believing in the kindness and connection Ohtori so vehemently denies... there might be the chance of an miracle, actually.

(Don't get me wrong, it is a very queer show so it also tears down the pitfalls of heteronormativity. A prince needs a princess to showcase prowess and simultaneously own someone they can rob of power, relationships are just functions. Unlearning patriarchy means learning anew what personhood and what love is. Love is also the preservation and respect for the personhood of another person. i.e. it's basically Erich Fromm but without his fraud understanding of gender...) Again, SKU is incomplete with only one partial reading.

I don't mean it as "love that transcends gender", and "it doesn't need a label" way. No, Anthy is suffering under very real abuse whereas also bearing a heavily symbolic if not allegorical role. Meaning, reconciling with Anthy, Utena does reconcile with her struggles about being a woman. Utena is by design queer as it already is her starting point that whatever is considered "normal" not making intrinsic sense to her.

💔 If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose? Ooof that's a tough one. The entire cast represent different arguments and issues of the Ohtori system, even side characters like Keiko and Tsuwabuki become relevant. Let alone main characters... (And I'm of the very strong opinion that a good story utilizes every character perfectly. Without even a terrible character there would be no plot. Which is to say we have to keep Akio if we want a plot... ) Even when dead, Touga is a necessary foil as self-aware ideal of princehood... I know Nanami only appears once in the manga but what would the story be without one of the best characters ever created for TV?

Alright, I've to choose: Evne though Miki and Kozue are my Rosetta stones to Akio's and Anthy's fraud relationship, I think removing Kozue would make for an experiment in deciphering Miki. How quickly would we pick on his deal if her was a prince without princess. After all, Juri and Shiori are the next step in isolation and dehumanisation, and Saionji has actually as many princesses as Wakaba has princes... hmmm... To say, Kozue is my starting point in understanding the arbitrary of gender roles and misleading concepts of innocence. Without her Miki could mislead the audience much more easily...