#Home PMC

[navyaassociates123]

Navya Associates is dedicated to Expert Interior Project Management in Kolkata. Offering PMC services for homes, offices, villas, hotels, restaurants, and more. Professional and reliable solutions.Read More at https://navyaassociates.in/

[deeva-arud]

Deeva Årud - Club Wear Voice Lines

When Summoned: Lights dimmed, tension building up… Are you ready to feel our rhythm? Summon Line: Playing music with friends is fun, I’m glad to be here even though I’m starting to feel a bit nervous.

Groooovy!!: We’d be delighted to see you at our next show. Spotting a familiar face among the crowd is always nice. Home: “Let’s rock and roll”, as some would say. Home Idle 1: I joined the Pop Music Club on my second year. Perhaps it’s quite a drastic change from my previous club but… it’d be a lie to say I’m not enjoying my time here. Home Idle 2: Most of the time I’m the one suggesting we should practice, but somehow Lilia, Cater and Kalim always distract me with all these unknown snacks and gadgets. Sometimes I have the feeling they do it on purpose… Home Idle 3: I need to warm my hands, it’s hard playing an instrument when they’re cold. Home Idle – Login: *humming Piece of My World* Ah- sorry, I didn’t see you there. Can I help you with something? Home Idle – Groovy: I’ve been playing violin and other instruments since I was a kid. My family has always had a connection with music and I’ll gladly continue this legacy. Conveying your thoughts and feelings through sounds is quite satisfactory. Home Tap 1: My first concert with them? Since it was the first time I’d be playing in front of many people, I knew I’d have a hard time trying to look at the audience. Cater noticed and told me to look at him so I could feel less overwhelmed… Let’s say I didn’t expect him to be so literal. His clones substituted the audience because no one came to see us. Home Tap 2: Hm, my violin? Indeed, it’s not the same one I use at Mostro Lounge. An electric violin is more suitable for the club’s activities. I’m surprised you noticed it. That means someone’s been paying too much attention to the musician playing ambience music… That was a joke. Home Tap 3: Kalim and I joined the club in the same year so I got to see how much he’s improved his drumming technique. It’s impressive. Certainly, Lilia’s been an excellent teacher to him. Home Tap 4: I like the idea of having customized masks for our performances. Maybe I should mention it once we have enough funds. Home Tap 5: I recently accepted to do some vocals just for our club sessions. You can come see us, but please refrain from telling everyone else. At the moment, I only feel comfortable singing for a few people. Home Tap – Groovy: When it comes to a band like this many wouldn’t think of a violinist, but that actually gives songs an interesting feeling, don’t you think? Duo: [DEEVA]: Ready for a shocking performance, Cater? [CATER]: Ready as ever, Dee-chan!

[randmsapphic]

honestly I hope they do the rhine lab thing for blacksteel and just never make a playable man for the faction I think it would be funny.

[anmolsmsblog]

Prestige Multi Cooker 1 Litre - PMC 1.0+

Price: (as of – Details) From the manufacturer Prestige Multi-Cooker PMC 1.0 + Prepare instant noodles, cook rice, boil eggs, brew soup, instant tea or coffee, with precise temperature settings in a matter of minutes. A great appliance if you need to cook smaller quantities of food. What more, because of its compact size, you can use it while travelling or during family outings. The Prestige…

[auspicioustidings]

Johnny likes to pick a random little coffee shop in whatever place the mission takes them and sit for hours sketching the people around him. Something about it is a ritual for him, settles him in this new place and reminds him that this is what he fights for, the freedom of people to go get themselves a fancy coffee after a hard day if that's what makes them happy.

The day he sees you his sketchbook has pages of you. He usually moves quickly between people and he didn't even realise that he wasn't until he gets back to base and Ghost has a look at his sketches as he always does.

"Fancy a tea tomorrow then?" he asks.

They go but it was a longshot, you're not there. They visit again a few times when they can, hope you'll walk in. Gaz and Price keep an eye out too once they see the sketches.

They don't know you but you become so familiar to them. They've never met you but their allies all know your face. You are just a regular person going about your day never knowing that sometimes you are what is keeping a soldier on another continent going. You criticise your appearance in the mirror unaware that you've become somewhat of a mythic creature, a divine thing, a good luck charm across special forces and PMCs and rebel groups. Your face that you are trying to learn to love has been replicated so many times on the pages of those who have fallen in love with it.

And maybe you never ever find out, or maybe one day you're watching a news piece showing barracks and see your face up on the wall. The reporter asks the man if that's his partner back home. He smiles softly and says he wishes that were the case, but it's just a person he saw in a coffee shop years ago that he has never been able to forget.

[mamajefe]

The reader girlfriend /gamer boyfriend trope except- it’s Jason who’s sitting on the couch reading his new book and sipping on the fancy tea Alfred gave him for Christmas or some of the nice whiskey he stole from Bruce. He will only reads physical books at home, but even he can’t argue with the convenience of carrying a whole library on an e-reader in his back pack. When he’s suddenly pulled from his little book world by his girlfriend giggling as she successfully snipes another pmc in Tarkov and takes a sip out of the biggest cup of Mountain Dew the bodega down the street sold. If she’s playing call of duty he’s chuckling right along with her when he realizes she’s hooked his helmet modulator up to her mic to mess with the enemy team.

[diejager]

Please, I need a continuation of the story of !kidnapper Krueger and Nikto! Please!!

New Neighbours Cw: DARKFIC, DUB-CON/NON-CON, obsession, non-con touching, condescension, manhandling, tell me if I missed any. Wc: 1k Boy, it been a fat minute since I wrote that small Drabble.

There was a knock at the door, three blunt and powerful hits of sturdy knuckles shaking your door with how strong - you presumed - the person was. Dropping whatever you were working on, you walked to the door and peering through the peep hole, shocked to see the familiar black and khaki fabrics of your new neighbour. You’ve seen them once or twice in the month between their first move and today, the grizzly look and scarred skin of a brash-toned and brutish man you came to know him as from the few times you met him. He would stare at you, wide, owlish gazes that left you shuddering from the gleam in his brown eyes, a deep-seated darkness as he… appraised you. 

He called himself Sebastian, presenting himself one night when you were stumbling home from a tiring day at work, stopping to help you up the stairs since his door was right across from you. You thought he lived alone, but was surprised to see another man, covered from head to toe in black and army green, hiding any identifiable feather apart from his pale, blue eyes and his broad shoulders, big and bulky even in his skin tight clothes. Sebastian’s roommate had only stared at you, unblinking and unmoving, seconds spent gazing at your anxious and uncomfortable form, messing with your sleeve while Sebastian helped you moved the bags to your kitchen table. 

If you thought Sebastian the weird one, then Nikto - he was spoken for - was the odd one, a fierce man that only knew how to stare silently to upset whatever and whoever he was glaring at. You only saw him once, and that was a blurry and tired view of him from the open doorway across yours when Sebastian was helping you. You had little to go on for him, being more familiar to his roommate and occasionally exchanging a few words when you crossed path —though rarely, the seemingly never left their home.

“Hey, Sebastian,” you tilted your head in greeting, opening your door only wide enough to pop your head out and kept a hand firmly wrapped around the knob in case he did something. You’d always been cautious, and Sebastian and Niktowere suspicious men, “How can I help you?”

“Ja, I need help with something,” his soft, yet brash tone made his accent more apparent, something small but attractive despite your apprehension towards him, “A woman’s touch.”

A woman’s touch? You didn’t know what he meant exactly, but when you looked down to his thick and crooked fingers - perhaps from his work, broken and reset too many times that it started to heal crooked - you could guess what he implied. Your fingers were smaller, lither than his with fat on your knuckles and smaller palms, it made working through small and complex affairs easier. Despite your understanding, you grew uneasy, squinting at him from the safety of your door, but Sebastian was nothing if not determined. So you nodded, excusing yourself to change your clothes from a small top and shorts for a t-shirt and sweatpants before you met him at his entrance, locking your door behind you.

This was your first look into the world they lived in, a bare and minimalist home, scantly decorated apart from the few vests and- was that a gun? And knives littering the kitchen counter with other dangerous items… Seemingly aware of your fright, Sebastian explained how he and Nikto were private contractors, working for a PMC, a private military company, and that they were just on leave, but would always be ready for a call back. Shaking off your paranoia, you followed him deeper into the kitchen, seeing the machinery littered on the table and beside it sat Nikto, ramrod and tense in his seat.

“женщина,” he growled out, his voice so raspy and low that you wondered if it hurt to speak a single word. [Woman]

“Nikto,” you returned, following Sebastian to the table and ignoring Nikto’s wide stare, his vacant eyes and lingering gaze, roving over your body and obsessively admiring you like a hunter would, “Is this what you needed help with?”

Sebastian showed you what he needed, explaining where each small piece went into the box, guiding you around the confusion machinery while Nikto watched, a sentinel in his own flat. You were so engrossed into fixing this small box, brows pinched with concentration get this thing fixed as quick as possible to return to the safety of your apartment, that you missed Nikto’s silent stalk towards you, his broad and silent figure looming over your unsuspecting form until a rough hand gripped your hip. 

You jumped, dropping the box and turned your head to gawk at Nikto, looking back at his - still - vacant eyes and wide and hungry glint. Frowning at him, you sunk your fingers into his hand, trying to move an unmovable wall that pushed himself against you, backing you into the table until he bent you over the now broken box you were first invited to fix. You struggled against Nikto, growling out a warning and clawed at his covered forearms, but it only riled him up. Sebastian stood and watched with a perverted eagerness as Nikto rutted against you, holding you down by the nape, scruffing you like you would a misbehaving dog. 

“Get off me!” You yowled, reaching back with your arms, trying to elbow a man you knew you wouldn’t be able to forcefully remove with how built and big he was, “Get off me, Nikto!”

“Shut up,” you could hear his bared teeth, the cold and condescending tone of his rasp, sliding his knee between your kicking legs, your feet arbitrarily hitting the air, “Stop struggling and listen.”

A low rumble left the man before you, your glare meeting the Austrian who found this situation funny, his chuckle slow and mirthful, finding enjoyment in your useless struggle and hissing. 

“I would listen to him, Schnuckel, ” he lowered himself to show the eagerness in his dark eyes, a cruel smirk curling the corners of his lips and a teasing tilt of his head, “Be good for us, nicht?”

You shouldn’t have accepted to help him, you should have listened to your gut feeling, but you have no one else to blame expect yourself.

Taglist: @sae1kie @yeoldedumbslut @bvxygriimes @distracteddragoness @konigsblog @im-making-an-effort @daisychainsinknots @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @danielle143 @tuttifuckinfruttifriday @notspiders @brokenpieces-72 @petwifed @randominstake @hayleybarnesx @shironasumi @sparky--bunny @bloobewy @cod-z @sweetnanah @aldis-nuts @evolutionarry @kaoyamamegami @cassiecasluciluce

[gremlinmodetweeker]

König's Kids Headcanons

I think König, when he's there, would be a great dad. He's a bit of a gremlin, but this just makes him a better dad. He's also a bit of a menace at parent teacher meetings.

Anyways, have some silly headcanons

Art from This Post

König is a surprisingly good father (when he’s there). He’s strict, but also knows how to relax and let things slide. He will play-wrestle with his kids and make sure they have plenty of time to run around in nature and read books. He’s passionate about his kids’ hobbies and encourages them to learn and explore what they love.

He’s the type of dad to teach them how to fight but also play pretend games with them

He does not like having tea parties, but he will endure for his children. He will endure great hardship and pain for them, and if this includes sipping water from a plastic teacup while sitting on a tiny stool, so be it. He can endure. However, he draws the line at makeup. He can’t endure (nor can he sit still long enough)

When König is home from work, he drops his military titles at the door and focuses entirely on being an important part of their lives. The sad part is that you can see he’s actively trying to make up for time he’s lost. This is part of what leads to him retiring early to a local security job.

Without a steady father figure in their lives, his kids do grow up to struggle with certain things. However, all things considered, they turn out pretty well adjusted and healthy. Honestly, pretty solid people. They turn out to be the kind of people you feel like you can respect and appreciate.

But when they’re young his kids are little shits. They’re the type to break stuff for fun. They also will run and hide from you. At a certain point, you’ll have to resort to using child leashes because they will run away from you in public. So when they’re young, they’re terrors in your house. When they get older, they have their father’s streak of intelligence and are snarky assholes. They have brutal teenage years.

This is exacerbated by the fact that for the first ten years of his youngest kid’s life, he’s still in a PMC and going on military contracts, so the kids have large periods of time where they’re missing their father.

König realizes too late that he missed a lot of his kids’ development and chooses to retire to a more local security job to spend more time at home. It’s a big change in the household, but not an unwelcome one. His older kids struggle the most, but they do grow to form strong bonds with him because of his choice to stay home

König makes a good deal of money early on so he can go on to take a lower paying job later in life. His kids never have to worry about if they have money. They have to worry about whether or not their parents will say yes.

König is a pretty strict father. He’s a military man, a former colonel. He’s not going to be a horrible abusive father, but he will be a bit much sometimes. You might find yourself stepping in to defuse the tension sometimes.

Thankfully, König doesn’t yell at his kids (unless it’s something stupid and it’s pretty obviously a joke) or hit them. He’s actually pretty bad about disciplining his kids. You might have to take over in that department. Having been in the military for so long, König’s terrified of going overkill on his kids and doesn’t want to risk hurting them. He can dish it out, yes, but he’s extremely cautious when doing so.

He’s also quite fair. He does his best to treat his children equally. He’s surprisingly good. He focuses on encouraging their individual hobbies and finding their own personalities. They do grow up to be quite self-confident with their father’s teachings in their heads. They’re not arrogant, but they’re confident and assertive

They’re not popular in school, but not hated. They do pretty decently. Academics are a bit too easy for them, so König has to step in to teach them study habits and keep their passion for learning. Thankfully, his father was a professor, so he’s pretty good at this.

That said, König will sometimes be pretty silly when disciplining. Sometimes, you can hear his full colonel voice booming from outside about someone pulling some silly prank on him as he’s mowing the lawn. He’s not the type to pull pranks on his kids (but he’ll happily torment you) but he will play silly games with them. I think his kids learn that when he’s yelling, he’s not actually that angry, he’s just playing around. It still scares the shit out of your kids’ friends when he does it when they’re over

König has a tendency to scare children in public. He tries really hard to not make them nervous, but with the hood and the height and the tired look in his eyes? Nah he’s terrifying.

König’s kids grow up not being afraid of anyone because nobody’s as scary as their dad. This also means all the kids know that those kids have the scariest dad.

When your kids’ friends come over, they’re terrified of König. Unfortunately, he finds this slightly funny and takes advantage of this. You might have to step in and diffuse the tension to help those poor children realize that when König is yelling about things, he’s not actually mad. Maybe make cookies with him or something, it’ll help break the ice.

Your kids and their friends are all taken under König’s wings for protection. He’ll go up to bat for any of those kids. He genuinely cares so much about them. Having very select few friendships as a child himself, he’ll go out of his way to ensure his children have healthy social lives.

Sometimes the parents are unsettled by him. This is König’s unsettling form of social anxiety at play, so you’ll have to mediate between other parents and König to make sure they realize that no, he’s not an abusive monster, he just makes horrible jokes about his children. He has very dark humor but plays it straight, which is a horrible combination.

He has had a teacher call CPS on him before, but it was quickly resolved. However, most people are frightened by König when he steps into a room and it’s no different at parent-teacher interviews

He always blows teachers out of the water for how much he cares about his kids getting a quality education. He’s also quite receptive to their advice (if it’s good) and is willing to step in when needed. Teachers also typically find that he’s quite a fun parent volunteer to have on field trips (he is extremely popular)

Some of the more timid kids grow to like König because he tries to ensure all children are included when he’s around. He’s good at making sure everyone feels noticed.

Of course, as said, in the beginning everyone is terrified of the giant foreign soldier man. His kids have to teach their friends to not be afraid of their dad when he’s home.

Later on, this means in late high school his kids' friends consider him a DILF. He’s horrified. Flattered, but horrified. He has a serious talk with you about how to not be a DILF. He genuinely is so upset by the concept. His kids laugh at him all the time because he’s miserable about it.

Konig Dump

Konig Headcanons

[myhornysaga]

COD P-Links

Mdni. Links under cut.

Reader x graves

Reader x keegan

Graves after coming home from finishing his contracts/doing war crimes

Becoming a slut when keegan comes home from his month long deployments to show him what's he's missing

Passionate makeout with texan ceo of a pmc and a war criminal aka Phillip Graves

Family planning with Commander Graves

[navyaassociates123]

Navya Associates is dedicated to Expert Interior Project Management in Kolkata. Offering PMC services for homes, offices, villas, hotels, restaurants, and more. Professional and reliable solutions.Read More at https://navyaassociates.in/

[agoofyannoyancetolaw]

Command

a/n: I wrote this out of pure spite and the fact that I got another cold and realized I hadn’t posted in forever 😭 this is an utter blurb and I’m seriously writing this after my sixth sick nap of the day. Literally no idea what this even is ngl

minors DNI

“Please just tell me what to do- please?..” graves whimpered through the phone without a care in the world if you had speaker on or not, your voice being the only thing keeping him awake other then the blunt feeling of his plastic dildo against his rim

“you know what to do baby, come on- you really miss me that much?” Your static voice humming through the phone followed by his whimpers and whines as he lowered himself down on it inch by inch and accompanied by little huffs of breaths from you as you lazily stroked your aching cock. You could easily imagine what he looked like, down to the little tears dotting his eyelashes and his slack jaw.

this wasn’t the usual late night call for you, but he had practically begged you for you to at least call him so he could have some relief

graves needed to be told what to do! years of work and military and pmc work wearing at his mind.. he needed something to do in his retirement before he went damn insane. Waiting for you to be back from your missions was so boring and he was so pent up for the months you were gone :(

he had waited for a full week for you to be able to call, and when you could it was very late at night, sleep already making his eyes all blurry. Your voice was more static than usual on the call, but it was enough to make him get all hot and bothered.

“feels good, hm? Doesn’t feel the same without me though?” He could hear you mutter with a soft chuckle

“y-yes sir..” graves mumbled back, If you could see his face now he’d be bright red. God your such a tease. “Can I- I-“ graves said, his little whimpers and winces audible through the speaker

“can you what? Use your words?” You remind him. You knew what he was asking for but hearing him stumble over his words so easy from just a simple toy and a phone call was too cute of an offer to pass up.

“can I go faster, please? Please please please I promise I won’t be too loud?” His words were already broken, punctuated by little breaths as he worked himself up and down the toy, still not content! He wanted you- he wanted your hot breath on his neck or your cologne filling his senses. This isn’t fair at all! He could already feel the warm coiling and constricting feeling building up in his mind by the time you gave him permission to go faster

it only took minutes before you could hear his pretty moans from the call, his breath getting heavy and you could practically see his eyes rolling back. You had seen him like that so many times to the point you already new he was close.

“C-an I?” Graves whispered into the mic in between broken whimpers and whines, his gummy walls clenching around the plastic as he patiently waited for you to give him permission- like a dog waiting for its treat.

Before you could even finish replying you could already hear him gasp and moan as he painted the towel below him white. Hanging up and knowing he would be cleaning himself off and waiting around for you to get home again.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

By Bill Shaw

A new study in eClinicalMedicine has found that healthy volunteers infected with SARS-CoV-2 had measurably worse cognitive function for up to a year after infection when compared to uninfected controls. Significantly, infected controls did not report any symptoms related to these cognitive deficits, indicating that they were unaware of them. The net effect is that potentially billions of people worldwide with a history of COVID-19, but no symptoms of long COVID, could have persistent cognitive issues without knowing it.

The study’s lead author, Adam Hampshire, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at King's College London, said:

"It … is the first study to apply detailed and sensitive assessments of cognitive performance from pre to post infection under controlled conditions. In this respect, the study provides unique insights into the changes that occurred in cognitive and memory function amongst those who had mild COVID-19 illness early in the pandemic."

This news comes as pandemic mitigation measures have all but been abandoned by governments across the globe. Public health practice has been decimated to the point where even surveillance data on SARS-CoV-2 infections and resulting hospitalizations, deaths, and other outcomes are barely collected let alone published.

The data that are available indicate, per the most recent modeling from the Pandemic Mitigation Collaborative (PMC) on September 23, that since the beginning of August there have been over 1 million infections per day in the US alone. This level of transmission is expected to persist through the remainder of September and all of October. For the months of August through October, these levels of transmission are the highest of the entire pandemic

The study on cognitive deficits has been shared widely across social media, with scientists and anti-COVID advocates drawing out its dire implications.

Australian researcher and head of the Burnet Institute, Dr. Brendan Crabb, who has previously advocated for a global elimination strategy to stop the pandemic, wrote:

"Ethical issues aside, this is a powerful addition to an already strong dataset on Covid-driven brain damage affecting cognition & memory. Given new (re)infections remain common, this work… should influence a re-think on current prevention/treatment approaches."

The study enrolled 36 healthy volunteers. These individuals had no history of prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, no risk factors for severe COVID-19, and no history of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The researchers determined whether the volunteers were seronegative prior to inoculation, meaning that they had no detectable antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. If such antibodies were present, it would indicate past infection or vaccination.

These procedures resulted in a total of data from 34 volunteers being included for analysis. Two volunteers were excluded from analysis because they had seroconverted to positive for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies between the time of screening and inoculation. Notably, these two volunteers participated in all subsequent study activities, enabling a sensitivity analysis of the results that included them.

The researchers inoculated all 36 volunteers with SARS-CoV-2 virus in the nose and then quarantined them for at least 14 days. Volunteers only returned home once they had two consecutive daily nasal and throat swabs that were negative for virus. Thus, those volunteers who had an infection after inoculation spent the duration of their infection in quarantine. This quarantine was required by ethical study protocols, in order that the study itself not increase community transmission of the virus.

The researchers collected data on the volunteers daily during quarantine and at follow-up visits at 30, 90, 180, 270, and 360 days post-inoculation. The assessments included body temperature, viral loads from throat and nasal swabs, surveys on symptoms, and computer-based cognitive tests on 11 major cognitive tasks. The cognitive testing varied the particular exercise for each of the 11 tasks to avoid learning and memorization of solutions in subsequent sessions. Nevertheless, some tasks were more prone to learning so the researchers also studied the effect of infection on “learning” vs. “non-learning” tasks.

Of the 36 inoculated volunteers, 18 became infected and developed COVID-19 and 16 did not. The two groups did not differ significantly in key demographics. No volunteers required hospitalization or supplemental oxygen during the study. Every volunteer completed all five follow-up visits. 15 volunteers acquired a non-COVID upper respiratory tract infection in their community between the end of quarantine and the fifth visit at day 360.

The researchers found that the infected group had significantly lower average “baseline-corrected global composite cognitive score” (bcGCCS) than the uninfected group at all follow-up intervals. At baseline, the two groups did not differ significantly. The difference between the two groups did not significantly vary by time, meaning that the infected group’s bcGCCS did not improve during the nearly year-long study.

Because the bcGCCS was a composite based on individual scores for the 11 cognitive tasks, the researchers also looked at which tasks in particular were impacted. They found that the most affected task was related to immediate object memory, in particular, recall of the spatial orientation of the object. There was no difference in picking the correct object itself, just its spatial orientation. This means that infected individuals had a hard time choosing the correct spatial orientation of the object they had just seen, for example, erroneously picking a mirror image of the object they had just seen.

The results were not different based on sex, learning vs. non-learning tasks, or whether individuals received remdesivir or had community-acquired upper respiratory infections.

Because the investigators controlled for so many factors including the strain of SARS-CoV-2, timing of infection, quarantine, and lack of prior infection and vaccination, the study provides high confidence that SARS-CoV-2 infection was responsible for the cognitive defects. The control of the timing of infection also enabled clarification of whether and when cognitive deficits occurred and improved. The differences between the groups were apparent by day 14 of quarantine and as noted previously, the deficits in the infected group did not improve let alone resolve.

The symptom surveys did not differ between the two groups. None of the volunteers, infected or uninfected, reported subjective cognitive issues or symptoms. Thus the infected volunteers with measurable cognitive deficits at one year post-infection were not aware of these deficits.

The study reaffirms prior research into persistent cognitive deficits and brain damage associated with COVID-19, including other studies which have found deficits among patients without symptomatic long COVID. Building upon this prior research, the latest study indicates that basically every single unvaccinated individual with a history of acute COVID-19 is at risk for persistent, measurable cognitive deficits.

Given that other studies have shown that vaccination reduces one’s risk of long COVID by roughly half, similar measurable cognitive deficits are likely prevalent among vaccinated people who suffer “breakthrough” infection, albeit likely at reduced rates of decline.

The study raises the urgent questions about the level of protection provided by vaccination, whether strains since the original “wild type” SARS-CoV-2 strain have similar effects on cognition, and what is the impact of these cognitive deficits on people’s performance at home, work, and school.

The study also adds to the large body of damning evidence that the ruling class’ “forever COVID” policy is of immense criminal proportions. Enabling a dangerous, mind-damaging virus to circulate among humanity worldwide represents a scale of inhumanity and dereliction of duty that is practically unfathomable. The malignity of this intentional policy is underscored by the current situation where the U.S. alone has had over 1 million new infections per day since August, with levels not projected to drop below 1 million until November.

The working class must deepen the struggle to replace the capitalist system that prioritizes profit over lives with a world socialist society that places human needs first.

Study Link: www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370%2824%2900421-8/fulltext

[twistedwonderlandshenanigans]

"Gingerbread Houses" -HCs

Finals did not, in fact, kill me. Anyways, depending on how things go this may be my last real post of this year, so happy holidays and happy New Years if I don't see y'all til January ^^ --------------------------------------------------------

Heartslaybul

Riddle

He's never made a gingerbread house before OTL and his perfectionism will be his biggest pitfall. At least he's using Trey's cookies and icing so that it's not a matter of the quality of materials, but it's still something he's going to spend HOURS on, making sure every line is perfect and sharp. He's seen the sets before in stores, so he will pull up a reference photo on his phone to try and match the box as closely as possible. By the time he's finished, he's a mess. There is icing everywhere. He is ready to pass out. His hands hurt from piping. And he realizes too late he could have decorated the inside just for fun. He still enjoyed it, but he's going to aim for an easier design in coming years. He also only takes a few pieces of candy and a gingerbread man, before letting the first years eat it. (He got a picture before it was devoured though).

Trey

Oh he's so tired of baking. Are you kidding me. This time of year COULD be fun but he has finals on top of being resident big brother AND BAKER to a dorm just to go home and be Big Brother with his siblings. He's so tired. He will bake everything off for people after they submit what shapes they want/need for their creations and then while everyone is making their gingerbread creations he's going to his room and taking a fucking nap. Good for him. He'll munch on left overs if he feels like it, but he knows there's going to be mom and dad's baking at home so he'll just wait. Once he does go home though, it's a competition, half the family against the other half to make the largest, most impressive gingerbread creation. They may involve the community to vote on which one is better, and then they just let the elementary school kids in the area eat them both.

Cater

He buys one of the boxed ones just to put it together for the sake of social media. Makes it all cute and near perfect, it takes significantly less effort for him to do so than Riddle, mostly because he has some artistic background. He knows between that and Trey's baking, nobody is really going to want to eat it so he brings it to PMC for Lilia lmao. He already knows he's going to do the same thing again when he goes home, so his mom has something to post on social media.

Deuce

He's also never made a gingerbread house! His mom didn't have the means to buy all those ingredients or to buy a set she knew he wouldn't eat, so they always made stuff out of rice krispy treats. They're easier to mold into the shape you want anyways, especially when they're warm, so it prevented tantrums when he was younger too. He still does it, not just for traditions sake but because gingerbread just...isn't his favourite flavour.

Ace

Growing up, his mom was the only one really capable of cooking or baking, so when she passed (HC), his brother would just take him out to the dollarstore to buy a SHIT TON of different wafers and candies. They would make a candy wonderland of sorts before gorging themselves on their creations. Ace doesn't mind gingerbread all that much, but he likes how stable the wafers are in comparison when it comes to attaching them with icing. Sometimes he'll build a foundation with wafers and then attach the gingerbread to the wafers so it has something stable to lean against. It's really just an excuse to eat more candy. He also decorates the inside of his builds, usually using gummy bears as people. When he was a kid he used to bite off their heads and then scatter them around the build 💀

The rest are under the cut!!

Savannaclaw Leona

Could not give a flying rat's ass about gingerbread creations. The closest he gets is Cheka spamming his texts with pictures of his creation. Leona ends up paying Ruggie to make one so that he can send one pic back and the rugrat will stop bothering him 💀

Ruggie

They never really made anything like sculptures. Latino Ruggie is real in my heart, so Christmas time is when they would have saved up as much as they could to have a massive feast with the community. That being said, he can't exactly build with them but empanadas, you know the plantain ones with custard filling and a sugar coated outside??? Those ones? FUCK ton of those. Sometimes though, when Sam has leftovers in January of the kits, he'll take the kits back to the kiddos to enjoy.

Jack

Oh his family loooooves making gingerbread houses, the only rule is, no rectangles are allowed >:) (squares are technically a form of rectangle too) so every year his mom heads up the competition. Jack tries to help his younger siblings but he tends to break things by accident and they get mad at him lmao. He never makes a house himself, he just grazes on the candy, and eats his siblings houses after they've picked them clean of candy, leaving him with plenty of cookies to eat. His siblings also use a lot of coloured icing to decorate the "lawns" outside of their houses. (His mom always includes "ducks" on hers)

Octavinelle

Azul

Having been from under the sea, he hasn't made them before either, nor does he really want to. To me, he does not like the texture of icing. I think that would be gross to him. And why would he want to eat all that candy? He would rather go home and eat a dessert Nonna's whipped up, or even attempt to make cannoli's on his own. He may host a competition at the mostro lounge with a bring your own supplies event and whoever wins a competition gets free meal vouchers for a week.

Jade + Floyd

They also have not made gingerbread anything before, but wHEN they do. Jade meticulously puts his together, every detail, every drop of icing, everything is planned. He has a sketch he did in a planner next to him and he's GOING to replicate it. He's grumpy at Floyd because he's eating gingerbread over his shoulder and it's crumbling and falling onto his work space and into his shirt but if he acknowledges it he knows it's going to get worse. Floyd does not have the patience to put his together. He essentially makes it one giant cookie/poptart thing and layers candy on top. He does ask if he's allowed to break Jade's when he's done (they will brawl after when Jade says no and Azul has to rescue Jade's creation for the sake of keeping what little semblance of peace he has.)

Scarabia

Kalim

The concept is new to him but once he's introduced to it - he loves it. And not a surface is safe from flying icing. He wants icing in every single colour and all the candies from all over the world. He'll try dipping gingerbread in eggnog. These traditions aren't widely celebrated back home, so he's going to make the most of it while he's with friends! He ends up eating so much candy he throws up rainbows. Sorry.

Jamil

He has no interest. You thought Leona was disinterested? No, Jamil is. He'd rather be doing nearly anything else.

Pomefiore

Vil

When he was a kid, it was tradition for him and his dad to decorate lebkuchen together. He looks forward to it more than he'd care to admit, because it's the one constant date he knows both he and his dad work to ensure they have free. Neither of them are very GOOD at decorating, but it's more of an excuse to catch up with each other. The nostalgia also just generally helps Vil show a little more holiday spirit and loosen up a little bit.

Rook

:) He and his sister never really got those kinds of things, but they loved making paper snowflakes together.

Epel

He never had the patience for gingerbread houses when he was a kid, so his meemaw would only make gingerbread men for him while his parents built a house. He would squeeze icing bags so hard they popped, and layer on the subsequent icing in a thick, uneven swab to the point when he went to go eat it it made him sick. He loved it though. Nowadays he tries a lot harder to make them pretty just because he thinks it's a fun activity, like apple carving, where every little detail can make a huge difference on the overall composition. Meemaw's baking is peak, and not even Trey can beat it.

Ignihyde

Idia + Ortho

When they were kids, they loved the pomegranate smashing tradition their dad used to do. Their dad would also make kourabiedes - while not exactly ideal for building with, they were delicious. Instead of building things out of food, they would build a "karavaki" (wooden boat) out of scrap metal as a family instead and decorate it instead of a tree. It's been a long time since Mama and Papa Shroud have managed to convince Idia to celebrate...anything with them, but this year they started a new tradition with Ortho, with high hopes for years to come. This year, they designed and built a cat cafe gingerbread house, just for the fun of it, but there were still plenty of kourabiedes to go around. (Mama Shroud is NOT allowed in the kitchen but she would make little reindeer button cookies if she could. However, that is one field of chemistry she just can't seem to handle OTL)

Diasomnia

...uh

Diasomily

Because of Lilia's many travels, he picked up on different traditions and cultures over the years. As a result, every year (that they've all been together), they celebrate a different tradition from around the world. Yes they've made gingerbread houses before. Malleus has gargoyles on his. Lilia's is completely inedible. Silver has icing on half his face bc he passed out. Sebek essentially made a giant cookie-face of Malleus and got pissy when he ran out of black licorice to make his horns. They're so sillayyyy

------------- LMAO I lost the plot about half way through but we bring it back

anyways

@nemisisnemi @fluffle-writes @my-cursed-brain @distant-velleity @elenauaurs @lumdays @starry-night-rose @theleechyskrunkly

lmk if you want to be added/removed

happy holidays and please take a fat nap on my behalf at some point lmao

[justabrick]

It perplexes me that all the other Winds have their motivations and reasoning aknowledged and analyzed, meanwhile Sundowner's gets habitually reduced to just "when you kill civilians lmao". I mean, it IS funny, the man is the embodiment of the incoming ham trope, after all.

Mistral and Monsoon have incredibly tragic backstories and Sundowner technically doesn't. It's not tragic on account of him being... well, no explanation needed, but it is still quite fucked nonetheless.

He had a basic bitch childhood compared to his squadmates. Poverty sucks no matter where you are, but it's nothing compared to the absolute horrorshow the other two went through. Instead, I think the formative experience that really created the monster that is Sundowner came way later in his life.

Lemme quote Kevin here: "Anyway, an IED put him out of action for a few years, but then cyborg tech brought him outta retirement." Nice and casual, easy to pass over, Sundowner himself doesn't even talk of it at all, as compared to Mistral and Monsoon who explain their past with appropriate gravitas.

But I'll give it a bit (a lot) more attention because I think it's the definitive thing that made Sundowner who he is by the time we see him. So what did exactly happen to force him out of the battlefield? If you're not squeamish, proceed to put in "dismounted complex blast injury" in your search bar and navigate to the image tab. If you don't feel like ruining your evening, which I wouldn't blame you for, I'll describe somewhat briefly. It's highly likely he lost both legs, and nearly as likely sustained massive injuries to the pelvis as it's the typical scenario. Not a small chance that he had either one or both arms ruined as well.

That covers "put him out of action" part of the quote, now I must highlight another important bit - "for a few years". You don't normally say "a few years" unless it's at the very least three. So by the end of it what we have is Sundowner, hopelessly disfigured and helpless, left to stew in his misery for years.

For a man who lives and breathes battle like him, it must have been a living nightmare, the absolute worst possible scenario in which his career could have ended in his eyes - left to slowly rot away while being pitied. And it is stated in one of the optional CODECs that disability pay outs are a joke, so it's a pitiful existence even on the financial front. I bet he wished that explosion actually just killed him right then and there.

Is it any wonder then that Sundowner glorifies war as much as he does? He's spent his entire life in it, it has given him the feeling of control he lacked initially, money, plenty of opportunities for power trips, and a home away from home. The two periods of life he was a civilian are marked by a feeling of powerlessness, and his time fighting - a feeling of power.

And it's just war itself he glorifies, too, not any pretty reasoning for it like "freedom" or justice, which I think is important. May be an odd opinion, but I think the guy is the opposite of a patriot of his county, which is pretty amusing considering the extremely stereotypical southern accent. It's even in several aspects of his design, as well. He's a full blooded American, but his body is designed to resemble a Japanese shogun, he fights in a Chinese sword fighting style, his song title is "Red Sun". Just one of these would be a fun detail, two - a curious coincidence, and three is just piling it on in my opinion. Compare and contrast with the other two 'murrican characters - Armstrong and Khamsin which have nothing mixed in that would contradict their national identity.

And aside from these "hints", he straight up celebrates the worst terrorist attack in American history. And a curious detail. His quote: "Demand for PMC's is about to skyrocket. Like the good ol' days after 9/11!". Assuming in mgs universe it happened in 2001, Sundowner wasn't in a PMC to really feel these "good ol' days" himself, as he only became a merc in 2008.

He may have been a lot like Khamsin prior to the injury actually, dressing up his sadism and bloodlust under the guise of some higher purpose. But after getting chewed up and spat out by the machine he'd have a lot of time to ruminate on why exactly he did what he did and wanted what he wanted. At least three years to have an epiphany on inherent human cruelty. An accurate observation in my opinion, but he chose the absolute worst route by believing that it should be embraced rather than fought.

Why better yourself when you can justify your shortcomings as just following an instinct? It's pretty pathetic when you think of it.

But yeah, I think there is an interesting character hiding under all the ham. He's just not very talkative about it unlike his colleagues. Interesting and utterly monstrous. He does have some positive traits though, two in fact - it's them juicy thighs.

[gremlingottoosilly]

Konig seeing a recruit being bullied by other team mates. Will his childhood trauma trigger and help her / him out or just ignore it?

Why stop bullying when you can join it? No, but seriously. Being a colonel, as chaotic as his position might be in PMC, Konig has to maintain discipline among his troops. As a result, he would swiftly stop anyone who is trying to bully this...cute, adorable, pretty, definitely not fit for the bunch of mercenary work, darling. Uh-oh, he doesn't want to let go of her now. His childhood trauma triggers as he punishes the soldiers by applying more humiliating work and night patrols for them - and as for the one who bullied her...yeah, he is going to get VERY overprotective. Poor girl, she'd have to fucking run away from him after, because the mere instance of her being bullied immediately kicks off the instinct of protect-take-fuck in his brain. She isn't fit for the army!! She literally gets bullied!! They need to know each other more and allow him to take her home!! He would observe her from the side, preventing anyone from ever touching her again...and also preparing her to be his precious lil' wifey as he slowly destroys her work reputation and convinces higher-ups to just throw her out altogether. Don't worry, he'll pick her right after!

[writeforfandoms]

Born for Greatness 1

Find the series masterlist

Here we are with chapter one! We will find out eventually what each of the guys shifts into. There will be more characters introduced later. This is a semi-slow burn, so don't expect anything romantic for the first few chapters.

Warnings: Some violence, swearing, anti-shifter rhetoric (brief).

Word count: 3k

You tugged your shirt straight again, taking a deep breath. You’d been assured that the pack would meet you at the base, but you were going in on your own. 

Wasn’t the first time you were being sent into the metaphorical lion’s den, and probably wouldn’t be the last. 

The car stopped and the driver turned to look at you. “Here we are, ma’am.”

“Thank you.” You offered the soldier a smile, hiding your nerves, and got out of the car. The driver had already grabbed your duffel for you, and you nodded your thanks to him. 

Once more unto the breach. Your lips twitched at your own sense of humor. 

You’d only gone a few steps when you saw the man approaching you. Muttonchops, hat, shirt that looked just a bit too small the way it clung to his arms and shoulders. Blue eyes that you met for a moment before lifting your gaze to his forehead. He stopped in front of you, arms crossed over his chest, disapproval radiating from him. 

So this was going to be one of those assignments, then.

“Alpha Price.” You tipped your chin to expose your throat, a silent sign that you were offering no threat. 

He rumbled your name, low and a little rough. He had a nice voice. Then there was silence for a moment as he looked you over, a clear assessment. He huffed once through his nose but offered nothing else. “I’ll show you where to drop your things,” he said instead, turning, clearly expecting you to follow him.

Which you did. You were not here to make problems, you were here to solve problems.

Price didn’t speak, but that was fine. You took the time to look around the base. It would take some time to memorize routes, you knew, but observing never hurt. Briefly, you were glad this wasn’t your first military assignment, or even your first PMC assignment. 

Silently, he opened a door for you. “This one’s yours,” he said, glancing back at you. “We’re having a team meeting in fifteen minutes in the rec room. Straight down this hallway, then left.”

“Got it. Thank you.” You smiled at him, close-lipped, and stepped past him into your temporary room. It was small, as expected, and plain. Bed, dresser, desk, chair, bedside table. You’d probably be sharing bathing facilities with any other women on base. 

You needed a map. 

But you set your duffel bag down, breathing out slowly. This was home for the next couple months, at least. 

Since you had a few minutes, you fixed your hair, made sure your clothes were still presentable, and dug into your duffel bag to pull out your notebook and your favorite pen. 

Closing the door to your room softly, you wrote down the room number before you headed for the rec room. You were early still, but you’d rather be early than late. Besides, this gave you a chance to look at what you were working with. 

The rec room was labeled, and you stepped inside. Price was there, along with a big guy all in black, skull mask in place over his head. Ghost, according to the file you’d been sent. You dipped your head to him, again making eye contact for one heartbeat before lifting your gaze. He didn’t move, didn’t return the nod.

Not that you really expected anything else, from the little that had been in his file. 

Price watched you but didn’t stop you as you walked a slow circle around the room, chewing idly on the end of your pen. It was a bad habit, but you didn’t much care. Look, you were allowed to have one or two bad habits of your own. 

The rec room was pretty standard, with only hints that this was maybe a more pack-oriented space - the extra large couch, one blanket thrown haphazardly over the back, the battered book still sitting on the table. But otherwise there wasn’t much personality to the space. 

You jotted down a few notes, mind already turning over how to make this easier for them. Especially since this pack was deployed around the world, they deserved a good space to come back to and call theirs. 

The last two walked in together - Soap and Gaz. You nodded to each of them, going through the same process as you had with Ghost. These two, however, returned the greeting, Soap even grinning at you. Hard to tell if he was actually more relaxed or just acting that way. 

“Right,” Price said once the two youngest had settled on the couch, and you sat in a chair at the table. Present, but separate. “You all know who this is.” 

“Our new liaison,” Gaz said, eyes sharp as he looked at you.

But you just smiled. “That’s me,” you agreed. 

“Remember we need to return her in good condition.” Price glanced at Ghost. Well. Good to know which one was likely to “accidentally” push you into traffic. 

“So what sorta training do you think we need?” The question came from Gaz, challenge clear in his eyes. So he was going to be the one to throw away a potential working relationship for his pack. Good to know.

“You? I doubt you need any.” You shrugged. “You’re here, which means you’ve got excellent control of your instincts already. I’ll probably spend more time with the regular soldiers, teaching them etiquette.” 

Gaz blinked, caught off guard by the answer. 

Soap was the one to pipe up next. “Not usually what a liaison does.”

You chuckled. “My job, as I see it, is to make your lives easier and help smooth relations. I’m not a behavioral therapist.” 

“Then why did brass send you?” Ghost this time. His voice was low and rough, with a little more aggression than you’d expected. 

“To prevent further incidents,” you answered calmly. “Which means teaching etiquette, since the military does a shit job of that.” 

There was a soft snort, though you weren’t sure from which one of them. You gave them all a moment before looking back at Price. 

“Are there any additional rules I need to be aware of?” 

“Beyond basic courtesy?” Price grunted and shook his head. “I’ll inform you if that changes.”

“Appreciated.” You set your notebook down on the table to take down a few more notes. You knew they were watching you, keeping track. Probably committing you to memory so they’d be able to keep tabs on you. That was to be expected. 

What was not expected was one of them leaning over your shoulder to read your notes. 

“The hell is a LoveSac?” Soap asked from above you. 

“Furniture company, they specialize in customizable couches,” you answered, not looking up at him. “Easy to move around and make different shapes. Lots of packs use ‘em for pack napping spaces. Is there a measuring tape I can use?” 

Soap moved and a few moments later a measuring tape was set down next to you.

“Thanks.” You picked up the measuring tape and finally looked up at Soap, carefully avoiding eye contact. “Do you mind helping me for a minute?”

“Sure thing.” He stepped back, out of your way, and obediently held the end of the measuring tape while you moved around.

“Didn’t realize interior decorating was one of your talents,” Price drawled, clearly intending the comment to not be complimentary.

“My talents are many and varied,” you said, amused. “Thanks, Soap.”

He nodded, eyes bright as you jotted down the measurements you’d taken. 

“Right.” You closed your notebook, glancing at each of them. “I’m sure you’ll find me if you have more questions.” One last nod to the Alpha and you let yourself out, making your way back to your room. 

You spent the rest of the day exploring, making yourself a crude little map in your notebook of the base. It wasn’t elegant, but it would work until you learned your way around. 

Dinner was quiet, sitting alone at a table, watching the soldiers around you. Though several shot curious glances your way, none tried to approach you. 

Sometimes this job could be very isolating. 

After dinner you gathered the necessary requisition forms, knowing from experience that it would take time to get things going. The sooner you started on this, the better. 

The next day you introduced yourself to the soldiers on base, taking the time to learn some names and pecking order. The group was big enough that you’d have to do etiquette training in batches. That was fine, would just require a bit of timing and planning. 

You also got your first chance to watch the pack interacting with the soldiers during training. You stood off to one side, a quiet observer. 

The first problem you noticed was eye contact. Most of the soldiers held eye contact when being addressed, which was a problem. The pack did indeed have excellent control, but you could see the tension in Gaz’s shoulders, the way Soap’s smiles didn’t reach his eyes. That was a common problem, and relatively easy to fix, just took a bit of time. 

The second problem was more subtle and more difficult. Some of the soldiers treated the pack differently. But not out of respect. 

You really hated it when you had to deal with anti-shifter bullshit. 

But you were careful to note down names, ranks, and everything you observed. Some of it could be written off as mistakes - not answering the first time or not saluting as sharply as they technically should. Other issues were less easy to ignore. Aggressive body language, challenging stares, borderline disrespect.

Honestly, you were amazed none of the pack had taken those soldiers out yet. Especially one. Keyes. He seemed to be the unofficial ringleader of the anti-shifter sentiments. 

Well. You had your work cut out for you. 

“Lesson planning already?” 

You jumped at the voice right behind you, turning quickly. How the hell Price had snuck up on you, you weren’t sure, but it left your heart pounding. “Fucking hell,” you gasped, before you laughed. “Shit you scared me.”

“Sorry.” He didn’t sound sorry. Didn’t look it either, not that you really expected him to.

You waved off his apology. “Appreciated, but not necessary. I’m good. And yes, I am working on lesson plans.” You didn’t offer him the notebook, though. 

“Brass tells me you come highly recommended.” He stepped up level with you, looking out over the soldiers, who had moved to hand-to-hand training with Gaz and Soap supervising. 

“That’s what they tell me too,” you joked, facing forward again.

“You’ve worked with a PMC before.”

“Mmhm.” You frowned a little as you watched two men grappling. 

“How’d that work out for you?” 

“Well, I’m still alive,” you joked. “They had a lot of the same issues I see here - etiquette issues. A few stray people with chips on their shoulders. Nothing unmanageable.” 

“You’re very confident.”

You glanced at him, curious. “Alpha,” you murmured. “I’ve been doing this a long time. I’m confident because I know I can handle it.” 

He grunted once, shifting close enough to you that you could feel the warmth emanating from him. Shifters ran warmer than humans as a rule, which was sometimes very nice. The proximity didn’t bother you - you were used to shifters being more touchy-feely than normal. 

So you just hummed softly, making note of another potential problem soldier, although she seemed on the fence still. Hopefully you’d be able to get to her and coax her back down on the reasonable side of the fence. 

“Not going to join them?” 

You looked up sharply at the question, eyes narrowing a little. “No.” 

“Scared?” The smirk on his lips was taunting. 

“Not trained.” You shook your head, looking back to your notebook. 

“And you work with soldiers.” 

“Not my job to tussle with you lot.” You watched Gaz correct one of the sparring pairs, joking with them. 

“I’ll have Soap show you some basics.” 

“No thank you.” 

The air between the two of you stilled, crackling with tension. The Alpha looked down at you, brows pulling together in a frown. 

You kept your gaze on his forehead as you reminded him, “I’m not part of your pack. I’m a temporary addition. So I don’t have to follow your orders.” 

His eyes narrowed. You were right, you knew you were right. And you suspected this had been a way for him to test you, to see how you’d respond to being ordered around. Your job often required a delicate balance - interfering with the pack long enough to smooth things over, butting into their lives in ways that could be quite personal, yet staying outside of the hierarchy. Which often also meant standing your ground on certain issues. 

Giving in too often to Alphas let them think they could order you around all the time, and that wasn’t why you were here. 

Then he nodded once, accepting your will, and you relaxed a little. This wouldn’t be a fight. Not today. 

Once training wrapped up, you headed back to the rec room. While it was empty, you did a quick inventory on the snacks in there. You’d keep an eye on that, see what vanished the fastest. You ate your dinner as fast as you could and went to grab a fresh set of requisition forms before heading back to the rec room. The desk in your room was adequate, but you liked to have a little more room. 

Except Gaz and Soap were already in there, sprawled out together on the couch with a movie on. Both of them looked at you nearly in unison. 

“Will it bother you if I sit at the table and do some paperwork?” you asked, glancing between the two.

“Nah,” Soap answered easily. “Have at it.”

You settled at the table, bending over the form in front of you. You still had more research to do, but this was a good start for this pack. 

Gaz stood and stepped past you into the kitchenette, tossing popcorn into the microwave. You frowned down at the form, pulling out your phone to double check some specs. A small bowl of popcorn landed at your elbow, and you blinked at Gaz. He just nodded once before taking the larger bowl back to the couch. Smiling, you ate the popcorn as you worked, pleasantly surprised. 

Sharing food was important, after all. Sure, this was just a little gesture, but it was a gesture of acceptance. You’d take it gladly. 

Their movie ended but neither of them got up, just navigating to something else. 

“What do you like to watch?” Soap asked, head picking up to look at you.

“Me?” You blinked, caught off guard. “I’ll watch just about anything.”

“C’mere, then.”

You debated. For about a second. Then abandoned the form to look at the couch, trying to find a spot where you’d fit. Soap shoved Gaz further down the couch, ignoring the soft swearing that prompted, and then wiggled himself further down the couch, leaving a cushion open for you by their heads. When you didn’t sit fast enough, Soap looked up at you with big blue eyes, lower lip jutted out in a pout.

Dammit.

You sat, leaning back into the couch, and Soap grinned at his victory. Gaz just rolled his eyes, resettling himself on top of the Scot. 

“Tell us if you get bored,” Soap said, poking your thigh. “Right?”

“Yes, yes.” You chuckled, patting the top of his head.

The first half of the movie was uneventful, and you just relaxed. Soap and Gaz chatted quietly, apparently quite happy cuddling on the couch. 

And then a fucking cheetah walked into the rec room.

It took you a second to remember that was Ghost. From the muffled laughter, the other two had caught the brief spike of your heart. You huffed but didn’t chide them. 

At least until the cat sat right in front of you, staring at you. 

“Uh.” You blinked, focusing on his ears. He really was a gorgeous cheetah, a bit bigger than you’d seen before, but still lean. “Am I in your spot?” 

The big cat snorted. Which was… not helpful. 

“If you want me to move, I need a more concrete answer.”

But the cat just blinked at you. Just once. 

“Or you can sit there and stare at me. Promise I’m not as entertaining as the movie.”

He yawned, showing off big sharp teeth. And you knew it was a calculated move. 

“Yes, what big teeth you have,” you agreed, very solemnly. 

He huffed at you and put one paw on your knee. Again, a deliberate move. With claws.

“Ah, ow, claws–!” You wrinkled your nose, but didn’t try to move him. “I remember you’re well capable of killing me, trust me, I know. But you’re not gonna intimidate me.” 

The big cat chuffed, removing his paw. And then he hopped lightly up onto the couch… on top of Gaz.

“LT!” Soap protested, immediately squirming. “Yer heavy!” 

“Fuck do you eat, man?” Gaz protested as well, even as a big rough tongue started to clean the side of his head. “Lay off!” 

You bit your lips to hide your grin. Well. That was as blatant a claim as they came. Ghost was definitely reminding you that these were his pack, under his protection and care, and you would pay if you hurt them. So you gambled a little, meeting his gaze for three solid seconds. 

“Message received.”

The big cat blinked again and resumed grooming his packmate, who continued complaining. Soap twisted hard enough to dislodge Gaz, sending him toppling to the floor with a thump. 

You escaped before the real tussle started.